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Ask A Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 09/02/2008 11:37:33

Good Morning.

Today is our 1,994th day in Iraq.

We'll start as we always do, with the latest casualty figures from the warron terra, courtesy of Antiwar.com:

American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 4151
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03): 4012
Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03): 3690
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3292
Since Election (1/31/05): 2714

Other Coalition Troops - Iraq: 314
US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 581
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 366
Contractor Deaths - Iraq: 444


We find this morning's Cost of War passing through $ 550, 598, 575, 000.00.

Since it's the first day of school tomorrow for most of the United States, we'll briefly take a closer look at the war's cost in real-world terms today.

$4,681 per household.
$1,721 per person.
$341.4 million per day.

For the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the money spend in Iraq could have bought the following things:

2,217,591 Head Start Places for Children for One Year OR
265,270 Elementary School Teachers for One Year OR
317,450 Music and Arts Teachers for One Year OR
1,932,158 Scholarships for University Students for One Year

(more at the link.)

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277 comments (Latest Comment: 09/03/2008 03:40:27 by livingonli)

Welcome to the Republican World of Diminished Freedoms and Fewer Unions
Author: m-hadley    Date: 09/01/2008 11:04:44

Welcome to the Republican World (View)
Land of Diminished Freedoms and Fewer Unions (Happy Labor Day :P)

The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

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102 comments (Latest Comment: 09/02/2008 07:17:35 by livingonli)

Sarah: Plain and simple.
Author: velveeta jones    Date: 08/31/2008 12:25:52

Finally! A candidate that Velveeta Jones can wrap her hands around! Sarah Palin! A true fighter. A woman, a wife and a mother! A mother, who apparently, never gives up. Its obvious that her natural reserves have been drilled often - she has a barn load of kids. And not with silly popular names like "Lindsay" or "Michael", rather, strong names that will really make these kids stand-outs on the national stage. Names like: Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig. I'm sure that "Dirk", "Butte" and "Seedling" will be appearing in the future, since she still has plenty of birthing years left. She can even have them while in the job of VP. And, since she recently told us that she's not sure what the Vice President does, why not just make more babies for the "democracy spreading" that McCain has promised us for the next 100 years?

Poor, sheltered Sarah, she's not sure what the VP does? Well, here’s some things her predecessor excelled on, maybe she can find a few tips:

Do shoot your fellow lobbyist/friends/donors in the face while “hunting” at farms where they drug and cage the animals then release them for an easy kill.

Do set up a task force and have secret meetings with corporations (i.e. Oil executives) that have a vested interest to make and set policy and agendas.

Do try to convince us that you would not be a member of the Executive Branch.

Continue trampling on the Constitution.

But I digress. What is it about this woman that arouses so many of us? Is it because she's such a great role model for our Grand Old Party? What say's "Republican Values" better than holding the second highest office in the world, while toting around a 4 month old. Sarah Palin is a feminist in every sense of the word! (Excluding Roe v Wade).
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71 comments (Latest Comment: 09/01/2008 08:49:53 by Random)

Libertarian Saturday
Author: TriSec    Date: 08/30/2008 12:54:48

Good Morning!

Well, it's the eve of the Republican convention. From where I sit, it seems that the McCain campaign is in more disarray every day. It's purely anectdotal, but the few republicans that I know in this state are increasingly disappointed with McCain and his policies. At least one person I know is voting for Obama; there's a few others that I've been trying hard to sell Bob Barr to.

I know none of us here are seriously considering voting for Bob Barr. I never was going to vote for him from the very beginning; my candidate didn't make it out of the convention and he has virtually disappeared since then.

But since we ALL must know some republican fence-sitters....you owe it to America to point out that there are alternatives for our misguided friends.

I have found a remarkable website called "On the Issues", that lists the positions of every candidate on every issue....so I'll cherry-pick just a couple of things today and we'll look at Barr vs. McCain.

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45 comments (Latest Comment: 08/31/2008 05:39:55 by livingonli)

Yes. We did.
Author: Raine    Date: 08/29/2008 12:18:58

Did you wake up this morning still feeling it? The happiness the hope and the change that we are making happen? I know I did. I don't have to tell you how historic last night was. What I do want to tell you is that It was, and still is, an honor and a privilege to be able to share it with all of you.

