Roger Cohen and Charles Guggenheim have helped reclaim a hitherto unknown shameful event in U.S. history: the abandonment by our government of 350 GI POWs who were sent to German concentration camps to engage in deadly slave labor near war's end. Cohen's The Lost Soldiers of Stalag IX-B, appearing in the New York Times alerted me to this horrifying event … [Read more...]
Archives for February 2005
Abayudaya: music of the Jews of Uganda
Samson Wamani in doorway of his home(credit: Wildfoto.com)The Abayudaya are a small (600 member) community of Ugandan Jews who embraced Judaism nearly 100 years ago during the period of English colonial rule. They live in a series of small villages near the eastern Ugandan town of Mbale (see accompanying map). I am indebted for the historical background … [Read more...]
Zionism and the Cult of Death
Baruch Kimmerling, Sociology professor,Hebrew University (credit: Kimmerling)Yes, this is a provocative and even polemical title and it certainly runs counter to the notion that the purpose of Zionism and the creation of the State of Israel was to save Jewish lives and ensure the survival of the Jewish people in the aftermath of the Holocaust. But Baruch … [Read more...]
Janet Jackson’s Boob: How Big Media Can Keep Tittilating Viewers, Avoid the FCC’s Wrath, and Make Tons New Ad Money
Janet Jackson & Justin Timberlake at the Super Bowl: what might've been... (credit: Striporama.com) Thanks to Elena Steier, a wonderful online cartoonist I discovered a few weeks ago, I'd like to present a modest proposal to the TV networks that will shield them from massive FCC indecency fines, continue titillating viewers just as Jackson did during last … [Read more...]
