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Thursday, November 18, 2004
 Essay writing, according to Captain Li Shang
[DISCLAIMER: This website has no affiliation with Walt Disney Studios whatsoever. I do not own the trademark Mulan or the music from it, I just thought it'd be fun to borrow it for a while . . .]
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Wednesday, November 17, 2004
 Sommeas McGuy on School:
A girl named Sourvinou-Inwood,
An article, wrote best she could,
Oracle of Delphi,
Controversy there be,
About which god at there first stood.
I know of an old prof' named Clausen,
For topics, no ideas were tossin',
He gives us these pages,
They bore me to rages,
Fifteen hundred words, now I'm bossin'!
Along with this, I have a quiz!
In Latin, of Livy, it is!
Lucretia herself she killed,
Tarqunius her he filled,
But who cares! My brain'll still fizz!
There once was a man named SomeGuy,
Whose timetable could make you cry,
With three nights to go,
His paper moves slow . . .
. . . Let's face it, the bastard'll fry!
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Tuesday, November 16, 2004
SomeGuy no Haiku (Sonna bakana!!!)
Myth as History : twenty pages must be done : so I can begin
Oh how my head hurts : Greek myth and religion class : seemed so good at first
I miss MSN : and all the people online : my dearest the most
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Monday, November 15, 2004
SomeGuy: Chaucerian to Shakespearean?!
The hated work that's forced into my arms,
Crawls closer to the date on which it's due,
The dread towards my person, much it harms,
Yet page on page of essay moves not through,
Four papers due, this week and next and next,
And next again to finish off the term,
The former pair delay and leave me vexed,
The problem is, my will will stand not firm,
For one I need to read a lengthy pack,
Another needs an obscure disk to rent,
The third involves a book who's words I lack,
The last as well has many tomes to dent,
My studies need more attention from me,
Lest dropped I become, no BA to see . . .
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Sunday, November 14, 2004
 November Schmovember . . .
Essays. Latin. Yada yada yada. I'm gonna gripe in a more elaborate way tonight . . . . . it'll mix things up . . .
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
So yes, it's been a few years now,
and now I'm pretty sure,
the eleventh months just suck somehow,
they're much worse than they were.
The sky is grey, the air is cold,
and water showers down,
wet, smelly bus and dripping coat,
they're bound to make one frown.
As said above the big bad school
is tryin' to kick my ass;
essays, quizzes, to make a fool
of me who wants to pass.
Let's not forget three years ago,
when once a girl I had,
then stress and school made her stress 'no',
which left me stressing bad.
It's not all bad I guess, I think,
for brother's birthday's then,
but honestly, to make that link
stretches as hard I can . . .
It's not just me, it's you guys too,
who feel November's squeeze,
it makes me feel all over blue
to see you sunk to knees.
It's so unfair, it irks my ire,
I wish it'd disappear,
You all deserve souls bright with fire,
not sorrow, ache, and tear.
If only I could rip it off
and end this poisoned moon,
but three more weeks still want to scoff
that it will not end soon.
So yeah, I'm down, I do not hide
the discontent within,
and now to end tonight's rough ride . . . . .
. . . . . November, you're pissing me off! Leave me and my friends alone already! Asshole!!!
(I haven't written in verse at this website in a while. I figured now was as good a time as any . . . cheers.)
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Saturday, November 13, 2004
Back to real time . . . . .
I don't know what it is. If it's Remembrance Day, or if it's essay time, or what . . . but this month has been kicking my ass all sorts of directions . . . it's been a trying one, definitely . . . . . so yes, school, essays, Latin, bla bla bla. I'm a freakin' broken record, I know.
So let's see, world of anime, I watched Escaflowne and enjoyed it quite a bit. I think I'll write an article about it some time. Likewise, I think I'll hafta buy the movie - it'd be good for the collection, methinks. Posterity and all.
Elsewhere, ANBU and AonE have gotten back together to sub Naruto. I think I'm happy about that. How this'll break down in the long run I don't know, but I think I like it.
Thirdswhere, I started watching Bleach. I'm liking it quite a bit. Those of you doing the whole fansub thing, I recommend it. It's snazzy.
. . . and yet all the while I've got essays. My my my, what a poor role model I've been . . . . . I'll shape up after New Year's, I swear! 'sides . . . . . I've got people I'd rather worry about first . . .
Oh! Funny thing I learned in Greek Myth & Religion class! In the olden days, they had this one New Year's festival which just seems like the funniest damn thing to me in my life right now!
It was called the Bouphonia, which sorta translates as "ox murder". Yes, it was an animal sacrifice rite, yet it was called "ox murder".
