Good Morning.

Today is our 3,121st day in Iraq, and our 3,649th day in Afghanistan. This Friday marks our tenth year at war. (October 7).

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our perpetual 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: 1,791
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, 258, 605, 800, 000 .00

And just looking at that snapshot, we've spent $344, 918, 004 every day since 2001 on this escapade.
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12 comments (Latest Comment: 10/04/2011 18:48:01 by Scoopster)

So, I was walking to the coffee pot to get a refill of my favorite drug of choice, and the TV news was interviewing someone talking about babies in the womb getting brainwashed by corporations. What? Wait, is that really what I heard?

Seems that while your Mom is eating Taco Bell she's already setting up her toddler to crave some gastronomic calamity that only vaguely resembles something from our neighbors in Mexico.
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4 comments (Latest Comment: 10/03/2011 00:34:21 by TriSec)

With the Republican campaign season really heating up, and still no strong candidate in the race, there is a strange energy around the whole thing. The rank-and-file voters are disillusioned, wondering "is this the best we have?", while the party leaders plaster on fake smiles and continue to thrust possibilities at us, hoping one will catch fire with the electorate. So far - nada...

All of the candidates in the race thus far have emerged as the Great White Hope of the race, shooting up through the miasma, only to disappoint and fall back to earth. The race is populated by a junkyard of broken toys, all hoping to be pulled from the pile, polished, and played with again.
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54 comments (Latest Comment: 10/01/2011 16:08:57 by livingonli)

Imagine you are interviewing for a job. You sit down with the hiring manager and and start saying things like this: "I've been looking at the background on your company, and I have to say - I really despise it. I think you make WAY too much money, and if I'm lucky enough to get hired here, I will do my best to destroy you from the inside. That is - when I am not taking long vacations and wasting my time on trivial matters and getting into pissing contests with the other employees..."

Would you get hired? Would anyone in their right mind hire you if that's how you presented yourself? Why would a company hire someone that hates the company, and vows to weaken it? Yet every year, people do just that on election day.
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59 comments (Latest Comment: 09/29/2011 01:24:16 by clintster)

I believe in the right to protest. I believe in the right to assemble. I believe in having a goal, organizing to meet that goal and reaching it thru peaceful nonresistance. I don't endorse authorities using violence against it's citizens and I do not believe in suppression. I have marched against the wars, and I have signed petitions, I have marched for labour rights, and for Healthcare reform. I have walked with people for a fair immigration policy in this country. I have lain down on the streets of NYC so the government would acknowledge HIV/AIDS. I have marched for Marriage Equality. In many cases, I have met people responsible for organizing these marches and protests, and knew what they were trying to achieve. I became involved after becoming aware of how the goals would be achieved.
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39 comments (Latest Comment: 09/26/2011 22:48:16 by Mondobubba)