"Didn't realize the Japs were such fans of Gilbert and Sullivan," quipped Fred Vinson, who was another old Senate colleague of Truman's and the Secretary of the Treasury.

Vinson never served in the Senate, though he indeed was an old friend of Harry.
 
Otherwise, great piece. I hope you'll continue this time.

Fixed.  I have the events planned out thru at least the end of World War II, as well as some others afterward.

opebo, this is the Path to 270 thread, not what is the current state of the 2016 election.  As such I went with the premise that something had caused 2016 to be a close election as opposed to a repeat of 2008 and 2012.

I don't have the usual reasons for copying this post here to one of our garbage collection threads, as it isn't garbage, but it is unfortunately ironic.

Guys, when you post in all caps, it looks like you're shouting.  That hurts my feelings and I'm sure I'm not the only one.  Please refrain from doing that, or else we'll be ignoring the situation at hand: K.L. Jackson.

I AM HURTING YOUR FEELINGS

I am leaving this forum forever.

Here's my take on his list of ten.

1. The Gospel of Mary
It's rather fragmentary and not readily understandable, tho that may in part be due to the missing portions.  It reports to be a telling by Mary (which Mary is unclear, tho Mary Magdeline seems most likely) to the assembled apostles sometime after the crucifixion of wisdom shared by Jesus to her, both while he lived and afterward in a vision. It probably wasn't because of Jesus acting through a woman that caused it to be suppressed, but because it had Mary and not Paul urging the need to minister among the Gentiles, and the discussion between the male apostles mentioned (Peter, Andrew, Matthew) makes it clear that they did not consider Peter to be their leader, but rather a more collegial decision making style.  However, other than as to the minor matter of church governance, there is nothing novel in that gospel.

2. The Thunder, Perfect Mind
I wouldn't classify this poem as Christian, but as Gnostic. While it could be easily applied to a Gnostic view of Jesus, there's nothing here that requires who it talks about to be Jesus.  If you like vague riddling text designed to lead one to self-introspection on the purpose and meaning of reality, you'll like this.

3. The Gospel of Thomas
It's a sayings gospel and many of the sayings can be found in the canonical gospels. Most of the others are wholly congruent with it.  However, it places Thomas in a far more important role than in the canonical texts and has him espousing the core of Pauline teachings without the need for a Paul; it ascribes to James the Just the worldly leadership, which makes some sense since he would be the heir to any claims of kingship Jesus had from Joseph and Mary; it rejects in an unambiguous way the necessity of physical circumcision; and it also more strongly than the canonical texts expresses a preference for celibacy as the ideal state for man to attain in this world.  Given the short shrift this gospel gives to Peter and Paul, it is no wonder it was suppressed.

4. The Odes of Solomon
I have yet to read them.

5. The Prayer of Thanksgiving
Not much substance to it, tho it is pretty.

6. The Acts of Paul and Thecla
Some feminists like this because it supports the right of women to preach and baptize, but in doig so they have to overlook its absolute veneration of lifelong celibacy.

7. The Gospel of Truth
I have yet to read this.

8. The Prayer of the Apostle Paul
Much like #5, save that we don't have a complete version of it.  Also, there is no doubt about this not having being written by the actual Paul.

9. The Letter Of Peter to Philip
Gnosticism dressed up in Christian clothing.

10. The Apocryphon of John
More Gnosticism dressed up in Christian clothing.
Maybe the The Odes of Solomon or The Gospel of Truth will have some value for me when I eventually get around to reading them, but the other texts here only have value to me as historical texts, not as theological guidance.

Cabinet Room, White House, Washington, D.C - 17 August 1945

"Any further word from the Nips, Jimmy?" asked Harry Truman, meaning his old Senate colleague and mentor, James F. Byrnes, who was now his Secretary of State and not his Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal.

"Nothing definite.  The only issue they've been raising is the status of the Mikado, so it looks like that's what's keeping them from facing reality," replied Byrnes.

"Didn't realize the Japs were such fans of Gilbert and Sullivan," quipped Fred Vinson, who was another old Congressional colleague of Truman's and the Secretary of the Treasury.

Truman turned to face Secretary of War Henry Stimson, "So how soon can the Lord High Executioner wield his atomic blade again?" he asked, already knowing the answer, but not everyone here did.

"Not until October at the earliest, Mr. President," was the reply, which was a tad formal partly because of his manner, but also unlike Byrnes and Vinson, he was not an old colleague of Truman's.  Between that and his declining health, Secretary Stimson did not expect to be remaining in his current post much longer.  Indeed, he'd been hoping for a Japanese surrender so he could tender his resignation.

"Perhaps it would be worth assuaging their concerns," suggested Henry Wallace, the Secretary of Commerce and former Vice-President.

"Yeah, we can promise we won't hang Hirohito higher than Haman easily enough. Of course we could still shoot the bastard," said Attorney General Tom C. Clark.

