Poorer people enlist in the military at a higher rate than rich people do.

If you don’t believe it, look at how many kids of Congress critters have ever been in the military and how many of them are in Iraq.

It has nothing to do with rural and urban, white or black, north or south–it has everything to do with rich and poor.

The poor fight and die so the rich can get richer. That’s never been more true than in our current war.

Hispanic Texans are dying in Iraq at a rate more than 60 percent higher than the rate for the nation’s military-age population as a whole, according to an Austin American-Statesman review of war fatalities.

In a separate study, a University of California professor has found that during the first six weeks of the war, 16.5 percent of troops killed were Latinos, although Latinos made up only 11.2 percent of the combat troops.

More than 1,470 troops have lost their lives since U.S. forces invaded Iraq.

With the invasion approaching its second anniversary next month, the uneven distribution of fatalities is forcing the military and the nation to confront questions about exactly who dies for their country when the United States goes to war.

The burden in Iraq is not being shared equally. Hispanic Texans and rural Americans, mostly white, have among the highest death rates.

http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/metro/stories/02/27wardead.html

Instead of obsessing on me, why not read some of the other posts here.

It seems I am not alone in my reservations. I’m just a little more strident in them.

I than realized later (and to this day) that the war was being fought completely wrong and also that there was no need to invade Iraq. Now im very very very glad that i didnt join and all of my friend know that i will never join with Bushie in office and probably wont with any Republican in office.

Maybe World War 3, possibly if there was a real threat to my children… But we will see…

Second, I have great respect for your husband for having served.

I was actively against the war in Vietnam and expressed my opposition with peaceful protest. As most of us said at the time, we were against the war but not against the soldiers. Most of the men and women dying in ‘Nam were our friends and brothers.

I was nineteen when the draft instituted a lottery. I drew 202 in the first round and was not drafted. At the time of the lottery, I had already decided that I would go if drafted. It was a difficult decision, but I could not imagine allowing someone else to die in my place.

My son is the same age now. He wants to “go military” and has since he was a little boy. He has decided that he will not go into the military so long as George W Bush is Commander in Chief.

That is his choice and I support him whole heartedly.

What a crazy world we live in….

Here is what J R wrote:”I cannot imagine fighting for this country out of choice. I do not see it at this time as worth fighting for.”

Plus other things he has written. He a selfish, socialistic, all-for-himself type of person only raising his communist head to speak out when he thinks he’ll get some notice to settle his psychologically shriveled ego.

Naughty boy.

Just for the record, I am wearing jeans, a sweatshirt and my Eastlands. I am wearing underwear, if anyone in concerned.

But I am drinking a beer.

No cheetos – I wouldn’t want to spoil my dinner.

That microwave technology for the defense department has been around for a long time. In fact I was working on it in middle 1970s. It’s not new, get over it.

And yeah, you use the Blog as a resume’ as if time spent here is some sort of pseudo qualification of you being “right” and everyone else is wrong.

Where you using computers in the 1970s? I was. I was online before there was an Internet. I ran the mechanics of a Philosophy board online before people even knew what dialup was. So, if it’s qualifications you want,there it is.

You’re just another johnny-come-lately nethead who suddenly got “wisdom” because he can type in his underwear on his home computer with his beer and bag of cheetos.

I made a mistake and am sorry.

There was a thread on a new technology to use microwaves as a weapon to BURN people. I said NO ONE should have that technology because of the potential to use no blood technology for control of civil populations. I did not address the military battlefield applications. I don’t recall that they were brought up.You owe me an apology.

JM?

“using a blog as a resume”?

I’ve no idea what you are talking about. Neither do you apparently. Same as it ever was.

Urban people are so wrapped in themselves and their jobs, they don’t even know half their neighbors. Everything is so hustle-bustle that there is no time to even sit down and think about anyone else rather than yourself in the city.

I think that’s why rural America has more soldiers than the urban areas? Just a thought.

As for Hindman – up the road from Pineville. Hang a left towards Beverly. My Grandmother was an Asher, born in Redbird. My great (x3) grandfather was Dillion Asher, buried at the Redbird Christian Retreat complex outside of Beverly.

Small world…

I too, have family in the Corbin and London area. As I live in the big city of Louisville now, I joke that I’ve gone further west than anyone else in my family.

In Kentucky, our main cash crop in a lot of counties, tobacco, is gone. My dad worked in the oil fields until he went to college and ended up being a County Ag Agent. He worked hard all his life to find ways for small farmers to succeed, including setting up a couple of large chicken facilities in Knott County. Both houses failed as single families couldn’t afford the losses incurred when things didn’t go well. On bad year and they were both out of business. Dad was one of the most frustrated men on the planet back in those days.

There has been some growth in the area of marijuana growing, but not on the large scale often depicted in the media. Most folks growing pot are growing a few plants to supplement their income, often working odd jobs, growing a garden, etc. Of course, there’s a legal element one has to deal with in the pot business.

I do believe there’s something to this story. In the past, I would have thought the majority of the casualities would have been from the south, but looking at the Carsey Report the high casuality rate has no regard to region. The common denominator is rural. Vermont, a New England state, as the highest death rate, a substantial percentage coming from rural areas. I belong to the Rural Caucus on DailyKos. It’s a Yahoo Group. When you log in, the first Yahoo ad you see is an ad promising up to $30,000 in bonuses to join the Army. It’s no accident this ad is placed where it is. The Army’s marketing folks know where their audience lives.

Thank all of you for writing about this issue. It’s good to hear all points of view. I think this is not a left or right issue. Every time a soldier dies in Iraq, their death touches us all and we all, Democrat or Republican mourn their passing. Anyone wishing to continue this conversation, you can reach me a nickstump@gmail.com.

Thanks again for all your posts.

This is hear-say, so I was being lazy and posting here instead of researching.

That was a long, long time ago.

I have an brother, aunt and several cousins that still live in Corbin.

The law in Kansas on “agricultural corporations” is found at K.S.A. 17-5903 et seq. If you follow it through, you will note its attempt to restrict ownership or leasing of real property used or usable for agricultural purposes to “small corporations”. Give it a read, all who are interested.

I have formed family farm corporations for clients as a part of their overall planning; thus, if one would go to certain areas of the state, a “corporation” would be found owning, operating, or both, the farm. However, the corporation, for the most part, is likely made up of a family unit, and is not a multi-national vertically integrated behemoth.