For a week in late May 1941, the eyes and attention of the British Admiralty and the German Kriegsmarine were focused on the North Sea as the German battleship Bismarck, was attempting to break out on a raiding mission in the Atlantic.  After sinking the pride of the British nave, HMS Hood, Bismarck turned its attention of the Prince of Wales and swiftly caused such damage that the British ship had to run for its life.  Unfortunately for the Bismarck, she was also hit and was badly leaking oil and taking on water.  What followed for the next three days has been the subject of books and movies for over fifty years.  The author was a gunnery officer on the Bismarck and was one of 115 survivors (out of a crew of 2,200).  His story is a firsthand description from “the other side” about a battle that was almost preordained-in my opinion- to failure.

This book was the only one written by Boleslaw (as he was known) and covers the time when he served in a Polish cavalry unit, fighting for the Russians during WWI.  Based on his experiences covers a short time from the beginning of the Russian Revolution when the Russian army began to break up through the forces of defeat, starvation, useless slaughter and Communist propaganda.  His unit (there were similar units fighting for the Germans and Austrians), then decided that their oath to the Czar was null and void and they attempted to reach fellow Polish units across the front lines. 

A look at racial and ethnic quotas from around the world show that they are either counter productive, used to lower standards, destroy meritocracy or lead to corruption. What positives have we seen after decades of quotas here in the United States? Will quotas ever end and with the changing demographics of the nation, how can they be justified when the minority becomes the majority? This is a thoughtful article which provides examples of failed quotas from around the world.https://quillette.com/2020/07/03/affirmative-action-in-a-multiethnic-nation/

BLM has in the past few weeks become a power to watch; most people are ignorant of their leaders, goals, underlying philosophy, etc. Their ability to mobilize is impressive and their funding is opaque at best. The following article provides videos of some of their leaders as well as documentation of their goals, philosophy and leadership. BE ADVISED! Previous postings of this article elsewhere has lead to serious verbal and written attacks of the producer of the article as well as whoever posts it, BUT I have seen no documented proof that any of the information in the article is inaccurate or that it has distorted or taken out of context statements, interviews, etc. It is up to you to decide the validity or worth of the article. I would suggest that before you read the article, you read about the author at soerenkern.com/about https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16181/black-lives-matter

About every ten years or so I go on a Civil War binge and this binge has started with this excellent book by two fine military historians.  Murray is professor emeritus of history at Ohio State University and his many books closely examine the changes in military thinking and tactics as well as the culture of both the military and their society in which they exist.  Hsieh is associate professor of history at the United State Naval Academy.  Together they have created a fine work that not only gives the details on the various campaigns, but the strengths and weaknesses of commanders down to the regimental level as well as how both the North and the South responded to the size, scope and technology of the Civil War battlefield.

General Longstreet served as Robert E. Lee’s solid right hand, commanding the First Corps. of the Confederate Army during most of the Civil war.  A strong believer in states rights (but not necessarily slavery) before the war, afterwards he was a strong Republican, believing that having been defeated during the war, the Southern states needed to work to be fully accepted back into the Union.  His post war political beliefs earned him the scorn of many Southerners, especially the old ruling class which hoped (and succeed) to place themselves back in power.

Amity Shlaes in her excellent history of the Depression, The Forgotten Man, outlines how FDR in his admitted goal of “unimagined power”, begin the process of cutting the American electorate like a sausage and appealing to each groups individual interests. No longer was the public asked to support what was good for the country as a whole, but the interests of labor, senior citizens, farmers and union workers were systematically offered rewards for their support.

Having visited Istanbul several times, I was looking forward to this book which had received positive reviews from several national sources.  I must admit however, that my expectations were not met.  It might be that the author attempts to cover too much of history in this sever hundred plus page tome.  Starting at 800,000 BC-no, I am not kidding- Ms. Hughes provides us with information on the earliest settlements, how drastic weather created the area, etc.  While that is of interest to a certain group, the three main areas of concentration are the time from Severus and Constantine, the Byzantine and of course, the time of the Ottomans.

Unfortunately aside from having a good ash, I cannot think of another good thing to say about this cigar. Although it is listed as “medium”, I would list it as light or boring, innocuous or just not sure if it is there. At about $6 retail (half that at some wholesalers), I would prefer to save my money for a few days and have one good cigar which I could at least look forward to enjoying

New York City is a prime example of what could go wrong during a pandemic. Political leaders were late in recognizing the problem and years of neglect and misdirection of funds left many hospitals ill-equipped to deal with the multiple problems. The doctors and nurses often worked under difficult and contradictory conditions and guidelines. While some errors can be excused, several decisions led to higher than necessary deaths and the question is whether the politicians, administrators, bureaucrats and medical profession will learn from the crisis and be better prepared the next time. https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-new-yorks-coronavirus-response-made-the-pandemic-worse-11591908426?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1