Martin Luther King Day

Today marks the 25th anniversary of "Martin Luther King Day" here in the USA. Take 12 minutes out of your day and watch his "I have a Dream" speech.



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Once in a lifetime: 103-year-old WWII vet meets President Obama - JSOnline

This week Barack Obama met with a 103 year old WWII veteran James Edwards.

The meeting was setup after a lengthy effort from a friend of Mr. Edwards named Beatrice Hicks who went to great lengths to try and secure a meeting for him with the President. She called the offices of Senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold and got nowhere. A call to Representative Gwen Moore didn't yield much at the start as well until a "friend with union clout" got the attention of Rep. Moore.

The meeting was the "Photo of the Day" on the White House Website courtesy of White House photographer Pete Souza.

What a great story. Speaking as someone who's been fortunate enough to be at multiple Barack Obama events in New Jersey, I have to say there really is a buzz around the building when he takes center stage. At the very first Obama event I attended I met an African-American woman who was probably in her 60s. It was was fascinating to speak to someone who lived through the Civil Rights era and has lived to see Barack Obama become President. That is multiplied ten fold when you factor in James Edwards' age. In over a century of living he has surely seen the worst of American history.

Jim Stingl from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, who by his own admission didn't try helping the the woman wrote a great piece on it. Make sure you check it out. 

Link: Once in a lifetime: 103-year-old WWII vet meets President Obama - JSOnline

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Hiroshima & Nagasaki - Biggest acts of Terror ever

August 6th 1945. One of the darkest hours in human history. On this date the United States dropped a Nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, Japan killing about 100,000 people instantly. This was followed a couple of days later by dropping another nuclear bomb, this time on Nagasaki.

The total number of casualties is listed at over 260,000 people with Hiroshima alone accounting for almost over 200,000. Just think about that number for a little bit. The attacks of 9/11 killed 2,900 people. Now we read all sorts of stuff in our history books and even in conversation with a bunch of people. We hear and read all sorts of justifactions. None of them to me are legitimate though.

The most common one of course is that "they" attacked us first at Pearl Harbor. Fair enough. Yes, the Japanese military did attack US military bases at Pearl Harbor but using that logic since the United States started the current Iraq War it is perfectly alright for the Iraqi military to come and destroy New York and Los Angeles with nuclear bombs? Sounds silly when you put it this way right?

Another one is that the Japanese were arming their citizens and the ground war would have been bloody. Isn't that what the United States did though? Why do people forget about the draft? Somehow it is perfectly alright for one side to do it....but not the other? Kind of silly don't you think?

Another one I hear is that a ground offensive would have been deadly for both sides. Again, really silly. Over 260K people died. Anytime that many people die in one place you CAN NOT use the "saving of lives" as a justification. You sound like a fool when you do.

To this date survivors are effected by the radiation and get sick as a result of it. It is quiet easy for most Americans to dismiss Hiroshima and Nagasaki but think what the reaction would be like here to this date if that many lives had been lost here? For a while I've been calling this the biggest act of terrorism ever. This of course gets people mad. Time to look at the world from a broader perspective. What would your reaction be today if the town you lived in was struck by a Nuclear bomb that killed that many people around you? Just look at how Americans treat 9/11 and the amount of people that died that day is microscopic compared to how many died at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombs served one purpose. Strike some fear into Russia in the aftermaths of World War II.

A recent Quinnipiac University Poll shows some interesting numbers in reference to what Americans currently think of the Nuclear strikes.

This country has a lot of dark moments in its history. The treatment of Native Americans, African Americans and the events of Hiroshima & Nagasaki just happen to be at the top of the list. Again....think about it.

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