Władysław Szpilman (December 5, 1911 – July 6, 2000) was a Polish pianist, a classical composer, and a Jew who survived the Holocaust. He was also the subject of one of my favorite films, The Pianist. Directed by Roman Polanski, the 2002 film is based on Szpilman’s autobiography and shows us his life in Warsaw […]
Thoughts On How To Use Ballistic Missiles
In a more perfect world, more countries would have ballistic missiles, but they’d only use them to send meaningful messages written on biodegradable confetti paper to the population of other nations. So, for example, on Eid al-Adha, Saudi Arabia might fire one at Dearborn, Michigan with a bunch of messages that say things like, “May […]
A Calm Evening In A Turbulent City (Diyarbakir, Turkey)
Seen from the moon, Diyarbakir must look small, like every other city on Earth must look small. Located in southeastern Turkey, a little more than 900 miles from Istanbul, the ancient heart of Diyarbakir has a wall around it — a relatively famous wall in fact, as far as city walls go. It stretches 5.8 […]
The Most Pro-American Country In The World: Kosovo
From 1998 to 1999, war raged in Kosovo, and 13,000 people, most of them ethnic Albanians, were killed. Thousands were raped, and well over a million displaced from their homes. In response, President Bill Clinton led the NATO airstrikes that targeted Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic’s military, bringing an end to the conflict. The above is a […]