Naja

Parents are always thinking of the future. As has been pointed out earlier - children think in 'black and white'. This is just the base most parents are given with which to fill in the 'grey'. As "ntg84" says, being there to answer questions helps cement the foundation that children need - an even gradient of grey. I am 'God' to my children (not so much my wife.) Abuse that power or ignore its importance, and surely the curtain will be pulled, to reveal the old man that they later suspect. Pitifully, you will be left tugging at strings than no longer bind. The magical quality of children is that they see the world clearly as it is, and not as you or I imagine it, but as it really is. Fill in the grey TRUTHFULLY but just one shade at a time, if you can. "What's this have to do with Combat Mission?" you might ask. A lot. I think for most WWII buffs we were attracted by the things that interest most kids. For me it was the planes, many dozens zeroxed at the local public library (yes the money to zerox was supposed to be for school lunch) and dutifully pasted in my bedroom. Like most inquisitive kids I soon discovered : just scratch the surface and many questions lead to many books for answers, and very fast. Black and white is not as clear as once supposed. The weak will retreat and shun questions and answers. The strong will keep feeding the beast with the never ending appetite: Knowledge.

One more thing, I heard a news blurb yesterday: In New Zealand they are planning on requiring children to register their toy guns (CM could be next). I can't seem to figure out how to make my son be all things to all people (politically correct) so I teach love of Family, God, and Country. The rest seems to be falling in place. another 2 cents. hey, almost a nickle worth!

I have a five year old boy and a three year old girl. I would take a different tact than 'good guys and bad guys' because all too often my son wants to be the "bad transformer" or "bad power ranger" and I don't object. (How many times as a kid did you want to be the Indians, I mean the cowboys, I mean the Indians - whichever one was bad at the time.) Personally the topic of the SS has never come up, but war in general has, including related subjects (politics, defending country, honour, etc.). I made a simple rule from day one: NEVER lie to my kids. NEVER. And it has served me very well. At this age, as you know, they pick up on everything around them and I would agree that children's thinking is very rigid - almost black and white; but they are in the process of filling in the gray which can jade the best of us. No kid wants to be "bad", they're just obsorbing the world with all its good and bad. I personally would explain that a lot of people were killed in that war and some are alive today including sons, grandsons, etc. and talking in public about it may bring up painful memories for some. My 2 cents worth thanks

Thanks guys, I can't wait; Mac people are the best, no debating that.

The debate about WWII is very simple: "Are the Germans human?" If not, Dr. Brian is right; end of debate. Therefore, what happened was freakish in the human experience. Therefore, any person associated with "freaks" is a subhuman and deserves to be treated accordingly with disrespect and contempt and can usually be spotted right away by a person with advertised high intellect. Further more, intellectuals and politicians will never send innocents to war again for personal reasons except in the case of selective moral outrage. Hmmmm... But if "Germans are human", then the reality is that it probably will happen again and turning the SS etc. into freaks with "war genes" only will cloud most peoples' ability to recognize a dictator's madness until it's too late. To look at WWII objectively is the only way to prevent such a disaster, but when you do like most people you find out that you were spoon-fed pablum and there are many difficult questions on both sides. With a lot of political positioning for self-gain and people like Dr. Brian will never convince me that babies and pregnant women killed by "Bomber Harris" etc. shared in some kind of collective guilt. The problem with all of WWII is the propaganda machine is still running. It suits many different causes and countries. If a new Hitler came on the political stage we would probably say he feels our pain and builds great highways. First recipe for disaster - we need to be in a depression and have riots in the streets between lefties and righties before our benevolent dictator saves the day. Also, don't think for one instant that most politicians don't secretly emulate him, being a populist is in fashion. P.S. Sajar's story is real and he lives in Paris as a recluse - will dig up article and post it.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> What a stupid posting.... From people who only r interrests in armor and Gunpower.... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Too many armchair generals... If you want to hear horrors, talk to the people that were there. My grandfather didn't talk too much about the gas attacks in WWI when I would press as a youngster. I bet he would rather have talked about TOW and the effectiveness of the MG 42. I'm interested in WWII because I can look a person in the eye that was there and hear the horrors of war. The dilemma is that it is so horrific that most veterans don't want to relive it. That is a loss to the next generation who can't even fathom the smell that soils humanity like burnt flesh and diesel, etc. Don't even mention the horrific screams of "children". Yes, let's sit back in our confortable chairs and thank god it's just a GAME when <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>I just played a game as the Germans defending a village against a British battle group, I lost 2 Tigers 3, Mark IVs 3 Panthers and 2 Stugs. I blew the gun off a Churchill and that damn porcupine kept rolling right towards my infantry like nothing happened- <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> P.S. 2,000 vetrens are dying a day, each one has a real story that you wont find in a book.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>As of the ammo loadout of the StuG, smoke was usually not part of the regular loadout at all, they were only loaded for if the upciming mission specifically called for it. yours sincerely, M.Hofbauer<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Your gentlemanly demeanor sturred my interest and I "peeked" at your profile and was pleasantly surprised to see the link to your Panzerfaust und Faustpatrone page http://www.geocities.com/Augusta/8172/panzerfaust.htm . I enjoy learning, and found a plethora of knowledge on the subject that you chose to focus attention on. I would like to thank you and "plug" your website. Kamalu [This message has been edited by Naja (edited 07-27-2000).] [This message has been edited by Naja (edited 07-27-2000).]

