Kat B. > Recent Status Updates

The second use of the word blimp when they were called Zeppelins for the love of God. Couldn't use dirgible? An airship?!
A few pages earlier, a girl says "stressed" in reference to troops.
Strained, troubled? I'll allow some modern language and description, fine. I'll keep going but anachronisms are going to kill me here. I can't get into the story with this writing style. I hope the other stories hold up

Quote made me chuckle bitterly: "These people (refugees of Kosovo) are living symbols of Milosevic's plan to destabilize the Balkans."
AKA US intelligence and the policies of NWO-minded US administrations working through/with Milosevic to do the destabilizing. This book is full of on-the-ground horror and realities suffered by the people of Kosovo, and it's infuriating to learn how and why these came to be.

Biljana Plavsic says in her statement of guilt at the Hague, referencing what led to Serbian war crimes and Serbian national motives (due to WWII): "In this obsession not to become victims ever again, we allowed ourselves to become perpetrators." I can think of another, current war criminal state of ethno-nationalists that might take heed here. One extreme leads to another.

Notable quote on Biljana Plavŝić: "The fact a woman could be responsible for some of the most horrible atrocities committed in Bosnia...must be a hard pill to swallow for anyone who believes, even vaguely, that if women ruled, the world would be a better place." Case in point, Plavŝić was more radical than the regime. Women are not peaceful/benevolent in politics and War. Powerful women still operate under Power.

Chapters on the Miloševic's. Banality of beaurocratic evil and cult of personality. The book didn't tell me anything new and the author made a point to say even in the Hague, she didn't either learn anything about them either. She called them empty, lost, and shallow people.

Ch. 8 Dražen Erdemović - This chapter, as all in this book are, being vignettes, was short but packed a really hard punch. A soldier who wasn't good at or interested in being one became a (reluctant?) fellow executioner of 1200 in only a few hours from those gathered from Srebrenica. Harrowing stuff.

Ch. 7 Radislav Krstić & Srebrenica. This book has been really great so far. It reads very quickly. My only complaint is that each chapter is more like a small overview of each war criminals trials for the 91-95 Balkan conflicts. I want more details and in depth information, especially in regard to civilian experiences. Her points on generational views/history are excellent.

Chapter 12 - Beevor has a gift for painting vivid pictures around events. Rattenkrieg. Civilians and forces trapped along the Volga. Stalin gives orders to Snipers to eliminate even civilians. German Army takes up using children for various jobs. Soviets snipe the kids. Hard chapter.

Such a satisfying paragraph of semicolons that is so rare for me to see.

"Then: no belief or body of laws will guard you; no friend, no counselor, no appointed personage will save you; no locked door will protect you; no private office will hide you. Not even the solar brilliance of a summer day will harbor you from horror."

Audiobook listening.

I am enjoying Ligotti a lot so far.

Chapter 5. Listening to Audiobook.

What is C-PTSD and how it manifests into adulthood. What is emotional flashbacks/toxic shame.

I'm of the opinion that this "condition" includes so many variables that I honestly question its validity whatsoever. Is this even real? Is it yet another way to pathologize a range of bad childhood/formative experience? I'm teaching eagerly to learn more.

And to think they're still digging up the chemical payloads at Spring Valley since this book was written! Wow.