On this day in 1950, the northern Korean People's Army crossed the 38th parallel in an offensive to crush the Republic of Korea, an imperialist puppet state established by the U.S., marking the beginning of the Korean War.
the Korean War of 1950-53 was fought between two states that both lay claim to all of the Korean Peninsula, the northern Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the southern Republic of Korea (ROK).
The ROK had been established by the occupying U.S. military government in 1948. In 1945, the same military government had banned the left-leaning People's Republic of Korea, which was based on a network of worker's committees whose program consisted of pro-labor reforms, such as the abolition of child labor and the eight hour day.
On June 25th, 1950, the DPRK People's Army crossed the 38th Parallel into ROK territory, intending to crush the state of U.S.-collaborationists. Two days later, the United Nations Security Council, then boycotted by the Soviet Union for not acknowledging the People's Republic of China (PRC), recommended member states provide military assistance to the Republic of Korea.
The conflict became a proxy war between global superpowers, with the DPRK supported by the Soviet Union and PRC and the ROK supported by the U.S. On July 27th, 1953 the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed, creating the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to separate North and South Korea. Despite this, no peace treaty was ever signed and the two governments remain at war to this day.
The Korean War was among the most destructive conflicts of the modern era, with approximately 3 million war fatalities, 10% of the total Korean population, a larger proportional civilian death toll than both World War II and the Vietnam War according to historian Charles Armstrong.
The U.S. led a massive, scorched earth bombing campaign against North Korea, making North Korea one of the most heavily bombed countries in human history. Armstrong writes "U.S. planes dropped 635,000 tons of bombs on Korea - that is, essentially on North Korea - including 32,557 tons of napalm, compared to 503,000 tons of bombs dropped in the entire Pacific theatre of World War II. It incurred the destruction of virtually all of Korea's major cities."
This campaign of destruction was essential to the success of U.S. intervention: American General Matthew Ridgway stated that, except for air power, "the war would have been over in 60 days with all Korea in Communist hands".
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I feel that, I laughed and smiled more last night than I have in months. For the very first time in my life I wasn’t anxious, it was amazing
We were doing tequila shots
Oof. If you had a good time doing tequila shots on your first night drinking ever you really need to be careful. Most people who start with shots, especially tequila, wake up dead and have to fight their way back to the world of the living.
Alcohol is so prevalent and universal in the world that it's easy to forget that it's overwhelmingly the most harmful drug on the planet. The addiction potential is high, compounded because it's so normalized in society that it's hard to avoid it. It does real damage even with "moderate" drinking. Like one glass of wine with dinner or a beer or two a night will add up over the years.
I have bipolar disorder, and all of us with bipolar are at a severe risk from any potentially addictive substance. Hence I drink very rarely and very carefully. I lucked out in some ways - I've never felt the need to have another drink, or the need to "take the edge off", but the possibility constantly haunts me. If I take any drug - painkiller, anti-anxiety, alcohol, whatever, and think "oh this feels wonderful" it triggers an automatic fear response and I put it down and walk away. So i'm a little preachy and a little more prone to treat alcohol as something that is potentially extremely dangerous and should be approached with caution and respect than a lot of people.
Protip: a lot of muslim people I've met have seemed interested to meet a non-muslim who doesn't drink. I think it's hard for muslims and non-muslims in America to socialize since most muslims don't drink, or drink discretely if they do, while alcohol is pretty much universal in social situations in America outside of Muslim, Mormon, and some Southern Baptist cultures. Just something to keep in your back pocket. It came up a few times when I lived in Minneapolis and was hanging out with Somali people.
I have been incredibly worried about trying alcohol because of all that, which is why I waited for years after being legal before actually trying it. But holy fuck, no exaggeration it was the very very first time in my life I could talk to people without anxiety. Being able to experience the world not full of fear is a fucking wonderful feeling and if it damages my health then it's worth it, I'm so tired of being afraid of people and everything all of the time. My compromise with myself is that I'm only ever going to allow myself to drink when with other people
I would say listen to what your body is telling you and don’t push your limits (ie, if you get sick, stop). Definitely avoid binge drinking, especially if you’re under 25. It can permanently fuck up your brain chemistry as I can attest personally. (“in the United States, the term has been described in academic research to mean consuming five or more standard drinks (male), or four or more drinks (female), over a two-hour period)
Remember to drink lots of water after you're done drinking! Professional drunks will keep some gatoraid or equivalent in the fridge to re-stock electrolytes when they wake up.
I used to drink hard when I was younger. These days I only drink 1-2 beer at most when I drink. I feel pretty comfy after 1-2 beers.
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The thing is ... I could drink more but its a gamble for me that I end up completely drunk and I dont like that. So I just drink 1-2 beers and leave it at that.
Big same. I got into cheapish ($10-20$ a bottle) wine, too, but I limiting myself to one or two glasses as well. A psychiatrist diagnosed me as “borderline alcoholic” once, only borderline because I quit cold turkey without physical problems. I have to watch how much I drink these days. I like how it tastes and makes me feel in the moment, but it can quickly lead me to a depression spiral that almost got me institutionalized last time.