< return to the brandensite

running commentary

The internet is filled with things. Here are some of them.

#fascism

2026

World Ice Theory 2026 Jun 6    bigthink.com
In 1894, Austrian engineer Hanns Hörbiger was inventing new types of valves and helping construct the Budapest subway and staring at the Moon so long he started to believe that he was floating in space and also space was made of ice. Hörbiger claimed that "ice moons, ice planets and also 'global ether' (made of ice) controlled the development of the universe." The bullshit continues at length, each additional assertion stupider than the last – the solar system was born when the Sun crashed into a bigger star made of ice; the Milky Way is actually just a ring of ice blocks surrounding us; Noah's flood and Atlantis' disappearance both occurred because ice moons fell to Earth – and Hörbiger defended his idiocy by attacking those who criticized him.

Which made it only natural that famous fascist assholes the Nazis loved his ideas. Physics was Jewish, after all. But World Ice Theory? “Our Nordic ancestors grew strong in ice and snow; belief in the Cosmic Ice is consequently the natural heritage of Nordic Man.”

Luckily, this crackpot theory died along with the Nazis.

2024

Is Trump a Fascist? 2024 Oct 25    acoup.blog
Yes.

But Dr. Bret Devereaux (a history professor) over at ACOUP wanted to be a little more academic about the question, so he brought in Merriam-Webster's and Umberto Eco's definitions of fascism and compared them against what Trump has done and said. The Professor's conclusion: Yes, Trump is a fascist.

I love Devereaux's writing in general, and this piece in particular. It's his closing remarks urging people to not vote for Trump (a rare blatant political opinion from a Military History blog) I find the most worth echoing here:
For conservatives, appalled by what your party has become, I understand if you cannot vote for Kamala Harris, with whom you disagree so strongly, though I would note fellow citizens every bit as conservative as you have found it in them to do so simply to take a stand against what Trump has become and while Trump has promised to use the military against his political opponents, Harris has promised to put Republicans in her cabinet. But if you absolutely cannot stand to vote for a Democrat, write in a name, leave the top of the ballot blank. But do not sign your name to this.

Because from this point forward, you may choose to look the other way, but you can never again say that you did not know. And while right now you may have many reasons and many concerns, if you sign your name to this fascist and a fascist government takes power as a result…your many reasons will no longer matter. No one really cares what Franz von Papen or Victor Emmanuel III or NSDAP or Blocco Nazionale voters were concerned about or their pet issues. Once a fascist government took power…they were fascists.