OKAY!

Wow. I love how this is ACTUALLY being used! I have contrived ideas such as this previously, but due to the lack of motivational spirit of my fellow Team Members those plans had disintegrated before my eyes. However, I am both and encouraged and enthused by your zeal to pursue this endeavour! Stef, I must sincerely congratulate you upon your technological achievements in blogging! And Libby, thank you for the email, now at least we would probably have some clue as to who is blogging and when. :) I shall now begin to reread those books I had borrowed AGGES AGO. I am more than certain that they are overdue by now, but it's Blacktown Library so pft, like I care.

Oh and that post I had intended to blog. Okay, in my excellent book of essays, with quotes we can most definitely use, I discovered that there are indeed a shitload of historians who are both for and against us. Okay, there's this bitch of a historian Herbert P. Bix, in this book, described as an "independent scholar who specialises in Japanese political and social history" who wrote this "provocative essay" that sends my theory that Japan would have surrendered had they changed the "unconditional surrender" of the Potsdam Declaration DOWN THE FREAKING TOILET. It reads:

"Bix argues that historians have slighted the Japanese military and political context to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and misunderstood the role that Emperor Hirohito played in the closing months of the war. Contrary to much of the current scholarship, Bix claims that Hirohito was completely in control of the war and its ending. He shows, for example, that Hirohito was actively involved in the plans to resist an American of Japan. He claims as well that Japan's peace overtures in Moscow were little more than a tactic to delay a Soviet invasion of Manchuria, not a serious effort to negotiate an end to the war. (Just me here. That previous sentence is a killer) Bix blames Hirohito's "reluctance to face the fait accompli of defeat" for prolonging the war, not Truman's unwillingness to consider terms other than unconditional surrender. Only after the war did Japanese leaders seek to shield the emperor from popular blame for his wartime leadership - in part by concocting a picture of Hirohito as a great saviour who intervened in the political process in order to end the war an the protect the Japanese people from further destruction. In truth, Bix argues, Hirohito and other leaders were less concernd with protecting their people than with finding a reason to surrender that would save face and prevent a violent popular reaction against their leadership. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki gave them that reason."

Hiroshima in History and Memory: An Introduction, Michael J. Hogan.

I just about wanted to kill myself subsequent to reading that.

So politically, Bix argues that the bomb was beneficial to those Japanese upstarts in the cabinet looking for an excuse to look like the victims of war. This is highly problematic to say in the least. I'll try to uproot any dirt on this Bix guy, see if we can discredit him, or better disprove his assertions.... because it's simply the perspective of ONE historian, right? I want to hope that the opposition will never find that treasure trove, but in adherence to our strategy, we ARE verusing a team of Vales here...so they'd most definitely be thoroughly read.

Oh. Another historian dangerous to our argument is Barton J. Berenstein, a historian at Stamford University and a prominent figure in the historiographical debates over the atomic bombing of Japan. He argues that it was the only option, it was justified etc. etc. I'll read up on him, find his stance, try dish up some dirt. So far, it's looking a little bleak - BUT I AM AN OPTIMIST. Well, we cab definitely prove that Nagasaki was unjustified. We also need to find information that the point of the bomb was an experiment - because then that's treating 200,000 people like guinea pigs.

I'll read more in this little book of mine. Sorry to land this one on you guys. But we shall succeed! We will get through this! Hey, if you guys are coming for extension on Wednesday, why not stay back - Or we could go to a Library somewhere for intense historical discussion? And, what exactly is happening on Thursday? Let's all agree to be read and ready to go by Thursday. Our arguments must be mobilised so we can begin writing this up already.

Okay, I need to stop before I freak out and die of a massive coronary, or an aneurysm. Gosh, this has turned into my bedtime reading.

I need more thinking time... Hope you guys have a good week! Yep Stef, I totally agree with you, we can survive this, and come kicking ass, Vale style, lol.

Love you all,
Dana xoxox

P.S How lovely was the Modern Exam, everyone? Much easier than I had anticipated. :) Oh and yes, Ancient. I agree with Maish's thoughtfulness. Although all I had running through my mind was "FAIL!!" which hindered my concentration in an amusing way...