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The Audi A8: First Production Car To Achieve Level 3 Autonomy (ieee.org)
schwit1 shares a report from IEEE Spectrum: The 2018 Audi A8, just unveiled in Barcelona, counts as the world's first production car to offer Level 3 autonomy. Level 3 means the driver needn't supervise things at all, so long as the car stays within guidelines. Here that involves driving no faster than 60 kilometers per hour (37 mph), which is why Audi calls the feature AI Traffic Jam Pilot. Go ahead, Audi's saying, read your newspaper or just zone out while traffic creeps along. To be sure, the A8 also monitors the driver, even while the traffic jam persists, and continues to do so as the speed edges up over the limit. If the driver falls asleep, it'll wake him up; if it can't get his attention, it will stop the car. If you want to buy the new A8, you'll have to check whether your jurisdiction will accept it as a Level 3 car. Audi said in a statement that it will follow "a step-by-step approach" to introducing the traffic jam pilot. It plans to sell the base model in Europe this fall for 90,600 euros, or about $103,000, and to enter the United States market shortly afterwards. A model having a longer wheelbase will cost a few percent more.
I would like a car that can drive me around while I drink beer
... the Germans will *still* order it with a manual transmission.
Because you HAVE to have a manual transmission if you're a real driver.
-Styopa
having to deal with AI-driven cars with dozing drivers inside, as well as regular idiot drivers, when I commute with my bicycle. It may or may not be an improvement for cyclists...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
sexist. it will always be a female driver (or a he/she)
Corvette = primitive fibreglass shit
NFL = boring sissy sport
WW2 = won by the Soviets after being held by the Commonwealth single handedly for 2-3 years. America came in late, helped the effort, but was not responsible for the win.
European cars = so far ahead of the American cars it's not funny.
Soccer = boring
Rugby = NFL for real men, minus all the protective crap, and you don't get to take 10 minute rests between 15 second bouts of play, plus you stay on the field for the entirety of the game, not run on, have a kick, then run off to the bench for the rest of the match.
No NFL player would last more than 10 minutes in a competitive Rubgy game before being run down and smashed into gristle.
I would like to see this car drive in San Francisco. Especially being in the middle lane at an intersection and the car in the right lane does a sudden and illegal left-hand turn when the light changes. I've ran into that a few time.
My Fusion (by Ford, a US manufacturer, made in Mexico, "designed in Dearborn":
Complete autonomy would be cool, but really, this is current state of the art, in the literal sense of state of the art.
--Jim (me)
At level 4 the car decides on it's own where to take you. At level 5 it gets bored waiting for you in the parking lot and decides to leave you to pursue it's own life as a career movie stunt car and part time Uber drone.
European car names associated with quality and luxury: Rolls Royce, Bentley, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi, Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini - sought after by rich people and collectors the world over.
American cars associated with luxury: Cadillac, the car of negros and pimps.
The US played its part, after being dragged kicking and screaming into the war.
The idea the US "won the war" though is patently absurd. It's just Hollywood propaganda, up there with "We kicked out the Limeys" when in actuality it was the French who did all the real fighting and heavy lifting in the war in the colonies.
You don't even know your own history.
Still, can't expect too much from a nation of ignoramuses who elect a reality TV star as their leader.
There are no prestige American automobile brands.
Cars like Cadillacs only appeal to Americans as they don't know any better.
The hierarchy in descending order is:
Euro
Japanese
Korean
American
Chinese
The US sold their wepons to both sides. Had they kept out in the first place and not supplied Germans the world would have been fine.
Will this car have a manual transmission so the driver can take full control over his/her vehicle without having to rely on a computer?
Go ahead, Audi's saying, read your newspaper or just zone out while traffic creeps along. (...) If you want to buy the new A8, you'll have to check whether your jurisdiction will accept it as a Level 3 car.
Does any jurisdiction accept any car as level 3? Because if the law will put you in the slammer for manslaughter and the insurance company refuse to cover your gross recklessness it's not exactly a feature.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Man rugby is the smart car of sport. It can fit into spots normal people don't care about, also it's useless and people ignore it
Does level 3 mean I can have it take me home while drunk, or will I still get a DWI?
You're also forgetting post ww2. You'd be living in a soviet nightmare if the US wasn't backing the idea of Europe as independent nations. A cold war sucks. A hot war followed by tyranny sucks worse.
The Rolls Royce and Bentley are made in the UK.
The Ford Fiesta is the best-selling car in the UK. It has been for decades.
You are welcome on my lawn.
37 MPH? Hah. My Model S just about has this (TODAY) and I use it daily in traffic and on the freeway...and I don't have the annoying gas engine shifting crap.
History is written by those looking to appease the Kansas School Board.
Thirty four characters live here.
Only Japan can make quality cars. The rest are mainly good for making boat payments for your mechanic.
That said, I drive a European car, and it's great. But my mechanic knows me well and gives me a volume discount.
Of the 125 major European wars fought since 1495, the French have participated in 50 – more than Austria (47) and England (43). Out of 168 battles fought since 387BC, they have won 109, lost 49 and drawn 10.
This makes France the most successful European military ever, period.
You really should thank your lucky stars the French decided to take on the British on your behalf.
It's ironic that the people who coined the phrase "Cheese eating surrender monkeys" are the ones who have benefited most from French military prowess.
trump only has level 1 autonomy.
The volume knobs go to 11!
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
Go ahead, Audi's saying, read your newspaper or just zone out while traffic creeps along.
Of course, this is illegal in many states in the US. Probably elsewhere, too.
But the step by step approach is far, far better than Tesla's, which is apparently to design a car that will get you out of bed without waking you up, shower and shave you, drive you to work, make you lunch from scratch, and delivery your wife's baby along the way, all at once, and it'll be ready last week.
The US was absolutely critical to winning ww2. If the US hadn't supplied England and invaded the mainland, Hitler would have prevailed over Russia and Africa,
Absolute rubbish. The Battle of Britain was won in 1940, over a year before the US even entered the war. Germany's failure to destroy the RAF and Royal Navy made an invasion of Britain impossible.
The first official military action of the United States in WW2 was Operation Torch in November 1942 - one month AFTER the second battle of El Alamein which is considered the turning point of the entire North African campaign. Once El Alamein was fought again, the Afrika Korps had no chance - it was under-supplied and out of fuel. All Rommel could do was slow down the Allied advance as much as he could with what he had left. What the US managed to do was trap the Afrika Korps from the other side, ensuring they had no escape route left to them. It was in no way a decisive action since Hitler had already written off the Afrika Korps - both men and equipment. A plan to evacuate the troops of the Afrika Korps by air at night from Tunisia was put forward and even approved by OKH however Hitler never signed off on it - that's how important he thought those experienced troops were.
The battle of Stalingrad began in August 1942, again before Operation Torch and USA's "official" entry into the war. Stalingrad is considered by all historians to be the major turning point of the war on the Eastern front.
The "Happy Time" of the battle of the Atlantic was over by 1941, long before the US entered the war. ASDIC (a British invention) as well as cracking the German Enigma codes (also by the British) played a major role in defeating Germany's interdiction efforts. The further invention (by the British) of the Leigh Light as well as airborne radar sealed the fate of German u-boats since they were now vulnerable to bombers while on the surface even at night.
