Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2023 4:16:46 GMT
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Post by richardsok on Jul 24, 2023 15:24:37 GMT
Sam-
La piscine -- a French thriller, I understand. Never saw it. Is it streaming or do you have it on DVD? Is "The Swimming Pool" the same flick with English dubbed in, or a re-make?
I'll give it a shot if I can find it available.
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Taking a break from serious lit now. I am working my way through THE GREAT AMERICAN SPORTS PAGE, an anthology of original newspaper articles about the athletic stars and great events of the 20th century. (Mostly the half century of 1910 - 1960.) I had almost forgotten how much I'd admired the sports writers of old -- the snappy slang, the quick twists of irony, the nicknames (Sultan of Swat, Pee Wee Reese, Brown Bomber, Iron Horse, all of it. That wayfarer around the big leagues, Casey Stengel's nickname came from his origins in KC (Kansas City). Who knew?
Athletic heroes were far more accessible. The sports news must have been the closest everyday Americans ever came to reading popular poetry, when different parts of the country had distinctive speech patterns and were entertainments in themselves. Anyway, this is such an effortless, pleasurable read, I'm trying not to get through it too quickly.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2023 18:12:41 GMT
richardsok , sports authenticity? consider www.amazon.com/Glory-Their-Times-Baseball-Perennial/dp/0061994715/ I'll let these reviews speak for me: “Warm, happy, exciting . . . It has been a long time since I enjoyed a book as much as I enjoyed The Glory of Their Times. . . The day after I finished it I started reading it all over again.” — Ted Williams “Almost perfect . . . a vivid, gentle, and humorous narrative, accompanied by marvelous photographs.” — Roger Angell, The New Yorker “I could happily reread every summer for the rest of my life that greatest of all baseball books, The Glory of Their Times.” — Stephen Jay Gould, The New York Times Book Review ”Quite simply the best sports book in recent memory.” — Wilfrid Sheed, The New York Times Book Review “Easily the best baseball book ever produced by anyone.” — Cleveland Plain Dealer “The Glory of Their Times will be around as long as baseball.” — Nelson Algren "The single best baseball book of all time." — Red Barber Even better, there's also an audio recording of all these memories! The emotions are priceless. See eBay for all this if necessary. As for athletic heroes being accessible ... those of us for whom the 50's are still a memory could meet the local pro offensive tackle or infielder in the off-season across the counter when shopping at the deli or liquor store. But if you wanted to meet the star slugger or running back, you instead had to be shopping for life insurance or real estate. The coaches sold aluminum siding. Switching to French movies ... IMO the entertainment in La Piscine is mostly viewing Romy Schneider in the pool. Not quite a thriller, this is "new wave" stuff where the main action seems to be mostly non-action with much talk. Check the IMDb site I referenced for more info. For sheer entertainment, a most-pleasurable French movie is The Baker's Wife (1938) www.imdb.com/title/tt0030127/ . If not viewable via the Criterion Channel/Connection, this pops up on TCM often. And to continue in this rich vein, consider The Marseille Trilogy (Marius / Fanny / César) www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XP66WXX/ . And, finally ... if one steps back and takes an honest look of this Forum, the most profitable thread here appears to be this one !! --- Frank
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sam
Lieutenant
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Post by sam on Jul 24, 2023 19:05:43 GMT
Yes this is French Thriller with Jane Birkin in it.
I only watched in French with English subtitles. I heard there is English version as well (In general I don't like dubbing). DVD from library is your friend!
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Post by richardsok on Jul 24, 2023 23:45:55 GMT
Thanks for the suggestion, fp. I just picked up a copy on ebay for $4.35. I'll put it aside for a rainy day.
