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World War II 
Sat Oct 17, 2009 at 23:38:33 PDT
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(9 am. - promoted by ek hornbeck)
Learning only a few hours ago that the great Frederick Chopin passed away exactly 160 years ago today, the compulsion to create a memoriam in his honor was indeed compelling. Similar to the fate of far too many of our greatest musicians, his life ended early at thirty-nine years of age. Some of you may be very familiar with his work, and for some, perhaps you've never heard of him. That said, there are few who haven't heard his work at one time or another. In the event that you might want to learn more about his life and his legacy, you can go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F...
As a child learning to play the piano, Frederick Chopin became my idol, and by junior high school, I was able to play some of his work, however, nothing more challenging than two polonaises (Military Polonaise in A Major, Opus 40 and the more difficult Heroic Polonaise in A Flat Major, Opus 53), and Fantasie Impromptu, Opus 66. My piano teacher left town after ninth grade, so further formal training ended at that time.
Chopin's music, perhaps more than any other composer (at least in my own estimation), conveys the entire range of human emotion and would likely touch the hearts of many who otherwise do not care for classical music. Even now, his music, well over a century and a half later, conveys a freshness that suggests something much more contemporary.
Perhaps Artur Rubenstein conveyed it best when he said about Chopin:
Chopin was a genius of universal appeal. His music conquers the most diverse audiences. When the first notes of Chopin sound through the concert hall there is a happy sigh of recognition. All over the world men and women know his music. They love it. They are moved by it. Yet it is not "Romantic music" in the Byronic sense. It does not tell stories or paint pictures. It is expressive and personal, but still a pure art. Even in this abstract atomic age, where emotion is not fashionable, Chopin endures. His music is the universal language of human communication. When I play Chopin I know I speak directly to the hearts of people!
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Sat Jun 06, 2009 at 05:10:11 PDT
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(11 am. - promoted by ek hornbeck)
Back on the 25th, of last month, for Memorial Day I put up a post to cover an interview about a new book release I caught on NPR's WBUR Here and Now, out of Boston.
While waiting for them to put up the stream link after the show I did some searching, for information on the book as well as some back information on what's covered in same.
Below you will find that post but UpDated, with a few more links and audio discussion, I've found since the posting.
Today is the Celebration for Europe and the United States of D-Day President will address veterans at American cemetery on Omaha Beach, this is not to celebrate but to Remind, and in many cases Instill in everyones minds, there's other sides, long living results, of All Wars Waged and not only for those who serve in them!
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Mon May 25, 2009 at 13:45:49 PDT
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(9 am. - promoted by ek hornbeck)
I had a first hand view, though very young than, and like the rest of the extended family didn't realize it, of what War does to those that serve in them, and you then have to extend that to those that live in where they occur.
I won't go into the details but to say it was an Uncle who was one of my favorites, he was a gifted craftsman but a troubled soul. He was full of life trying to live it that way, than he suddenly snapped! He died alone in the little home he built, more the size of a shed it was supposedly to become, by the lake, shortly before I left Panama and went to 'Nam. There were a couple of other uncles who showed the results of serving in WWII in other ways as well, and like the book and articles, it was just said "They cam back different then how they left.". While in 'Nam I started to understand what he might possibly had been going through, understanding what the rest of the extended family, and his friends, didn't. And probably still do, as I'm the only one of the recent branch of the family, especially my large immediate family, till a couple of younger distant cousins kids served in Gulf War I, that has served in a combat/occupation theater.
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Sun Apr 26, 2009 at 11:16:51 PDT
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(10 am. - promoted by ek hornbeck)
copyright © 2009 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
Never for a moment in my life have I been "in love." I do not believe in the notion. Fireworks have not filled my heart. Flames of a fiery passion do not burn within me. Indeed, my soul has not been ablaze. Thoughts of a hot-blooded devotion seem illogical to me. Such sentiments always have. Fondness too fertile is but torture for me. I admire many, and adore none. For me, the affection I feel for another is born out of sincere and profound appreciation. To like another means more to me than to love or be loved. Excitement, an emotional reaction to another, rises up within me when I experience an empathetic exchange with someone who has glorious gray matter.
Today, it happened. I felt an a twinge that startled me. I stood still as he entered the room. I expected nothing out of the ordinary, or at least nothing other than what has become his recently adopted, more avoidant, routine. Although long ago, I had become accustomed to his face, his voice, and his demeanor, for I have known the man for more than a few years. In the last few weeks, while essentially he is who he always was, some of his stances have changed. Possibly, Barry has felt a need to compromise his positions, but I wonder; what of his principles.