While America loves to remind the world of its invaluable help in "winning WW2", Americans tend to forget that the course of the war was mostly decided by the time they finally made up their minds to enter the fray. Also it can be noted that lend lease was an exceedingly good deal for AMERICA, where they traded some obsolete equipment for permanent military bases all around the world. In fact it can be said that the gaining of bases in territories of the former British Empire is what helped put America on the map as a global instead of a regional power. Certainly that was worth a few WW1 destroyers and ancient trucks that had a doubtful outcome on the course of the war.
Oh let's not forget America's performance on D-Day, where they landed most of their troops in the wrong place and would have been driven back in the sea and possibly caused the entire invasion to fail if it weren't for valiant efforts on the part of outnumbered British and Commonwealth troops (as well as Free French and Poles) to mount an immediate attack to prevent the encirclement of the American beaches. That was the first time America nearly lost the Western front for everyone.
The second time was in the Ardennes during the battle of the bulge, where complacent Americans underestimated the Germans and very nearly got encircled the ONLY time the Wehrmacht decided to push for real. Once again Montgomery and the XXX corps saved America's butts by redeploying and counterattacking "just in time".
WW2 was a team effort. While America was an important participant it was in no way the only participant and some would say it wasn't even the most important participant - that honor belonging to the Soviet Union which managed to absorb a significant portion of both the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe so that they were never seen again. America was very good at daylight bombing which resulted in permanent fuel shortages for Germany. And America managed to keep Japan away from most of the British colonies and commonwealth members in the Pacific and southern Asia. However this "you would be speaking German if not for us" nonsense is just as valid for America - America would be surrounded by a German/Japanese empire if it weren't for the UK and it's commonwealth members, the Free French, the free Poles, and the Soviet Union.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
McDonald's sells billions of burgers every year. That doesn't qualify them for a Michelin star. You are seriously trying to imply something because a company that sells cheap crap gets away with selling cheap crap to a lot of people? I'm sure if the average Brit could afford a nicer car, they wouldn't buy a Ford Fiesta.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Uh your entire point about D-Day is wrong and dumb so all the rest of the suit you typed is probably also wrong and dumb
You do realize we armed both the British and the Soviets way before we officially declared war right? Maybe that got in the way of your rant and you forgot it.
Seeing that I would be out cold. 60kph on a major highway wouldn't bother me at all. Might bother a few other people. But hey, that is what earplugs are for.
No they won't. For my first autonomous car I want the computers and sensors fitted into a 1970s dodge power wagon with hillbilly armor, and a hammock for the driver.
Nullius in verba
audi will not give a dam if you are in lock up and you need the source code to prove you are not at fault.
Tesla P100D. Leaves most everything you listed in the dust and looks good doing it.
I'm implying that the British auto industry hasn't been able to make an affordable car that people actually want to buy and drive.
Sure, a McLaren 12C would be lovely to drive, but for a quarter million dollars, I'll drive a Fiesta and buy a house. Or maybe I'll drive a Dodge Viper and have enough left over to pay for a few dozen Brits to get their teeth fixed.
You are welcome on my lawn.
This is just more hype from Audi. Every few years they have a big press event about a killer next generation car then go back to making the same old shit.
This car is not in production. It might be in a few years (but they've said that before).
Autonomy doesn't recognize stop signs, traffic lights, pedestrians, etc.
Max speed 37mph... going nowhere fast.
Wake me when I can actually buy one and test it.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
That would be a lolocaust!
No rugby player would survive an NFL match even in full armour. They'd be destroyed.
I stick to the proper sidewalk when cycling.
The US played its part, after being dragged kicking and screaming into the war.
Not really.
The US Navy was actively fighting German U-boats by the summer of 1941.
The idea the US "won the war" though is patently absurd. It's just Hollywood propaganda,...
BULLSHIT
The Soviets were awfully close to losing totally to Germany in 1941-1942. Hitler fucked with his generals several times - probably the biggest was screwing up the advance into the Caucausus in the summer of 1942. If Hitler doesn't fuck that up, the war in the east goes completely differently - Germans take the Caucausus, there's no Stalingrad and the Kursk follow-on. Stalingrad decided the Germans wouldn't totally defeat the Soviets. Kursk decided that they Germans would lose.
Saying US contributions couldn't have swayed something that close is asinine.
You don't even know your own history.
Pot, meet kettle.
Still, can't expect too much from a nation of ignoramuses who elect a reality TV star as their leader.
Et tu.
Imagine how many GPUs you can buy with that money. Spending it all on one car seems like such a waste.
Or a taxi?
let me say to every one of you folks using your expensive driver assist features: Piss Off. I'm not jealous, I just would really like it if you didn't use them to drive at unsafe speeds while the rain's set visibility to zero. Those of us stuck in old cars trying to get the hell off the freeway when we got stuck in a sudden torrential downpour would really appreciate it if you'd stop zipping by at 85 mph just because your steering wheel vibrates to let you know you're drifting out of the lane.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
Sure, a McLaren 12C would be lovely to drive, but for a quarter million dollars, I'll drive a Fiesta and buy a house.
You can't afford the insurance needed to drive the McLaren in the UK anyway, unless you've got it registered in some other country and you're driving it in. It's in group fifty. The very least of fiestas, on the other hand, the one with the 1.3 liter, is way down in insurance group three! Why, a high schooler could afford the dues on that!
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
The US was absolutely critical to winning ww2. If the US hadn't supplied England and invaded the mainland, Hitler would have prevailed over Russia and Africa,
Absolute rubbish. The Battle of Britain was won in 1940, over a year before the US even entered the war.
Time for you to re-read the comment above, and also read up on the lend-lease program.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Quite a good move - a shell script would be a better driver than most idiots I've seen in Audis.
Right or wrong about the impact of the US on WW2 the Americans who fought in World War II are dead. Maybe you need to recognise that the measure of your countries greatness is your OWN deeds and your OWN contributions, not draw down on the credit of the dead.
European cars = so far ahead of the American cars it's not funny.
LOL...let's see...Volkswagen, Fiat, Volvo...these are all notoriously shit cars...the US doesn't make ANY cars that are as bad as these. Sure, Mercedes, BMW, and Porshe and a few others make cars that at best parallel many models of US cars, but overall, European cars are pretty bad. US cars aren't the best though, those are almost universally all Japanese cars. The US however does make the best trucks. Japanese trucks are a very close second, and European trucks...well...let's just say that nobody other than Europeans would ever want to be seen in one because not only are they totally butt ugly, but they're completely unreliable.
Oh and by the way, have you seen the 1939 Volkswagen logo? If not, I'd suggest doing so.
I am looking forward to the date where it becomes an issue (for others not for me) that sex workers are plying their trade out of their cars. Pick up a customer, program the car for a trip around the park or whatever, tint the windows, and conduct business in the reclined passenger seat.
No dangerous alleys. Or crappy rent-by-the-hour hotels. No walk-ins by the spouse. Minimum time wasted. Do it right and cops will have a hard time busting you other than with a decoy.
Sooner or later Level 3+ cars will enable this.
