The Off Topic Topic

[mongers]

Chaps, a possible date for your diaries, 27th* May 2024 will see H.M. Queen Elizabeth II's reign become longer than that of Louis XIV.

And arguably she will become the longest reigning monarch in European history.


* 26th May 2024 is 26,408 days after she became queen, the same 72 years and 110 days of Louis's reign. Though please not I'm not entirely sure about it what with leap years etc.

[Eddie Teach]

Why you gonna jinx your queen like that?

[mongers]

Why you gonna jinx your queen like that?

Yeah I did think about that, but thought what the hell, she's doing well and shifting into a quiet semi-retirement. 

[Richard Hakluyt]

Why you gonna jinx your queen like that?

It was important for someone else to post it before Tim did. At least the Queen still stands a chance this way.

[mongers]

Why you gonna jinx your queen like that?

It was important for someone else to post it before Tim did. At least the Queen still stands a chance this way.

[Grey Fox]

Chucky's the one who needs Jinxing.

However, apparently, Canada doesn't have to pick Charles for his next King, could pick William. An event highly unlikely sadly

[Maladict]

What's wrong with Charles?

[Grey Fox]

What's wrong with Charles?

He's old! We will have to go thru the BS how changing everything again in a decade because he'll be dead. Ever looked into the protocol when the Monarch dies? Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent.

[Malthus]

What's wrong with Charles?

He's old! We will have to go thru the BS how changing everything again in a decade because he'll be dead. Ever looked into the protocol when the Monarch dies? Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent.

You are forgetting the upside: tourism, sales of commemorative plates, etc. 

[grumbler]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEO7pddV9fk

Something I didn't know about Japan and Hiroshima.  According to this BBC clip, after Truman received news of a successful a bomb test, he broadcast a message to Japan that called for the unconditional surrender of the armed forces, not of the whole country, which in the BBC's telling left open the possibility of keeping the emperor. Japanese government interpreted this a sign of Allied weakness.

The distinction between "unconditional surrender of the armed forces" and that "of the whole country" is a distinction without a difference.  The Potsdam Declaration changed nothing in terms of what the Allies offered or the Japanese believed would be the conditions after surrender. The BBC is just adding some fake drama to spice up their dramatization.  The German surrender was an ""unconditional surrender of the armed forces"  and was signed by the leaders of the OKW.

The Japanese terms for surrender were tendered through the Swiss in mid-July, and amounted to
1.  No Allied interference in "the Imperial system" (i.e. the Emperor's absolute veto over legislation and his control of the Armed Forces)
2.  No war crimes trials
3.  The Japanese would demobilize their own armies and transport them back to Japan
4.  No Allied occupation

The Japanese government believed that they could get these terms after defeating the first Allied invasion, of which victory they were convinced and which they believed would be necessary before beginning any serious peace talks. "100 million willing to die" wasn't a slogan, it was a belief.

Even after the first A-bomb was dropped and the Japanese realized that there would be no invasion, factions in the government still wanted to fight on and die in place.  The Emperor personally intervened and stated that, if the Allies just guaranteed the Imperial system, the other Allied conditions would be accepted and the war ended.  Note that, at this point, the Japanese in Manchuria had yet to be defeated and were, in fact, holding their own against what proved to be a Soviet decoy attack.

The Japanese then told the Allies of the new terms, but the Allies simply repeated the Potsdam terms, which made no reference to the Emperor but which did require the elimination of the forces of militarism in Japan, which presumably included the Emperor.  The final decision on the Imperial status would be made by the Allied Supreme Commander in Japan, though.

The Japanese had another two days of fierce meetings before they accepted (again, on direct Imperial orders).  By this time Manchuria had been decisively lost.   There was a coup attempt by junior officers to try to prevent this surrender from being effectuated, but it failed.  Lots of suicides ensued.

[Maladict]

What's wrong with Charles?

He's old! We will have to go thru the BS how changing everything again in a decade because he'll be dead. Ever looked into the protocol when the Monarch dies? Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent.

Millions are also spent when they live to see jubilees, it's the price for having a monarch.

I think Charles would make a fine king, the kids are too young anyway.

[Maladict]

So what's up with Merkel?

[The Brain]

Current royals are German enough I think.

[derspiess]

commemorative plates, etc. 

NOW WE'RE TALKIN'

[Duque de Bragança]

So what's up with Merkel?

She's bad at hiding Parkinson's disease?