Saturday, March 22, 2008

Troop Deaths In Iraq Close In On 4000


Kinda sad that nobody gives a shit anymore! I seem to remember something about Democrats being elected to bring the war to an end...but I may be mistaken.



Four more US soldiers have been killed in Iraq, bringing the death toll since the invasion in 2003 close to 4,000.


The US military said that in the latest incident on Saturday, three soldiers died when their vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb north-west of Baghdad.
Another soldier died from injuries sustained in an attack south on Friday.
The latest deaths would bring the total of US fatalities to 3,996, according to a count kept by the independent website icasualties.org.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Melting Glaciers Will Raise Your Grocery Bill




The fast, fast, fast melting of mountain glaciers, especially in the Himalaya and Tibet-Qinghai ranges threatens food prices and food security in China and India, and also paradoxically, in the U.S.
Mountain glaciers contribute a lot of irrigating water to both China’s Yellow River and Yangtze River basins and India’s Ganges River basin. Already stressed underground water resources won’t likely make up the difference if these three major rivers were to become seasonal (dry in summer). China and India are now the first and second producers of wheat and rice (the U.S. is third), and reductions in those crops will cause prices to rise (grain prices are already at historic highs, in part due to ethanol production) and especially in India’s case, food security to fall.
As Brown puts it: “
The world had never faced such a massively predictable reduction of grain harvest. It’s a special irony that the glaciers are melting in the two countries most effected in food security by rising CO2 emissions. These are the same countries planning for the most new coal power plants.”

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

This Is How We Support The Troops??????


A Dozen Soldiers Electrocuted In Iraq Since 2003



Earlier this morning, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) sent Defense Secretary Robert Gates a letter requesting documents about the military’s management of contracts for maintenance of electrical systems in U.S. military facilities in Iraq.
The reason: Because he found out that 12 Army and Marine servicemen have died as a result of electrocution since 2003.
The latest casualty: Staff Sergeant Ryan D. Maseth (pictured), a Special Forces soldier from Pennsylvania, who was electrocuted while taking a shower in his living quarters in Radwaniyeh Palace Complex in Baghdad on January 2.
According to the Army’s Criminal Investigative Division, “an electrical short in the pump sent an electrical current through the water pipes to the metal shower hose, and then through Staff Sergeant Maseth’s arm to his heart.”


Seems like some basic wiring knowledge would have prevented a disaster like this.....but then again, using a skilled workman might cut into the contractor's profits!

Dollar Becoming Worthless Overseas


Dollars tough to sell on streets of Amsterdam


AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar's value is dropping so fast against the euro that small currency outlets in Amsterdam are turning away tourists seeking to sell their dollars for local money while on vacation in the Netherlands.
"Our dollar is worth maybe zero over here," said Mary Kelly, an American tourist from Indianapolis, Indiana, in front of the Anne Frank house. "It's hard to find a place to exchange. We have to go downtown, to the central station or post office."
That's because the smaller currency exchanges -- despite buy/sell spreads that make it easier for them to make money by exchanging small amounts of currency -- don't want to be caught holding dollars that could be worth less by the time they can sell them.
Thanks to Bush for his inane economic policies!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Bush Now Longs For The Romanticism of Combat


Strange that Bush, like Cheney and others, worked soooooo hard to keep himself out of combat in Vietnam when he had the chance to go, but nowwwwwww he finds the thought of fighting our neverending war in Afghanistan to be romantic....I can only wonder what Pat Tillman's family thinks when they read this?????


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush got an earful on Thursday about problems and progress in Afghanistan where a war has dragged on for more than six years but been largely eclipsed by Iraq.
In a videoconference, Bush heard from U.S. military and civilian personnel about the challenges ranging from fighting local government and police corruption to persuading farmers to abandon a lucrative poppy drug trade for other crops.


"I must say, I'm a little envious," Bush said. "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed."
"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks," Bush said.