A young copy editor snatched up my latest political piece out of the "Submit" box; it concerned then President Bill Clinton.  In the first paragraph I set the tone of my message by mentioning Ol' President Bill was up to his usual didos. Then I leapt into his administration's latest political foibles of the day.  "Didos" is a word my Irish mother frequently used along with the word shenanigans.  I believe in Mom's world, "dido" held a lower status. It was a thoughtless antic performed by a foolish mook.  In her hierarchical word world, a "shenanigan" held a bit more esteem as a silly act perpetrated at the very least, by a person who put some thought behind the mischievous deed.  As it turned out, I should have used the word "shenanigan."

    I love language.  And college was a way to actively cultivate my interest in how language is used and changes over time.  Professors anguish over the phenomena of their younger students not understanding simple references to words that may have been mainstream back when the Prof was a college kid.  

    Burned! As an older student, my tinkering with putting former colloquial speak in a publication whose editors and audience came from a new generation with their own new-speak got me thumped right between my literary eyes. 

    When I picked up a copy of the latest college paper, my opinion piece was sitting in its usual place of honor atop the Opinion - Editorial page.   

    To my horror, the first line of my piece read: "Ol' President Bill is back to his usual dildos."

    The word "dildo" stood out like...well...a dildo.   I had hoped my young copy editor had just hit the letter "L" by mistake.  

    "What the hell's a dido?" my young copy editor protested. 

    And then he said, "I thought if you were talking about Bill Clinton you certainly must have meant..."dildo."

    Note: This blog "Jobs of Bob" Category does not list the jobs chronologically - I write about the experiences as they pop up in my memory and I often revisit an older job.  Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Jobs of Bob Page  for an ordered chronology.

                        Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
    (each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)

    Army Sergeant Louis Alexander Griese, 30, of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, died Wednesday, October 31, 2007, in Tikrit, Iraq. He was wounded north of Samarra, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. He was assigned to B Company, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned Griese was on his third tour of duty in Iraq and had been in the Army for 12 years. He was graduated from Sturgeon Bay High School in 1996. 
    The Web site militarytimes.com noted Sergeant Louis left for duty in Iraq only a little more than a month after his daughter was born. Louis was remembered as a guy who loved working on cars. 
    The Web site iraq.pigstye.net a data base for war casualties mentioned via information from the Herald Times Reporter that Sergeant Griese married wife Stephanie in 2002; the couple met online. 
    The Web site fortcampbellcourier.com noted Sergeant Griese's military decorations as: "Army Achievement Medal (5 awards); Army Good Conduct Medal (3 awards); National Defense Service Medal; Iraq Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; Global War on terrorism Service Medal; Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon; Combat Infantryman Badge; Expert Infantryman Badge; Air Assault Badge; and, Weapons Qualification, M4, expert."
    At the time of his death Louis Griese was survived by his wife and daughter, Stephanie and Skylar; and his mother, Susan Frihart, of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Sergeant Louis Griese was the 82nd Wisconsin military service person to die in Iraq since the spring of 2003.

         As of this blog entry's posting date:

    99,393 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
    
    9,830 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    4,439 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003. 

    1467 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

    318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    842 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

    32,033 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003. 

    10,226 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001. 

    103 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    27 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

    145 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.

    21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.

Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org;  Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf; and, icasualties.org.

 

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