You Wouldn't Think We Are a Country at War

I recently saw this status on Facebook: Lindsey Lohan who? I cant believe the news coverage being given to a spoiled 20-something yr old. Here are a few 20 year-olds worth knowing about: Justin Allen 23, Brett Linley 29, Matt Weikert 29, Justus Bartett 27, Dave Santos 21, Chase Stanley 21, Jesse Reed 26, Matthew King 23, Christopher Goeke 23, & Sheldon Tate 27. These 20-somethings gave their lives for you this week. Repost if you support the Military!


Sadly, it is so true.

You wouldn't think we are a country at war, especially if you tuned in to our news.

We have days of unimportant coverage on Lindsay Lohan, a mis-behaving movie "star" who is surely some role model we should pay attention to. Note: the previous sentence was to be read with a laaaarge dose of sarcasm.

But it isn't just her. It is also stories on car chases, celebrity break-ups, weight loss secrets or whatever other nonsense that is somehow qualifying as "news" in today's society.

You wouldn't think we are a country at war.

Do you remember the last time you watched a report on the War on Terror? Or at least one that was longer than a 30-second sound-bite? Generally no.

A recent exception would be the General McChrystal/Rolling Stone uproar which the media was diligent in covering, probably because it seemed more like the hot-headed Hollywood behavior that they're used to.

You wouldn't think we are a country at war. 

We need coverage of it, namely of the men and women we're losing in it... on both sides.

Back in September of 2006, CBS ran a story where the lead line read: Now the death toll is 9/11 times two.

Did you see the date? That wasn't a typo: 2006!?! Nearly four years ago we had already doubled 2,973 which, according to that same article, was the total number of victims in New York,Washington and Pennsylvania in case you couldn't remember that number.

Other than around the month of September, particularly the 11th, it seems that our country doesn't remember that number or that incident. We're too busy soaking up the celebrity garbage that is taking over our news.

You wouldn't think we are a country at war.


And with as little coverage as the war gets, we don't even have a clear idea of the NUMBERS, whether we would choose to forget those or not.

The problem is, when I went searching for the death toll, it was hard to find, at least accurately. There is so much word play on this "War on Terror/Overseas Contingency Operation" that a ton of different numbers came up. For example, some of the rhetorical re-wordings included "violent" deaths, "attack" deaths, "in combat" deaths, "civilian" deaths, "contractor" deaths, etc. etc. etc.

You know what it boils down to? A whole lot of DEATH.

According to antiwar.com (forgive me for the obviously biased source), here is the most comprehensive list of numbers I could find:

Casualties in Iraq The Human Cost of Occupation Edited by Margaret Griffis :: Contact
American Military Casualties in Iraq
Date	Total	In Combat
American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03):	4413	3491
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03) (the list)	4274	3383
Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03):	3952	3185
Since Handover (6/29/04):	3554	2858
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09):	185	87
American Wounded	Official	Estimated
Total Wounded:	31888	Over 100000
Latest Fatality July 21, 2010
Page last updated 07/23/10 5:06 pm EDT That is only our side. And that is only Iraq; if you were to include Afghanistan, we are clearly well past the original 2,973. I know that is not the only thingwe are fighting for. Of course, we want to keep our country safe, defend our freedom, encourage democracy and peace, etc. However, at some point, all of that talk becomes just as rhetorical as the different ways to label death.  What it all comes down to is we ARE a country at war. People are dying. And what are we doing? Distracting ourselves with crap like Lindsay Lohan going to jail.  I think we need to re-set our priorities.  Who will your celebrity be? A girl who can't give up alcohol or a military man and/or woman who can give up his or her life?  ______________________________________________If you'd like to honor a military hero, check out these options.

GRE - please pray for me

Hello long-lost blogosphere.

I have been hiding under a rock lately to study for the GRE - aka the Graduate Record Exam or what I have "affectionately" been calling the God-awful/ghastly/grueling Record Exam.

