Nagasaki

Went to Nagasaki this weekend. The site of the second atomic bomb. Going to museums here is such a different experience from America. In America, going into a museum can be sensory overload. In Japan, you get the traditional minimalism. Sometimes I wish Japanese museums simply had more.. more stuff. But you can't help getting the point.

Hundreds of thousands of lives lost. People who were simply in their homes nursing their babies, or students studying at school. While it is true that many of the children were evacuated from the cities during this time (I believe) there were still many victims (including some European prisoners of war) left who, if they didn't die immediately from the effects of the blast, were to die later of radiation sickness.

When are we all gonna learn to just get along? Is it that hard, folks? I don't know. I'm not trying to sound elitist here like I've got the golden ticket to peace or something. I mean, getting along with our friends, relatives and neighbors is work. But can't we do better than this?

I wonder what life must be like being a schoolkid or a housewife in Iraq right about now....