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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b>>…On Behalf Of </b>William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat<br><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [ExI] 30th anniversary<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black'>I was just thankful no one was shot. And I was ecstatic that major political change took place in the hands of everyday people. I also wondered what had gone on behind the scenes in the East German Communist Party, because before that people attempting to escape were captured or shot. No doubt there's a big story there to be told. Maybe it has been. bill w</span> <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>BillW, you and I are old enough to have grown up in the Cold War. I remember the Duck and Cover drills, and particularly this bizarre cartoon:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal>I remember viewing it in elementary school and afterwards a teacher commenting that we are asked to do the drills but it is probably pointless because the bombs they have now are way bigger than the ones from when this film was created, and besides we are sitting only about 6 miles from ground zero, which is that launch site (she expounded while pointing east across the Indian River.)<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>As I continued my education, I heard repeatedly that it would be Vietnam for now, then somewhere else later, then somewhere else, because the commies never ever give up: they just keep on coming, and you boys weill be drafted and some of you will be maimed and some will die in some pointless foreign proxy battle, as the Cold War continues until the H-Bombs destroy all of modern civilization and the survivors die of radioactive poisoning and starvation from the resulting nuclear winter now turn to page 137 in your book let’s go over the quadratic equation…<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We were raised with that: duck and cover drills, followed by explanations why you needn’t bother but make sure your homework is complete and on time. With that, is there any reason to wonder why our generation made such a poor showing?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I remember well 30 yrs ago today. We watched the news in astonishment as guys whacked away at the Berlin Wall. People were dancing and cheering as each section of wall came down, a boom box was blasting out Simon And Garfunkel:<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pf_DntbQ8Y">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pf_DntbQ8Y</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We dared hope on that day 30 yrs ago that world peace really had broken out.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>That, my young friends, was the focal point of the 1980s for my g-g-g-generation.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>spike<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>