Fionn, you like all dictators that are enabled to wield a sword; live by the axiom "if your sword feels flesh, you keep pushing; if you feel steel, you pull back" or hide behind jibberish disguised as the helping hand of reason. Fionn, I don't like hypocrisy and your last posts are oozing with the stuff.

Originally posted by Fionn:Challenge to all with CM! <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Well, I'm Irish and prefer not to play as the British, especially the Parachute Regiment.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>As for Lusername, quite trying to get yourself banned so you can act like a martyr, and take your little tiff with Peng somewhere else please.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Yes Lewis, it seems that proving yourself to others is REALLY important to you. Could it be anything to do with the fact that on the net you get to act big and tough while in your home life you live on welfare and do nothing and thus feel the need to "prove" yourself to yourself ( since I'm quite sure no-one here really gives a damn) ?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Postorbital ridge hurting. Not good with words. Must use threats, hurt feelings, like at playground. Mad at person. Angry!!!! Can't hit, so ban good idea but want to hit but can't. So play war game - but might lose, so better to ban. Need air so go to cliffs of Moher. Better yet, sit down with Jack then think more clear." Not very cool (reminds me of the ruffians in Ireland who couldn't tell the difference between the Hawaiian flag and the Union Jack. Fione, I had to chucke at someone from Ireland berating another person for being on the dole. The last headline I remember from Ireland that got many a good laugh was that Ireland let 19 or so Chinese immigrants into the country quoting that "they work on Sundays.....and have good take out..." I often reflect on the news story and wonder what the headlines read now. Sometimes being on an island is nice; I know I miss seeing all the different faces and cultures the simple people have it easy.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Originally posted by MrPeng: <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>DAMMIT Lewis! first you go and post a fine humorous thingy directed at me and then you go and do a dumb thing like take a cheap shot at Fionn. when the HELL will you get a grip? Fiona is a sacred cow and I am a d-bag. can you make such discriminations? One is not above teasing or taunting, but you had better be very clear it is such, the other one can bash at will for no good reason and with malice aforethought and not bat an eye...when will you get that through your adle-pated mind? Peng...a drunken fart...I drink therefore I am. ------------------ I'm talking and I can't shut up!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Very cool and insightful Mr Peng

1.Das Boot 2.Human Condition (12 hrs I will never forget) 3.Fires on the Plain (gets me hungry every time I see a pod, I mean monkey) 4.Guy Sajer's "The Forgotten Soldier" (should be a movie) 5.The Bridge (Trees are good for snipers, maybe, & shooting @ P51s should be from the kneeling position) No not cliche': Private Ryan (If I want exaggeration, I just pick the first American authored book on WWII I can find - "We destroyed 8 Tigers with our shovels...")

Being aware of the fact that including pictures with text has become quite fashionable in this era of books on tape, I have included the inset picture of Chapter II: "The Temptation of Peng". It is said to be the inspiration for many an artist, not the least of which is Durer - who it will be recalled, rebelled against the artist of his day by not using yellow smilies in all his work (probably too hard to get the yellow just right.) I fear, Mr. Peng, that society has reached that point again in history where we will once again take hammer and brush to great works of art and with the old English battlecry "knock 'is bloody block off and replace it with a smilie!" I'm sure you recall being in a museum looking intently at a disfigured statue and overheard someone say "what happened to his smilie?" ps: Thanks Peng! I enjoyed writing it - made for good bedtime reading for the kids with much explaining about Pod people and the early divergence in the evolutionary chain leading to the smilies, who by the way you will recall live much longer than Pods. Must be the old cliche' 'the more you know, the more you have to think' and that leads to many quandries better left answered by a Pod. As can be seen by this BBS smilies produce quite rapidly and are known to litter more than the customary 1.782 offspring per household although they tend to intermarry thus retaining a rather limited genetic pool, Mr. Redface being the equivalent of the redheaded step-child: not being cool enough to be included in splash announcements, and not mean enough to convey the required emphasis. [This message has been edited by Naja (edited 06-14-2000).] [This message has been edited by Naja (edited 06-14-2000).]

