Deadly Medicine

I have talked about going to the Texas Tech Museum to see the traveling exhibit "Deadly Medicine" http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/traveling/details/index.php?content=deadly_medicine&type=current from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  I went today to hear a guided tour.  The tour was okay, and then I went through part of the exhibit. I did not complete it due to time constraints, and am hoping to return, maybe even tomorrow, to complete it. There is a LOT of information in this fairly small exhibit. It is in Lubbock until August 7, 2011, so there is time. And, it travels elsewhere around the country, including Boston.

The sadness of this exhibit is that we do not learn:  since World War II, there have been so many incidents of genocide in Europe, Asia and Africa.  The United States was slow to desegregate the Afro-Americans, and even slower to elevate the Native Americans to a respected group.  We still have racism, and we still have prejudice, lessons we have not learned from our own history and the history of the world.  We are trying. I can not say how much better we are doing. Many of the women in one of my book discussion clubs thinks we are treating Muslims much the same.  In many ways, I agree. 

I think we have some personal and political hysteria that every Muslim is bad, and we are vulnerable to attack from them.  Lubbock has a mosque, and on multiple occasions, it has been vandalized. http://lubbockonline.com/stories/102606/loc_102606030.shtml The community as a whole despairs at these attacks, but obviously, they have happened.  Many of the larger Christian churches in the community, after 9-11-2001, spent Sunday School time studying Islam.  That is such an enlightened response to that attack, it made me proud. 

I have learned some about Islam as many prisoners are Islamic. And, I am just interested in being more aware and open minded, if I can be, and education helps.

So, I am grateful to be able to view the "Deadly Medicine" display. I am grateful to learn about more about the horrors I of which I already knew, so maybe I can be more mindful if dignity, respect, civil and human rights as I deal with disenfranchised people in the course of my life.  I am grateful to keep alive the message we must work to stop people from going there again. 

Veteran's Day or Armistice Day

World War I:  The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month:  Armistice for World War I...

This was the war to end all wars...

But then, World War II...

Now, we celebrate Veteran's Day as November 11... Formerly Armistice Day.  We commemorate the Veterans who have served. I hope we pay them homage that is appropriate.

Our nation has become more aware of commemorating, celebrating, and just plain acknowledging the people of our nation who serve in the Armed Services.  We can not thank them enough for what they do..

One day a year is not enough... If you know a veteran, let them know how much you appreciate them...

Does England Have a Fourth of July

We have all heard the old joke "Does England have a Fourth of July/"  Well, of she does, and France, and Spain, and Italy.  They just do not celebrate Independence Day on the fourth of July.

Last night, as I was casting around looking for a television celebration (very late, after the really good one were done) I heard an announcer say she wants to call it Independence Day Celebration, not Fourth of July.  And, of course, she is right, that truly is what we are celebrating.

I did not do so good this year: many of the local activities were rained out, so I stayed home with a book, and did not think to look for any of the television celebrations.  I understand the Macy's display was excellent, and timed well to the music http://social.macys.com/fireworks/?cm_mmc=VanityUrl-_-fireworks-_-n-_-n .  There is also the Boston Pops Concert and Fireworks http://www.july4th.org/2010_Program/Event_Schedule/.  And, there were others.

This year, I did attend a Memorial Day Service and a DDay Celebration.  I do not think that makes up for not celebrating Independence Day.... Well, the weather is good right now, so the least I can do is fly  the flag!

But, I really do want to be more observant of my country.  I vote regularly.  I just need to celebrate more.!

Flags

Saturday morning, a friend and I joined the Audubon birdwatching group at the City of Lubbock Cemetery http://cemetery.ci.lubbock.tx.us/ .  As we waited for the group, the cemetery manager joined us and apologized for the Confederate Flag that flew over the Civil War Monument.  He explained that there were Union soldiers mentioned on the monument, and there was a group that came out and put out Confederate flags on the graves of the Confederate Soldiers.

We reassured him that that was not an issue for us, and that we were bird watching.  My personal thoughts on this issue is that I have enough respect, that I can and will respect the fallen soldiers on both sides of that war.  Having visited Gettysburg http://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm and Vicksburg http://www.nps.gov/vick/index.htm I will say that I can honor the fallen on both sides of the war, and I am scarred by the horrors of the history of war that I saw.  It makes me believe even more that war is not the answer, communication and cooperation is the answer.

The cemetery manager mentioned the Memorial Day ceremony and a friend and I both said that this year, we wanted to attend.  He commented that this ceremonyhad only occurred for the last 7 or 8 years. I try to keep in touch with what happens in the city, and he is right: except for a few private church ceremonies, the city of Lubbock did not have a ceremony for Memorial Day until the last few years. So sad.

Where I grew up, we had a parade, a gun shot salute, Taps, and flags at the cemetery.

The ceremony today included the information that the City of Lubbock had about 3000 veterans, including 3 Medal of Honor recipients... After the ceremony, the Girl and Boy Scout troops helped to put out flags. The Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America were sung. The Marine contingency did the gun salute, the County Sheriff's Department presented the colors (the flag.) We drove around the cemetery, while the scouts were putting out flags.

Tonight, I went back to the cemetery on my way to go kayaking in the same general area.  There were no flags to speak of in the cemetery... There were a  few that were obviously privately placed on tombstones, but beyond that, there were no American flags nor Confederate flags.

I am not sure what to think about that. 

I am interested in your comments.