Thursday, June 14, 2018

A Child of the Cold War Views the Singapore Summit

A Typical 1950's Air Raid Drill

It happened a few times per school year. The siren sounded and we were told to crouch under our desks with one hand behind our head and the other hand in front of it. This action would protect us in the case of a nuclear attack. The literature always predicted the damage that would be done should Times Square be bombed. The radius would be huge and we in the New York suburbs would be affected. People built fallout shelters in their backyards. I had nightmares several times per month.

In 1960, I went with my mother to a demonstration at the Soviet Union’s embassy across from the United Nations to protest above ground nuclear testing. The ambassador invited us in and said, “Welcome to the territory of the Soviet Union.”

We were so imbued with Cold War rhetoric that I panicked for a moment hearing that and don’t remember a word of his speech after that.

The air raid drills continued throughout my high school years. The survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were still alive to tell us how devastating a nuclear war could be. Nevertheless, compared to the threat now, this threat was mild. Leaders on both sides knew what the risks were and most of them had some degree of sanity. The weapons of mass destruction were weaklings compared to what is available now and nuclear proliferation hadn’t happened yet. Most of us knew that there could be no survivors of a nuclear war.

We had an air raid drill in my high school in which we had to go out in the hallway. I held up a homemade sign that said, “The only shelter is peace.” I was sent to the assistant principal’s office to be disciplined. Since this was my first offense of any kind, I was questioned about what I was doing and sent back to class. The nightmares continued. 

My parents were active in the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy - popularly known as SANE - and I enjoyed telling my friends that my parents were in Sane. We drank powdered milk for fear of the Strontium 90 that was present in milk from nuclear fallout of the tests. Nothing could be done to that powdered milk that could make it taste even remotely drinkable so drinking that stuff for three years until the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963 was signed was a trauma in itself.

The memories of living through the cold war are with me still. Hearing the threats of Kim Jong Un and the uncontrolled threats and irrational menacing of our current President bring it all back. Unfortunately, the threat now is worse. We have a President who listens to advice from no one seeming to make decisions based on his emotions and instincts of the moment. Kim Jong Un is a ruthless totalitarian dictator who seems just as irrational.

The news that our current President and Kim Jong Un would meet brought momentary relief. Now that news is emerging from this summit, I don’t think that feeling will last. Apparently, he has made concessions to North Korea without receiving any in return. Time will tell.  Although I disagree vehemently with virtually everything our President says and does, I wish him success in this endeavor. The alternative is unthinkable.   

Thursday, June 7, 2018

Must See Chicago, the City of the Bad Rap

Must See Chicago, a walking tour given by the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) www.architecture.org, highlights some of the best Chicago architecture from its many architecture periods. I’m really glad that they’re giving this tour to highlight some of the best that Chicago has because this city deserves a much better reputation than it has.

When we lived in Israel in the 1970’s, my husband would tell people he was from Chicago and they’d invariably make a gun sign with their hands and say, “Al Capone, bang, bang.” I learned after a short time that that was the reaction people had to Chicago about 99% of the time. It got better for a few years when people associated Chicago with Michael Jordan and then President Obama. Unfortunately, that respite was short-lived.

In recent years, Chicago is again associated with gun violence and murders. When we travel outside the Unite States now, people ask us if we’re planning to move soon from our dangerous city. What most people don’t see is how many beautiful things there are in Chicago. I tell them that most tourist areas don’t see any of the violence and that tragically, the violence involves a small segment of the population. The economic and social inequities that give rise to this are the subject of many other posts and shouldn’t be minimized. Nevertheless, the beauty of the city shouldn’t be negated either.

The CAF does a great job of showing off some iconic Chicago buildings and giving people a great overview of downtown Chicago. We took the Must See Chicago tour on a beautiful sunny day and so it was especially enjoyable. And because the pictures speak for themselves, here are a few.


The Wrigley Building, completed in 1924

The Tribune Tower, completed in 1925

The Jay Pritzker Pavillion in Millenium Park
Chicago has been providing free concerts several times per week during the summer months for over 80 years. This is the newer band shell and the acoustics are fabulous.
Marina City, opened in 1968
This mixed use apartment building brought people from the suburbs back to the city where they could live near their work.

along the Chicago Riverwalk
the Chicago Art Institute


the Chicago Cultural Center, formerly the main library
This is a phenomenal building. It was opened in 1897, one of the first free open public libraries in the United States. The collection became too big and the main library was moved to the Harold Washington Library. This building besides having beautiful mosaic ceilings houses many free cultural events including art exhibits and weekly noontime concerts. Visit Chicago and you'll see many more beautiful things. You won't be sorry you came.