The gist was that people led a line of oxen around an altar of Zeus. On the altar was a pile of grain or something. The first ox to eat from the alter - AH! HE'S BEING IMPIOUS TO ZEUS!!! - thus, a man would then come running in with an axe and smack the ox upside one; the "murderer" would then run away.
The ox, as befits a sacrifice, was then eaten as a big public party (mm, meat . . .). Afterwards, people go, "oh hey, what about the guy who murdered the ox?" And then they all go, "oh yeah! That guy! He ran away!" Then they "investiage". The guy who slaughtered the animal's like, "hey, I just cut it up, I didn't kill it." Other people are like, "I didn't do it . . ." Eventually, they decide the culprit was the axe, or the knife.
Time to put the axe/knife on trial for murder!!! Then they go through the process of trial and judgement and stuff . . . generally the axe/knife would be sentenced to exile, to which they would most likely throw it into the sea or something . . . . .
But yes, "Bouphonia". I swear I'm not joking. I was doodling the guy with the axe running at the ox in all my clipboards after that all day. 'Tis funny, I says!
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Thursday, November 11, 2004
Hong Kong, 1941:
You're going to have to excuse me if I get into some questionable rhetoric for my final Remembrance Day post. As you all probably know by now, I was born in Canada to Chinese immigrants. To be honest, I don't know a whole lot about my family history. Of what I do know, I know that my grandfather on my mother's side swam to Hong Kong when the Communists took over and eventually brought the rest of his family over as well (I think my mom's family was somewhat wealthy at the time). Unfortunately, that's really the extent of my knowledge. And now, my grandparents on my mother's side have passed on and my grandmother on my father's side is the only living grandparent I have left . . . yet I've never gone to her and asked her about the war years in Hong Kong. I know I should, because my mom's told me she has a lot of history in that. Unfortunately, because of time, distance, and language, I've never asked . . . . . I seriously need to ask her about that some day, and hopefully I can understand most of it . . . because what happened in Hong Kong in the winter of 1941 is absolutely frightening, and it really affects me . . . . .
So throughout most of the 1930s, Japan swept through southeast asia, expanding its empire. In 1941, they moved down to the border of Hong Kong, which was still a British colony at the time. The logistics were simple: if the Japanese attacked Hong Kong, there was no way to defend it. Nevertheless, the governments felt it would be good to at least give a sense that they tried their hardest to defend it as a symbolic gesture if anything (sound familiar?) . . . I'll give you three guesses who they sent to defend Hong Kong . . . . .
Early in that year, without a second thought, the Canadian Winnipeg Grenadiers and the Quebec Royal Rifles were sent to Hong Kong. Both units were at a substantial lack of training, and both were already classified as "unfit for combat" by the army. Still, the mother country implored that they would not be sent in harm's way, so the 2000 soldiers made their way to the island colony . . . they joined the few British, Indian, and Chinese forces already there.
Then comes the British intelligence of the time. By their count, the Japanese had realistically about 5000 troops that could attack Hong Kong. They were off by about 45,000 . . .
50,000 able-bodied Japanese soldiers, hardened by five years of fighting in the China campaign and with superior weapons and tactics, were ready to attack Hong Kong.
Then came December 7th, 1941; the day which now lives in infamy. History often focuses on the Pearl Harbor attack, and many other instances are effectively swept under the radar. Hours after Pearl Harbor, the Japanese attacked Malaya, the Philippines, and mainland Hong Kong.
Again, British numbers had it that the Japanese would have to take at least a week to fight their way through the mainland of Hong Kong to Kowloon (the main area of Hong Kong) and the Gin Drinker's Line, which was the name for the final defensive line before the harbour; the Japanese stormed through to it in about 12 hours. Once at the Gin Drinker's Line, they calculated that the Japanese would have to spend weeks to get through it; they took it in a few hours, and the colony's water reservoirs with it. The remaining troops evacuated to the island of Hong Kong . . . all save one young soldier from Manitoba, who was left behind, captured, and executed - John Grey was the first Canadian soldier to die in the war.
By the 11th or so, the British forces had completed their evacuation, and the mainland was to the Japanese; much like in Nanjing, all Chinese females were declared prostitutes and the rape and pillage of Hong Kong began . . .
For days the Japanese bombarded the island of Hong Kong to soften it up for an amphibious assault. The mainland was completely overrun, and all that was left between the Japanese army and the remaining troops was the small harbour. Despite that, most of the British defenses were set on the other side of the island, the generals having expected any attack to come from the sea.
