Red Scare – Commonplaces

Lillian Hellman: Scoundrel Time

May 23, 2020 by sergneri Leave a Comment

I just finished reading Lillian Hellman’s Scoundrel Time and am fascinated that these events from 1951 – 1952, the HUAC hearings, have such resonance with today’s administration. Today, thieves are thick, grandstanding the operative mode, derision and bullying are the norm as they were with Joe McCarthy and Richard Nixon in this era. Employing such … [Read more…]

Qian Xuesen

April 29, 2019 by sergneri Leave a Comment

(From Wikipedia) Qian Xuesen, (11 December 1911 – 31 October 2009), was a prominent Chinese aerodynamicist, cyberneticist and politician who contributed to rocket science and established engineering cybernetics. Recruited from MIT, he joined Theodore von Karman’s group at Caltech.[1] Later, he returned to China and made important contributions to China’s missile and space program. During … [Read more…]