Tuesday, August 23, 2016
[1785 - Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, US Naval Officer, Great Lakes hero, born near Wakefield, Rhode Island]
[1833 - Great Britain abolishes slavery in its colonies]
[1869 - Edgar Lee Masters, poet, born in Garnett, Kansas]
[1912 - Gene (Eugene Curran) Kelly, dancer, actor, choreographer, director, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]
[1925 - Robert Patrick Mulligan, director, born in The Bronx, New York]
[1960 - Oscar Hammerstein II, librettist, dies at age 65]
[1970 - River (Jude) Phoenix (Bottom), actor, musician, born in Metolius, Oregon]
[1989 Yusuf Hawkins, 16, is shot to death by 30 whites in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn]
That most men (and a growing number of women) are capable of killing their fellow beings does not surprise me. After all, in the evolution of the race those who were incapable of murder experienced a survival disadvantage. What does depress me is that as a species we have been so successful in justifying the carnage in terms of necessity, revenge, religion, greed, economic circumstance, justice, security, racial or ethnic purity, or what ever happens to be the currently fashionable esoteric explanation.
William's Whimsical Words:
The list of justifications is not new, but their scope seems to be constantly expanding.
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