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The United States Navy didn't have that mindset until the 1967 Forrestal Fire, preferring to have dedicated firefighters. What would make Imperial Japan decide to change to that stance twenty or forty years earlier? It's worth pointing out that Hosho was a very small ship, only 7,000 tons...

I was thinking this would be about Jon Stewart. :p

Is there a status where something is considered important but not necessarily biblical canon? For example, some Catholics read the apocrypha, but they aren't considered biblical canon.

Making Dante biblical canon could really increase some of the more theologically oriented arguments of Protestantism, namely the focus on biblical integrity, and would probably lead to more support for it.

Battlefield 1 is kind of a look into what the Spring offensives of 1919 might have looked like. With the exception of Pedersen Device converted M1903 Springfield rifles there weren't that many semi-automatic rifles produced or planned for production, but small unit tactics and anti-tank weapons...

Contractors are used to do things that require very specialized skills that the military has difficult recruiting for or for services that the market can supply (airport service, freight, etc.). Total privatization of the military seems impractical. Who would pay for private firms to maintain...

Imperial Iran was purchasing advanced military equipment at the time. The Imperial Iran Air Force consisted entirely of aircraft from the United States, and the naval and ground forces were a mixture of British and American equipment (see here). If it had survived it might have wanted to...

Japan received significant war reparations from China as a result of the First Sino-Japanese War, equivalent to 6.4 times the Japense national budget at the time. The Japanese national budget was heavily allocated to military uses, so in a way the Japanese victory in the Sino-Japanese War helped...

The Soviet Space Shuttle Buran is a good look at that. It was actually capable of automated flight, something that the United States Space Shuttle couldn't really be retrofitted with. The first test flight of the Buran ended with the unmanned spacecraft taking off, entering orbit, returning to...

Both World War II and the Korean War ended with massive devastation from strategic bombing, so it's really not that far off from an analogy. The difference is that the Korean War picked up with the highly developed strategic bombing aircraft and capabilities that it took until the end of World...

Italy and the Soviet Union were the only major powers heavily investing in military equipment in the early to mid-1930s. Might over-investment in the military years before the other powers have left Italy with a first mover disadvantage?

The gunsmith who mounted the scope on Oswald's rifle considered it kind of a piece of junk and experienced a hang fire when he demonstrated use of the rifle and its ammunition for FBI investigators. It's unclear from the article if the gunsmith tested the rifle Oswald used or simply a similar...

If Edwin Walker had been more seriously injured might Marina have turned him into the authorities?

There were White Russian naval forces that actually outlasted Imperial Russia itself. Maybe something akin to Wrangel's Fleet could take up port in Alaska. If they have gold, silver, and/or other valuable goods they could even maintain the force in good condition for a period and perhaps a...

Wouldn't there be German occupation forces in Northern Ireland, unless they give it to Ireland for some reason? Even if the Germans aren't in Ireland, it's not very far away, and the Germans could probably subdue Ireland militarily in a few days and carry out operations against American landing...

What about just the Island of Pines/Isla de la Juventud. Quoting from Wikipedia:

What about winning Afghanistan and building a pipeline, then flipping Pakistan as an export terminal for Soviet energy in the Indian Ocean?

The nuclear aspects of the Incident have been well discussed (including how they contributed to the successful failure at Fukushima), but let's not forget the significant disruption to the regional power grid. Palo Verde was identified as a major risk area on the West Coast power grid by the...

The timeline might be moved up, but how would less time to make something as complicated as a bomb be more likely to result in success?

Henry Ford would be 65 in 1928 and 69 in 1932, so that gives a narrow window for him to start his first term. What wing of the party would he be likely to be in? Alternatively, maybe Ford could become Secretary of Commerce on the way to or instead of becoming President?