“This painting was looted by the Nazis, then seized from my living room”
by Craig Gilmore via “LA Times”
Two agents from U.S. Homeland Security’s ICE unit arrived at my door in September looking for a Polish lady — not a person, but a painting: Melchior Geldorp’s “Portrait of a Lady.” She had, they informed me, been looted by the Nazis from the National Museum in Warsaw.
Unsure if these gentlemen were indeed who they claimed to be, I didn’t invite them in. But I knew exactly what they were seeking: My partner, David, and I had purchased this very portrait — ostensibly the work of a different artist — a decade earlier from a major auction house in New York.
Upon their leaving, I stood dumbfounded, holding a packet of information about the alleged provenance of our painting. After calling David at work to drop this bombshell, I began a Googling frenzy, eventually bringing me to Poland’s Division for Looted Art website. Seconds later I was gawking at an old black-and-white photo of our beloved lady, a beautiful portrait painted on oak panel in 1628. Tears welled in my eyes with the realization that, without question, if this were true we needed to do our duty and get her safely home.
Being an opera singer, I was among a group of vocalists on a government-sponsored tour of Israel some years ago. During a visit to a community center for Holocaust survivors I was asked to sing. The emotion of being surrounded by people who had prevailed through such unimaginable horrors was overwhelming, and I found myself unable. Excusing myself, I attempted to make up for it by spinning several of the ladies around the dance floor — all the while trying not to look down at the numbers tattooed on their wrists.
Now this memory flooded back to me, and I found myself once again in tears, hyper-aware of how Nazi atrocities affect us still to this day.
The toll of World War II in Poland — including the deaths of 6 million Poles, Jews, and other outcasts, including homosexuals — is unimaginable. Being gay men, David and I feel a personal connection with these losses and are conscious of how political shiftings can lead to vulnerability. This, added to the knowledge that Poland’s LGBTQ community is still in a struggle for its basic rights, has weighed heavily on our minds.
Deceptively Blonde 
What the **** did I just hear?
4 DecSeriously. Working on a presentation on the economic impact of the Japanese Tsunami on their Economy. Stumbled across this video report from the time. Starting at 0:36 the CNBC report is just so horrific to listen to from an ethics standpoint.
Dude: “The human toll is much greater than the economic toll, and we can be grateful for that . . . . .”
Then the woman throws in: “and Oil is lower, so they say this is good news for the American economy.”
0_0 WHAT! What the H E double hockey-sticks did I just hear? Please tell me they did not just say that. What the every loving ***** ***** ***** Sorry, this just begs for some words I can’t say being a Christian woman. Who the heck cares about any of that when children were dying and a whole nation was under natural attack. I’m just . . no words. I’ve got no words.
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Tags: CNBC report, Economy, For Shame, Horrific comments, Japan, Japanese Tsunami, Respecting human life