The Canadian Royal Rifles defended the Lye Moon Passage, which was the closest crossing point between the island and the mainland. They, of course, were told that there was nothing to worry about. They were told that the Japanese would certainly not attack by sea, for they were "racially prone to sea-sickness." Secondly, they were told that they would definitely not attack at night, because "their narrow eyes gave them poor night vision."
On December 18th, in the middle of the night and by boat, the Japanese crossed the harbour to the island. Reports say that many Japanese soldiers enjoyed the short boat ride, and some even sang old samurai songs as they crossed.
The Royal Rifles were immediately under heavy fire from the darkness. As the story goes, one soldier radioed the British headquarters, shouting that the Japanese had come ashore - the British officer replied, "you must be seeing things."
Once the attacked was finally considered real, 7,500 Japanese troops were on the island. The island's defenders, heavily outnumbered, were forced together at the Wong Ne Chong Gap - the mountain pass in the center of the island. Once the British forces were cornered, the Japanese soldiers began making "banzai charges", or suicide attacks. The numbers were simply impossible; though about 800 Japanese soldiers died in the attack, the allied defenders couldn't win with such few numbers.
On Christmas Day, the British commanders officially surrendered Hong Kong. It didn't end there, though . . . the fact of the matter was that Japan did not follow the rules of the Geneva Convention, and prisoners of war simply had no rights whatsoever. If they weren't executed or tortured to death immediately, they would go on to spend years as slave labour for the Japanese shipyards.
In 1945, most of the Canadian POWs were sent into Japanese coal mines. The Japanese military leaders had one last plan: if Japan was invaded, the prisoners would all be executed. Luckily, the war ended before that could happen, and the prisoners were finally sent home.
* * * * *
Aside from it connecting to my Chinese and Canadian background, the Battle of Hong Kong and the subsequent years strike home for me because of the unresolved themes that go on even today. Again, much like the Rape of Nanjing (which I implore you all to please look into), there were horrendous war crimes committed to both soldiers and civilians alike. As I mentioned last year, Germany has since apologized and paid billions in reparations for the wartime labour they took advantage of, and has since made its peace with the world.
Japan, however, has yet to formally apologize for the atrocities it committed during the war especially because of the western need for it as an ally against the now-communist Republic of China. The Chinese men and women who suffered through the war are still demanding their reparations from the war, and so are the Canadian soldiers. As an important note, Nippon Ko Kon, the shipyard company which grew from the wartime labour of Canadian prisoners, is today an incredibly successful multinational company - today, there are very, very few traces of Canadians ever being there.
Thing is, these veterans and men and women who are demanding compensation are all coming on in years, and are not likely to live for a whole lot longer . . . in a way, if Japan simply waits the time out, there will be no one left to demand reparations . . . . . this worries me a great deal. Indeed, the Second World War is rarely touched upon in Japanese schools today, if at all . . .
Again, I must state that although I am extremely passionate about these issues, I hold no fault or malice towards the people of Japan, Britain, or anywhere else - my being a part of this website is a testament to that. But this is the sort of messy situation we as a world have to understand and acknowledge if we are to ever better ourselves as human beings. These times must never be forgotten . . .
As I sit here, almost two hours into this post, I have a lot of feelings churning around inside of me. I almost can't believe that such horrible things have happened within the past 60 years, and it really is a scary thought . . . . . I've no doubt in my mind that at the time it was a scary thought as well. And yet despite that, men and women were still determined to do their part and fight - not for their countries or their beliefs . . .
. . . but for their familes, friends, and loved ones . . . . .
This is why these wars were fought, this is why these sacrifices were made . . . and this is why I shall never forget them . . . . .
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Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Japanese Internment, 1941-1948:
So we all know about the European ghettos, right? Where people of Jewish, Gypsy, and other backgrounds were taken to and forced to live? And it was good that we were able to free them because it was horrible . . . definitely something we would never do, right? Well . . . . .
After the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941, suspicion of Japanese-Americans and Canadians skyrocketed. Fear of espionage, fear of loyalty, and fear of what was happening overseas cemented the belief that there was too great a danger along the western coast of North America. Throughout the following year, Japanese families living on the coast of North America were forced to relocate to internment camps further inland. In some cases particular euphemisms were used such as "Civilian Assembly Centers" or "Relocation Centers" - for others, "Concentration Camp" seems more suiting . . .
