Today, 28 July 2014 is the 100th anniversary of the beginning of WW1. Next month is the 75th anniversary if WW2 and the 200th anniversary of the writing of the “Star Spangle Banner” which was near the end of the War of 1812 (US)/American War of 1812-15 (UK). We are in the mist of the 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s exile at Elba, the 160th anniversary of the Crimean War and 150th anniversary of the siege of Richmond and Petersburg, which virtually ended the US Civil War. The siege had trenches that were repeated in WW1 with disastrous results. There are still wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, among others. Russia is threatening to invade the Ukraine. The only bright spot is that there appears to be a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas as of yesterday. It probably won't hold.
What have we learned in all these years? Bubkis. (Yiddish for “nothing” there is a connotation that it is a zero with a googolplex of zeroes after it, in other words, less than nothing.)
I am just as guilty.
shalimar
Comments
No you are not guilty.
Be a little easier on yourself as well as the rest of us. You, recognise this and if you could you would do something about it. But for us it is as whistling into the wind. It will take more than us to change things.
Sadly, human curiosity and ingenuity ...
... work together with greed and the desire for power to suppress those parts of us who strive for a better tomorrow. Do not despair! Our species grows in wisdom with each passing decade, even if that growth is slower than we'd like. We will conquer the inner demons that pushed us up the evolutionary ladder with aggressiveness and the need to acquire land, things, or power.
Just remember that optimism is a survival trait, and we will all do what we can to make a brighter future happen a little bit sooner for everyone! *smiles*
Randalynn
A quote
I'm fond of goes like this. "I know God loves all of his children, but he must be terribly disappointed with us at times."
Or as fans of Bloom County would say, "It's time for a dandelion break."
Biggest of hugs
Grover
Greed & Power
War is a tool of Greed & Power, so it will always be there.
Hugs, Fran
Shalimar
I read this post, and the comments, several times. It makes me physically ill as well,
to know that even at as late a pass as the twenty-first century, we sill consider dropping
bombs on people the only viable solution to too many problems.
What is even more remarkable, however, is the blind spot that so many people seem to
have about this particular issue. In Asia, we may well see future wars due to imperialism,
expansionism, or economics. It seems quite likely at the moment. However, in all the
conflicts that are openly raging today, from the genocide upon christians throughout most of
the middle and far east, and the wingnut-on-wingnut warfare there... the violent imposition
of theological order om africa, and even places like indonesia... or even on the streets of
Paris - There is a common thread of causation that people won't even mention. Religion.
Islam in particular. That is what dooms us to relive these nightmares over and over again.
Yes. There are many people of all stripes who work tirelessly and ceaselessly, right to
the end of their days, to improve our lives. Not evolution, but a deliberate improvement in
our health and our lives, and in our political systems, and in our empathy and compassion for
each other. Unfortunately, they are just outnumbered, badly, by those who feel they have a
divine mandate to see us into a new dark age. Or perhaps, even by those who only wish to see
us revert to social models of a mere few hundred years ago. Remember, that societies and
laws don't evolve freely, they are built.
I am not sure which of these two failures of our reason, our humanity, and our dignity,
is more sickening,this cleaving to violence and/or religion, but I am quite sure which one
does the most damage.
If you stand and speak for reason, justice, and humanity, Shalamar, then you are not part
of the problem. Your voice usually gets drowned out, of course, but not always. And, that
has never been a hinderance to those brave and few whom always seem to see a little bit more
clearly than the rest of us. I don't even know what to say about the appeal to the supposedly
omniscient and all powerful deity's disappointment (yet another classic case of an impossible
set of concurrent or coherent conditions), other than to commiserate with the the sentiment,
and to appreciate that it is both genuinely held and humane. It just does not help with the
realization that we created this problem, and no one, nor thing, is coming along to fix it
for us.
I spent the last several months reading the works of the founding fathers, and histories of
how and why our government was formed. Then, two nights ago, I happened to meet two assistant
DA's, one from Queens NY, and one from somewhere in northern New Jersey. Needless to say, they
had a pretty dim view of humanity and our hopes. It culminated in the statement that this
country, or more properly a large swath of the people in it, were no longer governable. Imagine
that. The education that these people must have had, and to have missed that very same simple
point even here, that governments don't govern people. People govern themselves in the way
that they have been taught so to do.
