Possibly apocraphal story about Enola Gay display

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...

I'm still bewildered at how many USian adults don't know that the US
tried to invade Canada during the Revolutionary War, and lost, and tried
to invade Canada again during the the War of 1812 and lost, or that
during the Wo1812, British and Canadian troops actually burned the White
House, and that's why it's white - to hide the smoke stains on the marble.


The color of the White House has nothing to do with the burning of the
structure by the British in 1814. The building was first made white with
lime-based whitewash in 1798, when its walls were finished, simply as a
means of protecting the porous stone from freezing.

"Cub Driver" wrote in message
...
I'm sure however that every Japanese journalist knows about the Pearl
Harbor attack.

You'd be amazed at how naive Japanese are about history prior to 1945.
Actually, naive is probably the wrong word -- "distorted" is probably more
appropriate.

Another point that someone left out was not only the Rape of China, but
ofthe Phillipines as well.

If something like this conversation took place, it
almost certainly meant: "What has our conventional and justifiable
attack on a military target have to do with your incincerating one of
our larger cities?"

Quite...ten years ago, at least, their teaching of their history was not
only short, but the same caliber of propaganda they got from the war
ministers in the 1930's and 40's.

Steven P. McNicoll wrote:

Right and wrong: the war was against Britain, not Canada,

Canada was British at that time.

Exactly -- that's the part where I said you were right.


All the best,


David

"Tom Sixkiller" wrote in message
...

Is it even completely independant today? I notice stuff I have from Canada
(maps, etc) have some gibbersih about "Her Majesty the Queen"...


Canada achieved complete independence from the British Parliament in 1931,
after the passage of The Statute of Westminster. The British monarch
remains the chief of state but has very little authority.

"David Megginson" wrote in message
ble.rogers.com...

Exactly -- that's the part where I said you were right.


That would leave no part to be wrong.

Tom Sixkiller wrote:

Right and wrong: the war was against Britain, not Canada,

And what was the status of Canada, regarding Britain, in 1774-1781 and
1812-1815?

It was a British colony (that's the part Steve got right), but they were not
already at war in 1812 (that's the part he got wrong). Congress declared
war so that they could invade the Canadian colonies; they didn't invade the
Canadian colonies because they were at war.


All the best,


David

"Cub Driver" wrote in message
...

I'm sure however that every Japanese journalist knows about the Pearl
Harbor attack.


What makes you so sure?



If something like this conversation took place, it
almost certainly meant: "What has our conventional and justifiable
attack on a military target have to do with your incincerating one of
our larger cities?"


A city which was a justifiable military target.

As I remember it, the song goes something like this...

In 1814 we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip
We took a lot of bacon and we took alot of beans
And we march through the swamps to the town of New Orleans

[Refrain]
We fired our guns and the British kept a comin
There wasn't neigh as many as the was a while ago
We fired once more, and they commenced a runnin
Down the Mississipi to the town of New Orleans

We fired our cannons till the barrel melted down
So we grabbed an aligator and we fired another round
We filled his head with cannon balls and powdered his behind
And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind

[refrain]

Steven P. McNicoll wrote:

Exactly -- that's the part where I said you were right.

That would leave no part to be wrong.

The part where you suggested that the U.S. was already at war when it
decided to invade Canada was the wrong part -- the U.S. and Britain had been
at peace for 29 years, aside from the occasional diplomatic scuffle about
searching U.S. ships for British deserters.


All the best,


David

Cub Driver wrote:

If there's such a shrine as you describe, I'd appreciate a pointer to
it.

From the Introduction to _The Rape of Nanking_, by Iris Chang.

"What baffled and saddened me during the writing of this book was the persistent
Japanese refusal to come to terms with its own past. It is not just that Japan has
doled out less than 1 percent of the amount that Germany paid in war reparations to
its victims. It is not just that, unlike most Nazis, who, if not incarcerated for
their crimes were at least forced from public life, many Japanese war criminals
continue to occupy powerful positions in industry and government after the war. And
it is not just the fact that while Germans have made repeated apologies to their
Holocaust victims, the Japanese have enshrined their war criminals in Tokyo - an act
that one American wartime victim of the Japanese has labeled politically equivalent
to 'erecting a cathedral for Hitler in the middle of Berlin.'"

George Patterson
None of us is as dumb as all of us.