Thursday: Hili dialogue (and Leon monologue)

34 thoughts on “Thursday: Hili dialogue (and Leon monologue)”

1. That “u” in “honour” disappears in “honorary”. It would be easier to drop it everywhere.

   1. Only if you’re American.

      English spelling has its own rules and attempts to ‘reform’ it usually end badly.

      cr

      1. Regularizing the haphazard u of honour and honorary is not a major reform, especially as “honour” is relatively recent.

         1. And ‘colour’? ‘Candour’? ‘Armour’? ‘Rumour’? ‘Humour’? etc etc etc

            https://www.spellzone.com/word_lists/list.cfm?wordlist=360

            Where ya gonna stop?

            How about words like ‘nation’, shouldn’t they be ‘nayshun’? (But, ‘nashernal’?) If not why not?

            cr

            1. My comment was about reverting to a consistent spelling–nothing about pronunciation or spelling reform a la Shaw.

            2. Ain’t no such thing. If you demand to change ‘honour’ because of ‘honorary’ then – for consistency – ‘humour’ would have to change because of ‘humorous’, no? And ‘armour’ because of ‘armorial’? Can of worms…

               cr

            3. Not really. A convention like that was changed and could change back, but it is probably too entrenched in one set of dialects to happen. But think of the way “gaol” is giving way to “jail”.

2. Hopefully not prime minister tomorrow. But she probably will be.😭

   1. Given today’s voting results, maybe for not much longer.

3. A dangerous setting there Leon, at least for human feet.

   I know that Japan also has a policy of no ships with nuclear weapons and has for many years. Note also that when congress was working on those amendments it was two years after the Constitution had been completed.

   1. I’m not current on this, but while Japan has a public (i.e. “this is our policy”) policy of no nuclear weapons, I believe that they also have a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy which did/does allow US ships carrying nuclear weapons into Japanese ports as long as no-one says “we have nukes aboard”. And, if I recall correctly, there are a couple of other countries that operate the same way.
      The US Navy had many ships carrying (or at least potentially carrying – their policy is “you can ask but we won’t tell”) nuclear weapons in, say, the 1970s; but I understand the number is much smaller now.

      1. I am not aware of the Navy’s policy one way or the other with regard to an understanding with Japan on this agreement. I recall that the U.S. Navy was not bringing any Carriers into Japan ports simply because they are nuclear powered ships.

         1. Whether or not a ship is nuclear powered is not classified information. NZ law requires US ships to also confirm whether or not they’re carrying nuclear weapons. The Japanese take a “neither confirm nor deny” stance. We do not. Therefore, until last year, not even a coast guard cutter could dock here because the US won’t confirm or deny that, even in situations where everyone knows the answer.

            One thing to note, Japan and the others have nuclear power. We don’t, and our policy includes saying no nuclear power.

            As a result of the policy, NZ is no longer an official ally of the US, and hasn’t been since the policy was implemented.

            1. True, even though e.g. the Operation Deepfreeze flights through Christchurch to McMurdo continued without a hitch, and the NSA spooks still operate their wholesale communications snooping setup at Waihopai… there was an awful lot of posturing about the nuclear ban. What spooked the US was a sort of nuclear domino theory.

               cr

            2. Understand. And certainly our relationship with Japan militarily and otherwise is much more complex than anything we would likely ever have with NZ. Being non-nuclear is certainly a good way to go if you can. Our responsibilities in the world have not allowed us to get there as yet.

      2. The Japanese and NZ approaches were very different for another reason: NZ initially banned any ship using a nuclear power plants. The Japanese, in contrast, actively use nuclear power and don’t have a problem with it.

         I believe NZ’s official ban/opposition on nuclear-powered ships has softened somewhat, but I could be wrong about that. In any event, when the policy was implemented it was manifestly not just about nuclear weapons.

4. Chief Mouser disapproves of May, and cats know best. Brits, you know what to do. 🙂

   1. I wonder if Larry is coming back from visiting the Queen, as in the nursery rhyme.

5. Interesting to learn about the present-day Phuc. She seems to be at peace with the world; makes me want to know more about her.

   1. I found the juxtaposition of photos quite moving.

   2. There’s a pretty comprehensive bio on Wikipedia.

      1. Thanks, it was interesting.

6. The three iconic photographs from the war in Vietnam are the one above of Phan Thị Kim Phúc, the photo of South Vietnamese chief of national police Nguyễn Ngọc Loan executing a bound Viet Cong prisoner, and the one of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức self-immolating.

   That these three photos serve to encapsulate that conflict, tells you just how fucked-up it was.

   1. True, those are well known and famous photos of the conflict. However they do almost nothing to explain for those inside and outside the United states how tragic this war was or to learn the appropriate lessons that are so important to avoid repeating such events. There are many books on the subject that will help in this area but anyone can google away for that assistance.

      1. The best I’ve read in that regard is Neil Sheehan’s A Bright Shining Lie. (Goes well with Halberstam’s The Best and the Brightest.)

         1. My, I almost have forgotten about that book. Read it long ago, about John Paul Vann and many of the earlier years of Vietnam. Great book

            I can’t think about Halberstam without thinking of his book on Korea. Another guy to read is Andrew Bacevich, history prof. at Boston College. He is the real deal, historian and student of the military, served in Vietnam late in the war as a Company Commander. Also, his son died in Iraq.

      2. “However they do almost nothing to explain for those inside and outside the United states how tragic this war was or to learn the appropriate lessons that are so important to avoid repeating such events.”

         Oh, I think I they go a long way on the tragic front…As for those famous lessons we were supposed to learn from it–what a short memory, eh? (Could you believe it when Kerry voted yes for Iraq?)

         Now we have lessons we’re supposed to have learned from Iraq the first. But didn’t. I’ll bet we were supposed to have learned a lot of lessons from Korea, too.

         (Not at all to denigrate the books you and others have mentioned here! Only the public/governmental inevitable amnesia…)

   2. I think some photos of boat people are also relevant.

7. Great photos of Phan Thị Kim Phúc. Maybe especially the second one — wonderful!

8. Well done with harbour! That certainly gives you a few bonus points!

   1. +1

      cr

      1. Bonus points from Canada too, for that spelling!

   2. You sure you kiwis don’t want to give him a whole tonne of bonous points now, and a few more latre?

      1. Took me a while to work that one out! 🙂

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