Random Observations about...
History

The (Non)Development of Science in China

Rodney Stark, explaining, in his history of he middle ages, For the Glory of God (p. 150-151) why many scholars...

Prescott Bush and the Nazis

I've got a much longer piece on this sitting on the shelf, half-baked, but I wanted to make a note...

Fort Sumter and the Civil War

In a recent discussion prompted by Ron Paul's civil war revisionism, the topic of Fort Sumter arose. I admit to...

Thomas Müntzer

One of the things I look for in history are recurring patterns. In particular, I'm intrigued by the idea that...

All We Are Saying...

...is give war a chance... Argentina probably benefited from defeat even more than Britain did from victory. The war was...

Gnosticism: Not Christian

Previously I was first introduced to Gnosticism, believe it or not, by Bertrand Russell, back in the mid-1980s. In his...

The Treaty of Tripoli

There are three ways in which a government can be influenced by some religion. The first is when the rules...

Gouverneur Morris

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic...

America: A Christian Nation?

That's a hotly-contested question these days. There are, of course, many possible answers depending on how you look at it....

Auditing Jimmy Carter: What Happened at Taba?

It's bad to read only opinions you agree with and have already verified. It's also bad to read and blindly...

Thoughts on the Winnability of Vietnam

Via ShrinkWrapped: What many people don’t know is that the Joint Chiefs offered President Johnson a plan to quickly defeat...

I'll Take Two of Each, Thanks

Or seven, if they're Kosher... Q: What's made of petrified wood, seems to be boat-shaped, the approximate size of a...

The "Red Scare"

Katherine Kersten, in the Minneapolis Star Tribune: Long-time Minnesotans remember John Earl Haynes as an architect of the famous "Minnesota...

Thank You, Canada!

And I mean that quite sincerely. Via Captain Ed: One of the consequences of closing American airspace was the denial...

Gospel of Judas: Reading the Text

Lately, I've been reading the Gospel of Judas [pdf] text. In comments here I remark that Gnosticism died under it's...

Dirty Dealings and the Gospel of Judas

To follow up to my earlier posting on Gospel of Judas -- where I mentioned that gnostics were fond of...

Gospel of Judas

I'm astonished at how gullible so many people are, how prone to wishful thinking. I keep hearing things like this...

"Didn't Understand the Nature of War"

Here, in a nutshell, is hubris. Writing about Col McMaster's book on Vietnam, Dereliction of Duty, one Amazon reviewer opines:...

The Myth of the Chastity Belt

Another annoying urban legend: the crusaders clamped chastity belts on their women to keep them faithful (for years, we are...

Kill the Children's Crusade

I am getting sooo tired of hearing everyone repeat the myth of the Children's Crusade. Especially the version where they...

Jews: Murdered or Not?

Now here's a telling juxtaposition: Last year Ahmadinejad provoked outcries when he said on separate occasions that Israel should be...

Archaeology, David, and Goliath

One interesting find: The small ceramic shard unearthed at Tell es-Safi -- the site of the biblical city "Gath of...

The Morality of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

He who controls the present controls the past; and he who controls the past controls the future... As with any...

Stealing History

"He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future."George Orwell, 1984 History is...

Stealing History: Part 1 - Ward Churchill and the Mandan Smallpox-Blanket Genocide Fraud

In the 1990s, we began to hear that the US Army had deliberately set out to commit genocide against Native...

Adolf Hitler: Christian

Yeah, right! More evidence from John Ray that Hitler was not a Christian "believer", but simply attempted to re-purpose Christian...

Nazi School Prayers

"Positive" atheists make the claim the Nazis mandated school prayer -- and seemingly indict American Christians in doing so. But does the historical evidence support their point?

Homoeroticization

He and I used to walk around the Central West End together -- home to many gay bars -- talking....

Clinton Inhabits 'Alternate Universe'

The Washington Post: The matters leading to impeachment aren't the only ones where Mr. Clinton veers from the nonfiction category....

Pacifism and Leftism: Some Things Don't Change

Hitchens, quoting George Orwell from 1945: The majority of pacifists either belong to obscure religious sects or are simply humanitarians...

Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition!

Vox Day discusses the huge gap between the reality of the Inquisition courts and the popular myth which elevates it...

One in Ten Brits Think Hitler Never Existed

Okay, I've now heard enough from Europeans about the purported level of ignorance among Americans... at least we're not confused as to whether Abe Lincoln was fictional. I hope.

Myth: Hilter was a Leftist

Was Hitler a leftist or rightist? Today we look at a leftist argument that Hitler's alleged leftist tendencies are nothing more than a conservative myth. What we find instead is a stunning display of bad logic, nonstandard definitions, omitted data, and ad homen arguments about rightists.

Japanese WWII Internment: The Rest of the Story

The story of US internment of Japanese families is one I was taught in school. But, once again, I'm learning that I wasn't told the whole story. Lately, this has been a familliar feeling.

Woodrow Wilson: Anti-Communist, Leftist

James Loewen reveals some damning information about Democratic President Woodrow Wilson's foreign anti-democratic foreign policies, stuff they probably didn't teach you in school...

European Slaves in Africa

The Guardian: North African pirates abducted and enslaved more than 1 million Europeans between 1530 and 1780 in a series...

Revising Normandy

Check out Dissident Frogman's report about some interesting co-incidences at the Memorial Museum at the Battle of Normandy. I feel...

Salem Witch Trials Revisited

Somehow I got the impression that the Salem witch trials were just another instance of Christians persecuting those who were...

Benjamin Disraeli

As usual, I can't seem to confine my interest to any coherant boundaries. Today, I'm learning a little bit about...

Nostalgia Unleashed

Haha! I read Lilek's Monday piece before any of you did! Nananana! Okay, probably just most of you. The Instapundit...

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