Letter from Sen. Mark Warner re: Afghanistan

What does this say other than he's taken a trip to Afghanistan? Absolutely nothing. A great example for p.r. classes in how to write meaningless letters with content of empty words.


Dear Ms. ____________,



Thank you for contacting me regarding additional troops in Afghanistan. I share your concerns about the need to resolve the conflicts throughout Afghanistan and improve the lives of those living in that region of the world.



This is a very complicated and important issue. Last spring, I traveled to Afghanistan to get a first-hand look at operations on the ground. While in Afghanistan, I received several briefings from our top military and diplomatic leadership. I also conducted a site visit at the Kabul Military Training Center where our U.S. forces are working hard to train the Afghan troops. In addition, I traveled to Kandahar and met with Virginia troops and the US and Allied Commanders to get an accurate assessment of the situation.



In the coming weeks our military and civilian leadership will review our strategy and consider the resources required to ensure we have the most effective policies for Afghanistan, and the right equipment and training to protect our troops. I will continue to keep your thoughts in mind as the situation unfolds.



Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me with your views. As we move forward with the 111th Congress, please continue to be in touch with your opinions and concerns.




Sincerely,
MARK R. WARNER
United States Senator

Why bother, Washington Post?

Buried in the left corner at the bottom of page A10 in Saturday's (September 26, 2009) paper in the section "World Digest" under Afghanistan, are four paragraphs with a heading (not big enough for a headline):

5 U.S. Troops Killed in Attacks in South

Why bother, Washington Post? They were only five. Five soldiers who don't matter. Why even bother to put them in at all? The huge stories you have on Indian defense and mandatory flu shots are surely more important, but what? One hundred paragraphs on them was not enough and you had to squeeze the deaths? You supporting the Defense Department's order for more troops and you're trying to minimize more losses? Or maybe it's the green crew you've got in now, which can't exactly pinpoint Afghanistan's location nor does it know anything about our troops there or the past. Maybe Washington Post, you better get in some people with some history who know a thing or two about world events, more than the crew you've got now which relies on wire service stories and can't tell a dead soldier from a fighter jet.

The news is all the same

Do you flip back and forth between the networks and wonder how and why they place their stories in the same order? And devote more or less the same amount of time to each?

The front pages of Friday's Washington Post and New York Times are almost the same above the fold. They must have been made up by the same editor!

In the left single column in both papers is the SEC story charging the Countrywide leader with fraud. The headlines are similar; not exact, but similar. Well, you say, it's the same story!

Then splashed across the rest of the top fold of both papers is the Obama Mideast speech with several color pictures of individuals and groups from the Mideast and Asia watching the speech. The only difference is that all the NYT pictures show males only. A family picture in the Post has some females.

Wouldn't you think one or two of the photos would be of Obama? Or some of the other leaders? Or the locale of the speech?

Is the main stream media now under the same ownership and direction and the announcements have not been made? Do they collaborate? Do the networks collaborate? Are the editors out of the same school? Of thought? Just wondering.

Timeline of Sotomayor announcement

As received via e-mail:

The Supreme Court nominee announcement is coming! NYTimes 8:25 a.m.

The Supreme Court nominee announcement is coming! Washington Post 8:34 a.m.

The Supreme Court nominee is Sonia Sotomayor! NYTimes 8:39 a.m.
(Interesting that the story in this link shows a time posted as 8:15 a.m.)

The Supreme Court nominee is Sonia Sotomayor! Washington Post 8:51 a.m.

But I understand MSNBC and the AP beat them both.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at Brookings

Speaking to a SRO crowd at Brookings recently, Arne Duncan endorsed the concept of using school buildings year-round, night and day. “School buildings do not belong to me; they belong to taxpayers.” he said.

“The more schools become part of community life, the better the community becomes"
since “families learn together.” Non-profits could use school buildings from 3 – 9 p.m. like some Chicago schools have done, and no rent is collected: “Whose room is it?” he asked.

Schools can be safe havens in crime areas. One questioner from the Service Employees Union said schools “are the safest places” in some communities.

A retired math professor said it was common knowledge that students now enter college less prepared than they were five years ago, and students five years ago were less prepared than their predecessors: “What are we doing about this?”