"We've already indirectly assuaged them," commented Jimmy Byrnes. "We've told them that the matter of the governance of Japan after the occupation ends will be for the people of Japan to decide.  I don't see what more we could equitably do."

"They're probably worried what the people would do," said Postmaster General Robert E. Hannegan. "Since they brought to Japan a whirlwind of defeat and destruction no divine wind will save them from, they ought to be worried."

"Then for now we'll just let them worry and go to the next item on our agenda this morning," said the President.

Ah, I see. If it can be done by home production, it's ok. You only need to go through oficial stores if we are talking industrial production. Well, that was, more or less, how it was in the old Soviet Union. You could buy potatos in the market, or even some canned mushrooms from your neighbour, but, say, shirts - well, that's what they've done an ancestor of mine in for.

Not sure what any of that has to do with selling cars.  The auto manufacturers encourage a gigantic brick and mortar dealership network.  A manufacturer can't come in and just cut the legs out from underneath the dealership network.  The dealership needs to be compensated for the investment they made at the enticement of the manufacturer.

America is wasteful.  There are already plenty of abandoned eyesore dealerships dotting the landscape.  You want there to be even more?

Thing is, this bill is banning Tesla from using a distribution model without dealers.  I can see the merit in requiring a manufacturer that has dealers not engage in direct sales to customers.  I see no merit in forcing a auto manufacturer to use the franchised dealership model.

Indeed.  Wasn't there a Thatcher v. Putin thread recently or did Putin avoid being swept up in the Vs. Thatcher craze?

While the Anatolians seem to have entered the Iron Age earlier than their neighbors, the archeological record places their entry as having occurred in the Nineteenth Dynasty, with iron use becoming more widespread in the Twentieth.  Certainly not early to middle Eighteenth Dynasty as would be needed to reconcile the presence of iron chariots in Joshua with the idea that Thutmose II was the pharaoh of the exodus.

Here's how I see the 2016 map right now.



Conceded D: 185
Targeted D: 42
Tossup: 120
Targeted R: 41
Conceded R:150

The conceded states (dark red or blue) are those that won't attract any general election effort beyond fundraising and the collection of volunteers to use elsewhere.

Targeted states (light red or blue) are those that will be safely D or R in a close election, but which will still attract some effort from the other side in hopes of a landslide, building for the future, and/or forcing the other side to play defense  Not all those targets will be rational.  However, since both campaigns are likely to have more cash than they can realistically use, they'll still see some effort, especially in the early setup stages.

Green are tossups, tho some are easier for the GOP to get than others.  If they are to have any hope of winning the GOP must take Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio, bringing the GOP total up from 191 to 253. (If they lose any of those three, getting enough other tossups would be numerically possible, but not politically possible.) To get the remaining 17 they need, One of the following three strategies will be needed.

1) Pennsylvania
2) Virginia and any one western tossup
3) Colorado and any two smaller tossups

The three smallest tossups by themselves would give an electoral college tie.

Which of these three paths would be the best path to victory depends on what happens between now and 2016.  It's just too soon to be more certain.

It's difficult because Beet is not one of our most active moderators and unless there is evidence of sockiness or other offenses more serious than mere trolling, we mods generally don't infract posts on boards we don't moderate.  Alas, there is now that evidence, so both AfA and his originating account have been placed on mod review pending a final pronouncement of doom by Lord High Executioner Nym.

It takes time for the older stores to sink into decrepitude of poor service.

There are occasional iron artifacts before the Iron Age proper, but it wasn't until the Bronze Age Collapse caused the interruption of the tin trade that the use of the more expensive iron took place at the levels needed to develop it as a widely useful metal.

My parents live next to a new well run Super Wal Mart.  The place is amazing.  They currently live in a rural area but I can easily walk into the Wal Mart and purchase all the basics for life at a reasonable price.  For reasons that are not clear the checkout lanes are pretty decently staffed.

The reason is that it is a new store.  When it opens a store, it is having to attract new customers and that means it needs to be certain of having decent customer service, which for a Wal-Mart means having adequate staffing levels.  Also, since it can't be certain of what customer traffic patterns will be like, a new store has to err on the side of having an excess of checkout people.  Older stores both have a better idea of when it needs people and since they already have a customer base, don't feel the need to impress.  As a result, they don't schedule for as much of a safety margin.

Bushie, where are you getting the 100 figure?  I haven't seen a story that reaches half that number? (though even half is bad)

For a while last night, they were reports of 91 dead, but it appears now that involved some double or even triple counting of some bodies.

Official death toll now 91, of which at least 20 are children. The death toll, especially that of children, is expected to rise further as they haven't yet accounted for every one at Plaza Towers Elementary.

You can't buy groceries online. Maybe if you want to live off of crackers. Yes, Wal-Mart is unpleasant to look at and has long lines. That's part of the package. But they're also cheaper than every other large grocery. They'll do just fine.

