A Happy 2010 to my readers and visitors! I hope all went well for you over the Christmas and New Year's holiday seasons.
It is a bit of a snowy day here in Upstate New York. Outside the library window, it's gray and cold. I drove here in a bit of a snow shower, and the road was a bit slick. But that's winter in Upstate New York, and it'll be going on for at least the next three months. Ah well....
Just now, I was surfing through the BBC News Web site for something to write about, I found this story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wiltshire/8437658.stm
It appears a UK-based Islamic group called Islam 4UK, with ties to extremist organizations, is planning to march through the town of Wootton Bassett, and carry 'symbolic coffins' to represent civilians killed in Afghanistan. This is the very same town that holds a moving repatriation ceremony through the high street, to honor UK service personnel killed in the line of duty. As the article states, the locals, and a Wiltshire MP, do not think it is such a good idea, even though the group's spokesperson claims they will not march during a repatriation ceremony.
Is it just me, or does it seem that this group is trying to seek maximum publicity for its 'cause', by marching through this town? I doubt seriously it cares that much about "Afghan civilian dead', and more about embarrassing the UK. Wootton Bassett has rightfully gained a great reputation for what started out to be an impromptu ceremony. And what if Islam 4UK's proposed march brings trouble in its wake--namely, every Islamic radical who lives in the UK, and wants to spout his hatred for the 'infidel'--namely, everyone who isn't Muslim, or who doesn't subscribe to their lunacy?
If this group wants to demonstrate--then go to Hyde Park Corner in London. Don't do it in Wootton Bassett. I hope the mayor and the local council put their feet down, and not let this group into their town.
On second thought: if the march does take place, I hope the Wootton Bassett citizens literally turn their backs on them in silence, and give them the proverbial cold shoulder. Then, when they've left the High Street, the good citizens come out and give their town a good scrubbing!
One of my good British friends think it's just a 'ploy'. I'd like to believe that. But I'm not sure.
An update on this story: I just read on the BBC Web site today (11 January 2010), that this group has decided not to go ahead with the march through Wootton Bassett. The UK Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, has decided to outlaw Islam 4UK, in accordance with the UK 2000 Terrorism Act. This is very good news indeed.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Reflections on The Year 2009
I do apologize for the lack of posts since before Christmas. Without my own home computer, finding time to write has been a bit of a challenge!
When I look back on this year 2009, it had a lot of challenges for me personally. It's been a rather challenging last two years, come to think of it. Due to depression and extreme anxiety, I tried to do away with myself in late 2007. As you can see, it didn't work; I am still in 'the land of the living', thanks to family and very good friends (and you know who you are). At the same time, however, when one deals with the local Social Service agencies--when one hasn't had to deal with them before--it was a confusing and sometimes hazardous trip! I was working with a whole bunch of different agencies, and going from pillar-to-post. But now, I have everything I need with one non-profit agency, and they've been a huge help in so many ways!
One of the good things that took place this year was having my own apartment again. Due to the above-mentioned depression, I lost the apartment I'd been living in for nearly 15 years in 2008. I was living with family until spring of this year, when I had to leave, but had nowhere to go, and I ended up spending a couple of months in a women's shelter. THAT was an eye-opening experience (which I may share a little in another blog post): but one which I needed to go through. Eventually, thanks to the above-mentioned non-profit agency, I now live at an apartment complex in the outer suburbs, among some very interesting fellow residents! It feels great to have my own space once more.
The world around me hasn't changed terribly much in 2009; there is still a lot of conflict and such. Just today, I learned that four Canadian soldiers and a civilian journalist were killed in Afghanistan by one of those wretched 'improvised explosive devices' (what a way to describe a weapon of murder!). This means four more brave CDF members will be coming home via the Highway of Heroes in Ontario. I wish I could be there myself, to pay tribute!
Of course, we will be inundated by all the news shows and their retrospectives about 2009. And a lot of it will be about 'celebrities' and well-known people who have passed on, or have gotten mired in scandal of one sort or another. I hope that there won't be hours-long 'tributes' to Michael Jackson: it seemed that everywhere one looked, there were constant news stories about the guy. I thought that, if I saw one more, I would scream!! One would have thought that was the ONLY story worth reporting on! Yes, he was a very gifted musical artist. But he was also a wacko, or had turned into a wacko, and became a very sad man. And as for scandal: can someone say "Tiger Woods"? I do my best not to look at those idiotic supermarket tabloids, supposedly detailing some new wrinkle in the mess. Can we just let Tiger and his wife work out their issues in private? Or is that too much to ask?