In The United States, several Acts were passed throughout the war; one required the registration and fingerprinting of all "aliens" over the age of 14; another required a report of a change of address within 5 days; a presidential proclamation in January, 1942 ordered that all changes of employment, address, or name by "enemy aliens" had to be made with the FBI/DOJ on pain of arrest, detention and internment for the rest of the war". In Canada, via the War Measures Act several "prohibited areas" came about, also on the pain of internment. Nevertheless, in both countries hundreds of thousands of Japanese families were relocated to various camps, their possessions and homes confiscated and warehoused. Within the camps, families lived in cramped quarters, often with about ten other familes. A lot of times there weren't enough houses built in the camps and families had to live in tents during the winters, though most of the houses had very little insulation and were built with very thin walls anyway. Other stories include things like barbed wire, and machine-guns pointed in towards the camps . . . either way, it was not a safe or habitable way to live.
After the war, Japanese families slowly moved back into their homes if they could, though oftentimes even that didn't work out due to the process of warehousing/cataloguing or whatnot. Also, many Japanese farmers lost their farms because rather than having them warehoused they were forced to sell them at ridiculous prices. As a final note for the problems with getting people back into regular life, the internment camps didn't close and the final families weren't released until 1948 - three years after the end of the war.
Perhaps the most disconcerting things about the whole ordeal was that the Japanese being interned were American and Canadian citizens - indeed, about 75% of the Japanese interned in Canada were Canadian citizens, many who were born in the country. Not only was it an outright moment of intense racism, but it was also one of broken rights. Trust in the government was heavily strained, and many Japanese-Americans and Canadians had little faith in the system anymore. One of the ironies of the incident is that according to the Geneva Convention, prisoners of war are not required to pay for their internment . . . relocated Japanese families, on the other hand . . .
Though the entire ordeal is a horrendous stain in the histories of both countries, measures have been taken since, and many reparations and apologies have been made since. Clinton even went back to search the old records to award 21 more Japanese-American soldiers the Medal of Honor for events that were passed over in the '40s. Also, though there was much resentment towards the countries, many still went on to fight in the European Theater of operations. The US 442nd Regiment - a Japanese-American regiment fighting in Europe - became the most decorated unit of the war with over 18,000 personal decorations, 22 Medals of Honor, and 8 presidential citations!
That final bit about the 442nd is a little out of context, I know. The problem is, as I researched for this post, I continued to learn more and more about this particular moment of the war which I apparently didn't know too well after all . . . and it's sad that I didn't start these sooner, because there really are so many stories that need to be heard . . .
But yes, speaking as a Chinese-Canadian, I honestly do feel that this story is an important one. That a war could strain relations among neighbours like so is a truly worrying thing . . . as for how it relates to today? Well . . . . . I'll let you decide whether this is still a modern issue or not . . .
(A notice that was posted through much of British Columbia, Canada during the war [*note: I live in the city of New Westminster, which is just off from Vancouver proper].)
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Tuesday, November 9, 2004
The Devil's Brigade, 1942-1945:
The First Special Service Force was a joint American-Canadian commando unit formed on July 20, 1942. It was a volunteer unit of 1600 men, especially those with experience as hunters, game wardens, lumberjacks, or forest rangers. At Fort Harrison near Helena, Montana, they had intense training in many disciplines such as mountain fighting and rock climbing, hand-to-hand fighting, demolitions, amphibious fighting, stealth tactics . . . even training as ski troops! They were a very specialised group; they even went so far as to have a special combat knife designed for their unit (called the "V-42").
Their first operation was in Italy when the commander of the US 5th Army brought them in. Once there, they immediately demonstrated the value and effectiveness of their training.
Their first big claim to fame, though, was their attack at Monte la Difensa, an Italian mountain with tall, sheer cliffs and a german position on top of it. In the middle of winter, the 1SSF scaled the cliffs and wiped out the entire German position; it was one thought to be impenetrable, especially after multiple failed American attempts earlier in the fighting.
In Anzio, the 1SSF continued to gain fame, holding and raiding from the right-hand flank of the beachhead after the US Rangers suffered heavy losses. As the fighting continued, a diary from a dead German soldier was found that said, "The black devils are all around us every time we come into the line," - The 1SST often painted their faces black with boot polish for night operations. From that day on, the First Special Service Force took on the nickname, "The Devil's Brigade".
The Devil's Brigade was the first unit sent into Rome, and captured bridges leading into the Italian capital before they could be blown up. Immediately after taking the bridges, the unit pushed north into and through the city. The story goes that the next day Italian citizens greeted the lines of soldiers coming into the liberated city warmly, even though the ones who won the battle had already passed through in the early morning and were already fighting heavily at the Tiber River.