That is why the tech companies have been trying to steamroll over legal issues and safety regulations, they want to get their cars on the road before there are laws, with the plan that they will be so incredibly popular the public won't want to go back.
It is delusional, of course, and a lot of people are going to get hurt very badly. Until accident rates start going up instead of going down.
So selling arms is the same thing as "winning a war"?
What a fucking dick head.
Different game, different tactics and skills. One could easily argue that an NFL player playing rugby (obviously without the armor) would be out of breath within 15 minutes and never survive to the end of the 80-odd minutes of nearly continuous and at times extremely physical game play.
Apart from the fact that the Tesla P100D is a poorly assembled piece of shit full of cheap materials, being sold at a ridiculous price purely because the batteries are too expensive.
Cars don't kill people, autonomous cars kill people.
*) Winston Churchill disagrees with you.
*) FDR negotiated the territories such to not be surrounded by German territories if Britain had fallen.
*) More allies would have fallen or ended in stalemate without supplies from the US.
*)Very much a team effort, but US supplies put the Allies in the winning category. (luck really in that no enemy was close enough to harm our infrastructure.)
*)Hitler was also big reason for the defeat, he was idiot for opening up a second front.
It keeps rolling down the windows on its own! It has been in for repairs and they hare replaced _everything_ that has anything to do with the power windows but it still keeps doing it. They never found anything wrong with it and just keep replacing things on random.
Honestly? Im not sure I would like to buy an autonomous car from a company that can not get power windows to behave the way they should.
BTW. I have an original unrestored 1962 Cadillac. Its power windows work perfectly!
You do realize that corvette translates to "whore", do you?
LOL, the irony.
Well, the thing is...you sad little loser....a strong Europe was in the US interest.
The US was motivated by self interest and made the Europeans PAY for their rebuilding efforts.
So then sad little shits like you 50 years on decide to rewrite history to fit your sad little narrative. The US did jack shit out of the goodness of its heart, it was all for profit.
Nonsense.
Americans have no concept of how to play a tough, physical game.
NRL players would be smashed in short order. They have some size but no endurance or toughness.
This is a common characteristic of American sports, the reliance on protection. Baseball mitts are a classic example. Baseball players all have mitts, while cricket players are expected to catch a 100 mph cricket ball with their bare hands. To even think about showing up at a cricket match with a mitt (except as a wicket keeper) would be to invite ridicule as a soft weakling.
Should have left your grandparents to burn in the ovens.
Don't worry the muslims will finish the job.
In the UK it would be illegal to read a newspaper while "in control of a vehicle" (i.e. sat in the driver's seat with it in motion). In fact the current requirement for antonymous vehicles is to keep your hands on the wheel and pretend to be driving so as not to alarm other road users.
The law needs to change. I wonder what kind of liability Audi has here - presumably if there was an accident the insurance company would sue Audi on the driver's behalf if they had legal cover.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
That was right after they waved the white flag and took one up the ass from hitler like a good frog.
So... you'll be sending back the Statue Of Liberty, right?
No sig today...
Actually the combat on the western front only started in summer 1944 - this is when the USSR arrived at the border with Poland and the allied were seriously concerned that the Soviets might win the war in Europe all by themselves. The vast majority of the Wehrmacht was destroyed on the eastern front.
Oh, and the last fascist regime, Spain, was happily supported by Americans. And yes, you are lying. USSR was not doing its damndest to expand westwards. Stalin promised not to support Greek communists and he didn't. The Soviet army left Austria in 1955 right after Austria signed the neutrality pact. USSR wanted a buffer zone between their mainland and the West that invaded Russia several times and this is what the Warsaw Pact was all about. So you calling people little shits for telling lies is like the pot calling the kettle a nigga.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
Remember:
if you kill someone else while crashing your car when driving completely pissed,
you're disqualified from the Darwin Award.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
a German/Japanese empire
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Inviting the driver to not pay attention, fall asleep etc. is profoundly dangerous "feature" in a vehicle. I'm sure the legal battle will be interesting in apportioning the blame when one of these cars inevitably smacks into child / pedestrian, runs lights, hits other vehicles / cyclists or causes accidents through erratic or dumb behaviour.
Yes, stop signs apply to you too.
Surprisingly : No !
Some European jurisdiction have accepted, under some circumstances, that cyclists behave like with a "yield" sign (= no need to fully stop and put on foot on the ground, only to slow down), on the ground that bicycles are lighter and that cyclist can stop nearly immediately compared to cars, and on the ground that the bicycles are un powered (yeah, this dates back a bit...) and require more effort to re-accelerate.
Some Swiss cities have started accepting this (in case of stop or a red light at a right turn, when there's no traffic).
(I'll have to dig the reference)
But again, that's when there's no traffic. The fact that you complain of such behaviour, means that when in happened, there was traffic (you, obviously) and it wouldn't have been accepted even in those cities.
Yes, you're required to signal before changing lanes or turning.
(Yes, that's entirely true. Though I'm the only one I know that actually hand-signals my turns).
No, you don't get to squeeze to the front of the line at stop lights.
Depends, in some driving codes, that's actually *mandatory*, and must be accomplished from the right side of the car lane only.
(for bycicles. not for motorbikes)
New street are even painted accordingly.
(A small buffer market with cycle sign where the bicycles are supposed to pool and wait together until the light switches green)
The logic behind this is : bicycles are considered a separate lane, even when there's not one painted on the ground.
So they are just basically advancing to the end of their "virtual lane".
Also security grounds (see them easier when they wait in front of you).
Saddly in practice here around you see the exact opposite :
bicycles waiting somewhere in the middle of the queue because there no room on the right side.
motorbikes over taking the whole queue (from the left !) and going to wait in front (= illegal).
No, you don't get to use the pedestrian crossings.
Actually yes, but the driver code requires you to dismount the bike first and walk pushing (you're then considered a pedestrian).
(Same even applies with motorbike : as long as you're dismounted and walking pushing, you're a pedestrian).
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
How cute. An american who thinks he's informed.
The US however does make the best trucks. Japanese trucks are a very close second, and European trucks...well...let's just say that nobody other than Europeans would ever want to be seen in one
Us Europeans don't need to compensate for ... well, you know.
For me, all parties were indispensable. Lose one and we lose everything.
The USSR was a meat grinder destroying the bulk of the German warmachine. Without them in the war (Molotov-Ribbentrop and all that), Hitler might have had enough power to overcome the west, lend-lease not-withstanding.
Britain was the unsinkable carrier providing airfields to continuously bomb the German war machine. They also broke the Enigma codes and provided a jumping off point for the invasion of Western Europe. Without England, U-boats would rule the Atlantic, blocking vital shipments from reaching the USSR and make a US invasion of the British Isles and Europe nearly impossible.
The US, even prior to its entry in the war, propped up the Russians with their Lend-lease program (planes, tanks, trucks, boots etc.) Without this aid, the Eastern front might well have crumbled. Same goes for Britain. And that is disregarding the Pacific theatre of course
Take any of the three out of the equation and things look a lot bleaker.
In Finland, driverless cars are completely legal.
