It is beyond dreadful. And one of the Australian familes who lost someone also lost people in the the other Malaysian plane which (we assume) went down. Sometimes life is soooo unfair.
That Putin has got blood on his hands. Is his first name Ras? I bow my head for the lost ones and for those they have left behind. Have we learnt nothing?
Yeah, I think you have it, at least close. WW1 was a tidewater moment for the UK; you lost most of the best of a generation, some of the brightest people in the world, Winfred Owen one example, died. Many towns and villages lost all the men that were 17 to 35. It was also the beginning of the end to Empire.....it culminated at the Malta Conference in 1944, when Churchill was excluded from some decisions. England's empire ended with a bang, so to speak: WW2. Ours, the US, seems to be ending with a whimper. Personally I prefer the whimper, there will be fewer lives lost, less dislocation if we just go away quietly. Brooke....yeah, he was cool. Apparently he went skinny-dipping with Virgina Woolf. He get's my vote.
Feel so sad for the victims and their families. Sunflower fields used to be a symbol of happiness to me - but will now forever be a reminder of this dreadful event.
And to see ex-commie Vlad P last night cosying up to his Russian Orthodox cleric-pals at a religious ceremony, even lighting candles to a being he doesn't believe in, was toadying of the worst kind. To expect him to do something like assiduously trying to get to the plain, brutal truth of what happened and how, which could show up Russia in a bad light is hoping against hope. That man will do ANYTHING to stay in power.
Putin seems to be trying to outdo the insane Kims of North Korea in his insane drive for power and his increasingly vicious attempts to assert his brand of virility. My heart goes out to the families of those who were killed.
I shouldn't think that anyone can seriously blame Putin DIRECTLY for this unspeakable act - and few of us have enough knowledge to say with certainty that it was a consequence of his pro-Ukrainian-rebels policies, though for an outsider like me it's hard to dismiss it without evidence to the contrary. But I do look forward to watching Putin's pronouncements over coming days in demonstrating his determination to do all in his power to get to the bottom of it. I hear that already the kow-towing Russian media are pinning the blame squarely on the Ukrainian government for actually having been the ones who shot the plane down. Let's see if Putin remains neutral in attitude, and puts pressure on the rebels to allow international investigators complete access to crash site and military hardware and records. But I'm not holding my breath.
Raybeard, you are looking "forward to watching Putin's pronouncements" in days to come. He'll be fine. Trouble is, and why I am glad I didn't follow my initial calling (namely to go into politics), politicians do have to tie themselves into knots. Some so tight you can'd undo them. And I know all about knots (I went to sailing school at an impressionable age - and yes, don't ask, I did manage to nearly sink the dinghy first time I was at the helm and knock myself out when the sail swung).).
And then there is that awful "the bucket stops here". Who wants to be a leader when you can just be a follower and pour manure at someone else's doorstep?. I have little evidence yet believe Putin a shrewd operator (as is Angela Merkel) and therefore put my trust in him. Hope my last sentence won't go viral. I'll be dust.
I'd certainly agree that Putin is shrewd, Botb, but I wouldn't trust him further than I can reach. Trouble is that from this perspective it looks so plain that, like virtually ALL politicians from any country, his primary motivation is self-preservation, only with Putin it's writ LARGE, and too often shrugged away by saying that he's a supreme pragmatist. (So that makes it okay, then!). I'd also add that I personally hold no brief of support for the Ukrainian government either. I don't know if, like Putin and his supporters, they are allowing far-right groups and supporters (often with the tacit, if not express, support of their Church) to engage in vile thuggery and coercion, but I wouldn't be in the least surprised if they are just as guilty. I just don't know. But the news about this plane crash is being updated almost hourly so no one knows which way it'll go. Whoever was to blame I can't believe, and don't want to believe, that it was done deliberately. But it's getting to look that we may never get to the true answer with stories of evidence being destroyed or removed..
Btw: It seems that your not going into politics was our loss. You argue with a refreshing cogency, knots and dinghy near-accidents notwithstanding. ;-)
Elsewhere- vreselijk, schokkend en bijna onbegrijpbaar. Ken veel mensen die regematig naar KL gingen met deze vlucht [leraren op Shell scholen] Voor zover ik weet allemaal veilig.
Brilliant comment John - poppies replacing sunflowers in this instances - sunflowers, flowers of joy - suddenly producing such images of horror. Man's inhumanity - it will never end. It is so easy to be at the firing end of such a destroyer - and then giving no thought to what is on the receiving end. So many young people, at the start of their lives, and now those lives snuffed out by some stupid dispute over a few miles of land. I despair.
