Category Archives: Americana

Life without a computer

Americana

My computer crashed – every time I start it up, it slowly goes through all the steps of starting, and then…just turns itself off – and Michele – my tech-support – was in Canada so I was left with pretty much doing the same wrong thing over and over again. My plan was to drive over the Sierras to the East Side and do some hiking while Michele was gone, so I thought – which is the act of thinking, so it is definitely not the right word: no actual thinking was going on – I would take a couple of days off and, maybe, when I got back the computer would work. Like it was a sick dog that just needed a little rest.

I get most of my news off of the computer and, of course, use it to process my photos. I stay in touch with email and write this blog – which is a bigger part of my life than it should be – on my computer. All my phone numbers and addresses are on the computer – my calendar, my checking account. Everything! And it was all gone. Twenty five years ago, I'm not sure I would have cared if my computer went down, now it is as important as a car. 

 

Loving the troops is PC and it makes it sound like everything is just fine

Americana, Politics

reflection 2-

When it comes to supporting the troops, Politicians always say the right thing. But how they vote is often a different matter.

World War II, generals did not talk about loving their soldiers, but I they usually took care of them better than today. One reason for that was the Army Chief of Staff’s, George Marshall,  insistence that in a war for democracy, our military had to act in a manner consistent with democratic values, which meant firing officers who didn’t perform. But I think an even more important reason was that almost everybody in the Military had been drafted. They were not separate from the general society like the Volunteer Military is today.

Not only does the volunteer part of the Volunteer Military make for a military that doesn’t reflect our country, it makes for an ex-military that is easier to ignore. After WWII, Congress passed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 which was better known as the G.I. Bill of Rights. It was major legislation that provided a wide range of benefits for returning World War II veterans that included low-cost mortgages, low-interest loans to start a business, cash payments of tuition and living expenses to attend college, high school or vocational education, as well as one year of unemployment compensation.

The Volunteer Military came in during the Nixon administration but it is hard to blame him as Congress was controlled by the Democrats. Either way, it was brilliant or stupid depending on your point of view. Brilliant if you want the United States to be involved in more wars – and spend more money on equipment like the F-35, that we don’t need – and stupid if you don’t want the United States to be involved in lots of wars (spending the money on, say, better schools).