When Harry Truman told his cabinet in 1948 that he was going to recognize the new country of Israel (without yet knowing what its name would be), most of his closest collaborators and friends vehemently opposed such a move.

Truman always considered that he had made the right decision, and in many ways, his was an extremely lonely choice; not backed by a majority of his cabinet or by most members of his own political party. //

While it’s true that Harry Truman had a soft spot in his heart for the Jewish people because of his Baptist and Biblical upbringing, and while it’s true he had close Jewish friends, and while it’s also true that he was deeply moved by the suffering of the Jews at the hands of the Nazi’s, these were not the main reasons that he came to his momentous decision. Looking at the actual arguments advanced at the time by Clifford and others who defended Truman’s move, it’s evident that the reason Israel was recognized was that they wanted a liberal democratic nation to exist in an area of the world where such a phenomenon was woefully absent. Not much has changed in the past 75 years. //

One sees in Harry Truman’s step a clear sense of right and wrong, but at the same time, there was a fierce spirit of courage in this lonely but righteous decision.

There's an old saying in military circles about the U.S. Army, in the form of a quote: "We will cross a frozen river, at night, to kill you in your sleep — on Christmas morning. We've done it before." That saying refers to the American Revolution Battle of Trenton, only months after the Declaration of Independence when General Washington led his men across the frozen Delaware River to attack Hessian mercenaries in Trenton, New Jersey. This battle, this victory, gave hope to an infant republic that was still struggling to survive.

Partisan politics reigned, inflation soared, and the country was deeply divided. You may think this is America in 2023, but this was the United States in December 1776. In one of the darkest periods in American history, the economy was in ruins, and Washington’s army had lost one battle after another.

The mood of the six-month-old country had deteriorated from optimism to defeat. But on Christmas Day, amid a raging Nor’easter, a small group of soldier-mariners from Marblehead, Massachusetts, conveyed Washington’s army across an impassable, ice-filled river, changing the course of history.

Washington's troops were in miserable condition on this cold December night. Many of them didn't have shoes, and the trail they left on the march was marked with blood seeping through makeshift wrappings on frozen feet. Enlistments were on the point of running out. Rations were running low, and forage was non-existent. Men were beginning to desert. General Washington realized that the newborn Republic needed a victory to boost morale and strengthen the resolve not only of his troops but of the new nation. The general who was to become the father of our country delivered. //

It's impossible to overstate the importance of this battle. While small when viewed against modern warfare, both in scale and scope, it was nevertheless seminal. General Washington gave the country a victory it sorely needed, which did wonders for the mood of the new republic at a time when good news was sorely needed.

What is Christian Nationalism besides a slur to put in scare quotes that let the left discredit an opponent without having to talk about issues? It starts with the fact that America was founded by Christians who acknowledged the role of Christ in establishing a just government. The Mayflower Compact states three reasons for founding Plymouth Colony, "the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country." Similarly, the Jamestown Charter says the goal of Virginia Colony is "the furtherance of so noble a work, which may, by the providence of Almighty God, hereafter tend to the glory of his divine Majesty, in propagating of Christian religion to such people, as yet live in darkness and miserable ignorance of the true knowledge and worship of God, and may in time bring the infidels and savages, living in those parts, to human civility, and to a settled and quiet government."

From there, there is a straight line to the Founders. The First Amendment prohibition on the establishment of religion only applied to the federal government, with several states maintaining religious tests to hold office. Some state constitutions still require officeholders to profess a belief in God. It wasn't until Torcaso v. Watkins (1961) that religious tests were struck down. The purpose of the First Amendment was to prevent any Christian denomination — the target was explicitly the Anglican Church because of its close ties to England, which had served as a quasi-governmental agency for the Crown before independence — from achieving national church status. //

Christian liberty only happens within the context of a correctly formed conscience. Doing what you want because it feels good is not liberty; it is licentiousness and anarchy. Over the last 60 years, we've discovered that the glue holding America together was not individualism but our common Christian heritage. Without that glue, we see our culture disintegrating before our eyes. It is only by viewing the Constitution and the rights stemming from it through the lens of our Christian founding that we will survive. //

Dieter Schultz streiff
a day ago edited
I searched for the passage that they had written, I thought, in the Federalist but without a doubt, one of the Founders, that specifically addressed the Judeo-Christian teachings that allowed what they created with the USA. Noting that none of the other religions (Muslim, Hindu, or any of the others) allowed the type of government that they created, they were all missing in one way or the other what they needed when they created this country.

