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Old 2012-12-11, 05:50   Link #25041
TinyRedLeaf
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Not news per se, but a wonderful story nonetheless.

How a German's honour saved the lives of a B-17 crew
Quote:
New York (Dec 9, Sun): It was Dec 20, 1943. A young American bomber pilot, 2Lt Charlie Brown, found himself somewhere over Germany, struggling to keep his plane aloft with just one of its four engines still working.

His crew were returning from their first mission as a unit, the successful bombing of a German munitions factory. But the success came at a grevious cost: of his crew members, one was dead and six wounded. His B-17F bomber had been attacked by no fewer than 15 planes. Brown himself had been knocked out and regained consciousness just in time to right his plane after it went into a dangerous nose dive.

Brown soon had another major concern: a German plane was flying directly next to his own — so close that the pilot was looking him directly in the eyes and making big gestures with his hands that only scared Brown more.

Brown thought he was hallucinating. He did the thing you see people do in movies: he closed his eyes and shook his head no. He looked, again, out the co-pilot's window. Again, the lone German was still there.

Brown, already in shock, was freshly shot through with fear. What was the guy up to?

He craned his neck and yelled back for his top gunner, screamed at him to get up in his turret and shoot the guy out of the sky. Before Brown’s gunner could squeeze off his first round, the German did something even weirder: He looked Brown in the eye and gave him a salute. Then he peeled away.

What just happened? That question would haunt Brown for more than 40 years.

A Higher Call, the new book by Adam Makos with Larry Alexander, tells the incredible true story of these two pilots.

The other side of the tale
The German pilot was Lt Franz Stigler, a 26-year-old ace who already had 22 victories to his name. He needed just one more to be awarded the Knight's Cross.

But on that day, as his Bf-109 closed in on the American plane, he sensed that something was wrong. The enemy plane was not engaging him. In fact, unbeknown even to Brown, the plane had lost its tail-gun compartment and one wing was badly damaged.

As Stigler drew closer, he saw the tail gunner covered in blood, and that a part of the plane's fuselage had been ripped off. He also saw the wounded, terrified airmen inside, trying to help one another tend to their injuries.

It was then that Stigler remembered the words of his commanding officer, Lt Gustav Roedel. "Honour is everything here," he had told a young Stigler before his first mission.

The senior airman added: "If I ever see or hear of you shooting at a man in a parachute, I will shoot you down myself. You follow the rules of war for you — not for your enemy. You fight by rules to keep your humanity."

Stigler's moral compass was more powerful than his need for glory. "For me it would have been the same as shooting at a parachute, I just couldn't do it," he later said.

He ended up escorting them for several miles out over the North Sea. But he feared that if he was seen flying so close to the enemy without engaging, he could be accused — and doubtless found guilty — of treason.

When he saw a German gun turret looming into view, he realised he had to make a decision. Meanwhile, the American crew had begun to train a gun on him. Stigler saluted his counterpart, motioned for him to fly away from German territory and pulled away.

NEW YORK POST, THE DAILY MAIL
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Old 2012-12-11, 06:14   Link #25042
Frenchie
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Republicans filibuster their own bill.
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Old 2012-12-11, 06:35   Link #25043
ganbaru
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Nine hurt as gunmen fire at Cairo protesters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8B90RO20121211
Quote:
Nine people were hurt when gunmen fired at protesters camping in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Tuesday, according to witnesses and Egyptian media, as the opposition called for a major demonstration it hopes will force President Mohamed Mursi to postpone a referendum on a new constitution.

Supporters of the Islamist leader, who want the vote to go ahead as planned on Saturday, were also gathering in the capital, setting the stage for further street confrontations in a political crisis that has divided the Arab world's most populous nation.
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Old 2012-12-11, 08:38   Link #25044
SaintessHeart
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf View Post
Not news per se, but a wonderful story nonetheless.

How a German's honour saved the lives of a B-17 crew


Not surprising really. The Luftwaffe during World War 2 had immense respect for their enemy pilots, especially the British and subsequently Americans. There is even a case where a captured allied spy contacted the Luftwaffe to pull the airmen in Buchenwald out from the camp and into regular POW camps where they wouldn't be eventually gassed. Hermann Goring himself, an ex-pilot under the Red Baron's wing, was also against Hitler's order to kill the airmen and treat them badly, had the airmen transferred to Stalag.

The Russians weren't as respected. As Erich Hartmann, German fighter ace had put it :

Quote:
In the early days, incredible as it may seem, there was no reason for you to feel fear if the Russian fighter was behind you. With their hand-painted "gunsights" they couldn't pull the lead properly or hit you.
Hartmann also had an incident with Lt Goebels of the USAF, whom he almost shot down if not for an empty magazine. He parachuted out but was subjected to only a camera pass. Is it the Battle of Britain that changed the outlook of the Luftwaffe towards the British and American airforce?