After the liberation of Italy, the unit was sent near the south of France and fought in the Rhineland Campaign until the end of the war in Europe. By the end of the war, the First Special Service Force had made a name for itself and had suffered a casualty rate of about 39 percent.
Many covert information-gathering missions were made through the nights, battles were fought during the days to great distinction, and throughout it all, the Devil's Brigade never failed to meet its objectives. The Devil's Brigade served as the example for future special force outfits such as Joint Task Force Two in Canada and Delta Force in The States. Today, special assignment forces make up a great deal of the way many modern conflicts are resolved.
As an extra interesting note, the highway that runs from Lethbridge, Alberta to Helena, Montana was renamed the "First Special Service Force Memorial Highway" in honour of the route the Canadian volunteers travelled so that the unit could be formed. As for myself, I find the Devil's Brigade fascinating. They make you kinda proud to be a North American, eh? (that is, if you are North American . . . otherwise . . . . . I dunno. Still neat, eh?)
(The red arrowhead shoulder sleeve patch of the 1st Special Service Force)
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Monday, November 8, 2004
 August 19, 1942: The Raid on Dieppe
Hey everyone. Leading up to Remembrance/Veteran's Day, I'm going to be posting stories and incidents from the wars which have a sort of significance with me. In some cases they're large, in others, somewhat small and often unmentioned. For a few they tell of the incredible resolve of human beings to survive the harshest ordeals; for others, they tell of loss of life and pains that perhaps never should have occured.
Anyway, I'm going to start with the Canadian assault on the German-held French port of Dieppe in 1942 . . .
* * * * *
In the Spring of 1942, the Soviets are being pressed hard in the east, the British are getting pushed out of Africa in the south, and meanwhile tensions remain harsh across the English Channel. It was a bad time for the Allies.
Stalin was demanding that Britain hurry up and ease some of the pressure off of the Soviet army. Britain had its own problems, however, and wasn't ready to send troops - the troops would have to land on a heavily defended continent, after all. But, the Russians were still hurting and demanding "a second front now!", and the west needed to prove that they were helping as best they could. Thus, the plan to attack and briefly hold a French port was conceived. It would only be a short action designed to test the German defenses and instill concern in the western front. Dieppe, a small port town considered to be lightly defended, was chosen.
It was easy, then, to consider the job for the Canadian soldiers in England. They still had yet to really get into any sort of real fighting in Europe and were itching for action. It was then no surprise that the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division was called up to begin training in amphibious tactics as the main force of the raid.
In July, weather was bad and the operation was almost called off, but the need to show that the western allies were trying to help revived the plan in August. Thus, on the morning of August 19, a group of 6100 troops - about 5000 Canadian Infantry, about 1000 British Commandos, and 50 US Rangers - took to the sea with 8 destroyers and 74 air squadrons to support them. There was going to be a pre-dawn flank attack followed shortly by a frontal assault just after dawn, where they would capture the town itself. As Canadian Major-General "Ham" Roberts described it, it was going to be "a piece of cake!"
Before the first landing crafts hit the beach, the ships ran into a German ship group and a quick sea battle ensued. With that, the main sense of surprise was lost. Nevertheless, the operation had to proceed . . .
Once the Allied forces did reach the beach, they were given a bitter reception: the entire beach was effectively guarded by a wall of machine guns, mortars, and heavy guns. The high cliffs allowed the Germans complete room to rain fire down on the soldiers, and many were cut down before they could leave their boats. The tanks that came with the group were left completely ill-suited to the rocky beach and were destroyed quickly. All Canadian troops attempting to breach the seawall were repelled and cut down.
For eight hours the allied soldiers suffered the carnage before most of the ships were able to retreat, albeit with heavy losses in the process.
In the end, of the 4,963 Canadian soldiers who participated in the raid, 907 of them died, and 1,946 were taken prisoner. In all, there were 3,367 Canadian casualties in that brief period. The raid on Dieppe was a complete disaster.
There were an unreal number of factors leading to the failure of the raid: objectives had to be met with zero margin for error timing-wise; there was simply not enough air and sea cover; Allied intelligence was horribly outdated; the operation itself was perhaps not given as much weight as it should have been given.
Through the sacrifices at Dieppe, many lessons were definitely learned for the Normandy invasion two years later. New tactics were developed, along with new machinery and techniques; intelligence gathering became an important priority; essentially, every lesson for what not to do was learned. Perhaps the hundreds of lives lost that day helped to save thousands more on June 6th, 1944. Even so, I still remain impressed that such a horrendous means had to be made for the final end . . .
(The aftermath of Dieppe, August 19th, 1942)
(Canadian prisoners paraded for German media)
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