b. traven The United States, in Tom Engelhardt’s words, has become “the most dangerous country on earth.” And it is not because of our incessant military adventures. It has been simmering since before WW II, with right wing groups in this country who had favored Fascist Germany as a buttress against Socialism which they felt…
b. traven The Independent of Britain has a headline in today’s paper that we just couldn’t pass up: “Saudi Arabia offers Germany 200 mosques – one for every 100 refugees who arrived last weekend.” Reading that headline and the accompanying story generated a large guffaw, what today’s generation terms a LOL moment. We look forward…
W.J. Astore My dad was in the Army in World War II. He was a dental technician in an armored headquarters group and never went overseas. But many of his friends did go overseas and saw combat. What follows are some excerpts from letters sent to my dad. Bill Zerby was attached to the 781…
Eric Frith (This article originally appeared at Tropics of Meta and is used with the kind permission of the author.) The Greek sovereign debt crisis reached a climax early this week when, in an impromptu popular referendum, Greeks overwhelmingly rejected the terms of the bailout package offered by Eurozone leaders and the troika (the European…
By KokonutGrove As a student of American history and politics, in my lifetime I’ve witnessed a dangerous erosion of civil and personal liberties. Such an erosion is the hallmark of fascism. Back in the 1970s and ‘80s when my father was stationed in Berlin, he often discussed the totalitarian police state the East Germans created as…
W.J. Astore The Middle East of the early 21st century is looking more and more like the Thirty Years’ War of the early 17th century that tore apart the Germanic states of the Holy Roman Empire. Religious sectarianism? In the 17th century, Catholics and Protestants killed each other with gusto. Disunity? Yes, within and among…
W.J. Astore To mark the 100th anniversary of World War I, which began in the summer of 1914, I’m posting this essay, which I wrote as a graduate student in 1992. I’ve decided not to edit it since I believe my general conclusions remain sound. Germany may have had the best military during World War…
b. traven Breaking News. This one is hard to believe: A Brazilian traveler, David Miranda, transiting London’s Heathrow Airport from a European flight to catch his flight to Rio de Janeiro is accused of “terrorism” because he has encrypted data related to Edward Snowden on his computer. In my opinion this is the opening gun…
b. traven Mort Sahl, a stand-up comedian before the day that being a stand-up comedian meant telling sexist and toilet jokes, was an outspoken and very funny satirist of all that was holy to the powers that be during the Cold War. In those days it was an act of political bravery just to be…
I’ve seen a lot of movies and documentaries about the Holocaust or with themes related to the Holocaust and totalitarianism. Of the films I’ve seen, these are the thirteen that stayed with me. Please note that these movies have adult themes; they may not be suitable for children or teens. American History X (1998): Searing…
The Contrary Perspective 