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America.
What does it mean? Is it a piece of land? Partially. America was a name given to the land when it was "claimed". But it is not just land. It stands for freedom and justice. For unity and diversity (a contradiction in terms, but it;s the motto of the whole nation, "From many, one"). It stands for Pride and brotherhood. It stands for a whole lot more that I don;t have the words for.
This is a site that celebrates America... It contains some USA stuff, and some of my thoughts on the crap that's happened, and the like. Not sure if it will be of interest, but I wanted to put it up anyway.
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
I don't believe in God, but the rest rings true for me.
This is one of the best picutres I've seen, and a beautiful child, also. I am sure that many have seen it, and I wanted to include it here.
Picture
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Wow...it's already September eleventh again. The years are going by too fast! Hell, this time I forgot what the date was until my mom told me about a customer who gave her a pin in the shape of the Pentagon, with the stars and stripes on it. i thoguht that was exceedingly cool that that customer (she's a waitress) did that. Anyways. Well, we seem to be in fairly good shape still. And now, we fight Iraq. Someday we'll have peace, this earth. Although then I suppose we'll find other planets to fight with. Maybe it's a good thing we've not found any other life out there. We're not ready for it! And so, again my thoguhts go with the people who died on this date two years ago, and they now go with the young men and women who fight in the Middle East...and yes, for those from Iraq who truly do beleive they're fighting for what's right. Death is death...and even if it's necessary, it's never something to cheer about. Once again I hope for the day when death is not necessary. Someday. |
| 9/11/02
Well...it's Septembr eleventh, again. I can;t ebelive it has been an entire year, it still seems pretty recent. Our country is doing pretty well, I'd say. I'm proud of us for the most part. to Bin Laden, I laugh in your face for what you tried to do; I would spit but you;re really not worth the moisture. I honor the people who died, and thank them for the parts they had in life when they were alive. I hope that whever they are now, they;re still learning, and playing, and having fun. I also honor and thank the heroes that saved lives and gave of themselves to help, including rescue people, those who donated so much blood that the Red Cross had to say "no more" and the adults and kids that gave what ltitle money they had for donations and medical supplies. We should never forget this, no. But I hope that soon people can put it behind them and get on with their lives, and work to make sure nothing like that happens again. |
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"Star Spangled Banner" Oh say can you see,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars
And the rockets' red glare,
Oh, say does that star-spangled
"America" My country tis of thee
Land where my fathers died
--- "America the Beautiful" Oh beautiful for spacious skies
America, America,
--- "God Bless America" God Bless America,
From the mountains, to the prairies,
--- "This Land is Your Land" This land is your land
--- "Taps" (To honor those that died) Day is done
All is well,
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I saw a bumper sticker once: "I love my country, but I fear my government". That is still true...somewhat. I was once told that everything I liked pointed towards me being anti-establishment, which was odd since I wanted to be a cop at the time also. But I do want to say that I admire Bush for how he's handled the situation so far. He has my respect. I think that bin Laden, and whoever else is responsible for the September 11th attacks needs to be shot like a dog. it think the Taliban and its beliefs suck, but even worse is someone who will kill thousands of innocent people just because they hate the country. Such cowards should be tortured and left to die. If the anthrax popping up here and there is from the terrorists as well, then even more reason for their deaths. Not only can that kill adults, but it can kill children as well, and that is UNFORGIVABLE. Always. And again, how cowardly get you get? I disagree with the out and out bombing of Afghanistan, since that's dangerous stuff. But at least they're not bombing the whole country. If they pulled another Hiroshima, and killed children and other innocent people, I am not sure what I'd do. Probably defect. I admire how the country has pulled together. For a while, people were treating others like humans beings, not like assholes. It's slipping back to normal now, unfortunately. People being jerks when they're driving, glaring at people that smile at them. That makes me very sad. Does it really take a disaster that kills thousands to make people act like human beings? And even then, can we not hold that attitude for more than a month? One thing I would like to see is the American people, no matter where they;re from or what language they speak, coming togethr again, because we're a country. We're brothers and sisters. Is it really that difficult to be nice? I was impressed, though. I expected people to panic, and go nuts. Riots, and the like. Kind of what some people did when anticipating