do you really think it’s a good idea to take military advice from the French
REBLOGGING BECAUSE OF EVERYTHING OMFG
Historically the “style” died in 1914 because the French would wear bright blue and red uniforms and the British said “that’s a bad idea” and the French said “we look great” then they got sniped.
who would win in a fight: an army of lush employees vs an army of bath and body works employees??? discuss
lush employees, who are more adept at guerrilla warfare and fabian tactics. bath and body works employees rely too much on pitched battle and are not equipped well enough for prolonged conflict
I disagree with some of that, I feel as though the Bath and Body Works employees are pretty well trained in the art of handling an all out attack. Their defenses are high and well coordinated. Remember, they deal with white moms on the daily, whereas I feel that Lush employees are more used to dealing with a younger generation of customers.I feel as though they’d be equally matched but in the end I feel with the advancement in technology that Lush possesses over Bath and Body Works in terms of sheer amount that they sell, ultimately Lush wins, but not without heavy casualties.
All true, but everyone is forgetting Bath and Body Works employees have extreme training dealing with the hell on Earth that is Semi Annual Sale. Have you ever seen someone come between a white woman in her 40s and Vanilla Bean Noel at 75% off? Bath and Body Works employees have and still live to tell their stories
I think terrain is an important consideration? Lush employees are better at straight melee since they’re used to fighting in close quarters, whereas B&BW employees have more experience in moving through wider terrain and using ranged attacks.
this is the kind of discourse I want on my dash
My wife: “All the B&BW folks would have to do is throw a few water balloons into a Lush store and it would be all over.”
They destroy each other. The Body Shop, camouflaged properly, emerges to begin its reign.
Fun fact, the DVD box sets have an option turn off the laugh track and it makes it a much more somber and enlightening social commentary. Cause it may be set in the Korean War, but it’s really about the Vietnam War.
Fun fact: Though being gay in the 40s sucked, being gay in the military was easier, and pretty common. There were apparently, at one point in time time so many lesbians in the military that when they tried to crack down on it, the girls wrote back and said “Look I can give you the names, but you’ll lose some of your best officers, and half your nurses and secretaries.” And they pretty much shut up about it unless you were especially bad at subtlety. (Source: Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers. A good source for gay history from 1900s onwards.)
Sergeant Phelps worked for General Eisenhower. Four decades after Eisenhower had defeated the Axis powers, Phelps recalled an extraordinary event. One day the general told her, “I’m giving you an order to ferret those lesbians out.’ We’re going to get rid of them.”
“I looked at him and then I looked at his secretary. who was standing next to me, and I said, ‘Well, sir, if the general pleases, sir, I’ll be happy to do this investigation for you. But you have to know that the first name on the list will be mine.’
“And he kind of was taken aback a bit. And then this woman standing next to me said, ‘Sir, if the general pleases, you must be aware that Sergeant Phelps’s name may be second, but mine will be first.’
“Then I looked at him, and I said, ‘Sir, you’re right. They’re lesbians in the WAC battalion. And if the general is prepared to replace all the file clerks, all the section commanders, all of the drivers—every woman in the WAC detachment—and there were about nine hundred and eighty something of us—then I’ll be happy to make the list. But I think the general should be aware that among those women are the most highly decorated women in the war. There have been no cases of illegal pregnancies. There have been no cases of AWOL. There have been no cases of misconduct. And as a matter of fact, every six months since we’ve been here, sir, the general has awarded us a commendation for meritorious service.’
“And he said, ‘Forget the order.’
– The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America
I’ve reblogged this before but it didn’t have these comments and HOLY HOT DAMN DID IT NEED THEM.
So, when someone sits down to write a fiction about Women commandos, and a Dudebro steps in to say “Huh, that is so unrealistic huh.”
Harold… oh, Harold…sit down, shut up, and stay out of our way.
History is infinitely gayer than a lot of people want to admit ❤
I learned something new and horrifying today which is… that… no submarine is ever considered “lost” … there is apparently a tradition in the U.S. Navy that no submarine is ever lost. Those that go to sea and do not return are considered to be “still on patrol.”
