Oddly enough, I was yesterday reading John Berger's book Hold Everything
Dear: Dispatches on Survival and Resistance (out in paperback so I can
afford it!) in which in a 2002 essay he speaks of the horrors of the A-bomb,
which he remembered when he watched the endless videos of the Twin Towers
attacks. "Both attacks," he says, "were planned as announcements...Watching
either, one knew that the world would never be the same again..."
Apparently General Groves, military director of the Manhattan Project, told
Congressmen that radiation caused "no undue suffering" and that "in fact,
they say it is a very nice way to die". (!!) Which surely takes the cake for
weasel words.
I was going to boycott the Olympics (like, anybody cares) but I couldn't
resist watching the opening ceremony. Which was eye-popping.
A
On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 8:40 AM, Kenneth Wolman <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> Stephen Vincent wrote:
>
>> Best poetry of the week? The opening ceremony at the Olympics.
>> Incroyable. I suspect that was/is the defining moment of the opening of the
>> 21st century. Wow. (Yes, there are all those other China issues - nice that
>> the USA does not hold claim on the 'issues" Torture, Bank Credit Bandits,
>> et al.)
>>
>
> Something else to remember today:
>
>
> http://bestiaire.typepad.com/moreau/2008/08/the-saddest-of-anniversaries.html
>
> KW
>
> --
> Ken Wolman http://bestiaire.typepad.com
> http://www.petsit.com/content317832.html
> -------------------
> If I wanted patience, I'd have gone to medical school.
>
--
Editor, Masthead: http://www.masthead.net.au
Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
Home page: http://www.alisoncroggon.com
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