Is anything made in the U.S.A.

[Podunkadunk]

Hey Pokadunk. The Germans treated our prisoners for the most part per the Geneva convenntion. We have not faced the others on your list in a "fighting war" in modern times so they are irrelevant to me personnally. Maybe you are too young to know about the Japenese treatment of American Prisoners during WW2. I can assure you it was something I can forgive but will never forget and yes it does influence my buying decisions to some extent. In my case I was able to get a tractor of predominately North American content that outspec'd those with heavy Japenese content for the same or better price. I have "forgiven" up to around $2000 price difference and if thier machines of equal capability were that much cheaper I would think about buying them. I have a lot of freinds and realitives who would probably lynch me if I did but hey, everybody has a price.

I think you missed my point. When I mentioned the Germans, Brits....and the rest, I meant that EVERY country has treated some other country wrong at some point in time. So, by you saying you wouldn't buy anything from the Japs because of Pearl Harbor and Bataan, I followed up with my post to say, If you won't buy from them because of what they did there, how about what the Germans did to Americans in WWII, or worse yet...Jews. Or how the Brits have treated the Irish...so on and so on. At some point in time, every country has violated another country for some reason or another. By your logic, if you are influenced by the actions of other countries...you wouldn't be buying much that you didn't make yourself.

As for the Germans treating our P.O.W.'s in accordance with the Geneva Conventions...there wasn't even a Geneva Conventions article related to treatment of P.O.W.'s until 1949 and it wasn't ratified until 1950. The war had been over for almost 5 years ****** treated everyone like crap and didn't care what the world thought. He was especially biased toward Jewish people.

As for my age and it's relevance to me remembering how the Japs treated our prisoners of war, it doesn't matter...I can read. Unless you were on the Bataan death march or an actual P.O.W., you found out the same way I did...either in a book, article, the news or through relatives who were there.


Have a good evening, like the other fellow, I'm done with this.
-Podunk

 

[Builder]

I agree wholeheartedly! We can take care of ourselves. We are constantly thinking of better, faster and more lethal ways of killing our neighbors.

The Chinese don't have the logistics to bring the fight over here to us. They are a technologically advanced country however, and this new satellite killing technology they are perfecting is scary. I heard a nationally syndicated radio host talking recently. He noted that because the Chinese would need years and years to perfect a Navy to be able to logistically move troops and war machines to our region, they know it's futile. So, they are using their technology to weaken us instead. If they can knock out all the satellite's which we use to control almost everything we do militarily, then they have crippled us dramatically. He made some great points in his segment.

Satellites have already been "taken out", so it's not new technology. I think they have a long way to go before they'd be able to successfully put a hurtin' on us in terms of satellite wars. We're probably further ahead on curing problem than the public really knows.

 

[patrick_g]

Following the recent turn of this thread prompted these lyrics to pop into my head and (unfortunately) stay there for too long.

Merry Minuet

They’re rioting in Africa
They’re starving in Spain
There’s hurricanes in Florida
And Texas needs rain

The whole world is festering with unhappy souls
The French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Poles
Italians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch
AND I DON’T LIKE ANYBODY VERY MUCH!!

But we can be tranquil and thankful and proud
For man’s been endowed with a mushroom-shaped cloud
And we know for certain that some lovely day
Someone will set the spark off
AND WE WILL ALL BE BLOWN AWAY!!

They’re rioting in Africa
There’s strife in Iran
What nature doesn’t do to us
Will be done by our fellow "man"

Children place great store in "who started it". At some point every nation, tribe, group, family, or individual has done something that another association didn't like and sought retribution for. When to applaud and cheer or when to boo depends on whose ox is being gored. If friends do something to a third party we often don't mind so much but if the third party does something to friends we feel the need to rattle some sabers if not wield them.

I was a cold warier in a "ready to end the world on command" organization. The Strategic Air Command had many bases. The base I was on the longest was a typical SAC base and was division HQ for three bases including itself. Each base had a squadron of B-52 bombers loaded with nuke bombs and nuke cruise missiles under each wing with alert A/C on the alert pad ready to go RIGHT NOW. Each of the 3 bases had 150 Minuteman missiles each with multiple independently targetable nuke warheads.

...and then somehow MAGIC happened and the balloon never went up. The world is now a very different but possibly more dangerous place. When everyone has nukes, no one is safe and we are headed that way. 9-11 was literally nothing compared to what may come, sooner than most head in the sand types want to think.

Time should heal all wounds. When there is no living Japanese on the face of the earth young enough to have participated in WW II, then can we let it go and get on with current issues? I lost relatives to the Japanese in WW II and have no love of the Japanese actions of the time. I had relatives who were slave holders and others who were in the Indian wars (on both sides.) I don't feel any personal responsibility for owing anything to any one because of what my ancestors did to their ancestors, or vice versa.

It is important to learn the lessons of history to avoid repeating the mistakes but it is not appropriate to hate a nation for the actions of some of its members. What about the Brits? They have been our bitter enemies employing mercenary armies to help slaughter us but have been our allies more recently. Do we hate them from 0800-1230 and then like them the rest of the day?

It is good to be AGAINST the ACTIONS of the wrong doers and when able take armed or other appropriate action against them but let's don't get medieval and kill their friends, relatives, stock, pets, and sew their soil with salt to prevent anyone living where those people came from.

There is a much more important issue at play today than ANY past wars. International radicalism/terrorism. If we don't fight it successfully near its roots we will have to fight it here at home. If they were not busy fighting us in their backyard they would be over here fighting us on our turf. There is no alternative, a third path, a let peace have a chance alternative or leaving them alone so they will leave us alone. This struggle of ideologies so totally over arches and eclipses hurt feelings about what someones ancestors did to ours. This is now. This is serious. We need to pull our heads out of the sand (or other dark places) and deal with reality.

If it could be shown that Kubota tractors were built by war criminals or even WW II vets of the Japaneses military then I wouldn't have bought one. If it could be shown that no employee of JD is a descendant of anyone involved in killing or depriving any of my Indian ancestors of their rightful possessions then I might reconsider buying one. Where does a sane person draw the line? Is hating a descendant of a practitioner of a despised philosophy appropriate? Productive?

//RANT MODE = OFF// //SOAP BOX MODE = OFF//

Is everyone ready to BE IRISH???

St. Patricks Day is coming soon.

NOTE: Patrick wasn't Irish, wasn't Catholic, and was not even named Patrick (by his parents.)

Patrick

 

[Podunkadunk]

Patrick

Very well said Pat, very well said indeed!

 

[MossRoad]

So let's end this on that positive note.