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Post by richardsok on Aug 16, 2023 15:18:07 GMT
Finished reading WHITTAKER CHAMBERS, the Tanenhaus biography. As a talented but troubled young man, Chambers was lured to the promises of communism by the general excesses of the 1920s. When the Depression hit, the communists often looked prescient to those looking for a way forward. By then, Chambers was deeply involved in espionage – but in the late 30s became disillusioned by Stalin's show trials, the “disappearance” of Trotsky's followers, and later by the Nazi-Soviet Pact that allowed Stalin to seize the Baltics and east Poland. That was the last straw. In confessing, Chambers lost his livelihood with Time magazine. Luce knew Chambers was a reformed communist, but was shocked to learn espionage was involved as well. Chambers knew what the USSR did to turncoat agents, nevertheless turned himself over to the FBI to report agents operating within the U.S. government – and was ignored! The larger story is well condensed in wikipedia and elsewhere, so I will simply add three take-away thoughts. First, as the narrative finally came to the heart of the Hiss trial, I was reminded it was not until I'd reached middle adulthood that I appreciated how convincing, how persuasive a truly skilled liar could be. Neither I nor evidently a host of high officials back in the 1950s were such fine judges of character as we thought.
Secondly I am reminded how easily people who think of themselves as virtuous can, over time, slip into committing even the cruelest of crimes and treacheries. Once they think of themselves as noble, good people really can abet monsters -- and do it with a clear conscience. After the trial, Chambers wrote, “No other Communist but Alger Hiss understood so quietly or accepted with so little fuss or question the fact that the revolutionist cannot change the course of history without taking upon himself the crimes of history."
Finally, I learned I really must dig up some of Chambers' essays to read. As ever, the more I read, the further behind I get.
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Post by richardsok on Aug 19, 2023 15:06:40 GMT
In case anyone is interested, (and I rather suspect not), Amazon Prime has evidently done us a public service in answering Netflix's streaming of THE KING ( a completely re-written Hollywood-style re-make of Shakespeare's HENRY IV) by streaming its own BBC version of HENRY IV, but much more true to the Bard's original.
You may remember the plot: King Henry has his troubles. Rebellions are a-brewing among his aristos, pricked by noble young Harry Hotspur, to be compared with his own son, Prince Hal who spends his drunken days whoring, brawling, boasting with his crowd of ruffians.
THE KING on Netflix is an easy watch, but strays widely from the original plot -- lotsa blood, gloomy sets, and hunky boy-toy eye candy among its young cast to make the story go down smoothly for the modern audience. But Falstaff in the terrific BBC version is not to be missed.
Think of your choice as 'Shakespeare Classic' vs 'Sorta-Shakespeare Lite'. It's no contest.
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Post by richardsok on Sept 8, 2023 20:05:59 GMT
OK. Market's closed for the week, so I'll put this up:
Finished Gore Vidal's LINCOLN. A few random thoughts:
Greatly enjoyed the author's dramatization of plots and machinations in Abe's cabinet. Some regarded him as a freak of destiny caused by the N/S division of the Democrat Party, allowing the incompetent to squeak by with a minority of the votes. Chase (Treasury Sec and fiery abolitionist) tried to team up with Seward (insisted the Confederates would peaceably return to union if war was declared against France to invade Mexico and establish an American empire). Clearly, they didn't know who they were dealing with. Of Chase it was said, “He has every quality of a dog – except loyalty.”
I'd always thought the execution of Mary Surratt, owner of the boarding house where Booth laid his plot, was a miscarriage of justice. But there is some evidence she was partially involved. (She had traveled to Maryland for Booth to be sure weapons were waiting for him when he made his escape.) Five of her judges asked for clemency, but she was executed anyway – the first woman ever killed by the Federal government. Her son, John, was away in New York at the time of Lincoln's death and escaped to Canada. Some historians argue had he not fled, his mother would have been spared. Atzerodt was to have done in vice pres Johnson, but lost his nerve and wandered about drunk that night. They executed him anyway. In bed, recovering from a carriage accident, Sec'y Seward was attacked by Payne, but not killed b/c there happened to be some other men in the house.
Even northern constitutionalists admitted there was nothing in the Constitution forbidding a state to secede, but Lincoln took it on himself to infer the Union was perpetual – and was thus personally responsible for the rivers of blood that had been shed.
“Seward appreciated the honest and open way that Stanton lied; it was the hallmark of the truly great lawyer.”
