Everyone has a pet peeve about
Christmas. Mine is a little
unusual. See, about this time of year,
people write articles about the “Christmas Truce” of World War I. It is especially bad this year, as it’s the
centennial. This tradition annoys me
because as a historian I see things very differently. Remembering Christmas 1914 as the day
everyone called time-out on the worst war the world has ever seen is a
comforting story, but that’s all it is.
A story. The Christmas Truce is
mythical. Of course, like many myths, it
has some true stories at its core.
Friday, December 26, 2014
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Sony Panics and North Korea Tries to Avenge an Insult
I
want to say right off the bat, that seeing a freakin’ movie is not standing up
for your freedom. Sitting down for it,
maybe. I have been trying to write about
the Sony/North Korea/hack/panic fiasco since the story broke, but it evolves so
quickly I felt compelled to re-write everything. I think we’ve about reached the endgame. Sony staff may be scared out of their wits,
but now that The Interview has been
released, one would think Sony Pictures could not have asked for better
publicity. All of this panic was
unnecessary. North Korean violence tends
to come without prior warning, but vocal threats from Pyongyang are mere
bluster. I discussed this tendency last
Spring. We in the biz call it calculated
madness. North Korea effects the
appearance of irrationality in order to scare the rest of us. ‘They are unpredictable!’ we say, ‘who knows
what they can do!’ And then the rest of us give North Korea something they want out of fear. You see that in the
initial response to “the Guardians of Peace” threats.
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