General Politics Discussion (X) [ARCHIVED] • Page 1363

He's starting to sound like a parody of himself. He sounds exactly like that dude on SNL.

 

Rare homestate W

 

From what I’ve seen Issue 1 could’ve been unpopular for many reasons, it went pretty far not just in the vote threshold but also just getting something on the ballot. Anecdotal, but I saw a lot of conservatives against it because of the difficulty it makes getting an initiative to a vote. It’s a decent sign it failed and thank god it didn’t pass because ballot initiatives are the only way to get good laws passed here, but the real test on abortion in this state comes in November.

 

Hear hear! Really proud of Ohio tonight.

 

Sorry in advance for the long post.

It’s 08/9 and that ends the 3-day anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

I went on a personal trek to Hiroshima earlier year this to pay my respects and go to the museum. It was incredibly bizarre. Not only was I surprise at how cold it was, but the walk to the Genbaku Dome was quite far from Hiroshima station. During the entire walk you would never have guessed the city was once laid waste by the most fearsome weapon of killing ever invented. It seemed as if many of the buildings and streets had been in their place for as long as buildings and streets in Uji or Osaka.

The dome itself appears without many signs pointing to its location so I stumbled upon it with some surprise. Seeing it in person was actually sort of beautiful. Although it is one of the few witnesses of the bomb that had a large portion of its structure still standing, and is therefore a testament of time and agony, it felt like a symbol of endurance, hope, and assurance that tomorrow always comes. Altogether there was also a sense of awe to be standing next to a structure that had seen the peak of Hiroshima during the War, its destruction, and its revival.

While both Japanese nationals and foreigners were taking photos, I realized it was the foreigners who appeared to be more serious. Some nationals (most likely not locals but from other areas in Japan) were taking photos with smiles or peace signs as if they were at a national monument.

The museum itself was more daunting and while there are 4 main museums, including one that had a record of all the lives lost and a panoramic photo of the entire city a few months after the bombing, and another with a basement still in the condition it was in on the evening of August 8th - papers, books, tools, and all, it was the the main museum that left most people around me with tears or their eyes or bawling.

Half pieces of clothes due to the other half being burned into the skin of victims, horrific portraits of eye witness accounts, journals and photos of those who succumbed to radiation sickness, and photos of a lot of school children still walking to and attending class in schools that had no windows or walls - all with some sort of burn or cut to show what they had experienced and yet most of them were still smiling and laughing.

At the end of it no one shared any hatred of the bombs or the US. I’m not sure if it was because the views embodied the idea of “what’s done is done” or they simply had no energy left to be mad, but the general consensus is that the outlook is towards the future. Towards a day where all nuclear weapons will be dismantled and the threat of another Hiroshima and Nagasaki happening is back to fantasy and no longer a reality.

Below are some photos I took while visiting.

Genbaku Dome



Memorial for Korean Victims - which totaled around 20,000 in the Hiroshima bombing




The Peace Flame, which has been lit since 1964 and will remain lit until all nuclear weapons are destroyed. A Cenotaph which reads "please rest in peace, for [we/they] shall not repeat the error." In Japanese, the sentence's subject is omitted, thus it could be interpreted as either "[we] shall not repeat the error" or as "[they] shall not repeat the error". This was intended to memorialize the victims of Hiroshima without politicizing the issue.

 

photoshopped

 

?

 

“Notice me, senpai!”

 

Big oof, but it’s no surprise that it’s a group in Kaohsiung, which historically has been an outlier due to its older population. Most have relatives who have lived there since the 1700s and either don’t relate to or don’t tolerate families who arrived after the Civil War. Having a group there that celebrates volunteers of the Japanese Empire is still slightly surprising, but not too much.

Very Stockholm Syndrome. A bunch of old timers who need to feel relevant one last time.

 

ah fuck.

 

A crowd of people rushing into shark infested waters at dusk. Big nope.

 

Is this just yet another lead poisoning chart basically?

 

probably

 

I went snorkeling there and saw some dope fish and a turtle. Also whales! But no sharks

 

That’s reassuring. Hopefully those that had to flee only run into turtles.

Or the noise causes any sharks in the area to leave