April 13, 2017

Children’s book tells kids how great Mao was

Filed under: History by Orangemaster @ 5:37 pm

mein-kampf-adam-jones

Not long after a Dutch drugstore peddled a colouring book with Hitler and has it pulled in record time, a children’s book about Chinese dictator leader Mao Zedong has been published, aimed at children and that’s just fine, apparently.

As of this week, Dutch kids will have the opportunity to read about how much of a ‘great man’ Mao Zedong was, as ‘Let’s Read About Mao Zedong’ has been translated into Dutch as ‘Laten Wij Over Mao Zedong Lezen’. “Without understanding Mao Zedong, it will be very hard to truly understand the present China,” explained Lenard Wolters, founder and CEO of Dutch publisher Leonon Media.

The question is, are they going to tell Dutch children that Mao killed the equivalent of about three times the entire current population of the Netherlands? I’d bet if they did, kids will have nightmares for a long time. And if they ignore the atrocities he’s committed as the bloodiest dictator of all times, then they are lying to children and it’s propaganda.

Then a book about the good things Stalin did has to be next, right? I mean if Hitler and Mao have a book… Pol Pot? Mussolini? Franco? Mao Zedong is responsible for killing about 40-45 million people and possibly more depending on your source, by starvation, prison labour and executions.

I hope children learn the truth at some point.

(Link: globaltimes.cn, Photo by Adam Jones, some rights reserved)

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January 16, 2015

‘Jesus and Hitler may offend, but Stalin is fine’

Filed under: Photography by Orangemaster @ 3:57 pm

Art student Dirk Hardy of Rotterdam’s Willem de Kooning academy has had two of his photographs censored from an exhibition at the town hall of Binnenmaas, South Holland. The mayor ‘vetoed’ a photograph of Jesus and one of Hitler, saying it could be offensive to some. However, a photograph of Stalin was no problem.

The exhibition entitled ‘Clay’ was a series of six images: Jesus, Hitler, Stalin, Napoleon, Tom Cruise and himself. The town suggested Hardy come with two other photographs to ‘fill in the gaps’.

Someone who thinks Hitler is offensive, but has no issues with Stalin doesn’t know their history at all. Although very different, Stalin is responsible for killing some 30 million people (yup, Jews, too) and Mao probably killed the most ever at around 78 million. Hitler comes in third with 17 million people killed. If you’re going to be a moron and censor Hitler, you also need to remove Stalin or else you’re an inconsistent, ignorant moron. And censoring Jesus is, as some Dutch friends would say, ‘a bit boring’.

(Links: imgur.com, Photo of Lenin in Ukraine by covilha, some rights reserved)

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March 19, 2013

Lenin’s statue overshadows royal visit in Assen

Filed under: History by Orangemaster @ 12:45 pm

A 10-metre-high statue of ‘our friend’ Lenin has been adorning downtown Assen since last November, as promotion for the exhibition The Soviet Myth currently featured at the Drents Museum.

Now that the future king Willem-Alexander will be visiting Assen in late May, the statue is in the way, as it blocks a big part of downtown used for big events like the famous TT motor race. And let’s face it, Lenin has surely killed the buzz of many a party in the past so he can surely make himself scarce again for some royals. (Someone please notice all the historical references crammed into that one sentence).

A huge statue that apparently weighs 17,000 kilos has not only become a royal eyesore, but its placement has been controversial from day one. Responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of people if not more, a ‘Stalin light’ if you will, having a statue of Lenin around is seen by many as just plain gross, although I do get the fascination factor. I wonder if any Dutch museum would do the same if Stalin or even Hitler were featured.

(Link: www.parool.nl, Photo of Lenin in Ukraine by covilha, some rights reserved)

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