New major

[SOCL]

Ah, no fun in studying. Do like me, Rob: have a beer for breakfast, a beer for lunch, and three for dinner, and go to class pissed. You don't have to worry about hangovers because you're in a state of constant smashed-ness.

[JediHunter]

Ah, no fun in studying. Do like me, Rob: have a beer for breakfast, a beer for lunch, and three for dinner, and go to class pissed. You don't have to worry about hangovers because you're in a state of constant smashed-ness.

 

Man... I wish I could've done that in college.. for me it was more like sleep for breakfast (since you were up til 5am doing some project ) get up at lunch, eat a power bar and run to class. and for dinner.. nice helping of homework.. heh.. man... college sucked!.. at least for me.. ... man... i had almost forgot..

[Darth_Rob]

Yeah, this semester is going to be killing me. But now, in an odd way, I am kind of looking forward to doing this paper on the U.S. reaction to Yuri Gargarion's flight. The professor was telling me that my best sources of information will be Congressional records of what they were debating and what not in response to Gargarion's accomplishment. So rather than reading books, I'll be looking through old minutes of Congressional meetings, which seems kind of interesting.

 

I was talking to someone in one of my other classes who is taking their senior seminar on Medieval Europe, and she was saying that that professor did not really give them a choice of topic to work on. They all had to go through old tax records from the 900-1100s in England. Yuck.

[DarthTofu]

Trust me- old minutes from Congress can get very boring very quickly.

[Darth_Rob]

My professor is this paranoid/conspiracy theory type of guy, so he creates a new spin on U.S. history and whatnot. Anywho, from what he was saying, Congressmen have the power to go into the Congressional records and can edit things that they said, and they do not have to leave any note of what was edited, why, or when. Now THAT is power...being able to actually change history...

[SOCL]

I believe it.

[DarthTofu]

My professor is this paranoid/conspiracy theory type of guy, so he creates a new spin on U.S. history and whatnot. Anywho, from what he was saying, Congressmen have the power to go into the Congressional records and can edit things that they said, and they do not have to leave any note of what was edited, why, or when. Now THAT is power...being able to actually change history...

 

Eh, what? I'm not so certain that they can, but then, I only had one year of U.S. Government, and passed the AP test with a four primarily because it was quite easy and I had a good teacher, not because I was actually interested...

 

One of the strangest conspiracy theories I've heard so far is the idea that FDR knew about Pearl Harbor's imminent attack, and prepared the US forces to be slaughtered by having their firearms replaced with sidearms the day before, in order to both fund the economy through righteous hatred and to get us into the war.

 

I say that's rather foolish, as it would have gotten us into the war just as assuredly if we'd repulsed the attack as if we'd been hit, and the economy would have taken off from the new war jobs with our inclusion in the war.

 

Then again, I've not taken economics, so my opinion is grounded only in my limited understanding of the economy, thus... Meh. Discuss.

[Darth_Rob]

I've heard the conspiracy theory about Pearl Harbor also. I don't know exactly if I believe it. I find it kind of hard to believe that the leader would allow such an attack to succeed. Like you said, if they attacked and we repulsed them by being prepared, I'm certain we would have still declared war. An attack is an attack, regardless of if it's a surprise or not.

[JediHunter]

I've heard the conspiracy theory about Pearl Harbor also. I don't know exactly if I believe it. I find it kind of hard to believe that the leader would allow such an attack to succeed. Like you said, if they attacked and we repulsed them by being prepared, I'm certain we would have still declared war. An attack is an attack, regardless of if it's a surprise or not.

I'm not sure who all here is a conspiracy theorist, or enthusiast.. but I personally have heard some of the "evidence" behind this theory and even seen a show on it on the History Channel (i think.. could've been Discovery).. and I find it quite plausible.. i mean.. FDR had to get the public behind him, he needed the support of the voters and congress. And in reality the only way to do that was to be attacked, unprovoked. Now, i dont think he thought it would be THAT BIG of an attack.. or perhaps that there wouldn't have been as much loss of life as there was.. but i wouldnt put it past anyone to open themselves to an attack they knew was coming if they knew that it would help the country out of its current predicament.. but maybe thats just me..

[SOCL]

and prepared the US forces to be slaughtered by having their firearms replaced with sidearms

Sidearms are firearms.

 

FDR allowed the attack of Pearl Harbor to happen. Of course, just like how George W. Bush allowed the attack on September 11, 2001. Utter rubbish.

[DarthTex]

Domo arigato Mr. Roboto

[Darth_Rob]

I dunno. I still feel there would be no difference if the U.S. navy was prepared for Pearl Harbor or not. It is still an attack on American soil, and it was still unprovoked. If FDR did it, then I feel it was a needless waste of life.

