Hiroshima. August 6th 1945. Another human milestone!
Which city will be next? Tehran? Pyongyang? Islamabad?
Which country will do the honours?
Two guesses!
DANGEROUS CREATION — for thinkers.
"Argue not with fools, frauds, fops, and fanatics. Seek instead better companions." —– "Show me a millionaire and I will show you a man who has never thought about the meaning of his life."
Horrible, horrible, horrible! Reality bites! Imagine that the monsters thought Japanese to be not human….is this White Power? Ready for a nightcap as I’m too overwhelmed.
Imagine that blind people might be wiser because they do not see these shameful obscenities. Supposedly blind people are honored as seers in Muslim cultures but I’m not sure. Agree that you can sense sunrise and sunset by the sound of the birds plus most people seem to have an “inner clock” so they know the exact time without the help of a watch. Impressed about the human spirit and strength to compensate for missing senses,limbs, etc. and to keep on laughing in spite of all the cruelties. David, more satire please! These horrible pictures are too depressing. Heavy metal music and operas seem to cheer me up. We NEED artists so that we can survive these cruelties!
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Margit, it is a frightening, horrible photo, one that clearly shows just what humans are capable of.
We need to be reminded of our depravity and immorality now and again in case we become complacent and forget our many sins or those who carried them out.
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Therese Reply:
August 9th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
That is so true, David G. And to think that President Harry Truman claims not to have been disturbed by the consequences of his acts of ravage on the civilians of Japan.
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The view that the inculcation of virtue is the proper end of legislation contrasts markedly with traditional Chinese thinking on the subject, which argues that laws exist because men are lacking in virtue.
Confucianism places very little faith on the ability of law or external pressure to make men moral but rather believes that virtue must come from introspection and education.
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The Chinese are very wise, Dolce. Perhaps that’s why their civilization has lasted for so long. Perhaps too, they see ‘education’ differently to the West.
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Dolce Reply:
August 8th, 2009 at 2:20 am
The West is mostly ruled by laws….[after the Romans learned how easy it was to send a governor to rule a region - far and away, in their large empire - and be certain he would follow their wishes and desires]
But the East… has always being ruled mostly by THOUGHT. Hence… the difference in the depth of thinking.
Not to mention the entanglement of philosophy with religion in the west. Ethics, morality, good, evil, tranquility, and the likes, are treated by their intrinsic values in the orient. While the west, always connect those with the entrance to paradise, and salvation… and the selected few…
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Therese Reply:
August 9th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Very interesting, Dolce. Food for thought — thanks.
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my birthday (tomorrow) is always marred by the thought of the horrendous, unsuspecting devastation on the 6th and the equally horrific atrocity yet to be released on the 9th………..
but i have no doubt that nothing has been learned from these two senseless attacks and that it could happen again……….
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Therese Reply:
August 9th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
I hope you celebrated your birthday, in style, Coco. How good of you to also remember the atomizing of the Japanese that occured on such day, in an earlier year, and salute those victims.
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“Today, self-styled conservatives slander as “anti-American” anyone who is in the least troubled by Truman’s massacre of so many tens of thousands of Japanese innocents from the air. This shows as well as anything the difference between today’s “conservatives” and those who once deserved the name.”
http://original.antiwar.com/ralph-raico/2009/08/05/hiroshima-and-nagasaki/
wish you well… David
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Awareness is always aware. Like ocean waves that never sleep. Humans otoh, occasionally wake up and look around and say, ‘Oh, the present moment was occuring all along, while I was busy doing other things.’ That is how I feel about your blog. You ask awake questions and if we are “awake” enough to know what we do, as opposed to “they know not what they do,’ then we can begin to answer thoughtfully. begin to accurately label the acts that have occurred. I realized this morning the value of this blog. It is an invitation to be present; beyond time zones and country lines to an existential place. Thank you David. Humans are a dangerous creation as the picture above testifies. Yet as the saying goes, ‘no single drop of water feels responsible for the flood.’
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Dolce, that’s why I constantly urge the ending of all institutionalized religions. Religion and thinking are contradictory! Regarding the ‘anti-American’ slur, some people see it as a compliment!
