Reading, Writing, Pondering: Big Life Themes, Literature, Contemporary/Historical Issues |
First of all, I acknowledge with a debt of gratitude Frontliners' own April Sunday , who via the recent
Thanks, Teff!! Now: for today's issues-we have To Whale or Not To Whale; Salvage of a ship lost off Savannah GA (not that far from me after all) in 1811; the death of the only survivor of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945; and a really bizarre situation involving a stolen historic sign formerly located at the Memorial of the Auschwitz Poland WWII extermination camp. WHALING: A whale conservation movement boat had a run-in with a Japanese whaler South of Antarctica and the crew had to be removed. Some cracked ribs were suffered; now the conservationists' boat is sinking. What happened depends on which side you listen to, but it's for certain this is a win/lose or perhaps even lose/lose situation. The Japanese whaling industry and the Conservation folks can't both win; and if the Conservation folks lose-well, so do the Whales. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/06/AR2010010600322.... and further updates HISTORICAL SHIP SALVAGE: In 1811, a ship carrying an immense amount of specie was shipwrecked off the coast of Georgia, with loss of life as well as loss of cargo. See further info at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49363793603 http://www.facebook.com/#/notes/dr-e-lee-spence-underwater-archaeologist-shipwre... Fascinating. DEATH OF ONLY DOUBLE ATOMIC SURVIVOR: That one alone is a mouthful. The only person ever officially identified as a survivor of the WWII U.S. atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has now died in Japan, age 93. The amazing coincidence (or near-fatal one) is that he was a resident of Nagasaki, but had traveled to Hiroshima on a business trip, and was injured there in the first bombing on Aug. 6, 1945. Returning to his home city, he was present at the second bombing on Aug. 9, 1945. Considering the high loss of life, it is amazing that this man survived not just one, but both, atomic bombs. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/06/AR2010010600409.... AUSCHWITZ MEMORIAL SIGN THEFT: The infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign from the WWII Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz, Poland, was allegedly stolen by a crew of Poles on orders from a Swedish instigator. The sign was located in the woods on Dec. 20, but was in three pieces and must be reconstructed. The 65th anniversary of the Allied liberation of Auschwitz is Jan. 27, 2010. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/06/AR2010010601055.... |