Oh, that reality. Damn that reality. Try as Bushco might to create their own realities while scoffing at those of us who embrace objective reality, that darned objective reality just keeps slapping those assholes in the face. Even though we've been "turning the corner" for, what, the last 18 months or so. Even though the increasing attacks on our troops by insurgents show just how increasingly desperate their situation is getting. Even though we "turned over" the country to Iraqi control back in June.
Looks like the army is planning for two more years of More Of The Same:
The U.S. Army expects to keep its troop strength in Iraq at the current level of about 120,000 for at least two more years, according to the Army's top operations officer.
Oh, and that whole fiscal responsibility thing? Fuck it:
In a related development, Senate and House aides said yesterday that the White House will announce today plans to request an additional $80 billion to finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That would come on top of $25 billion already appropriated for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. White House budget spokesman Chad Kolton declined to comment
Gee, he declined to comment? What a shocker.
So let's see, that's *another* $80-something billion (and $1.5 billion of that is going to construct a new US embassy ... the same cost roughly for the replacement to the freakin' World Trade Center, notes Atrios). That brings the projected total to well over $500 per person so far for the Iraq war. Oh yeah, that's money well spent. You sure I can't take that back and get a nice new range for the kitchen?
Posted by Observer at January 25, 2005 07:06 AMComments on entries can only be made in pop-up windows while those entries are still on the main index page. Sorry for the inconvenience this causes, but this blocks about 99.99% of the spam the blog receives.
$1.5 billion is the estimated cost of the current Freedom Tower skyscraper, which is only one part of the total replacement of the World Trade Center. (Total estimated cost of all building replacements ranges from $7B to $12B.)
Which is still an amazing comparison considering the magnitude of that one tower. I hope we get some amazing embassy. Like it should be able to fly or something.
Posted by: Mr. Nosuch on January 25, 2005 07:58 AMNew stove! Now you're speakin' my language!
Posted by: felicity on January 25, 2005 04:57 PMSeems like $500 for a new cooktop is cheap to keep your wife happy.
Posted by: Humbaba on January 25, 2005 05:31 PM$500 is cheap.
Unfortunately, the set-up my spousal unit really wants sort of requires a whole kitchen remodel. (As it is, the kitchen is so badly laid out that more than one person can't work at one time.) I don't think that's gonna happen; we'll probably move first.
Posted by: Feff on January 26, 2005 09:22 AMSimilar problem for us, too. We'd like to make some major changes, but we may end up moving first. We like our house, for the most part, but the neighborhood is not growing on us. I think the tipping point that would make us move would be if we suddenly (or gradually) came into enough cash to make a significant down payment so that our monthly payments wouldn't change much despite moving into a bigger house.
We had been kinda dreaming of moving into a relatively old and beautiful neighborhood much closer to both of our workplaces. It's called Tanglewood, but the prices are around double the value of our current house. Plus the major grocery store nearby, despite being in a brand new and very nice looking (relatively speaking, of course) super strip mall, surrounded by nice neighborhoods, etc., has been the scene of two highly publicized carjackings in the past year, one of which ended up in a murder.
Of course, knowing how crime statistics work and how the newspaper reports things, it is very likely there have been a couple of carjackings at the stores near us, too, but because the neighborhood (and/or the victims) is not old, established and wealthy, nobody bothered making a fuss.
Posted by: Observer on January 26, 2005 09:35 AMWell after listening to that helicopter circle around for thirty minutes last night and all those sirens...that wouldn't surprise me a bit. Something was loose in our neighborhood last night, I'm half glad I don't know what.
Posted by: felicity on January 26, 2005 07:53 PMI'd probably get lost in Tanglewood.
Posted by: Polerand on January 27, 2005 02:15 PM