At the time of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a plan (Operation Downfall) had already been drawn up to invade the Japanese home islands. "Downfall" was to be in two parts: - Operation "Olympic", scheduled for November 1945, was to capture the southern part of Kyushu, Japan's southernmost island. -Operation "Coronet" - to begin early the following year - was to take place on the Kanto Plain area (near Tokyo) of Japan's central island, Honshu. Casualty predictions varied widely, but all the predictions agreed on one thing: - i.e. that casualties would be extremely high! - The Joint Chiefs of Staff had estimated that Olympic alone (i.e. the capture of Southern Kyushu) would result in between 456 000 and 1 200 000 casualties - depending on whether the operation could be sewn up in 90 days, or whether the battle became more protracted. - General McArthur's staff estimated that Olympic would result in 125 000 casualties after 120 days of fighting. - General Marshall's staff used the previous year's Battle of Luzon as a model, and came up with an estimate of 70 000 casualties for Operation Olympic. - Admiral Leahy's staff, on the other hand used the recently concluded Battle for Okinanwa as a model (a battle that had cost America 70 000 casualties),and estimated 268 000 casualties just to secure Southern Kyushu. (As it turned out, the Japanese had correctly deduced the American plans, and had set their defences up accordingly - guaranteeing that the casualties would have been on the higher side of the estimates!). These casualty predictions were for just one phase of one operation - no one was claiming that the capture of Southern Kyushu would finish the war with Japan. While by that point Japan's navy and air forces were largely out of the equation (what hadn't been destroyed outright was immobilised through lack of fuel)- it still had a formidable army at its disposal. Also,fierce resistance was expected from its civilian population. Adding all this together, a study done by William Shockley for the Secretary of War estimated that the total conquest of Japan - i.e. not just the capture of one half of one island - would have resulted in anywhere between 1.7 to 4.0 million US casualties (By battlefield casualties, they mean the total of those killed, wounded or captured. Except in the case of the war with Japan, there was not a lot of capturing done!) Jack.
Reefton Jack
JoinedPosts by Reefton Jack
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17
Pearl Harbor
by Woodsman inmy grandfather was in pearl harbor.
he is 87 years old.
he can still remember it like yesterday and his stories send shivers down your spine.. pleas take a moment to remember the sacrifice many made.
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King Solomon's Wealth - WTS versus the World Gold Council
by Reefton Jack inwhile i was someones "bible study", i recall being assured that king solomon was so wealthy, that .
"most of the gold in circulation today was originally owned by him!
this supposed fact was even stated in one of the wts publications.
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Reefton Jack
There is a whole branch of science - called "Archealogy" - that is devoted to finding out what happened
before anyone now alive was around to remember.
Jack. -
69
Why is the Watchtower Society so cruel to teens?
by RULES & REGULATIONS inmy mom just informed me that a 17 year old has been disfellowshipped at her hall.at least 7 others have been kicked out within the last 5 years.the publisher count is only 56 .why do they let the teens get baptized so young?
i was 14 and only got baptized because of pressure and the end was coming.if you weren't baptized you would be destroyed.. why don't they wait until everyone is at leat 21?
all these teens haven't come back and you won't ever see them unless they return.i haven't seen my cousin in over 2 years.no one went to his wedding,isn't invited to any family functions and is to be avoided at all costs.. the watchtower society should be ashamed that they act that way and the parents let them get away with it..
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Reefton Jack
I would have to agree 100% with everything said here (except angelus - I don't mean to be rude, but you know what you can do with your religion!)
Lady Lee's remark, though, I can particularly identify with
i.e The WTS doesn't believe in childhood.
I resent (with close to a white-hot intensity!) many things that the WTS has done to me:
- But right at the top of the list by a long shot is the way that they prevented me from having proper life with my family.
For reasons that Lady Lee and others have already mentioned, JWs are not a Family Friendly religion.
Still, what else can you expect from a mob that puts numerical increase ahead of everything else:
- including the welfare of its membership.
Stevenson, in his book "1975 - Year of Doom?" summed it up fairly accurately when he stated
"No other religious group demands so much of its members, in return for so little."
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King Solomon's Wealth - WTS versus the World Gold Council
by Reefton Jack inwhile i was someones "bible study", i recall being assured that king solomon was so wealthy, that .
"most of the gold in circulation today was originally owned by him!
this supposed fact was even stated in one of the wts publications.
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Reefton Jack
fokyc and Clam, thanks for those remarks.
The WTS publication that I recall, however, was a long time before 1996.
(I heard that particular claim about Solomon's wealth sometime in the late 1960s).
Just the same, how many of us would turn down the offer of 25 tonnes of gold!
Gold was one of the first metals - maybe THE first metal - to be used by ancient civilisations.
There were several practical reasons for this:
- For one thing, gold does not react with water or oxygen, which means that it can be found in its native state;
such as in the form of gold nuggets in the bed of a river or a stream.
(Where I come from, this is known as alluvial gold - I believe the term used in Canada and the USA is placer gold).
The only other metal like this that I know of is tin.
- Also, gold is an easy metal to work.
Clam's observations about modern mining and extraction methods certainly have a bearing on matters, too.
