"There is a discrete left-opportunist trend that seeks to throw all developments in Cuba post-1959 into the dustbin and forget about it. This does as little for us as the right-opportunist line; both fail to grasp the full reality of revisionist corrosion and capitalist restoration in Cuba, although one cloaks itself in stultified theory."
Back in 2014, I included a chapter in my book detailing Bill Schock's war experiences as they related to his reporting on the crash of Braniff International flight 250 in 1966.
«This is Bill’s final column» out of countless ones he wrote over 71 years for the Falls City Journal. With this column, he said farewell; the Journal has been sold and moved to a much smaller space in downtown Falls City which it had occupied until 1950. It’s all extremely symbolic of the state of...
This is kind of like how I feel about my (possibly four) upcoming surgeries: I don’t want to do this, but I have to, and I hate it. Received a kind e-mail yesterday telling me of the death of Bill Schock of Falls City, NE, on Thursday evening, six weeks short of his 100th birthday....
I have been attempting to read «Michael Burleigh's The Third Reich: A New History» since it came out in 2000. Instead, I've read «William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich» twice. Nothing wrong with anything I've read of Burleigh's work; quite the contrary. In fact, it has to do with how big the book is; the first edition is 950-plus pages and weighs a ton and I've had hand/wrist problems since, well, 2000. And I have Rise and Fall on Kindle.
"Seventy-five years ago today, a group of young German idealists, students who had dared to speak out against the Nazis,… Posted by Steve Pollock on Thursday, February 22, 2018
In need of some … lighter moments around here, we checked out the new Google Arts and Culture Face Map app to see what… Posted by Steve Pollock on Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Every single day is a new low. How low can we go? There is no bottom. So pretty goddamned low. Shithole low.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/jerry-yellin-fighter-pilot-in-last-combat-mission-of-world-war-ii-dies-a… Posted by Steve Pollock on Friday, January 12, 2018
The story is sordid and long, but the details were made clear by Matt Viser's excellent Globe piece. To wit: Lorenzo sold the Donald the Eastern Shuttle for an overvalued $365 million (if DT had created a brand-new shuttle from the ground up with brand-new planes, not old worn-out 727s, estimates were that he could have done it for $300 million.) Of course, the money was all borrowed. It was 1989; Eastern (and Continental) were already almost dead from Lorenzo's sledgehammer and the economy was tanking. Pan Am 103 was bombed, the first Gulf War was about to begin. It was incredibly bad judgement to overpay a bunch of other peoples' money for something that was guaranteed to tank.
So let's see if I've got this. Germany, a country in which there are still many women alive who were raped by invading Russian Red Army soldiers and in which the human products of those rapes are still living, now trust … Russia more than the United States.
Nazis are just "the normal people next door" and nothing bad should happen to either them or the New York Times for pointing this out, says The New York Times.
The Diddler’s Club What we learned this week: • Al Franken is the latest member of the “People Who Diddled People Who Didn’t Want to be Diddled” Club. This Diddlers Club, of which we’re all so very proud, officially now consists of the nation’s President; at least two former presidents; two or three sitting United...
In which we in the future answer “Letters to the Editor” of the Chicago Tribune written during the past that was called World War Two. “Globaloney Stamps. “Chicago, June 1. — Totay I received the shock of my life when I went to mail a package to my boy in service. I needed 20 cents...
The second post from Shorpy for today is another famous Desilu Production: Here's Andy Griffith in 1962, playing… Posted by Steve Pollock on Sunday, April 24, 2016
Love Shorpy, the 100-year-old photo blog. Here's a couple of blasts from the past: April 3, 1960, Dinah Shore grooving… Posted by Steve Pollock on Sunday, April 24, 2016
I knew this place and I would get along when I saw the history museum and found out the Mayo brothers had a reading… Posted by Steve Pollock on Thursday, February 4, 2016
Among savages incapable of retaining collectively learned experience, a perpetual infancy results. I can no longer figure out these days whether I’m reading history or current events. [Note to self: If it’s on the Kindle, it’s a history book. If it’s on the web browser on my laptop, it’s currently happening.] Berlin, 4-May-27: “Goebbels spoke...
[Fair warning: Not a happy or basset-y post. (Didn’t help my, shall we say, outlook on life, that our water heater failed and flooded the den and we’re down to weak cold water in the bathroom and heating water in pots on the stove like we did in 1975.) And it contains opinion at the...
In Palestine “On the rock-strewn hills I heard The anger of guns that shook Echoes along the glen. In my heart was the song of a bird, And the sorrowless tale of the brook, And scorn for the deeds of men.” —Siegfried Sassoon, 30-Mar-1918 An interesting story of the month Siegfried Sassoon spent in Palestine...
On Remembrance Day … remember. War and the military should never be “celebrated.” Remembered with solemnity and an understanding of the brutality and savagery and destruction. But never “honored” or “celebrated” or as an opportunity for “sales.” Died of Wounds His wet, white face & miserable eyes Brought nurses to him more than groans &...
On Remembrance Day … remember. War and the military should never be “celebrated.” Remembered with solemnity and an understanding of the brutality and savagery and destruction. But never “honored” or “celebrated” or as an opportunity for “sales.” Died of Wounds His wet, white face & miserable eyes Brought nurses to him more than groans &...
Taking time today to remember a tragic moment: 47 years ago today: Braniff International flight 250 crashed on Tony and Vernell Schawang’s soybean farm northeast of Falls City, NE, taking 42 lives. The crash had widespread consequences, both personally and in the industry. We fly safely today without any thought thanks in large part to...
“Alan Turing, the Enigma codebreaker who took his own life after being convicted of gross indecency under anti-homosexuality legislation, is to be given a posthumous pardon.” …
A «sad story on the evening news» which prompted the following stream-of-consciousness (and shows how exciting my Sunday nights are): A fire destroyed a home north of Murfreesboro which was used as a hospital for Civil War troops. The family who lived there was refurbishing it and lost everything. But the story caught my attention...
“The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.” Julia Ward Howe “Arise, then, women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or tears! “Say firmly: ‘We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with...
The person I personally refer to as Joey the Rat, Pope Ben-a-Nazi XVI, announced his resignation today. A review of his greatest hits is « here ». Interesting (on many levels) that his resignation letter is addressed, not once, but twice to “Dear Brothers,” with nary a mention to, oh I don’t know, all those...
Not sure why I’m even noting this, but it did catch my eye. Among the «5,000 most common names according to the 2000 US Census», Frank has a more common surname than I do. Our names: Lester (his) is 709th, down 111 places, 16 occurrences per 100,000 names. Mine, Pollock, is 1,420th, up 20 places,...
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced that Germany will join the U.S., Israel and other countries in a «boycott» of the upcoming United Nations World Conference Against Racism after “a draft declaration circulated earlier this year made Israel responsible for the entire Middle East conflict, while human rights violations in Muslim countries were largely ignored.”...