[DarthTofu]

and prepared the US forces to be slaughtered by having their firearms replaced with sidearms

Sidearms are firearms.

 

FDR allowed the attack of Pearl Harbor to happen. Of course, just like how George W. Bush allowed the attack on September 11, 2001. Utter rubbish.

 

Maybe the two are analogous now, but in the past I've heard that a "gun" is a weapon bolted down to a ship that's about ten times your size, a firearm is a two-handed weapon, and a side-arm is anything in the pistol range. *Shrugs*

 

I don't really believe the conspiracy stuff, and feel that it's utter rubbish. FDR certainly wanted to get into that war and stop Hitler, but I don't think he'd allow such an extreme loss of human life. And, quite frankly, not much really pointed to the Japanese attacking us- Yamamato (sp?) was opposed to the attack from the start, and it opened up a whole new front to the war. Granted, it severely injured our fleet, but it also brought in a continental player to this war. Not the best move ever at the time.

[SOCL]

and prepared the US forces to be slaughtered by having their firearms replaced with sidearms

Sidearms are firearms.

 

FDR allowed the attack of Pearl Harbor to happen. Of course, just like how George W. Bush allowed the attack on September 11, 2001. Utter rubbish.

 

Maybe the two are analogous now, but in the past I've heard that a "gun" is a weapon bolted down to a ship that's about ten times your size, a firearm is a two-handed weapon, and a side-arm is anything in the pistol range. *Shrugs*

Really? I've never heard that...

[Grand_Admiral_Thrawn]

Maybe the two are analogous now, but in the past I've heard that a "gun" is a weapon bolted down to a ship that's about ten times your size, a firearm is a two-handed weapon, and a side-arm is anything in the pistol range. *Shrugs*

 

It might depend where you are, but here a pistol is considered a restricted "firearm", as are various other weapons. I think you're thinking of a more detailed breakdown of weapon types. Firearms are also often referred to as small arms in war (basically anything smaller than a machine gun).

[SOCL]

Actually, all small arms is anything below a certain caliber of round. I believe .50 caliber is on the border...

 

No matter.

[Darth_Rob]

Well, I spent a lot of time in the library, and was unsuccessful in finding a book that concentrated on Yuri Gargarian, or the origins of the space race in particular. I have to write a 5-7 page paper by October 1st, comparing and contrasting two different books about my subject. I had a hard time even thinking of two conflicting opinions about Gargarian's flight. So needless to say, I decided to change subjects.

 

Kudos are in order to Tofu for giving me the idea to research Pearl Harbor. I was able to find two books in the library that will serve my paper well. The first book says that the government had information about the possibility of an attack, but disregarded it as being improbable, while the second book supports the conspiracy theory that FDR knew about the attack and allowed it to happen so as to draw the public into supporting the war.

 

As of right now, I'm not sure what I believe. I still don't see the logic in allowing the attack to succeed. I feel that an attack that is repelled would hold the same significance as an attack that succeeds, seeing how both are still an attack and act of war. But after reading both books, and looking at the evidence, I will decide which view I believe, and write my paper on that.

[DarthTofu]

Score one for me! Let's hear it for innadvertant genius! Can I get a "W00T W00T?"

 

... Erm, right. I guess I can't. Oh well...

[Darth_Rob]

Score one for me! Let's hear it for innadvertant genius! Can I get a "W00T W00T?"

 

... Erm, right. I guess I can't. Oh well...

 

That is EXACTLY why I was afraid to give you kudos...

[Darth_Rob]

Two double posts in one day. I best watch myself.

 

After doing a crud-load of research, I have finally found a thesis for my paper that the professor does not feel is too "broad". I will be writing on how Yuri Gagarin's successful flight into outer space actually allowed the U.S. to beat the Soviets to the moon.

 

The basic gist is that the U.S. had three rockets that could be refitted to reach the moon. They were missiles from three branches of the US armed forces: the army, navy, and air force. The army missile was the one that NASA had the best chance of developing, but due to diplomatic bickering among brass, the navy was selected to have their missile used. So NASA had to put all their work on the back burner and try to further develop the navy's missile.

 

While they wasted time doing this, the Soviet's had their rockets ready, and launched Gagarin to space in 1961. After this, JFK saw the need to get rocking, and allowed NASA to develop the army rocket. So thats basically what Im going to be getting at.

 

My tentative bibliography is due next week, so I have to find two primary sources and 15 secondary sources. I think in the end we have to have a minumum of like 40 secondary and 6 primary sources...