Category Archives: USSR

Solzhenitsyn…reconsidered

Posted on January 11, 2013 by Mike

In most literary and academic circles—excepting those of Soviet-era institutions in the USSR and Eastern bloc countries— it is anathema to level even the slightest criticism against the work of Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn. But well-reasoned evaluation of the author’s … Continue reading →

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Armageddon Theater: The Day After

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Mike

Originally written for Primary Ignition’s “Mayan Apocalypse Survival Guide,” December 21, 2012. By the 1980s, children of the Cold War knew that those “duck and cover” drills were meaningless. We were living in the era of ICBMs and the doctrine … Continue reading →

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Soviet photo

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Mike

Note: Transcription and translation added 8 Aug. 2012 Here’s a Soviet-era photo I recently acquired from someone in the former Lithuanian SSR: The banner reads: “For our Soviet Motherland.” Here’s the inscription on the back: The following transcription and translation … Continue reading →

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Hofstadter’s “Number Numbness,” Revisited

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Mike

Originally posted to the blog “Randomize at Will,” September 2011.  In his May 1982 article, “On Number Numbness,” noted author, Gödel enthusiast and master of all things complicated Douglas Hofstadter eloquently laments a global decline in the appreciation and comprehension … Continue reading →

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