Declassified photos from Tinian Island as the B-29 “Enola Gay” was being loaded

Post by sophacles » Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 2:04 PM UTC

kyberias wrote: post #38

scrollaway wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It helps to understand how it actually works. The s in its does not point towards possession, it is simply part of the word "its". My, His, Hers, Ours, Yours, Theirs, Its. Not Me's, He's, She's, Us's, Your's, Their's, It's. English is an easy language. Most languages use a lot more words than all that to convey all that. English speakers don't have to deal with the singular second person, with a separate objective no…

I think this doesn't help. What is relevant is that there are two forms: it's and its. Its easy to mix them by non-natives like myself. No-one ever writes She's or Us's, but "It's" is valid as is its. It's easy to deduce that one should not write us's but it's not that easy with it. :)

Post by kyberias » Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 2:06 PM UTC

scrollaway wrote: post #42

kyberias wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this doesn't help. What is relevant is that there are two forms: it's and its. Its easy to mix them by non-natives like myself. No-one ever writes She's or Us's, but "It's" is valid as is its. It's easy to deduce that one should not write us's but it's not that easy with it. :)

"It's" is a contraction of "it is", it doesn't exist in and of itself. Maybe that helps more?

Post by nwatson » Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 2:08 PM UTC

marktangotango wrote: post #30

rjsw wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least one of them [1] knew exactly what it was, I would guess that the others were working for him and had a pretty good idea too. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Sterling_Parsons

I think most of them had an idea about atomic bombs back then, and what they were doing could end the war. Robert Heinlien was investigated by the FBI in the late 30's due to a description of atomic bombs in a story he'd written. So the idea was out there so to speack. What they were ignorant of, I'm pretty sure, was the actual magnitude of the destruction caused by the devices. My father was about 10 yrs old at the…

Post by crusso » Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 2:09 PM UTC

kyberias wrote: post #38

scrollaway wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It helps to understand how it actually works. The s in its does not point towards possession, it is simply part of the word "its". My, His, Hers, Ours, Yours, Theirs, Its. Not Me's, He's, She's, Us's, Your's, Their's, It's. English is an easy language. Most languages use a lot more words than all that to convey all that. English speakers don't have to deal with the singular second person, with a separate objective no…

I think this doesn't help. What is relevant is that there are two forms: it's and its. Its easy to mix them by non-natives like myself. No-one ever writes She's or Us's, but "It's" is valid as is its. It's easy to deduce that one should not write us's but it's not that easy with it. :)

Post by dirktheman » Tue, Sep 30, 2014, 2:11 PM UTC

jnsaff2 wrote: post #50

dirktheman wrote: post #31

It always amazes me how seemingly careless they were with these nuclear devices back then. To know that such a devestating bomb was handled by a sultry, shirtless youngster, in a shed on a small island in the Pacific... It reminds me of the Slotin Incident ( http://www.damninteresting.com/bitten-by-the-nuclear-dragon/ ) where dr. Louis Slotin accidently slipped the screwdriver he used to separate two plutonium/uraniu…

You should read Command and Control which is about the history of nuclear accidents and management in the US. Carelessness didn't go away for a long time, especially in the upper management. Very well written and interesting book. http://www.amazon.com/Command-Control-Eric-Schlosser-ebook/d...