The first Holocaust Memorial...

... finally opened in Germany today, after 60 years. I can't imagine what it must be like to struggle with the knowledge that your nation built the concentration camps, that they made incinerators to put people in...

Truly, the U.S. too has much to be ashamed off...
Can we wash this blood off of our hands and begin again?
Or are we like Macbeth,
having reached the top
only to wait for our new enemies
to take their vengeance...

I am ashamed, as a human being,
that war has ever happened,
and that we allow ourselves
to believe that we are better than others,
that we deserve what we have,
even if we acquire it by
dominating, enslaving, murdering
fellow members of humanity.

I believe that selfishness
has a very long half-life...
that cruelty will perpetuate itself
for generations and generations,
if someone doesn't stop and say

"I take responsibilty for what I do.
I will not hurt others,
even though I have been hurt.
And I will not hate,
even though I have been taught to hate."

Let's let that someone be us.

The song of the day
is Oh Very Young
by Cat Stevens

Oh, very young, what will you leave us this time?
You're only dancin' on this earth for a short while
And though your dreams may toss and turn you now
They will vanish away like your daddy's best jeans
Denim blue, faded up to the sky
And though you want them to last forever
You know they never will...you know they never will
And the patches make the goodbye harder still

Oh, very young, what will you leave us this time?
There'll never be a better chance to change your mind
And if you want this world to see a better day
Will you carry the words of love with you?
Will you ride the great white bird into heaven?
And though you want to last forever
You know you never will...you know you never will
And the goodbye makes the journey harder still
Will you carry the words of love with you?
Will you ride, oh, ooh

Oh, very young, what will you leave us this time?
You're only dancin' on this earth for a short while
Oh, very young, what will you leave us this time?