A moment of outrage
60 years ago today--for you youngsters out there--though Eisenhower, McArthur, and every other senior military commander said there was no military justification for it, we dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later, another on Nagasaki. 120,000 civilians were killed immediately, and another 120,000 from the aftereffects.
From White Flash/Black Rain: Women of Japan Relive the Bomb:
Reality
is this and only this
—the one bone
I place in the bent and burned
small school lunch tin.
— Shoda Shinoe
grabbing sand
beneath the flaming sky
is to be alive
— Kingyo Humiko
looking for her mother
the girl still has strength
to turn over corpses
— Shibata Moriyo
From Leaves from an Autumn of Emergencies:
Selections from the Wartime Diaries of Ordinary Japanese
On seeing American B-29s:
"I was entranced by their glitter. The white beautiful bodies. All we could do was look at the advancing American planes which seemed to be pulling the moving patterns of flying clouds."
"The same sort of strange bomb that was dropped in Hiroshima three days ago was dropped on Nagasaki today. This bomb possesses extraordinary power. Up til now we've been ordered not to wear white garments because they were easy for enemy planes to see. Now we are warned not to wear black garments because they burn easily. So what in the world are we to wear? We have no choice but to die, or go crazy. I can't help but hate those responsible for placing human beings in this situation and continuing the war."
I'm so sorry.
posted by I n g e r @ Saturday, August 06, 2005
6 Comments:
Is there ever reason enough to take the lives of innocents? one life.. thousands.. who among those who died might have been the one to change our world? So sad
:,-(
What would our world be like, if peace began at 9 pm eastern tonight?
What if it began 60 years ago?
I wish we could know..
and... no worries my friend.. messages to friends or just mind flotsam.. I will post what I post ( as in Arthur and the fish )
I love coming online and finding messages from people that I have come to care about and root for and wonder about..
I am richer for it..
and calmer for a place to ramble and rumble..
take care!
What a truly sad day in the History of the World.
Interesting who had the WMD isn't it....
Guilt is a powerful thing....
and perhaps leads us into trying to remake the world into an image that is not possible.
I hate war.
STB
Friend is a big word.. and an important one..
I hope we are friends for a long long time..
I too am an animal advocate, but not nearly a warrior. I admire Karen! I had six cats and a dog at one point. When I worked at the clinic.. it just happened, sort of..
Now I am down to three cats and Bitsy..and I almost always give them ( and Dunkers ) tap water... hehe
My cats are indoor kitties only.. and they don't seem to mind...
Feel no guilt! You need to do what you feel.. I did not mean to rail against all pet owners who have outdoor cats.. just the mike family.. they don't love Bitsy.. or the boys :( (at least, I don't think they do )
It is not the outdoor kitty part that bothers me as much as the seeming uncaring attitude of those people..
tossing away pets .. and moving on to the tossing away of children..
Your kitty has a good home, so much better than with the crazy cat lady ( that I sometimes fear I might become in my dotage.. :P I think my kids fear it too!)
As for adopting as a word for animals.. I never looked at it from your viewpoint. Its good to be able to learn from people who have a much different perspective. I can't promise to stop using the term.. it is rather ingrained and on short notice, I can't think of anything other word that would quite do.. but I will be more mindful.. and give the new word some thought..
I did not know about adopted children being more prone to abuse than birth children.. something else that I never gave thought to. That makes me sad. It is bad that any child has to walk this earth unloved, not cherished, but for a child whose spirit already feels different... words fail me.
I have a lot of respect for somone who adopts a child. I am always telling people what a responsibility they take on when they bring a pet into their lives. I know what that is and I can discuss it, and measure it. But to bring a child in is so huge! There is no measure for the responsibility and love demonstrated by such an individual.
...at least, the ones like you.. and not so much by those that abuse and neglect. How can they, I wonder? How does one not give a child all that they need? How do you shut down the part of you that says it is wrong to not do what your bringing of that child into your life imples on a practical, spiritual and emotional level?
I cannot grasp the enormity of it.
Friends do not have to think the same about everything, or do all things the same way.. that is part of the beauty of friendship. I hope we can still be friends? :)
Thanks for thinking my blog and my issues are important enough to respond to. There seems to be so many hindsights, things I would have and should have done different.
I'm angry at the world right now and it all seems to have my husbands face attached to it.
Having a kid changes everything, I can no longer just think about me. And therefore, I can't make a decision that I would if I was single.
I feel trapped.
I know you can read between the lines.
Hugs.
Horrific history. As the anniversary of these events occur, my ever curious 6 watches and questions "How? - Why? - Will there be a world war III?"
How to answer these questions...
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