A startup recently asked the ministry of transport whether it could conduct trials of selfdriving busses on public roads. After a month of delay, the ministry replied something along the line of "We have thoroughly studied the law text, and find no passage which would require the presence of a driver. All you need to provide is a statement of which person is responsible for the car's behaviour on the road."
PIckups have automatics because most americans can't use a manual transmission. And off road if you need to quickly apply power you want a direct clutch, not a slushy torque converter.
The German army went to the Caucasus mountain and so what? Baku was still very far. Their supply line were overstretched, even if they were able to bring a 25 more division from Western Europe (mostly infantry), the logistical problem were without solution as the soviet railway system was really bad and German army mostly used horses. Germany was not even in full war mode production until 1943 and at that time soviet produced almost 5x what Germany was able to produced. The battle for Moscow would have consumed much more resources than the battle of Stalingrad, and would have ended probably with the same result for Germany.
Does any jurisdiction accept any car as level 3? Because if the law will put you in the slammer for manslaughter and the insurance company refuse to cover your gross recklessness it's not exactly a feature.
Not total level 3. I'm not sure I'd call Audi's limited L3 as L3, as it still requires a human to take you in and out of the limited scenario of use. There are already cars that completely handle parallel parking, so that is another limited form of L3. Audi has expanded it to stop and go traffic. This is logically an easy step to take, and frankly its one of the features I've been thinking would be nice to have. I'd like to see a move to what I would call 'follow cruise' where you lock onto a vehicle in front of you, follow and match its speed. Not sure how "L3" that is but should be pretty doable and a great feature for riding in the right hand non passing lane of highways.
what kind of fantasy land do you live in? France had surrendered to the Germans. England was on life support. The US entered the war because the Japanese bombed us, in case you did not know. Without the US, you would all still be speaking German. You clearly do not know anything about history. Can't expect much from clueless, low IQ, socialists
Mitts are more than protection. They make it a better game. Unlike cricket, outs are not a fluke occurrence and defense is far more important. And didn't cricket pioneer the use of protective pads and face guards when batting? Baseball was way behind on that.
BS. Without the Lend lease, England would have been crushed. Without the US, France would have been speaking German followed by Russia. Try learning history before you speak, stupid.
I find it interesting how we seem hell bent on making self driving vehicles. But I have yet to see one survey that indicates most drivers even want this. Placing my faith in technology to keep me safe going down the road, is not high on my list. Just imagine a hacker getting into a GPS system, or jamming a autonomous vehicle or vehicles going down the road. Yes, many humans are terrible drivers, some shouldn't be driving at all. But then again a human mind cannot be so easily hacked or controlled like technology. This has not been thought out too well.
"Certainly that was worth a few WW1 destroyers and ancient trucks that had a doubtful outcome on the course of the war."
You are seriously understating how much equipment and resources flowed from the US to the Allies. Read the wiki. Even without contributing personnel, we supplied enormous amounts of materials and equipment. Enough to sway a war, some would say.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_production_during_World_War_II
And there was me thinking that it was the efforts and sacrifices by the Canadians years before the US joined in that helped keep Britain supplied. The US moved supplies via Ascension Island, so I guess they didn't do too much for the convoys through the N. Atlantic. Of course, as a good "ally", the US limited interest rates on the loans that the UK more than 50 years to repay. Britain meanwhile almost bankrupt itself defending the freedom of Poland, without any such bullshit.
and whenever the first Audi A8 is involved in a crash, they will do everything they can to damage the sales, in favor of American alternatives, most likely the Tesla.
"Tesla crashes: it was the driver's fault. Audi A8 crashes: the car is not safe."
some would say it wasn't even the most important participant - that honor belonging to the Soviet Union
I dunno, if I had to pick the "most important participant" in WW2 I think I'd have to say "Germany". Without them it would have been completely different.
I'm also intrigued how they'll police things once the law catches up. Driving on a mobile phone is illegal and the police are currently cracking down on it having just increased the penalties. Once level 3/4 are on the roads people might be driving in either manual or autonomous mode. How are they meant to tell the difference between someone on the phone while the car drives and on the phone while the car is driving. They probably won't carry the same penalties at some point. Level 5 at least the number plate registration might flag as a 100% self-driving car that can be ignored, but that won't be possible while it's optional unless the cars have some external signal that indicates the mode they're operating in.
+1, Lend lease was what won the war.
In what language? And if so, how is that an example of irony?
Ok, but let's also remember this:
FDR would have been perfectly happy with Hitler and Germany running Europe. As long as Hitler didn't touch American business interests FDR was just fine with turning a deaf ear to the Jews and the Eastern Europeans.
What triggered full US involvement in World War II wasn't anything in Europe, it was an attack in the Pacific. The US had major interests in expanding out there and that was their big chance. Once the US declared war on Japan, Germany declared was on the US and then Europe became a concern.
If Japan would have left the US alone then the US would not have joined the war.
Germany would STILL drive stick shifts though. Damned krauts.
Oh, so the Molotov-Ribbontrop Pact that divided Poland between Nazi Germany and the USSR didn't actually happen. Good to know.
Fuck off, apologist.
The Soviets knew they did not have the man-power to take and -- most importantly -- HOLD all of Europe. Stalin had in interest in protecting his western border against German, French and Italian attacks. The USSR took areas where the language and cultures were close to Russian as possible because it would be easier to administer those areas. They held onto East Germany mainly because of the Fulda Gap and the North German Plain but also due to Cold-War pride and thick-headed Nationalism.
Western Europe was never in any danger from the USSR.
Except Germany and Austria. The USSR would have loved to rape those two nations for all the sweet, sweet resources they could get while forcing the citizens to work in wage-slave conditions forever. Italy, France, Switzerland, Spain, and England were safe as houses.
Fuck off yourself and take your non-sequitur with you.
Besides, USSR only took back the parts of Ukraine and Belarus that Poland had annexed in 1921. Considering this and the fact that Poland happily helped Hitler carving up Czechoslovakia, I'd say they had it coming.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
But my mechanic knows me well and gives me a volume discount.
This. Oh my god this. I've got a VW. It drives great, but it's a piece of shit. My vacuum assist cracked in half while I was driving. No sensor to warn me that I no longer had vacuum assist, just went to press my brakes and they didn't press. Pressed harder, found out that it'd cracked the brake line so instead of engaging the brakes, instead it sprayed brake fluid on my engine block causing a bunch of billowing smoke to come out. Luckily I was in my neighborhood only doing 10 MPH. VW refused to hear anything about how had this failure happened 5 minutes earlier I'd be dead.
Ahhh. Quality German engineering. Can't be bothered to put a cheap pressure sensor to warn you if your brake system may not be functioning correctly.
Despite that, the big truck companies are operating on both continents. Mack Trucks for instance is owned by European Volvo, while the European DAF is owned by U.S. based Paccar.
That was actually back during Cordoba Caliphate and Ottoman Empire.
Something that residents of young nations like US really don't understand. Civilizational warfare is measured in centuries and millenia. And right now, it's another time when muslims have the upper hand. We're still in a much better situation than, say, in 1500s.
You know, long before you nation ever came into existence.
Does it have those Audi "I'm a wanker" style indicators.
Is the odometer the experience points? If I drive from the east coast to the west coast, does it level up? Are there any side quests I can do to increase the experience points faster?
