The very many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XXIX

[madviking]

since no one bothered to make a new thread...

previous thread

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Can someone tell me what was wrong with the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second World War? Did even the freaking Nazis go around bayoneting patients on operating tables?

 

[Borachio]

That's an extremely complex question. And I don't have the answer to it.

If I've understood Zizek (who may or may not know anything at all) correctly, it may be something to do with the Buddhist mindset as it unfolded in the Japanese situation: a matter of seeing how things develop and suspending judgement. If you've been brought up in a European Christian culture where inflicting unnecessary suffering on another human being is anathema (like the Nazis were) it's quite hard to go against it, in comparison with the Japanese-Buddhist tradition. Or something. I really don't know.

Zizek cites some famous writer (what I has forgot) of haiku: "a frog flops into the water: plop!". And compares it to "a sword cutting a head off: a spurt of blood".

Yeah. It's a hard question.

Ask me an easy one instead.

 

[Lohrenswald]

Bruh
No subtitle?
I'm boycotting this thread

 

[madviking]

Bruh
No subtitle?
I'm boycotting this thread

brough

no subtitles on questions threads.

 

[shadowplay]

I'd have gone with:

What's so good about Cleveland?

Spoiler :

Link to video.

 

[Borachio]

If users are allowed confederate flags as avatars, am I allowed a Nazi swastika?

Also, (subsidiary question) I've never seen a Jehovah's Witness out and about when the sun isn't shining; does this mean that JWs are like gremlins and can't afford to get wet because if they do they start multiplying and their veneer of respectability washes off revealing them as the Satanists they really are?

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

What's so good about Cleveland?

They're not Detroit.

 

[W|M]

Can someone tell me what was wrong with the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second World War? Did even the freaking Nazis go around bayoneting patients on operating tables?

This Nazi ripped babies apart in front of their mothers

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

It's one guy. Show me a unit that did that, then they're equal in terms of doing it for the evulz.

 

[cybrxkhan]

Can someone tell me what was wrong with the Imperial Japanese Army in the Second World War? Did even the freaking Nazis go around bayoneting patients on operating tables?

I have heard that part of the reason was the very brutal treatment many Japanese soldiers faced from their superiors (and each other too, probably). Once you get treated like crap you really want to just take it out, especially if you're an angry young guy far away from home with a lot of pent up frustration. So I guess what I'm saying is the culture of the Japanese military at the time encouraged that sort of stuff, whether directly or indirectly.

That's not the whole story, though, but I think it is a part of it. Also, I suppose the racial superiority mindset as well as a number of other cultural biases probably didn't do wonders either.

It's kind of odd to think that a generation before, during the Boxer Rebellion and WWI, I think, foreigners reported Japanese soldiers to be very professional and courteous (relatively speaking), though exactly how nice they were then I do not know, as of course like all imperialist powers I doubt the Japanese soldiers then were really angels either. Even then, though, the military of Japan was a very stern, powerful force, as it had been since the Meiji Restoration when it essentially ensured itself a powerful place in politics.

 

[Michkov]

Also, (subsidiary question) I've never seen a Jehovah's Witness out and about when the sun isn't shining; does this mean that JWs are like gremlins and can't afford to get wet because if they do they start multiplying and their veneer of respectability washes off revealing them as the Satanists they really are?

Should be easy to test, just get a bucket, fill it put it next to your door. Next time they show up just pour the water over them. A hose should do the job as well.
Remember to take notes, else its just fooling around.

 

[Atticus]

Do Americans really keep the bottle in a paper bag when drinking, or is it just some sort of Hollywood modesty? (I do understand hobos trying to placate the cops like this, but ordinary people do it in movies etc. sometimes too).

 

[Samez]

Alcohol is a matter of state law in the US and can be anything from liberal to restrictive. In some states you are not allowed to drink alcoholic drinks in the pubilc (i.e. only at home and in bars). There can also be restrictions on transporting alcohol. It might be necessary to take the shortest path home after buying some, you might not be allowed to carry it in the driver cabin and stuff like that...

 

[BenitoChavez]

I've only once seen someone drink out of a bottle wrapped in paper. It was very strange to me as I'm not sure what the paper did. The person drinking it wasn't a hobo and it was in a state without any public drinking laws that I'm aware of.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Do Americans really keep the bottle in a paper bag when drinking, or is it just some sort of Hollywood modesty? (I do understand hobos trying to placate the cops like this, but ordinary people do it in movies etc. sometimes too).

It really works. It isn't so much that it fools any cops. It just isn't as much of an insult to their intelligence that way. They feel they can pretend it isn't really there.