Actually it depends on what you buy.  For instance, you rarely want to buy soda there because they almost never put it on sale as a loss-leader.  But if it's something other stores don't usually put on sale, then Wal-Mart is a good place to buy stuff.  However, in my experience, the produce department at a Wal-Mart is fairly hit or miss, and I wouldn't buy fresh meat there, but that's because of quality issues, not price.

Why?  Because it lets them ignore than many of Reagan's policies were a continuation of Carter's.

I always thought the Disciples were a conservative sect.

Nope.

They originated out of the 19th century Restoration Movement, most of whose descendants are fairly conservative, but they are a liberal ecumenical faction of it.  They have a congregational structure and other than a general belief in immersion baptism, there isn't anything I'd consider "conservative" in their practices.  They were the first major mainline church to have a woman leading them.  I also wouldn't be surprised if there were a merger between the Disciples of Christ and the United Church of Christ sometime in the next decade or two.  They already allow ministers ordained by one to lead a church of the other.

Tax-a-chew-sits

I had a Hungry-Man salisbury steak dinner, supplemented with a cup of broccoli leftover from yesterday and a fruit cup of diced peaches.

Another problem is, if you date the Israelite exodus of the promised land to the Eighteenth Dynasty, you're placing it a couple of centuries before the iron age begins, and the Book of Joshua mentions them facing enemies with chariots of iron several times.  So an Eighteenth Dynasty exodus requires that the Bible contains factual errors of history which sorta defeats the point of trying to use specific points of the historical record to prove the authenticity of the Bible.

All the genetic markers you mention support is that the kohens have a common patrilineal ancestor, but provides absolutely no support as to who that ancestor is.

I remember the days when one took the glass bottles back to the store to be reused.  The cost of the bottle was high enough that bottlers wanted them back as it was cheaper to clean an old bottle than buy a new one.  The advent of plastic changed that and changed the bottling companies from supporters of deposits to opponents.  I.e., at one time the bottlers charged the deposit on their own without being required by a law.

And yes I support the deposit laws.  Heck, I already save aluminum cans for recycling and by that I mean I take them to a recycler myself once I've saved a few bags of them and get a few bucks.  (55¢ a pound the last time I took them in for recycling)

The title is incorrect.  It probably is the first launch of a stealth drone from a carrier, but it misses being the first launch of an UAV from a carrier by over half a century.  Drones were launched from a carrier deck at least as early as 1946 for the purpose of collecting samples from the mushroom clouds of Operation Crossroads.

Kōkyo, Tōkyō, Dai Nippon Teikoku - 15 August 1945

"It appears that the Americans have no more arrows for their atomic bow," said General Umezu, Chief of the Army General Staff.

"For now. And while not all their arrows have been forged as they would hope, it is apparent that they will have more," said Admiral Yonai, Minister of the Navy.

"Is there any further word on the Allied response to the government's proposal?" inquired Emperor Hirohito.

"None, Your Majesty," replied Foreign Minster Tōgō.

"Unless one takes the resumption of American bombing as a response," said Admiral Suzuki, Prime Minster of Japan.

"The pause only showed their wish to avoid the casualties they know they will suffer in an invasion," retorted General Anami, Minister of War.  "We can still make use of that to obtain better terms than this unconditional surrender they insist upon."

"Better than what?" asked Hiranuma, President of the Privy Council. "What good does it do the realm if we avoid external shame at the cost of internal shame? The domestic situation is grim. Even without an invasion, we may well collapse from internal considerations."

"I think the term is inappropriate, but the atomic bomb and the Soviet entry into the war are, in a sense, divine gifts. This way we don't have to say that we have quit the war because of domestic circumstances," opined Admiral Yonai.

"How soon could the Americans launch an invasion of the home islands?" inquired General Anami, Minster of War.

"At minimum another month, and if they act that soon, it would most likely be to invade Taiwan," replied Admiral Toyoda, Chief of the Navy General Staff. "We've been able to hurt them enough that they will not rush in. We still have time to bargain."

"But not much time.  It is time to endure the unendurable, including occupation if we must, so long as the survival of the kokutai is ensured.  All other conditions may be agreed to save that one," said the Emperor, thus setting Japanese policy for now. The Japanese thought they had a bit more time before having to make a decision. The Soviet invasion was a blow, but not even General Umezu was thinking that the mainland part of the empire was salvageable now.  Survival of the homeland was what was being contemplated by all of the those assembled here, both hawks and doves.  How to obtain that was what they disagreed about.
The quote about the Soviets and the atomic bomb being divine gifts, is an actual historical one.  The bombing halt mentioned here is also historical, tho it wasn't an intentional one.  Bombing was halted on the 11th because of weather conditions but a general opined to the press it was to give the Japs a chance to surrender, so Truman had it extended a couple more days so as to not confuse the Japs by seeming to have abruptly ended a peace feeler.

Vermont would have been a battleground state in 1980, 1984, and 1988 if those elections had been close.  However, none of them were.  Even then its status as a battleground was not due to the voters changing but the parties changing and the fact that different voters adapted to that at different times.