As everyone knows, Lincoln started the war to restore the Union and not to affect slavery, but by 1865 he refused to end the fighting unless the south accepted emancipation. Nevertheless he never lost his notion to export as many freed blacks as possible to Central America. Otherwise, he was certain the blacks – and the country – would have decades of continual trouble ahead. The book mentions Lincoln's enjoyment of the humor of one “Petroleum V. Nasby” (Real name: David Ross Locke.) who, it seems was an early fore-runner of Mark Twain. I see one of his later books “NASBY IN EXILE” is available for free online with The Gutenberg Project. (I've started to read, and it IS funny.)
Although Lincoln has been massively quoted, I've never found an authoritative compendium of his humorous little fables and insightful quips. But here's one: SUMNER: “The press is hardly reliable.” LINCOLN: “Oh, yes they are. They lie. And then they re-lie. So they are nothing if not re-lie-able.”
Here's one more quote from the book, which might apply as much to investing as it applies to conflict. “War is the realm of uncertainty; three quarters of the factors...are wrapped in a fog of greater or lessor uncertainty. A sensitive and discerning judgment is called for, a skilled intelligence to scent out the truth …. and the courage to follow this faint light where ever it may lead.”
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Post by anitya on Sept 10, 2023 5:21:01 GMT
Please do a book review if you have read “The Coming Wave” by Mustafa Suleyman
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Post by roi2020 on Sept 10, 2023 5:48:32 GMT
Please do a book review if you have read “The Coming Wave” by Mustafa Suleyman Here's a couple reviews of the book.
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Post by racqueteer on Sept 10, 2023 13:03:29 GMT
I haven't waded through the back pages; so this may have been mentioned previously. Also, not a book, but a tv series on HBO-MAX (now just MAX). WINNING TIME is the story behind the rise of the Lakers and Magic during the reign of the Celtics and Bird. Nostalgia for me, but also a LOT of background information and financial dealings of which I was unaware; set within an often humorous backdrop. The characters are, to my knowledge, portrayed pretty accurately, although again, often comically, depicted. I'm enjoying it a LOT; give it a look if you can.
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Post by Fearchar on Sept 10, 2023 14:05:51 GMT
ODYSSEY: The Podcast by Jeff Wright odysseythepodcast.com/And in hard cover The ODYSSEY as translated by Emily Wilson Without any formal education in the Classics, I recommend Jeff Wrights Podcast as a great introduction. Well worth the 24 hours of listening time, especially if one has long haul travel plans. Jeff doesn't just read the story, he tells it and provides the background, which is critical to understanding. He also explains that Homer was probably not singularly responsible for the Iliad and Odyssey. More over, with illiteracy being so common during the bronze age, these classics were part of an ancient oral tradition that were performed accompanied with music. He also explains that there have been about a hundred English translations of the Iliad and 75 or so of the Odyssey. The free ones are usually terrible and even those from just 20-30 years ago are not so great. Among the better translations is that from Emily Wilson 2018. She has been able to capture more of the poetic aspects that are so easily lost. Although I have not listed to it yet, Jeff also offers a free series for the Iliad: trojanwarpodcast.com/He does have expenses, so recommend making a donation if you enjoy his work.
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Post by johntaylor on Sept 10, 2023 14:17:11 GMT
That review above of The Coming Wave began by mentioning Kennan's 1946 "containment" telegram (which led to a 1947 article in Foreign Affairs) and said it affected policy for 40 years.
However, readers of Kennan's standard work American Diplomacy might find the proxy war in Ukraine still ringing a bell.
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Post by anitya on Sept 10, 2023 19:33:10 GMT
Of the two book reviews for The Coming Wave, I was able to access the Guardian review. The other book review is behind a paywall.
I have two thoughts on the Guardian review -
AI has had a lot of fits and starts in the past 30-40 years. Its promises are always overhyped and its failures less talked about - I am not discounting its usefulness at all. Only if we can fix the irritating AI autocorrections in my Apple products and other applications like WhatsApp, it would be a good starting point to decrease AI execution flaws. Having said that, I do not agree with the reviewer's dismissive comments on Mustafa’s caution and prescription for containment. The potential bad effects of AI are far too many to let it loose without containment.
