Good Morning.

Today is our 4,398th day in Afghanistan.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing war, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 2,284
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,105

We find this morning's cost of war passing through:

$ 1, 482, 616, 500, 000 .00

Although not really a Veteran's Issue, I can't resist posting the latest news about the NSA. Seems like we've managed to annoy the French with our spying, to the point where the US Ambassador to France was summoned to the Foreign Ministry for an explanation. In the diplomatic world, that is significant. We used to rail against this sort of thing when Bush did it - what happened?
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115 comments (Latest Comment: 10/23/2013 03:49:52 by Will in Chicago)

Good morning dear readers. I thought we'd catch up on some news items that got missed this morning. Specifically, those that deal with ... well, let's just say, people who would be a loathsome match for you if you met them on eHarmony or Christian Mingle.
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5 comments (Latest Comment: 10/21/2013 00:36:14 by Raine)

I hate politicians, they're all the same. I hate politics, it's a dirty game. I hate DC, it's filled with swine. 'I hate the government', so many whine.

They hate it all until they need it. Sometimes, they don't even know they need it.
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77 comments (Latest Comment: 10/19/2013 01:18:42 by TriSec)

There really isn't much to say about any of this. It comes down to a very basic point. The GOP-led House of Republicans created this mess and are now relying on Senate Republicans, who are the minority party, to get them out of this mess.

It's difficult to write about any issues of the day when there is such a large cloud hanging over the Nation. It's almost inconceivable that we are on the verge of defaulting on our debt. Yet, here we are. Less than a day away from doing just that.
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117 comments (Latest Comment: 10/17/2013 03:32:26 by clintster)

Protesting one's own government has a long and noble history, especially in this country, leading back to our very inception. It isn't that hard to do. You just need some posterboard, a magic marker, and enough gumption to stand on a street corner. Protesting effectively, however, takes a little thought and creativity. You have to decide what is the end goal of your protest and how to achieve that via your actions. Some basic points:

1. Be clear about what is wrong and how to make it right
2. Direct your protest so that those who need to see it do
3. Don't piss off potential allies

This past weekend we had a couple clear examples from the right-wing about how NOT to protest. The first one started on Friday, and continued through on Saturday. I am of course talking about the DC Beltway Trucker Protest:
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97 comments (Latest Comment: 10/15/2013 02:36:41 by Will in Chicago)