?????
There is a monument about this along a canal near here its… the worst thing I have ever seen. it says “STILL ON PATROL” in huge letters and then goes on to specify exactly how many WWII submarine ghosts are STILL OUT THERE, ON PATROL (it is almost 2000 WWII submarine ghosts, ftr). Here is the text from it:
“U.S. Navy Submarines paid heavily for their success in WWII. A total of 374 officers and 3131 men are still on board these 52 U.S. submarines still on patrol.”
THANKS A LOT, U.S. NAVY, FOR HAVING THIS TOTALLY NORMAL AND NOT AT ALL HORRIFYING TRADITION, AND TELLING ALL OF US ABOUT IT. THANKS. THANK YOU
anyway now my mother and I cannot stop saying STILL ON PATROL to each other in ominous tones of voice
There’s definitely something ominous about that—the implication that, one day, they will return from patrol.
Actually, it’s rather sweet. I don’t know if this is common across the board, but my dad’s friend is a radio op for subs launched off the east coast, and he always is excited for Christmas, because they go through the list of SoP subs and hail them, wishing them a merry Christmas and telling them they’re remembered.
Imagine a country whose seamen never die, and whose submarines can’t be destroyed…because no ones sure if they exist or not.
No but imagine. It’s Christmas. A black, rotting corridor in a forgotten submarine. The sound of dripping water echoes coldly through the hull. You can’t see very far down the corridor but then, a man appears, he’s running, in a panic, but his footsteps make no noise. The spectral seaman dashes around the corner and slips through a rusty wall. He finds himself at the back of a crowd of his cadaverous crew-mates. They part to let him through. He feels the weight of their hollow gaze as he reaches the coms station. Even after all these years a sickly green light glistens in the dark. The captain’s skeleton lays a sharp hand on his shoulder and nods at him encouragingly, the light sliding over the bones of his skull. The ghost of the seaman steadies himself and slips his fingers into the dials of the radio, possessing it. It wails and screeches. A bombardment of static. And then silence. The deathly crew mates look at each other with worry, with sadness; could this be the year where there is no voice in the dark? No memory of home? The phantasm of the sailor pushes his hand deeper into the workings of the radio, the signal clears, and then a strong voice, distant with the static but warm and kind, echoes from the darkness; “Merry Christmas boys, we’re all thinking of you here at home, have a good one.” A sepulchral tear wafts it’s way down the seaman’s face. The bony captain embraces him. The crew grin through rotten jaws, laughing silently in their joy. They haven’t forgotten us. They haven’t forgotten.
I am completely on board with this. It’s not horrifying, it’s heartwarming.
Personal story time: whenever I go to Field Museum’s Egypt exhibit, I stop by the plaque at the entrance to the underground rooms. It has an English translation of a prayer to feed the dead, and a list of all the names they know of the mummies on display there. I always recite the prayer and read aloud the list of names. They wanted to live forever, to always have their souls fed and their names spoken. How would they feel about being behind glass, among strangers? Every little thing you can do to give respect for the dead is warranted.
I love the idea of lost subs still being on patrol. Though if you really want something ominous, let me say that the superstitious part of me wonders: why are they still on patrol? If they haven’t been found, do they not consider their mission completed? What is it out there that they are protecting us from?
There’s been something in the water since we first learned to float on it. Not marine life, although there’s more of that than we’ll ever know. Not rocks and currents and sand bars and icebergs either, although they’ve all taken more than their share of human life.
But something deeper. Something Other. Something not natural.
Sailors have always been superstitious.
Not one of them described it right.
You don’t hear about it so much now that we don’t lose ships anymore, really, not like we did at the height of the sea trade when barely an inch of ocean floor didn’t bear some wreck or other. And better ships and GPS and weather satellites have all played their part in that.