I do not think Mustafa started out as a computer geek and his background may have been in social science / social service. So, his perspective on AI's impact on society / humanity should not be dismissed as easily as the reviewer did.
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Post by richardsok on Sept 12, 2023 14:56:28 GMT
Just finished a quirky little movie from my local library, starring Pierce Brossman and Aaron Paul (whom you'll remember as Jesse in "Breaking Bad"): A LONG WAY DOWN. It's New Years Eve in London and snowing. Four strangers happen to meet on top of a high rise, all with the same intent: to commit suicide. (Evidently New Years has more suicides than any other day of the year. Valentines Day is #2.) One is already out on the ledge but can't quite bring herself to DO it. The others line up, in true Brit fashion, to wait their turn, till one suggests anyone ready to actually jump at once should go first, and the others step back to think some more about it. The would-be jumper comes off the ledge. Conversation ensues. At last it is mutually decided they will sign a pact that EVERYONE will think about it until Valentines Day. All four go separate ways back into their previous miserable lives -- but now they have each other. And then.... A charming end finishes this odd little romantic flick. My wife and I liked it.
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Post by racqueteer on Sept 13, 2023 14:37:25 GMT
Stephen Baxter has penned a sci-fi book series: The Flood and Ark. They deal with a (so far) mythical flood of the Earth scenario. Not great literature, perhaps, but draws on poorly known facts; and it is that which I find interesting. There appears to be much more water on Earth than is found in the oceans. I've seen estimates of multiple times what is found there. If some large portion of that water were somehow released, the surface might find itself inundated as a consequence. Here's one such commentary. Anyway, I found it thought-provoking.
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Post by richardsok on Sept 17, 2023 13:12:11 GMT
Recommended on Netflix: WIND RIVER, a dark film noir mystery set on a reservation in the high Rockies. (Not without some shocking scenes.) You will recognize Jeremy Renner who starred in his breakout film, THE HURT LOCKER. Worth a Saturday night watch. Not for kids.
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Post by fritzo489 on Sept 17, 2023 15:11:09 GMT
NFL in one hour & fifty minutes.
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Post by johntaylor on Sept 17, 2023 18:19:31 GMT
Another star in "Wind River": Marlin 45-70
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Post by richardsok on Sept 18, 2023 3:54:33 GMT
Another star in "Wind River": Marlin 45-70 I'm impressed, jt. Couldn't help but notice that cannon he was walking around with. Had no idea what it was.
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Post by anitya on Sept 27, 2023 18:20:01 GMT
If anyone reads FTC complaint against Amazon, please share a summary.
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Post by richardsok on Oct 14, 2023 18:56:49 GMT
Like many others, I have been a low-level "JFK Assassination Junkie" for, lo, this past half century or so. But having finished Talbot's "THE DEVIL'S CHESSBOARD" I feel I've finally got clarity and closure about the mystery. There are still gray areas and uncertainties here and there, but for the first time, I at long last am convinced that (A) Oswald was probably an innocent and expendable dupe being operated by the plotters to make him conspicuous and (B) CIA Director Allen Dulles was behind it all. (C) Oswald was intended to be promptly killed, but he threw a monkey wrench into the plot when he escaped unhurt. (D) Still unknown: Officer Tippit's role in the "clean-up" plans, if any.
I had long known JFK was disliked by the military/corporate/intelligence nexus, but never understood the depths of their loathing, nor most of their many reasons.
The book covers the origins of the CIA, the assassination and its aftermath. I was not particularly interested in the 1950s, so thumbed my way pretty quickly through those sections. (about 1/3 of the book.) But when we got into the characters and evidence for the assassination, I could feel at times hairs positively standing up on the back of my neck.
The Warren Report really WAS a cover-up that was directed by the very man responsible for the assassination.
As you'd expect, Oswald was closely watched when he went to Russia, but his watchers concluded he was no CIA spy; not because he didn't try to do any spying, but because he was clearly such a bumbling ef-up. Also interesting, this alleged "super marksman" with a defective rifle scope at Dallas was grossly incompetent at rabbit hunting in the USSR. He couldn't hit snow in a blizzard.
