In this weekend episode, Victor Davis Hanson examines the battles fought over the Philippines in WWII, and, in the news, more Trump nominations, Alvin Bragg’s cases, and Jussie Smollett is let off by the Illinois Supreme Court.
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If I may offer a minor correction regarding the comment about the Douglas SBD Dauntless (also made in last week’s podcast), it wasn’t replaced by the Grumman TBF Avenger. The Dauntless was a dive bomber, while the Avenger was a torpedo bomber. The Avenger replaced the TBD Devastator. True that the Avenger was an excellent torpedo bomber, fast, able to carry a varied load, very rugged, but the Dauntless was a very good dive bomber, with decent speed and range, able to deliver a payload with excellent accuracy. It was also nimble when unloaded, and like the Grumman products, the Douglas aircraft was rugged. It’s main drawback was that it was designed with fixed wings, a disadvantage on a carrier. Its replacement was the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, which was bigger, a little faster than the SBD, and had folding wings. But it was plagued with teething problems in its first 2 models, both technical issues with the plane itself, and production problems at Curtiss. On its trial deployment about the USS Yorktown (CV-10), it performed so badly that the captain recommended the type be abandoned. The program itself was a focus of Senator Truman’s panel on waste and corruption in wartime manufacturing. The technical problems were eventually resolved, and in the last year of the war, it turned in good service. The SBD soldiered on to the end of the war.
The Avenger itself was such a good platform that it remained in service for several years after the war, in other roles.
For a good account of the Battle off Samar and the bravery and sacrifice of the men of “Taffy 3”, read James Hornfischer’s “Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors”.
This isn’t about the podcast.
You might ask your vet about giving your cancer plagued dog fenbenzadole.
This is an off label use of this animal dewormer, but it has anecdotal reports of
benefit for malignancy. If either of my felines is diagnosed with end stage cancer,
this is what I will give them, if there is no chance of cure by other humane means.
Ms. Winc suggested that we pay greater attention to the pollsters that we believe. Which brings the question, “Why should we believe any of them or even care if we are citizens unconnected to running campaigns”? The purpose of data/information is to form the bases of decisions. If I am running a bread-and-breakfast I will be interested in polls on what people want for breakfast or how much they are willing to pay for a night in the mountains. As a citizen making a decision about voting I need to know the candidates’ policies and past histories but I do not need to know how many other people are going to vote for them because that is irrelevant to my decision.
As Dr. Hanson said, the decision to overturn Mr. Smollet’s conviction was purely technical. Judge Jeanine Pirro, a strong conservative, said it was because a deal had been struck, $10,000 bail money had been forfeited (executing the deal), so the DA or prosecutor couldn’t just nullify it and continue prosecution, regardless of the evidence and morality.
Thank former Governor. Christie of N.J for the Wray recommendation. Wray is an Ivy League type who meandered to Atlanta for a job as an AUSA followed by a sojourn to King & Spaulding as a Partner for the likely 7 figure income range. The firm is old Atlanta and went international when farmer Jimmy became President. I recall man of the people but ask any plaintiffs attorney in Northern GA to give you the scoop on K&S and if a Partner in that firm was a good fit for Trump!! Griffin Bell and Sam Nunn are firm alumni. The power of the deep state.