Word: forbidden
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Thus "war crimes" are violations of specific?and fragile?taboos. Though a soldier may kill any enemy civilian who seeks to attack him, for example, he may not deliberately harm those who do not. The rules protect defeated enemy troops, the wounded, parachuting airmen and other helpless people. Forbidden weapons include dumdum bullets and poison. Forbidden targets include hospitals, churches, museums and coastal fishing boats unless used for military purposes. Torture, looting and political assassinations are banned. Reprisals are permitted against illegal enemy acts, but only on orders from top commanders and never against civilians, who may not be punished...
Still, the colonel concedes that "perhaps the policy wasn't strong enough." Therein lies the problem: in Viet Nam, a man of "ordinary sense" may often be unclear whether his orders are legal or illegal. To be sure, every G.I. arriving in the country receives a wallet card listing forbidden war crimes and related acts, including torture, looting and mutilation. At the time of My Lai, those orders insisted: "All persons in your hands, whether suspects, civilians or combat captives, must be protected against violence, insults, curiosity and reprisals of any kind...
...from the 1939 serial Buck Rogers, showing Buster Crabbe happily engaged in space exploration in the 25th century. But the real 25th century, says THX 1138 director George Lucas, is a denatured anthill where populations lead lives of quiet respiration. Every bodily function is mechanically analyzed; sexual relations are forbidden; food consists of ampuls and dehydrated protein bars...
...world of progressive monotony, Lucas flashes some bright signs of humor: when THX (Robert Duvall) watches television, he turns to a channel where a beating proceeds incessantly-the violence and sadism of today's viewing, minus the annoyances of plot. When THX is tried for the forbidden act of lovemaking, his judge is a computer. The police of the 25th century are chrome-plated automatons, one of whom is played by Johnny Weissmuller Jr. If Lucas creates an eerie universe, he also implies a rather damning thought; Haven't we been here before? Indeed we have...
...quite. Grey was driven terrifyingly close to breakdown on occasions, as this moving account indicates. But he did contrive to keep a secret journal (on which the book is based), and he evolved other ways of keeping mind and body together. Locked up in his own home, forbidden by his guards to have anything but a change of clothing and a few books, he devised his own crossword puzzles, invented games and immersed himself in self-taught yoga. By the end of his 806-day confinement, Grey had also managed to teach himself enough Chinese to read the slogans smeared...