I think that it's important to go places like The American Military Museum even though it is hard.  I felt a lot of mixed emotions when I left: sad, proud, unsure, thankful, worried...  I saw a photo of a 17-year-old American soldier from World War II, and realized that I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to put myself in his shoes at age 23, let alone at 17.  I admire the bravery and strength of all of those who fought, and I tried to imagine how hard it must be to come back from any war and try to resume a "normal" life.  I felt proud of my grandpa, who fought in World War II, and of my uncle, who was in Vietnam.

  And united we stand...

I got to thinking about war a lot, and agree that if we (general public back home) had been more informed about what was going on during WWs I & II and had seen pictures, videos, etc. we wouldn't have been so supportive.  Today war is creating huge divisions within our country, while back then it brought us together.  That sense of unity and patriotism is gone, or at least greatly reduced.  Looking back, though, I assume that most people would agree that we could not have stood aside and let Hitler continue.  So was it worth it even with all of the terrible things that happened?  Do the ends justify the means?  Today we are fighting against terrorism... but I'm not ignorant to other conditions that we found enticing enough to fight for.  Is the war against terrorism?  For oil?  Power?  I'm not as informed as I should be about the current war, but it's difficult when you're not really sure what you're fighting for, and when the media is only telling us half the story.  It's true that we've bombed the wrong places, killed innocent people, and done other unthinkable things.  But these are things that have always happened in war, as terrible as that sounds, and the only difference today is that technology exposes many of these things.  There are no clear answers for me regarding this war.  It's easy to say, "We never should have gotten involved, Bush is just an oil-hungry cowboy who's eager to fight."  I don't agree with Bush on most things, but at the same time he is still the president of my country, and it just seems wrong to not at least give our president that respect.  I just feel like it's another example of group thinking and going with the majority.  Getting into the war in the first place is another example of this.  I'm glad that we didn't not do anything after 9/11... and if we hadn't done anything people would have been mad too.  But how do we fight elusive terrorists?  And what are the "true" reasons why we're fighting this war?  What the hell is really going on over there?  How will we feel about this war years from now?  I agree that peace is better than war, but I think it's ignorant to think that holding up peace signs will shield us against bombs and guns.  Good intentions only go so far.  I don't think that you can reason with someone who holds so tightly to their religious beliefs that they are willing to die and kill for the cause.  You can't argue with religion, because people will not turn their backs on their deeply rooted beliefs just because some people (who aren't a part of your religion, and therefore don't know the "truth") don't want to fight anymore and think it's about time to negotiate.  It's not about peace and war when it comes to religion, the higher power, the greater good.  How do you negotiate with that?  War is terrible and should be avoided, but as long as there are people willing to fight us we would be dumb to disarm ourselves, throw up peace signs and be martyrs for this ideal world of peace...  So, that's my short war rant (lol... I hate online abbreviations like "lol" but it's that group/majority mentality...it got me!)

So speaking of "majority rules"/"group thinking," here's a little cartoon that relates to the Lessing reading.  So get your laugh on.  Just trying to lighten things up a bit...
  This You Tube video is about soldiers being redeployed after suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.  It seems it would take years of therapy to get over seeing the terrible things in war.  I feel like more should be done when soldiers come back but at the same time the stigmas and pride may keep soldiers from seeking help, and there's always the question of funding.  It's overwhelming sometimes when there's such a huge gray area with no straightforward answers or solutions.

  This is a 10-minute biography about Hemingway.  I didn't know anything about him or his life before watching this, and it made me appreciate he and his work a lot more.  I couldn't believe how many times he was married (I think 4 or 5) and how much he'd seen in his lifetime (soldier in WWI, witnessed D-Day landings in WWII, was in Cuba during revolution...).  He also went on African safaris, lived in Paris.  What awesome adventures!  I was excited that both Michigan & Florida were mentioned because I'm from Michigan and (obviously) now in Florida.  Always happy to hear about good ol' Michigan.  It's devastating how many great authors suffer from severe depression.  He lived such an incredible life yet still killed himself.  It breaks my heart to think of the internal pain that he must have suffered through all of his life, and I wish that he had gotten some relief...