Hitler isn't exactly very popular in the armed forces (which non-ex-military politician isn't in their respective armed forces?) - even Rommel openly defied his Commando order not to maim the SAS commandos who tried to assassinate him. In the case of special operations during the war, both sides have given each other respect with regards to operations, even Skorzeny's incrimination of "using enemy uniforms" during the Battle of Bastogne during Nuremburg had an unexpected defendant in the abovementioned British spy.
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Old 2012-12-11, 11:45   Link #25045
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HSBC pays record fine to settle US money-laundering accusations

Quote:
HSBC is to pay a record $1.9bn (£1.2bn) to settle allegations that it laundered money for drug cartels and broke sanctions in the US to allow terrorists to move money around the financial system.

In the latest embarrassment for Britain's banks, the HSBC chief executive, Stuart Gulliver, said he was "profoundly sorry" as he confirmed the scale of the fine. It is the largest ever for such an offence and even greater than the £940m the bank had feared it faced after the allegations first surfaced in the summer in a report by the US Senate.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2...ney-laundering
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Old 2012-12-11, 12:08   Link #25046
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Frenchie View Post
What is this, I don't even...

Ugh. There is no facepalm large enough.
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Old 2012-12-11, 12:16   Link #25047
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Originally Posted by GDB View Post
What is this, I don't even...

Ugh. There is no facepalm large enough.
What worries me is that 47% voted for these clowns
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Old 2012-12-11, 12:20   Link #25048
SaintessHeart
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GDB View Post
What is this, I don't even...

Ugh. There is no facepalm large enough.
I can't find a palm big enough, but I can find something that has got 5 appendages and sufficient surface area to cover your face.

The Ghost of the Christmas Future showed him his grave with the inscription "fiscal cliff" adorned on it.
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When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.
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Old 2012-12-11, 12:35   Link #25049
AnimeFan188
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GhostShell hackers release 1.6 million NASA, FBI, ESA accounts:

"The hacking collecting GhostShell has announced it has finished operations for
the year, but has signed off with a dump of around 1.6 million account details
purloined from government, military, and industry.

"ProjectWhiteFox will conclude this year's series of attacks by promoting
hacktivism worldwide and drawing attention to the freedom of information on the
net," the group said in a statement."

See:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12...stmas_release/
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Old 2012-12-11, 13:13   Link #25050
KiraYamatoFan
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AnimeFan188 View Post
GhostShell hackers release 1.6 million NASA, FBI, ESA accounts:

"The hacking collecting GhostShell has announced it has finished operations for
the year, but has signed off with a dump of around 1.6 million account details
purloined from government, military, and industry.

"ProjectWhiteFox will conclude this year's series of attacks by promoting
hacktivism worldwide and drawing attention to the freedom of information on the
net," the group said in a statement."

See:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12...stmas_release/
Have those bastards ever tried that same move with the likes of Russia, Syria, China, some Arab and South American countries if they care so much about freedom of information on the net? It's funny, but there are times I feel they just hate Western societies when they could be hitting everyone with no discrimination. Just saying...
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Old 2012-12-11, 13:31   Link #25051
flying ^
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ganbaru View Post
Obama decries right-to-work proposal during trip to Michigan
http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2...-michigan?lite
That's what unions get for pushing to freaking enshrine their perceived 'rights' in the Michigan constitution!

http://www.freep.com/article/2012110...oesn-t-pay-off

they tried
they overreached.
they lost

... now they pay the consequences.

----------

Also, remember these union weed smokers and binge drinkers that got the world's attention ~2 yrs ago?



Guess what? They got their jobs back! In the real world they would've been swiftly made redundant, but their backer's iron grip presence made it almost impossible for mgmt to be flexible in almost any/every situation!
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Old 2012-12-11, 16:13   Link #25052
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School District Owes $1 Billion On $100 Million Loan

Quote:
More than 200 school districts across California are taking a second look at the high price of the debt they've taken on using risky financial arrangements. Collectively, the districts have borrowed billions in loans that defer payments for years — leaving many districts owing far more than they borrowed.

In 2010, officials at the West Contra Costa School District, just east of San Francisco, were in a bind. The district needed $2.5 million to help secure a federally subsidized $25 million loan to build a badly needed elementary school.
http://www.npr.org/2012/12/07/166745...0-million-loan
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Old 2012-12-11, 16:26   Link #25053
KiraYamatoFan
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http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNews/en...tryID=10477738

Quote:
Egged for speaking English?

Posted By: Laura Casella lcasella@astral.com · 12/11/2012 7:09:00 AM

A woman claims she was pelted with eggs last Thursday night in NDG because she was heard speaking English.

