From Twitter:
There's a huge amount to this, but right now, Americans would rather rip each other apart than work together. We've elected a global joke, look to an imaginary past as a reality, and are headed into third world status as a result.
From Twitter:
There's a huge amount to this, but right now, Americans would rather rip each other apart than work together. We've elected a global joke, look to an imaginary past as a reality, and are headed into third world status as a result.
The first draft of a letter by Manhattan Project scientists urging that the Atomic Bomb not be used was circulated. Hungarian physicist and biologist Leo Szilard was the scrivener.
This version was not sent, as a new one was worked on in order to secure additional signatures.
This is the second such example of such a letter, the other one from Robert Oppenheimer, that I've posted in recent days. Clearly something was really going on inside the Manhattan Project itself at this time, and what that was, was a debate on whether to use the bomb or not.
Frankly, the views expressed above comport with my own. Using the bomb was 1) a huge mistake, and 2) deeply immoral in how it was targeted.
It's interesting, however, that this debate broke out at this point.
That the atom could be split and that it could be done in such away that the massive release of energy would result in a huge blast had been known, albeit theoretically, for some time. The knowledge did not come about during the war itself, but before it.
The war, however, created an enormous imperative to work the physical problems of constructing a bomb out, in large part out of the fear the Axis would get there first.
The Western Allies, the Germans, and the Japanese all had atomic weaponry programs, although its typically forgotten that the Japanese were working on this as well. The German program was enormously feared.
The German program was also enormously hampered by Nazi racism, as it had the impact of causing Jewish scientists, such as the Hungarian Leo Szilard to flee for their lives. They weren't alone in this, however, as generally the highly educated class of men that were in the field of physics weren't really keen on fascism overall. Germany had some top flight scientists, of course, but many of the best minds in science in Europe had left or put themselves out of serious research work if they remained. Some of those who remained in Europe and were subject to the Germans somewhat doddled in their efforts in order to retard the advancement of the efforts.
Japan had a program, as noted, and it had some excellent physicists. Their problem here, however, was much like that of the Japanese war effort in chief. Japan was so isolated that it had nobody else to draw from.
In contrast, the US effort was nearly global in extent, as the US drew in all the great minds, in one way or another, who were not working for the Germans or Japanese, which was most of the great minds in the field.
At any rate, moral qualms about using the bomb didn't really start to emerge until very late in the war, and not really until after Germany had surrendered. Nearly everyone working on the Manhattan Project imagined it as producing a bomb to be used against Germany. Japan wasn't really considered.
And there's good reasons for that. For one thing, it was feared that Germany, not Japan, would produce a nuclear weapon and there was no doubt that Germany would use it if they did. Given that, producing a bomb, and using it first, had a certain element of logic to it. Destroy them, the logic was, before they can do that to us.
Working into that, it should be noted, was the decay in the resistance to the destructiveness of war that had started to set in during World War One. The US had gone to war, in part, over a moral reaction to the Germans sinking civilian ships. By World War Two there was no moral aversion to that at all and unrestricted submarine warfare was just considered part of war.
The Germans had also introduced terror bombing of cities during the Great War, engaging in it with Zeppelins. Long range artillery had shelled Paris in the same fashion. Between the wars it was largely assumed that cities would be targeted simply because they were cities, which turned out to be correct. The Germans had already engaged in this during the Spanish Civil War and would turn to during the Blitz, which the British would very rapidly reply with. By 1945 the US was firebombing Japanese cities with the logic it drove workers out of their homes, and crippled Japanese industry, which was correct, but deeply immoral.
By July 1945 there were really no more industrial targets left to bomb in Japan, although the bombing was ongoing. The only point of dropping an atomic bomb was to destroy cities, and the people within them.
That was obvious to the atomic scientists, but that had been obvious about using the bomb on Germany as well. Targeting would have largely been the same, and for the same purpose. Allied strategic bombing of Germany has actually halted before the German surrender, as there was no longer any point to it, although the concept the Allies had in mind would really have been to use the bomb earlier than the Spring of 1945. Indeed, had the bomb been available in very early 1945, there's real reason to doubt that the Allies would have used it on Germany, as Allied troops were on the ground and they were advancing.
Still, with all that in mind, there was a certain sense all along that Germany uniquely deserved to be subject to atomic bombs. Japan in this context was almost an after thought.
Everyone working on the bomb in the US was European culturally. To those of European culture the Germans were uniquely horrific, and to this day Nazi Germany is regarded as uniquely horrific. Many of those working on the Manhattan Project, moreover, were direct victims of the Nazis, with quite a few being both European and Jewish refugees. Contrary to what is sometimes claimed, by late 1944 people were well aware of what was going on in Nazi Germany and that the Germans were systematically murdering Jews.
The Japanese also were incredibly inhumane and horrific in their treatment of the populations they'd overrun, as well as of Allied prisoners of war. But the nature and extent of their barbarity really wasn't very well known. Indeed, much of it would not be until after the Second World War, at which time the information was suppressed for post war political reasons. At any rate, in July 1945, the scientists working on the Manhattan Project did not know of Japanese systematic horrors in China. Very few people did.
And the Japanese were scene, basically, as victims of their own culture, which was somewhat true. Japan had not been colonized by Europeans at all, making them the only nation in Asia to have that status. Therefore, European culture, and standards, had really not penetrated very much. Japan had adopted Western technology, but Western concepts of morality in war had not come in with it very much. To the extent that it did, it seemed to evaporate with the introduction of increasing authoritarianism in Japan after World War One.
But that wasn't really known to the scientific community.
It was, however, to the military community, which had been fighting the Japanese on the ground.
We'll discuss that in the context of the bomb in a later thread.
