The Last Khan of Mongolia

No doubt plotting the utter destruction of the bolshevik hordes.

Pulp Prophecy

Sayings of the High One

The unwise man thinks that he ay will live,

if from fighting he flees;

but the ails and aches of old age dog him

though spears have spared him.

Hávamál

Croquet

Croquet-partie, 1873, by Edouard Manet

Book Review: "Grey Wolf: The Escape of Adolf Hitler"

In their introduction to Grey Wolf: The Escape of Adolf Hitler, the authors elaborate that their project initially began as a conspiracy theory program for television.  It would have been best had it remained that way, as a thirty minute television special would be far more appropriate for the amount of material on Hitler's survival.  For a book about Adolf Hitler, Grey Wolf is short on its subject matter.  Copious amounts of ink are devoted to tangential, or outright irrelevant happenings of WWII.  The authors could have simply stated the Germans stole large quantities of artwork and used their sale to finance their ventures in the aftermath of the war.  Instead, there is usually a very exact listing the number stolen, and from which Rothschild's estate.  Similarly, the recounting of the V1 rocket program, and the Monuments Men, are recounted at undue length and feel as if they're merely padding.

Aside from this problem, the case presented for Hitler's escape is merely plausible.  Certain people claim to have seen him, and spent time with him.  The logistics were in place, and the authors do a good enough job of setting them down.  It could have happened.  But then again, perhaps not.  Hitler seriously considered suicide after the suicide of Geli Raubal and in the aftermath of the Beer Hall Putsch; thus, it seems more likely that he would have committed suicide during the fall of Berlin than to have absconded to Argentina.

There is also the problem of the prime mover in the whole affair, Martin Bormann.  The circumstances of his death, and whether the corpse discovered is really his, are up to debate.  The authors do not deal with this whatsoever.

Grey Wolf, if you decide to purchase it, is best skimmed through in large parts, until the writing that actually deals with the escape of Adolf Hitler is presented.  A sincere commendation I will make is that parts which the authors consider pure conjecture are presented in italics.  Those who are interested in the subject would be better off perusing the publicly available US goverment files on the matter and coming to their own conclusions.

We Prep Now

The token darkies in Brooks Brothers catalogues used to be a somewhat Nordic looking fellow and his all black family, and now we've a Wesley Snipes lookalike (who is clearly coupled with a blonde in other photographs).

The question is, what is one to call these reverse wiggers?

Vassalage

Mitt Romney to hold $50,000 a couple Jerusalem fundraiser.

It should be noted that the residents of Jerusalem are not American citizens, but foreigners.  What is one to make of a creature who goes to the satraps and viziers of Israel with hat in hand?  He is but an eager, would be vassal.  It would be one thing if Romney were to take their money and blessings, and proceed to astound them with his ingratitude.  This will not be the case. 

One might ask, what great benefits shall we receive in return for servitude?  A President Romney, and quite possibly a reenactment of the Sicilian Expedition in Iran.

The Closed Society and Its Enemies

"And this was the reason why he forbade them to travel abroad, and go about acquainting themselves with foreign rules of morality, the habits of ill-educated people, and different views of government. Withal he banished from Lacedaemon all strangers who would not give a very good reason for their coming thither; not because he was afraid lest they should inform themselves of and imitate his manner of government (as Thucydides says), or learn anything to their good; but rather lest they should introduce something contrary to good manners. With strange people, strange words must be admitted; these novelties produce novelties in thought; and on these follow views and feelings whose discordant character destroys the harmony of the state. He was as careful to save his city from the infection of foreign bad habits, as men usually are to prevent the introduction of a pestilence." - Plutarch, Life of Lycurgus

Les damnés de la terre

Shoes of Gabriele d'Annunzio

Preserved for posterity in Il Vittoriale degli italiani.  Source here.

Roman Virtues

Thoughts on Propaganda Posters

World War II was certainly the golden era of propaganda posters. I recently had the opportunity to view a selection of them, and what makes them all the more striking is their immensity. When a poster is bigger than a man, the bold and simple palette of colors becomes all the more striking. Realism and minute detail mutes the effect and creates too much for the eye to take in. The impression is everything.

