Tokyo Underworld: The Fast Times and Hard Life of an American Gangster in Japan

Steve Koerner

Robert Whiting, New York: Pantheon Books, 1999. ISBN 0-679-41976-4. Sergeant Nick Zappetti first arrived in Japan during the late summer of 1945, one of the tens of thousands of US occupation troops who landed there after V-J Day. Unlike most of the others, Zappetti immediately went into business for himself and set up a ... Read more

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14 Oct

Column extras. A US apologia (sort of) by the Council on Foreign Relations; a self-eulogy by Tony Blair; the Israel lobby again; a raspberry for Rachel Reeves and the Bank of England; more.

Robin Ramsay's "The View from the Bridge" has been updated.

🦞 https://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/article/issue/89/the-view-from-the-bridge-52/

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14 Oct

"TA reservists are officially civilians. Did Thatcher use this loophole as cover against allegations that the army was used against the miners?"

Scott Newton (@1956historian) in "Historical notes on The use of troops during the 1984-85 miners’ strike"

🦞 https://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/article/issue/89/historical-notes-on-the-use-of-troops-during-the-1984-85-miners-strike/

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14 Oct

"Fritz gives a critique of misuse of the US military, done mainly (he says) on Israel's behalf, by the neocons of the early 2000s. The name that recurs most is the relatively obscure Doug Feith."

Robin Ramsay reviews Dennis Fritz's "Deadly Betrayal"

🦞 https://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/article/issue/89/deadly-betrayal-the-truth-about-why-the-united-states-invaded-iraq-by-dennis-fritz/

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14 Oct

"A wonderful German word, Verschlimmbesserung, means to make things worse while trying to improve them. Those in charge of the British state provided a spectacular example of this."

Robin Ramsay reviews "To Catch a Spy" by Tim Tate (@TimTateBooks)

🦞 https://www.lobster-magazine.co.uk/article/issue/89/to-catch-a-spy-how-the-spycatcher-affair-brought-mi5-in-from-the-cold-by-tim-tate/