Engineering a historical oblivion for soldiers of the wrong wars
Engineering a historical oblivion for soldiers of the wrong wars
My dad was a lucky man. Born in 1903, he was just too young for service in World War I and a bit too old for the same in World War II. Not that he couldn’t have volunteered for the latter. He certainly could have, but decided not to. Many years ago, he gave me some papers associated with what was then called the Selective Service. I never took a close look at them, until now.
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Some look forward to a harmonious future
The following is from the text of an e-mail sent to Jeff Kingston from Cindy Zhang, a Chinese university student. What disappointed me most about the memorial was that I had expected the exhibition to be condensed and focused, but, things were just the opposite. Although disappointed, I had to give the memorial the right to be huger than necessary — were it not so, it would have been politically incorrect in some sense. After the visit, I often wondered why I was not the least touched or moved by the exhibition. One reason is that I was already familiar with that history, so nothing on display made me feel aghast or strike me as particularly overwhelming. The second reason is that my family have not much, if not nothing, to do with the city. For me, the massacre is like a legend — I…
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Celebrity rules as the Olympics strays far from its ideal
The big story this year in competitive swimming is the LZR Racer swimsuit, which was developed by the British sportswear manufacturer Speedo. At least six world records have been set by swimmers wearing the suit. Studies have shown that its drag-diminishing properties lower racing times by 1.9 to 2.2 percent, which is significant in a sport where victory is measured by hundredths of a second. There is no doubt that the suits are helping swimmers. The real question is: Do they provide their wearers with an unfair advantage over swimmers who don’t wear them? The answer seems to be “yes,” with even the official blog of the National Collegiate Athletics Association wondering if the LZR Racer constitutes “technology doping.” What’s the difference between gaining an advantage with a swimsuit…
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