Day: May 20, 2014

Is It Blind Consumerism?

There are certain days in American history that stand out among others and they hold a special place in our memories…..days like July 4, December 7 and 9/11…….and then we have personal dates that we hold in our historical memory like anniversaries, birthdays, etc…..mine is 14 October 1967…..my first day in country in the Republic of South Vietnam….means nothing to anyone but me……..

I recently wrote a post on the opening of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum…..it was not met with much enthusiasm….I had a few that disliked it so much that I was accused of being unfeeling and callous…..you see I wrote that in my opinion it was an experiment in profitability not one of remembrance…..that consumerism was invading the whole situation.

But since I wrote my original post the site has had its grand opening……and guess what?  Some of the families were not too impressed with the policies…….

The National 9/11 Memorial and Museum opened last week to survivors, first responders, and relatives of victims—and some of them were shocked to find a gift shop on the premises hawking things like mugs, mousepads, and key chains. At the shop, which will help fund the museum’s operating cost, visitors can buy a “Darkness Hoodie” printed with an image of the Twin Towers for $39, “Survivor Tree” earrings for $64, or silk scarves printed with 1986 photos of Manhattan for $95, the New York Post finds.

“To me, it’s the crassest, most insensitive thing to have a commercial enterprise at the place where my son died,” says Diane Horning, whose 26-year-old son’s remains were never recovered. (Thousands of unidentified remains are in a repository in the museum building.) She calls the museum “essentially our tomb of the unknown,” and slams the gift shop as “a money-making venture to support inflated salaries.” Other visitors, however, say they understand the museum’s need to raise funds, reports Gothamist, which notes that even the Holocaust Museum has a gift shop. NBC News reports that it’s expected to take $63 million to operate the site each year, a cost that will also be defrayed by its $24 entry fee.

My suspicions have been realized……the site should be a remembrance of the casualties not how much money can be made off off the endeavor…..but then that is just my thoughts.  I think this is far more disrespectful than anything that I wrote….

I do not expect those that took offense on my previous post to pay much attention…..after all they have their little brains full of Benghazi bullsh*t and that is more important than this blind consumerism!

How the NRA Rewrote the Second Amendment – Michael Waldman – POLITICO Magazine

This post ought get the blood to boil……..we know what some think……an interesting piece of historical events…..

BTW, will the morons please stop telling low IQ Americans that the government is coming for your guns……it is pure bullshit and lies……sad but appears that some are secretly hoping it is true so they can say….”see told ya so”………..(where’s that chip when we need it)…….

 

How the NRA Rewrote the Second Amendment – Michael Waldman – POLITICO Magazine.

BBC News – Dien Bien Phu: Did the US offer France an A-bomb?

Keeping on the historical theme…….

If you are not an old fart or did not serve your country in Vietnam then this piece will mean little to nothing to you……..

Dien Bien Phu is the turning point where the US would get involved in the war that France was fighting with the rebels in Vietnam……

A fascinated piece with a bunch of historical stuff attached to it……..read and learn……

 

BBC News – Dien Bien Phu: Did the US offer France an A-bomb?.

From Odessa To Brazil

I know why don’t we do something silly today……..like learn something!  That Professor is a mad cap old fart….but loveable……..what’s life without whimsy?

A couple of decades ago there were several forms of entertainment that focused on the Nazi criminals that got away and would set about starting a new Reich……from books like “The Odessa File” to movies like” Marathon Man” and “The Boys of Brazil”…..i am sure that there were others but those were the most popular at the time……..

Like I said….great entertainment but was there any truth to these types of scenarios?

It would have made serious waves—had news of it actually come to light. Some 65 years ago, a group of Germans who had fought with the Nazi-era Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS amassed an army. The revelation surfaced by way of a 321-page file unearthed by accident in the archives of the country’s foreign intelligence agency (a historian hired by the BND to dig into the agency’s origins found the documents, titled “insurances,” while trying to figure out how many employees the BND originally had). What Agilolf Kesselring found instead was details on the 1949 forming of a secret—and, under Allied law, illegal—army by some 2,000 ex-officers, who intended to protect West Germany against the Soviets or Eastern European countries; a study on the documents was published this week.

Der Spiegel notes that the file “is incomplete and thus needs to be considered with some restraint,” but reports on what the document does reveal: That if an attack was launched from the East, 40,000 fighters would protect the country—whose own chancellor didn’t even learn the group existed until 1951, and apparently made no moves to dissolve it. Der Spiegel explains in detail the involvement of Albert Schnez, a WWII colonel who was instrumental in founding the group, seeking funds from like-minded citizens, making contact with veterans groups, asking for help from the West German secret service (which gave it a small amount of money through 1953), and crafting an emergency plan that involved potentially making use of transportation company vehicles and police weapons in case of emergency. It’s not clear when the army disbanded, though Der Spiegel notes that the 1955 creation of the Bundeswehr made it “redundant.”

As a person who appreciates a good conspiracy…….I want to believe that there are still shadowy organizations that still cling to the “good old days” of Nazi Germany…….makes for great debates and exchanges……and excellent entertainment.

Any thoughts?