I have spent the last few hours off and on reading these threads, at
times I have been ashamed, other times I have been so appalled I signed
out.

Today in America, in my understanding, it was a day of honouring men,
and women, some still so young, they should have had curfews, for
sacrificing their lives for what they believed in, whether under
falsehoods, or fully informed...

No matter how we veiw this ugliness called war, no matter which arena we
wish to condemn, and to debate, and throw mud, and other contemptuous
words around, the reality is, throughout history, young men and women
have died , have given their lives for what they believed was right...

It is all too easy to sit here in our comfortable homes, and to rant and
rave, and to be downright less than humane towards others...and still
there is oppression, prejudice, and disgust, violence, greed and
arrogance...within these very forums, as well as the world at large.

No one realistic solution has been offered...not one...to have
resolution to the issues of war in Iraq, Afganistan, Afrika, and every
other devastated country...with the minimal impact on ALL lives, of both
the citizens of the countries caught in these wars, nor the men and
women who are called by their country's political forces to go fight
these stupid wars...

It is so easy for us, the people within these forums, to point fingers,
to condemn, to be downright rude, and arrogant, and so full of ego, I am
ashamed to be called human....

The milk has been spilt....stop crying over it,and looking for
scapegoats, and come up with realistic solutions, or go back to the sad
and miserable lives, and the narrow prejudice and judgemental worlds you
all come from...


I am out...done with the ludicrousness of this arena, call current
events...nothing but lame, judgemental, ignorant fools...

Today is a sad day for humanity, and the lack of it in these threads...

Jess.

And to all soldiers living or gone...

Thankyou for allowing us to live in freedom'

Thank you Lee for posting this...my thoughts as well...

In Memory of my Father who fought in the Korean war...

In Memory of all who have fought and died...

Thank you

Wow Jess that was so well said and beautiful. Thank you so much for
saying it.

yo!! my favorite ladies!!!



lol

macrocosm/microcosm


until we change right here inside our own selves



this is what we got.....

My dad served in Korea and Viet Nam. Retired at 37 from the military but
never quit working even when he died in 97. People who put their life on
the line deserve our respect.

then i have to say i respect ALLL THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS OF THE WORLD!

yes all of them......


can you say that?

i never met my uncle Fred he was an Australian soldier in the 2nd world
war and he was well and truly dead before the bloody war ended.ive asked
my dad watt he was like and farrrout he was not a great deal like me.im
greatfull for his sacrifice.i was named after him and it makes me
cause we never met so i cant remember him.

then i will say my respect is not subject to being a veteran

but for every person that serves humanity in every field....as mother
as teacher
as father
as doctor
as firefighter
as childrens advocate
as peace protestor
as policeman
as fireman
as paramedic
as social worker
as .......................................................we all risk
our lives for each other sooner or later...

then in memorial to all of those who serve....ALL are honored for their
integrity to their personal motivation.....


the person is honored , not what motivated them

They were all born as human beings and for that they should be honored.
I don't have to respect the cause people are fighting for,
but I have to respect that fighters do what they think is right.

Jess,

What better tribute to those who have fallen than the affirmation of the
right of We The People to openly express our extreme displeasure with
the incompetence of our highest elected officials? What better legacy we
promote in their honor than a future free of jingoistic Chickenhawks
whose abilty to carelessly wage war being held in check by the sure and
certain knowledge that they and their apparatchiks will be held
accountable at the polls and in the history books?

Because they and those like them abide by the old cliche "Silence gives
assent." I think it serves the fallen much better to stand up to those
leaders and "Give 'em hell." To point out, without fail, *every*
instance where the Emperor Has No Clothes.

It's our duty to be part of the process. And as Milton said, "They also
serve who only stand and wait."

-Kerry O.

i supose we should be greatfull for autocrats and corporations and
politicians were would we be without these dudes.
jess, alex,rivame,invisible,i had bloody testosterone attack in here
earlier t day had anow im not so i
think????

GREAT post Jess. Many thanks for the calming remarks.
Bless all the servers of humanity.

well i don't know about ya'all but......



I AM RAGING AGAINST THE MACHINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and if this VERY IMPORTANT ISSUE OF 'MEMORIAL' can rebound against what
we KNOW as moral and correct, what does that tell us?


the very fact that AS we offer respect and honor, to those who have died
in service of their country, we are in CONFLICT with the policies that
initiated the necessity of their deaths,

this inequity grinds and thrashes inside every parent every brother or
sister or cousin...and soon this fuel will ignite with outrage...it is
already.

and it is an outrage and we have every right to rage now against this
machine!

To all those who have served and all those who still do Thank you.
To all those who died in that service RIPand thanx for the
sacrifice.

hot band Rage Against the Machine.have you listened to this band Alex?

Lee, all I can say is 'yes Ma'am". Once again, you offer brevity where
it is needed.

This is terrible. So much hate between fellow Americans. Who is to
blame, and how has this come to be. This day is not ours, it is a day to
remember and honor the dead who gave the ultimate sacrifice. What has
happened in this country that for one day we can not put aside our
bickering.
Whats next Civil War? I tried over and over last night to get a fellow
American, who like me disagrees with the war in Iraq to not trash the
memory of these fallen men. He attacked me, calling me (ha, ha) a Nazi
and a neocon. Like wise, when I tried to put a memorial for fallen men
and women of the Iraqi war in a thread just for them, I was attacked by
the other side.
One day no one says dont talk about how wrong the war is, nor how right
it is either, but to spit on the valor, honor, and memory of the dead is
crazy. To attack each other is just as crazy. Im am sorry if people
think I had an ulterior motive for posting those names. God knows what
was in my heart, and I do not fear his wrath for doing it. If I could
have done it and remained anonymous I would have, I didnt do it for
personal recognition or praise.
I do fear what has become of us, and what is our future. I think
everyone should search their own soul for these answers.

Now that said, I figure less than one page, possibly one post and some
one will **** it up!!! Just one day would be nice though!!

Jess that was very well said. Thank you for saying it.

We can honor those who have fought...and have fallen..Like my best
friend Ed..dead in the marines in 1970...Why did he die in uniform?..and
I did not...and what am I to understand from that event in my life?..he
has become a dream...a memory of listening to the beach boys..of sharing
our fist cars together...talking about our first girlfriends..watching
John Wayne movies and talking about "going to war together"...

yes...let's honor those that have fallen & are fighting now...BUT ..let
us never accept war as a fact of life ...it is an aberration..an
abomination....it is evil..