1939
miscellany relating to world war two in europe. the collection is selected for its psychological/sociological interest, not to promote or condone nazis and the holocaust. you are free to leave if you disapprove of the content.
(run by midnight radio.)
Inglorious Basterds (2009)
Am I only person that thinks Christoph Waltz is a sexy beast?
NO. NOT AT ALL.
alfred schneider
Congressman Kucinich’s Response to President Obama’s “Just War” Doctrine
(via danielholter: unburyingthelead)
“We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth: We will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations — acting individually or in concert — will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.
I make this statement mindful of what Martin Luther King Jr. said in this same ceremony years ago: “Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones.” As someone who stands here as a direct consequence of Dr. King’s life work, I am living testimony to the moral force of non-violence. I know there’s nothing weak — nothing passive — nothing naïve — in the creed and lives of Gandhi and King.
But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their examples alone. I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: Evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda’s leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism — it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.” - President Obama’s Nobel acceptance speech
(via kateoplis)
Some of the perpetual questions concerning WWII are raised here: how can we be completely sure that a non-violent movement would not have worked?* And where is the line drawn in defining what makes a war “just”, if war can ever be such a thing?
*The Star Trek episode “City on the Edge of Forever” deals with the potential of an American pacifist movement during WWII, and its scenario is likely one of the more plausible. (There’s also Stephen Fry’s novel Making History, but the premise of that is a bit too different for the purposes of this discussion.) Or, what about indirect conflict? Assassination, attempts at targeted bombing, et cetera. Less lives put at risk on either side. But we’re getting into subjunctive history here; there’s no way to fully determine what would have happened. Once one thing changes, everything changes.
Excerpt from “The Politics of Death” by Jill Lepore for The New Yorker, Nov. 30, 2009.