It is no biggie... just the number that determines the rest of my life: If I don't get a good score, I don't get into a good grad school; then I don't get a good education and, thus, don't get a good job which could potentially lead to a lousy life. Can you sense how the stress has gotten to my brain ;)

Endless antonyms, verbal reasoning, word problems, analytical writing, quantitative comparisons, exponents, fractions, geometry, graphs, etc. etc. etc. has muddled my thinking.

Worse still, with the test date looming so near in my future, my study motivation level has not been able to keep up with my stress level.

GRE. Grrrrr.

It is this Wednesday!?!

Please pray for me :(

And when it over and my braincells have rejuvenated themselves, I will try to post something more entertaining than this.

I just thought I'd apologize for my absence and let you know why I had fallen off the face of the earth: I am almost exclusively spending my time with my Kaplan Study Guide ;)

Southern Belle Side Note: Joggling Boards

"As my mother used to say, a joggling board is to a piazza what  mint is to a julep. If you have to ask what a piazza is - they're known as porches outside Charleston - then it's unlikely you know what a joggling board is, either" (1). 

"It's pretty simple, really. A joggling board is a piece of Charleston history that measures up to 22 feet long and 13 inches wide, a supple piece of pine usually supported between wooden rollers two feet off the ground. It looks like a giant tongue depressor and acts like a trampoline" (1). 

I was born and raised (and still reside) in the Lowcountry of South Carolina so joggling boards were a familiar sight for me. Though we don't have one on our porch - there isn't room since we have a swing and some rockers already ;) - there is one in my neighborhood. 

I had family in town for the 4th of July. They were from Texas and they immediately noticed and questioned "that long rocker thing." 

It was then, honest to God, the first time it ever dawned on me that joggling boards are an odd sight. They are  sorta like a hybrid mix between a rocking chair and a see-saw. When we tried to explain to my relatives what they were and why they were built that way, the best we could come up with was they were just built long to adequately fill up those long Charleston piazzas. 

Although, after a little research, I  found out joggling boards have a very specific history. 

Their history in Charleston dates back to the very early 1800s on Acton Plantation in Sumter, SC. A Mr. Cleland Kinloch lost his wife and had his sister, Mrs. Benjamin Kinloch Huger, come to care for his household. Mrs. Huger apparently suffered from very severe rheumatism. (2)

In an attempt to get some exercise and fresh air, her chair was placed in a carriage so she could go for rides; when she detailed this and her poor health to her relatives in Scotland, they sent her a model of a joggling board. They told her that she could sit on it and bounce to get some exercise. [If that was "exercise," I think I'd have enjoyed living in the 1800s; I'd take that any day over 45 minutes on the elliptical!] (2)

After they made the model life-size, the joggling boards became incredibly popular and spread to piazzas all over the Lowcountry. Beyond providing Mrs. Huger "exercise," joggling boards became especially popular for two reasons: 

1) Children loved to play on them. They really are like trampolines. My brother and I used to jump all over them. 

2) It was an excuse for couples to get close. In fact, they were known as "courting benches;" a lady would sit on one end and her crush on the other. The couple would "joggle" down the bench until they reached each other in the middle where they could whisper sweet nothings and hold hands and such. There was even a legend that if you had a joggling board on your front porch, you'd never have an unwed daughter. (3) 

Hmm, maybe I should invest in one of those for the front porch ;) 

Their popularity faded after World War II when the wood and hand-crafted labor were harder to come by. However, in the 1970s they regained popularity when the Old Charleston Joggling Board Company was formed after the tricentennial of South Carolina. (2)

Now, the history lives on as more and more people see those "long rocker things" known as joggling boards. 

Next time you see one, be sure to sit down so you can get yourself some "exercise" and maybe even a marriage proposal ;) 

Sources: 

1 - The Vanishing Coast 

2 - Old Charleston Joggling Board 

3 - Joggling Board