If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?
“The Merchant of Venice” has been the problem child among William Shakespeare’s plays for some time. It’s very hard for modern audiences to reconcile the virulent anti-semitism in the characterization of Shylock and the light-hearted comedy that was the main story of the play.
This modern version takes the importance of the two stories and inverts them. (more…)
Henry, I’ll be honest with you. This mission appeals more to my heart than to my head.
The January 30, 1945, raid by U.S. Army Rangers on the Japanese POW camp outside the city of Cabanatuan was not a decisive battle for World War II in the Pacific. It didn’t capture any vital territory or even hasten the Japanese surrender by one day. However, by bringing home over 500 Americans imprisoned since the Bataan Death March, it served to right what many still felt was a national disgrace, the abandonment of thousands of American and Filipino soldiers to three years of hellish captivity at Japanese hands. This mission, along with the assault on the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc on D-Day, also helped cement the Rangers’ reputation as an elite organization.