This ubiquitous failure to recognize or acknowledge directly our failings gives me a feeling
of hopelessness like nothing else. It just doesn't quite offset the pride that I feel in the
good things that people do... not quite yet.
Sarah Lynn
I find it difficult to argue
I find it difficult to argue with any of the points you made, Sarah Lynn, and I certainly couldn't have expressed them more passionately.
Of course all these conflicts will seem like playground squabbles when global warming kicks in properly. I'm reminded of what the British comedian David Mitchell once said: 'It's a myth that the Eskimos have thirty-seven words for snow. They only have four. And in twenty years time they won't need any of them.'
Where did you get idea of Russia invading anyone?
Where did you got idea of Russia wanting to invade anyone?
Try to find any _proof_. Anyway, the problem for people of Donetsk and Lugansk republics is that Russia does not want to "invade" them. So Ukrainian army is invading them now destroying homes, factories, hospitals, water supplies, killing thouthands of unarmed civilians (including babies) with cluster bombs, Grad's, and phosforous bombs. You don't have to believe my propaganda. Read reports by american Human Rights Watch and European OSCE. Or search youtube, or look at what BBC and CNN are not saying... Now there is information that Ukrainian government is setting up terrible catastrophe and several provocations with people claiming to be "separatists" killing civilians with an aim to blame people of Donetsk and Lugansk for it. Could be happening right now...
Do you know that only lawful president of Ukraine is still Yanukovich? Ukrainian "Rada" was unable to vote for his impeachment. So current Ukrainian government is completely unlawful by any definition. And certainly not democratic in any way.
The only reason for the temporary truce with Hamas is one of the biggest Muslim religious holidays.
And that is very interesting fact that so many major historical events took place in the first days of august.
Re: invasion
I'd add that Ukraine is combined from two parts: mostly Ukrainian-speaking west Ukraine, and mostly Russian-speaking east Ukraine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ukraine_cencus_2001_Ukrain...
Donetsk and Lugansk regions are the eastmost two parts.
To generalize that thought,
To generalize that thought, many of the "countries" of the world are very artificial constructs, not freely formed as such by the inhabitants. They were defined by borders drawn by the greater powers, usually the imperialist powers of Europe, the USA, Russia, or China. So is it any wonder that these countries are riven by such internal strife?
Kris
{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}
Invasions...
Well, every country in the world (aside from putative inhabitants of the putative original garden of Eden) was created by someone invading somewhere.
Ukrainia and Crimea, (both having been formerly invaded and conquered by the then Russian Empire) was quite deliberately set up as a compromise, as a part of a "rectification" of a status quo in which the former USSR paid the spanking new Ukrainia for their huge stockpile of nuclear weapons by giving them money and territory. Ask the Russians whether they’d like to give the "Nukes" back, or maybe another huge pile of money, since they appear to want to "renegotiate" the bargain by which modern Ukrainia was formed and pay bupkis in return.
Maybe it’s just me, but I somehow doubt that *anyone*, including the Russians, the Europeans, and the good old USA, really want a pile of atomic bombs lying around in Ukrainia. The preponderance of Ethnic Russians in Crimea is down to the fact that the military bases Russia set up in Crimea, the only plausible port on the Black Sea, brought in a huge immigration of Russians. Long before that, it was more-or-less originally colonised by Greeks, so maybe we ought to hand the whole damned place back to modern Greece... The trouble with Humpty-Dumpty is that one can't put him back together again, not matter how earnestly one tries.
Cheers...
-
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Again and Again,and Again
Whether you believe the Western Ukraine should be part of Russia or the Ukraine is immaterial. It is still another possible war.
shalimar
Note: both my grandfathers were born in the Ukraine. One in Kiev, the other in Lubchek, a city about half way between Kiev and the Western Ukraine border. They both moved to the US before WW1. The first tried to volunteer into the US Army, but was only 17 and his mother refused to sign the underage permission slip. The second was drafted and was told to report for duty on 11 November 1918. It was the second time he was drafted. The first was into the Russian Army. He went AWOL during Russia's war with Japan (1909).
Western Ukraine? No thanks!
