Saturday, September 04, 2021

Barefoot Gen Volume One A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima by Keiji Nakazawa

Keiji Nakazawa's semi-autobiographical Japanese comic book series Hadashi no Gen has been translated as Barefoot Gen in a 10-volume series. I read Volume 1, and I have immediately requested Volume 2 from my public library. 

Sometimes it's hard for me to sit in a social gathering listening to "normal" conversation when I think that humans have accumulated enough nuclear weapons to destroy themselves hundreds of times over. I hope I never lose that anxiety, and I don't understand people who are blasé about how close we are to destruction at our own hands.

Thursday, September 02, 2021

Review: Spencer Ackerman - "Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump"

 

Spencer Ackerman's Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump aims to convince liberals to stop their support of the Global War on Terror in all its forms. The premise of the Global War on Terror is that the proper response to attacks against the United States, its allies and its interests is escalation of violence and tightening of control. This inevitably leads to the strengthening of illiberal elements within the United States, whether they be the national security state or everyday believers in American Exceptionalism who, despondent at the terrible cost of the national security state and lack of results it produces, seek to use its tactics against ever-widening circles of internal enemies, including United States Muslims, racial and ethnic minorities, migrants and liberals.