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Author: TriSec    Date: 10/11/2011 10:36:27

Good Morning.

I touched upon it briefly last Friday on the actual anniversary....but we'll let the dates speak for themself further below.

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): 4477
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4338
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3618
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 249
Since Operation New Dawn: 49

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,802
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 954
Contractor Employee Deaths - Iraq: 1,487
Journalists - Iraq : 348
Academics Killed - Iraq: 448


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

$ 1, 261, 854, 850, 000 .00



This past Friday marked 10 years that we've been at war. A decade is an awfully long time, in American terms. Think of something you've done for ten consecutive years. Have you been married that long? Stayed at one job that long? Lived in the same house for ten years?


There's some context to consider...I've listed out some of America's conflicts below, in roughly chronological order. There's probably a few things I've missed.

The Revolutionary war lasted 3,059 days. (8 years, 4 months, 15 days)

The War of 1812 lasted 975 days. (2 years, 8 months)

The Mexican-American war lasted 648 days (1 year, 9 months, 8 days)

The Civil War lasted 1,458 days (3 years, 11 months, 28 days)

The Spanish American war lasted a mere 109 days.

Our involvement in WWI lasted 584 days (1 year, 7 months, 5 days)

Our involvement in WWII lasted 1,364 days (3 years, 8 months, 25 days)

The fighting part of Korea lasted 1,128 days (3 years, 1 month, 2 days) We are technically still at war there; an Armistice was signed, but a peace treaty has never been achieved.

The Vietnam war is the most nebulous of our wars; there appears to be no clearly-defined starting date. No declaration of war was made, no one incident precipitated the US involvement (although the Gulf of Tonkin initiated our escalation). Historically, the entire Vietnam conflict lasted 7,120 days (19 years, 6 months, 29 days)...although our involvement was actually longer, if you count the advisors to the French on the ground as early as 1950.

The First Gulf war lasted 210 days (6 months, 26 days)

Which finally brings us to our current conflicts.

Today is our 3,656th day in Afghanistan (10 years, 4 days)

Today is our 3,128th day in Iraq (8 years, 6 months, 22 days)


And I'll leave you with an academic exercise. Counting from the ratification of the constitution, we've been a nation for some 81,560 days (223 years, 3 months, 20 days.)

We've been at some form of war for 20,380 of those days (around 55 years) or about 25% of the time we've existed as a nation.

Kinda makes you go hmmmmmm, doesn't it?
 

65 comments (Latest Comment: 10/11/2011 22:48:15 by Raine)
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Comment by wickedpam on 10/11/2011 12:39:53
Morning

Comment by TriSec on 10/11/2011 13:43:54
* tap tap *

This thing on?



Comment by wickedpam on 10/11/2011 13:48:00
Just for a bit - most of my managers are out and I"m taking advantage of the quiet

Comment by Scoopster on 10/11/2011 13:49:39
Mornin' all & Happy Tuesdee..

So my local NPR station changed from AM to FM this weekend, which they had advertised would boost their signal strength across the state. Of course, when I went to tune in this morning I got nothing but a muted version of the classic rock station, no matter where in the state I was along my commute... so I'm a bit uninformed and unhappy right now.

Anyhoo I saw that some of our brothers in the Occupy Boston crowd were rounded up this morning and hauled off to a street corner somewhere in Southie for a stiff talking-to..

Comment by Will in Chicago on 10/11/2011 13:59:27
Good morning, bloggers!!

It is amazing to think how long the current conflicts have ended, with results that appear dubious. (I am not sure if Iraq or Afghanistan will not fall into full scale civil war once our troops leave.)

I wonder if we added in the various small engagements of the US military (the invasions of Panama and Grenada, various actions in Latin America) how many years we have been at war as a nation.

Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 14:12:35
Good morning!



Comment by BobR on 10/11/2011 14:50:06
25%.... wow. Most of that has been since 1900, and most of that has been since Eisenhower warned us about the military-industrial complex.

Comment by Scoopster on 10/11/2011 14:55:33
Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 15:19:04
I saw pictures and video of him yesterday.

I eagerly await confirmation from his probation officer as to whether he was given permission to be in NYC.


Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 15:54:09
Cain is unfrikkin' believable.

“Ubeki-beki-beki-stan-stan.” ??? REALLY?



Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 15:57:40
This caller is just being intellectually dishonest.

Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 16:37:14
Hank Williams is seriously cockoo crazy nuts.

I fully expect him to jump in the PResidential Race and immediately become the frontrunner.

Comment by livingonli on 10/11/2011 16:51:35
Good day everyone. I wonder if the fact that not only do we have the largest military budget in the world but that it equals the combined military budget of every other nation on earth say something about that military-industrial complex?

Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 16:54:20
May watch the entire interview later on this week. Harry Belefonte on Herman Cain (the Joy Behar show) :
It’s very hard to comment on somebody who is so denied intelligence – and certainly who is denied a view of history, such as he reveals. He knows very little. Because he happened to have good fortune, because he happened to have had a moment when he broke through — the moment someone blinked – does not make him the authority on the plight of people of color.

If black people are not having the worst time of it, all you need to do is take a look at the prison system. We have the largest prison population in the world. The largest members of that population are black and people of color….

The Republican party, the tea party, all those forces to the extreme right, have consistently tried to come up with representation for what they call black, for what they call the real Negroes, and try to push these images as the kinds of voices that Americans should be listening to.

So we have Condoleezza Rice, we’ve got Colin Powell – they’re heroes for some people. But for a lot us, they’re not.

And Herman Cain is the latest incarnation of what is totally false to the needs of our community, and the needs of our nation. I think he’s a bad apple, and people should look at his hole card. He’s not what he says he is.


Comment by Scoopster on 10/11/2011 17:30:04
Largest police gathering in Boston since The Town was filmed..

I'm thinking it may be necessary to get up there ASAP to support these folks.

My bad, it looks like this is a running log of what happened overnight.

Comment by TriSec on 10/11/2011 17:56:11
Official story from Menino's office:


Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino today defended the arrests of more than 100 Occupy Boston protesters in a section of the city’s Greenway park, saying he agrees with them on the issues but they couldn’t be allowed to “tie up the city.”
“I understand they have freedom of speech and freedom of expression, but we have a city to manage,” he said in a telephone interview. “I’m open to suggestions, but civil disobedience will not be tolerated.”
The early morning arrests of the protesters, who have gathered downtown in recent days to criticize the financial industry and social inequality, began at about 1:20 a.m.

“The message they are saying ... is the middle class of America is having a difficult time. That’s the issue they are trying to get across,” Menino said.

“I agree with them on the issues. Foreclosure. Corporate greed. These are issues I’ve been working on my entire career. But you can’t tie up a city,” he said.

He said protesters had crossed two lines, first, by marching on the North Washington Street Bridge and threatening to tie up traffic and, second, by expanding their campground to a newly renovated area of the Greenway that the city had asked them to stay off.




Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 17:57:48
Quote by Scoopster:
Largest police gathering in Boston since The Town was filmed..

I'm thinking it may be necessary to get up there ASAP to support these folks.

My bad, it looks like this is a running log of what happened overnight.
I did read that after the BPD cleared the park, they allowed them back -- only now they are without medical supplies, etc.

Occupy Wall Street is asking people for a way to send supplies to Boston.


Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 18:02:33
The BPD threw the American flag to the ground -- and arrested a Female Iraq war Vet --

This is getting stupid. (not the protests-- but the Police reactions)

Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 18:02:59
I just heard Occupy made it inside the Senate Building. 15 people were arrested.



Comment by TriSec on 10/11/2011 18:03:30


I feel like such a fraud today. All this going on in my backyard, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it.





Comment by TriSec on 10/11/2011 18:06:59
Quote by Raine:
The BPD threw the American flag to the ground -- and arrested a Female Iraq war Vet --

This is getting stupid. (not the protests-- but the Police reactions)


Did they hoist a Swastika to replace it, one wonders?



Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 18:07:45
Quote by TriSec:


I feel like such a fraud today. All this going on in my backyard, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it.



I plan on heading into town tomorrow. I'm still kinda tired after losing Camille, to be really honest. Plus, I Was away for the first week. Gonna give Jacob Dean a call and see if he can meet us there. I know he's been involved, and knowing someone will make it easier.

In DC and NYC there are incidents of RW trolls starting to happen.




Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 18:10:31
This is the thing, I believe the very nature of these protests are naturally going to include arrests. It's part of the deal with non violent protest. After watching the BPD arrests, I gotta say, something is wrong.

The arrests for trying to unfurl a banner in the Senate building should have been planned for by the organizers of the action.

And yes, I use former social movements as examples. they went there with hoping for the best, but always expected arrests as part of the equation.

Comment by TriSec on 10/11/2011 18:11:00
I slipped onto the WBZ stream....routine broadcasting going on, no special coverage of any events going on downtown.

Not really a surprise there.


Comment by Scoopster on 10/11/2011 18:11:45
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:


I feel like such a fraud today. All this going on in my backyard, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it.



I plan on heading into town tomorrow. I'm still kinda tired after losing Camille, to be really honest. Plus, I Was away for the first week. Gonna give Jacob Dean a call and see if he can meet us there. I know he's been involved, and knowing someone will make it easier.

In DC and NYC there are incidents of RW trolls starting to happen.

There's also a group of net-trolls calling themselves "The 53%" who are starting to pop up on Reddit & Tumblr..