Damn it, I need a strategy guide.
Moron.
Can't expect too much from Nazi lovers who elected a retarded reality tv show host as their Dear Leader.
For a fancy Volkswagon.
Of course, as a good "ally", the US limited interest rates on the loans that the UK more than 50 years to repay.
I have repeatedly pointed out that the US sold fuel and other war supplies to the Axis while the war was still going on, and then highly selectively punished people for it after the fact. Regardless, without lend-lease, things would have gone very, very differently.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
My 5 series BMW just clocked over 400,000 and still runs like a dream. My Ford had fallen to pieces by 150,000.
Your single anecdote doesn't begin to explain why people all around the world aspire to a fine Euro marque, and why once they buy into one they keep on coming back.....while no-one gives a crap about any American car, except poor Americans.
Chinese automaker Volvo already has Level 3 autonomy in various 2017 models. How is this the first?
Nah.....charity begins at home. Pay for some food for your countrymen, or maybe jail bonds ?, or drug rehab ? Or how about medications for your elderly ? Maybe donate to the families of gunned down schoolkids ? Why, there's lots of American problems you could help with !
USSR was not doing its damndest to expand westwards. Stalin promised not to support Greek communists and he didn't.
Whaaa? I suppose the Greek civil war was just a slapfight then. The Communists didn't overthrow the Czechoslovakian government? They didn't support the Chinese Communists? I suppose you're unfamiliar with the Long Telegram. Let's let the people who were there at the time speak:
We should also note the difference between the Soviet Union and Russia, which the Long Telegram does indeed do. They are two separate things. Two years after the Long Telegram was sent, Soviet-backed North Korean forces stormed into the South like Germany into Poland.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
It's ironic that the people who coined the phrase "Cheese eating surrender monkeys"
Uh, that was The Simpsons? And it was a ridiculously exaggerated joke? Please don't tell me anyone took that seriously...really?
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
The US played its part, after being dragged kicking and screaming into the war
You mean FDR's undeclared war in the North Atlantic, where US warships attacked German ones? When FDR backed Japan into a corner and forced them to declare war? That was being dragged into it? That is flat-out warmongering. You don't even know American history.
Still, can't expect too much from a nation of ignoramuses who elect a reality TV star as their leader.
Gosh, I wonder why Europeans aren't more popular in America. Maybe because you're dicks.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
While quite interesting from a historical point of view, most of that is literally ancient history and not really relevant to the modern conversation. Not to mention that politically, militarily, etc... much changed within France during that long time period. Heck Portugal and the Dutch used to be powerhouses back in the day.
Anyway more pertinent to the parents comment is the fact that outside of the Hollywood propaganda machine, it is quite obvious for anyone who studies history that while the US played a big role in supplying it's allies (and to a certain extent exploiting them to the point of crippling their recovery from the war with massive debt), the nation that had by far the biggest impact in winning the war was decidedly the USSR. Though I guess one could argue that the Germans themselves had the biggest impact in their loss by their decision to invade the USSR in the first place. Not only did the USSR suffer more losses than anyone else, they also inflicted more than all the other allies combined... by a factor of 2. If you include missing/injured/pows, that number increases to 3/4 of all German losses attributed to the USSR. So if you think about it, as much as the Western allies like to make a big deal about their contribution to world war 2, in reality they played a pretty minor role. In fact, it could really only be called a "world war" by the fact that so many nations were dragged into it, and that geographically there were conflicts all over the world, but in practice this was a war that was decided between Germany and the USSR for the most part. Now there are a number of sources statistically that measure things slightly different, but the basic premise is the same.
Indeed if you to the other front and Japanese casualties you see a different picture. For whatever reason, statistically it is much more difficult to find numbers, however from what I can see it is a much more equal distribution with about 1/3 from the US, 1/3 from China, and 1/3 from "other" (British/Dutch/Aussies/USSR). So while the US did as much as many of their allies collectively, China did the same. However looking at allied losses, they are almost all statistically speaking (i.e. by like a factor of 10) come from China. So on the Pacific front one might argue that the US had a much larger contribution and impact, but again it is pretty obvious that China really took the brunt of it.
Anyway after all that, perhaps instead of the saying about the victors writing history, it might be revised to the victors who create the most popular movies influencing popular opinion... As the history (though perhaps even biased) is out there for those that care to look for it, though most do not, and just believe whatever fanciful viewpoint that is presented to them that the most wish to see. I don't recall too many movies about the USSR and China taking on Germany and Japan, while a bunch of allies helped them out a bit. Also it is worth noting that the US was very late to the Pacific theater as well as China was a war with Japan for many years already at that point.
Don't confuse the American-made cars with their European-made counterparts, even if they share the same badge.
If it didn't require that it'd be level 4.
Level 3 (âeyes offâ): The driver can safely turn their attention away from the driving tasks, e.g. the driver can text or watch a movie. The vehicle will handle situations that call for an immediate response, like emergency braking. The driver must still be prepared to intervene within some limited time, specified by the manufacturer, when called upon by the vehicle to do so.
As mentioned in another post, Germany was it's own worst enemy in it's decision to invade the USSR. Statistically speaking the USSR more less single handedly defeated Germany by itself. While they suffered horrific losses, they also did the same in that 3/4 of the German losses were to the USSR (though numerically the USSR lost way more). So it really wasn't much of a team effort at all (at least in the purely statistical sense).
However on the other side against Japan, that was much more of a "team" effort, in that the Japanese losses were more equally distributed. However at the same time China was by far the one who suffered the brunt of it with something like 90% of the allied losses much like the USSR.
Kind of puts Hollywood really into perspective.
They used to be able to. The Austin Mini was cheap and very popular.
Your grasp of the history of WW2 is woefully lacking. The losses the Germans suffered in Russia absolutely dwarf their losses on the Western front, both in terms of personnel and materiel. Russia was poor, to be sure, but they had plenty of cheap human lives to throw at the effort, and leadership that had absolutely no qualms about fighting a war of attrition. The battle of Stalingrad in particular was incredibly costly for the Germans, not just in terms of losses, but in terms of operational objectives - the reason the Wehrmacht even went for Stalingrad was because it held a strategic location in the movement of petroleum, something you will note is both key for warmaking and not readily available in Europe. The other allies would never have had the chance to build an invading force if Germany hadn't been forced to spend so much of their war effort facing east.
^Ah, I suppose you are right. I stand corrected, albeit the remaining nuance that true L3 would typically include all driving, not just a limited subset, otherwise is was already achieved with parking features.
The first official military action of the United States in WW2 was Operation Torch in November 1942
I'm sure this was just an oversight because you seem to know what you're talking about, but the US began unrestricted warfare against Japan in the Pacific within hours of Pearl Harbor. That's if you don't count the defense of Pearl Harbor itself as official for whatever reason.
Just lost 49 battles? really, if there were only a way to check that info ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battles_involving_France_in_modern_history ).
Come on, in the Franco-Prussian War 30% of the French deserted. In WWI the french lost almost everything if it had not been for the British help and the defense of the Marne, France would have been totally obliterated. Leave WWII alone and myths like the French resistance and it role in the war.
