We have been discussing warfare in general and the two World Wars in particular. In order to catch up, if you feel like it, please have a peek at JuicyLessons 286 & 287 (Thursday and Friday).
We finished off Friday by saying that when it came right down to it, nations refused to take action to guarantee and protect the territorial integrity of another sister-state unless, of course, the national interest of the community of nations was perceived as being compromised or threatened in any way.
In other words, unless a nation has a vested interest in the outcome of a dispute involving two or more other countries, the first nation, regardless of its “paper” commitments to ideals such as “collective security”, “collective action”, and the “outlawing of war as an instrument of national policy (See Kellogg-Briand Pact), would simply refuse to honour its commitments unless it believed itself to be directly threatened.
So it was that England and France refused to close their Suez Canal in order to prevent the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935. (See JL 287) Further, the policy adopted by the western powers with regard to Germany in the inter-war period, the policy of appeasement, was largely governed by similar behaviours on the part of the members of the international community who refused to stand up to Hitler earlier than they finally did.
When Germany announced its intention to re-arm in direct contravention of the Treaty of Versailles which was the peace settlement signed in 1919, no one did anything. The same when the Nazi regime announced that it was re-militarizing the Rhineland, that section of land between Germany and France, de-militarized by the above-mentioned treaty, as well as when Hitler outrightly refused to pay further reparations and when he stated that his demand for the Sudetenland region of the new nation of Czechoslovakia – the international community continued to sit on its collective hands.
Why? Well, it’s simple. The Great Depression was wreaking havoc with the economies of the developed world. England, France, the United States, Canada and all other industrialized nations were suffering and trying to deal with the havoc unveiled by what is still the most devastating economic catastrophe ever to affect the international community.
The above-mentioned state of affairs led the Great Powers to basically appease and accede to the demands of the Germans and the Italians (not to mention the Japanese who had invaded China beginning in 1931) rather than getting off their collective asses and actually taking action; Hitler won every battle leading up to the outbreak of war in September, 1939, without firing a single shot.
As a matter of fact, students of history are pretty well of one mind on the issue of the actual outbreak of fighting on 1st September, in terms of how it was allowed to happen. It is commonly felt that Hitler was not ready for war on that date; his belief that the appeasement policies of the “Dirty Thirties” would continue thereby guaranteeing that his demands for the “Corridor” section of Poland would be acceded to and that he again would emerge victorious without the need to exercise force to get his way.
Well, as it turned out, this time Herr Hitler was wrong. Britain and France refused and threatened retaliatory action should Hitler start anything, which he did and before you know it, whap-o bang-o. World War II, which would kill 80 million and wound and maim at least four times that many in six years of brutal combat, had begun.
Above: Durring the Korean War, American Marines reclaimed all their dead on the retreat from Changjin (Chosin) reservoir. Infiltrating Chinese soldiers stripped clothing from some of the bodies. (U.S. Marine Corps photo.)
TO BE CONTINUED
In Praise of Ugly
As a recent Photoshop project by a young reporter reminds us, beauty standards differ significantly across cultures. That said, certain physical traits have long been celebrated and coveted—a slender frame; fair skin; long, full hair; symmetry in facial features—leaving little room (in the West, at least) for those with “unusual” looks to break into modeling and entertainment.
To fill a void in supply and demand, the Ugly Models Agency was born in London in 1969. Its mission was to recruit and promote “ugly” women and men of all shapes, sizes and personalities for niche roles and markets. The agency’s philosophy: “Any beauty can be airbrushed but we want our look to have true character.”
Though the agency has since expanded to include more traditional beauties in its sub-label, Rage, it remains a home not just for the average-looking, but for the extraordinary; Ugly represents twins and triplets, the short of stature and the huge, punks and thugs, as well as the Guinness World Record-approved tallest man alive, most-tattooed man alive and the most-pierced man and woman alive. “We like our women fat and our men geeky,” Ugly declares. “We like the extremely tall and the shockingly small.”
Ugly makes its name on outsiders and character types, but it also holds up a mirror to what society deems unappealing—that is, men and women who can’t or won’t live up to the outrageous beauty standards found on billboards and in magazines. It’s wonderful to celebrate the Ugly models’ courage and originality. With any luck, one day we’ll be able to celebrate their wonderful normality, too.
Read more: ‘Ugly Models’: Agency Ditches Airbrushed Beauty for ‘True Character’ | LIFE.com http://life.time.com/culture/ugly-models-modeling-agency-london/#ixzz39pYBZjsK
Als Creamed Again
Above: Alouettes reciever Bo Bowling drops a pass from quarterback Troy Smith while being hit by Eskimos’ Aaron Grymes at Molson Stadium in Montreal Friday Aug. 8, 2014. Photograph by: John Mahoney , The Gazette
MONTREAL — If this is how the Alouettes define progress, this team simply can’t see the forest for the trees. And they’re deluding themselves.
It just goes to show how low the bar has been set.
“That was probably Troy Smith’s best game,” head coach Tom Higgins said. “He wasn’t helped by his teammates taking penalties in the scoring zone. But that’s not on Troy. That’s the reason he started — and finished.”
Smith, the Als’ beleaguered quarterback, completed 20 of 45 passes for 231 yards, and was intercepted once in Montreal’s 33-23 defeat to the Edmonton Eskimos Friday night before 20,054 Molson Stadium spectators.
The Als lost their fourth successive game, their record slipping to 1-5. And yet, they remain two points behind the East Division-leading Toronto Argonauts.
While it’s true the Als actually generated some offence and moved the ball — a far cry over their last two games — the team nonetheless came dangerously close to going a third full game without scoring a touchdown. That would have occurred were it not for Brandon Whitaker’s 43-yard pass-and-run score with 30 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Whitaker scored on a screen pass, a play that has worked deliciously well over the years for this team, but a play that seemingly has been abandoned by this coaching regime.
Still, the Als had gone 55 consecutive possessions without a touchdown prior to Whitaker’s magical moment. And they call this progress.
Of course, considering the Als had been held to five points by both British Columbia and Toronto, perhaps it was. On the other hand, the Eskimos required fewer than nine minutes of one game to duplicate the Als’ cumulative offensive total of 120 minutes.
“I don’t care how it looks, this was positive,” said receiver Eric Deslauriers. “We stuck together and believe in ourselves and each other. We’ve lost five of six rounds, but it’s an 18-round fight.
“This is one loss that looks a little lopsided, but we stuck together and believe in each other,” he added. “We definitely made strides.”
The Als actually controlled the ball for slightly more than 33 minutes while generating 18 first downs — two more than the Eskimos — along with 292 yards’ net offence. And wide-receiver Duron Carter, perhaps the team’s most talented player, caught 10 passes for 112 yards, including a 52-yard pass-and-run play. Not surprisingly, given the team’s offensive plight, it marked the first 100-yard game by a Montreal receiver this season.
“I didn’t make enough plays because we didn’t win,” Carter said. “We’ve still got more work to do.
“We definitely made strides, but it’s hard to look at a loss like a victory. We played a good game. We might be 1-5, but we still have a chance to make the playoffs. We still think we’re a good team.”
The Als had plenty of opportunities to score, but had to settle for five Sean Whyte field goals. He also added a pair of singles. Whyte now has made 12 consecutive attempts and is 14 of 17 for the season.
But the Als failed to complete drives. In no professional football league, in general, will field goals win a game.
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Tomorrow: An ex-Bialik-er makes good literature.
Love wins. Hate is ignorant.