Their name refers, without any reference, to "the 53% of citizens who are taxpayers" ???

Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 18:13:40
Comment by TriSec on 10/11/2011 18:15:24
Going all foily here....

'BZ is breaking a story right now that there is an Iranian terror plot that was foiled by the FBI. Is it just Boston that has the crackdown going on, or is this through all the Occupy sites?

My, what a coincidence that a bigger story is conveniently out there to keep any such event out of the headlines this afternoon...



Comment by Scoopster on 10/11/2011 18:25:01
Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 18:32:39
What Are White Supremacists Saying About Herman Cain?

Wouldn't it be nice if all the GOP candidates actually came out against this??

Shit, Herman Cain himself is ignoring it.

Comment by livingonli on 10/11/2011 18:37:20

Now I have to wonder how much he gave to the NYPD.

Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 18:37:43
Quote by TriSec:
Going all foily here....

'BZ is breaking a story right now that there is an Iranian terror plot that was foiled by the FBI. Is it just Boston that has the crackdown going on, or is this through all the Occupy sites?

My, what a coincidence that a bigger story is conveniently out there to keep any such event out of the headlines this afternoon...

I'm reading that it was a plot on the DC Ambassadors .

I don't think it is a distraction.

NYC seems to have seen a bit of a drop of in overhanded police activities, now it Boston that is seeing it. I know IOWA Occupy experienced arrests and Pepper spray.

DC was the shut down of the Air and Space museum, and there seems to be some confusion about that. People were sprayed, one person arrested, but it may have been a result of the reporter from the American Prospect to poroke things.






Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 18:38:47
Quote by livingonli:

Now I have to wonder how much he gave to the NYPD.
Fluckers have enough money to buy private security.



Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 18:41:54
Christie is going to Endorse Romney today, before the debate.

Comment by wickedpam on 10/11/2011 18:45:38
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:


I feel like such a fraud today. All this going on in my backyard, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it.



I plan on heading into town tomorrow. I'm still kinda tired after losing Camille, to be really honest. Plus, I Was away for the first week. Gonna give Jacob Dean a call and see if he can meet us there. I know he's been involved, and knowing someone will make it easier.

In DC and NYC there are incidents of RW trolls starting to happen.





Let me know how it goes

Comment by wickedpam on 10/11/2011 18:47:40
Quote by Raine:
This is the thing, I believe the very nature of these protests are naturally going to include arrests. It's part of the deal with non violent protest. After watching the BPD arrests, I gotta say, something is wrong.

The arrests for trying to unfurl a banner in the Senate building should have been planned for by the organizers of the action.

And yes, I use former social movements as examples. they went there with hoping for the best, but always expected arrests as part of the equation.


Do you think that is it just poor organization on the part of the protesters or could it be that they've moved from "laughing at" the protesters to "fighting" them?


Comment by livingonli on 10/11/2011 18:49:33
Quote by Raine:
What Are White Supremacists Saying About Herman Cain?

Wouldn't it be nice if all the GOP candidates actually came out against this??

Shit, Herman Cain himself is ignoring it.

Ugh, they saved the most vile comments for the bottom. And when you argue with a Ron Paul supporter about the allegations that Paul is a racist, look at the fact that many of those racists are supporting Ron Paul.

Comment by wickedpam on 10/11/2011 18:50:17
Quote by TriSec:
Going all foily here....

'BZ is breaking a story right now that there is an Iranian terror plot that was foiled by the FBI. Is it just Boston that has the crackdown going on, or is this through all the Occupy sites?

My, what a coincidence that a bigger story is conveniently out there to keep any such event out of the headlines this afternoon...



Don't really think so - I was hit by a Faux Flying "News Alert" graphic at the eye docs - they interupted their coverage of Christie endorsing Rommney


Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 18:51:34
Oh this is a wonderful site: Which Mitt?

Book mark it, because Romney looks like he will win the nomination because he is the least suckiest of all the Republicans looking for the nomination.

Comment by livingonli on 10/11/2011 18:52:20
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:


I feel like such a fraud today. All this going on in my backyard, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it.



I plan on heading into town tomorrow. I'm still kinda tired after losing Camille, to be really honest. Plus, I Was away for the first week. Gonna give Jacob Dean a call and see if he can meet us there. I know he's been involved, and knowing someone will make it easier.

In DC and NYC there are incidents of RW trolls starting to happen.



Apparently, O'Keefe has been seen in NYC near the protests which apparently is also a violation of his probation.

Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 18:53:48
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by TriSec:
Going all foily here....

'BZ is breaking a story right now that there is an Iranian terror plot that was foiled by the FBI. Is it just Boston that has the crackdown going on, or is this through all the Occupy sites?

My, what a coincidence that a bigger story is conveniently out there to keep any such event out of the headlines this afternoon...



