What are you reading right now?

[Toy Revolver]

was there any escape for jews if they denounced their faith or was just racial cleansing

is it clearly distinct from stalin killing anyone who went to church or kept a cross in their kitchen or whatever

didn't he kill people who believed in evolution as well

i'm not playing devil's advocate - i know he killed jews but did he single them with special intensity cause he seriously liked to kill all kinds of people

i honestly don't know

[Janszoon]

The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy

I just finished this yesterday. I bought this book like five years ago because I loved this guy's book about Chernobyl, but now seemed like a good time to read it. It's entirely possible that I just have a short attention span, but I found the earlier parts of the book about ancient and medieval times hard to follow. Once he got into the twentieth century though, the book was very informative.

[Toy Revolver]

i just put the chernobyl one on my list

[jadis]

was there any escape for jews if they denounced their faith or was just racial cleansing

is it clearly distinct from stalin killing anyone who went to church or kept a cross in their kitchen or whatever

didn't he kill people who believed in evolution as well

i'm not playing devil's advocate - i know he killed jews but did he single them with special intensity cause he seriously liked to kill all kinds of people

i honestly don't know

Many ways to approach this topic but every way you look it's a resounding yes: he definitely singled out the Jews. One of the darkest moments of his reign was the whole Doctors Plot business toward the very end of his life, just an old school antisemitic blood libel conspiracy   https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/doctors_plot What's so terrifying about it for me is that it was transparently meant as a prelude for something far worse. We can't be sure what exactly though, from what I gather there isn't enough evidence to definitely confirm the deportation theory 
 
On a more general note, those who want to "purify" society or mold and engineer it into something they know will be better than what we have tend to have issues with Jews, because Jews confuse the neat categories with which we operate. "Is it a religion or an ethnic group or a race? Do they want to mix with the rest of us or do they stubbornly insist on maintaining their particularity? How do I integrate something like that into my perfect classless society?" etc. 

[Toy Revolver]

On a more general note, those who want to "purify" society or mold and engineer it into something they know will be better than what we have tend to have issues with Jews, because Jews confuse the neat categories with which we operate. "Is it a religion or an ethnic group or a race? Do they want to mix with the rest of us or do they stubbornly insist on maintaining their particularity? How do I integrate something like that into my perfect classless society?" etc. 

i never connected that to the reason they have been singled out so often historically and presently

i'm glad you posted that because it makes a lot of sense and it should've occurred to me long before now

outstanding post, that's a perspective i'll never forget now that i've read it

thank you

[jadis]

Thanks man!

[Janszoon]

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

I couldn't find an image of the English language version, so that's the original Swedish cover above. Anyway, I've read most of Fredrik Backman's books and have enjoyed them all, so I read this. It's a little different from the others because it's sort of a crime mystery told from different people's perspectives, but it still contains the mix of warmth, humor, and sadness that he's known for. I liked it. I feel like his books are especially good reads if you're currently going through shit.

[Psy-Fi]

The second WWII book I've been reading lately. About 1/4 of the way into it...

In mid-1943 James Megellas, known as "Maggie" to his fellow paratroopers, joined the 82d Airborne Division, his new "home" for the duration. His first taste of combat was in the rugged mountains outside Naples.

In October 1943, when most of the 82d departed Italy to prepare for the D-Day invasion of France, Lt. Gen. Mark Clark, the Fifth Army commander, requested that the division's 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Maggie's outfit, stay behind for a daring new operation that would outflank the Nazis' stubborn defensive lines and open the road to Rome. On 22 January 1944, Megellas and the rest of the 504th landed across the beach at Anzio. Following initial success, Fifth Army's amphibious assault, Operation Shingle, bogged down in the face of heavy German counterattacks that threatened to drive the Allies into the Tyrrhenian Sea. Anzio turned into a fiasco, one of the bloodiest Allied operations of the war. Not until April were the remnants of the regiment withdrawn and shipped to England to recover, reorganize, refit, and train for their next mission.

In September, Megellas parachuted into Holland along with the rest of the 82d Airborne as part of another star-crossed mission, Field Marshal Montgomery's vainglorious Operation Market Garden. Months of hard combat in Holland were followed by the Battle of the Bulge, and the long hard road across Germany to Berlin.

Megellas was the most decorated officer of the 82d Airborne Division and saw more action during the war than most. Yet All the Way to Berlin is more than just Maggie's World War II memoir. Throughout his narrative, he skillfully interweaves stories of the other paratroopers of H Company, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The result is a remarkable account of men at war.

[Toy Revolver]

Anzio

that's where roger waters father died

Eric Fletcher Waters
"When the Tigers Broke Free" is a Pink Floyd song by Roger Waters, describing the death of his father, Eric Fletcher Waters, on 18 February 1944, during the Battle of Anzio during the Italian Campaign of the Second World War.

i just finished a fun book


Tool of the Trade by Joe Haldeman

it's about a kgb spy who's discovered an incredibly effective way to hypnotize people

there's no shortage of graphic violence- the premise stretched credulity a bit but i was albe to suspend disbelief


he's won nebula and hugo prizes and i've been doing what i can to make my way through their winners

this is the second book of his i've read, the first is called A Separate War and Other Stories -

i loved it

i don't know if this novel was as good as that short story collection but it had me fully hooked from page one -

[Janszoon]

that's where roger waters father died

i just finished a fun book


Tool of the Trade by Joe Haldeman

it's about a kgb spy who's discovered an incredibly effective way to hypnotize people

there's no shortage of graphic violence- the premise stretched credulity a bit but i was albe to suspend disbelief


he's won nebula and hugo prizes and i've been doing what i can to make my way through their winners

this is the second book of his i've read, the first is called A Separate War and Other Stories -

i loved it

i don't know if this novel was as good as that short story collection but it had me fully hooked from page one -

Sounds interesting. The only thing I've read by him is The Forever War.

[Toy Revolver]

just finished another

Omar El Akkad
American War: A novel

i really loved it

a war breaks out between red and blue states over a fossil fuel ban and tens of millions americans die in a dystopian climate change war torn nightmare apocalypse

the author does a great job of moving the character along while not ignoring the horrifying and potentially very realistic setting

[innerspaceboy]

Time magazine unveils "THE END OF HUMANITY: How Real is the Risk? (A Special Report)" for June 12, 2023.

I'm about to host 5 events at The Center for Inquiry on the subject of Artificial Intelligence and its impacts on economics, society, and human ethics, so it's great to see major publications taking an active interest in the discussion. The events will be timely.

Now I just have to find a shop in my city that will have this on the news stand.

[Guybrush]

Reading this. I've never laughed out loud this much while reading before. It's hysterical 😄 and I'm also a huge Terry Pratchett fan.

It makes me wanna watch The Room again. My wife suggested she also reads it and then we can watch The Room together ❤️

[jadis]

Everyone is obsessed with boundaries in relationships these days, myself included, and this wonderful piece unpacks what's that all about and whence it came

https://www.parapraxismagazine.com/articles/boundary-issues/

[jadis]

"Feminism has no absolute right to existence. It must describe something about the world accurately for it to make sense as a political-philosophical position... or else it will be – only – a style."


https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/a-feminist-style