Random Notes from a Crank

I'd like for someone to give me a scientific explanation as to why chili tastes better after you've cooked it, stored it in the refrigerator, and eaten it later.

Here are some interesting stats and factoids from the May Harper's Index:

• Number of weeks the median American head of household had to work to support a middle-class family in 1985: 40
• In 2022: 62
• Percentage increase over the past two decades in the number of Americans over 65 in the labor force: 132
• Percentage increase since 2011 in the number of managers in the U.S. labor force: 32
• Factor by which this is more than the overall increase in U.S. workers: 2.5 

And here are some more the April 3/10 issue of The Nation:

• Amount the United States spent on its military in 2020: 778 billion
• Number of Iraqi citizens killed in direct war-related violence since the 2003 U.S. invasion: 275,000
• Amount the U.S. paid private companies for products and services during the Iraq War between 2003 and 2007: 85 billion
• Estimated number of people killed directly in major U.S. wars since September 11, 2001: 900,000

The Nation had a good reprint of their editorial in that issue about how they came out against the Iraq War. What a waste of lives and resources. We never should have invaded Iraq, a position I shared with the editorial staff of The Nation.

Music Friday: "Tour of Duty"

With the pullout from Iraq looking like a definite reality, today's song seems appropriate.

Mr. Isbell has a penchant for writing songs about or songs that reference veterans of the current wars if you've followed his solo career: "Dress Blues," "Sunstroke," "Soldiers Get Strange," and now the more upbeat "Tour of Duty."





I covet the hat he's wearing in this video.

The Last Patrol

One of the benefits of undertaking air travel alone is that you get to read in solitude.

On my trip to Baltimore today, I took advantage of this and read some good stuff.

One article I read in The Atlantic was pretty darn powerful, at least to me. "The Last Patrol" by Brian Mockenhaupt recounts the final patrol of Charlie Company, which was a combined mission with a new artillery unit. The author, Brian Mockenhaupt, is described as "a former infantryman," who "is a writer in Detroit." And the story he tells is one hell of a piece of nonfiction, and I want to read more of his stuff. Click HERE if you're interested in reading his work in the November issue.

The article made me think about many things. But one point that rattled in my brain later is the paucity of strong non-fiction or literature that has been written about either of our excursions into Iraq of Afghanistan. I've read Here, Bullet by Brian Turner, which is a collection of poems based on Turner's experiences in Iraq, and that book has its moments. Other than that though, I don't know of a lot of non-fiction or fiction that is delving into the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. Maybe it's too early for that. I don't know.

I just find it odd that there hasn't been a lot of strong writing about these wars besides maybe the screenplays to the Generation Kill HBO miniseries, which is based on the experiences the First Recon Battalion of the Marines.