Comments for Damn Interesting

Comment on Welcome to the Jungle by Ravindra Karve

Ravindra Karve — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 13:51:32 +0000

Very nice story & podcast.

Comment on The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon by blued

blued — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 12:29:36 +0000

There is a mention in Indian scripture almost 2500 years back. Here is the quote: “This argument is called in Sanskrit kaka-tal-nyāya. There was a tal tree, and one crow came, and immediately the fruit fell down. And there were two arguers: one said that the crow sat down on the fruit and it was so light it fell down, and the other said no, the crow was trying to sit down on the fruit but in the meantime the fruit fell and he could not sit. It is like that. It may be coincidence, the crow was just trying to sit on the fruit and the fruit fell. But these people’s answer is no, the crow first sat down, then is was fallen. Another says no, the fruit has fallen down; therefore the crow could not sit. So this kind of argument has no value.” The sage quoted here doesn’t believe in any coincidence theory.

Comment on Poland’s Biological Defensive by Darkhog

Darkhog — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 23:53:22 +0000

I’m Polish and I’ve never knew about this. DI indeed.

Comment on Remember, Remember the 22nd of November by Darkhog

Darkhog — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 23:37:04 +0000

RE: Sandy, “Isn’t there a “techie” way to take the voice recording, clean it up, un-distort it, and get a better idea of how the natural voice of “Max” sounds?”

If it was just pitch-shifted, maybe. With that kind of distortion? Unlikely even with modern audio software and hardware.

Comment on The Derelict by Deej

Deej — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 22:58:36 +0000

Damn, that was the interestingest!

Comment on The Only Nazi Aircraft Carrier by BattleshipBoy

BattleshipBoy — Mon, 05 Sep 2016 00:42:52 +0000

If the Graf Zeppelin had completed sea trials by the time of the Bismark and Prinz Eugen sortie in May 1941,and had sortied with them, it would have rolled the dice/shuffled the deck as far as the ensuing sea campaign. There would have been immediate repercussions for convoy routing, and Royal Navy capital ship movement in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and even the Indian Ocean. The Brits would have moved Heaven and Hell to track and try to sink them. One knowable, though, was that there was NO WAY Hitler was going to authorize any kind of strike at the U.S. With Barbarossa in the planning, Germany did not need America as a fully active member of the Allies. Thus, the German naval strike force would probably have stayed in the eastern or mid-Atlantic Ocean (to avoid being detected by North American air patrols). Hunting down Allied convoys may even entailed cruising into the South Atlantic. Incursion into the Med wouldn’t have made any sense because the Italians already had battleships and airfields in the area. Taking the ships into the Indian ocean probably would have caused panic and havoc in the area, but then the Germans would have had to fight their way back through a fully aroused Home Fleet, Gibraltar force, and any and all small Royal Navy detachments locally-based. If any of the German ships had mechanical breakdowns (which were not unknown in the Kreigsmarine), or even moderate battle damage, the whole mission would have been at considerable risk, with the ships being so far from friendly repair and re-supply facilities. Net result – most probably a black eye for the Royal Navy, but not an Earth-shattering defeat. Afterwards, they would have put into motion even further plans to hound the German fleet at port and on the high seas. Immediate historical effects, for sure, but the farther down the timeline, the less the overall effect.

Comment on The Only Nazi Aircraft Carrier by Scoman

Scoman — Sun, 04 Sep 2016 08:56:33 +0000

I have seen the only existing model of the Graf Zepplin in a private nautical museum in Hamburg Germany. If properly equipped and used the battle for the Atlantic could have been very different.

Comment on John Frum and the Cargo Cults by Scot Soars

Scot Soars — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 04:01:00 +0000

I spent three months sailing in and around Vanuatu a few years ago and spent two months there after cyclone Pam hit the island. The author’s description seems to me as very far off of the mark on many things. Take a trip and see for yourselves how the followers of Jon Frum operate.

Comment on When They Became Him by trytobeunbiased

trytobeunbiased — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 22:55:04 +0000

It did not start with Robert Lowth. It started with Anne Fisher who published “A New Grammar” in 1745.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-onlanguage-t.html?_r=0

While it seems probably that some bigots did use this change in the language to further their anti-woman agendas, there does not seem to be evidence that the change in the language was done so that women could be oppressed. The change seems to have been made primarily because it was thought that agreement of number was more important.

Comment on The Zero-Armed Bandit by Davieboy

Davieboy — Sat, 27 Aug 2016 08:15:22 +0000

Another superbly written and interesting article. You have a devastating turn of phrase!