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Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 10/12/2010 10:44:10

Good Morning.

Today is our 2,764th day in Iraq and our 3,292nd day in Afghanistan.

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

American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 4424
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4285
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3565
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 196
Since Operation New Dawn: 7

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,323
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 822
Contractor Employee Deaths - Iraq: 1,487
Journalists - Iraq : 348
Academics Killed - Iraq: 448

We find this morning's Cost of War passing through:

1, 091, 763, 900, 000 .00


Continue reading...

23 comments (Latest Comment: 10/12/2010 20:12:40 by livingonli)

GOP wouldn't know a nobel prize winner if it hit them in the...
Author: Raine    Date: 10/11/2010 12:27:11

The Nobel Committee announced today the winner of The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel-- Unnoficially called the Nobel Prize for economics. The 3 recipients, Peter Diamond, Dale Mortensen and Christopher Pissarides are a pretty impressive group from MIT. When announcing the award, the Academy questioned:
“Why are so many people unemployed at the same time that there are a large number of job openings?” the Academy Sciences wrote in the statement today. “This year’s laureates have developed a theory which can be used to answer these questions. This theory is also applicable to markets other than the labor market.”
Peter Diamond-- does that name sound familiar? If not, it's understandable. He was nominated by the President.
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17 comments (Latest Comment: 10/11/2010 17:38:05 by Raine)

Things that Make you go: OMFG!
Author: velveeta jones    Date: 10/10/2010 14:56:58

Sometimes I am so embroiled in the big picture, that I miss the little things. Sure I heard the story about the US Chamber of Commerce and their un-American activity of accepting donations from foreign corporations and mixing the funds into the general pool that is then donated to (mostly Republican) candidates. There is also this story out of Wisconsin:

Wisconsin Democratic congressional candidate Julie Lassa is calling on her opponent to denounce a new attack ad by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that displays her home phone number and tells viewers to call and tell her to "stop voting for job-killing tax hikes."

"Sean Duffy's special interest backers crossed a line in their attacks that put Julie and her family at risk to harassment and abuse," Lassa campaign Manager Rick Fromberg said in a statement. "Sean Duffy should let it be known to his outside special interest groups that there is no place for these kinds of attacks in Wisconsin elections."

According to a person close to the Lassas, the family had to unplug their phones the day the ad went up and her two daughters can no longer answer the phones because of all the calls.

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3 comments (Latest Comment: 10/11/2010 11:19:03 by Scoopster)

The Leaf Peepers
Author: TriSec    Date: 10/09/2010 12:39:33

Good Morning!

It's just about a perfect New England weekend. It's wall-to-wall sunshine, temps expected in the upper 60s, calm winds...and it's Columbus Day weekend, too.

That means it's "peak foliage season", that magical time of year when the last green leaves have changed to their brilliant fall colors, and before the earlier leaves start to change into their yellows and browns. If you catch it just right, it can be a spectacular sight to behold.

http://www.mountwashington.org/photos/journal/2008/10/2196-450.jpg


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2 comments (Latest Comment: 10/09/2010 18:08:45 by livingonli)

Riding the Campaign Crazy Train
Author: BobR    Date: 10/08/2010 12:32:31

As election day nears, the campaigns have all intensified. The ads are starting to roll out, the endorsements, the whistle stops, and the mailers are all picking up steam. The pundits are pontificating about who will win where, and the polls taken daily are divined like tea leaves in a cup. None of this matters of course - only the votes that get cast on Nov 2 matter (or maybe not - more on that later...).
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18 comments (Latest Comment: 10/09/2010 01:01:17 by TriSec)

Libertarianism won't fail while socialism exists.
Author: Raine    Date: 10/07/2010 12:44:18

I have been thinking a lot about the Fire Department that let a house burn in Tennessee. There are some people who say it was because the owner failed to pay for a subscription service, and there are others who say it is simply immoral to allow that to happen. I fall in the latter camp. My Father was a volunteer Firefighter- I have many friends who are as well. I can tell you -- when that call comes in the middle of the night -- there is no questioning about whether or not the person facing danger paid their bill. The Firefighter gets up and goes.
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29 comments (Latest Comment: 10/07/2010 22:42:49 by Raine)

The Road to Prosperity
Author: BobR    Date: 10/06/2010 12:08:15

Back at the height of the Great Depression, FDR created a public works program to help put Americans back to work. Eisenhower did the same, creating the interstate system in post-war America. The fruit of their labors was a greatly enhanced national infrastructure that we still enjoy today. However, along the way we didn't maintain much of it, and it's become more and more decrepit. With unemployment still high, it seems like a perfect time to invest in our infrastructure again. The problem, of course, is paying for it, or at least justifying a budget deficit to pay for it. It can be done without increasing the deficit, if people are willing to look beyond the "conventional wisdom".
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45 comments (Latest Comment: 10/06/2010 22:54:30 by Scoopster)

Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 10/05/2010 10:25:44

Good Morning.

Today is our 2,757th day in Iraq and our 3,285th day in Afghanistan.

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

American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 4424
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4285
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3565
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 196
Since Operation New Dawn: 7

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,311
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 816
Contractor Employee Deaths - Iraq: 1,487
Journalists - Iraq : 348
Academics Killed - Iraq: 448

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

$ 1, 089, 687, 875, 000 .00


Continue reading...

26 comments (Latest Comment: 10/06/2010 02:32:35 by Will in Chicago)

Jobs, Justice and Education
Author: Raine    Date: 10/04/2010 12:50:03

That was what it was about. It wasn't about Glenn Beck, and despite what some people are saying, it wasn't the Anti-tea Party. It was a rally to send a message that this nation needs Jobs, Justice and Education. It was a message to all of Washington DC with an extra emphasis on Republicans and other obstructionists that are standing in the way of achieving these goals for our Nation.

There were a LOT of people there, A lot of people coming together to make it clear that we are still looking for change in this nation. We came together to make it clear we still have a long way to go forward.
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43 comments (Latest Comment: 10/05/2010 03:32:53 by Scoopster)

One Nation... Really?
Author: velveeta jones    Date: 10/03/2010 15:16:22

I know some of our readers made it to the Rally and am I sure have plenty to add. I was taking a look at what some of our opposite side friends were thinking about this rally. Remember, the One Nation rally was for Jobs, Justice and Education. Things that both Left and Right both believe strongly in. At least I think so....

Anyway, it seems for both sides, size DOES matter.

From NewsBusters:
There are so many problematic items in the establishment press's treatment of yesterday's "One Nation" rally in Washington that it's difficult to know where to begin.

So let's start at the very beginning. Among the many howlers in the coverage is a claim the Associated Press's Philip Elliott pass without response towards the end of his 12:21 p.m Saturday report (saved here at my web host for future reference, fair use, and discussion purposes; bold is mine):

One Nation organizers said that they began planning their event before learning about Beck's rally and that their march is not in reaction to it.

It would appear that either Elliott felt that this statement would easily withstand scrutiny, and thus performed none himself, or that he knew better, and let it get into his report anyway.

Given the fact that so-called progressives have been continually monitoring Beck's activities and pronouncements for several years, One Nation's organizers would have to prove that they began substantively "planning their event" before November 21, 2009. Good luck with that.


The writer goes on to use Wikipedia and Google search as his sources to prove that the rally was thought up after Becks rally.Given that there were so many people here, I wonder if his point is better off left alone.
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9 comments (Latest Comment: 10/04/2010 00:31:00 by livingonli)

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