The point here is that by this time, many in the non military community, and some within it, who were aware that the Allies were about to produce an atomic bomb were now against using it.
And, indeed, it should never have been used.
Moscow radio announced that the body of Joseph Goebbels had been discovered in the courtyard of the Chancellery in Berlin.
Also in Berlin, the first U.S. troops arrived for occupation duty.
James F. Byrnes became United States Secretary of State.
The first civilian passenger car made in the United States in three years rolled off the assembly line of the Ford Motor Company in Detroit. The car was a 1946 Super DeLuxe Tudor sedan and was destined for Harry Truman.
Last edition:
Deposed Chinese Emperor Puyi accepted a Japanese offer of projection and moved to the moved to the Japanese concession of Tianjin.
An item from Reddit's 100 Years Ago Today sub:
Truly awful.
It's really the early 1920s, not the 1970s, that gave rise to a really powerful "women's liberation" movement, although you can find it building in the decades prior to that. The 20s, however, saw it really blossom in much the same way that it would later, with much of the same goals. As with the movement in the 70s, it met with some pretty nasty counter reactions.
Coeds themselves, meaning women in college, was a fairly new thing in this form. It wasn't really until the post war economic boom of the 1920s that a lot of women began to leave home to attend college for a secondary education.
I'm not a feminist, of course, but part of the horror of the Trump years is watching these sorts of attitudes creep back in and begin to be expressed openly.
Last edition:
The Virgin Mary appears to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa at Akita, Japan, for the third and final time, telling her:
My dear daughter, listen well to what I have to say to you. You will inform your superior
.As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by My Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops and priests.
The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres...churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.
The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them.
With courage, speak to your superior. He will know how to encourage each one of you to pray and to accomplish works of reparation.
It is Bishop Ito, who directs your community.
You have still something to ask? Today is the last time that I will speak to you in living voice. From now on you will obey the one sent to you and your superior.
Pray very much the prayers of the Rosary. I alone am able still to save you from the calamities which approach. Those who place their confidence in me will be saved.
The prior two messages were:
July 6, 1973
My daughter, my novice, you have obeyed me well in abandoning all to follow me. Is the infirmity of your ears painful? Your deafness will be healed, be sure. Does the wound of your hand cause you to suffer? Pray in reparation for the sins of men. Each person in this community is my irreplaceable daughter. Do you say well the prayer of the Handmaids of the Eucharist? Then, let us pray it together."
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly present in Holy Eucharist, I consecrate my body and soul to be entirely one with Your Heart, being sacrificed at every instant on all the altars of the world and giving praise to the Father pleading for the coming of His Kingdom.
Please receive this humble offering of myself. Use me as You will for the glory of the Father and the salvation of souls.
"Most holy Mother of God, never let me be separated from Your Divine Son. Please defend and protect me as Your Special Child. Amen.
When the prayer was finished, the Heavenly Voice said: "Pray very much for the Pope, Bishops, and Priests. Since your Baptism you have always prayed faithfully for them. Continue to pray very much...very much. Tell your superior all that passed today and obey him in everything that he will tell you. He has asked that you pray with fervor.
August 3, 1973
My daughter, my novice, do you love the Lord? If you love the Lord, listen to what I have to say to you.
It is very important...You will convey it to your superior.
Many men in this world afflict the Lord. I desire souls to console Him to soften the anger of the Heavenly Father. I wish, with my Son, for souls who will repair by their suffering and their poverty for the sinners and ingrates.
In order that the world might know His anger, the Heavenly Father is preparing to inflict a great chastisement on all mankind. With my Son I have intervened so many times to appease the wrath of the Father. I have prevented the coming of calamities by offering Him the sufferings of the Son on the Cross, His Precious Blood, and beloved souls who console Him forming a cohort of victim souls. Prayer, penance and courageous sacrifices can soften the Father's anger. I desire this also from your community...that it love poverty, that it sanctify itself and pray in reparation for the ingratitude and outrages of so many men.
Recite the prayer of the Handmaids of the Eucharist with awareness of its meaning; put it into practice; offer in reparation (whatever God may send) for sins. Let each one endeavor, according to capacity and position, to offer herself entirely to the Lord.
Even in a secular institute prayer is necessary. Already souls who wish to pray are on the way to being gathered together. Without attaching to much attention to the form, be faithful and fervent in prayer to console the Master."Is what you think in your heart true? Are you truly decided to become the rejected stone? My novice, you who wish to belong without reserve to the Lord, to become the spouse worthy of the Spouse, make your vows knowing that you must be fastened to the Cross with three nails. These three nails are poverty, chastity, and obedience. Of the three, obedience is the foundation. In total abandon, let yourself be led by your superior. He will know how to understand you and to direct you.
A solid theological opinion, such as held by such as Jimmy Akin, is that messages from the Virgin Mary, when they occur (and no Catholic is obligated to regard them as genuine), are specific for their time. He feels, in this instance, that the warning from Our Lady pertained to the period in issue.
The message, however, has been getting a lot of attention recently, in part due to the Synod. It's the following line that such people are focused on:
The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres...churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.
Am I adopting this view? No, I'm not adopting any view at all. But I will note that the rapid expression of moral laxity that some clerics, including Bishops and Cardinals, are now expressing, is distressing. It tends to fly in the face of human experience, and I'd argue evolutionary biology, as well as seemingly the long standing positions of the Church, dating back to St. Paul.
Sr. Agnes Sasagawa remains alive fifity years later.
On the same day, everyone on board Aeroflot Flight 964 was killed with the Tu-104 crashed on its approach at Moscow. Aeroflot is the world's most dangerous major airline.
Gordie How was joined by his sons Marty and Mark for the Houston Aeros opening World Hockey Association match against the Los Angeles Sharks, the first time father and sons had played in that fashion.
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