Seventy years ago today, the greatest invasion in the
history of the world took place to remove and destroy the most heinous military and
cultural evil of the last thousand years. The statistics are mindboggling and
almost irrelevant. Most ships, most men, most tanks and trucks, most landing
craft, most parachute drops, the lists go on and on. It is a testament to
logistics as well as courage and bravery.
I have a close friend who is walking the beach in Normandy
today with his father. Steve is there because his father fought his way across
that immense beach, up the dune, and into France and lived. He lived to tell
his story and now can represent the tens of thousands who also attacked that
beach and over the next nine months died battling Hitler’s war against civilization
and humanity.
My wife and I have been to Normandy and the cemetery that
keeps and honors those dead soldiers. In my whole life I have never been as
moved to tears as that grey morning walking among the headstones. Standing on
the bluff overlooking the English Channel and then down to the beach, a soul is
easily troubled by what can be imagined: an impossibly wide beach, bracketing cliffs,
concrete bunkers and gun emplacements, tank traps thrown on the sand like giant
jacks, and if in the second or third waves, your dead comrades. We can only
imagine what an eighteen-year old kid from Minnesota thought as he looked over
the gunnel of his landing craft at a French beach exploding in hell’s fire and
smoke.
The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is a treasure
for the American people and a quiet testimony of our strength and promise to the
world. I ask that every American, if given the opportunity, take a day and
visit this memorial. While somber it is also uplifting to realize what
sacrifices our soldiers will give to ensure a peaceful and just world.
It’s every blogger’s dilemma, all week you’re full of ideas
and, for that matter, yourself, throwing off brilliant comments about this and that.
Smart, crisp, erudite, pithy remarks about the state of the dark urban world
and how you are the only one with a flashlight. Then comes blog day and you
haven’t a clue what to write. I don’t want this to come off as an early Noodling
but let’s see what I can scrape up. Most are softballs.
California High Speed
Rail: NO even to stage one. But this does remind me of the story of when
Teddy Roosevelt was trying to get an increase to his defense budget when he
sent the fleet to the Philippines. There was only enough fuel for a one
way-trip. He demanded and then got the appropriation and a little more so the
fleet could return. Is this what’s happening with HSR in California, build
the core infrastructure (Central Valley maintenance, and switching and a few
miles of track) in the heart of California, hundreds of miles from a large
urban area and then demand the rest of the money to connect the system? I’m
just asking.
The Electric Car:
Reality is sinking in. “Hon, time to replace the battery in the Volt, do we
have enough left on the equity line?” Replacement costs for batteries will kill the used car side of the market. Nothing is free, just ask all the people
sucking up electricity at Starbucks. I’m waiting for recharge stations at Starbucks
drive-through’s. And again, why is it that a government entity (state, county,
city) be the ones required to install recharge stations? I would only support
them if, like parking meters, they charge an-arm-a-leg for the service and make
serious $$$ for the municipality. And I ask you, if you have a dealer’s lot
full of Nissan Leafs, is it proper to call them Leafs or Leaves.
The rise in urban
bikers: If there is one lobby that wants something for nothing it’s
bicyclists. There more bike coalitions (Why that term? Biker gang has more panache.)
demanding this and that than any other urban group, Demands such as new bike lanes,
bike storage, parking, etc. all at the expense of other transit needs. I call for a license fee for ALL bikes in the state of California.
Say $20 to start. This would be used for trails, bike lanes, and storage. It
would also create a state database that would help track down your $4,000
Schwinn when it’s stolen. We license dogs, hairdressers, and landscape
architects why not a fee for bikes, and that includes that cute pink one in the
garage for your daughter. I had to buy a license for my bike back in the fifties in Illinois - this ain't a new concept. There will be no escape from this odious fee (I’ll be
the first to call it that). Then maybe they’ll start to act more civilized as
they scare the hell out of car drivers on popular bike circuits as they course through
town in those hideous outfits – again the term Biker Gangs comes to mind.
Before
After? Brown and Olive my two favorite colors!
Urban Art: Why is
it that most urban art is as interesting as mud on a fence? My little town
(Walnut Creek, Ca.) went through a long process of trying to find an artist or
artists to redo some fountains on our Main Street. These were built years ago
and did need a face lift. The results are without a doubt just lame. To me
urban art is about raising ideas, honoring an ideal, or just plain fun. It
should stir the soul or cause you to pause, maybe to laugh, or even think. I
suggest it’s not there to make you wonder WHY? For the Main Street of a town I
go for fun and interesting. The before was old and tired, the new is just,
well, just lame. And it certainly, unlike the old, doesn’t welcome you to sit.
Another missed opportunity, and what were they thinking?
Omaha Beach, Normandy, France
And lastly,
Wednesday this week was the 6th of June, the 70th anniversary of D-Day. Day’s like December
7th and September 9th will remain in our history as long
as there are memories. This invasion of France on the beaches of Normandy
changed the war and changed the course of history. To stand in the cemetery at
Omaha Beach is transformative, to look over that huge width of beach from the
bluffs, you wonder how anyone survived. Take a moment and thank those who gave
up everything for us. For them failure was not an option.
