Adam Hochschild wrote an amazing book called King Leopold’s Ghost a few years ago.  I interviewed the guy on my old radio show and was mightily impressed, both with him and his book.  It’s about the murderous Belgian colonization of the Congo, but it’s also an object lesson in the rationalizations of empire — about how hifalutin words like generosity to the natives so often turn out to be simply a fig leaf for self-interest, brutality, and plunder.

Bizarrely, George W. Bush recently claimed to have just finished it.  In which case, his reading-comprehension level must be near zero.

Adam just took the guy apart in the L.A. Times today.

Adam Hochschild wrote an amazing book called King Leopold’s Ghost a few years ago.  I interviewed the guy on my old radio show and was mightily impressed, both with him and his book.  It’s about the murderous Belgian colonization of the Congo, but it’s also an object lesson in the rationalizations of empire — about how hifalutin words like generosity to the natives so often turn out to be simply a fig leaf for self-interest, brutality, and plunder.

Bizarrely, George W. Bush recently claimed to have just finished it.  In which case, his reading-comprehension level must be near zero.

Adam just took the guy apart in the L.A. Times today.

And the entire cast of Hogan’s Heroes joins in holiday song.

Click and enjoy your holiday just a little more.  I’d have the video here for you to watch, but embedding has been turned off on this one for some reason.

You have to give it a couple of minutes before the full-on weirdness begins, although for me Bing Crosby and Bob Crane sharing a stage is right up there with the Bing/Bowie video everyone always trots out this time of year.

This is why baby Jesus made the YouTube.  Happy holidays, folks.

UPDATE: Via Skippy, here’s a much ickier version such by David Hasselhoff:

I can only hope that someday you will forgive me.

Well, damn.

I just realized that the swearing-in of a new Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, means that Prisoner of Trebekistan’s goofy example of how to remember all of the Secretaries-General, in order (see pp. 96-98), is now obsolete.

Allow me to insert this addendum to the fifth full paragraph on page 97:

You may have to read the book to understand how that fits.

And no disrespect meant whatsoever to the former South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade who speaks three languages and holds a Masters Degree from Harvard.

Well, damn.

I just realized that the swearing-in of a new Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, means that Prisoner of Trebekistan’s goofy example of how to remember all of the Secretaries-General, in order (see pp. 96-98), is now obsolete.

Allow me to insert this addendum to the fifth full paragraph on page 97:

You may have to read the book to understand how that fits.

And no disrespect meant whatsoever to the former South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade who speaks three languages and holds a Masters Degree from Harvard.