Comments on: 10,000 Violent Women and One Screenwriter, Part VI

By: John McClane

John McClane — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:20:22 +0000

The Glass House with Alan Alda and Vic Morrow, Poly Sci professor said it was the most realistic prison movie he ever saw.

By: robertavrech

robertavrech — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:04:42 +0000

Very interesting. I've never read van Creveld. Friends in the IDF, battle hardened officers, consider him one of those military experts who can be counted on to be wrong.

By: Hakko

Hakko — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:59:52 +0000

I have to say, this quote piqued my curiosity, as I'm pretty familiar with both Sun Tzu and the Tao Te Jing. Various searchable versions of Lao Tzu yielded only one reference to swords, and nothing to do with salt water. A bit of googling found it in a book by Martin van Creveld, the military historian, who attributes it to Lao Tzu, but doesn't give a reference. He cites it to support his opposition to Israeli "occupation" of the territory captured in 1967, i.e., continued low-intensity COIN operations will render a modern army unfit for large scale warfare.

I wonder if Prof. van Creveld heard this somewhere and simply recycled the mis-attribution, or whether he made it up out of whole cloth.

By: robertavrech

robertavrech — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:43:09 +0000

Which I could not eat—only become drunk on the delicious scent—because I packed lunch to school. No money for hot school lunches. Sigh. I'd kill to taste that pizza.

By: Gregg

Gregg — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:33:31 +0000

I've read that piece. I guess the only good memory you have about Flatbush was the Tuesday pizza.

By: robertavrech

robertavrech — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:04:21 +0000

Thanks so much for the kind words. I have written about Yeshiva of Flatbush, and here's a smaple:
http://www.seraphicpress.com/archives/2005/06/ser...

By: Gregg

Gregg — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:18:19 +0000

As always your writing is flawless in so many ways. To me the sign of a great writer is his ability to convey complex issues or thoughts with as few words as possible. Robert your writing is crisp and direct , I felt as though I was in the prison standing beside you throughout each interview.
Have you ever considered writing a nostalgic piece about Y of F elementary school ?

By: robertavrech

robertavrech — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:11:11 +0000

Thanks so much for the correction. My recall of Chinese classics obviously isn't all that sharp. I'm better with movies—I hope.

By: bfwebster

bfwebster — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 16:29:49 +0000

Robert:

First, this has been an outstanding (and moving) series.

Second, you mixed up your Tzus. Sun Tzu never said anything about a sword plunged into salt water rusting. I speak as someone who owns (and has read) a dozen different translations of The Art of War and who has published a book based on it. I have found comments (via Google) that Lao Tzu (someone quite different from Sun Tzu; a philosopher credited with writing the Tao Te Ching) said that, but I have no original citation for it. ..bruce..

By: robertavrech

robertavrech — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 08:30:45 +0000

Thanks so much for the good review. Laura was great. In fact, she delivered line readings that made me look good. She's a finely-tuned actress with great instincts. Very happy to hear that your life is on track now.