When the US Park Service Rangers started violating this sacred institution in Sheep Meadow in Central Park, it almost sparked the second Civil War. But I found my shirt provided an acceptable substitute, even when it was obvious it was hiding a 12 oz Bud.

 

[Antilogic]

I have heard that part of the reason was the very brutal treatment many Japanese soldiers faced from their superiors (and each other too, probably). Once you get treated like crap you really want to just take it out, especially if you're an angry young guy far away from home with a lot of pent up frustration. So I guess what I'm saying is the culture of the Japanese military at the time encouraged that sort of stuff, whether directly or indirectly.

That's not the whole story, though, but I think it is a part of it. Also, I suppose the racial superiority mindset as well as a number of other cultural biases probably didn't do wonders either.

It's kind of odd to think that a generation before, during the Boxer Rebellion and WWI, I think, foreigners reported Japanese soldiers to be very professional and courteous (relatively speaking), though exactly how nice they were then I do not know, as of course like all imperialist powers I doubt the Japanese soldiers then were really angels either. Even then, though, the military of Japan was a very stern, powerful force, as it had been since the Meiji Restoration when it essentially ensured itself a powerful place in politics.

I forget which book on my shelf mentioned this, but it was also because the Japanese army didn't provide much in the form of rations, so soldiers needed to forage from the local population (i.e. steal food that wasn't a couple cups of rice).

It really works. It isn't so much that it fools any cops. It just isn't as much of an insult to their intelligence that way. They feel they can pretend it isn't really there.

It's partly this, partly older laws about not showing alcohol labels in public, and partly just old customs. Depending on the local laws and other factors, they may still question you if you are drinking from a brown paper bag, and you could still be arrested for public intoxication (but maybe not for open containers).

 

[Farm Boy]

Do Americans really keep the bottle in a paper bag when drinking, or is it just some sort of Hollywood modesty? (I do understand hobos trying to placate the cops like this, but ordinary people do it in movies etc. sometimes too).

Yea, sometimes they do. Depends on the state. Depends on the town within the state. Depends on the personality of the police force and how much they're inclined to generally let public consumption laws, such as they are for location, slide for the time and crowd you're with. You can always step it up to moonshine in a water bottle if you want, but that seems a bit hardcore. Maybe 20 proof kool-aide mix instead?

 

[cybrxkhan]

I forget which book on my shelf mentioned this, but it was also because the Japanese army didn't provide much in the form of rations, so soldiers needed to forage from the local population (i.e. steal food that wasn't a couple cups of rice).

That makes sense too. Years ago, when I had this habit of eating a bowl of rice and soy sauce for breakfast for a while, I remember my dad vaguely commenting one day about how the Japanese soldiers basically ate like that day in and day out.

 

[sophie]

It really works. It isn't so much that it fools any cops. It just isn't as much of an insult to their intelligence that way. They feel they can pretend it isn't really there.

When the US Park Service Rangers started violating this sacred institution in Sheep Meadow in Central Park, it almost sparked the second Civil War. But I found my shirt provided an acceptable substitute, even when it was obvious it was hiding a 12 oz Bud.

Yeah. A lot of American states have laws on the books regarding having opened containers of alcohol in public. My understanding of the paper bag thing was more that: without the bag it becomes quite obvious that you've got an open alcohol container meaning a cop can bust you fairly easily whereas having it in a bag creates a theoretically more difficult situation where the cop needs to establish probable cause to ask to search your bag - i.e. with a bag and as long as you're keeping things on the d.l. and you look not-homeless/poor, and you aren't a [feces]show and you're not loitering and not at an event where public drunkenness is already a problem (for example outside a stadium during/before a sporting event) then you don't generally have to worry about being hassled by cops for having an open container.

It should also be noted that in the states having an open container of alcohol in public and drinking from said container are separate offenses with the former being much less awful than the latter. And as Forma noted it's not a magical barrier that makes you immune to getting busted. It's more an extra layer that makes a cop busting you that much more of a pita than it would be if you were just dope-ily walking around drinking from a bottle of beer, and as long as you're not doing other stupid attention-grabbing things you should be fine. But it's not a free pass - if a cop really wants to bust you he's going to bust you.

The more frustrating aspect of alcohol laws in the US is that not only can laws and enforcement change from city to city, county to county, and state to state, but they can also change rather dramatically within an individual city itself. For example: drinking/open containers in public are illegal in SF but generally cops won't enforce (or at worst let you off with a warning and make you dump the alcohol), but if you're outside the baseball stadium before a game they will bust the [feces] out of you. However if you're on a Caltrain on the way to a game you're fine as drinking is legal on those trains. HOWEVER if you're coming in on BART (the other major public transport rail line) you cannot drink.