I didn't find it but I'm certain that the Founders knew and stated that right from the start that what they did recognized the unique Judeo-Christian tradition of what they created and none of the other religions allowed it. //

Laocoön of Troy Dieter Schultz
a day ago edited
George Washington's letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island might be interesting to you:

Gentlemen:

While I received with much satisfaction your address replete with expressions of esteem, I rejoice in the opportunity of assuring you that I shall always retain grateful remembrance of the cordial welcome I experienced on my visit to Newport from all classes of citizens.

The reflection on the days of difficulty and danger which are past is rendered the more sweet from a consciousness that they are succeeded by days of uncommon prosperity and security.

If we have wisdom to make the best use of the advantages with which we are now favored, we cannot fail, under the just administration of a good government, to become a great and happy people.

The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy—a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship.

It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.

It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my administration and fervent wishes for my felicity.

May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants—while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.

May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy. ~ G. Washington

Not much room for being a busybody, judgemental Karen is there? Not much room for Jew hatred and bigotry is there? And how does savage lefty lawfare and compulsion square with Washington's "just administration of a good government"?

The stay of removal comes after a group called Defend Arlington, which is affiliated with Save Southern Heritage Florida, filed a lawsuit Sunday seeking the restraining order. The lawsuit accuses the Army, which oversees the administration and maintenance of the cemetery, of moving too fast in seeking the memorial's removal. Per the lawsuit, "The removal will desecrate, damage, and likely destroy the Memorial longstanding at ANC as a grave marker and impede the Memorial’s eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places."

In issuing his order, Judge Alston acknowledged there was merit to the argument by the plaintiffs that the work involved in removing the statue would disturb nearby gravesites. Alston ordered participants in the matter to be ready to argue their cases this Wednesday, and also noted that he "takes very seriously the representations of officers of the Court, and should the representations in this case be untrue or exaggerated, the Court may take appropriate sanctions.” //

The statue, unveiled in 1914, features a bronze woman, crowned with olive leaves, standing on a 32-foot pedestal, and was designed to represent the American South. According to Arlington, the woman holds a laurel wreath, a plow stock and a pruning hook, with a Biblical inscription at her feet that says: “They have beat their swords into plough-shares and their spears into pruning hooks.” //

smagar
3 hours ago
If Congress really wants to see this statue come down, wouldn't it speak up and object to the TRO?

Anyone who's studied this issue knows that the Naming Commission recommendations were buried in an NDAA. Hardly anyone saw them before they began to be implemented.

Since then, the House of Representatives has approved an amendment by Andrew Clyde (R-GA) to this year's defense appropriations, which would prohibit federal dollars from being spent to remove this memorial. If you put two and two together, this is a clear sign from one half of Congress that it doesn't want to see this memorial moved. Now that everyone's had a chance to read all the commission's recommendations and weigh their impact, it's telling that one house of Congress has voted this way.

Let's hope the judge considers this. Sounds as if it's time for the House to hold hearings on the Naming Commission recommendations themselves. Seems as things aren't as cut-and-dried as they were depicted to be.

“House Republicans are aiming to block the Pentagon from removing a Confederate memorial from Arlington National Cemetery.”

The Democrats’ march to Year Zero continues apace with the Biden regime’s proposed removal of a Civil War Memorial that marks the grave of the memorial’s Jewish sculptor who is buried at its base. The memorial’s removal would also necessarily desecrate the graves of numerous Confederate soldiers buried nearby. //

The memorial is intended to celebrate the post-war reconciliation of the North and South, a celebration of unity that apparently rankles Democrats and their rabid desire for division and destruction.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-travesty-at-arlington-national-cemetery/

Luke AFB, Arizona-56th Fighter Wing
about 5 years ago

#TBT In 1967, Capt Bob Pardo’s wingman was hit over Vietnam and didn’t have enough fuel to make it to Laos. Pardo told him to lower his tail hook and he pushed him 90 miles over the border where they all ejected and were rescued.

