Pynchon: "Their enterprise goes on"

[pynchonoid]

"There's something still on, don't call it a 'war' if
it makes you nervous, maybe the death rate's gone down
a point or two [...] but Their enterprise goes on" 
(GR, p. 628)

...that death rate's ready to climb again,
dramatically, and opportunity abounds:


Job Description	
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United States Navy

View all job postings
for this company 

	MORTICIAN-$6,000 Sign-On Bonus
Location: New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Chicago, IL;
Houston, TX; Philadelphia, PA; San Diego, CA
Position Type: Employee
Position Duration: Full-Time
Date Posted: 01/31/2003

We are looking for candidates Nationwide!!!! 

Worldwide. Position will require relocating.

The Navy Mortuary Affairs Program is responsible for
the recovery, preparation and final disposition of
Navy and Marine Corps deceased personnel and their
eligible beneficiaries.

Even during peacetime, we are funeral service
professionals caring for our brothers and
sisters-in-arms throughout the world during a most
difficult time, providing aid to their families with
Honor and Dignity.

You would serve as a uniformed member of the United
States Navy Hospital Corps, a group deeply ingrained
with traditions of Honor and Commitment not unlike the
devotion of those who choose the funeral industry as
their career.

Requirements are a graduate of accredited Mortuary
school and licensed Funeral Directors/Embalmers
willing to serve where needed in locations such as
Italy, Spain, Guam and the United States. Experience
in all facets of the funeral industry is a plus with
emphasis placed on technical ability. An enlistment
award of $6000 is available as well as advanced rate
upon completion of training.

Applicant must be a U.S. Citizen , less than 35 years
of age, and in good health.

Worldwide. Position will require relocating

For more information, contact a Career Development
Specialist at hj at cnrc.navy.mil (email), or
888-633-9674 (toll free).

<http://www.hotjobs.com/cgi-bin/job-show?TEMPLATE=/htdocs/job-show.html&J__PINDEX=J956129UU&P__SOURCE=HJC&P__SOURCE_SPECIFIC=HJC&BOLD_KEYWORDS=navy%20morticians&BOLD_OPENTAG=%3Cspan%20class%3D%22bold-opentag%22%3E&BOLD_CLOSETAG=%3C%2Fspan%3E>


Pentagon stocks up on body bags
 


Nearly 10,000 bags were ordered, but officials say
they have not been shipped to the Persian Gulf. 

By SYDNEY P. FREEDBERG

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 31, 2003 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the last six months, the Pentagon has ordered 9,640
body bags, but they are not immediately headed for the
Persian Gulf. 

"Right now, we're just replenishing supplies" in
military warehouses, said Frank Johnson, a spokesman
for the Defense Supply Center in Philadelphia. "It's
not necessarily an indication of things to come." 

But two military suppliers said it is logical to
assume that the government is anticipating battlefield
casualties. 

"The fact is, they are preparing for casualties," said
Gerald Kramer, president of Extra Packaging Corp., a
Boca Raton-based supplier of body bags. "This is a
buildup of bags for a war that may occur." [...]


<http://www.sptimes.com/2003/01/31/news_pf/Worldandnation/Pentagon_stocks_up_on.shtml>


"[...] In an editorial, the Washington Post describes
another paradox about the reaction to Columbia. Last
Friday, four U.S. soldiers died in Afghanistan,
victims of a Blackhawk crash. But their deaths have
been completely ignored, even as the Columbia seven
are discussed wall-to-wall, and even as we stage
worthless discussions about whether the space program
will continue. (Hint: It will.) “[A]s we read the
biographies of these brave seven,” the Post says,
“replay their buoyant interviews of recent days and
come to know the grief-stricken but proud surviving
spouses and parents, we might spare a moment also for
the four who died near Bagram, and the others most of
us will never hear about.”

Those others “we will never hear about” include the
coming dead in Iraq. It has been remarkable to compare
the mourning for the Columbia seven to the
all-encompassing lack of interest in the deaths which
will soon occur in Iraq. Is war on Iraq a good idea?
On that, we don’t express a view. But it has become
rather clear that these upcoming deaths play no role
in our current calculus. In the press, we have seen
almost no attempt to estimate or discuss the impending
loss of life. Recent reports about “Shock and Awe” or
possible use of American nukes have produced almost no
discussion. Do Americans care about Iraqi deaths?
There is almost no sign that we do.

Inevitably, others will notice. In this morning’s
Times, for example, Neil MacFarquhar reports reaction
in the Middle East to the Columbia disaster. He quotes
a Jordanian columnist who “said he hoped the disaster
would push Americans to reflect about what they are
doing in the Middle East every day, about the
destruction and death visited by American-made
munition.” There is, of course, no chance that any
such reaction will occur. Around the world, people
will notice this lack of concern about deaths which
lie outside our family. [...] "

<http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh020303.shtml>

-Doug


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