Tag Archives: Hiroshima

The Road to Diamond, Day 255: 89 Seconds

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Historical, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

August 10, 2025- The Doomsday Clock was shown at today’s presentation on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It stands at 89 seconds until midnight (the marking of doomsday). The two bombings, which contributed towards the end of World War II, remain both the most horrific single attacks on civilian populations in our history (procedural genocide involves serial attacks) and the only attacks, to date, involving nuclear weapons.

The presenter, who has made several visits to the cities, showed graphic, if faded, photographs of the victims and of the damage to the cities. The effect was every bit as jarring as the scenes of the Holocaust of Germany and eastern Europe. It underscores the urgency of renewing a commitment to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

Some people at a meeting last night took the view that it is counterproductive to keep harping on the tragedies of the past. I disagree-those who forget the horrors gone by are doomed to repeat them. We do well to both honour the victims and forge a path that will make weapons of mass destruction, both nuclear and conventional, unnecessary. Eighty years afterward, let Hiroshima and Nagasaki stand as examples and cautionary tales, not as harbingers or precursors.

The Summer of the Rising Tides, Day 65: Hot Pavement Holds, Beirut Explosions and Neo-Nazi Arsonist

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Posted by on in children, Community, distraction issues, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Striving

August 4, 2020-

The weather here is the same, day in and day out. There is NO rain forecast for the entirety of Arizona until after Labor Day. So, we go on with our lives, ration water (individually, not by statute) and thank God for the breezes that bring some relief. The smoke from the fire in southern California is also blotting out the sun, just a bit-but we could do without that sort of overcast.

I opened my screen today, to three things-all disconcerting. First, a Black family was detained, because a dispatcher in Aurora, CO told the police that the license plate on their vehicle matched a stolen plate. Left out of that call were: The plate was from another state and that the stolen vehicle was a motorcycle. The family was in an SUV and were sitting in a shopping center parking lot, minding their own business. They had stolen nothing. Within minutes, though, two children, a teenager and an adult were on the ground-or rather, on the hot pavement. There were four officers, at least in the photo. This was yesterday; so far, the accountability is forthcoming.

It was another hot day in the Middle East-and with the added horror of an explosion, in Beirut’s Port District, that looked, for all the world, like a cross between Hiroshima and the second World Trade Center attacks. Fifty people are known dead and over 3,000 injured. Initial reports say the first detonated building had been used to store explosives. I have prayed for the dead and wounded, and am staying tuned.

Lastly, a suspect in the torching of the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct has been arrested. He is from St. Paul, and is-are you ready- a neo-Nazi. While no one is saying ALL the protestors are angels, they are apparently not arsonists, either. There is a football field-sized space for miscreants from all points on the political spectrum to make hay while the sun shines, and are they ever taking full advantage!

August is shaping up to be another year, masquerading as a month.