In Germany, by contrast, the warriors were to carry the knowledge of fire back to the home front, which would then be purified as well."

~ Wolfgang Schivelbusch, "The Culture of Defeat" 3/3

Rituals of return in primitive cultures traditionally require that warriors who have spilled blood undergo purification rituals before being allowed back into the community. 2/3

In 2014, Bongino walked out on the CPAC stage to Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive." I can't help but call that prescience.

Yeah, the whole "don't interrupt your enemy while they're making mistakes" strategy is getting some major mileage lately.

I need that shirt!

I think it's in "The Centurions" and essentially to the effect of "If those lives hadn't been squandered in the trenches, those men would now have sons who could fight beside us today."

There's a great line, which I unfortunately can't deliver from memory, in one of Lartéguy's novels about how the generational cost of those casualties tied the hands of French foreign policy decades down the line.

I'd say they definitely captured the authentic Russian vibe, for sure.

I feel deeply indebted to my phonics education. Trying to stumble your way through this nonsense has to be infuriating.

I feel he did a decent job with characters in the Ryan series. Agree completely re: Red Storm Rising.

Yeah, that was abundantly clear reading his book.

I don't, of course, blame him for hoping that his wife will come to share his faith. But he's not handling any of this in a mature manner.

Yeah, that's who I was hoping to hear was involved.

Eh, okay. McNeill is solid, my impression of Thorpe is pretty meh.