Lt Col Pardo retired from Luke in 1974.

For the whole story click here: https://www.luke.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1397511/legendary-pilot-inspires-new-generation-of-air-warriors/

Forty-six years ago, the deadliest peacetime aviation disaster in history took place. //

After the crash, it became mandatory for pilots and air traffic controllers in most countries around the world to use standardized, hard-to-confuse terminology. Words such as "OK" were replaced with "Roger" (meaning that the receiving person acknowledges). Phrases such as "We're at takeoff" were replaced with "[Insert Flight Number] is taking off the runway [insert number]" or "[Insert Flight Number] holding short runway [insert number]".

In the moments leading up to the crash, both the first officer and flight engineer were hesitant to question Captain Van Zanten's decision to immediately go for takeoff roll due to his seniority at KLM. In a post-1977 world, airlines began to incorporate playing down the idea of a cockpit hierarchy, choosing to place more emphasis on pilot training based on team decision-making. This idea of "Crew Resource Management" (CRM), has become a mandatory requirement for cockpit crew training in North/South America (FAA) and Europe (EASA) since 2006.

http://www.project-tenerife.com/nederlands/PDF/finaldutchreport.pdf/tenerife-air-disaster-report

Director Ridley Scott has achieved the impossible—making Napoleon Bonaparte boring. //

It takes a certain kind of genius to ruin a film about Napoleon Bonaparte.

For crying out loud, this is the Corsican artillery commander who became the de facto emperor of continental Europe, the man who carried the French Revolution into Spain, Italy, Austria, and Germany, sparking the political movements that would culminate in the First World War.

This man doomed the Spanish empire, freeing Latin America from its rule and enabling the U.S. to double in size in the Louisiana Purchase. He did all this and found time to craft a law code on par with the Roman Emperor Justinian.

This man coopted an atheistic revolution, convinced the pope to come to Paris to crown him, and then, in a fit of pique, decided to crown himself instead.

Depending on your perspective, Napoleon smothered Europe with divisive passions or brought enlightenment to a backward continent. He either represents the apotheosis of the French Revolution or its ultimate betrayal.

So many moments in Napoleon’s life would make excellent standout films. The subject is an artist’s dream.

Yet somehow, director Ridley Scott managed to make this quintessentially enigmatic historical figure drop-dead boring. //

Ultimately, the film feels like a disengaged fifth grader’s petulant history project. It takes pains to note when and where each event takes place, as if to say, “Hey, audience, see this? It actually happened, please care about it,” without allowing the events to breathe.

This slavish obsession with accuracy seems an extreme overcorrection from “Gladiator,” where Scott butchered the historical record but captured the heart of Roman virtue. Here, Scott has preserved the history only by carefully excising the drama and passion that audiences expect from a blockbuster film. //

As if an afterthought, the movie serves up two spectacles of battle: Austerlitz and Waterloo, but manages to remove any real drama from those famous conflagrations. In each case, the audience has no sense of why the battles are important, what Napoleon and his opponents are trying to achieve, and why they should care about the men dying before their eyes.

By contrast, “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” provides a masterclass in battle storytelling. The Battle of Helm’s Deep delivers an awesome spectacle of fascinating siege tactics, setting and fulfilling audience expectations, and making audiences care by placing the main characters at the heart of the action. Viewers have a stake in the twists and turns of the battle because they have gotten to know and care about Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and Gimli (John Rhys Davies), who are intimately involved in the fighting.

By contrast, audiences in “Napoleon” see nameless, faceless soldiers fighting in ranks they don’t understand, with Napoleon in the distance commanding things. The film has spent no time explaining why the battle matters, what the ramifications are for France if Napoleon loses, and why viewers should care about those doing the fighting. All we know is that this is a massive battle, and Napoleon is in control, so we should just watch and eat our popcorn.