OK--I promised this year-end entry won't be a screed. But I do hope that, in 2010, I will be able to refine my blog, and make it a place where visitors can read about historical subjects, and how they might impact the world around them. So let me wish all my readers and visitors a VERY HAPPY 2010. May you and yours be safe if you're going out to celebrate this evening, and may all your fondest wishes and dreams come true.
When I look back on this year 2009, it had a lot of challenges for me personally. It's been a rather challenging last two years, come to think of it. Due to depression and extreme anxiety, I tried to do away with myself in late 2007. As you can see, it didn't work; I am still in 'the land of the living', thanks to family and very good friends (and you know who you are). At the same time, however, when one deals with the local Social Service agencies--when one hasn't had to deal with them before--it was a confusing and sometimes hazardous trip! I was working with a whole bunch of different agencies, and going from pillar-to-post. But now, I have everything I need with one non-profit agency, and they've been a huge help in so many ways!
One of the good things that took place this year was having my own apartment again. Due to the above-mentioned depression, I lost the apartment I'd been living in for nearly 15 years in 2008. I was living with family until spring of this year, when I had to leave, but had nowhere to go, and I ended up spending a couple of months in a women's shelter. THAT was an eye-opening experience (which I may share a little in another blog post): but one which I needed to go through. Eventually, thanks to the above-mentioned non-profit agency, I now live at an apartment complex in the outer suburbs, among some very interesting fellow residents! It feels great to have my own space once more.
The world around me hasn't changed terribly much in 2009; there is still a lot of conflict and such. Just today, I learned that four Canadian soldiers and a civilian journalist were killed in Afghanistan by one of those wretched 'improvised explosive devices' (what a way to describe a weapon of murder!). This means four more brave CDF members will be coming home via the Highway of Heroes in Ontario. I wish I could be there myself, to pay tribute!
Of course, we will be inundated by all the news shows and their retrospectives about 2009. And a lot of it will be about 'celebrities' and well-known people who have passed on, or have gotten mired in scandal of one sort or another. I hope that there won't be hours-long 'tributes' to Michael Jackson: it seemed that everywhere one looked, there were constant news stories about the guy. I thought that, if I saw one more, I would scream!! One would have thought that was the ONLY story worth reporting on! Yes, he was a very gifted musical artist. But he was also a wacko, or had turned into a wacko, and became a very sad man. And as for scandal: can someone say "Tiger Woods"? I do my best not to look at those idiotic supermarket tabloids, supposedly detailing some new wrinkle in the mess. Can we just let Tiger and his wife work out their issues in private? Or is that too much to ask?
OK--I promised this year-end entry won't be a screed. But I do hope that, in 2010, I will be able to refine my blog, and make it a place where visitors can read about historical subjects, and how they might impact the world around them. So let me wish all my readers and visitors a VERY HAPPY 2010. May you and yours be safe if you're going out to celebrate this evening, and may all your fondest wishes and dreams come true.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
A Moving Tribute Ceremony in the UK and in Canada
For nearly three years, British military dead from Afghanistan have been brought back to the RAF base at nearby Lyneham, and then the cortege slowly makes its way through the Wiltshire market town of Wootton Bassett. The whole town turns out to pay silent tribute to the fallen, and to allow the grieving family members to place flowers atop the hearses. Local veterans and current service personnel attend, and dip their regimental colors in a respectful and moving way.
When I first saw these repatriations, as they were shown on the BBC (this particular video was taken by someone attending the ceremony), I was absolutely moved to tears. As the church bell tolls in the Two-Minute Silence, and the crowds fill the sidewalks of Wootton Bassett, it is such a British way to pay tribute. And in the subsequent months, Wootton Bassett has come to represent the entire UK, in mourning these grievous losses.