the "dreaded" Y2K bug, freak out and start buying generators, and pulling their money out of the bank accounts. They didn't. They gave blood and medical supplies. I went to Hy-Vee (local grocery store) to get some gauze because they had a donation stand outside, and they were all out. It's things like that that restore my faith in human kind after some jerk-off does something out of pure mean spirit, to dampen that faith. That night we all were to hold candles? I went home from work down one of the main streets of the city, and saw people of all kinds in little groups standing along the road with candles, some hand in hand, some just standing close together. Black, white, Mexican...all kinds. It was cold and rainy, but they came out anyway to show their support and love. That's another kind of thing that keeps me from thiking we're totally lost. It's too bad we can't always do that. It wasn't so hard. That concert for America...that was one hell of an event from what I hear. And all of the procedes to the relief funds. Awesome. My thoguhts go with the people that put that on. Mostly, my support and respect goes to the firemen and the rescue teams that came to help when the Trade Center was felled. My admiration from them is too much to put into words. Even for a writer, some things are beyond the written (or spoken) word. 10-28-00 I saw something today that jacked my respect for Bush up a great deal. A fund for Afghanistan's children. Here is the web site. Fund The children there are in my thoughts a lot and I hope that life gets better for them. Another thing I remembered that torques me off is people are are capitalizing on the America and unity stuff. Car dealers, mostly. That's sick. I think that anyone that uses such a thing to make money should be shoved into a really cold stream... I've seen billboards with "God Bless America" or the like on it, with a company's name, and that's cool, it's a greeting from that company. But not people who use it for advertising. |
Others' Thoughts:
This is dedicated to various things I have come across that spoke to my heart. First and foremost, one hell of a little story that my cousin wrote, about the day I mentioned where everyone was holding their candles. At the risk of sounding mushy, it's probably the most beautiful thing I've read in a long time. I swear it made me cry. "Candles for Peace" ...So I get off work about 15 minutes early because it’s terribly slow and I was in about 15 minutes early anyway. It’s about 7:45. I’m walking to my car and I realize I am hearing all these honks and beeps from the street at the bottom of the parking lot. Then I see the people lined up along the side of the road. I walk down to see what’s going on. Almost all of them are holding candles. Many of them are waving American flags. I turn and pelt back to my car, get out the small flag I put in it a day ago, then trot back up to my grocery store. As the fates would have it, the aisle I walk into is the one where the candles are stocked. I chose a small red taper and stand as patiently in line as I can manage to pay for it, then run back down to the sidewalk beside the road. My little flag is old; it has a hole in the corner of the blue field. I slip the candle into the hole; a perfect fit. The flag drapes catty-corner to where my hand is on the taper. I beg a light from a woman standing nearby; she happily obliges. A few minutes later, a small family of Orientals comes up to me, and in faltering English, as if they can light their small tealights from my taper. How pleased I am to return the favor! The cars stream past; some drivers leaning on their horns, some tapping and tooting a few times. A policeman drives past and wails his siren a few times. A mack truck driver blows his air horn. The horns are like music, a symphony of joy and pride. We are proud of our country, we are proud to be Americans. We are united. Drivers wave to the crowds on the sidewalk; the crowds wave back. A man on the center median is waving a big Old Glory, the one with the half-circle of stars in the blue field. A man and woman come up nearby; the man has a bandanna of the flag wrapped around his head. Two young men ask if they can take his picture for their small newspaper, then tell him the web address it might be on. People shout out the windows of a car on the opposite side of the median, "USA!!" The evening breeze is rising; it plays with the flame of my candle, sometimes nearly guttering it. I cup my hand around the flame to shelter it, and I feel the warmth. I remember a line from a song: "Freedom’s light burning warm." I look at the flickering candle, sometimes burning bright and steady, sometimes fading under the wind, and I think, that’s us. We are the flame. The wind has risen; it has tried to extinguish us, but we shelter our fire, we risk burning our fingers to preserve the flame of freedom, and the flame steadies and grows strong. We're all waiting, we're all wondering what's next. We're divided over what to do, what not to do. Some of us are worrying about people. Some of us are grieving for people. But together, we are strong. Together, we burn bright. --- Give the American people a good cause, and there's nothing they can't lick. (John Wayne, 10/85) --- There are those who say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American Dream. (Archibald MacLeish, "A Continuing Journey" 7/87)
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