The Taiping Rebellion

When the British finally intervened in the worst civil war in human history it turned out to be a disastrous mistake. People like Ed Husain should listen to lectures like this if ever in doubt about the value of interfering in other people's affairs such as is occurring in Syria.

Dr. Stephen R. Platt, a 2008-2010 fellow in the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations' Public Intellectuals Program, discusses his latest book, Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War, at the Luce Foundation office in New York. The book is a military history of the nineteenth-century Taiping Rebellion, one of the largest civil wars in history. National Committee Vice-President Jan Berris moderates the event.

Patti Smith Sings For Rachel Corrie

Rachel Corrie was run over by an Israeli military bulldozer crushing Palestinian homes to make way for land stealing settlers, and the driver reversed over Rachel's body for good measure.

The King & Eye

I know I posted a clip yesterday but I had not idea these were available. Parts one and two don't quite make linear sense so there's repeition narrated continuously by Gielgud. It's not good manners to comment on the Royal Family and in this instance most of my mental projections came to life with the characters speaking English. It's very telling.