tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post5745089611617777348..comments2024-03-28T12:29:39.157-07:00Comments on Graphic Firing Table: The guns belowFDChiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-77673442882945555532009-11-12T17:40:44.825-07:002009-11-12T17:40:44.825-07:00FDC,
Barbara Ehrenreich's "Bright-sided&...FDC,<br /><br />Barbara Ehrenreich's "Bright-sided" discusses this optimistic imperative. It seems to sell big in the U.S., this Norman Vincent Peale Power of Positive Thinking. And there is nothing wrong with hoping and working for the best, but without a realistic assessment of what can be and what has been, the constant "happy warrior" ethos is thin gruel.<br /><br />Happy Veterans Day is such an odd wish.Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08839236994990699117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-8249585643720461142009-11-12T10:39:03.037-07:002009-11-12T10:39:03.037-07:00I think that late Fall is a better time of the yea...I think that late Fall is a better time of the year for Remembrance Day.<br /><br />Standing motionless in freezing weather while frail old men and women lay wreaths at the memorial gives one a hint of sacrifice.<br /><br />It is even better to be a gun number and have to stand still beside 2 and a half tons of bitterly cold steel as it sucks even the memory of warmth from you.<br /><br />And then, after the ceremony, hot rum toddies at the Legion (veterans club) and listening to the veterans tell their stories.<br /><br />No, it would not be the same at all to do it in the Spring, with bright sunshine, birds and flowers.Aelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10788190394672505925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-8297337472245182782009-11-12T10:17:16.958-07:002009-11-12T10:17:16.958-07:00Lisa: I think one of the big differences between w...Lisa: I think one of the big differences between western Europeans and Americans is that we are fundamentally optimistic - we believe that if we just do good and believe that we'll get the Happy Ending. They've done good and believed and gotten the horror, instead.<br /><br />Our optimism is part of what makes us so strong as a people and a nation, but it also stops us from seeing the dark and frightening parts of life, too. So we often don't learn the lessons we should from the horrors.FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-70123581149990786572009-11-11T13:23:37.514-07:002009-11-11T13:23:37.514-07:00BD: I think we expend all our patriotic and vetera...BD: I think we expend all our patriotic and veteran-loving rounds on Memorial Day, hence the short-shrift that 11/11 gets.FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-33409907930149900062009-11-11T11:40:16.320-07:002009-11-11T11:40:16.320-07:00Based on Illiad's annual piece http://www.user...Based on Illiad's annual piece http://www.userfriendly.org/static/ (or find the Nov 11 cartoons) the Canadians take it pretty seriously as well. Of course, they were heavily involved in the Great War, as Vimy Ridge and the Newfoundland Cemetery can attest. <br />It also goes some way to explaining Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery designs and why after almost a hundred years the commonwealth nations still take this very seriously while we seem to mark the occasion with sales at department stores. Perhaps if it was still called Armistice Day and veterans were honored on another day we might take it more seriously.Big Daddynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-79201664342618162822009-11-11T08:53:39.322-07:002009-11-11T08:53:39.322-07:00Almost every little village in England has a very ...Almost every little village in England has a very visible memorial to those killed in war.<br /><br />When I went over to look for lost relatives, I was frequently greeted by heartfelt comments about small kindnesses "the Yanks" had done for them or their families during The War.<br /><br />When lives are not lived in a flurry of acquisition of meaningless garbage, such impressions retain primacy and remain crystal clear. We live in a society which reveres upgrades and disposability. It is not made for contemplation of deeper meanings.<br /><br />But this is the truth: "That those empty eyes zipped inside a bag or covered by a bloody blanket were the windows to an entire universe, once."Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08839236994990699117noreply@blogger.com