GAITHER STEWART—Things in general had gone haywire in Central Europe. War costs everyone. War ravaged the homeland as it did all of Europe. The whole continent was in shambles. The distinct stench of charred wood and crushed stone of the bombed out cities, ubiquitous and omnipresent, permeated the life of people and existence. Permanent total war had its particular smells. Those smells would never be extinguished. Nonetheless, in the postwar life in the cellars of the demolished cities of the homeland the unbounded urge for promiscuity infected men and women alike … and flowered concomitant with the flowing beer and Schnapps.
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Mark Twain’s profound understanding of history
Mark Twain’s observations on the French Revolution, and especially its infamous violence, are surprisingly profound, for a man who is not generally known as a historcal commentator. Fact is, just ike most people have never been told that Eistein was a lifelong socialist, it is not generally realized that America’s most beloved humorist was deeply stirred by the sight of social injustice, and many times went out of his way to give voice to his feelings. His recently published biography shows that influences were at work during his lifetime to repress him, and it would seem that such influences are still active after his death.
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Ramin Mazaheri reports on the Yellow Vests—a very personal account
RAMIN MAZAHERI—Paris-based, Ramin Mazaheri has been given a front-row seat—or say, standing room—to watch the rise and rise of the Gilets Jaunes, and the tactics being developed by the French police to quell the movement. This not only includes a battery of increasingly dirty pool tactics on the streets, where the Gilets are beginning to respond in kind, but also a judicial noose that is quickly disosing of many civil rights French people thought they had. Here’s a report from Ramin.
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The Night Shot Lie: Economic Development on the Korean Peninsula
CALEB MAUPIN—Their argument is this: capitalism is better because the refrigerator possessed by the average American family is better than the refrigerator possessed by the average Cuban family.However, anyone who has ever been to Latin America knows this argument is completely bunk. All throughout the region in places where free market capitalism reigns, there are millions and millions of people who do not have running water or electricity. Millions of Haitians, who live under US free market capitalism and in some cases eat dirt mixed with oil, have no refrigerator at all. In the jungles and mountains of Peru, Guatemala, and Honduras, there are millions of people who have never seen a flushing toilet in their lives, let alone a fully functioning refrigerator.
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