I found Ted Kopples news byte, showing the pictures of the Dead, very un-nerving. To put faces to these Hero's, that we hear on the news everyday, really puts ones emotions on overdrive. It was SO sad seeing these guys, especially with thier age next to them. I can't recall how many 19 yr. olds there were. Too many obviously. And I found it ironic, learning of just how many women have given that ultimate sacrifice! Thinking of the news, I had only remembered hearing of a couple. Surprizingly that number was almost 10X that. Very sad.

thinking as a realist for one moment, I have to remember. This is War. People die. Bad shit happens. I remember growing up, being a tad too young for Viet Namn. But as an adolesent, my biggest fear was having to go over there. I'd guess my Dad's the smilingest dog you'd ever wanna meet. But I also remember him watching the news, and being melencolly during that era. Even today in his advanced yrs., he sounds very dissturbed, when talking Iraq. To see that far away look in his eyes. It's the anology that something is very wrong, to see him so serious. Maybe that's where I inherited my empathy is from my Dad? Who knows. I do realize, feeling bad or sad, can never bring these people back. I just hope & pray, that everything happens for a reason. That someday the world will be a better place, for what's going on. I pray to God that it is. In this modern day of living, it would be much more than a sin, to think they were lost in vain.


The Americans won't walk into heaven with the vestle virgins. BUT, whatever heaven is, I'm sure they've found they're place. Hopefully to be re-born, into a world, where there isn't a need for War.

I realize I've rambled. But I just had to post on this. I'd appreciate it, if other Blunder-heads could give they're opinion on the photos. I'm toasting Ted Kopple. I think it's something that needed to be seen & heard. Too often, the hero's go unspoken. & too often, A Soldier DOESN'T make it home.

VOTE IN NOVEMBER. If not for you, for our boys, & the familie's whose lives have been forever changed.

Sincerely/Rb

I hear ya Rb. I watched the pictures and my emotions went on a roller coaster ride. I think Ted spit in Bush's face, and I applaud him for that. I think we need to put our voices together and make a difference...we've done it before...

Gus

...i was gonna post on the other thread...but this is a good one..... i'm older than dirt....and a prehistoric protestor....

there's alot i can't do anymore....like march in demonstrations very often....but i'm doing some stuff with move.on....particularly interested in voter registration now.....and getting people out to vote Bush and his cronies out.....i need to do far more....

...every now and then i'm stunned at how little protest there is about this war.....in some ways, though still far shorter, it is much worse than Viet Nam....and the political side-dish scandals that have fallen out in full public view ... are probably way worse than watergate....

what i wonder is......how can so many people do nothing....even if they say they care in the polls.....where are the students ?and why are hardly any protesting??...

...truly, i'm getting scared by the desensitization to violence and immunity to gross political misconduct...as though folks are walking around in a fog...
thank God for the pictures of the coffins (how terrible i feel saying this, but not showing them does not bring those soldiers back....thank God for Ted and the names.....and why is no one asking how many Iraqis are killed daily...)
do we have a brainwashed population, or is there really something in the water??

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by kj:
...every now and then i'm stunned at how little protest there is about this war................

........truly, i'm getting scared by the desensitization to violence and immunity to gross political misconduct...as though folks are walking around in a fog.............
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yah, I agree that it's really frightening that people are so desensitized. You said much of what I've been thinking in that regard.

As for protesting this war... again, I agree that we need to make a lot more noise. I've participated in some local protests, and went to the March 20 rally in NYC... the next BIG event will be on June 5, in Washington. It's being sponsored by International A.N.S.W.E.R.

I'm starting to work on my plans to attend ... and I hope that we can maybe put together a Blunderite delegation!

"If you want to stop war and stuff, you've got to sing loud!" -ADG

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by Wyldflower on May 02, 2004 ---</FONT></center>

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Goofus:

...we've done it before...

Gus<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

And we can do it again. TALK to people. I've had a couple of successes this week alone. If we all do it ...

I'm going to a move-on voter registration meeting this evening. It's a small step, but a step in the right direction.

Like Ceas said, you have to TALK to people. There are still soooo many who think that their votes do not count ... and that it's a CHOICE rather than a RESPONSIBILITY to vote.

If we care about our freedoms, our country, and the kids who are fighting this war, we must not give up our voice.

We're just waiting for it to come around on the guitar again...

