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Tag Archives: war
Review: A Compassionate Spy (2023)
Steve James’ latest, about the Manhattan Project physicist Ted hall who passed on information about the implosion bomb to Soviet agents: my review of A Compassionate Spy. Thank you so much for stopping by. If you like what … Continue reading
Happy Birthday, Robert Conquest
“I think once you accept that you have the answer to everything, you can do anything to bring it about because your enemies are trying to stop you, are enemies of reason, of truth of everything – enemies of the … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged England, Kirov, politics, Robert Conquest, Russia, Stalin, The Great Terror, war
4 Comments
“They are holding every Jew in Germany as a hostage. Therefore, we who are not Jews must speak, speak our sorrow and indignation and disgust in so many voices that they will be heard.” — journalist Dorothy Thompson, radio broadcast, 1938
Dorothy Thompson, 1939: testifying in Congress to repeal the Neutrality Act. American journalist Dorothy Thompson, whose birthday it is today, wangled and manipulated her way into an interview with Adolf Hitler in 1931. Before he even became Chancellor. Thompson had … Continue reading
June 28, 1914: “But if ever a man went anywhere of his own free will, Franz Ferdinand went to Sarajevo.”
June 28, 1914: Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie – setting out in their motorcade in Sarajevo that fateful morning, as the assassins, unseen, move into position. Here are two excerpts from Rebecca West’s towering Black Lamb and Grey … Continue reading
“I knew that I had a facility with words and a power of facing unpleasant facts.” — George Orwell
Orwell was born on this day. When Animal Farm was released in a new edition, Christopher Hitchens (one of THE people you need to read if you want to understand Orwell, besides Orwell himself), wrote specifically about the quote from … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged 1984, Animal Farm, England, George Orwell, politics, Russia, war
6 Comments
“And the role of the fatal chorus / I agree to take on” — Anna Akhmatova
“This I pray at your liturgy After so many tormented days, So that the stormcloud over darkened Russia Might become a cloud of glorious rays.” — Anna Akhmatova, “Prayer” Anna Akhmatova – born Anna Andreyevna Gorenko on this day – … Continue reading
Review: Mending the Line (2023)
Fly fishing as metaphor for life is well-trod ground, but Mending the Line homes in specifically on veterans and PTSD, and fly fishing as effective therapy. Brian Cox, Wes Studi, gorgeous scenery. The film has some flaws, but I approve … Continue reading
On This Day: June 6, 1944: “I really think I’m too young for this.”
Today I honor the memory of the men (and boys, in many cases), who were willing to risk their lives to bring down a tyrannical fascist government, who were willing to lose their lives to protect and restore the liberty … Continue reading
Remembering, Honoring
U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Tiffany Robinson, assigned to 449th Air Expeditionary Group, kneels in front of a battlefield cross following a Memorial Day ceremony at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, May 26, 2014. The cross was created with combat gear representing … Continue reading
Happy Birthday, Niccolò Machiavelli: “Fear and the absence of hatred may go well together.”
Prologue, The Jew of Malta, by Christopher Marlowe, written in 1589. Machiavelli died in 1527. You can see his posthumous reputation had ballooned, just 60 years after his death. Enter MACHIAVEL. MACHIAVEL. Albeit the world think Machiavel is dead, Yet … Continue reading
Posted in Books, On This Day, writers
Tagged Christopher Marlowe, Italy, Machiavelli, politics, war
2 Comments