Whatever one's feelings and opinions on whether US or UK troops should even be in Afghanistan in the first place, one cannot help but be moved by the sight of ordinary British citizens turning out in their thousands, when one of these repatriations takes place. the citizens of Wootton Bassett, and the leaders of the town, are to be commended for their marvelous and understated way of saying goodbye to these brave soldiers.
And when I watch this, I wonder: why can't WE here in the US do something like this? In the not-too-recent past, it's been the custom to bring the remains of US troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan home to Dover AFB in Delaware, but without any 'real' ceremony by ordinary Americans.
Our Canadian neighbors do something similar, with their "Highway of Heroes", on Highway 401 in Ontario, outside of Toronto. These service personnel first come into CFB Trenton, before making their journey:
Lee Greenwood's "God Bless You Canada" is pretty cool, too.
My point is this: why should we here in the US 'hide' our casualties when they return home? Surely someone in a town close to Dover AFB can arrange to put some kind of similar ceremony together? In my opinion, our British and Canadian friends know how to properly honor those who serve, and give the 'last full measure of devotion'. It's time for us Americans to do the same.
Auschwitz Death Camp Sign Stolen, Then Recovered
When I first learned of this story, I was absolutely stunned.
My first thought -- after the shock wore off, and the fury set in -- was WHO in the world would do such a ghastly thing? The Polish authorities initially feared that someone with neo-Nazi links were going to use the sign for their own nefarious reasons. The theft was condemned by many governments, and by survivors of The Shoah themselves. The Auschwitz site is now a museum, visited by over a million people every year, and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
"Work Brings Freedom": the Nazis' cynical slogan, used to deceive the millions of doomed souls who had the misfortune to pass through its gates. First established in 1940 as a labor camp for Polish prisoners, it became the site of over a million Jewish murders from 1942 until January 1945, when it was liberated by the Red Army. Auschwitz (its formal name is Auschwitz-Birkenau) not only contained the gas chambers and crematoria, but it was part of an extensive complex of German companies using slave labor -- both Jewish and non-Jewish, including British prisoners-of-war.
Thanks to the diligent work of the Polish police, and over 100 tips called in, five suspects were apprehended a few days later, along with the sign itself -- which was cut into three pieces for easier transport. The suspects even did a re-enactment of the crime for the Polish police, showing them how they cut a hole in the barbed wire fencing surrounding the camp, and dragged it through the snow. Little damage was done, except for the missing "i" in "Frei". Museum staff, on discovering the theft, quickly put a replica of the sign in its place. The damaged sign is now part of a criminal investigation, but it is hoped it will be repaired and put back in place in time for the 65th anniversary of the camp's liberation, to be held in January 2010.
My question is: WHY was this sign stolen in the first place? Was it so that some sick collector of this sort of 'memorabilia' could get a thrill? Was it going to be used eventually by neo-Nazis somewhere in Europe, for their own nefarious purposes? Or was it to be sold simply for scrap metal? I do hope the Polish police and legal system will be able to find this out.
And the larger question remains: as the survivors slowly die, who will be here to tell their story? Today, over sixty years after Auschwitz, and the other Nazi death camps, were thrown open to the horrified eyes of civilized people everywhere, there are those in Europe and elsewhere who deny that this crime ever took place. Even with all the written, oral and photographic evidence (much of it given by the Nazi war criminals themselves) that is available, only the very blind and deaf can say it 'never happened'.
Why did it happen? I would never presume to have 'easy answers' to that. For one thing, it would be an insult to those who perished at Auschwitz, and the few who survived. But what I can say is that, from my own study and personal visit to Dachau in May 1990, is that there are probably a few reasons. For one, the centuries-long persecution of the Jewish people by the organized church, and by those who presume to call themselves 'christians'. And I purposely use the small 'c', to differentiate from Christians with a capital 'C', who do NOT hate the Jewish people. There is also the infamous 'blood libel', which describes the alleged use of a 'christian' child's blood by the Jews to make their Pesach matzoh. This lie was used especially during the Pesach-Easter season in Europe, and it was the cause of millions of Jewish deaths.
In the end, I think the overall reason is this: the unregenerate human heart, sadly, is capable of great evil. And the evil is compounded, when the same lies are told over and over and over again, to those who are willingly ignorant. And this Nazi ideology is the 'fruit of the poisonous tree'.