Although it was derided in its day, Oliver Stone's "JFK" came close to the truth in many places. Particularly mysterious; if Oswald was the long gunman, why did he pass up the EASY shot, as Kennedy's limo slowly approached the sniper's nest, but instead waited until it made its sharp turn and started to accelerate away, requiring the supposed first shot or two THROUGH leafy treetops?
For anyone even mildly interested in the assassination theories, CHESSBOARD is a compelling work. I was astonished at how much the national culture has changed since the 1950s and early 60s.
I took extensive notes while reading. If anyone is interested, just ask.
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Post by anitya on Oct 14, 2023 19:25:58 GMT
Not sure when the new season started but both Real Time with Bill Maher (Friday) and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Sunday night) are back. I watch them on free YouTube which suggested a couple of weeks ago. I watched regularly through last season.
Podcasts and interviews by Sam Harris also available on YouTube.
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Post by richardsok on Oct 31, 2023 21:51:40 GMT
Those of you who watched Ken Burns' PBS series THE CIVIL WAR may remember he used several quotations from "The Diary of George Templeton Strong" narrated, I believe in that matchless Newport/Boston Bramin lock-jaw upper-crust accent of George Plimpton. I long had the idea I'd like to read the diary that Strong kept for about forty years. The full diary sells for about $1800 on ebay, or a paperback version of just the Civil War years for about $80, both deal-breakers. Then, lo, it turns out Vol 3 (1860-1865) is reproduced online, and for anyone interested in the Civil War, it is a treat. Strong was a little near-sighted and a little overaged, so he never served in uniform. Instead he utterly neglected his law practice and threw himself into creating and managing the Sanitary Commission for the sensible treatment of the wounded and sick, supplying fresh vegetables, clean bandages and intelligent laying out of encampments to minimize disease and infection. He had to fight with the War Department to insist his agents had authority to demand orders out in the field. The book is a wonderful read, almost 700 pp -- but a lot of it deals with day-to-day management and in-fighting with the arrogant & powerful, so I did a lot of skimming. For me, the most interesting part was the first hundred pages; the anxious, uncertain period leading up to the war, watching the machinations of the stock market, the volatile price of gold, brokers being wiped out as southerners renounced their debts and all in doubt day by day... A few details .... On Darwin -- whom he doubts on grounds no one in all of recorded history has ever managed to create a new species. "Darwin found a kernel of truth and tried to make it THE truth." On Lincoln -- doubts that a youth of rail splitting qualifies one for high office. Nevertheless grew to appreciate the president over time. On slavery -- at the start he had grown tired of the whole subject and promised to vote for anyone who promised never to mention the topic again -- but later grew into an ardent abolitionist. WARNING, as was evidently the custom of his time, he casually uses the "n" word throughout his diary with no hint of malice -- it was evidently just part of the culture of his day.... but it is shocking to read now. --------------. A couple of quotes: "The gallows don’t always get its due in this world, but the Devil commonly gets his in the next; and if men are to be judged by the quantity of mischief they have done and of misery they have caused, these deliberate authors of Civil W ar deserve a hot corner of Tophet." Even the most insignificant memoranda of these revolutionary days may be worth preserving. We are making history just now fearfully fast. ....a wasps’ nest divided against itself is a pastoral symphony compared to this ….. Its session has abounded thus far in scandalous, shameful brutalities and indecencies that disgrace the whole country and illustrate the terrible pace at which we seem traveling down hill toward sheer barbarism and savagery.... ...disunion tendencies within the Democratic party are stronger than the cohesive power of public plunder... ….. his style and temper are those of an enraged Tartar ... full of raw horse and bad liquor ,,,,. . . . Bache tells a lovely story of an army teamster whom he saw in front of the Treasury building (Washington) bothered with a fractious, balky team and blaspheming like a demon. A casual army chaplain, shocked by his profanity, accosts him. “My friend, do you know who it was that said, ‘Thou shalt not take My name in vain?’ ” Teamster: “O go ’way with your damn conundruming. Don’t you see I'm busy?” ------------------- georgestrong.s3-website.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/GTSvol3.pdf
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Post by richardsok on Nov 11, 2023 16:08:24 GMT
On youtube I just came across this TV interview on Gaza between Piers Morgan in studio and Douglas Murray on the scene. At about the 11 minute mark the interview turns from polite observations and comments to a sharp, contentious debate. Chang has ruled out further BB discussion on the topic, so I will let the attachment stand on its own. Really brilliant and gripping stuff from a first rate thinker -- and all impromptu without notes or preparation. The BBC really is superior at times. www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoWViuG5VYs
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Post by Norbert on Nov 11, 2023 16:40:36 GMT
On youtube I just came across this TV interview on Gaza between Piers Morgan in studio and Douglas Murray on the scene. At about the 11 minute mark the interview turns from polite observations and comments to a sharp, contentious debate. Chang has ruled out further BB discussion on the topic, so I will let the attachment stand on its own. Really brilliant and gripping stuff from a first rate thinker -- and all impromptu without notes or preparation. The BBC really is superior at times. www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoWViuG5VYsI don't know about the BBC, which is up there with the NYT in terms of left-wing bias, but Douglas Murray is brilliant. Thanks for the link.