Sasha Elickus tells CJAD news she was dropping off her mother at her Monkland avenue apartment with her husband and 9-month-old baby boy.

She says her husband was unloading boxes and groceries from the trunk while she was still in the car with their son, when suddenly the unexpected happened.

"I just felt really large bangs on my car, and I heard someone screaming out of a car window driving really fast down Monkland towards Montreal West swearing a profanity and then saying bleep English person."

She says her son started to scream and when she looked at him realized that yolk had splattered all over his face.

"The SUV was just covered, inside and out, of eggs," says the resident of Ile-Perrot.

Elickus believes the suspect may have heard them speaking English at a Jean-Coutu or Provigo nearby earlier in the evening.

"But NDG is very anglophone," she says, "so I don't understand why something like this would happen."

Elickus says the disgusting experience has left a bad taste in her mouth and she plans on filing a police report.
I was raised into French education, but I was taught honor, respect of the laws, and never harming the weak. But as long that big fat old biatch Pauline Marois is in office in Quebec, we shall have more disgusting examples such as this from those French Quebecois bigots coming out of the closet since last spring. For teaching such idiots about life, I hope someone will knock some sense into them with a hell of a beating inside a prison cell. YOU DON'T ATTACK CHILDREN, NEVER!
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Old 2012-12-11, 16:35   Link #25054
ganbaru
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KiraYamatoFan View Post
I was raised into French education, but I was taught honor, respect of the laws, and never harming the weak. But as long that big fat old biatch Pauline Marois is in office in Quebec, we shall have more disgusting examples such as this from those French Quebecois bigots coming out of the closet since last spring. For teaching such idiots about life, I hope someone will knock some sense into them with a hell of a beating inside a prison cell. YOU DON'T ATTACK CHILDREN, NEVER!
As much as I dislike Pauline Marois and the PQ, the fact than they are in power have pretty much no impact in such incident. There will always be such moron, with or without the PQ in power.
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Old 2012-12-11, 16:42   Link #25055
KiraYamatoFan
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ganbaru View Post
As much as I dislike Pauline Marois and the PQ, the fact than they are in power have pretty much no impact in such incident. There will always be such moron, with or without the PQ in power.
But for some reason, their coming out of the closet was pretty evident since the student strike and the rise of the PQ came up. What bothers me is how many incidents of such nature occurred within a short time since the electoral campaign.

edit: my Ph.D supervisor in the psychosocial domain told me that an entire generation of people in this province needs a stronger disciplinarian social frame with mandatory military or civil service in order to teach them what sense of duty towards all citizens alike is all about. With the current situation, I fully agree with her. Quebec, an open-minded society? My ass, right.
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Old 2012-12-11, 16:48   Link #25056
willx
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Uproar over Santa quitting his pipe habit in "Twas the Night Before Christmas"

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

Reply hazy, ask again later
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Old 2012-12-11, 16:53   Link #25057
ganbaru
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KiraYamatoFan View Post
Quebec, an open-minded society? My ass, right.
Depending to where you would compare with and on what. Compared to Alberta or some of the red state, we are pretty much open-minded but if you compare with California...
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Old 2012-12-11, 19:21   Link #25058
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Originally Posted by ganbaru View Post
Depending to where you would compare with and on what. Compared to Alberta or some of the red state, we are pretty much open-minded but if you compare with California...
If I compare Quebec with provinces with a long history of welcoming immigrants, different cultures and languages (i.e. Ontario and British Columbia), recent events in Quebec are not making me feel optimistic and I feel the province is regresssing since the last few months in terms of open-mindedness to non-francophones.
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Old 2012-12-11, 19:32   Link #25059
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No offense, but I was hoping Quebec would seceed from Canada back in, what was it, 1995? Than they can be as French as they want outside of Canadian laws.

The trouble of course being, where are all the English speakers going to go?

After that failed, I was assuming the situation would have normalized, but it seems a generation or half generation or half generation later, the problems have come up again. But this time the UN has said that Quebec cannot leave like it was trying to previously (or at least that was my understanding).
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Old 2012-12-11, 20:09   Link #25060
ganbaru
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Gunman opens fire at Oregon mall, several people shot: officials
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8BB01720121212
Quote:
A gunman opened fire at an Oregon shopping mall outside of Portland on Tuesday and multiple people were believed to have been shot and wounded, authorities said.
When was the last event of that kind, a month ago or a little more ?


Michigan weakens union rights in home of auto industry
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8B91AJ20121211
Quote:
Michigan enacted a ban on mandatory union membership on Tuesday, dealing a stunning blow to organized labor in the state that is home to U.S. automakers and the symbol of industrial labor in the United States.
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