The Book of Laughter and Forgetting was the first book I ever read by Milan Kundera back when it was first published in 1980, and it probably is still my favorite work of his. It’s a very strange but wonderful … Continue reading →
[NOTE: The topic of the two-volume graphic novel Maus came up in a recent thread, and I’ve decided to republish a review that I first wrote in 2009. So here it is.] I recently reread the two-volume graphic novel Maus, … Continue reading →
Here’s a sickening story: A staff member at a Washington DC school has been suspended after making third-grade children reenact scenes from the Holocaust, including getting them to pretend to dig mass graves and shoot victims, and telling them the … Continue reading →
[NOTE: This is a somewhat-edited version of a previous post.] Today is the eightieth anniversary of the December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor attack. The generation that reacted to it by mobilizing and fighting World War II is on its last … Continue reading →
[NOTE: Yesterday I noticed a discussion in the open thread about stone walls in New England and elsewhere. I thought I’d link to a post I wrote about stone walls, but – as sometimes happens – I discovered there was … Continue reading →
In honor of Columbus Day, I refer you back to this post from twelve years ago by Dr. Sanity. Nothing much has changed since then regarding respect for our western traditions and history except that things have gotten worse. And … Continue reading →
I’ve seen it over and over – assertions that researchers involved in the Tuskegee study of syphilis, back in middle third of the 20th Century, gave black men syphilis in order to study them. I saw the claim again the … Continue reading →
[BUMPED UP] This is the saddest anniversary of that date in the twenty years since the event itself. Saddest by far, and angriest as well. I don’t really have to explain in any detail why I say that; I’ve already … Continue reading →
I find this wondrous: Reconstructions of the original grease lamps produce a circle of light about 10 feet in diameter, which is not much larger than many images in the cave. Geneste believes that early artists used this small area … Continue reading →
[NOTE: The following is a slightly changed version of a post of mine. If you follow the links in the second paragraph, you’ll find three other pieces I’ve written about the decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima.] Once again … Continue reading →
Do photographs tell the truth? Not really, and even old photographs were often touched up. Here’s a description, with illustrations. I have cued it up to show what I consider the most interesting part: Speaking of which, I have a … Continue reading →
Yesterday in a thread on the unrest and violence in South Africa, the perennial question of what’s wrong with Africa came up. It occurs to me that it might be time to recycle a post from seven years ago that … Continue reading →