At the mine that I work for, it takes 8 tonnes of ore to produce one ounce (i.e. 31.1035 grammes)
of gold.
And that ore is actually considered to be high yielding!
That WTS quote that sparked off this discussion might have to remain another one of life's mysteries!
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23
Are they idiots??
by nonamegiven inon my years as a jw i have always had doubts.
i have dismissed these as me being overly critical or some such nonsense.
now i'm on my way out the door, well i"m out the door i'm just working on shutting it right now.
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Reefton Jack
Certainly, one of life's mysteries how otherwise intelligent people can let themselves be deluded like this!
My first encounter with doubts and "Apostates" came (not surprisingly!) in 1976
(i.e. the year after 1975!)
The response to this by one of the congregation's elders - a man, incidentally, with an exceptionally high IQ - was that:
"The Society will correct itself, but who will correct these people?"
As far as he was concerned, that was the start and finish of the matter - no matter how many may have got hurt / badly hurt while the WTS was making up its mind.
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King Solomon's Wealth - WTS versus the World Gold Council
by Reefton Jack inwhile i was someones "bible study", i recall being assured that king solomon was so wealthy, that .
"most of the gold in circulation today was originally owned by him!
this supposed fact was even stated in one of the wts publications.
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Reefton Jack
While I was someones "Bible Study", I recall being assured that King Solomon was so wealthy, that
"most of the gold in circulation today was originally owned by him!"
This supposed fact was even stated in one of the WTS publications.
I must admit, that - at the time - I saw no reason to question that claim.
However, since starting work a year ago with a major gold-mining company, I came across some information compiled by the World Gold Council.
Not surprisingly, these figures tell quite a different story
(Without,of course, in any way denying that King Solomon was certainly wealthy).
According to the World Gold Council:
- more than 90% of the gold that has ever been produced has been mined since the year 1848 (i.e. following the first discovery of gold in California).
- 64% of the gold ever produced has been mined since 1950.
(This data is available from the website www.gold.org/discover).
Once again, the AWAKE university certainly keeps a person well informed!
(If you are studying for a Diploma in Idiocy, anyway).
Can anyone remember in what publication that claim was made concerning King Solomon's wealth? -
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Did You Think Elders Should've Been Able To Be "Elders For Life"?
by minimus insome of the stupidest witnesses are elders.
i've known more than a few that were basically "nice guys" but as dumb as a stump!
some never knew when to keep quiet and the other elders always had to cover for them.
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Reefton Jack
None of the elders that I knew were stupid in the sense of being as thick as the proverbial "Two Short Planks." In fact, most would have been of slightly higher than average intelligence. All - it almost goes without saying - suffered from a lack of education. However, given the WTS downer on education, that is hardly surprising. One elder I knew had an IQ level shared by only 5% of the population. How he managed to let himself be sucked in by the WTS is evidently another matter! Jack.
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Help Me Understand Something-Education/Dating
by tarhillsblue inanyone that can help me understand this scenerio please explain.
i am relatively new in "the truth".
i am struggling with some logical things here.
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Reefton Jack
We were told often enough that "reading the Watchtower and Awake magazines was the equivalent of gaining a university degree!"
Bachelor of Stupidity;
from the M.T.Head Campus of Awake University. -
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Australia vs. New Zealand
by zagor inin last couple of weeks since in new zealand i was struck by really stark differences between australia and new zealand.. well lets start with simple things.
what are australian national colors, what colors do fans on rugby match paint themselves with?.
well anyone who was ever in australia knows the answer, these lively colors such as, white and blue; blue and gold; and green and gold.
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Reefton Jack
With reference to wearing rugby jerseys in a black colour: Rugby always used to be a sport played only in winter. Wintertime,in New Zealand at least, means playing on sports grounds that range from being muddy, to being very muddy - through to being outright #^*$@y muddy! Add to that the fact that a rugby player ends up down on the ground much of the time, and it makes practical sense to wear a dark-coloured uniform. The name "All Black" was first given to the New Zealand Rugby Team on 11 October 1905. This term was an invention of an English newspaper, the "Daily Mail." However: Even that was evidently someone's typing error. According to Billy Wallace, one of the players in that team, another newspaper reported that the NZ team appeared to be playing like they were "all backs" -i.e.rather than a team composing of eight forwards and seven backs. Someone else saw the story and added to it - but somehow the statement 'all backs' ended up 'all blacks" - and the name stuck. Following along from that, other New Zealand sports teams have adopted similar names (The NZ Soccer Team, incidentally, is known as the "All Whites"). As for spooky experiences,or those that can only be explained by the supernatural,I have had a few of those - but that was while I was living in Papua New Guinea. Those are for another time, however! My observations,anyway. Jack.
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A Catholic Response to The End of False Religion is Near!
by jschwehm inif you are interested, i have made a podcast that responds to the jws' tract campaign on the end of false religion.
you can download it at the following link:.
http://catholicxjw.blogspot.com/2006/11/end-of-false-religion-is-neara.html.
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Reefton Jack
I have a friend who is both a Catholic and a Mason. When I quizzed him about this, he assured me that there are no problems with being both. Jack.