American Death Toll in Iraq Reaches 4,000:

According to the Associated Press, the death count for American's in Iraq has reached 4,000 now that we are in the sixth year of the war. No one knows precisely how many Iraqis have died, but best estimates range between 82,000 and 90,000.

The Bush administration usually dismisses the figures, stating that Saddam Hussein killed more of his own people in the 1980s. It should be noted that the Reagan administration continually increased its support for Saddam during this time, dramatically increasing aid following the chemical attacks.

As everyone should know by now, the weapons of mass destruction that Saddam possessed during this time were purchased from American suppliers with American government aid.

The War's a Bore:

According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, as reported by today's New York Times, the media's coverage of the war in Iraq by 80 percent over the past year. Public interest in the war, according to the Pew Research Center, parallels Bush's popularity, "running below 30 percent since last fall."

G. W.'s joke — "Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be here somewhere." — George W. Bush at the Radio & Television Correspondent's dinner, showing a photo of himself looking under his desk, March 24, 2004 — was on us and the Iraqi people.

This day in history: On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez struck a reef in Alaska, spilling eleven million gallons of crude oil. Battles over the clean up are still going on. Exxon Mobil is now the wealthiest company in the world, even as American's are going bankrupt while paying record high prices for gasoline, diesel fuel, and heating oil.

Pure Commentary:

Have you noticed that while the Republicans hate government regulation when it comes to the banks they own they nevertheless promote it thoroughly when it comes to the way you lead your personal lives?

They also hate government financial aid to working class people (unemployment benefits, government funded retraining programs) and assistance to the poor (welfare), but they demand that their financial empires be bailed out by the taxpayers after they do stupid and harmful things with their banks and other speculating entities.

To Boldly Go … and Find Stuff:

Science has now determined that there are 277 planets in the known universe, with the number growing at a regular pace. (No, that doesn't mean new ones are being created, just discovered.) If we don't destroy ourselves first through global warming and war, this period of history is likely to change our perspective of who we are in a way comparable to the realization that the earth actually orbits the sun, rather than vise versa. (See The Washington Post story.)