We have a chance this time to not just move away from the failures of the past 8 years, but to be a part of great change in this country. I for one am so happy that I am here to be a part of it. 58 years ago, Rosa Parks was sent to jail for not taking her seat in the back of a bus. Over the past year, Hillary Clinton puts 19 million cracks in a ceiling. Last night, this is what we saw:
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281 comments (Latest Comment: 08/30/2008 12:33:24 by trojanrabbit)

Democratic Convention Day 4
Author: BobR    Date: 08/28/2008 12:33:27

There have been some discussions of "where's the beef?" with regards to the campaign, Last night, Democrats got their two all beef patties, AND a little special sauce courtesy of Mellisa Ethridge. There were big names at the podium and big events at the hall.

The primary event of the evening of course was the nomination of Barack Obama as candidate for president for the Democratic Party. Due to the previous issues with Clinton supporters and - to some extent - the candidate herself, this took on the scripted feel of a movie scene. And what a scene it was!
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377 comments (Latest Comment: 08/29/2008 11:01:37 by trojanrabbit)

Democratic Convention Day 3
Author: BobR    Date: 08/27/2008 12:22:41

Last night was the big night for Hillary's speech. Concerns abounded as to whether she would be able to convince the PUMAs to get behind their party's presumptive nominee. The results were as good as could be expected. There were other speeches earlier in the evening that were also quite good, sadly missed by anyone watching anything other than PBS or C-SPAN.

Hillary spent close to half of her speech talking about her own campaign. Perhaps that was a last bit of meat to toss to her supporters. She wrapped that up by saying that both she & Obama supported the same things and that the only way to get that was by voting Democrat in Nov.
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280 comments (Latest Comment: 08/28/2008 06:48:52 by livingonli)

Ask A Vet
Author: Raine    Date: 08/26/2008 11:51:48

Good morning. I will fill in as best I can for our Loyal TriSec today. As We do every Tuesday, I present to you the stats From AntiWar.com

American Deaths
Since war began (3/19/03): 4147
Since "Mission Accomplished" (5/1/03) 4008
Since Capture of Saddam (12/13/03): 3686 3064
Since Handover (6/29/04): 3288
Since Election (1/31/05): 271

Today, we find the the Cost of war at $548,639,381,819 --the number counter is a stunner. $4,681 per household, $1,721 per person, $341.4 million per day.
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250 comments (Latest Comment: 08/27/2008 07:01:29 by livingonli)

Democratic National Convention Day 1
Author: BobR    Date: 08/25/2008 12:23:00

Today it begins. The Democratic Party National Convention opens in Denver. It looks to be 4 days of celebrating a new beginning, a Party party for flushing away the past 8 years of fear, incompetence, selfishness and self-righteousness (okay - maybe we'll still have a little of that last one). It will be 4 days of amazing speakers and music.

Last night was a celebratory concert. It included performers and speakers Dave Matthews (with Tim Reynolds), Sheryl Crow, Sugarland, Laurie David, Van Jones, Bill McDonough, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Bruce Springsteen will be playing the last night after Barack's speech. It's almost like LiveAid. Meanwhile, the Republican convention is more like Rolaid. :P
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261 comments (Latest Comment: 08/26/2008 04:08:34 by m-hadley)

Discuss
Author: velveeta jones    Date: 08/24/2008 12:45:57

Its come to this. Velveeta has turned into a drooling idiot. I'd always known this would eventually come to pass, but I held out hope that I'd reach such an age where I wouldn't know the difference.

Yes, dear readers, last night I stood in a small cubicle and felt as if I was Varya from Chekov's "Cherry Orchard" hearing the harp string break. Though in this case, it was not the demise of the aristocracy and the rise of the middle class; it was my small brain trying to take in more information than Our Dear Lord ever imagined.

I recently accepted a promotion at that place that pays me money - and it has already taken its toll on me. As I stood in said cubicle office and listened to an explanation of my responsibilities - there came the breaking of the harp string. I heard it as clear as day; right over the drone of "....then you look up the person's account number and enter it..........recount the money even though you counted it twice..........sort the slips of paper..........login to the ............fill out this form, and then this form..............answer the phone while counting........"

:thud:

And so my dear readers, I feel little remorse in presenting to you, today's blog, which is just short of an Open Thread. Call it: Stuff to ponder.
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47 comments (Latest Comment: 08/25/2008 11:43:02 by trojanrabbit)

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