Sapeurs

BANNED IN GERMANY

Defiant

British Union of Fascists Tie

The Kingfish

Could it have happened here?  If only!  Counter Currents reproduces an informative article on Long's career here.

The Flute

"[...]Schopenhauer, although a pessimist, ACTUALLY—played the flute... daily after dinner: one may read about the matter in his biography. A question by the way: a pessimist, a repudiator of God and of the world, who MAKES A HALT at morality—who assents to morality, and plays the flute to laede-neminem morals, what? Is that really—a pessimist?

[...]

—the skepticism of daring manliness, which is closely related to the genius for war and conquest, and made its first entrance into Germany in the person of the great Frederick. This skepticism despises and nevertheless grasps; it undermines and takes possession; it does not believe, but it does not thereby lose itself; it gives the spirit a dangerous liberty, but it keeps strict guard over the heart." - Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

What Nietzsche neglects to mention is that Frederick also played the flute. What instrument does a pessimist play? (Do pessimists even play music?)

Tintin in the Wehrmacht

Bring Back Duelling!

La Rousse

Observation: all redheads are either beautiful, or ugly. There is rarely an in between.

Pound by Breker

Edit: I should link the site I pulled this from, as it is the best page I've found on Breker so far. It contains numerous pictures of Breker himself, his work, and biographical information.

How vibrant!

The Salon d'Or, Homburg

The Salon d'Or, Homburg, William Powell Firth, c. 1870

Panzerauto

Jacket Lining

Pictured above is the lining and exterior of one of my favorite jackets, a Harris Tweed bomber jacket. I consider it unseemly to flash lining and labels as if one were a bird of paradise of the sartorial world, but a jacket carelessly strewn on a couch so as to reveal an interesting lining is acceptable.

Better than a Polo Pony

Dogs of the Third Reich

A Polish Kiss

Zubrowka, or bison grass, vodka is distinct amongst the vodka I've sampled; not a run of the mill vodka, nor a girly fruit flavored concoction. It contains subtle notes of almonds and vanilla. The friends I've shared it with have either loved it or hated it. It can be taken neat, or mixed with apple juice (a Polish Kiss). The only downside to Zubrowka is that is quite delicious, so it is more than easy to drink a lot of it quickly.

What is art?

A criticism often levelled at degenerate art: "That's not art!" In this sentence there is the implication that art is beautiful. (Degenerate art, not being beautiful, would not be art.) In European art this is often the case; even if the sufferings of Hell are to be depicted, then they are to be pleasing to the eye. Gustave Dore's engravings of Dante's Inferno do as much. However, the defender of degenerate art, being clever, is quick to respond with a barrage of semantic questions. "What is art anyways? How is this not art then?" and so on and so forth. Rather than trapping oneself in such a morass, there should be a revised understanding of art. Artwork is something birthed from one's very soul, and is a reflection of that soul. The artwork which is grotesque is, then, the product of a malformed soul. It is not so much a question of a particular style or school of composition, but what vision the artist puts forth. For example: Lucian Freud and Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida can both be said to paint in an impressionistic style, but one depicts the world as bland and pervasively ugly whereas Bastida depicted the beauty peculiar to his Spain. So yes, Lucian Freud, Frank Gehry, etc. are all artists and their work is art - but art birthed by a crippled, degenerate soul.

Benefits Supervisor Sleeping, Lucian Freud

Cosienda la vela, Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida

J.B. Lully: Isis

National Colors

El Caudillo

Mussolini: Now in Wine Form

Arno Breker

Futurist Mussolini

Mussolini - Anno XI, Gerardo Dottori

Il Duce, Alessandro Bruschetti

Continuous Profile - Head of Mussolini, Renato Guiseppe Bertelli

Aero Portrait of Benito Mussolini the Aviator, Filippo Marinetti

Lasalle

"Mon ami, tout hussard qui n'est pas mort à trente ans est un jean-foutre." or, "My friend, any hussar who isn't dead by 30 is a blackguard." - General Antoine Lasalle, from the Mémoires du général Bon Thiébault