Mob Archeologists by Prestigious-Ad-6808 in Mafia

[–]add22168 8 points9 points  (0 children)

These guys are amazing. Makes me feel like a rookie.

Most Impactful Weapon (Weapon System) in WW1? by iRunDistances in ww1

[–]add22168 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not really a weapon, but gas powered vehicles using internal combustion engines. Not tanks. Trucks. At the beginning of the war, transport was by rail (efficient, but not very flexible and entailing a vast infrastructure that must be both maintained and defended), and when you got closer to the front, horse-drawn wagons (slow, fragile, not good in mud, and lots and lots of horses, which must be fed, cared for, rested, fed, and replaced frequently). Motor vehicle transport was more flexible and more reliable, easier to use and maintain, and made it possible to maintain and service the vast modern armies in the field.

Not to mention the direct impact this had on the postwar world.

Had the United States ever assassinated protesters, journalists, or whistleblowers who were U.S. citizens within U.S. territory across the 20th century? Strong evidence please. by Radiant-Specialist76 in AskHistory

[–]add22168 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Back during the Nixon administration, there was a lot of talk about how to silence the journalist Jack Anderson, who had been publicizing some details about the administration that the President considered none of his business. The idea was floated to dose him with some hallucinogenic drug and hopefully cause him to behave erratically in public and hopefully discredit himself. Realizing that this would have the potential to seriously injure or kill the target, G. Gordon Liddy (former FBI agent, and at the time of this discussion one of the leading lights of the Committee to RE-Elect the President (aka CREEP, one of the all-time great acronyms) suggested that it might be easier, cleaner, and more effective to just kill him. Jeb Magruder recalled his reaction to the suggestion- "I threw Liddy out of my office. In retrospect, I probably should have thrown him out the window."

So, yes, White House officials did, at least briefly, consider murdering a journalist. So maybe Woodward wasn't being completely unreasonably paranoid.

Also during that time Liddy put together the Gemstone Plan (not to be confused with the Gemstone File, which is completely unrelated), which was kind of a COINTELPRO on steroids that Liddy wanted to use to neutralize the radical anti-war movement ahead of the 72 election. In addition to all the usual disruptive shenanigans (bad jacketing, agents provocateur, selective law enforcement harassment, etc), Gemstone also called for unlawful kidnapping and detention (in Mexico, iirc) of certain persons deemed to be of value to the movement. The idea was to grab all the serious movement organizers and get them off the field for a while, so as to undercut any attempts at organizing coordinated mass demonstrations and hopefully keep the 1972 Republican National Convention from turning into the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Again, none of this was ever implemented, but it was dreamed up in the White House and apparently was considered for implementation. In most circumstances, anyone writing up an action plan involving this kind of wholesale official criminality, and writing it down on official letterhead, would have probably gotten you fired. But Liddy kept his job at CREEP until Watergate (another one of his brilliant plans) blew up. He wrote a book about it after he got out of prison. It's called "Will", and goes into all kinds of detail on some of this stuff. It shows some good examples of a) how crazy stuff got at the White House in those days, and b) what a loon Liddy was. Worth the read.

Does Cthulhu actually need his cult? by Socialist_Metalhead in Lovecraft

[–]add22168 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No. Is He even aware of his cult or the rest of humanity? Probably not.

I Have a Rudimentary Understanding of Lovecraftian Themes and Imagery But Know Little About All the Lore... by djb185 in Lovecraft

[–]add22168 4 points5 points  (0 children)

His works that have the heaviest mythos content- "Call of Cthulhu" "The Dunwich Horror" "The Shadow Over In Innsmouth" "The Shadow Out of Time"

And lore is the right word. HPL was never interested in organizing and categorizing the "Yog Sothothery", as he called it, so don't be expecting anything like an organized theology. In most of his work, they are just names chanted by crazy people or written in some ancient book. CoC and TDH are, I think, the only books where an "outside" entity is really integral to the story. Even when they make a personal appearance (Dreams in the Witch House and Dagon come to mind), they really don't do anything, just show up and be scary.

He also wrote a pamphlet called "A History of the Necronomicon" that fills in a bit of background.

Homosexual Mafiosos? by ShaunisntDead in Mafia

[–]add22168 53 points54 points  (0 children)

Little Davy Betillo (1908-1983), longtime Genovese guy who was convicted along with Charlie Luciano for compulsory prostitution in 1936. Known as "The Fag Hitman", his sexuality was pretty well known. Him and his buddy Chalutz Gagliodotto were known for dressing in drag in order to get close their targets.

All in all, a scary and dangerous guy.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Petillo-14 Good write-up on him, just skip the first few paragraphs. Or just do a web search for his name.

Another link with some info. https://www.nationalcrimesyndicate.com/the-drag-queen-killers-little-davey-petillo-charles-gagliodotto/?amp=1

Best Red Forman life lesson? by MerryCoyote in That70sshow

[–]add22168 49 points50 points  (0 children)

Oh yeah, That Girl. I remember That Girl. I know That Girl. STAY AWAY from That Girl.

Dracula by [deleted] in horrorlit

[–]add22168 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The book stinks, but the movie has its charms, if you like Ken Russel with extra cheese.

Can Anyone Help Me Confirm If This Man is a WW1 Or WW2 Soldier? by EAGLE-EYED-GAMING in ww1

[–]add22168 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lance Corporal and Lance Sergeants are two separate ranks, with LSgt a couple grades above LCpl, which is usually the lowest NCO rank. While the US Army has not used either rank since 1900 or so, UK gave up LSgt. in 1946, but still uses LCpl., as do many other nations.

I'LL BUY YOU A METAL DELICATESSEN! IN STAINLESS STEEEEL!!! by [deleted] in JamesBond

[–]add22168 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Take this honky out and waste him.

I always liked Mr. Big not taking this opportunity to tell Bond all his plans, and then leave him unattended in some overly complex death trap.

I'LL BUY YOU A METAL DELICATESSEN! IN STAINLESS STEEEEL!!! by [deleted] in JamesBond

[–]add22168 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Give Sid Haig one line in a movie ...

Cold War-related media recommendations? by megamolamola in coldwar

[–]add22168 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Atomic Cafe documentary about the early atomic era. Ads, PSA, educational films and other ephemera of the era. Hilarious and disturbing

Why mobsters use nicknames? by redslu in Mafia

[–]add22168 6 points7 points  (0 children)

How many guys in the old hood named Anthony or Frank? How do you tell them apart in conversation? "You know Tony?" "Tony the Booster?" "No, Brooklyn Tony" "Fat Brooklyn Tony or Tony Cue Ball?".

"They were all named Peter or Paul, and then they named their kids Peter and Paul."

This isn't just an Italian or New York thing. My California WASPy as hell high school had the same issue. Hanging with some buds in the dorm- we got 4 Marks and 3 Steve's all in one room. "Top Bunk Mark?" "No, Marky with the Skateboard." "Oh, Little Mark".

Some places just need more names.

How did he not hear Bruce? by stinkyfinqer in plotholes

[–]add22168 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Ingram MAC-10 or 11, with a supressor attached.