When the Allied armies came upon the various death camps, they could not believe their eyes. It is said that battle-hardened men, who had seen their friends and comrades die before them in battle for years, wept and were sickened by the sights of people who were little more than walking emaciated skeletons. Some, I've heard, would never speak to their families about what they saw. When General Dwight D. Eisenhower visited one of these camps in Germany, he ordered that the press see this, and film it; he knew, somehow, that there would come a day when there would be those who would deny these atrocities never took place. I would almost venture to say he was prophetic.
My first thought -- after the shock wore off, and the fury set in -- was WHO in the world would do such a ghastly thing? The Polish authorities initially feared that someone with neo-Nazi links were going to use the sign for their own nefarious reasons. The theft was condemned by many governments, and by survivors of The Shoah themselves. The Auschwitz site is now a museum, visited by over a million people every year, and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
"Work Brings Freedom": the Nazis' cynical slogan, used to deceive the millions of doomed souls who had the misfortune to pass through its gates. First established in 1940 as a labor camp for Polish prisoners, it became the site of over a million Jewish murders from 1942 until January 1945, when it was liberated by the Red Army. Auschwitz (its formal name is Auschwitz-Birkenau) not only contained the gas chambers and crematoria, but it was part of an extensive complex of German companies using slave labor -- both Jewish and non-Jewish, including British prisoners-of-war.
Thanks to the diligent work of the Polish police, and over 100 tips called in, five suspects were apprehended a few days later, along with the sign itself -- which was cut into three pieces for easier transport. The suspects even did a re-enactment of the crime for the Polish police, showing them how they cut a hole in the barbed wire fencing surrounding the camp, and dragged it through the snow. Little damage was done, except for the missing "i" in "Frei". Museum staff, on discovering the theft, quickly put a replica of the sign in its place. The damaged sign is now part of a criminal investigation, but it is hoped it will be repaired and put back in place in time for the 65th anniversary of the camp's liberation, to be held in January 2010.
My question is: WHY was this sign stolen in the first place? Was it so that some sick collector of this sort of 'memorabilia' could get a thrill? Was it going to be used eventually by neo-Nazis somewhere in Europe, for their own nefarious purposes? Or was it to be sold simply for scrap metal? I do hope the Polish police and legal system will be able to find this out.
And the larger question remains: as the survivors slowly die, who will be here to tell their story? Today, over sixty years after Auschwitz, and the other Nazi death camps, were thrown open to the horrified eyes of civilized people everywhere, there are those in Europe and elsewhere who deny that this crime ever took place. Even with all the written, oral and photographic evidence (much of it given by the Nazi war criminals themselves) that is available, only the very blind and deaf can say it 'never happened'.
Why did it happen? I would never presume to have 'easy answers' to that. For one thing, it would be an insult to those who perished at Auschwitz, and the few who survived. But what I can say is that, from my own study and personal visit to Dachau in May 1990, is that there are probably a few reasons. For one, the centuries-long persecution of the Jewish people by the organized church, and by those who presume to call themselves 'christians'. And I purposely use the small 'c', to differentiate from Christians with a capital 'C', who do NOT hate the Jewish people. There is also the infamous 'blood libel', which describes the alleged use of a 'christian' child's blood by the Jews to make their Pesach matzoh. This lie was used especially during the Pesach-Easter season in Europe, and it was the cause of millions of Jewish deaths.
In the end, I think the overall reason is this: the unregenerate human heart, sadly, is capable of great evil. And the evil is compounded, when the same lies are told over and over and over again, to those who are willingly ignorant. And this Nazi ideology is the 'fruit of the poisonous tree'.
When the Allied armies came upon the various death camps, they could not believe their eyes. It is said that battle-hardened men, who had seen their friends and comrades die before them in battle for years, wept and were sickened by the sights of people who were little more than walking emaciated skeletons. Some, I've heard, would never speak to their families about what they saw. When General Dwight D. Eisenhower visited one of these camps in Germany, he ordered that the press see this, and film it; he knew, somehow, that there would come a day when there would be those who would deny these atrocities never took place. I would almost venture to say he was prophetic.
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