Predicting Iran
Iran is unpredictable. I have no idea what will happen there. But I do know that tyrannies stay in power through a number of mechanisms. One is complete mind control, but only North Korea seems to be able to do … Continue reading →
Category Archives: History
“Could we be wrong?” asks a journalist
I agree with the sentiment expressed here, that journalists need to question themselves more: With the rise of the Internet and disruption of institutional media, many journalists have cheerfully shrugged off the ideal of objectivity. This certainly makes tweeting easier, … Continue reading →
The Martyrdom of Man
A while back we had a discussion of popular and/or highly-thought-of books of the past that we’ve never heard of, and that don’t seem all that great if we try to tackle them now. Well, I recently came across The … Continue reading →
Reflections: on witch trials
I was a strange child. When I was about ten or eleven years old I got hold of a book catalog for some mail-order house, right before Christmas. I’d never seen one before (this was way way before the internet … Continue reading →
Effects of the military draft
Commenter “Ymarsakar” writes: The draft is a [Democrat] strategy. They kept trying to reinstate it after Nixon, because without it they cannot use fear to create anti war protests on demand. I would say “yes, but only in recent years; … Continue reading →
Dueling headlines
Seen at memeorandum: Datelined yesterday, a Politico article headlined “Trump Likely to Block Release of Some JFK Files.” In the WaPo this morning we find: “Trump Authorizes Release of JFK Assassination Documents Despite Concerns from Federal Agencies.” Those documents will … Continue reading →
Jordan Peterson on leftists: “Well, think again, Sunshine!”
I’d never even heard of Jordan Peterson until about two weeks ago, but since then I’ve developed a mild addiction to his videos. Some are short and some are long, but they all feature the workings of a powerful mind … Continue reading →
For Columbus Day: statues with footnotes
A little over a month ago, in the heat of the war against statues, New York’s Mayor de Blasio expressed the thought that perhaps an explanatory note might be helpful in dealing with the dreadful conundrum represented by the offending … Continue reading →
Richard Landes on Europe’s destructive Holocaust shame
Richard Landes has a piece in Tablet entitled “Europe’s Destructive Holocaust Shame: How the narrative of Israel as the new Nazis and Palestinians as the new Jews helps Western Europe avoid its culpability in World War II.” Here’s an excerpt: … Continue reading →
Who lost Vietnam?
I’ve spent a lot of verbiage on the Vietnam War over my years of blogging. All you have to do is look at the category “Vietnam” on the right sidebar, and you’ll see that the number of posts on the … Continue reading →
The ancient history of math: Plimpton 322
Today is one of those days I look at the news and sigh. I don’t want to see lists of the most recent statements by people who think Trump is unstable. I don’t want to hear how the president is … Continue reading →
Free speech for Nazis: policies in the US and Europe compared
A NY Times op-ed by K-Sue Park that I critiqued recently called for the ACLU to “rethink” its free-speech defense of Nazi rallies, and to loosen its traditional even-handed defense of freedom of speech as a principle of liberty and … Continue reading →