On A Pale Horse

A few years ago when I was finishing up my worthless Bacholors Degree at Walsh College I had a finance teacher who was, at the very least, interesting. He had been a business man for many years, part of that time working in the oil fields of Saudi Arabia and had plenty of stories that he was willing to share. Part of his required reading included George Orwells 1984 and Balint Vazsonyi's Americans 30 Year War. The book written by a Hungarian immigrant and paralled some of the things that have been happening in America to the things he witnessed in Eastern Europe before his immigration. Interesting book, I highly recommend it to anyone that I get into a political conversation with, especially these days.

Vice Admiral Fredrick "Dick" Ashworth was a weaponer aboard the bomber that dropped the a nuclear bomb over Nagasaki August 9, 1945. The bomb devastated the area and is the cause of an estimated 60,000 to 80,000 deaths. It was a horrible, horrible event in WW2 but was one of many reasons that the War was quickly brought to an end.

War stinks no matter what you say. Dropping bombs on innocent people is horrible way to show power. But to forget about this event such as this would be sickening. On May 18, 1998 the Enola Gay exhibit, the first plane to drop a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, was discontinued at the Smithsonian Institute. The cancellation was brought on by a number of reasons (googling picked up plenty) that pretty much boiled down to being 'politically incorrect'. Thankfully the exhibit and the plane was moved to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center and will hopfully be up for a long time to come. It's been often said that to forget the past is to repeat it. It seems like a lot of information is lost now a days thanks to commercial media. If we can keep events like this in mind we can overcome and surpass our predecessors.

Ashworth was born in Beverly, Mass., and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1933. He passed away on December 6th while undergoing heart surgery.

1912 - December 3, 2005
RIP

Labels: 1912 births, 2005 December deaths, historical, military, surgery

This ex-con turned writer was best known as Mr.Blue in Quentin Tarentino's 1992 classic "Reservoir Dogs". At the age of seventeen he became an inmate in Californias SanQuentin prison, later due to a parole violation he was listed on the FBI's most wanted list which landed him for a stretch in Folsom prison. His last stint in prison he spent writing "No Beast So Fierce" which caught the eye of Tarintino. His post prison life included writing other novels, writing a screenplay which he was nominated for an Academy Award, and acting. His latest role was as Skitchy Rivers in the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard.

RIP
December 31, 1933 - July 19, 2005

Labels: 1933 births, 2005 July deaths, actor, author, surgery