Fifty-one years ago today, on November 12th, 1969, reporter Seymour Hersh, broke the story of the deliberate killing of civilians at My Lai.
War is not a horrible thing simply because it involves killing others and possibly getting killed yourself. It's a horrible thing mostly because it changes the people that fight, eventually making them no better than animals.
The story of My Lai and the other atrocities are horrible enough. Those who were guilty of war crimes should have been prosecuted. Having said that, we can understand that like the rape of Nanking and a thousand other horrible acts of war, over time these things always happen. This is something we are ignoring in our current endless long war on terror. I am afraid it will come back to bite us.
The true horror of My Lai was the response of the American U.S. Army officer corps. I can't think of a more damming indictment of the Department of Defense than the resulting investigation and trials following My Lai. This was a clear place where the civilian leadership should have wiped the slate clean, like Lincoln, and started over. But the Vietnam story is just one long version of the U.S. military not wanting to fight the war it ended up with, having no idea what it was doing, being unable to learn, and whitewashing any feedback that showed what was really going on. I can count a half-dozen small initiatives that might have been highly effective, but they died before they ever had a chance. An organization that can't be honest with itself is an organization that sooner or later dies when a better competitor comes along.
It was a horrible thing that happened. It happened for horrible, understandable reasons, and the institutional response was eve more horrible, ensuring that these horrors will continue happening. These things don't happen in a vacuum. </rant>
From Space-X to a new inside-out Wenkel engine for DoD, it's been an amazing week for inventors.
Hey @bdkoepke , @dmrq70 , @fforfun , @MikeDwyer , @stevenMsmith , @AgileJazz , @XxWolfBanexX , @HappyDawn , @katamen , @SmileSyndicate , @DanielBMarkham
I've moved!
Locals is turning off their free accounts and I've decided that I'd rather go back to maintaining my own site than sign up for any more "free" services that end up changing the conditions of service later.
The new site is just like this one, only no "locals" in the name. It's https://danielbmarkham.com
Please give it a shot, and please let me know if you have any problems signing up. I think I have the configuration down but you guys will be the first 100 or so to sign up, so there'll probably be some snags.
Daniel
danielbmarkham.com
Hey @ShiroiKami , @osio , @btbytes , @QrzZDE2e , @jslezak , @gtramontina , @planti , @kavalau , @NzDan , @dadsfsadf
I've moved!
Locals is turning off their free accounts and I've decided that I'd rather go back to maintaining my own site than sign up for any more "free" services that end up changing the conditions of service later.
The new site is just like this one, only no "locals" in the name. It's https://danielbmarkham.com
Please give it a shot, and please let me know if you have any problems signing up. I think I have the configuration down but you guys will be the first 100 or so to sign up, so there'll probably be some snags.
Daniel
danielbmarkham.com
Hey @markthien , @vikdutt , @mavenllc , @Dauugavpiils , @rmonaghan , @Vic8888 , @GeorgiaLogCabin , @godfrey , @yumaikas
I've moved!
Locals is turning off their free accounts and I've decided that I'd rather go back to maintaining my own site than sign up for any more "free" services that end up changing the conditions of service later.
The new site is just like this one, only no "locals" in the name. It's https://danielbmarkham.com
Please give it a shot, and please let me know if you have any problems signing up. I think I have the configuration down but you guys will be the first 100 or so to sign up, so there'll probably be some snags.
Daniel
danielbmarkham.com
