Just finished reading this excellent book by @Iain_MacGregor1 the descriptions of the dropping and aftermath of the Atomic bomb is very well written and hard to read. Was it the right decision to drop the bombs, I think yes but it was an awful price to pay for many

Former NFL linebacker Chris Borland wrestled with adapting to change and starting anew. Then he read a book that changed his thinking.

Whoever did this… 10/10 no notes 🤣

Reading @simonmontefiore's majestic new book "The Cauldron", I was struck by this dispatch from the early days of Zionism. It's been the same damned thing, over and over, for a century.

On this day—October 18–20, 1905 Brutal pogroms against the Jews of Odessa and Kiev. In Odessa, the largest Jewish community in the south (about 140,000 people), was attacked. Official figures listed at least 400 Jews murdered, with higher contemporary estimates putting the total killed at 800 or more and the wounded in the thousands. More than 1,600 Jewish homes, apartments, and shops were damaged or destroyed. In Kiev, between 47 and 100 Jews were killed and hundreds injured amid widespread looting. Across southern Russia that autumn, similar attacks hit scores of towns. There was always an excuse for different groups to commit violence against Jews. This time, right-wing groups like the Black Hundred mixed with local long-standing antisemitism. Police were warned in advance in places like Kiev. In Odessa, police and troops largely failed to stop the rampage for days. Worse, some even participated in the looting and attacks while Jewish self-defense units and others tried to resist. City Governor Neidhardt and military commander Kaulbars were later criticized for negligence and delay. The official inquiry still blamed the victims. Jews had already formed self-defense groups after earlier pogroms, including Kishinev in 1903. In 1905, those units and others fought back in Odessa and elsewhere. Lack of action from the state proved violent antisemitism could still be unleashed with impunity. The 1905 pogroms helped drive further Jewish emigration. They also demonstrated that organized self-defense could at least raise the cost of such attacks. The pattern was clear: when social or political problems spread, Jews are the default target.