My cousin sent me this in an ep-mail & it was interesting:

Subject: What you are not hearing on TV

This is a letter from Ray Reynolds, a medic in the owa Army National
Guard, serving in Iraq:

As I head off to Baghdad for the final weeks of my
stay in Iraq, I wanted to say thanks to all of you
who did not believe the media. They have done a very
poor job of covering everything that has happened. I
am sorry that I have not been able to visit all of
you during my two week leave back home. And just so
you can rest at night knowing something is happening
in Iraq that is noteworthy, I thought I would pass
this on to you. This is the list of things that has
happened in Iraq recently: (Please share it with
your friends and compare it to the version that your
paper is producing.)

* Over 400,000 kids have up-to-date immunizations.
* School attendance is up 80% from levels before the war.
* Over 1,500 schools have been renovated and rid of the weapons stored
there so education can occur.
* The port of Uhm Qasar was renovated so grain can be off-loaded from
ships faster.
* The country had its first 2 billion barrel export of oil in August.
* Over 4.5 million people have clean drinking water for the first time ever

in Iraq.
* The country now receives 2 times the electrical power it did before the
war.
* 100% of the hospitals are open and fully staffed, compared to 35% before
the war.
* Elections are taking place in every major city, and city councils are in place.

* Sewer and water lines are installed in every major city.
* Over 60,000 police are patrolling the streets.
* Over 100,000 Iraqi civil defense police are securing the country.
* Over 80,000 Iraqi soldiers are patrolling the streets side by side with
US
soldiers.
* Over 400,000 people have telephones for the first time ever.
* Students are taught field sanitation and hand washing techniques to
prevent the spread of germs.
* An interim constitution has been signed.
* Girls are allowed to attend school.
* Textbooks that don't mention Saddam are in the schools for the first
time in 30 years.

Don't believe for one second that these people do
not want us there. I have met many, many people from
Iraq that want us there, and in a bad way. They say
they will never see the freedoms we talk about but
they hope their children will. We are doing a good
job in Iraq and I challenge anyone, anywhere to
dispute me on these facts. So If you happen to run
into John Kerry, be sure to give him my email
address and send him to Denison, Iowa. This soldier
will set him straight. If you are like me and very
disgusted with how this period of rebuilding has
been portrayed, email this to a friend and let them
know there are good things happening.

Kevin D Foster
CDR USN
Navy Network Warfare Command (NETWARCOM)
Information Operations/FORCEnet
Innovation and Experimentation Officer

nice try Cheryl... but for another view of the 'facts' of that e-mail go here: http://www.orwelliantimes.com/2004/04/26.html


A quick check on snopes shows that the author does in fact exist, and did write the e-mail, but that's where the straight and narrow starts to wander...

Thank you, Arnie. Snopes.com is the most trustworthy reference on the Internet. I know I can go there and not get propaganda from ANY side, including the one I lean toward. They've steered me away from things I wanted to believe, because they don't 'take sides.'

Yeah, my cousin sent me that & I thought it was interesting how the soldiers were reporting different stuff than what the media were...

".....and why is no one asking how many Iraqis are killed daily..."

kj, I've been waiting a long time for a statement like this ! Thanks...

Yes, it's absolutely sad to know that so much young Americans have been fallen... I hope you all will know in November who's responsible for that...

But there are not only Americans livin' in this world, and not only Americans can claim to be human beings. What if Americans were tortured and abused in a prison of war, treated like unworth insects... what if an American wedding party was bombed ?
Would anybody say "Oh, what an embarrassing accident ! But, shit happens, you know ?"
No...
An overwhelming outcry would be heard, and another reason would have been found to bring violence and revenge all over the world... in the name of patriotism...

That militant patriotism thinking will somewhen (and it will be soon) cost America's reputation in the world, it's heavily in progress.
And it makes a lot of people blind for real justice, a justice that should be valid for all people in the world.

Don't take me wrong, I'm not talking against the American people, but against their more that criminal leaders and the manipulation they commit to their people.

Vote for Kerry in November, could be America's last chance to stay part of the civilized world. And vote... !

Way too late for our reputation around the world. That's going to have to be rebuilt from the dust just like so much else. I just hope that it can wait until November. It's seeming more and more like an emergency to me.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by pat:
It's seeming more and more like an emergency to me.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>A lot more than our reputation, yes. The world of humanity is at stake, I think. And, pardon me, Jay, <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/wink.gif" width=15 height=15> but too many are fiddling right now. On the other hand, I re-read last winter's newsletter the other day, and I am determined to keep singing and not be afraid.