h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In the movie "Glory," a regiment of black soldiers from the Boston area fought heroically in the South. The ones who died were buried on the battlefield, as was the custom.

I wouldn't be surprised if the dead in the Battle of the Somme were left where they were.

That is certainly true of Ypres, where the fighting famously churned up the soil and led to the unusual sight of poppies:

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/flanders.htm

Funny, isn't it, that we have soldiers fighting in Afghanistan, where poppies are an important cash crop....

This is true. One way to stabilise Afghanistan would be to find them a better cash crop. They'd switch if there were something else on offer.

Afghanistan will make you weep. Back in the 1970s, anthropology students from the University of Pittsburgh used to spend their junior years there. The people were very welcoming. (They had to pretend to be a large family group in order to satisfy curiosity.) People came and went - I even had a few Farsi lessons from an Afghan friend.

Kabul was such a sleepy place, everyone told me. The biggest event was the firing of the noon cannon. Alas, first there was a sort of revolution, then the Soviets made the mistake of getting involved, then everybody else mucked in against the Soviets. The poor children were raised in refugee camps and politicised, leading to the horror that is the Taliban.

Nobody in the world would have cared about that nightmare, neither lost generations nor women who never saw daylight, had not Osama bin Laden decided to hide out in there.

The result will drive you back to the Bible. Try the Lamentations of Jeremiah.

I still maintain that the Book of Job should be read by anyone going through a horrible ordeal. If you absolutely have to have something audio-visual instead, watch a video of "A Serious Man" instead.

It's a good thing to be able to compare ones life with that of less fortunate people and to be able to count ones blessings

But at the same time I have a problem with receiving relief because other people are worse off

Mixed feelings are part of any thinking man's life, Pierce.

Hm, yes, I suppose you are right

I have to be right, or else I will be left......alone.

This is not necessarily bad. I like being left alone at times. For instance I would have had to share my yesterday if I hadn't been alone

He who ends up with the most wins.

He might win the right to and

That's better than having no rights at all.

I believe you are right

I'm so right I often find myself left behind.

That often happens to people on the right wing. At least you now all have a health reform

I'm not right wing. I believe in flying with two wings!

I didn't say you were right wing. I only said it often happened to people on the right wing

Agreed. Left wing people, too. But in Texas there's a saying: The only thing you find in the middle of the road is a yellow line and dead armadillos.

Very true