Tag: History

Making Sense of Insidious Behavior

On By dotluvs2writeIn blogging, Cultural and Political, Essays, humanity, News Events, warLeave a comment

la times pic of drone strike on iran general

(photo credit via LA Times)

So, let me see if I can comprehend this.

First off, skipping over the CIA’s taking out of the leader of Iran in the 1950s (regime change), let’s jump to the 1980s during the war between Iraq and Iran. We backed Saddam/Iraq, by giving them intelligence and weapons to fight Iran.

Then a few years later, we invaded Iraq, captured their leader, gave him to his people for trial, then occupied the country illegally for sixteen years and counting.

After Saddam’s death, our military was put there to train their army and install a leader and his cabinet that would be friendly and bend to our will.

Then several years later, unrest and protests built in Iraq due to our perpetual presence in their country, and then we turned on them again. In the midst of this, we killed the top Iranian general who helped defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Not only did our drone strike kill the Iranian general, but also an Iraqi commander.

Next there’s the whole incomprehensible connection with Saudi Arabia (who is also connected/allied with Israel…have you ever noticed there aren’t any bombings going on between the two of them?). Oil was the main reason we connected with Saudi Arabia, but even after the attack on the Kobar Towers where our military members stayed, including my husband back in 1996 (he left a month before the bombings), we still bent to Saudi Arabia’s will, to keep the oil flowing.

Many of the 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi. A few of them, including the ringleader, were given visas to the US by the CIA before 9/11 happened, according to Michael Springman, stationed in Jeddah, who was in charge of granting visas to foreigners is on camera saying he made visas for them to enter the US and wondered why.

In the days leading up to the attack, the stock market showed unusual activity, with put options on the two main airlines that were used in the attacks.

During the attack on the towers, bombs went off before any of them were hit by the planes (and building 7 wasn’t hit by a plane). Nobody asked how the bombs got planted in the buildings. Considering over a hundred witnesses mentioned bombs in the Twin Towers and in Building 7, it wasn’t made up. So, how did the bombs get into the buildings without passing through security? And planning detonation and/or controlled demolition takes weeks. It cannot be done the day of the attack.

And what a coincidence that the part of the Pentagon building hit by the plane was the Army’s audit offices, auditing the missing 2.3 trillion (believe that was the number…trying to remember off the top of my head) Rumsfeld mentioned the day or couple days before the attack. Instead of flying the plane into parts of the Pentagon where masses of people were for maximum effect, which is what a terrorist would want to do, they flew the plane near the ground to ram into that specific area investigating the missing monies that had just been reinforced with thick concrete and other materials a few months before.

After the loss of nearly 3000 people in this attack, when every airport’s planes were grounded, a group of Israelis that were detained by the FBI for suspicious activity were put on a plane, while members of the bin Laden family were put on another plane and flown back to their countries.

Within a few hours, the FBI said the culprit of the attacks was bin Laden, who, when interviewed, said he didn’t do it. Terrorists love to take responsibility for their attacks. They gloat over it. Curiously, the Taliban in Afghanistan said they’d hand over bin Laden if the US presented evidence bin Laden was responsible for the 9/11 attacks and if Bush and his military would stop bombing Afghanistan. Bush and his admin. refused. Guess the FBI and CIA didn’t have evidence. Otherwise, they would have given it so that they could negotiate for bin Laden’s extradition to the US to stand trial for the murders. And at the same time, the FBI never had bin Laden on their most wanted list for the 9/11 attacks.

Rewind to the 1980s when we armed bin Laden and his rag tag team (then called the Mujahideen, later becoming Al Qaeda and the Taliban) against the Soviets when they invaded Afghanistan. Bin Laden was considered a CIA asset.

Fast forward to a few years ago when we supplied our weapons to Saudi Arabia to help bomb Yemen that killed hundreds of civilians, including many children. It also caused mass starvation and cholera outbreak.

But that’s not all. We armed Al Qaeda–the same group that attacked us on 9/11, according to the government’s official story–to try and topple a sovereign country’s leader in Syria. A leader, who is an Alawhite–a minority sect of the Islamic faith, and a leader who ran his country in a secular manner, where other minorities, such as Christians, were protected.

