January 26, 2014

100 Years Ago This Year...

...the world was more interconnected by trade and communication than it had ever been before. For instance the British and German empires were each other best customers.

Then a few miscalculations sent things rather out of control...


This picture of the town of Reims, France gives some idea of the wretchedness that engulfed the world.


Source Unknown

That the long exposure of the photo reduces the towns survivors to images akin to ghosts is, perhaps, fitting.

This color photo of Verdun in mid 1916 also serves to remind us of the mistakes made so long ago.


Pic via this fascinating photo-gallery from Der Spiegel. The associated book can be bought here.

...as does this photo of a little Belgian  girl...




Via the Daily Mail.

...and this...


via

Pitiful...but enough dwelling on the ancient past. Such images are from a less enlightened world, nearly a century removed from us. We have our problems today but we live in an age of unimaginable interconnectedness. There are certainly jihadist movements, ethnocentric conflicts, and civil strife but a war between great powers is unthinkable due to interconnectedness and interdependency.

In other news, via Instapundit...this happened yesterday at Davos.

Do read the whole thing,


The Chinese professional acknowledged that if China asserted control over the disputed islands by attacking Japan, America would have to stand with Japan. And he acknowledged that China did not want to provoke America.

But then he said that many in China believe that China can accomplish its goals — smacking down Japan, demonstrating its military superiority in the region, and establishing full control over the symbolic islands — with a surgical invasion.

In other words, by sending troops onto the islands and planting the flag.




Note this addendum....


Interesting times...

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 10:54 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 Japan needs nukes real bad.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Mon Jan 27 13:23:48 2014 (RqRa5)

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