Hey, ever wonder what life is like on other planets? I sure do.
Do you think there is a planet out there somewhere, the same size as Earth, but with all the life on a much smaller scale? Little animals, little people, little plants and trees. Just think how much more room we would have on our planet if everything was smaller. Of course, it would take longer to get everywhere in our little cars and little airplanes.
I don’t think this scenario is very likely as elemental molecules are the same size. This probably ends up in everything being the same general scale throughout the universe. Maybe someday a tiny little rocket will land on Earth, some little people will climb out and prove me wrong.
Those little dudes are really going to regret it if they land in my yard. I hate to be proven wrong.
Meanwhile, top U.S. intelligence officials disclosed that the deployment of Iraqi forces into Baghdad under President Bush’s new plan to stabilize Iraq is running behind schedule and that all of the units sent so far have arrived under strength, some by more than half.
When you care enough to send half of the very best.
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The Department of Defense puts the number of men and women wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan at about 23,000, while the Department of Veterans Affairs has recorded treating more than 200,000 veterans of those two wars. Paul Sullivan, the director of programs at the advocacy group Veterans for America, says, “What you have are two sets of books.”
Mr. Woodruff politely asks the secretary of veterans affairs, R. James Nicholson, to explain the discrepancy. Citing department reports that list 73,000 mental disorders, 61,000 diseases of the nervous system and others, Mr. Woodruff says, “These are huge numbers beyond the 23,000.”
Mr. Nicholson, a Vietnam veteran and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, replies, “A lot of them come in for, for dental problems.”
I watched Woodruff’s show last night and it was disturbing to say the least.
I have often heard political conservatives and Republicans qualify their lament for our injured soldiers and marines by saying something to the effect of “They signed up for the job and they are professionals. They knew what they were in for.”
While it is true that they joined the military under their own free will, it is also true that they enlisted to serve so that you and I would not have to. They are volunteering to put themselves on the front line in defense of this country. This country needs to honor that commitment by putting troops in harms way only when it truly is necessary to protect the security of the United States. We also need to honor that commitment by assuring that we pay any price to take care of those who have been injured while serving their country. This is not currently the case.
The recent revelations of the conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center are an example of the neglect that our soldiers face upon their return home from battle. But Woodruff’s report also points to the lack of preparedness that the Veterans Administration had for the type of traumatic brain injuries that are now so commonly found in modern war.
Without question the immediate treatment that a soldier receives from the moment of their injury is beyond criticism. From emergency surgery in country, to transfer to Germany and then to the United States for further surgery and follow up care, the military has taken full advantage of modern medicine and logistics in order to save lives at an unprecedented scale and rate. Unfortunately, once these soldiers have recovered to the point where they can be discharged from the hospital and are transfered back to their homes to begin the physical, mental and emotional therapy needed to recover, they slip through the cracks of the bureaucracy of the Veterans Administration. These men and women, who have sacrificed everything to defend their country, are now finding themselves abandoned by those they swore to protect. If they complain about their treatment to the press they are punished for daring to speak up.
Soldier advocate, author and veteran of the Iraq War, Paul Rieckhoff states that the number of soldiers that could suffer the effects of brain injury from action in Iraq and Afghanistan could reach as high as 10–15% of all those who served in the war. This country is not prepared to provide care to these soldiers.
And things are not looking much better for the future. In order to fulfill his pledge to balance the budget by 2012 President Bush has proposed budget cuts to veterans’ health care starting in 2009 despite the fact that the cost of health care for veterans has been growing at a rate over 10% each year.
There is going to be a crisis in the care of those who have paid the price to defend this country. History has shown us the response from conservatives and Republicans to those who need our help. They will quickly tire of the calls for more heath care funding. They will grow weary of the complaints from veterans. They will refer to those who need our help in derogatory terms. They will make complaints of their own that these veterans are lazy, they are unwilling to work, they are unwilling to pick themselves up and take care of themselves, they are un-American. All of this from the very group of politicians and pundits who were so willing to send our soldiers into battle in the first place.
OK, so it looks like this whole “stock market” thing is not going to pan out after all.
I am going to contact our financial guy tomorrow and direct him to move all my money into comic books. At least I will have something to read when we are all living in a van down by the river.
I don’t see the appeal of tattoos or body piercing.
Earrings? OK. An understated nose piercing? I guess. Tongue piercing? Uhh, no thanks. Barbell in the wrist? WTF are you thinking?
Tattoos are more understandable because the word is fun to say.
“Hey everyone! I just got a tattoo of Abe Lincoln on my buttock!”
Yea sure, I’ll check that out. But I would not want to live with a tattoo for the rest of my life. Hell, I don’t even like a pair of jeans for more than a couple of months. And from what I have seen, tattoos don’t really get better with age.
But whatever, you want a tattoo so you get one in a discreet place that you cover up during the work day. No problem. But putting skulls on the top of your hands or the words “I Rule!” on your forehead is not going to get you very far in the professional world. A pierced tongue or lip? Do you want to work in the mail room your whole life?
I know, I know. I am just a giant square who doesn’t understand the desire to express one’s self. Go ahead, express away. Having your job options limited because of all that junk sticking out of your face will fit perfectly with your “the world is totally against me” attitude.
I don’t think Cheney’s ticker is going to be able to take much more of this kind of thing.
Why is a guy with such a tenuous grasp on health traveling around the world anyway? Is the Bush Administration trying to put the VP in the ground or what?
I know Cheney wants to be “out of town” when the Libby verdict comes in, but if stress like this keeps up he is not going to be around long enough to worry about the potential fall out of a guilty verdict.
Maybe it was loading Baby Smithers into his car seat. Maybe it was a result of favoring my right arm. Maybe it was something totally different that I am not even aware of.
Regardless, if I sit very very still and take little short shallow breaths it does not bother me a bit.
But if I move or breath deep the muscle goes into spasm and I can barely speak because it hurts so bad.
I went 20 minutes of my 1:10 scheduled workout this morning before I had to bail out due to the pain and the inability to breath.
What happened to me? It seems like just two or three years ago I felt indestructible. Now it seems like there is something dragging me down just about every god damn day.
This must be what getting old feels like. I guess I am not going to be able to take part in that break dancing contest tonight. I am so disappointed.
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