I came to this session because of my interest in the Spanish Civil War. This was my father's war; when the brigadistas had their reunion in Spain a few years ago, I attended this moving event with members of my family.
Javier Cercas read from his book SOLDIERS OF SALAMIS a passage in which the a republican fighter escapes the Fascists, and a Fascist soldier who discovers him does not turn him in. Cercas read in Spanish; the passage was then read in English by Amanda Vaill.
She started her interview by asking him how he began writing novels, but this soon led to an interesting discussion of how his main character, often named Javier, is like him and not like him. Cercas...
You who made us
do not grow tired of telling us who we are.
You who made our hearts, and taught us how to love
tell us why love hurts, why we cherish folly,
why our hearts beat out of tune with you.
You who gave us a mind to know the stars and the imagination to trace the wind
tell us why they devise mischief and live on the street of vanity.
You who gave us eyes to see Your name in every sparrow’s wing
tell us how to see through tears, through pain
through easy satisfaction.
You who gave us hands to build, to touch, to heal
tell us why when they are empty they make a fist.
You who gave us a voice to sing, to praise with loving words
tell us why we...
The pervasive mendacity of George Bush and his close associates was known before the 2000 election. As a candidate for the Texas legislature his campaign literature stated that he was a former Air Force pilot. Bush did for a while attend meetings of the Texas Air National Guard but when AP asked him to justify the claim, Bush said, “I was in the Air Force for over 600 days.” An Air Force spokesman said anyone in the Air National Guard is always a guardsmen and not a member of the Air Force. (The Nation 8/04) Nevertheless, Bush claimed to be a veteran joined the American Legion and boasted that he had “been to war.”
Bush campaigned for president on “the Texas Miracle,” falsified accounts...
Who aided and abetted the 9/11 conspiracy of lies?
1980s The CIA recruited Islamic extremists to fight with the Afghan mujaheddin, an estimated 35,000 from 43 Islamic countries. Thousands more studied in the madrassas funded by the Pakistani secret service (ISI) and CIA in Pakistan. The CIA, ISI and British MI6 made terrorist attacks from Afghanistan into Soviet Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. (Washington Post 7/19/92)
September 1987-March 1989 Michael Springmann, US consular official in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, later claimed that he was “repeatedly told to issue visas to unqualified applicants.” When he rejected applicants he was overruled by superiors. He complained to numerous government offices but was fired and his files destroyed. He claimed many Islamic extremists were given visas...