Coco, it’s not a matter of if but when!
Grace, you are well named. I love the saying you presented.
Take care, all.
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Sadly I agree it is only a matter of when and not if.
Maybe I am lacking something, but I cannot understand how someone can just order massive destruction of thousands of innocent human beings like themselves.
How do they ever again sleep without nightmares about the horrors they brought to so many people?
After it happens the US propoganda machine will be in full swing so most people will end up supporting it. Few will stop for even a monent and think: what if that had been my loved ones who had died? How would I feel if this had been done to my country?
An attempt a few years ago here in the US to show the truth about the bombings was cleaned up by conservatives so that it was nothing more than more government propaganda saying that the bombing was necessary to prevent a land invasion of Japan.
Have we lost our ability to have empathy with other people?
I hope you have a long and healthy life David G, the world desperately needs people like you speaking up for what is right and countering so much that is selfish and cruelin our culture.
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David G Reply:
August 9th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Jeannie, most people in the world want peace yet their lives are controlled by a handful of ‘beasts’ who want war both for profit and to build empires. These ‘beasts’ care nothing for the people they kill (which includes their own soldiers), so busy are they with getting rich and seeking power. When the masses realize their power, the beasts will get what they deserve!
Thanks for your good wishes, Jeannie. I realize now how much purpose my blog gives me. That give me strength to battle what is coming!
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Hang in there David. We, (the 5%) need each other.
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coco Reply:
August 9th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
i notice your mention of 5% s’pike. and up until now, i hadn’t really thought about percentages of enlightenment (for want of a better word) i’m curious to know if you have any idea why the rest of the 95% (eliminating the other end of the spectrum of the rich, powerful and politicians – don’t know what percentage they would hold) can’t see what we can see. most of them are educated, have brains, feelings, emotions, function at normal levels. so what is the common demononater that renders the rest of the populace to the stupidity that it manifests?
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David G Reply:
August 9th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Coco, it happens from birth, the indoctrination of the innocent child. Humans in the main want their child to be like other children but much smarter, better looking and more successful. The child from birth gets the message: this is good, that is bad, next to Mum and Dad teachers know everything, it’s great to die for your country, you must believe in God, being rich and powerful is the ideal we should all strive for, your nation is the greatest thing since sliced bread and should rule the world, etc.
The rest, as they say, is history!
I’m hangin’ in there, S’pike. Thanks for your kindness.
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coco Reply:
August 9th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
but i was an innocent child too and my parents taught me right from wrong……………
i believe it has something to do with coca cola and television……………
neither of which i’ve been subjected to……………………
does s’pike have an answer too????
Therese Reply:
August 9th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Are most kids taught that it is great to die for your country, 2)that being rich and powerful is the ideal we should all strive for, and 3)that their nation should rule the world?
USA and Israel are likely to be the countries that do the ‘next’ nuking, and then Russia may nuke them back. That is what I think. Have a great Sunday.
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David G Reply:
August 9th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Therese, you are correct however I don’t think that Russia would nuke anyone. After all, it was Russia which backed off over Cuba thereby demonstrating that it was more mature.
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R.C. Reply:
August 10th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
David -
I think Russia will only respond if they’re left no choice. I’m afraid that NATO’s persistent attempts at encirclement may eventually force their hand. You are correct that Russia backed down in 1962 over Cuba because they knew that they were in America’s backyard and that storing a few nukes in Cuba wasn’t worth a nuclear war. I know that Bertrand Russell always gave more credit to Kruschev than Kennedy for backing down and “allowing the human race to continue”. Will the Americans show the same decency the Russians did in 1962 and back down over the “missile shield” in Eastern Europe?
Sadly, I’m afraid we both know the answer to that……
Putin/Medvedev have both said in the past that a military confrontation with the US/NATO would be considered a fight for Russia’s survival. I believe that Putin alluded to this during last year’s war in Georgia.
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David G Reply:
August 10th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
I agree, R.C. Russia lacks the Wild West philosophy of the Americans and thank heavens for that!