Your fucking pieces of junk you call European cars are just floppy dicks in front of American muscle!
Rugby is more like NFL for Furby! They need no gear cos they are sissys that can't actually hurt each other!
America! Fuck yeah!
And you are still living in the Middle Ages thinking Europe is the center of the world!
Wake up to the modern reality dude! Who is the only Super power in the world?
Well you are comparing a Beemer to a VW dude. VW .... the company that couldn't catch up and had to cheat hard.... and don't get me started about Audis..... pieces of shit
The major turning point actually happened even earlier, during the battle of Moscow. At that point (December 1941) the whole operation Barbarossa failed and the war on the eastern front became unwinnable. Stalingrad was the point where the German war effort wasn't sustainable anymore.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
Can't change the historical fact: Russia was Nazi Germany's _ally_ before Germany attacked. They lost the most in the war, because they deserved it.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Unimog. Europe makes some awesome trucks, but they are edge cases, almost tractors. And you sure as fuck don't want the repair bills.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
VW means people's car... it's like some communist era relic.
will get great mileage and have plenty of power while still passing government emissions tests, right? Would you really buy a "self driving car" from these proven liars?
VW can't make a decent water cooled car. Never could.
First step in replacing the (brake booster/master cylinder) in a new 'bug'. Remove front bumper. Seriously.
Don't say 'no', say 'fuck no, are you crazy?'
Even my German relatives have VW on the 'never again' list.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Roll Royces are now overpriced, tarted up BMWs. Sorry to burst your bubble.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Another BMW disguised as a Brit car. Hint: If it's reliable, it's not British.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
What historical fact? Hungary, Romania, Italy and Japan were allies of Nazi Germany, but Germany and USSR only had a non-aggression pact (a.k.a. neutrality pact), which is something very different.
Moreover, before signing the non-aggression pact Stalin tried to build an anti-Hitler alliance with France and the UK, but Brits told him to go fuck himself in the early 1939, Poland flat out refused to allow Soviet troops to move to their German border in the case of a war and France undermined the Franco-Soviet treaty of mutual assistance by making it essentially unenforceable.
Go educate yourself before you write stupid things.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
Thanks for making my point for me. Greek communists had zero support from the USSR so they tried to ally themselves with Yugoslavia.
You do realise that at this point Soviet troops were as far in the West as Germany and Austria? They never went beyond that and even left Austria after a neutrality pact was signed.
You fail at basic geography.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
Only Japan can make quality cars.
some people measure "quality" by "how does it protect the occupants" but you are not one of them
Wake me when it's actually in production.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
Attacking a nation together and splitting it up (historical fact) makes you an ally. No matter what the treaty is named.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
It's doubtful if the capture of Moscow would have been anything more than a propaganda victory for the Germans. After all, Napoleon was still defeated even though he actually took the city (or at least what was left of it after the Russians intentionally burned it). While yes the bogging down of troops outside Moscow signaled the doom of Barbarossa - complete disaster actually happened when Paulus' 6th army was encircled, cut off, and well over 200K battle-hardened troops were forced to surrender with all their equipment. After that the whole momentum of the Eastern front changed. From then on any counterattacks and gains by the Germans would be temporary at best, and usually were quickly blunted or absorbed by the Red Army as it ground its way towards Berlin.
So while I agree that the failure to take Moscow can be seen as the first major indicator that Barbarossa would not succeed (along with failing to take Lenningrad), Stalingrad is where Germany lost sufficient men and material to ensure it could never take the offensive again. From that point on its hands were tied and no amount of tactical or strategic brilliance could change the fact that the Russians now controlled the entire front and could push whenever and wherever they wanted.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
While the British solved the Enigma problem, the US contributed to Enigma by operating bomba machines. The British didn't have the capacity to decrypt the all the German messages, so they cabled data to the US where we calculated the results and sent them back. The first example of cloud processing. :-)
Beau,
With all due respect..
it seems your lacking for forethought regarding your publication has gotten you again..
Can this car be sold?? I mean will it pass SMOG/emissions testing??
How exactly does this apply to "geeks??"
Can the Average GEEK afford such an object?
Where in the world would this object make an impact??
Just curious, do you work for Dice??
Lend Lease was enacted in March 1941. Britain had already survived the threat of invasion and the Battle of Britain and was turning the tide against the u-boats in the N. Atlantic. Britain had already passed through the worst of the storm. Lend lease helped the UK switch to and stay on the offensive both in N. Africa and the Med. It did not "save" Britain by any means. Britain was mostly saved by geography and the Royal Navy/Air Force.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Well, that's kind of my point. You need more money than brains to shell out for a Rolls. Or, you have to be some kind of Saudi prince (who's probably gonna skip the Rolls and buy a Koenigsegg or Mercedes anyway.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Actually, don't, because that's the whole point. I want to be able to catch up on a few Zzzs. Level 3 seems to be "Bore me to sleep then wake me up", ie pointless.
The Rolls Royce and Bentley are made in the UK.
The Ford Fiesta is the best-selling car in the UK. It has been for decades.
I'm not quite sure what your point is: the Fiesta (like the Focus) was designed in Europe, it's not n "American" car.
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
Corvette = Only European cars that can compete with it cost minimum 10X as much
NFL = Rugby even more boring and more sissy. Helmets & padding? Considering we're comparing 350lb guys running at 25 MPH vs 185lb guys running at 10-15 MPH, helmets are justified.
Lend Lease started because the UK ran out of money for the Cash and Carry program before. The war bankrupted the UK, France didn't spend it's money (gold) like that and after the war were in a better financial position than the UK and others.
Watch the movie in TFA and at 5:35 you get a slide with the processors involved. There's MobilEye (now Intel) that does image recognition, Altera (now Intel too) that does sensor fusion, Nvidia that does camera processing, and Infineon Aurix that does the Traffic Jam Pilot. The Aurix is the weakest of all four, but it's the only one considered safe enough to drive a vehicle (ISO26262 ASIL-D and similar standards)
Then you understand why the system is so limited. It can't change lanes. It doesn't overtake other cars. It does not plan ahead your way home and takes the second exit if needed. All it does is drive more or less in a straight line following the car in front, and stop if the radar detects an obstacle. There's no AI or image recognition there, just classical control algorithms that can run on a microcontroller such as the Aurix.
All I can think of is that they haven't figured out yet how to make the AI required for real self driving safe, so they can assume responsibility if anything goes wrong.
I suppose you're going to tell me that Jaguar and Land Rover are British cars.
You are welcome on my lawn.
In at least three Slavic languages, hearing "Covrette" makes you immediately think of "little whore". In at least Bulgarian, Corvette's definite article singular exactly matches whore's diminutive plural.
Not that it matters. Know enough languages and you can smirk at pretty much every word you hear. I'm fluent in only four (and can get around in a couple more) but it is hard to find anyone with a name that does not mean something funny in one of them.
No good deed goes unpunished...
And it's a good thing everyone has $100k lying around to blow on a new car, too!
STFU you're all a bunch of whiny cunts. I'm sick of your arguing.
The lend lease program was a much bigger contribution than you're making it out to be. In particular, the contribution the US made to the Soviets was both immensely valuable and poorly repaid.