To add to our disgusting foreign policy, we’re still backing these terrorists, and our government has the gall to continue to illegally stay in Syria and Iraq, and attempted to send our military to protect oil fields in Saudi Arabia and Syria.

And the HUGE news on the Afghan Papers, nearly equivalent to the Pentagon Papers, got barely a whisper of a mention in the Main Stream Media, who are nothing but parrots for the Military Industrial Complex, National Security Surveillance and Intel Complex. The fact that our military was sent there without a clear objective, not knowing who their enemies were, where they were, what they were actually doing there was not surprising to me, sadly, but just confirmed the usual pattern of our screwed up foreign policy.

I’m sick of our military members used as cannon fodder for war profits, lust of power and other countries’ resources. Yes, this type of imperialism has been around since the dawn of time…since humans walked the earth after the Fall, but it doesn’t make me feel any better.

President Trump’s order that had the Iranian General Suleimani assassinated, I have no doubt, was pressured by the Military Industrial Complex, Intel and National Security Surveillance State. These entities continue to rule our presidents and congress as they have for decades. However, Trump’s arrogance and ignorance has really taken us to a seriously bad place. I’m sure John Bolton and Benjamin Netanyahu are doing gleeful cartwheels over this disastrous move.

All of those involved in these disastrous policies are nothing but war criminals and belong in jail for life. They are responsible for millions of people’s deaths, including our own service members, who joined the military to help protect and serve our country, not be disposable pawns sent with no objective or certain winning strategy, but only to be wounded or killed, and psychologically scarred for life.

Are our military members worth anything to our government? Considering Agent Orange, white phosphorus, depleted uranium, and burn pits, I’d say not much. It certainly gives credence to the book my son read a couple years ago called G.I. Guinea Pigs. They shouldn’t be. It’s personal for me. My father, husband, and brother-in-law were in the Air Force for over twenty years.

The US’s foreign policy has been a catastrophe, lying us into wars since Vietnam. Does our government really even care about its people? I have serious doubts it does.

After all the horrible things powerful countries’ governments have done throughout history, and my country’s government is one of them… some day, we’ll reap what we sow. Pride comes before the Fall. Drunk off Power and War and Weapons Profits. Insanity has ensued for too long. Humbleness is needed.

What would a world be like if my country actually led with goodness, peace, and respect for other countries and their cultures? I can imagine all the good it could do with its riches. Philanthropic work worldwide, trading fairly with all countries, enjoying others’ traditions and ways of life.

But truly, we need to start this at home. Our own government should be taking care of its own people, and it’s not. It’s owned by corporate elitists with the deepest pockets.

So much needs to change…

My country has lost its way with madmen/psychopaths at the wheel of power for too many years.

We don’t need any more wars. We need to end all of them. We are decades overdue for PEACE and DIPLOMACY.

 

~*~*~*~

Lake Lucerne and a Greek Slave in D.C.

On By dotluvs2writeIn blogging, TravelLeave a comment

Washington Monument July 6 2018

Last weekend, Friday July 6 through Monday July 9, my family spent it wandering around our historic nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.  We walked those four days and got quite the workout.  Except for the first day that was sweltering hot, transforming me into a soggy, drippy human puddle, the walk was absolutely beautiful and a good challenge to my under-exercised body.

Lincoln Memorial July 6 2018

We visited the Lincoln Memorial, World War II Memorial, Korean War Memorial, and Martin Luther King’s Memorial on the first day.

MLK Monument July 6 2018

On the second day, which was the most pleasant weather wise, we visited a few museums:  The Natural History Museum, American History Museum, and African American History Museum in the National Mall (all part of the Smithsonian).  My sons who had not been excited about coming, did enjoy some exhibits.  Both of them loved the butterfly pavilion and insect area in the Natural History Museum.

My oldest, Nicholas, also liked the African American History Museum.  We both did.  It was a very moving and impacting experience.  It is three stories full of the history of African Americans, starting with their origins in Africa to the slave ships, slave trade, sugar plantations and the like, and the distinguished men and women in the latter years, including Phillis Wheatley, for whom I wrote about in a blog post a couple of weeks ago!  That was especially cool for me to read an excerpt from her poem on display and see her statue.

