62 years ago this week, at the end of World War 2, the then President of the USA, Harry S. Truman, authorised use of atomic weapons against Japan after its refusal to surrender in accordance with the Potsdam Declaration.
Harry S. Truman was born May 8, 1884 in Lamar, Missouri. At the time of the bombings, 6 and 9 August 1945, according to my ephemeris, transiting Saturn at 18 Cancer sextiled his natal Sun, transiting Mars at 9 Gemini was conjunct natal Saturn and transiting Pluto at 9 Leo sextiled natal Saturn. Transiting Uranus at 16 Gemini sextiled natal Mars. All the planets traditionally thought of as "malefic" were closely involved with the President's natal chart on those fateful dates.
Harry S. Truman had been Vice President for less than three months when President Roosevelt died. Shortly after taking the oath of office, Truman said to reporters:
"Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now. I don't know if you fellas ever had a load of hay fall on you, but when they told me what happened yesterday, I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me."
It seems to us, looking back 62 years later, that they had indeed fallen on him, carrying with them a heavy load of terrible and terrifying responsibility.
HIROSHIMA:
* At 8:15 am on August 6, 1945, an American B-29 Superfortress bomber Enola Gay dropped a 10,000-pound uranium 235 bomb on Hiroshima, instantly killing about 78,000 people. By the end of 1945, the number of dead had reached about 140,000 out of an estimated population of 350,000.
* The bomb, nicknamed "Little Boy," exploded about 600 metres above the centre of the city, setting off a surge of heat reaching 4,000 degrees Celsius across a radius of about 4.5 km.
NAGASAKI:
* Three days later, at 11:02 am on August 9, 1945, the United States dropped a 10,000-pound plutonium-239 bomb, nicknamed "Fat Man", on Nagasaki. Continued...
* It exploded about 500 metres above the ground, instantly killing about 27,000 of the city's estimated population of around 200,000. By the end of 1945, the number of dead due to acute radiation exposure reached about 70,000.
These anniversaries come as a stark reminder to us, at a time when talk of further warfare in Iran is being bandied about with such ease that it could refer to picking strawberries. THIS is where war leads us. We must never forget it.
I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. (Albert Einstein)
Harry S. Truman was born May 8, 1884 in Lamar, Missouri. At the time of the bombings, 6 and 9 August 1945, according to my ephemeris, transiting Saturn at 18 Cancer sextiled his natal Sun, transiting Mars at 9 Gemini was conjunct natal Saturn and transiting Pluto at 9 Leo sextiled natal Saturn. Transiting Uranus at 16 Gemini sextiled natal Mars. All the planets traditionally thought of as "malefic" were closely involved with the President's natal chart on those fateful dates.
Harry S. Truman had been Vice President for less than three months when President Roosevelt died. Shortly after taking the oath of office, Truman said to reporters:
"Boys, if you ever pray, pray for me now. I don't know if you fellas ever had a load of hay fall on you, but when they told me what happened yesterday, I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me."
It seems to us, looking back 62 years later, that they had indeed fallen on him, carrying with them a heavy load of terrible and terrifying responsibility.
HIROSHIMA:
* At 8:15 am on August 6, 1945, an American B-29 Superfortress bomber Enola Gay dropped a 10,000-pound uranium 235 bomb on Hiroshima, instantly killing about 78,000 people. By the end of 1945, the number of dead had reached about 140,000 out of an estimated population of 350,000.
* The bomb, nicknamed "Little Boy," exploded about 600 metres above the centre of the city, setting off a surge of heat reaching 4,000 degrees Celsius across a radius of about 4.5 km.
NAGASAKI:
* Three days later, at 11:02 am on August 9, 1945, the United States dropped a 10,000-pound plutonium-239 bomb, nicknamed "Fat Man", on Nagasaki. Continued...
* It exploded about 500 metres above the ground, instantly killing about 27,000 of the city's estimated population of around 200,000. By the end of 1945, the number of dead due to acute radiation exposure reached about 70,000.
These anniversaries come as a stark reminder to us, at a time when talk of further warfare in Iran is being bandied about with such ease that it could refer to picking strawberries. THIS is where war leads us. We must never forget it.
I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. (Albert Einstein)
I have always admired Harry S. Truman, not for what he did but because he always took responsibility for what he did. For a man who had to make one of the largest and saddest decisions in the history of mankind, that is pretty serious responsibility.
ReplyDeleteWe just don’t have that integrity in our leadership today. We see decisions for personal gain daily with the responsibility for the outcome always blamed on a scapegoat. We see decisions that will cause far and away more destruction to humanity than could be dreamt in Truman’s day.
Okay. That’s enough. The cobra is back in the basket.
Agreed, anyjazz.
ReplyDeleteI see only one person on the 2008 presidential candidates' list whose integrity I'd be willing to bet on, but it appears not many others can see him. His name is Dennis Kucinich.
Bring on the cobras to wake 'em up at the back there!!
No offense, but I have more chance to be The Next President of the United States than Dennis Kucinich. Despite moral indignation, the Modern Age public really doesn't want anyone in office with more integrity than they have. Why else do they chide and condemn Jimmy Carter but put Ronnie Reagan on a pedistal? Or am I being too cynical?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure, TNPOTUS. Maybe you are right. Or maybe members of the American public are too willing to take on board what mainstream media want them to take on board.
ReplyDeleteThe big money the top 3 candidates (Clinton, Obama and Edwards) have to throw around in their campaign has come from somewhere - somewhere "with strings attached". Until all candidates can compete on that "level playing field" with public funded elections, there'll be no justice.
It's being said by many that all America will get with any of the top 3 will be "Republican Lite". Anything'll be better than what we've got at present, but Republican Lite still sounds fairly scary to me. :-)