Günter Grass Dies at 87; Writer Pried Open Germany’s Past but Hid His Own
Günter Grass, the German novelist, social critic and Nobel Prize winner whom many called his country’s moral conscience but who stunned Europe when he revealed in 2006 that he had been a member of the Waffen-SS during World War II, died on Monday in the northern German city of Lübeck, which had been his home […]
The world of threats to the US is an illusion
WHEN AMERICANS look out at the world, we see a swarm of threats. China seems resurgent and ambitious. Russia is aggressive. Iran menaces our allies. Middle East nations we once relied on are collapsing in flames. Latin American leaders sound steadily more anti-Yankee. Terror groups capture territory and commit horrific atrocities. We fight Ebola with one hand while fending off Central American children with the other.
Daniel Ortega is a Sandinista in name only
Nicaraguan president’s remarkable political comeback has led him to renounce all he once stood for.
Don’t invite extraterrestrials — they’ll destroy Earth
A group of scientists in California recently unveiled plans to advertise Earth’s existence to space aliens, and invite them to visit. This prospect should terrify anyone familiar with the history of imperialism and conquest. On our planet, when a civilization that considers itself superior encounters a “lower” one, the result has usually been enslavement or massacre. Aliens would probably treat us just as pitilessly.
Putin’s push into Ukraine is rational
A HYPER-AGGRESSIVE Russia, in the view of some Americans, is setting off a new and dangerous Cold War. Loud voices in Washington depict the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, as a richly empowered thug who is using his vast resources to lash out against his neighbors, Europe, the United States and the world. In fact Putin is a dangerously weak thug who is desperately trying to prevent the consummation of a Washington-based plan to surround his country with unfriendly forces.
