Professor Jirik - Effects of Cultural Imperialism on Iraq

Professor Jirik - Here is a blog post with a few different types of media that can help explain and be visual aids to my paper.   Not all forms of cultural imperialism have to be on such a grandiose scale like establishing democracy, smaller forms like showing the Iraqis American dance moves can also be considered cultural imperialism.

This video is a prime example of cultural imperialism.  It shows service members sharing American music and dance moves with Iraqi soldiers.  A friendly encounter that allows both parties to share a laugh is simple enough in getting the Iraqis adjusted to Americans and embracing American culture.



This CNN report on the Afghan version of "American Idol" is important because it shows Afghan culture accepting and implementing a part of American culture.  When the War on Terror first began, music in Afghanistan was forbidden.  With the work of American forces, Afghan people are now able to not only have their own version of an American show but they text their votes in too!  Things that were once unheard of in Afghanistan are now becoming possibilities simply by the presence of American troops and a new wave of ideas being brought into their society.

Not all forms of cultural imperialism have to be made on other country's soil.  This picture from Reuters shows  two Iraqi women: Wasan Alqaisi and Sumer Majid, adjusting to life in the United States.  They are sharing a Forth of July picnic with an American family and embracing American culture like hamburgers with American cheese.  The Iraqi woman were "blending their faith and lifestyle with a U.S. national identity."

an Iraqi medic consoling an American Soldier

Cultural imperialism is a result of American troops in Iraq.  Much of it may be on purpose like imposing American ideals of democracy and government to try and help the Iraqis establish a stronger and less corrupt democratic government.  However, much of it is not.  Just by trying to find common ground or to create new friends and not enemies, Americans have introduced their music, dance, food, interests, etc. onto the Iraqi people.  In turn, many Iraqis have accepted American service members and the things they are trying to teach the Iraqi people.  I'm not saying that this makes the war good or bad, or that this will even help us win this war, all I'm saying is that cultural imperialism is happening both consciously and unconsciously.

May - National Military Appreciation Month

       Get ready because tomorrow marks the beginning of National Military Appreciation Month! For the entire month of May, people are encouraged to show their support and appreciation for our troops and service members!  This month is of great importance because it honors, remembers, recognizes, and appreciates all military personnel from past and present, as well as those who have given their lives to defend our freedoms that we enjoy today.

"It recognizes those on active duty in all branches of the services, the National Guard and Reserves plus retirees, veterans, and all of their families - well over 90 million Americans and more than 230 years of our nation's history.  Let us celebrate them just as we celebrate the other important entities that make up this wonderful country of ours." - NMAM

       National Military Appreciation Month (NMAM) was designated by Congress to provide a period of time for individuals to give recognition to the history and diversity of our armed forces and the great achievements of the individuals who serve.  It allows each generation of Americans to see the historical impact of the military and through the participation of the community and encouraging patriotism and love for our nation.
       NMAM sets aside a few days of the month to recognize specific groups of individuals who are part of or affected by the Military.  To kick off the month of May, Loyalty Day has been appointed on the 1st.  Military Spouse Appreciation Day will be on the 6th, VE day will be the 8th, Armed Forces Day is the 21st, and of course Memorial Day is the 30th.

Here's a few ways you can support: *sponsored by The Thank You Foundation

1) fly the American flag outside your house, business, or car

2) send a care package to a soldier through the USO

3) ask elected officials in your state to recognize our military

4) send an email or letter of thanks to soldiers through A Million Thanks

5) adopt a soldier through Soldiers' Angels 

6) When you see a person in uniform, shake their hand and thank them for serving our country

To all those serving our country - THANK YOU! 

