History: The Year is 1937

I've uploaded year 1937 to the TSP Wiki...

http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1937


Here are some one liners...


The Nanking "Event" -- This is the Japanese mass murder and destruction of Nanking. Call it what you want. It is horrific.

The Nazis Hire a "Solutions" Company -- I talk about keeping track of undesirables and how IBM helped. I also talk about how I will buy from former collaborators, if it is clear they are making better decisions now.


Notable Births -- Colin Powell, Saddam Hussein, Bill Cosby, Morgan Freedman, Jane Fonda, George Takei, George Carlin.

In Other News -- Edwin Land founds Polaroid, the Hindenburg disaster and cannabis is now taxable

The Nanking "Event"

Crush the Chinese in three months and they will sue for peace!

-- Japan's War Minister Sugiyama, 1937.

This "event" will be called "The Rape of Nanking" but not by the Japanese. Japan already has a puppet government installed in what we call Manchuria. Unfortunately, their expansion options are limited until Mao Tse-tung provokes an incident at the Marco Polo Bridge. Shots are fired and suddenly the Second Sino-Japanese War is underway! The War Minister figures this war will be over in 3 months. (It will last over 8 years.) FDR is calling for a "quarantine" of the Japanese aggressors. "Quarantine" is code for BLOCKADE! Japan is an island nation about the size of California, so a US blockade would be an act of war. Then the worst thing possible occurs. Japanese aviators from the aircraft carrier Kaga hit and sink the gunboat Panay flying an American flag. They also hit a British ship. Everyone has their back up and the Japanese won't back down. They are winning this fight and they are on the road to Nanking. Nothing can stop them now. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

My Take by Alex Shrugged
Exactly what happened is clear. The capital city of Nanking was majorly jugged by Japanese soldiers over the next 4 weeks. Looting, rape and mass murder were rampant. People were "hunted like rabbits". 20,000 men of military age were marched to a field and shot. Estimates of the non-military death toll range from 40,000 to 300,000. One could say that official Japan didn't order it. The commander of the army promised good treatment to the people of Nanking, but the officers on the scene clearly encouraged it. A large number of soldiers don't go wandering off for that long to rape and pillage without a lot of officers knowing and approving it. FDR started calling Japan a "bandit country" and it just got worse from there. ^[4]

The Nazis Hire a "Solutions" Company

Yes. Its another episode of "How much worse can the Nazis get?" For example, if you don't salute properly you get a punch in the nose at minimum. More likely a beating. Reverend Martin Niemöller was promised protection for the Church. After all, the soul of Germany is in danger from the Godless communists. (The communist/socialists are aggressive atheists, so his worry is real.) Now the Reverend has been arrested for activities against the State. He will be sent to a concentration camp and write that famous speech that starts, "First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--Because I was not a Socialist." Of course, keeping track of communists, Jews and rebellious reverends would be an impossible task without the wonder of the age... the IBM tabulating machine. They "keep tabs" on people by occupation, race and religion. The punch cards run through a sorter and identify people who would otherwise slip through the cracks. IBM's Thomas J. Watson will be honored by the Nazis with the Order of the German Eagle this year for the punch card solution to their Jewish problem. ^{[5] [6] [7] [8]}

My Take by Alex Shrugged
All these years later, it's embarrassing. Isn't it? I'm not sure what Watson's motivation was for accepting the award. He tried to give the award back later, but he failed to do so for reasons that seemed good at the time. Now, they seem less good. I am Jewish, and I have Jewish friends who work for IBM. I'm not putting down the current company. Companies often last longer than the people who made those critical business decisions. Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen are other examples of Nazi collaborating companies from which I would gladly use their products. Why? Because it is the decisions that the companies make today that matter. For years, the only companies that would sell cars to Israel were Mercedes-Benz and Subaru. Today, Israel even buys German submarines. So... make your own decision, but I have no problem buying German if it makes practical sense.

Notable Births

• Colin Powell (Living): US Army General and Secretary of State. (He also speaks Yiddish!) ^[9]

• Saddam Hussein: President of Iraq. (The consensus said that he had an atom bomb. Oops!) ^[10]

• And in Entertainment...

• -- Bill Cosby (Living): Comedian and actor on I Spy and The Cosby Show. ^[11]

• -- Morgan Freedman (Living): He played "God" in "Bruce Almighty" and plays President in everything else. ^[12]

• -- Jane Fonda (Living): "Barbarella" (a cult classic) and "The China Syndrome" (killed the nuclear power industry). ^[13]

• -- George Takei (Living): Star Trek's Mr. Sulu. FDR sent him to a concentration camp. Apparently, a 5-year-old Japanese-American boy posed a security risk to the United States. (I am appalled.) ^[14]

• -- George Carlin: "When fascism comes to America, it will not be in brown and black shirts. It will not be with jack-boots. It will be Nike sneakers and Smiley shirts." ^[15]

**Note: (Living) means they were alive when I checked.

In Other News

• Edwin Land founds Polaroid. His polarizing material works great for sunglasses. Land will be essential to the development of spy satellites. ^{[16] [17]}

• The Hindenburg disaster. "Oh the humanity!" cries Herbert Morrison as the airship bursts into flames moments before landing. ^[18]

• The sale of cannabis is now taxable. Of course, possession is also illegal.... but for the medical research community, it is taxable. ^[19]

This Year in Wikipedia

Year 1937, Wikipedia.