Good Morning.

Today is our 2,645th day in Iraq and our 3,173rd 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): 4405
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4266
Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03): 3944
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3546
Since Obama Inauguration (1/20/09): 177

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 318
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,114
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 712
Contractor Employee Deaths - Iraq: 1,457
Journalists - Iraq: 338
Academics Killed - Iraq: 437

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

$ 1, 005, 936, 600, 000 .00


We've got a bunch of things to look at today, so we'll dive right in. Have you been keeping up with the news out of Afghanistan? It's 10,000 miles away and there is no clear "bogeyman" (Like Saddam), so it's easy to miss what's happening there. Of course, the MSM is doing us no favors with their coverage, either.

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64 comments (Latest Comment: 06/16/2010 00:53:34 by Raine)

Is the Tea Party showing signs of fatigue? Are they packing up their party hats, table cloths and misspelled signs and going home? I think so.

It all began harmless enough. Let’s gather some frustrated, slightly racist, slightly under-educated people and put them with some hate-filled, rabidly racist, well-spoken and well-read people and stir the pot. Voilá! A Tea Party movement - all very “grassroots”. Even though FOX “news” and other partisan groups pushed and organized from behind the scenes.

I’m all for grassroots. Boycotting BP, for example, seems like a natural thing to do when one is frustrated with something or someone that has power over us. I’m doing it and many of my friends are as well. That would be grassroots. Seems many people just naturally started boycotting BP.

The Tea Party movement has problems in that area. There are so many issues to protest/hate that the Party cannot seem to stick to one idea. Government = bad is to be the main theme, but some of the Party members like the Government when they it comes to Prolife causes or kicking Gay people out of the military. It conflicts with those that just want their personal freedom (even, I suppose, if it infringes on YOUR personal freedom).
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6 comments (Latest Comment: 06/14/2010 00:05:51 by Scoopster)

First off - apologies in advance for a lame blog today. I was extremely busy at work yesterday, and then a ball game last night has left me feeling completely out of touch with the "outside world" this morning. As such, I will do the lazy thing and provide you with a "wacky news Friday"....
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71 comments (Latest Comment: 06/12/2010 00:25:23 by Scoopster)

I'm not a gambling man, but I'm willing to bet that the odds-makers in Vegas were way off on their handicapping of the primary race outcomes yesterday. There has been a fervent anti-incumbent meme ever since the health care bill, primarily fueled by the Tea Party rhetoric. The results, however, suggest that their voice is large, but their voting blocs are small; incumbents held out in numerous races.
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53 comments (Latest Comment: 06/10/2010 03:30:56 by Mondobubba)

This morning, words have failed me, in response to what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico. Last night, after reading this old Calvin & Hobbes comic I sat back and realized that sometimes it seems the more things change, the really big things that need changing in the country don't.

I mentioned this to BobR, that 'I PRAY that this disaster in the gulf will finally make those big changes happen. He replied "Considering the price we're paying (we as a human race), we better get something out of it." It was profound and sensical. I wondered if that can happen. I woke up wondering it again. Words fail me these days regarding what we have brought onto ourselves as such ferocious consumers of fossil fuels. Our nation consumes upwards of 25% of the worlds fossil fuels and we only supply 3%. We must work on getting away from our dependance on fossil fuels. Can any good come of this at all?
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32 comments (Latest Comment: 06/07/2010 19:29:51 by Raine)