Apr 15

From The Local:

The big news on Saturday was meant to be the inauguration of Norway’s futuristic new national opera house, but all eyes were on special guest German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s plunging neckline, German tabloid daily Bild reported on Monday.

The paper said 53-year-old Merkel has never been seen in something so revealing, but called her choice “elegant,” “feminine,” and “stately.”

Merkel’s black evening gown paired with a deep turquoise bolero shawl and classic pearl necklace was a far cry from the stuffy pink gown she wore to a Bayreuth opera two years ago - which revealed tabloid-friendly sweat stains as she waved to eager photographers.

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What VF said :

I like her new look. She looked way too boyish before the 2005 election. Is she revealing too much? I don’t know. Seems elegant enough. World news? Well we could argue about the value of Merkel’s cleavage on world affairs. But hey, it’s better than listening to the constant attacks between Obama and Clinton (which are getting old, really).

What MF said :

The value of this “news” is exactly ZERO. Has the media nothing better to report on? For God’s sake there are more pressing matters going on in the World. Like rising food prices, Chinese violations of Tibetans’ human rights, Iran’s nuclear plans, et cetera, et cetera. I do have to admit that it’s better than reading about that skinny rich kid Paris Hilton though. But that isn’t saying much! Let’s stop the madness.

Mar 10

From CNN:
The flow of blood may be ebbing, but the flood of money into the Iraq war is steadily rising, new analyses show.

In 2008, its sixth year, the war will cost approximately $12 billion a month, triple the “burn” rate of its earliest years, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and co-author Linda J. Bilmes report in a new book.

Beyond 2008, working with “best-case” and “realistic-moderate” scenarios, they project the Iraq and Afghan wars, including long-term U.S. military occupations of those countries, will cost the U.S. budget between $1.7 trillion and $2.7 trillion — or more — by 2017.

Interest on money borrowed to pay those costs could alone add $816 billion to that bottom line, they say.

Click here for full article.

What VF said :

Look, these wars are necessary. We need to fight terrorists to keep America and the world safe. Sure it’s costing billions and billions of taxpayer’s money - but have we had a major terrorist attack since 9/11? No. And God willing it will stay that way! Leaving Iraq and Afghanistan will only hurt our security situation. We can’t let terrorists take over those 2 countries and transform them into huge training grounds for attacks on Western interests!

What MF said :

What a bunch of crap, VF. Hey, I agree with ya that we need to keep terrorism out of our countries but let’s look at the whole picture. Is it worth spending trillions (yes, TRILLIONS) of dollars on wars, soldiers’ lives and our reputation when we can probably be just as safe without the wars. You did read those intelligence reports which stated that the wars only made the security situation less safe? 12 billion dollars a month. That’s 144 billion bucks a year! We could fix our crappy public education system, medicare, and let’s not forget the levees that need urgent repairs.