As in the past 8 years, we went to see the Scarsdale Memorial Day parade earlier this year. Attendance was incredibly low. I remarked to Susan then that this is a direct function of virtually no one in Scarsdale having a family member in the military. As far as I can tell, we have essentially “outsourced” fighting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the poorer parts of the States. I was reminded of this on 4th of July, where around here everything was idyllic and not a single conversation I had that day as much as referenced the two ongoing wars. Then I quickly forget again myself because there are no visible signs around here. Sure, the New York Times has been running a bunch of cover stories about Afghanistan but first, I don’t look at the cover of the NYT much anymore and second, even when I do the tech stories of the day quickly draw my attention instead. I am wondering how people would react if (tech and other) web sites were to start running a small permanent strip at the top with a duration and casualty update for the wars - maybe combined with a link to let folks donate to support veterans. This kind of reminder strikes me as important for all of us, whether or not we support(ed) the wars. As it stands now - it just seems way too easy to ignore.

As in the past 8 years, we went to see the Scarsdale Memorial Day parade earlier this year. Attendance was incredibly low. I remarked to Susan then that this is a direct function of virtually no one in Scarsdale having a family member in the military. As far as I can tell, we have essentially “outsourced” fighting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the poorer parts of the States. I was reminded of this on 4th of July, where around here everything was idyllic and not a single conversation I had that day as much as referenced the two ongoing wars. Then I quickly forget again myself because there are no visible signs around here. Sure, the New York Times has been running a bunch of cover stories about Afghanistan but first, I don’t look at the cover of the NYT much anymore and second, even when I do the tech stories of the day quickly draw my attention instead. I am wondering how people would react if (tech and other) web sites were to start running a small permanent strip at the top with a duration and casualty update for the wars - maybe combined with a link to let folks donate to support veterans. This kind of reminder strikes me as important for all of us, whether or not we support(ed) the wars. As it stands now - it just seems way too easy to ignore.