Letter suggests Pope Pius XII knew of mass gassings of Jews and Poles in 1942

Letter from church source in anti-Hitler resistance reporting 6,000 daily killings undercuts Vatican’s claims of lack of knowledge Newly discovered correspondence suggests that the second world war-era Pope Pius XII had detailed information from a trusted German Jesuit that up to 6,000 Jews and Poles were being gassed each day in German-occupied Poland. The documentation… Read More Letter suggests Pope Pius XII knew of mass gassings of Jews and Poles in 1942

The forgotten Australian hero who saved thousands from the Nazis crimes

Dalya Alberge A young Australian who joined the French Resistance, worked undercover for British intelligence, and helped to save thousands of lives in war-torn France was guillotined by the Gestapo in 1943 after he was betrayed by a British double agent. Yet Corporal Bruce Dowding’s bravery and ultimate sacrifice have been largely forgotten because France’s attempt to… Read More The forgotten Australian hero who saved thousands from the Nazis crimes

The world can solve this migration crisis. A more humane approach is the answer

Clive Myrie Are the world’s richer nations normalising the deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean? That’s the fear of the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), the body established in 1951 “out of the chaos and displacement of western Europe after the second world war”. Eleven million people were uprooted and the IOM’s job was to help… Read More The world can solve this migration crisis. A more humane approach is the answer

Vatican beatifies Polish family executed by Nazis for sheltering Jews

The Vatican has beatified a Polish family of nine – a married couple and their small children – who were executed by the Nazis during the second world war for sheltering Jews. During a ceremonious mass in the village of Markowa, in south-east Poland, the papal envoy Cardinal Marcello Semeraro read out the Latin formula of the… Read More Vatican beatifies Polish family executed by Nazis for sheltering Jews

Leader of the Martians

J.L. Austin: Philosopher and D-Day Intelligence Officer by M.W. Rowe Reviewed by Thomas Nagel Among philosophers​ of the 20th century, John Langshaw Austin is not a cultural celebrity like Heidegger, Russell, Sartre or Wittgenstein. But for a period after the Second World War, he was the leading figure of the school of ordinary language philosophy that dominated Oxford, achieved substantial… Read More Leader of the Martians

And then Elon Musk said there’ll be no more war – not via his satellite. Aren’t we lucky to have the world in his hands?

Please let’s put much, much more of our future security in the hands of people who treat war and the fallout from invasion like a broadband contract… it remains one of the more pathetic tragedies of our age that Musk is seen as a superhero analogue – but perhaps also an inevitable one, given that… Read More And then Elon Musk said there’ll be no more war – not via his satellite. Aren’t we lucky to have the world in his hands?

More Evidence Regarding Henry Kissinger’s Lies About Chile

Chile is a dagger pointed at the heart of Antarctica – Henry A. Kissinger. By Melvin Goodman / CounterPunch Our 240 years of history have not produced a more controversial secretary of state than Henry A. Kissinger.  There are enormous achievements associated with Kissinger, including the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in… Read More More Evidence Regarding Henry Kissinger’s Lies About Chile

Mafiacraft, or how to do things with silence. Toward an ethnography of crime

Mafiacraft An Ethnography of Deadly Silence Deborah Puccio-Den’s Mafiacraft is a kind of ethnography that is much needed in our part of the world. Here’s the abstract of an earlier article. It has recently been expanded into a book-length study: How to construct an ethnography about such a phenomenon as “the mafia,” shrouded in silence? What methods… Read More Mafiacraft, or how to do things with silence. Toward an ethnography of crime

Why peace and stability remain elusive in Manipur

Bharat Bhushan Merely calling a special session of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, a demand by both Meitei civil society organisations and the Opposition Congress Party, is unlikely to chart a path to peace in Manipur. The frailty of the legislative process, problems in the government’s proposed resettlement programme and its failure to discipline armed Meiti… Read More Why peace and stability remain elusive in Manipur

They Shall Not Grow Old – Peter Jackson’s electrifying journey into the trenches of the Great War

First posted January 06, 2019 To mark the centenary of the first world war’s end, Peter Jackson has created a visually staggering thought experiment; an immersive deep-dive into what it was like for ordinary British soldiers on the western front. This he has done using state-of-the-art digital technology to restore flickery old black-and-white archive footage of the servicemen’s… Read More They Shall Not Grow Old – Peter Jackson’s electrifying journey into the trenches of the Great War