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That is nothing compared to me in a rampage in a classroom Jim I've reduced 18 year old boys to tears without even raising my voice or using physical violence. Imagine what I could do if I was allowed to belt my students

Actually H my biggest problem is mobile phones and students SMS'ing or playing games in class. Since I dropped one out of the window on the third floor onto a concrete surface (Nokia don't do very good impact testing) no trouble, and I had warned the idiot 5 times in 2 weeks!
I nearly died laughing when his parents came to school to complain and the headmaster said they had a choice they could have the money or their child could remain at the school

I'm sure that all sides in all wars are guilty of "War Crimes".  The fact we had interrogation centres that used torture techniques is no real shock.  In 1942 Churchill wanted to use poison gas on German cities, it was only Bomber command that persuaded him otherwise; not because it was against the geneva convention but because fire storms created by conventional bombing were thought to have a greater negative effect on civillian morale.

I agree that the timing of this report is awful, but to pretend that we were some form of pure force of good from '39-'45 would be naive.

Will

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Of course I'm not naive enough to think that Will. I'm well aware of some of the terrible things normally decent human beings from all countries can do to each other during times of conflict. This is part of our human nature & in most cases done in the heat of the moment. However, I'm quite certain that the vast majority of German PoWs were treated strictly in accordance with the Geneva Convention. I think the publication of this latest discovery by the newspaper concerned was quite deliberately & callously timed to coincide with Remembrance Day & not for the reasons that Andrew suggested either.

Let's remember that there are three degrees to "torture" ...

1st degree - telling the person what will happen,
"If you don't tell me what I want to hear, I'll shoot your foot off... "

2d degree - showing the persons the instruments of "torture"
"This is the 9mm Glock that I'll use to put a hole into your foot!"

<Bang!>   "Okay, I won't miss the next time..."

3rd degree - the actual use of the instruments of torture
<Bang!>  "OOops, MEDIC!"

Nowadays, 1st and 2d degree are equated to the actual torture ...

This doesn't surprise me at all, but the fact it is being reported does.  We (America and Britain) seem to have a tendency to view World War II through rose colored glasses. The Last Good War - as if there is such a thing.

But apparently, as y'all have said, this isn't the most trustworthy of papers.

Lest we forget, then. 


A.

I'm reminded of being in a small supermarket in the U.S. midwest. He must have been @ 11, give or take, telling his mom, "It must be true. It's in the paper!"
He thereby pointed at the paper rack displaying Star, Enquirer...  I hope his discernment and thinking for himself greatly improves during the next half (and beyond) of his life.