Let Poland and Romania have them. We had our share of hartred from them. And there is nothing useful there to compensate for the hartred they feel to anything Russian (exept gas and oil... but they still hate us for the fact that it is not their gas and oil)
Dont mix up Russia and USSR
Asked myself... No, have no wish to return any nukes to Ukraine. Russia given Ukraine several huge piles of money during last 20 years in form of very cheap natural gas (but it was not enough so Ukraine started stealing huge amounts of gas to sell it to Europe. So they got themselves just cheap gas prices couple of years ago instead of very cheap), investments into ukrainian industry (now almost copletely destroyed by Kiev), money that ukrainian workers earned in Russia. And now we are enemy because we are living a little bit better... No talks about renegotiating anything here in Russia.
Crimea was "given" to Ukraine by Khruschev in 50-th. Before it Crimea was supposedly taken by Russian Empire from the Turks in 18-th or 19-th century (it happened several times in offocoal history). But befor it there ware Greek settlements in Crimea. And there were Tatar settlements and several other peoples.
Where did you get idea that there is/was pile of atomic bombs in Ukraine? There were atomic bombs and rockets in Ukraiunian Soviet Socialist Republic. Those bombs belonged to USSR. After break up of USSR for Ukraine those bombs became just heaps of radioactive matter. All of the launch codes were left in Russia. So all of the nuclear weapons from all of the former Soviet republics were returned to Russia.
Regarding Crimea and Russians... There was never any "huge immigration of russians" into Crimea. Especially not because of bases in Sevastopol. And there is a number of bigger and better ports in Black Sea: Odessa, Nikolayev, Batumi, Sukhumi, Novorossiysk.
And anyway, population of whole Crimea is less than 2 million people. 1/10-th of population of Moscow and Moscow region. Less than population of St-Petersburg. Where "huge immigration of russians" occured there was many more people going than whole population of Crimea. In late 19-th century more than 4 million farmers immigrated from Russia. About 1.7 millions immigrated from Ruissia into USA by 1910. So USA brought "huger" immigration of russians than Crimea ;-) Another couple of millions of russians gone to USA after revolution of 1917. Another several millions - in 1970-1980-th...
Likely you could pick any
Likely you could pick any century and find a date with similar anniversaries, going back through all recorded history. War is one of man's most popular doings.
Oh, the vanity of it all.
We are not unique, nor do we deserve the privilege of stability. Some of us thrive on chaos.
My life is the study of God and belief systems. I don't particularly care what belief system someone practices, or does not practice.
Shelly: I don't know if what I call the Book of Ecclesiastes appears in your body of accepted work, or not. In the first few lines of the work, a man in absolute despair writes of the futility of all things.
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
3 What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?
However, Shelly, your own book makes certain statements that could
possibly give some explanation for the present state of affairs. There is the painful pronouncement to women in Genesis 3:16, and as much as I do not like it, I am that woman, and it does not matter if anyone believes or not, the statement is true about me.
Then there is the inexplicable condemning prophesy about Ishmael given to Hagar. Why would a whole people be condemned to war with those around them for the whole of human history?
Then there is the time that the Angel marched Abraham up to a hill top and gave him and his descendants all the land he could see. That mankind as a whole have been a bunch of plonkers from the day God made them, is obvious. Why did God create us to throw us into a witches cauldron of opposing forces? OR, perhaps all of creation is actually that witches cauldron and our very survival is unlikely and life like ours has risen and perished a hundred times?
There is no one that wants out of this life more than me, but some fool indoctrinated me with the brainwashing that it is bad to hurt others and the willful ending of my own life, as pathetic as it is would wound someone else also. So according to the mores of our culture, I must not.
To add to the lunacy of my life, I practice a kind of Islam that actually exists only in my own wishful heart. How silly of me.
I hope that you feel better in the morning.
Gwen
There Is Hope
We call Ecclesiastes "Kohelet" (The Hebrew word that is translated in your Bible as "Priest." It is a person's name.), the first significant word. It ends with, "The sum of the matter, when all that is considered: Fear God and keep His commandments, for that is the man's whole duty. For God will judge every deed--even everything hidden--whether good or evil.(12:13-4, Art Scroll translation)
shalimar
Bupkis (in many variations)
It’s probably one of the first words coined in every human language, because it expresses a universal sentiment.
קאָזעבאָפּקעס (kozebopkes, “goat droppings”) from the Proto-Slavonic, from whence it passed to Yiddish. It’s sometimes euphemised as "Beans!" in translation.
Σκατά (Skatah) Shit. in Greek, still found in "Scatology" and "Scat!"
Kuso! (糞,くそ) in Japanese, although the Japanese tend to regard farts as even more worthless than shit...
usw, usa...
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style