Conservatives deal with facts and reach conclusions; liberals have conclusions and sell them as facts.
Extreme experiences produce extreme courage, this article, which summarizes the highlights of a book about Capt. Freddy Spencer Chapman, describes a level of courage and commitment that is well nigh unbelievable. Capt. Chapman was a British army officer who, when trapped behind enemy lines in Malaya, launched a massive guerrilla
Continue readingSo often, there are what I call “matched sets” of stories in newspapers. This happens when one article makes a point, and another article perfectly illustrates that point. Today, Spiegel provided the perfect pairing of the way in which the modern Western (that is, Leftist) world refuses to learn lessons,
Continue readingToday is the 70th anniversary of Germany’s bombing campaign against Poland, the official start of World War II. I thought, therefore, that this song from 1941’s Babes on Broadway was just right. It is an explicit tribute to beleaguered Britain, which was, at the only time, not only the sole
Continue readingTomorrow is the 64th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, and you can expect the usual breast-beating about how unutterably evil we were to target Japan’s civilian population. Here in Marin, a “Hiroshima survivor” is going to read poems and speak about her experiences. I freely acknowledge that this survivor
Continue readingSeasickness. It’s an utterly vile condition, worse, I think, than any other type of motion sickness. When you’re seasick, your entire body is rebelling against you. Worse, there’s no escape. You’re trapped in the middle of an endless ocean, feeling about as bad as it’s possible for a human to
Continue readingPaul Begala wrote an article at HuffPo contending that, following WWII, Americans executed Japanese as war criminals for water-boarding. While I’m certainly willing to concede that water-based tortures numbered amongst the myriad tortures the Japanese used against POWs, it is absolutely ridiculous to believe that these Japanese soldiers were executed
Continue readingWWII was a dreadful time, with about 400,000 American military deaths suffered during those four years. Just for perspective, we’ve been in Iraq for almost six years and, thank God, have sustained only 4,200 deaths. Nevertheless, there’s a tendency to look back with nostalgia on America’s time during WWII, and
Continue readingIn a comment to my earlier post about talk with an ideological foe being dangerous, Gringo mentioned a classic anti-Nazi piece of Hollywood propaganda (made when Hollywood viewed America as the ally, not the enemy). I found it at YouTube (of course), and share it with you. [youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=mZiRiIpZVF4[/youtube] And for
Continue readingI bet if I say “The Great Escape,” you instantly have that melody (see below) running through your head. The real great escape, though, was much more than a melody or a movie. Check out this interactive web site to see the amazing tunnel those POWs dug. [youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=EYjnMfgzgcM[/youtube] Hat tip:
Continue readingI didn’t know about it, but in 1945, a celebrated dogfight occurred over Germany, with an American pilot, James Finnegan, shooting down Germany’s top ace, Gen. Adolf Galland. Here’s what happened in the air 63 years ago: In an interview Mr. Finnegan gave 12 years ago for a Web site
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