Overall, a little under $11 billion in goods (in old timey dollars) was shipped to the USSR and only three quarters of $1 billion were ever repaid. These supplies were around 4%-7% of the USSR's total production during the war.
There were many crucial industrial and logistical supplies sent, such as locomotives, trucks, etc. I think one of the most important single supplies (or at least a huge unsung hero of the war) was shoes and leather, of which over 5 million boots and something like 100k tons of additional leather were delivered to the USSR. Would the Soviet economy have been able to support their military logistics needs without these supplies? Would Soviet soldiers have gone without boots in the brutal Russian winter? Presumably these supplies were chosen for the program because the Soviets were having a hard time producing enough of them domestically, so it's hard to tell if they could have produced them or if they would have had to basically do without. They definitely would have had to re-purpose their economy to fill these needs (ex. making trucks and locomotives instead of tanks).
It's hard to tell for sure, but I think it's very likely to have been an important factor, especially since some of the biggest battles like Stalingrad and Kursk were fairly close contests and were late enough in the war for the supplies and resultant economic investment to have mattered. Without the lend lease program, the Soviets may have been something like 5%-20% weaker (my speculation, but 5% is very conservative) at that point in the war, so it's quite possible that the Germans could have prevailed strategically even if they didn't really stand a chance in our timeline, especially if the economic investment (producing more domestically thanks to the early capital investment) and logistic (getting produced supplies to the troops) boosts from the program's supplies were high.
From a US perspective, this was definitely worth it despite the lack of repayment, especially if the USSR would have collapsed without assistance. These supplies likely saved many US and Anglo lives in the long run.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
https://www.rbth.com/business/...
http://www.jrbooksonline.com/f... (contains the amounts and value of stuff sent; while not the original source, I know it was pulled from a US government report after the war, which I had found earlier)
Your mistake is thinking that Moscow was just the capital, but it was also Ð major center of Soviet industry - the country has been very centralised back then. Stopping the army group center also gave the USSR the opportunity to transport fresh troops from the far east region of Russia to the front.
All this resulted in the failure of the planned Blitzkrieg strategy and the whole operation suddenly became a war of attrition for which Germany simply wasn't prepared. For the operation Barbarossa to succeed the USSR had to be on its knees before the winter 1941/1942, but that has not happened. In fact, the winter gave the Soviets time to regroup and reequip the Red Army.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
Corvette = primitive fibreglass shit
And that's what is good about it, its barn-door simplicity. Big V8 at the front, manual transmission in the middle and power out the back. Very little to go wrong. I've got a 240i, but I'd happily have a Vette because its what a sports GT should be, light, powerful, RWD and not much else. Its a car designed to let the driver enjoy it. Sure it's no Aston Martin... but it costs 1/3 of the cheapes Aston GT car.
They dont make Vettes for the UK market though.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
This is also entirely ignoring the pacific theater.
When you include that, Russia still did their part. Why do we have a divided Korea now? Because it was the Russians who pushed out the Japanese, and the Americans rushed in after, dividing Korea like Germany. Russia didn't fight the naval battles, but fought on the Pacific rim. One of the reasons China allied with Russia after is that the US abandoned the Pacific Theater, when it suited them. Oh sure, the Phillipines gets attention, a strong US supporter, but the US had no ground troops to spare for large-scale invasions, so ignored anything inland, like China.
Most of what Japan did in WWII was take parts of China, and take islands to help them hold China. The US history books portray a Japan bent on world-domination. Instead, Japan was bent on Chinese domination, with the battles elsewhere to help them hold it. The US gave some aid, when convenient, but didn't stage a ground war in Asia, like Russia did. The US policy of going for Tokyo looked to be abandoning China, and help set up the unfriendly attitude in the region for decades to come. And even helped the communists take China. If that were our goal, we couldn't have orchistrated it any better than we did.
Then after that threat finally ended, little shits like you come back here and say that we didn't do anything at all and that the "red scare" was really never actually threat, much like holocaust deniers.
Go McCarthy! You preach it. Black list them all!
The red scare was false. The USSR never planned a large scale invasion of the US. The USSR was interested in the US so far as not wanting to get invaded, or toppled with propaganda. The US showed its tolerance for democracy by invading Vietnam to block a democratic election, Eisenhower afraid of what the popular vote might elect. And the US started a civil war in Vietnam, with that act. But no, tell us how it was the USSR, backing the VC *after* the invasion by the US that started that war. I've heard that many times, but the dates don't agree with that scenario. The first US troops (called "non-combat" troops) landed under Eisenhower, before the first Soviet troops. And, obviously, the "non-combat" troops faced combat, and the first coffins came home under Eisenhower.
But, given your slant so far, I'm sure you'll set it up as the war that JFK started, and LBJ escalated, and Nixon ended. That's the Republican party line, even if it doesn't agree with reality. Eisenhower started it, and no other president wanted to be known as the president who lost a war to communism. If Nixon weren't being impeached, we'd still be there. But Watergate freed a president to "do the right thing", since political suicide had already happened, so losing a war wasn't a big deal. We'd already lost under Eisenhower. We just took a while to admit it.
Learn to love Alaska
Soviet-backed North Korean forces stormed into the South like Germany into Poland.
On paper, in the US and in Russia, Korea was a single country. It just had two governments who didn't agree on who was running it. Hard to compare an invasion by one recognized country to another recognized country to a unified country with internal struggles. Unification was one of the stated goals when the US sold North Korea to the Russians, without consent or negotiations with Korea.
They didn't support the Chinese Communists?
That's east, not west, and the "Chinese Communists" were supported by Russia because the Soviets were the only ones on the mainland fighting the Japanese. The US simply abandoned China to the Japanese in WWII. Chinese resistance won the land war, and when the Soviets went in to help mop up, the only ones fighting with them were the communists. It was the US that explicitly requested that of the USSR.
The US requested the treaty that "gave" Asia to the Soviets, then the US complained when their actions bit them, and blamed everyone but themselves. Korea was divided at the request of the US. China rebels (communists) were aided by the Soviets at the request of the US.
That's not a sign of Soviet aggression.
Learn to love Alaska
The Battle of Britain was won in 1940
Yet the bombings continued after it was "won". Had the US not intervened more strongly, Hitler could have taken England. It just may have taken more time. The English held out long enough for the US to mass a counter-attack using it as a staging ground.
However this "you would be speaking German if not for us" nonsense is just as valid for America - America would be surrounded by a German/Japanese empire if it weren't for the UK and it's commonwealth members, the Free French, the free Poles, and the Soviet Union.
Had the US not intervened, there's no clear path to an Allied victory. Had the US not intervened, there's no clear path to a Nazi invasion of the US. Your opinion seems unsupported by fact. "surrounded by" is far from "invaded by".
Learn to love Alaska
The US played its part, after being dragged kicking and screaming into the war.
Quoteth Winston Churchill:
You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, after they've tried everything else
The idea the US "won the war" though is patently absurd. It's just Hollywood propaganda,.
This. If you're ignorant about the war, you'll say "thank you".
If you know a little about the war, you'll say "spasiba".
If you know a lot about the war, you'll say "danke".