My overwhelming feeling is the fact that if conscious, these people were seeing all these sunflowers as they fell out of the sky.......must have been very confusing for them. I just can't understand the shooting down of this plane. It will haunt me for a long time, like 9/11 the images stay with you. My heart goes out to all who have lost someone and all their friends and family. xxx
I am slightly annoyed by the actions of my next door neighbour, I am rather more annoyed by the actions of someone at work, however I do not intend to procure missiles to destroy my neighbour, nor will I be strapping explosives to my body to go to work on Monday.
I am at a loss to understand the reason to shoot innocent people out of the sky... I have read that crap about military plane etc .... so what was to be gained by murdering the innocent. Sunflowers are flowers of joy... but no longer, I am haunted by this very act of terror. My sincere condolences to everyone who has suffered a loss because of this despicable action.
'Things' in our world have begun to unravel. Time to get things back to where this couldn't possibly ever happen again. And only we can make that change happen. What is the matter with all of us, collectively? Just stand by and say how awful all this tragedy is and do and not expect anything from the powers that be.
100 scientists researching HIV/AIDS killed. Some goons, pursuing a petty regional conflict with the blessing of an egotistical, power-hungry thug, did incalculable damage to the global community. This loss will reverberate for decades.
I still haven't wrapped my head around the enormity of it all to be able to post about it.
I'm outraged, sad and disgusted. They are only now putting the bodies into refrigerated train cars. My heart goes out to the families. The zealots of this world cause such pain.
It's gut wrenching. I keep seeing them enveloped by sunflowers.
ReplyDeleteThat image kind of haunted me too joanne
DeleteIt is beyond dreadful. And one of the Australian familes who lost someone also lost people in the the other Malaysian plane which (we assume) went down. Sometimes life is soooo unfair.
ReplyDeleteThat Putin has got blood on his hands. Is his first name Ras? I bow my head for the lost ones and for those they have left behind. Have we learnt nothing?
ReplyDeleteWhat a great price paid for the stupidity of a power struggle.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think you have it, at least close. WW1 was a tidewater moment for the UK; you lost most of the best of a generation, some of the brightest people in the world, Winfred Owen one example, died. Many towns and villages lost all the men that were 17 to 35. It was also the beginning of the end to Empire.....it culminated at the Malta Conference in 1944, when Churchill was excluded from some decisions.
ReplyDeleteEngland's empire ended with a bang, so to speak: WW2. Ours, the US, seems to be ending with a whimper. Personally I prefer the whimper, there will be fewer lives lost, less dislocation if we just go away quietly.
Brooke....yeah, he was cool. Apparently he went skinny-dipping with Virgina Woolf. He get's my vote.
Tragic beyond words. When will we ever stop killing each other.....
ReplyDeleteBastards!
ReplyDeleteFeel so sad for the victims and their families. Sunflower fields used to be a symbol of happiness to me - but will now forever be a reminder of this dreadful event.
ReplyDeleteSad and dreadful beyond belief.
ReplyDeleteAnd to see ex-commie Vlad P last night cosying up to his Russian Orthodox cleric-pals at a religious ceremony, even lighting candles to a being he doesn't believe in, was toadying of the worst kind. To expect him to do something like assiduously trying to get to the plain, brutal truth of what happened and how, which could show up Russia in a bad light is hoping against hope. That man will do ANYTHING to stay in power.
ReplyDeletePutin seems to be trying to outdo the insane Kims of North Korea in his insane drive for power and his increasingly vicious attempts to assert his brand of virility. My heart goes out to the families of those who were killed.
ReplyDeleteOf course it's terrible.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do question those who put all the blame on Putin. The idea that one man pulls all the strings is, frankly, a little naive.
U
I shouldn't think that anyone can seriously blame Putin DIRECTLY for this unspeakable act - and few of us have enough knowledge to say with certainty that it was a consequence of his pro-Ukrainian-rebels policies, though for an outsider like me it's hard to dismiss it without evidence to the contrary. But I do look forward to watching Putin's pronouncements over coming days in demonstrating his determination to do all in his power to get to the bottom of it. I hear that already the kow-towing Russian media are pinning the blame squarely on the Ukrainian government for actually having been the ones who shot the plane down. Let's see if Putin remains neutral in attitude, and puts pressure on the rebels to allow international investigators complete access to crash site and military hardware and records. But I'm not holding my breath.