Each floor progressed further in history.  The second story was my favorite.  It held the 1950s and 1960s Civil Rights artifacts and videos.  It also had a special exhibit going on while we were there.  What timing!  They had on display for a limited time, the casket that young Emmett Till had been buried in until 2005/2006 (can’t remember which year, but it was one of them).  There was a line meandering through the second floor.  We waited about forty-five minutes or so to go into the room where the coffin was to read about it and look at it.

Gospel music was playing when we entered the room, which tested my ability to keep my tears at bay, and a large sized photograph of Emmett’s destroyed face taken by a newspaper (I think it was Jet) was in a gold picture frame set in the coffin representing him.  Thankfully, the casket was elevated, and the coffin’s ledge of the open casket was at my eye level, and I couldn’t see the photo.  Incidentally, I’d already seen the photo when I’d watched the excellent documentary Eyes on the Prize a couple of years ago.  I didn’t need to see it again.

My oldest son, Nicholas, was behind me sniffling.  He said he saw a sliver of the side of Emmett’s battered face and couldn’t bear to see anymore, so he looked away.  We walked out of there feeling the grief of the murder of a young boy.

A video was in an alcove explaining the murder of Emmett.  Nicholas, poor guy, shed many tears and sniffled a lot.  What a huge heart my son has!  I managed to stave off the tears that had collected in my eyes.

The next day we went to the Air and Space Museum and looked at all the airplanes and early aircrafts used to fly.  We also watched a twenty-five minute film in the planetarium on dark matter, which was fascinating.  Don’t ask me to explain dark matter because most of what was presented in the film was quite complicated.  But we collectively agreed that was the most interesting film we’d ever see in a planetarium, and we’d seen quite a few in the past!

Air and Space Museum July 8 2018

We then headed to one of the museums I’d been waiting for, the National Gallery of Art.  This was a HUGE edifice, as were the others, but this one had two unattached buildings that were a West and an East building.  We only got through the first floor and partially the bottom floor.  There was too much to take in in the few hours open and available to us!  But I saw the early art work by the American artists I’d studied last term in my American Art class, and that was really cool.

I took a picture of one of the paintings of my favorite landscape artist, Albert Bierstadt.  It’s called Lake Lucerne, if I remember correctly.  What a beauty!  I wanted to walk into the scene, it’s so peaceful and gorgeous.

Bierstadt painting lake Lucerne July 8 2018

Lastly, I took a picture of artist, Hiram Power’s incredibly beautiful sculpture, The Greek Slave.  I studied this piece in my American Art course.  It was quite the talk of the public and controversial at the time.  Here’s an excerpt on the story behind the sculpture via The Metropolitan Museum of Art:

“The full-length female nude represents a bound prisoner being sold in a Turkish slave market, an allusion to the atrocities that the Turks committed during the Greek War of Independence, and, by implication, to the ongoing debate over slavery in the United States. The Greek Slave toured American cities from Boston to New Orleans between 1847 and 1849, and again into the 1850s, where it drew huge crowds and brought forth, alternatively, outpourings of protest and praise. Miner Kellogg, manager of the statue’s organized tour, assembled a descriptive pamphlet emphasizing the figure’s “high moral and intellectual beauty,” suggesting that—though nude—it was “clothed” in Christian piety. The Greek Slave was also shown in London in 1845 and 1848, and was a centerpiece of the United States display at the Great Exhibition in 1851.”

The Greek Slave statue July 8 2018

I’d seen a black and white photo of it in a linked article in my American Art course and a color one in the printed textbook I have, but that did little justice to what I saw in person.  It was beyond beautiful in person.  A real brilliant and gorgeous work of art!

We then walked up to Chinatown that my son, Nicholas, wanted to see so much.  We bought a few souvenirs there and headed back to the hotel.

Chinatown DC July 8 2018.jpg

We finished off our vacation with a visit to Arlington Cemetery where we saw the graves of some well known figures in American history.

JFK grave July 9 2018

(John F. Kennedy grave)

Robert Kennedy July 9 2018

(Robert Kennedy grave)

Medgar Evers July 9 2018

We’ll be back some time soon to see all the other museums and the rest of the art museum!