The problem with this approach is that it tosses all the drama out the window. //

I got the sense that if someone could just sit down with Scott and tell him, “Hey, here’s why Napoleon’s important, and why he’s actually interesting,” perhaps we would have got something a little more like “Gladiator” and a little less like “Real Housewives of Revolutionary Paris.” ///

History should be taught as drama; to do that, one has to connect with historical people, understand why they matter, and the consequences of their action or inaction. Then the dates and events make sense.

• Pan Am ceased operations over 30 years ago following more than six decades in the business.
• The airline's history began in 1927 with mail service between Key West and Havana, eventually expanding its routes worldwide.
• Despite its eventual downfall due to fuel prices and deregulation, Pan Am's legacy lives on.

It has been over three decades since Pan American World Airways operated its last flight. The carrier, affectionately referred to as "Pan Am," ceased operations 32 years ago, with its final flight taking place on December 4, 1991.

The airline was known to be a leader in technology and innovation, having operated several aircraft types throughout its more than 60-year history. Next month will mark 95 years since it commenced passenger services.

Pan Am's Pacific Clipper Journey in World War 2 ( written 1999):
The 'Round The World Saga of the "Pacific Clipper" by John A. Marshall

December 7, 1941 - January 6, 1942

The first blush of dawn tinged the eastern sky and sent its rosy fingers creeping onto the flight deck of the huge triple-tailed flying boat as she cruised high above the South Pacific. Six days out of her home port of San Francisco, the Boeing 314 was part of Pan American Airways' growing new service that linked the far corners of the Pacific Ocean. With veteran captain Robert Ford in command, the Pacific Clipper, carrying 12 passengers and a crew of ten was just a few hours from landing in the harbor at Auckland, New Zealand.

The calm serenity of the flight deck early on this spring morning was suddenly shattered by the crackling of the radio. Radio Operator John Poindexter clamped the headset to his ears as he deciphered the coded message. His eyes widened as he quickly wrote the characters on the pad in front of him. Pearl Harbor had been attacked by Japanese war planes and had suffered heavy losses; the United States was at war. The stunned crew looked at each other as the implications of the message began to dawn. They realized that their route back to California was irrevocably cut, and there was no going back. Ford ordered radio silence, and then posted lookouts in the navigator's blister. Two hours later, the Pacific Clipper touched down smoothly on the waters of Auckland harbor. The odyssey was just beginning.

In a conference announcing the deal, Juan Trippe told the press that the decision to buy Boeing's new jet transport, to be called the 747, was his most exciting experience with Pan American since the airline's beginnings almost four decades earlier.

Everything about the deal was big: Biggest commercial jet plane (680,000 pounds gross weight), biggest commercial aircraft order ($525 million), biggest jet engines (Pratt and Whitney JT9D turbofans putting out 41,000 lbs. thrust each), a predicted passenger seating capacity that would more than double any then-existing jet transport. Trippe was betting on a predicted increase in commercial passenger travel that indicated 70% growth in the coming five years, he told reporters. Cargo versions of the 747 - Pan Am was ordering two in the initial order - would carry 214,000 lbs. of freight.

Juan Trippe's long-held belief that inexpensive air travel for ever-greater numbers of people could make the world a more peaceful place was about to be taken to it's highest expression.

Nobody minded for 20 years or so, until another student took action. //

Have you ever been asked to fix unofficial apps, written one yourself, or delivered mission-critical services while still a student? If so, click here to send On Call an email and we'll consider your story for a future instalment.

Don't be shy – we always need more yarns to consider. And remember: you'll always be anonymous.

Cinematography and a conservative bent are not enough to redeem this historical falsification of Napoleon’s life. //

Still, it is sadly not enough to redeem what could have been a glorious film about an epochal man’s rise and fall. Ridley Scott tries to tell an interesting story about Napoleon but falls flat in both respects. The story is bland and spastic, with seemingly random jumps between unrelated scenes that confuse more than clarify. The movie treats its central figure with scorn, making it an uncomfortable experience for the average viewer and a positively infuriating one for the historically inclined. The battles are enjoyable but are not worth the price of admission. You’d be far better off waiting for it to come to streaming or skipping it altogether.

