I'd Be Pissed Too
by James Glaser
March 19, 2012

Yesterday, Wanda was visiting her family down in Saint Augustine, and I was home doing yard work. Come lunch time I headed to Subway for a Veggie Delight. I always think how healthy I am when eating that. Truth be told I taint that healthy choice with a couple of those double chocolate cookies they have, but it could be way worse than that.

So, I decided to eat right there and took a booth. Then about twenty college-age guys came in. They were in Madison to use our bike trail and had stopped for a healthy lunch. Three of them asked if I would share my booth with them as there isn't much seating in the place.

Well, these three guys were from Florida State University in Tallahassee, and, as guys do, we got to talking. They told me they were seniors and were not looking forward to graduation because jobs are so hard to come by. They all thought if they just had about three more years of school to do, things might be better, but they all were pretty heavy into student loans now.

Four years ago when they were starting school, things looked bright, and everyone who graduated and wanted a job could easily get one. Now they can get jobs, but maybe not in their chosen field, and if a degree in business only gets you a sales position at a Lowes or Home Depot, you have to wonder if you wasted your time and money going to school?

I asked, how did all this make them feel, and they said they were "mad and pissed off at the system." I don't blame them.

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Somebody Ought To Tell the Politicians We Have Lost Their Wars

I watched Meet the Press yesterday, and here are some numbers they used in talking about our returning veterans:

193,000 have Traumatic Brain Injuries and 93,500 have PTSD.

So I'm thinking about some more numbers:

• For starters, the 93,500 who have PTSD is just the current number. Don't forget the tens of thousands still trying to get help for PTSD. It can take years in the VA system.
  
• Add to that the 6,000 plus who were killed.
  
• Then there's the 48,000 who were wounded.
  
• Sad to say, you should add to that all the active duty and veteran troops who have committed suicide. In the last few months more active duty soldiers have committed suicide than the numbers who were killed in combat, according to that show.

You add up all those numbers, and hey, we got our butts kicked by two pitiful third world countries, where a large portion of the people still live in mud huts. It is easy to show a 40% causality rate right now, and by the time everyone gets help, I bet it is over 50%. We are going to be paying half of our troops disability for the rest of their lives, plus medical costs.

With those long term costs, it sure does not look like a win to me.

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