He lamented the lousy teaching of fractions, often taught by professionals who do not understand them themselves, noting “A massive amount of money is being spent on pedagogy” which would be better spent on “teaching content.”

Secretary Duncan said the massive infusion of stimulus dollars will save “hundreds of thousands” of teaching positions.

What should be a goal for 2012? Sec. Duncan said one goal should be to close the 500 “chronically underperforming schools.”

Managing federal money is not easy: The dilemma to use the funds “short-term” (before their two-year expiration) while trying to solve long-term problems puts schools in a quandary.

Nine states have already spent their stimulus money. Russell Whitehurst, a member of the panel which convened after Duncan's presentation, said $100 billion flowing from the U.S. Department of Education is a huge amount to manage.

When asked by a member of the audience, Velma Sawhill, another panelist, said there was a risk that some federal dollars would be spent unwisely since it is “so much, so fast.” Mike Smith, another panel member, said “it takes a long time to go through all the channels.”

Dr. Whitehurst said a recent study of technology in the classroom showed about the same level of performance by students who had technological classroom benefits as those students who do not. He said tech product developers protested the results of the study saying time and teacher training to implement the new technologies damaged the results.

100% troop deaths: noncombat related

In the May 14, 2009 edition of the Washington Post on page A10, the names of seven dead American troops are listed. They all died as a result of "noncombat injuries."

Five of them were killed by the mentally-ill Army sergeant who shot and killed them May 11 at Camp Liberty in Baghdad.

Why do so many of our troops die from noncombat related reasons?

This morning NPR (and the Post) featured a story on three troop deaths due to electrocutions in "sewage showers." An engineer claimed that 90% of military electrical work done in Iraq was faulty. The inferior work has been attributed to KBR, formerly of Halliburton,Inc. Dick Cheney's old firm, whose public relation officer responded: "Us? No way. We are not to blame."

Is Patrick Tillman's death the only cover-up?

How do these numbers compare to those in other conflicts? Are soldiers rushed into combat so quickly they are not trained sufficiently? Does the Defense Department need numbers so badly that soldiers are sent to harm's way without adequate training about the deadly weapons they carry? The mentally ill carry them!

Does the Defense Department investigate these deaths and the reasons behind them?
What changes has the Defense Department implemented to stop them? Any?

Family members and taxpayers would like to know.

The five soldiers shot by their comrade were:

Spec. Jacob Barton, 20, Lenox, MO

Sgt. Christian Bueno-Galdos, 25, Paterson, NJ

Maj. Matthew Houseal, 54, Amarillo, TX

Navy Cmdr. Charles Springle, 52, Wilmington, NC

Pfc. Michael Yates, Jr., 19, Federalsburg, MD

Two other soldiers are listed in the May 14 paper who died from "noncombat injuries" were:

Pvt. Justin Hartford, 21, Elmira, NY

Spec. Omar Albrak, 21, Chicago

We hang our heads in sorrow.

Code Pink Rallies at the White House on Mother's Day

Emerson, the driver, Joshua, and Julian provided transportation (right)





The handmade banners commemorate the lives of dead soldiers from the Iraq War


To know Code Pink is to love Code Pink, its presence at the Capitol Hill hearings and the pictures and signs members hold aloft behind the heads of the Big Shots testifying as they try to wrangle out of their (mis)deeds or vie for government dollars.

For a small group, Code Pink garners an unusually large amount of media attention. Hurray for Code Pink!

With admiration for its unceasing efforts and always applauding its goals, I joined the group last Sunday at Lafayette Park for a small and sincere rally to stop the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On a gorgeous Mother's Day afternoon we carried the long banner made by women from 20 different countries who sewed more than 4,000 squares in pink of many different shades. We marched in front of the White House chanting "I will not raise my child to kill another mother's child'" which is based upon the 1870 Mother's Day Proclamation composed by Julia Ward Howe

Code Pink leaders charmed the White House police corps which waived an arrest for one Pink member (for what I don’t know), and permitted, after denial, the laying of hundreds of pink, white, and red roses at the base of the White House iron railing.

Sadly, the withering roses represented the brief lives of soldiers and citizens
who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.