The Great Man deserved more than this falsification of his fascinating life. The audience does, too.

Kissinger served as U.S. secretary of state during the Ford and Nixon administrations and has been an advisor to business leaders as well as many Democratic and Republican politicians, including several presidents. He was one of the architects of the global depopulation agenda and the globalist World Economic Forum (WEF).

Kissinger shaped U.S. foreign policy, especially in the 1970s under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. //

Apart from his public role in U.S. foreign policy, Kissinger was a key leader in the global depopulation agenda. A 1974 National Security Study memo called “The Kissinger Report,” which was declassified in 1989, advocated for policies to drastically reduce fertility rates globally to combat so-called “overpopulation.” His plan became a reality a year later as President Gerald Ford signed National Security Decision 314.

Furthermore, Kissinger was Klaus Schwab’s mentor and helped him to found the globalist WEF. Shortly after the beginning of the COVID crisis in 2020, Kissinger called for a global “post-coronavirus order” and recommended a re-shaping of the global order similar to Klaus Schwab’s plan, which was released later that year in his book COVID-19: The Great Reset.

Since World War II, most American Jews have believed that the more secular American society is, the more secure their status.

This has been, as I have argued all of my life, a colossal error. Indeed, it may turn out to be a fatal error.

With the outburst of unprecedented levels of antisemitism, American Jews are living the famous warning: “Beware what you wish for; you just may get it.”

The primary reason American Jews have lived in the most Jew-friendly, even Jew-honoring, country in history is that most Americans have been Christian. But we must make a key distinction here. American Christians have been not just Christian, as Europe was, but Judeo-Christian. //

In a famous study published in the American Political Science Review, Donald Lutz, a professor of political science at the University of Houston, surveyed the political literature of the American founding. He found that the Bible was cited more frequently than any other work or any other author. The Bible accounted for approximately one-third of the Founders’ citations. The single most frequently cited work was Deuteronomy, the fifth of the five books of the Torah.

The late great Catholic theologian Michael Novak wrote that the roots of the doctrine that “all men are created equal lie in Judaism, carried around the world by Christians.”

As American society and Americans individually become less religious, i.e., less Christian, the Jews become less significant.

Yet, many, perhaps most, American Jews, have bought—and promulgated—the idea that Jewish security in America lies in secularizing, i.e., de-Christianizing, America. //

Look around, my fellow Jews. Are you happy with the results of the secularization of America? Do you feel more secure? Or less?

I ask you: Is it not obvious that when more Americans attended church every Sunday, America’s Jews were far more secure?

Can you pass the U.S. citizenship exam?

Every year, the United States welcomes nearly 1 million new citizens through naturalization ceremonies, all of whom must pass the American citizenship exam by answering 6 out of 10 questions correctly.

While 90% of legal immigrant applicants pass the exam, only 30% of U.S. adults and just 3% of public high school students in America can pass it!

PragerU is determined to educate millions of young people about American history, civics, and the values that have made this country great. If you've watched enough PragerU videos, passing the exam should be a breeze.

Take this quiz to see if you can pass the U.S. citizenship exam.

The venerable PDP-11 minicomputer is still spry to this day, powering GE nuclear power-plant robots - and will do so for another 37 years.

That's right: PDP-11 assembler coders are hard to find, but the nuclear industry is planning on keeping the 16-bit machines ticking over until 2050 – long enough for a couple of generations of programmers to come and go.

Now that you've cleaned up the coffee spills and finished laughing, take a look here, at Vintage Computer forums, where GE's Chris Issel has resorted to seek assembly programmers for the 1970s tech.

Wednesday 19th June 2013 08:28 GMT
John Smith 19Gold badge
Coat
PDP 11 odds and ends.
The PDP 11 (like the PARC Alto) had a main processor built from standard 4 bit TTL "ALU" parts and their companion "register file." So 2nd, 3rd,4th sourced. I'm not sure how many mfg still list them on their available list in the old standard 0.1" pin spacing.

