Pick-A-Day

March 2024
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031

Archives

Historical Perspectives

Last week, for the first time in ages, ICQ served up a random, interesting conversation, rather than its usual parade of “sexy” people who want me to click their links.

A teenager from Japan privated me. He was (is?) writing a paper about the Weimar Republic and found my ICQ profile, which lists “Weimar” as […]

What are the odds…

What are the odds that W didn’t want to bomb Al-Jazeera?

I hate being this cynical about the United States, but I cannot help it.

Even if the White House is denying it, the warnings issued to the media about memo usage and the gag order issued to the Mirror don’t exactly support the Bush’s […]

11:11 11/11 +1 & more

I haven’t really been in a writing mood the past couple of days—which is a shame.

Yesterday I missed the fact that it was Veteran’s/ Armistice/ Remembrance/ Fasching Day. Veteran’s Day in the United States to memorialize its war heros; Armistice Day in many countries (including France) to memorialize the end of World War I; […]

Ambivelence…

I’ve been mulling over how to respond to JP’s post “Might is Right?” His post was an outgrowth of a debate we had in the office kitchen about the war in Iraq. My biggest flaw in arguing with JP is admitting that I am actually ambivalent about the current war. Admittedly I have advocated the […]

Support Our Troops

Why has “supporting our troops” been taken over by the Republicans?

I think if the United States learned anything from the Vietnam War, it’s that we can distinguish between the troops who are fighting in a war and the authority figures who are perpetrating the war.

During the First Gulf War there was wide spread […]

Cheb

So I’m still not sure why I picked Cheb (Webcam of Main Square; +6 Hours from US Eastern Time, so that might explain why it’s dark!) in the Czech Republic as my destination this weekend, but I did. I suspect I chose Cheb precisely because it was in the Czech Republic and because going there […]

Colditz

Ah, such understatement.

This was the opening sentence at an exhibit about the Polish experience during World War II, and, I have to confess, I laughed out loud the second I read it.

The Colditz Castle was well worth the trip–a bit remote, but it was impressive seeing the tunnel that the officers built […]

War sucks.

I just looked at The Memory Hole, and found this.

I cried.

Rotterdam

I’m on my way from Rotterdam to Weimar as I write this. International InterCityExpress Train 125 goes from Amsterdam to Frankfurt Hbf, via Utrecht and a variety of other places. Right now I’m facing backwards and the scenery suggests we’re still in The Netherlands, although we ought to be crossing into Germany sometime in the […]

War.

We’re battling insurgents in Falluja and it’s on CNN, sharing the spotlight with Arafat’s illness.

My prediction: We might win the battle, but we’re going to lose the war. It’s hard to liberate a city when most of the civilians don’t want to be liberated. See Viet Nam.

Also–today we were talking about food and […]