Coming Home - Lifetime's New Hit Show

       Coming Home is a show on the Lifetime channel about surprise reunions between men and women serving in our military and their loved ones.  With the help of host, Matt Rogers, those in uniform returning from deployment are able to create some of the most creative and unique surprises for their family.  One surprise, from a father to his three children, took the help on an entire city to create a scavenger hunt in the city center where the kids had to find clues leading them to their dad.  Another example (one of my favorites) was by Staff Seargent Jeremiah Rutledge, a 101st Airborne Division soldier coming home from Afghanistan.  He surprised his son, J.J. a high school football star, admist a signing day ceremony where players were announcing their college choices.  Just as J.J. spoke of his decision to attend the United States Naval Academy, his father came in and melted everyone's heart.   

"The shock in his face, it told me everything," Staff Sergeant Rutledge says, "He still need you, you matter to him."

Caution: This show is known to make people smile and shed a few tears.  

View discretion is advised.

Coming Home is a really great show that supports our military and those who work so hard to defend our country.  It honors those people who do jobs many would never dream of doing - both overseas and at home.  Those in uniform are not only courageous and very much appreciated, but the loved ones left waiting at home are dealt a tough job as well.  It is a true telling tale of pride, duty, and love.  This show is so genuine and sensational, just a must see!  You can watch past episodes at mylifetime.com and catch new ones every Sunday night at 10 after Army Wives! 

Military Statistics

America's Wars:

American Revolution, 1775 to 1784 Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 290,000 4,000 0 Last Veteran: Daniel F. Bakeman, died 4/5/1869, age 109 War of 1812, 1812 to 1815 Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 287,000 2,000 0 Last Veteran: Hiram Cronk, died 5/13/05, age 105 Indian Wars, approx. 1817 to 1898 Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 106,000 1,000 0 Last Veteran: Fredrak Fraske, died 6/18/73, age 101 Mexican War, 1846 to 1848 Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 79,000 13,000 0 Last Veteran: Owen Thomas Edgar, died 9/3/29, age 98 Civil War, 1861 to 1865 Union Participants Union Deaths in Service Union Living Veterans 2,213,000 364,000 0 Confederate Participants* Confederate Deaths in Service* Confederate Living Veterans 1,000,000 133,821 0 Last Union Veteran: Albert Woolson, died 8/2/56, age 109 Last Confederate Veteran: Disputed but listed as John Salling * Authoritative statistics for Confederate Forces are not available. An estimated 28,000 Confederate soldiers died in Union prisons. Spanish-American War, 1898 to 1902 Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 392,000 11,000 0 Last Veteran: Nathan E. Cook, died 9/10/92, age 106 World War I, 1917 to 1918 Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 4,744,000 116,000 Fewer than 25 Living Veterans does not include World War I veterans with military service in other eras. World War II, 1940 to 1947 Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 16,535,000 406,000 3,242,000 Korean Conflict, 1950 to 1955 Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 6,807,000 55,000 3,086,400 Vietnam Era, 1964 to 1975 Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 9,200,000 109,000 7,286,500 Gulf War Era, 1990 to 8/2001 Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans 3,800,000 9,000 1,852,000 War on Terror, 9/2001 to TBD Participants (as of 9/2009) Deaths in Service (as of 3/2010) 1,471,008 5,376 America's Wars Total Participants Deaths in Service Living Veterans Living Ex-Servicemembers 41,891,368 1,190,109 23,442,000 17,456,000 Sources: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (July 1998),American Community Survey (2008) and InfoPlease Note: Figures on the number of living veterans reflect final 1990 Census data and include only veterans living in the United States. Details may not add to total due to rounding.

Service Members Having Fun!

       Imagine being thousands of miles away from your home, your family, and all those you love.  Now, imagine being put into one of the most dangerous places in the world, constantly being held to the highest standards, and carrying the burden of protecting the United States of America.  That is ALOT of pressure and as you all can see, it would become tiresome and start to wear a service member down.
       Our men and women in uniform are true heroes.  They deserve praise, appreciation, and most of all, they deserve to have some fun!  Civilians can all too easily forget that our service members are regular human beings like you and me.  For everything they do to protect us, for every unpleasant situation they encounter, I pray for them and hope that they can at least have a little bit of fun with their friends!