Don't really think so - I was hit by a Faux Flying "News Alert" graphic at the eye docs - they interupted their coverage of Christie endorsing Rommney
I heard the announcement wasn't going to be til later?

Either way, if Faux interrupted St. Christie, yeah, it's the real deal. It's good to see Law Enforcement doing its job.


Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 18:55:17
Quote by livingonli:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:


I feel like such a fraud today. All this going on in my backyard, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it.



I plan on heading into town tomorrow. I'm still kinda tired after losing Camille, to be really honest. Plus, I Was away for the first week. Gonna give Jacob Dean a call and see if he can meet us there. I know he's been involved, and knowing someone will make it easier.

In DC and NYC there are incidents of RW trolls starting to happen.



Apparently, O'Keefe has been seen in NYC near the protests which apparently is also a violation of his probation.

Scoop posted that earlier today, I saw pictures and video of him.

I am still waiting to hear of confirmation from his federal probation officer. Jimmy's 'spokesperson' said he had permission, but there is no legal proof

Comment by wickedpam on 10/11/2011 18:55:40
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by TriSec:
Going all foily here....

'BZ is breaking a story right now that there is an Iranian terror plot that was foiled by the FBI. Is it just Boston that has the crackdown going on, or is this through all the Occupy sites?

My, what a coincidence that a bigger story is conveniently out there to keep any such event out of the headlines this afternoon...



Don't really think so - I was hit by a Faux Flying "News Alert" graphic at the eye docs - they interupted their coverage of Christie endorsing Rommney
I heard the announcement wasn't going to be til later?

Either way, if Faux interrupted St. Christie, yeah, it's the real deal. It's good to see Law Enforcement doing its job.



don't think its was offical yet, I think they were just avoiding covering the protests.

Comment by livingonli on 10/11/2011 18:59:14
Romney will be on C-SPAN 3 in a few minutes if anyone is so inclined.

Comment by TriSec on 10/11/2011 19:02:05
Quote by livingonli:
Romney will be on C-SPAN 3 in a few minutes if anyone is so inclined.


Tomato, brick, check!



Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 19:07:19
Quote by wickedpam:
don't think its was offical yet, I think they were just avoiding covering the protests.
that makes sense.
Be back in a few. Time to get some groceries for dinner!


Comment by BobR on 10/11/2011 19:20:49
Quote by Scoopster:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:


I feel like such a fraud today. All this going on in my backyard, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it.



I plan on heading into town tomorrow. I'm still kinda tired after losing Camille, to be really honest. Plus, I Was away for the first week. Gonna give Jacob Dean a call and see if he can meet us there. I know he's been involved, and knowing someone will make it easier.

In DC and NYC there are incidents of RW trolls starting to happen.

There's also a group of net-trolls calling themselves "The 53%" who are starting to pop up on Reddit & Tumblr..

Their name refers, without any reference, to "the 53% of citizens who are taxpayers" ???

Does that "53%" include children and non-working spouses in the non-taxpayer category? I'm sure it does.

Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 19:40:28
Quote by TriSec:
Quote by livingonli:
Romney will be on C-SPAN 3 in a few minutes if anyone is so inclined.


Tomato, brick, check!


NErf tomatoes and bricks would be such a money maker!

Comment by TriSec on 10/11/2011 19:50:36
Alright gang...off to the store.

I seem to have become the "go-to" guy to teach the Tuesday night clinics.

Tonight's subject: Camping Essentials.

Not sure I can handle that one.



Comment by Raine on 10/11/2011 19:57:18
This is where confusion comes in, evidently, the people arrested in the Senate building were from StopTheMachine (the same group behind the Air and space museum closure)

I just went to the Occupy DC website, and it is down. So, I went to the Occupy DC twitter page, and saw these 2 tweets:

Occupy_DC Occupy Washington DC
@
@gavinsaywhat @occupykst no we are both occupydc and occupykst. They are simply stop the machine occupying dc with us.
1 hour ago Favorite Retweet Reply

sdavidh Sarah DH
by Occupy_DC@
@nbcwashington demonstrators are from #stopthemachine NOT #occupydc! @Occupy_DC @OccupyDC_ @OccupyKSt general assembly didnt endorse it.


Now I know this sounds confusing (it does to me as well) It seems as tho they are denouncing and embracing #StopTheMachine at the same time. It's causing confusion and not helping the Occupy DC cause, I fear. These tweets were a result of this tweet from NBCWashington:
NBCWashington
Video of demonstrators occupying Hart Senate building bit.ly/qt9phR #occupydc


Bob will attest to this, last night we watched the local news, and the local newshost on NBC reported that drug dealers and criminals were in the OccupyWallStreet encampment -- they LITERALLY reported it without video, interviews or any proof. I was floored. They showed some random video.