But we have protection now that we didn’t before. They don’t interfere with war and battle, even on behalf of what used to be their country, or with rocks and weather and human stupidity. Those are concerns for the living.
But the Other Things, the Things that shouldn’t be there – They can’t get to us now without a fight. It’s a fight They haven’t won in a very long time.
As long as we remember them, as long as we call out to them – not very often, just once a year will do – they will keep protecting us from the Things that go bump in the deep.
The one thing I think fanfic authors miss, is Rhodey went to MIT with Tony. His major was probably aerospace engineering, since many Air Force officer candidates major in this area. You know what another name for an aerospace engineer is? Rocket scientist.
Rhodey is a rocket scientist.
Rhodey is a rocket scientist, y’all. Treat him with the scientific respect he deserves.
Rhodey did indeed go to and graduate MIT for Aerospace Engineering in MCU canon. that is legit. He is a rocket scientist
tho, post MIT and probably during, his specialty became more weapons focused but no doubt he is quite knowledgeable in a lot of other related areas
A note on rocket science and weapons from a rocket scientist with a more than passing knowledge of how rocket scientists function in the US Air Force. 😀
It is completely reasonable for an aerospace engineer to go into weapons, especially missiles. And it makes sense for Rhodey to be a missile guy, since he’s working with Tony and what do we see Tony giving the Air Force at the beginning of the first Iron Man movie? The Jericho Missile.
Missiles are at their heart, a rocket problem.
For a missile, aerospace engineering is required, in at least three parts. (1) The aerodynamics of the missile, (2) the guidance, navigation and control of the missile, and (3) the propulsion system of the missile. Now if we extend this problem to Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), you also have to consider the astrodynamics problem, so this is an additional area in a missile design that an aerospace engineer would be required.
Whether Rhodey initially put himself on a path to study missiles, I can’t say. What I can say is something about the idea that Rhodey is “no doubt knowledgeable in other related areas.” This is undeniably true. The Air Force does not actually seek to over specialize their officers. They instead put them on a path that leads them towards a more “jack of all trades master of none” philosophy. So it is highly likely that Rhodey spent time in all areas related to Aerospace Engineering–including airplanes, helicopters, and satellites. To get as far as he is in the military, a Colonel, Rhodey would also have been required to do multiple over seas tours and probably spent some time doing nothing more than being a glorified admin while he was a lowly LT or Captain. (As a general rule, butter bar lieutenants are trusted with exactly zero responsibility. I can just imagine Rhodey calling up his buddy Stark to complain and Stark being like “weeeelllll, you could always come work for me” and Rhodey being all like “NOT ON YOUR LIFE” and Rhodey just continuing to press through and making it clear he is worth something until finally he’s a first LT and they actually trust him with something.)
If Rhodey did not get his master’s degree from MIT, which is likely if he was ROTC though not impossible, he probably went to AFIT for his later degrees. And Rhodey would *at least* have a master’s degree, since a master’s degree is essentially required to ascend from the rank of Captain to Major. I say *essentially* because the Air Force occasionally changes it policy on this. Sometimes it’s absolutely required and sometimes it’s merely recommended. Regardless, Rhodey would at the very least have a master’s degree. It’s also highly likely that for a Colonel working in a research based division, he would be required to have his PhD (considering it’s Air Force weapons, I’m going to make the guess that he probably works in something similar to AFRL Munitions Directorate, though perhaps not that particular group since Rhodey doesn’t seem to be based out of Eglin AFB). As a full bird Colonel, it’s also highly likely that Rhodey would in fact be IN CHARGE of the entire research directorate.
So yes, not only would Rhodey be highly knowledgeable in all areas of Aerospace Engineer, he would probably also have a PhD in it, and is probably in charge of whatever weapons division he runs.
For example USAF research colonels, check out these biographies of current USAF colonels: here and here.
It’s canon that Rhodey got his masters in aeronautic engineering from MIT and that he’s in the military weapons R&D. That’s why he’s the SI liaison. It’s not speculation. Canooooooon.
Steel Phoenix Studios 