Exploiting Ethnic Divisions in the Middle East

Recent photograph of Berber fighters in Libya

On,August 9. 2011, The NY Times had an online article on how the Berbers of Libya are using the civil war in that country to seize local power in their homelands of western Libya. They are now in conflict with local Arabs. This is a good thing. Where the Times sees trouble, I see opportunity.

A Review of "A Moment in the Sun" by John Sayles

I am less than one fourth the way though this book set starting in 1897 and continuing through the the end of the Spanish American war. Already the author, through his charters, has taken me to Alaska for the Yukon gold rush, to Havana to witness the sinking of the USS Maine, to Manila to witness the brutal execution of a Filipino rebel against Spanish rule, and somewhere in the American South to a prison camp where convicts are being used to tap resin from trees. Later he takes the reader back to Manila to see the American fleet destroy the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay. I am confused.

S-day a Memoir of the Invasion of England

This is an alternative history novel with novel twist to it. It addresses an important issue of social and geopolitical importance, which is not what happens in most counterfactual history books.

The most widely read counterfactual histories wander off into an unrecognizable future which no thinking person can believe, given the contingent nature of historical events.

The more common variety stop short to give a new ending to a historical event, without exploring the extended ramifications.

Think Turtledove's series of book on an alternative outcome to the American Civil War for an example of the first option, where the whole history of the world is explored though the end of World War II with a divided United States taking different sides in both World War I and World War II.

But as I said, S-Day is different. It starts by imagining that Nazi Germany had avoided war with the Soviet Union in 1941 The reason is not given, is not important, and is within the range of possibility. Simply imagine some new arrangement between Hitler and Stalin that keeps the Nazi-peace in Europe

Drawing Based on an Oil Painting of a Muslim Man

Done today in 3 hours. First time I did arms, hands and fingers seriously.

As usual I had difficulty with the eyes. Teacher had me turn the painting and the drawing upside down so I would concentrate on what was really there, instead on drawing what I wanted to see.

Still the teacher had to help me with the eyes starting with the eyes brows, which are angular rather than nicely curved like I want to draw then.

Also, more practice with geometry to get the proportions correct. Note that the man with his book forms a triangle. I am getting better at seeing geometry in art.

Drawing from a Painting by Joseph de Camp, "Portrait of Peggy Wood"

Done in one three hour class. For about 15 minutes it was a drawing of a young man. The teacher suggested changing the face outline and adding more hair. She was right. Although it took me several iterations to get it close to it.

Also, the eyes and lips needed much attention. This was my first use of color. I used a pastel white pencil to touch up the eyes, and a pastel skin tone pencil to add highlights to the face.

Norway, the Media and European leaders. Crazy

The press in the United States and Europe is suddenly writing about the threat of "Right Wing, Fundamentalist Christian Terrorism". Today, the NY Times and Der Speigel are the two online sources today which have articles or opinion pieces on the topic, under headlines "Norway Will Never Be the Same" and "Norway Killings Shift Debate on Islam in Europe" in the NY Times, and "EU Declares Fight Against Right-Wing Extremism" in Spiegel Online.

The Spiegel article managed to find two man it describes as leaders of second tier - but are at best third tier - political movements in England and Italy who expressed concerns about Islamic influence in Europe,and the path of demographics and political discourse in Europe.

A quote from the Spiegel article from the Italian is, "As if to confirm such fears, members of both a British right-wing group and an increasingly populist Italian party bucked the initial trend of rejecting Breivik's ideology, expressed their understanding for certain sentiments. Stephen Lennon, leader of the English Defense League, a far-right British group to which Breivik has claimed ties, said the attacks proved the desperation of those with populist leanings in Europe.

Drawings Based on Two Paintings by Winslow Homer

The first drawing took two separate 3 hour classes and the second just one 3 hour class. I learned how to use simple drafting techniques to get the right placement and proportions. Also how to do waves, at least to approximate what Winslow Homer did. Start with squiggly lines.... Also, bury the boat in the water by matching the shading the boat to the waves.

Fog Warning

Lost in the Fog

The original paintings were done in the 1880s. They part of Winslow Homer's study of fishing off the Great Banks. From a online description of the first painting:

"Fog at sea can be very dangerous. If it were to surround the fisherman pictured in Fog Warning, his life might be lost. He must quickly return to his schooner, the sailboat seen to the right on the horizon, if he is to be able to get back to shore safely.

"We see a full view of the fisherman and the inside of his dory. A dory is a heavy, flat-bottomed high-sided rowboat designed especially to ride on the high seas. His catch of halibut lies in the stern of the dory. He pauses for a moment to look over his shoulder at the fog bank. He is gauging his distance to the schooner. The sea is rough and he is tired. He has spent the day out on the water fishing alone."

Bust of a Veiled Woman

Bust of a Veiled Woman (Puritas) 1717 - 1725
Museo del Settecento Veneziano, Ca' Rezzonico, Venice, Italy
Sculpture, Marble
Done by Antonio Corradini
Born 1668, Padova, Italy - died about 1752, Napoli, Italy
School: Italian

I saw this in Venice. Amazing that anyone could do this...

A Review of "Taranto: the Raid, the Observers, the Aftermath" by Christopher O'Conner, 2011

This short book provides an extraordinary detailed look at the British navy's raid with aircraft from the British carrier Illustrious on the Italian navy in its harbor at Taranto in November 1940. A successful attack that sank or crippled one half of the available Italian battleships. The attack improved British morale both in the Mediterranean and in Britain. It may have provided ideas for the later Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Unfortunately there are some problems with facts and organization of the book. More on these later.

Although there have been several previous books on this single topic, none of them provide the degree of details on background planning and the movement of British task forces in the Mediterranean which greatly confused the Italians. None give as much information about the attacks delivered by individual aircraft.

FAA Swordfish that carried out the attack on Taranto

A Review of the Movie "Command Decision", 1948

About one-fourth of the way through watching Command Decision I remarked to Margaret that the movie was obviously based on the script for a play, only slightly re-written for the cinema. I pointed out that there were few sets in the movie, that individual scenes were often shot from a fixed camera angle, and that there was a lot of careful choreographing of the multiple characters in the camera’s view. Margaret responded that "It obviously was based on a play or a book, because it was about ideas.” I shut up and sat back to watch the rest of the movie in silence.

Command Decision is about ideas and it is based on a play. It examines high level decision making in the American WWII 8th Air Force during the early period of the American strategic bombing campaign, when fighter cover was not available for bombing raids over Germany. The movie’s primary star is Clark Gable, but is very much a group effort, dependent on a wonderful cast in supporting roles, including Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, Brian Donlevy, Charles Bickford, and John Hodiak. The ideas lead to professional and person ambitions and sacrifice at the highest level, without ignoring the fact that high level decisions lead to anonymous men dying in combat.