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Sun Apr 19, 2009 at 23:06:40 PDT
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(noon. - promoted by ek hornbeck)
 The Nuremberg Retributions were one of the lowest points in 20th century history. The aftermath of the Second World War should have been a time for looking ahead, not for laying blame for the past. Unfortunately, too many people failed to understand that well-intentioned Germans accused of war crimes were just following orders and acting in good faith. Those dedicated patriots in the Whermacht and hard working public servants in the SS were men of integrity, they didn't shirk their responsibility to keep the German homeland safe from Jewish, Polish, Russian, Rumanian, Yugoslavian, French, British, Danish, Bulgarian, Hungarian, American, Greek, Dutch, Norwegian, Canadian and Belgian fanatics, extremists, and non-combatants.
Unlike 50 million human beings, this Dedicated Defender of the Homeland Paradigm survived the Second World War. With a vengeance. It was alive and well in Bush and Cheney's White House, and it's alive and well in Obama's White House. Take notes everyone, that patriotic act in the photo wasn't a war crime, it was just defending the homeland . . .
I've learned recently that the aftermath of the Second World War should have been a time for reflection, not retribution. Everyone should have respected the strong views and emotions of Germans who defended their country through a war crime or two, just as much as they respected the strong views and emotions of the people whose loved ones were executed and dumped in a ditch, bombed, tortured, gassed, burned in ovens, and condemned as subhuman parasites unfit to exist.
But vengeance prevailed over common sense. Retribution was insisted upon by persecutors waving the "rule of law" in everyone's face, they rambled on and on and on about "justice" but all they were really after was payback and revenge. So many German children who loved their dedicated fathers had to watch with tears in their eyes while their fathers were slandered in the newspapers and demonized by finger pointing trial lawyers parading around for the newsreel cameras.
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Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 11:30:50 PDT
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( - promoted by buhdydharma )
While the example of the Nuremberg Trials is used often these days to describe what prosecutions might look like, few seem to remember that the prosecution of war criminals after World War II was much larger and took place over a longer period of time than most people realize. This is important when one considers the context of President Obama's granting of immunity to lower-level CIA interrogators (if they acted in "good faith" upon "authoritative" legal advice).
What even a cursory examination of historical precedent demonstrates is that after World War II prosecution of war criminals and accessories to war crimes were not limited to the famous Nuremberg 22 high-level Nazis, nor the few hundred or so prosecuted through the Nuremberg tribunals, but thousands of accused throughout Europe.
What follows is a brief lesson in how these prosecutions occurred, who was involved, and where and when they took place. It may surprise you that the United States, for instance, has an Office of Special Investigations (OSI) at the US Department of Justice. Its mission was to hunt down war criminals and bring them to justice. Established only in 1979, the OSI has a sterling record:
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Fri Jan 30, 2009 at 14:28:41 PST
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(10 am. - promoted by ek hornbeck)
Casey Research, of Vermont, has analyzed the costs of the government bailouts of the housing crisis, the credit crisis and others and has concluded that the total is $8.5 trillion, which is more than the cost of all US wars, the Louisiana Purchase, the New Deal, the Marshall Plan and the NASA Space Program combined. According to CRS, the Congressional Research Service, all major US wars (including such events as the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, the invasion of Panama, the Kosovo War and numerous other small conflicts), cost a total of $7.5 trillion in inflation-adjusted 2008 dollars.
http://www.rockcreekfreepress....
hat tip to Ilargi.
http://theautomaticearth.blogs...
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Discuss
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Sun Oct 26, 2008 at 18:14:26 PDT
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( - promoted by buhdydharma )
The story of United States research into and use of biological weapons remains a huge blank spot in the known history of this country. There have been attempts to document this history, but much remains classified or has been destroyed. The use of biological weapons dovetails with U.S. research into drugs and mind control against prisoners, as the revelations about MKULTRA or the Edgewood Arsenal experiments make clear (see this fascinating story by Michael Ignatieff in the New York Times Magazine, April 2001).
This posting is the first in a series I hope to publish over time looking at the controversial question of U.S. use of biological weapons, and its links to MKULTRA and other covert CIA or military programs. It examines the origins of the U.S. program in biological weapons research, as it grew out of the ashes of the horrific program in the same, started by the Japanese Imperial government in the 1930s. It is best known by its bureaucratic moniker: Unit 731.
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Fri Oct 03, 2008 at 22:35:04 PDT
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(noon. - promoted by ek hornbeck)
Democratic Spine ©2008 Emily Duffy Photo by Sibila Savage
Dimensions: 14" x 14" x 9"
Description: A mini coffin with a truncated human spine lays in a bed of velvet. The coffin is covered with quotes by Progressive, Democrats both recent and from history.
Materials: Wood, parchment reproductions of the Bill of Rights, burgundy velvet, metal hardware, paper, amber varnish.
Cross-Posted on my BLOG (where you can see larger images) and at DailyKos.
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Sun May 25, 2008 at 03:12:45 PDT
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(2:15 EST - promoted by Nightprowlkitty)
 Teen PTSD researcher Ilana Rice
Why do I get the feeling you two are destined to meet? And by all means don't change your first names!
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March on Washington
Saturday, March 20
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