IN THE BEGINNING, Peng's world was devoid of smilies. Strangely though he felt their presence in his pod. Life in a pod can be enlightening without the crutches of other cultures: smell, touch, fear, hate . Peng, safe in his pod, taught himself to read and write. Soon bored, as so many juvenile Pod people become, Peng immersed himself in spelling, punctuation and the finer points of prose (one liners being a thing for the average pod plebe.) Peng soon made a name for himself. Like swordsmen of olde he would challenge other Pod people of "equal" stature proving himself master to all - and yet emptiness would tarnish these youthful victories of erudite ramblings. Isolating himself from the secluded pods he bathed in phrases and syntax, verb conjugation and pronominal adjectives, blurring the line of present vernacular and the revered erstwhile prose. With this mighty sword Peng grew in stature and renown. His ability to twist meaningless jibberish into works of literary art reminiscent of the ancient Chinese proverbs hidden deep within the bowels of fortune cookies, Peng's influence and renown soon spread beyond the patch that would be pod. Those were the happy times. He soon grew weary of the accolades that were pod and strove for more, reaching for what can't be seen. Peng, like great men before him have done, left his people for the unknown. His people were mournful to see him go. The myth of the pen was born. Packing only the essentials: pen, paper, dictionary, thesaurus, and his beloved Pod U ring, Peng leapt into the unknown with gallant errantry. Forty days and forty nights into his journey he met a stranger. Greeting him in the customary Pod fashion he glanced up, stared for the consuetudinary 5 seconds, and thus satisfied, engaged himself in his writings. The stranger, clearing his voice, spoke as clear and beautifully as any song bird might strive. Long did his melody grace God's green earth but alas! Peng was gone (Pod people become bored easily and are notorious for leaving for extended periods of time.) The stranger, realizing his error - Pod people are notorious for not understanding or appreciating the spoken word - spent the next 40 days writing what he thought was an eloquent saga (probably the best ever written by his people.) He took the scroll containing the paragraph in its entirety and searched for Peng. Behind the grassy knoll he found Peng immersed yet again in scholarly pursuits. The smile of the stranger grew notably wider. After the customary greeting, Peng eyed the piece of paper like a blind man eager for light. The stranger watched as disappointment filled Peng's face - but the stranger could not tell, for his people had but few expressions for feeling. Peng reached for the red pen he kept for just such occasions tucked smartly in his upper left breast pocket. The stranger watched in horror as Peng slashed ruthlessly, yet with such grace that he watched, entranced, the sacred manuscript's brutal violation. From deep within, the stranger awoke from the hypnosis that is Peng, the loud hammer blows of the hateful red marsh pen striking the innocence, detecting each and every erratum with surgical precision, separating the vernacular of one race from the writing of another. Exposing the stranger's people forever to the torment of the written word was a "D" (being the foremost among the hated letters) atop the scroll, accompanied by bilious phrases throughout: "incorrect enantiosis", "unclear constructional homonymity!", "first declension verb?!" The horror that is the written word! The disembodied stranger took the bloody document leaving the chosen one who should have been the salvation of his people. The stranger vowed revenge and destruction upon the tools that Peng effortlessly wields. "Peng will use smilies! With God as my witness - he WILL use smilies!!", the stranger roared to the Heavens. Like a plague he vowed destruction to the Pod people. The stranger had offered the world to Peng and with less than a smile was dismissed out of hand. The stranger turned away from Peng and uttered a nonsensical phrase (even for a smilie), "Smilie says, 'Die a lot now.' " How could he know that this assinine phrase would awake something deep within Peng? Not knowing why he looked at the departing stranger, momentarily tearing himself from his writing, he uttered the words 'die a lot now.' History cannot be altered; enemies were made that day.

From the book HIRSCHFELD ISBN 0 850525314 pg 198 "The cargo was loaded under conditions of the strictest secrecy. Into the deel ducts went the 50lb iron bottles of mercury. Elsewhere optical glass, engineering blueprints, cameras, secret documents in sealed containers, evan an Me 262 jet fighter in its component parts were stowed in the holds amidships. Some of the forward upright tubes were packed with Panzerfauste, other anti-tank weapons and small rockets. The most important and secret item of cargo, the uranium oxide, which I belive was highly radioactive, was loaded into one of the vertical steel tubes one morning in February, 1945. Two Japanese officers were to travel aboard U-234 on the voyage to Tokyo: Air Force Colonel Genzo Shosi, an aeronautical engineer, and Navy Captain Hideo Tomonaga, a submarine architect who, it will be recalled, had arrived in France aboard U-180 about eighteen months previously with a fortune in gold..." The processed uranium oxide is theorized to have been used in the atomic bomb dropped on Japan. The captian and cargo disappeared after being surrendered to the Americans who didn't believe that the Germans had reached such an advanced state in Nuclear development. Do you know where Japan's heavy water treatment plant was located during the war? (I do)

As a 29 year old who has been "lurking" since late Nov '99 (on my birth day), I want to wish you a happy birthday and also add that I respect you. I respect honesty - it tends to sting most. Its hard to look at oneself with clarity. This is just another fork in the road, the rest is up to you.