DeleteRaybeard, you are looking "forward to watching Putin's pronouncements" in days to come. He'll be fine. Trouble is, and why I am glad I didn't follow my initial calling (namely to go into politics), politicians do have to tie themselves into knots. Some so tight you can'd undo them. And I know all about knots (I went to sailing school at an impressionable age - and yes, don't ask, I did manage to nearly sink the dinghy first time I was at the helm and knock myself out when the sail swung).).
DeleteAnd then there is that awful "the bucket stops here". Who wants to be a leader when you can just be a follower and pour manure at someone else's doorstep?. I have little evidence yet believe Putin a shrewd operator (as is Angela Merkel) and therefore put my trust in him. Hope my last sentence won't go viral. I'll be dust.
U
I'd certainly agree that Putin is shrewd, Botb, but I wouldn't trust him further than I can reach. Trouble is that from this perspective it looks so plain that, like virtually ALL politicians from any country, his primary motivation is self-preservation, only with Putin it's writ LARGE, and too often shrugged away by saying that he's a supreme pragmatist. (So that makes it okay, then!).
DeleteI'd also add that I personally hold no brief of support for the Ukrainian government either. I don't know if, like Putin and his supporters, they are allowing far-right groups and supporters (often with the tacit, if not express, support of their Church) to engage in vile thuggery and coercion, but I wouldn't be in the least surprised if they are just as guilty. I just don't know.
But the news about this plane crash is being updated almost hourly so no one knows which way it'll go. Whoever was to blame I can't believe, and don't want to believe, that it was done deliberately. But it's getting to look that we may never get to the true answer with stories of evidence being destroyed or removed..
Btw: It seems that your not going into politics was our loss. You argue with a refreshing cogency, knots and dinghy near-accidents notwithstanding. ;-)
Makes me want to leave the race....
ReplyDeleteMe too. Here, in the Netherlands, the shock and mourning is so vast. Almost all of us know someone that knows someone that lost someone.
DeleteElsewhere- vreselijk, schokkend en bijna onbegrijpbaar. Ken veel mensen die regematig naar KL gingen met deze vlucht [leraren op Shell scholen] Voor zover ik weet allemaal veilig.
DeleteEls.........sending you and your country ( if that's possible) my deepest sympathy x
ReplyDeleteI'd second that, Els. Horrible, truly horrible beyond description. Profound condolences to your country and especially to those bearing a loss.
DeleteThought about it all day yesterday. 100 children on board. Beyond comprehension.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant comment John - poppies replacing sunflowers in this instances - sunflowers, flowers of joy - suddenly producing such images of horror. Man's inhumanity - it will never end. It is so easy to be at the firing end of such a destroyer - and then giving no thought to what is on the receiving end. So many young people, at the start of their lives, and now those lives snuffed out by some stupid dispute over a few miles of land. I despair.
ReplyDeleteMy overwhelming feeling is the fact that if conscious, these people were seeing all these sunflowers as they fell out of the sky.......must have been very confusing for them. I just can't understand the shooting down of this plane. It will haunt me for a long time, like 9/11 the images stay with you.
ReplyDeleteMy heart goes out to all who have lost someone and all their friends and family. xxx
I am slightly annoyed by the actions of my next door neighbour, I am rather more annoyed by the actions of someone at work, however I do not intend to procure missiles to destroy my neighbour, nor will I be strapping explosives to my body to go to work on Monday.
ReplyDeleteFor annoyed read incandescent.
DeleteHistory has taught nothing.....complete bastards. The horrific pain.
ReplyDeleteI am at a loss to understand the reason to shoot innocent people out of the sky... I have read that crap about military plane etc .... so what was to be gained by murdering the innocent. Sunflowers are flowers of joy... but no longer, I am haunted by this very act of terror. My sincere condolences to everyone who has suffered a loss because of this despicable action.
ReplyDeleteJo in Auckland, NZ
'Things' in our world have begun to unravel. Time to get things back to where this couldn't possibly ever happen again. And only we can make that change happen. What is the matter with all of us, collectively? Just stand by and say how awful all this tragedy is and do and not expect anything from the powers that be.
ReplyDelete100 scientists researching HIV/AIDS killed. Some goons, pursuing a petty regional conflict with the blessing of an egotistical, power-hungry thug, did incalculable damage to the global community. This loss will reverberate for decades.
ReplyDeleteI still haven't wrapped my head around the enormity of it all to be able to post about it.
I'm outraged, sad and disgusted. They are only now putting the bodies into refrigerated train cars. My heart goes out to the families. The zealots of this world cause such pain.
ReplyDeleteGoodness...it looks like Kansas. Such a sad situation over there.
ReplyDeleteJust so stupid and sad. Why do humans insist on killing each other? :( Those poor people.
ReplyDelete