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Post by chang on Nov 11, 2023 17:08:59 GMT
On youtube I just came across this TV interview on Gaza between Piers Morgan in studio and Douglas Murray on the scene. At about the 11 minute mark the interview turns from polite observations and comments to a sharp, contentious debate. Chang has ruled out further BB discussion on the topic, so I will let the attachment stand on its own. Really brilliant and gripping stuff from a first rate thinker -- and all impromptu without notes or preparation. The BBC really is superior at times. www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoWViuG5VYsI don't know about the BBC, which is up there with the NYT in terms of left-wing bias, but Douglas Murray is brilliant. Thanks for the link. Agreed, Douglas Murray is totally on target. Morgan is an idiot. FYI I didn't rule out further discussion; I let the thread run as long as I could until we started getting into quoting holocaust deniers. Besides, the subject had been pretty well covered, and people were beginning to repeat themselves. More to the point, the investment discussions were suffering. Edit: I was walking around the West End today, and I agree the whole thing is simply disgusting. I pity the thousands of police who spend their weekends having abuse hurled at them. Great Britain has become grotesque in many ways. Although they still have the best beer in the world.
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Post by richardsok on Nov 24, 2023 0:35:20 GMT
Since my return from Spain I had it in mind to re-read Homage to Catalonia, which I just finished. Probably of interest to those curious about the history of the left. Good passages of life in the trenches. Orwell survived a bullet wound that went straight through his neck, then again survived the lack of medical care and the brutal ambulance ride to hospital over mountainous dirt roads. While fighting continued in the hills, the Republic/Government forces in Barcelona turned on each other, pitting Anarchists against the Communists (supported by Russia) when the latter tried to take over and disarm competing organizations. Comments on the nature of the Spanish people and how they are too good natured and not efficient enough to be effective exploiters. Essentially a war between the Army generals, the clergy and the business class against the rural peasants and the laborers. In the beginning the Socialists had better numbers but the Fascists had better discipline. Finally understood what was meant by Trotskyite A) one who believes in world revolution, always and everywhere, rather than building socialism in just the USSR to start and later B) the term evolved to be an epithet to anyone who opposed Stalin i.e., a traitor an undercover exploiter. Interesting: in Barcelona Orwell saw the Familia Sagrada cathedral under construction, as it still is today. He writes: "I went to look at the cathedral (modern) one of the most hideous buildings in the world ... four spires the shape of hock bottles. Unlike most churches, it was spared because of "artistic value". I think the Anarchists showed bad taste in not blowing it up when they had the chance."
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Post by Norbert on Nov 24, 2023 6:11:08 GMT
For the record, a "Trotsky" cocktail is made as follows:
- 1 part Tequila - 2 parts Vodka - 6 parts Raspberry juice
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Post by bigseal on Nov 25, 2023 22:08:35 GMT
“These Truths: a history of the United States” by Jill Lepore. An excellent read.
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