The Price of War

Today is Nov 11, Armistice Day. Today we all stood still, for two minutes, and we considered the war, and we gave thanks to those fighting, and to those who fought. For two minutes we were a nation united and during those two minutes of connection I considered the cost of war.

It wasn't hard to think about the consequences for the families of troops, which have permeated every newspaper this week due to Remembrance Sunday as well as the argument (if that's the appropriate word for it) between Jacqui Janes and Gordon Brown.

That was all I could really think about. This woman, and the many others, who have lost their sons and daughters.

A cousin of mine has served in both Iraq and Afghanistan and obviously at the time I worried about her, and how much it meant to be everytime I received a Bluey. But it can have been nothing compared to what her parents and the countless other parents and siblings of troops must be feeling every minute of every day. Never knowing exactly what is happening out there, nor if their own flesh and blood is alright. Every time the phone rings or the door is knocked on must be torture.

The Christmas that my cousin came home from her first tour was intense. She had been sent home early and hadn't told her family, who were all coming to my house for Boxing day. So she turned up, unannounced (I think she'd possibly told my mum she was coming, so as to be certain her family would be there) and surprised everyone. The relief in that room was beyond palpable, it stung the eyes of most everyone present. The tension and worry that had been building up for months all dispersed in a single instant. It was... well I can't pick a single word to describe it, so lets just say it was a very good Christmas.

It was thoughts like this that lead me, for the first time in I don't know how long, to pray. I'm not religious per se, so it was nothing elaborate, not to any particular deity. Just to the universe at large. Something to the effect of:

Keep everyone safe, and anyone who is lost I hope for them there's something better. All the families, let them to come to terms with the tragedy and to heal. And let it be worth it. Just please let it be worth it.

I don't know how I feel about the war, if I think it's worth it or not. I never will truly know, because we can't see what the alternative would have been. But the one thing that I'm sure rings true in everyone's minds, is let it be worth it.

The cost of this war, and any war, is human life. It is too much to ask and so good must come from it. It has to be made to be worth it, for the sake of everyone who will not have a very good Christmas.

Massaging the ego

So I admit, this is a test post. A terrible, horrible thing to put out into the world, but sometimes it has to be done. Forgive me, or not. It doesn't matter either way, I won't take it back.

I guess I could put some actual content out there into the world and this is what I want to talk about: youtubers and personality types.

I'm wondering, as I'm sure many others have before, if there is a certain personality type (or disorder? :p) that is prevalent amongst those who would put videos of themselves out there onto the internet in order to entertain the masses and attract to themselves a few (thousand?) subscribers.

I've been told there has been a study done into this and I really am quite interested in what makes youtubers go, since it is such a new 'technology' that was suddenly colonised and a community formed around it. A very interesting community with members from across the globe.

I'll look into this and get back to you. Or maybe I'll make a video about it.