~*~*~*~

 

 

A Slave & Poet

On By dotluvs2writeIn blogging, Cultural and Political, Inspirational, Musings, poetryLeave a comment

phillis wheatley pic

Have you ever heard of the remarkable woman, Phillis Wheatley?  I hadn’t until I read a little blurb in my university course’s textbook on American Art.  I finished this course last week.  There had been a lot of heavy reading and writing, but chock full of rich and beautiful artwork and information.

Phillis was born about 1753 in Senegal/Gambia, West Africa.  She was kidnapped around age eight and transported on a slave ship to the United States.  The captain of the ship discovered little Phillis was a fragile girl not suited for hard labor when they’d stopped at the first two ports of call, the West Indian and Southern colonies while crossing the Atlantic Ocean.  The captain believed her to be terminally ill.  Landing in Boston, Massachusetts, the captain wanted at least some financial compensation before Phillis’ death.  He got his wish.  A prominent Boston tailor purchased Phillis for her to be his wife’s domestic servant (Poetry Foundation).

Although frail, Phillis’ health did improve a bit, disproving the sea captain’s belief that she was terminally ill.

The Wheatleys found Phillis to be precocious, so they taught her how to read and write.  Soon, the young, intelligent girl was engrossed in various subjects, such as astronomy, history, the Bible, and classic British, Greek, and Latin literature.  But Phillis desired to learn more and stated so in her poem called “To the University of Cambridge in New England,” that was most likely her first poem written but wasn’t published until 1773 (Poetry Foundation).

Phillis wrote a poetic elegy for the Reverend George Whitefield that brought her international recognition.  It was published as a pamphlet in 1771 with Ebenezer Pemberton’s funeral sermons for Whitefield in London that was distributed in Boston, Philadelphia, and Newport (Poetry Foundation).

In February 1772 at age 18, Phillis had collected twenty-eight of her poems and with the help of Mrs. Wheatley, ran ads in Boston periodicals for sponsors.  But the colonists refused to support her because she was an African.  Frustrated by this, Phillis and the Wheatleys looked to London.  Phillis sent the Whitefield poem to Countess of Huntingdon, Selina Hastings, who was a parishioner of Reverend Whitefield.  A backer of abolitionist and evangelical causes, the countess connected bookseller Archibald Bell with Wheatley to prepare for a book of her poems (Poetry Foundation).

Suffering from asthma, Phillis traveled to London with the Wheatley’s son, Nathaniel, and was welcomed by several English dignitaries and also Benjamin Franklin.  Her collection of poems, Poems of Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, was published in 1773 (Poetry Foundation).

Phillis Wheatley’s work was the first book of poetry by an African American published in that period (Poetry Foundation)!

phillis wheatley sculpture

Phillis did write a few poems against slavery.  Below is an excerpt from a poetic eulogy to General David Wooster in which she spoke strongly about the wrongs of slavery (Poetry Foundation).

But how, presumptuous shall we hope to find
Divine acceptance with th’ Almighty mind—
While yet (O deed Ungenerous!) they disgrace
And hold in bondage Afric’s blameless race?
Let Virtue reign—And thou accord our prayers
Be victory our’s, and generous freedom theirs.

On Phillis’ trip back to America, Mrs. Wheatley had fallen very ill.  Phillis was made a free woman approximately three months before Mrs. Wheatley’s death on March 3, 1774.  She married and spent the rest of her life in financial hardship but still managed to continue writing her poems until she fell ill and died in 1784.

Thankfully, Phillis Wheatley’s memory and poems live on.

Here’s one of her most famous poems (a short one) titled Being Brought From Africa to America:

‘Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
“Their colour is a diabolic die.”
Remember, Christians, Negro’s, black as Cain,
May be refin’d, and join th’ angelic train.

I enjoyed learning about this famous, amazing African American female slave who rose in respect and accolades because of her beautiful writing and being the first African American in modern times to have her work published, that was admired by such prominent Americans as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and John Hancock (Poetry Foundation).

 

~*~*~*~

 

Works Cited
Poetry Foundation.  “Phillis Wheatley:  1753-1784.”  https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/phillis-wheatley