re: GMT

Today in History: November 22

1542 New laws are passed in Spain giving Indians in America protection against enslavement.

1915 The Anglo-Indian army, led by British General Sir Charles Townshend, attacks a larger Turkish force under General Nur-ud-Din at Ctesiphon, Iraq, but is repulsed.

1919 A Labor conference committee in the United States urges an eight-hour workday and a 48-hour week.

1942 Soviet troops complete the encirclement of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad.

1963 Lee Harvey Oswald assassinates President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president.

1982 President Ronald Reagan calls for defense-pact deployment of the MX missile.

1986 Justice Department finds memo in Lt. Col. Oliver North's office on the transfer of $12 million to Contras of Nicaragua from Iranian arms sale.

1995 The first feature-length film created entirely with computer generated imagery - Toy Story - premiers.

2017 Uber admits hackers stole personal information affecting 57 million people worldwide and paid $100,00 to keep quiet


2020 G20 virtual two-day summit ends with pledge to ensure affordable access to vaccines for all

2023
Finland closes all but one border with Russia after an influx of migrants orchestrated, it said, by Russia

Born on November 22

1950 Steven Van Zandt, singer, songwriter, musician, producer (E Street Band, Steel Mill, Southside Johnny & The Ashbury Jukes) and actor (The Sopranos).

1958 Jamie Lee Curtis, actress (Halloween, Trading Places, A Fish Called Wanda), author (Today I Feel Silly, and Other Moods That Make My Day).

Joke of the day
Frank was excited about his new rifle and decided to try bear hunting.....

....He travels up to Alaska, spots a small brown bear and shoots it. Right after, there was a tap on his shoulder and he turned around to see a big black bear. The black bear said, "That was a very bad mistake. That was my cousin and I'm going to give you two choices. Either I maul you to death or we have sex."
After considering briefly, Frank decided to accept the latter alternative. So the black bear has his way with Frank. Even though he felt sore for two weeks, Frank soon recovered and vowed revenge. He headed out on another trip back to Alaska where he found the black bear and shot it dead.
Right after, there was another tap on his shoulder. This time a huge grizzly bear stood right next to him. The grizzly said, "That was a big mistake, Frank. That was my cousin and you've got two choices. Either I maul you to death or we have rough sex."
Again, Frank thought it was better to cooperate with the grizzly bear than be mauled to death. So the grizzly has his way with Frank. Although he survived, it took several months before Frank fully recovered.
Now Frank is completely outraged, so he headed back to Alaska and managed to track down the grizzly bear and shot it. He felt sweet revenge, but then, moments later, there was a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to find a giant polar bear standing there.
The polar bear looked at him and said, "Admit it Frank, you don't come here for the hunting, do you?"

Morning all

Good morning

Morning

quote:

---

1915 The Anglo-Indian army, led by British General Sir Charles Townshend, attacks a larger Turkish force under General Nur-ud-Din at Ctesiphon, Iraq, but is repulsed.

---

Turkey's involvement in the First World War destroyed their already tottering empire and linked European powers (later the US) with the region inextricably. And it all happened because Winston Churchill was overly fond of flowery language.

The start of the war caught everyone by surprise, especially two German navy ships who were in the Mediterranean visiting friendly ports. That soon became very unfriendly. With Italy staying neutral (they changed their mind later on and paid a heavy price for it) the Germans were up a creek. They could dock in Austrian ports but the Austrian navy was a pisshole in a snow bank. Sooner or later Britain or France would float over a proper task force, including a few battleships, and wipe out any ship in port.

So, they went with plan B. Take to the seas, try to damage British shipping, and hope to find a real safe haven. Enter one Winston Churchill.

At the start of the war Winston Churchill was the First Lord of Admiralty (a now defunct position that has been folded over into overall Defense) and being a military genius (just ask him, he'd be happy to tell you how brilliant he is) he not only concerned himself with general strategy and government policy but also day to day writing of Operational orders.

Wait, you may ask, did Churchill have any naval experience or much military experience at all other than being a very junior officer during the Boer Wars? No. No, he did not. Winston sent out operational directives to one small task force in the Med. that was uniquely positioned to intercept the two fleeing German ships, that are a masterpiece of English Literature.

The orders are masterfully written, perfectly constructed, and display the very considerable skill of Churchill. Winston Churchill truly was a master communicator.

Militarily the orders were a steaming pile of dog mess. The TF was given four orders that were all of paramount importance and, unfortunately, mutually exclusive. Including an order to engage the German ships and achieve a decisive victory. And orders to shadow the German ships and radio in their location.

So when the commander of that task force did stumble across the two German ships he found himself in a bit of a pickle. His ships were lighter and engaging the Germans would cause very heavy losses to his force, while, hopefully, damaging the German ships enough that someone else could catch and finish them. Or... he could shadow the Germans and radio their position to a much larger and vastly more powerful British TF

He choose to shadow them and the German commander, realizing he was screwed, fled for then neutral Turkey. When Turkey refused to turn the German ships over (the Turks had good cause for a case of the red arse, they had commissioned the UK to build them a battleship and at the outbreak of the war Britain had nationalized the new ship) Britain attempted to strong arm the Turks. Who declared war.

Evening All Have a Great Weekend.

Morning all

Morning

quote:

---

Beat TX

---

Would be nice. If our defense shows up and we have a little offense, maybe

quote:

---

Battle of Midway

---

Bastards