Representative Expression

It was my first time to Omaha beach and to say it was a very humbling experience is an understatement.

We had arrived towards the end of the years D-Day Remembrance 'celebrations' so there were quite a few visitors to the American D-Day Museum and Cemetery.

You've seen the films, read the book, watched the series on UK History, but nothing prepares you for the sheer scale of the place.

Standing at the top of the hill where 1000's if not more soldiers from both sides died leaves you with a rather dry lump in your throat.  Arriving at the top of the hill, you can only imagine the look of the awaiting German forces as they witnessed the mass of boats coming towards them.

When you are standing on the beach looking back up the hill, you can't even appreciate the nerves it must have taken to even get off the landing craft and attempt to attack the hill.

I believe the beach is 6.9miles long. The day we were there, there must have been less than 20 people visible along the whole beach.  It was so quiet, peaceful and there is absolutely no evidence of the action that took place some 63 years previous.

My two boys who are very interested in that era as most young boys are were visibly moved by what they saw.  It was no longer an Xbox game where they could hit 'restart' and the game would begin again when they "died".  This was reality for them.
In the museum at the top of the hill, you could sit and watch footage taken at the time of the landings.  They sat for ages listening to the real soldiers tell their own stories.  There was no glorification, no Hollywood spin applied.  It wasn't gory, nor horrific, but they left with tears forming in their eyes as did I.

I think every world leader, politician or in fact every man, woman and child should visit Omaha Beach, (or any of the Normandy Beaches or just any battlefield). 

They should be allowed to walk the cemeteries alone and consider what those who went before us gave up so that we may live in the name of peace. 
Yet when we look at events that are going on in the world today, do we really live in peace?
Is there any need for war and the death, destruction and misery it causes. 

I left Omaha Beach with more questions than answers. It taught me humility when I wasn't really expecting it.  Those who control, start or fuel wars are never the ones at the front line. I think if they were to see what really goes on, you'd would at least hope they would think twice about starting something that causes so much death and destruction.

I've served in the Royal Navy and am very proud of doing so.  If you were to ask me to do so again now, I probably wouldn't.  Yet, I would do anything to defend my family and my way of living, so I contradict myself.  It is those responsible for the wars and violence who need to see and understand the consequences and perhaps one day there would be no need for all the suffering that it causes.

I've resisted posting about the abduction of Madeleine McCann because the whole subject chills me to the bone.  I'm a 6'4", 17st ex-Royal Navy, ex-Rugby playing 'built like the preverbal outhouse' kinda guy, but every news report I hear or see about Madeleine cuts right through to my core and has me looking to see where my own 3 children are.  No one can comprehend what the whole family are going through.  If Madeleine has one ounce of the strength and character of her parents, she'll get through this.

Anyway, I happened across this information today and it could be an important identifying feature.  Send these images to everywhere you can think of. Ping every social book marking service you can think of.  Link to the images below, or the images at the Sky News link below.

We want a copy of these images in every persons inbox and on every persons web site.

Picture at http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91210-12654...

If you have any information about her whereabouts, please contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 UK
+441883731336 Outside UK

Help find Madeleine McCann

To download a copy of the Madeleine McCann campaign poster please click here.

Para fazer o download do poster da campanha para encontrar Madeleine McCann, por favor clique aqui.

Para bajarse una copia del poster de la campaña de Madeleine McCann, cliquen aquí.

Pour télécharger une copie de l’affiche publicitaire de Madeleine McCann, veuillez cliquer ici.

From: http://www.ceop.gov.uk/mccann.html

Switched on BBC News24 this morning to find there had been a 4.7mag earthquake near Ashford in Kent.

It appears from the USGS that it was just off the coast of Hythe, near Folkstone.
4.7 is a tadge stronger than most UK tremors, but still nothing to get overly worked up about.
It is pretty close to the Channel Tunnel though, so I wonder if they will be making checks to make sure all is Ok.

It's only 40-50mils from my parents house and they don't remember feeling anything (I spoke to them 20mins after the event), and it appears the tremors moved in a few directions only. (The South Downs probably insulated them from any tremors since that lies in between them).

Details can be found here USGS

Earthquake Details

 Google maps of center of earthquake.

Location Map 

More details can be found at the USGS web site.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has joined with Google in an unprecedented online mapping initiative. Crisis in Darfur enables more than 200 million Google Earth users worldwide to visualize and better understand the genocide currently unfolding in Darfur, Sudan. The Museum has assembled content—photographs, data, and eyewitness testimony—from a number of sources that are brought together for the first time in Google Earth.
Crisis in Darfur is the first project of the Museum’s Genocide Prevention Mapping Initiative that will over time include information on potential genocides allowing citizens, governments, and institutions to access information on atrocities in their nascent stages and respond.
"Educating today’s generation about the atrocities of the past and present can be enhanced by technologies such as Google Earth. When it comes to responding to genocide, the world’s record is terrible. We hope this important initiative with Google will make it that much harder for the world to ignore those who need us the most."
— Sara J. Bloomfield, Director, USHMM

From: http://www.ushmm.org/googleearth/

If you have ever used Google Earth and wondered what you could use it for, the above is a perfect example of using it for good effect rather than flying around places you've visited or places you have heard of.
For those who don't know what Google Earth is, the quote below is from the same USHMM site.

Using satellite imagery, Google Earth allows a user to fly to any location on the planet and explore from above in 3D. Additional "layers" created from data provided by the U.S. Government, United Nations agencies, non governmental organizations, and renowned photographers show the scope and personal impact of the genocide in Darfur and its continuing spillover into Chad.

Download the Crisis in Darfur layers for Google Earth.

I'm afraid 99.99% of the content above is directly quoted from their web site since I don't have the right words to do it justice.  When you think of the numbers of people killed, the property that has been destroyed, there isn't anything I can say that could ever describe it.
Why has the ROTW turned its back on the Darfur region?
I would ask why are we not doing more to help, but that question should really be why are we not doing anything!
2,500,000 people driven from their homes and over 300,000 killed.
How can we as a society in 2007 not being doing more to stop this?
Why are our governments not doing anything about it?
Why are YOU! not doing anything about it?

They Turned Our Dessert Into Fire - film by Mark Brecke