what a strange but wonderful man...

Ten fun facts about Churchill:

1) His full name is Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill
2) His faithful bodyguard who saved his life more than once name was Walter H. Thompson
3) Churchill was born November 30, 1874 in Oxfordshire
4) 1919-1921 Churchill was the secretary of state for war and air
5) 1939 Churchill became the first lord of Admiralty ( he was in charge of navel affairs)
6) Churchill refusal to surrender to Nazi Germany inspired his country
7) Churchill created a strong bond with the US president Roosevelt
8) During the war Churchill insisted that he walked on the dangerous streets like everyone else did while the Germans were dropping bombs in London.... (he had a curious mind)
9) Churchill popularized the term 'Iron Curtain' (def: to describe the division between Western powers and the area controlled by the Soviet Union)
10) 1953 Churchill won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

most of the information in this post was found on the following sites:

http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/churchill_winston.shtml

My comments about Churchill:

Personally I really enjoy learning about Churchill. I was introduced to who he was while studying here in London from both my Politics and WWII professors. I didn't feel as though I really understood Churchill until I watched a special on him through the eyes of his bodyguard that was also aired on BBC. Historically Churchill is the man who saved Britain from being seized from Nazi Germany though his constant efforts to become allies with the United States. Churchill worked tirelessly many of the nights during the war. Also Churchill had insisted that he too embraced the same dangers the people who lived in London did everyday, so most of the time he would go out walking the streets at night, with his bodyguard always close by, putting both of them in some really dangerous situations. Churchill's curiosity intrigued me as so did his laid back attitude about the dangers he put himself in daily. I applaud his efforts and persistence in becoming allies with the US because maybe one day with those efforts the US and GB can join together and become one great nation where GB is one of our sister states.

Writer's Corner....

Wilfred Owen (1893-1918) "Anthem for a Doomed Youth"

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

--Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle

Can patter out their hasty orisons.

No mockeries for them from prayers or bells,

Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,-

The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;

And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all?

Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes

Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.

The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;

Their flowers the tenderness of silent minds,

And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

My comments about this poem:

The poem was written towards the end of WWI. The poem sounds like it takes place on a battlefield. I believe that Owen was trying to tell its readers that their is no one to mourn for the dead solders excepts for the sounds to the continued war and death. Also the poem shows how religion is somewhat meaningless when it comes to this war, because if the men who signed up to fight in the war were really Christians or practiced some other kind of faith how were they able to go to war if that is against many people religious views. In my opinion my previous statement shows the hypocrisy of all the men who choose to fight in the war and still claim to practice certain religions that oppose to the war. Anyway in all I really enjoyed the poem, even though I had to reread it a few times to grasp what I thought the writer was trying to say.

Shots Fired....Shots Fired!!!

It all began on the morning of June 28, 1914; that was the day that Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife (who was pregnant at the time) was both shot and killed by one of the members of the Black Hand Gang named Gavrilo Princip. Those two fatal shots sparked a war.

...STOP...WAIT....WHO IS GERVRILO PRINCIP?...

Gavrilo Princip was a Yugoslav nationalist associated with the freedom movement Mlada Bosna. Princip was the one who killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife in Sarajevo. The way the story plays out is almost a little unreal because who everything falls into place. Ferdinand was suppose to have been killed on his ride though the city; there were about 4 men placed in front of Princip but all had failed to kill him including Princip. After one of their men was caught after his failed attempt to kill the Archduke and then himself the others went off to talk things out and to see what went wrong. In the mist of their conversation, Princip decided he was hungry and went off to find himself a sandwich. With Princip decision to go and find himself something to eat, it started a chain affect for what was about to happen next. The Archduke driver made a wrong turn which placed them right in front of where Princip had found his food and that litlle coincidence gave Princip the opportunity that ended up sparking a war.