Monthly Archives: May 2018

Instead of a Preface During the terrifying years of the Yezhov repressions, I spent seventeen months in Leningrad prison lines. One time, someone thought they recognized me. Then a woman standing behind me, who of course had never heard my … Continue reading →

BBC: Gaza violence: Fresh protests expected after deadly clashes … Fresh protests against Israel are expected in the Palestinian territories, a day after Israeli troops killed 55 people in the Gaza Strip. … The violence came as the US completed … Continue reading →

Die Zeit: Die Anerkennung dieser neuen Realitäten bedeutet übrigens keineswegs, dass mit Donald Trump nicht mehr gesprochen werden darf. Auch mit Wladimir Putin wird schließlich gesprochen. Aber mit Rivalen verhandelt man anders als mit Verbündeten. An die Stelle des Prinzips … Continue reading →

This is part of a complex used by the Nazis and then the Soviets for vehicle testing. Trees are growing right through the asphalt. I tried to imagine the forces necessary to smash this. This steel is like 20cm thick. … Continue reading →

Spiegel: Clever resistance is necessary, as sad and absurd as that may sound. Resistance against America. I am thinking this morning of the language of the US military, and the language of American adolescents of all ages as they hunker … Continue reading →

The German Navy was the dog in the night. It did not fight. —p. 403 I am picturing the Battle of Jutland, and thousands of predator ants clinging to a giant dog. Through the incessant crash and thunder the French … Continue reading →

If there has to be a choice between injustice and disorder, said Goethe, the German prefers injustice. Schooled in a state in which the relation of the subject to the sovereign has no basis other than obedience, he is unable … Continue reading →

The mood in Paris, Brussels and Berlin is reminiscent of the period just prior to the war in Iraq. Most of Europe refused to back the U.S. in that conflict, even if the British and the Italians joined then-President George … Continue reading →

So after a fifteen month wait, the US Embassy again has an Ambassador in residence. Spiegel: Grenells Verhalten – er diente von 2001 bis 2008 als Pressesprecher von vier US-Botschaftern bei der Uno in New York, war anschließend publizistisch tätig … Continue reading →

The original wooden doors burned in 1760. These bronze doors with the Theses inscribed in the original Latin are from 1858.