Comments on: Op-ed

By: Charlie (Colorado)

Charlie (Colorado) — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 01:13:30 +0000

We are done for the day. Itâ€™s been fun!
Yes Virginia, there is a war!

What?

By: Jersey Exile

Jersey Exile — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 18:54:13 +0000

We obsess because we are the ones with the power. I don’t really see that as narcissism, but as a responsible reaction to suddenly finding ourselves (at that time) the sole possessors of and to this day the only to wield the most destructive technology ever devised by Mankind. If it is “myopic, self-congratulatory narcissism” that has kept us from nuking another country since then, well then I hope we remain that way, thank you very much.

It is interesting that we are lauding the Japanese for moving on and forgetting this particular episode in their history, especially in the light of Japan’s increasing “forgetfulness” of its own past atrocities during World War II. While there’s nothing wrong with focusing on the future instead of miring oneself in past grievances, surely there is a place for acknowledging history in a manner that is honest and unflinching.

By: W. James Au

W. James Au — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 17:52:59 +0000

Ito’s essay is a fascinating splash of cold water. In the runup to the 60th anniversary of the bombing, Americans spend copious time morally obsessing, but ask one of Japan’s young thought leaders about the subject, and the whole thing merits– a shrug. Many US critics of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombing think they’re engaging in spiritually enlightened self-examination, but much of it is really strikes me as myopic, self-congratulatory narcissism.

On a larger scale, it suggests to me that obsessive American self-criticism is really on the same coin as obsessive pro-American boosterism. Either we’re the center of all progress and democractic advancement, or we’re the center of all evil and corruption– the main thing, for both sides, is that we’re the center.

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 15:46:40 +0000

We are done for the day. It’s been fun!
Yes Virginia, there is a war!

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 15:40:08 +0000

Do one thing and do it very well. Global Google is all over the place. Search, social software, news, new age journalism, Current TV and who knows what. This is how people are thinking and writing. 50 people write one story and you can’t verify who placed what in where. That used to be called propaganda, now it’s just new age or something feel good. Look at the mess. Love or hate Microsoft they did one thing well, software. Now it’s all about doing no evil, while your servers are steaming porn on a global scale and making another billion dollars off of collective stupidity being identified as collective security. We went from Atomic bombing to Google bombing in 60 years. What progress. Maybe we can have a big world party and all write a letter to Santa and tell him we all want the same thing next Christmas. The morons will complain that Santa is radical and not to be trusted. The political hacks will jail Santa, because he doesn’t turn over his list that he is checking twice.

By: Duneview

Duneview — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 15:16:22 +0000

Google — IRC channels — Socialtext software.

This is not your father’s research, but a fascinating display of the tools available at the dawn of new age in journalism.

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 15:00:45 +0000

The bomb ended the war. If there was more wisdom in this world, it would of ended war once and for all. That is a big part of the failure of our global institutions. I have no faith in the UN. The political left has held the UN up as an example for a better world. The UN failures are what made the situation in Iraq possible. It’s easier to blame the US and UK than it is to face reality. I guess world government didn’t work out. It’s more like world corruption.