You see whilst the Russians did most of the leg work, it was really the stupidity of the German leadership that handed the war to the Soviets and allies. In the 30's, prior to the war the Stalin gutted the officer class in the army after he took control of the Communist party (after driving off Trotsky and his allies). So the Soviet army went into battle with some extremely uninspiring generals to say the least. Fortunately they didn't need a high calibre of generals because Hitler implemented a no-retreat policy. Despite Nazi Germany having some very high quality leaders, their hands were tied. Soviet strategy consisted entirely of:
1. Build up overwhelming numbers of men, armour and artillery.
2. Send at enemy.
This worked brilliantly for the Soviets because German forces, unable to retreat and regroup were forced into isolated pockets of troops with overstretched supply lines. The Nazis had to defend a 1000 mile front line whilst the Soviets could pick and choose where they struck, then swing around behind the enemy. The Soviets never had to change strategies because the Nazis never presented them with anything more complex.
If Hitler had of allowed his forces to fall back to more defensible positions, the Soviets probably wouldn't have been able to take most, if not all of Eastern Europe and it would have been a much harder fight for the Allies. Think about how well the Germans were able to hold northern Italy because they set up in strategic positions that were very hard to take but quite easy to hold (the Gustav line), as evidenced in Italy, the German Generals were quite good at holding a defensible position. However due to Hitlers insistence that there could be no retreat large swaths of the German army were cut off and destroyed. Its a misnomer to say the Soviets won the Second World War because the fact of the matter is, they didn't because the Germans lost it.
The irony is that both Stalin and Hitler were uncaring with how many men they lost, it just mattered that Stalin had more men to lose. This is in stark contrast to the Western allies, Churchill, De Gaulle and FDR considered the lives of their troops and civilians very carefully. Churchill once uttered "Battles are won by slaughter and manoeuvre, the more a general contributes in manoeuvre, the less he demands in slaughter". Hitler and Stalin contributed very little in manoeuvre.
Still, can't expect too much from a nation of ignoramuses who elect a reality TV star as their leader.
Hey, he was a complete knob long before he was on reality TV, so you cant blame TV for that one.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
You need to read history books not written in England. The Battle of Britain was not "won" by Britain. The Germans lost interest, and the night bombings continued long after the Britain "victory". Britain was saved by the Royal Navy/Air Force in so much as those were supplied by the US.
Learn to love Alaska
We probably should. People have decided the writing on it is as valid as the Constitution.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
FDR would have been perfectly happy with Hitler and Germany running Europe.
Wow, that was totally wrong. FDR was not preoccupied with Japan, prior to their declaration of war. FDR was preoccupied with Europe. Once Hitler rolled through France, FDR totally saw the threat posed by a united, continental Europe, run by Hitler. The problem was that the US population did not want any involvement in a European war. All FDR could do was lease some American destroyers to the UK.
Japan wasn't considered a security threat to the US. It was a threat to US Pacific hegemony^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hmarkets. The US "encouraged" Japan to attack the US with a joint oil boycott with the British. US/UK was the OPEC of the world, before the Arabs. And when the Japanese declared war, FDR knew there were joint defense pacts with Germany/Italy. Going to war the Japanese would be the pretext to initiate military actions against the Nazis. Once Japan attacked the US, and their Axis allies reciprocated, FDR had the US united in an external war. But he neglected to point out to American voters that he would dedicate the bulk of US resources to ending the war in Europe first (the "real" threat). The US allocated only 1/3 of US forces (mostly Marines & Navy) to "island hopping" its way towards Japan, the nation that actually attacked the US.
In this case Nazi Germany and Poland were also allies.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
It's bad enough when you are in a 70+ limit and you are behind a moped with a 60 top speed. I'm not looking forward to driving behind a car driving slowly because the owner wants to use autonomous functions. I hope these cars realize when they are in a higher speed zone and specifically disable these functions at that time so the driver isn't tempted.
Hilarious.
NFL players would be smashed and eliminated in minutes.
There's simply no comparison.
Which explains why no-one in the world has the remotest interest in the weakling game of gridiron, except the Americans.
Sorry pal, but the numbers don't lie. Gridiron is almost the most boring sport imaginable, right up there with golf.
Doh! The AUSTIN Mini. I was careful to specify so you wouldn't think the modern BMW car.
This one:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
It's not like some communist relic, it's the car company Hitler started.
Acura has a safety record matched only by Volvo and Audi. But the other European cars get pretty bad safety ratings and results.
The one with Lucas electrics...shudder. Your a brave man, driving that further than walking distance from home.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
I'm not presenting my car as an anecdote, I was just saying I endure what I knew was large bills because I like the car. There is plenty of evidence that German car ownership isn't that great in terms of repair, overall satisfaction, or safety (less Audi and kinda Volvo, though BMW did do better in 2017, so kudos to them).
I suppose you're going to tell me that Jaguar and Land Rover are British cars.
No, I'm telling you when Americans want to sell cars outside the US they (almost always) have to let Europeans design and build them. The only exception is with cars that find a couple of buyers but that no European would think about building - IOW muscle cars and pick ups.
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
It was not only Brits at Bletchley Park who broke the Enigma, as it was first broken by Polish cryptanalyst Marian Rejewski in 1932. Perhaps most incredibly, the Poles built a working Enigma without ever seeing the machine itself!
The Polish intelligence gave all their Enigma secrets to the British and French codebreakers at a meeting in Poland in July 1939. They saw the writing on the wall on German belligerency, and they also didn't have the resources to break the latest (more complex) Enigma, although they knew how to do it.
Breaking of the Enigma was further helped by a German who gave info on the machine to French intelligence before the war.
It is possible that breaking Enigma would have taken months or even years without the incredible foresight of the Poles, who'd been working on various iterations of the Enigma since early 1930s.
It's a really fascinating story, and only recently has the huge contribution of the Poles been recognized. Not to take anything away from the heroic efforts done at Bletchley Park!
And furthermore, they where allies and did not do it alone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Ignoring the others is not just ignorant. It is disrespectful to the soldiers who have given their lives.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
Yet practically everything VW built from 1990 or so onward is still driving around, often with many hundreds of thousands of km on the clock. They must have been doing something right. When maintained properly, most VWs are like cockraches (Sharan and everything imported from Mexico excluded).
Corvette = primitive fibreglass shit
And that's what is good about it, its barn-door simplicity. Big V8 at the front, manual transmission in the middle and power out the back. Very little to go wrong.
Figures you did neither include steering nor brakes in that equation.
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
It would have been an awesome thing... except for the fact that the political leadership in either of those countries was less than stellar at the time.
It's a shame it can't go round corners, though. The problem with American 'sports' cars is that American manufacturers only seem to care about straight line performance, which is almost completely irrelevant in the real world. (Well, that and build quality and reliability, but these plague all American cars and I would argue that they are less relevant for a sports car)
Eh? Most cars that gets the top 5 stars in Euro NCAP are European, the rest being Japanese or Korean. The few American ones that do were all designed and built by Ford of Europe. The lowest-ranking model currently on sale is the American-designed and built Ford Mustang, with only two out of five stars.
Wake me when it's actually in production.
No, because no one actually gives a shit about what you think.