Popular Songs:




Fun and Games:

"windsurfing" during a sand storm!

"They are human just like us. They're just regular Americans called up to do irregular duties. Heroes, good men and women, and honorable people, for the most part.Haha, that looks so freaking fun." - Sultantavi 

Animals:

U.S. Marines in Afghanistan found two kittens, KiKi and Keykey.  Bringing them joy and happiness for their time overseas, the servicemen brought them back to the states and found them homes in Texas and Michigan. 

National Anthem of the United States

       As we all know, the "Star Spangled Banner" is the natinal anthem of the United States of America.  However, many of us don't know its history or why it is even has such a great signifigance to all citizens.

       Lyrics of the anthem were originally created for a poem, "Defence of Fort McHenry," written by Francis Scott Key in 1814.  He was inspired by the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships in the Chesapeake Bay during the war of 1812.  It is read to the tune of a popular British drinking song called "The Anacreontic Song."  "The Star-Spangled Banner" was recognized for official use by the president in 1916 and made the natioanl anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931.

       The song contains four stanzas, however, only the first is commonly sung today.  The fourth stanza is only added on more formal occasions.  "In God We Trust" was adopted into the song as the national motto in 1956.  Today, the national anthem is consistently played at sporting and military events.  This is thanks to president Woodrow Wilson in 1916 and the efforts to support our troops during WWII.  While the national anthem is being sung, it is common courtesy to stand, remove all hats, and place the right hand over your heart.

"Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"

The American Flag

"This flag, which we honor and under which we serve, is the emblem of our unity, our power, our through and purpose as a nation.  It had no other character than that which we give it from generation to generation.  The choices are ours.  It floats in a majestic silence above the hosts that execute those choices, whether in peace or in war.  And yet, through silent, it speaks to us - speaks to us of the past, or the men and women who went before us, and of the records they wrote upon it." - president Woodrow Wilson, 1917

       Betsy Ross was reportedly the person who sewed the first American flag in 1776.  On June 14, 1777, the Continential Congress passed the first Flag Act that allowed the establishment of the official flag for the nation.  The stars were in a circle so that no one colony would be viewed above another. It is reported that George Washington said, "Let the 13 stars in a circle stand as a new constellation in the heavens."

       Congress passed several acts between 1777 and 1960 that changed the shape, design, and arrangement of the flag, allowing for additional stars and stripes to reflect the admission of each new state.  Sometimes the flag is referred to as "Old Glory."  The United States Army Institute of Heraldry has prepared designs for flag with up to 56 stars in the case that additional states are added to the nation.  There are political movements that support the statehood of Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. 

Example of a flag already created just in case:

        Today, the American flag contains thirteen horizontal stripes, seven red alternating with 6 white.  The stripes represent the original colonies while the five-pointed stars in the upper left hand corner represent the 50 states.  The colors on the flag are also symbolic: red = hardiness and valor, white = purity and innocence, and blue = vigilance, perseverance, justice.  Legend has it that George Washington interpreted the elements on the flag as: the stars were taken from the sky, the red from the British, and the white as a representation of the secession from the home country.  

Flag Etiquette - from the Flag Code

• flag should be lighted at all time, either by sunlight or a light source
• flag should be flown in fair weather unless designed for inclement weather
• flag is attached to military uniforms in a way that makes it look backwards with the stars leading, to make it look like the flag is flying and leading them into battle
• flag is displayed at half-staff during times of mourning on dates of deaths or specific events like September 11
• flag should never be used to advertising purposes - shouldn't be embroidered, printed or impressed on cushions, handkerchiefs, napkins, boxes, or anything intended to be discarded
• flag should should never be used to receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything
• when lowered, flag should never touch the ground - it should be received by waiting hands and arms and be folded neatly and ceremoniously
• when flag is not longer fit, it should be destroyed by burning in a dignified manner

These are just a select few of the many more regulations and standards for how the flag should be used and kept.