Jeff the Baptist's Comments

I think most places use it as an example of what not to do, a historians version of the Tacoma Narrow Bridge as it were. But there was a concerted effort to rehabilitate Bellesiles and the book around 2019. There are also people who just don't know the problems with it.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Here's another firearms related one: Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture by Michael Bellesiles. This book came out in 2000 and was widely lauded for its rewrite of American firearms history, going so far as to win the Bancroft Prize in 2001. It is also the only work for which the Bancroft prize has been rescinded.

The book is essentially a fraud. Bellesiles develops his narrative using property records which don't exist (like probate records destroyed in the San Francisco fire of 1906). Many of his quotes and citations are totally out of context. It was essentially acclaimed for entirely political reasons and once historians took a deeper look at it, its merit completely evaporated. But you will occasionally see people cite it either unaware of the issues or because they believe the work was the result of political backlash.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
  2 replies
Another one is anything on Colt firearms by R.L. Wilson. Wilson was a widely cited expert on Colts in the 1970s through the 1990s, wrote several books on the subject, and also worked as an appraiser and broker. The problem is he was also using his recognition to commit widespread fraud and enrich himself. His entire body of work, which dominated the Colt history for at least a generation, is now considered suspect.
Ian McCollum (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nhUpPbqD44) and C&Rsenal both did pieces on him.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
I've heard that Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond is especially disliked in some academic circles. Its largely considered reductionist as it almost completely dismisses culture and social aspects of national development in favor of environmental determinism.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
  1 reply
Its only sort of a joke. By putting the named participants under orders, they now have a very military excuse to get out of whatever is preventing them from getting together. A noncom or junior officer can't grab those guys for random duties as assigned, because they're under orders from the CPT. Even if a MAJ or LTC tries to grab them, they can say "Sir I am under orders to report to the CPT at 1200" and the MAJ will probably let them go.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
  1 reply
Ours are quite deep so I outfitted them with sliding drawers so you could actually get into them. It still requires a ladder, but it far less inconvenient that some other setups.
We use one side for gadgets and supplies we rarely use (the blender, my wife's huge water bottle collection, etc.).
The other side is long term storage of bulk basics with a long shelf life. Crackers, pasta, etc. When we run out of the read supply, we refresh from long term storage. When long term storage runs low, we stock up on more.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
I've had several close family members with dementia, including my Dad. While these villages may be better than a nursing home, having them at their homes is probably better yet. They will get lost and confused anywhere, but at least at home they're accessing existing memories of a place they are familiar with. Moving them somewhere new means trying to both build and access new memories. That's a lot harder.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Royal Enfield made the WD/RE which was an air-dropped two stroke 125cc motorcycle of a more conventional design. Troops called it the "Flying Flea." They were generally sent in with airborne troops on gliders and were used to run dispatches and establish lines of communication. They were popular enough that Enfield made them for civilian use until 1950.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
  1 reply
Broadcast television doesn't have a pause button.
Broadcast doesn't but most digital systems do.
Also a lot of digital mediums as switching back to a weekly structure. The Mandalorian did on Disney+. Invincible comes out weekly on Amazon. It makes for better social interaction about the show.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
  1 reply
Whoever the engineers are, they don't understand aerodynamics very well. Airplanes take off and land into the wind. This lets them borrow airspeed from the local wind conditions. This means that runways are aligned with the dominant wind vectors at the airport. If you make the runways circular you can still only takeoff and land at two places on the circle set by wind conditions.
The only time this would be advantageous is if you build the airport on a site where the wind is highly variable. Even then, the air traffic control would be crazy.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
  2 replies
Good luck with that photographer. The picture was taken of them on private property without their permission, selling it likely violates their personality property rights under Missouri law.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
"Do genes control our height?"
Sure, genes control everything. As a more practical matter, significant changes in population height in the last century are almost always due to changes in nutrition not genetics. The most obvious place to look at this is Japan where increased meat and diary consumption in the postwar period has lead to the current population being inches taller than their parents and especially their grandparents.
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Login to comment.


Page 1 of 19       next | last

Profile for Jeff the Baptist

  • Member Since 2012/08/04


Statistics

Comments

  • Threads Started 269
  • Replies Posted 12
  • Likes Received 79
X

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

I agree
 
Learn More