US Army's last tanks depart from Germany

Started by GDS_Starfury, April 04, 2013, 11:59:58 PM

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LongBlade

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Longdan

Quote from: Staggerwing on April 05, 2013, 04:51:06 PM
I recall reading somewhere that folks of Northern European decent have lower incidence of Lactose Intolerance than folk from other parts of the world. Must be from those long neolithic winters eating Aurochs jerky and drinking milk fresh from the cow or as hard cheese that can survive longer before spoiling,as opposed to a more plant-based diet in warmer climes with longer growing seasons.
This is all pretty much true.  One of the mutations may have originated in Sweden which is apparently the most lactose tolerant group of people the whole world over.
Starts with milk, then socialism, then porn, then who knows?
digni enim sunt interdicunt

LongBlade

Quote from: Longdan on April 05, 2013, 08:39:18 PM
Quote from: Staggerwing on April 05, 2013, 04:51:06 PM
I recall reading somewhere that folks of Northern European decent have lower incidence of Lactose Intolerance than folk from other parts of the world. Must be from those long neolithic winters eating Aurochs jerky and drinking milk fresh from the cow or as hard cheese that can survive longer before spoiling,as opposed to a more plant-based diet in warmer climes with longer growing seasons.
This is all pretty much true.  One of the mutations may have originated in Sweden which is apparently the most lactose tolerant group of people the whole world over.
Starts with milk, then socialism, then porn, then who knows?

You left out Vikings. The Vikings were big on wealth redistribution, too, you know.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Longdan

digni enim sunt interdicunt

besilarius

Getting back to tanks (but just for a minute), Jay had another West Berlin story.
The East Germans were always trying to annoy the West Berliners and the allies.  One thing that the treaty did not allow was putting up the name of the East German government, Deutsches Demokratic Republik - DDR.  For some reason, this was not allowed by the treaty governing Berlin.
The big train depot was adjacent to the French zone of West Berlin.
One day, the vopos painted DDR on a water tower that overlooked the wall.
Everyone complained, but of course the commies ignored it.  The French sent a note that if the sign were not removed by twelve noon, they would remove it.
At exactly 11AM, the six tanks of the French garrison drove up to the wall and aimed their guns at the water tower.  A French colonel got out of one and ostentatiously took out a stop watch and clicked it on.  He then just waited.
The vopo in charge of that section of the Wall came over to complain and the colonel just ignored him and pointed to the stop watch.
Everyone in the West Berlin garrison was put on alert.  Those crazy French were going to start a shooting match.  Cables were burning with war warnings going to NATO headquarters in Brussels, the Corps commands in the south were put on combat alert, and even the Dutch - the DUTCH - went to full alert. 
This was really serious if the Dutch got worried.
At 11:50, two older railroad workers climbed up the ladder with a can of paint.  Everyone on the radio circuits heard it and tried to watch.  It was a big sign, could they cover it all up in ten minutes?  If not would the French carry out their threat and take out the sign, the tower, and the two workmen?
Working fast, they covered up the first D, and then scurried down the ladder.  Taking the D out, left DR which was the logo of the Deutsches Reichsbahn, or German Railways.
The vopo came over, "Satisfied?"
The French colonel looked up before replying.  From his expression you knew he was thinking, 'Damn, I really wanted to take out that tower."
"Oui", he said, clicked off the stopwatch, got into his tank, and led the column back to barracks.

The whole West Berlin garrison was shocked that the French would stand toe to toe with the East Germans over a sign.  The respect level went up considerably.  For about a week.  (The french can't help themselves...they're still french.)
"Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don't find out until too late that he's been playing with two queens all along".  Terry Pratchett.

During filming of Airplane, Leslie Nielsen used a whoopee cushion to keep the cast off-balance. Hays said that Nielsen "played that thing like a maestro"

Tallulah Bankhead: "I'll come and make love to you at five o'clock. If I'm late, start without me."

"When all other trusts fail, turn to Flashman." — Abraham Lincoln.

"I have enjoyed very warm relations with my two husbands."
"With your eyes closed?"
"That helped."  Lauren Bacall

Master Chiefs are sneaky, dastardly, and snarky miscreants who thrive on the tears of Ensigns and belly dancers.   Admiral Gerry Bogan.

LongBlade

Quote from: Longdan on April 05, 2013, 10:58:52 PM
But they were capitalists.

Au contraire. Socialism is the forced removal of wealth from one group to another. Capitalism is self-directed. Now if the monks from Lindisfarne had sailed into the Viking villages and given them all their loot in exchange for milk - that would be capitalism.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

LongBlade

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

Martok

Awesome stories, besliarius.  Thanks for sharing them.  8) 

"Like we need an excuse to drink to anything..." - Banzai_Cat
"I like to think of it not as an excuse but more like Pavlovian Response." - Sir Slash

"At our ages, they all look like jailbait." - mirth

"If we had lines here that would have crossed all of them. For the 1,077,986th time." - Gusington

"Government is so expensive that it should at least be entertaining." - airboy

"As long as there's bacon, everything will be all right." - Toonces

jejo68

Quote from: LongBlade on April 06, 2013, 08:51:53 AM
Quote from: Longdan on April 05, 2013, 10:58:52 PM
But they were capitalists.

Au contraire. Socialism is the forced removal of wealth from one group to another. Capitalism is self-directed. Now if the monks from Lindisfarne had sailed into the Viking villages and given them all their loot in exchange for milk - that would be capitalism.

The vast majority of wealth flowing into scandinavia during the viking age was via trade.
Ofcourse if you didnt want to trade we just took it anyways, but thats utterly besides the point and shame on you for even making me mention it

Longdan

You guys have been sitting quietly over there for a long time.  When are you coming out again?
We now have mega legions of D+D trained nerds to fight for our lands.
digni enim sunt interdicunt

mirth

Quote from: Longdan on April 06, 2013, 01:13:40 PM
You guys have been sitting quietly over there for a long time.  When are you coming out again?
We now have mega legions of D+D trained nerds to fight for our lands.

We're gonna kickass in World War Nerf.
"45 minutes of pooping Tribbles being juggled by a drunken Horta would be better than Season 1 of TNG." - SirAndrewD

"you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" - Bawb

"Can't 'un' until you 'pre', son." - Gus

Gusington



слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Longdan

Why?  He is possessed of secret and arcane knowledge.
digni enim sunt interdicunt

Gusington

Ask him about his Nerf sword injury. Horrific.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Martok

Also, he worships Aquaman.  Best to keep that in mind as well. 

"Like we need an excuse to drink to anything..." - Banzai_Cat
"I like to think of it not as an excuse but more like Pavlovian Response." - Sir Slash

"At our ages, they all look like jailbait." - mirth

"If we had lines here that would have crossed all of them. For the 1,077,986th time." - Gusington

"Government is so expensive that it should at least be entertaining." - airboy

"As long as there's bacon, everything will be all right." - Toonces