El Reg ran a story that Chorus (formerly British Steel) ran them for controlling all sorts of bits of their rolling mills but I can't recall if they are

I think the core role for this task is the refueling robots for the CANDU reactors. CANDU allows "on load" refuelling. The robots work in pairs locked onto each end of the pressurized pipes that carry the fuel and heavy water coolant/moderator. They then pressurize their internal storage areas, open the ends and one pushes new fuel bundles in while the other stores the old ones, before sealing the ends. However CANDU have been working on new designs with different fuel mixes (CANDU's special sauce (C Lewis Page) is that it's run with unenriched Uranium, which is much cheaper and does not need a bomb making enrichment facility) and new fuel bundle geometries, so time for a software upgrade.

And 128 users on a PDP 11/70. Certain customers ran bespoke OSes in the early 90s that could get 300+ when VMS could only support about less than 20 on the same spec.

Note for embedded use this is likely to be RSX rather than VMS, which also hosted the ICI developed RTL/2, which was partly what hosted the BBC CEEFAX service for decades.

Yes, it's an anorak.. //

Wednesday 19th June 2013 18:20 GMT
Jamie JonesSilver badge
Thumb Up
Who's laughing?
I feel much better knowing this.

What is the alternative? Buggy software written by the "'Have you tried switching it off and on again" generation?

RSX11M - Dave Cutler
Anyone who read the RSX11M sources (driver writers especially) realised that Dave Cutler was a very very good programmer long before he worked on VMS and later Windows NT. He managed to get a multiuser protected general purpose operating system to work with a minimum memory footprint of under 32kbytes on machines with about the same CPU power as the chip on a credit card. (A 96kByte PDP 11/40 (1/3 mip) with 2 RK05 disks (2.4Mbyte each) could support 2 concurrent programmers - a PDP 11/70 (1 mip) with 1Mbyte and 2 RM03 disk packs (65Mbyte each) could support 10 or more.) During the many years that the CEGB used PDP-11 computers with RSX11M, I did not hear of a single OS failure that was not caused by a hardware fault - I wish that current systems were as good. //

Wednesday 19th June 2013 15:09 GMT
annodomini2
Reply Icon
FAIL
Re: there are alternatives
They would never redesign the system, if the system has issues, they are known and fixes are well known.

Changing the system design introduces potential risks and unknowns into the system.

It's not about Zero failure, it's about safe and predictable failure. //

Wednesday 19th June 2013 07:53 GMT
Bob Dunlop
Hey I was taught assembler programming using a pdp11 .

After it's nice clean structure, the mess that was 8086 code came as quite a shock.

anon-89ic
8 days ago edited
It's not just evangelicals. One of the weird things about Israel is that you have to view it through a biblical lens or you miss the point. The IDF truly believes its hand is guided by G-d in this war, which means that no one is going to convince the government to stop what its doing, because this is blasphemy, and the Bible is full of people who got bonked for that conduct. Example: tomorrow, millions of Jews around the world will be celebrating Yigal Amir Day. November 4 is the day that Amir executed Rabin for his existential crime against the Jews. As a reminder of what happened, Rabin had succumbed to demands of the Clinton Administration to a cease fire and halt of military campaigns against the PLO, and raised a stink about proportionality and humanitarian "pauses." As a result, Amir, much like Pinchas in the Torah, rose up amongst the Jewish people and slayed Rabin. And the people rejoiced because they had been spared Rabin's ongoing crimes. How is the Biden Admin celebrating this event? By sending the Secretary of State to Israel to the Prime Minister for a cease fire and halt of military campaigns against the PLO, and raising a stink about proportionality and humanitarian "pauses." If you are Bibi, how do you react to the cluelessness of this timing? The Progressives see what Blinken is doing as "progress." The Israelis view it as "sin." If the United States can't figure this out, and figure out how to work around it, which means not trying this foolishness on Nov 4, then we are nothing more than a paper tiger here in the US while Israel remains the lion of Judah. That's why the evangelicals love Israel and the progressives do not. In the old days, this is why I advised political leaders in Washington, because Washington used to know how to listen. Today, its the bull in the china shop and consequences be damned and Amir had to the bear the burden off Clinton's sins.