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American Recession via Iraq
This entry was posted on 3/26/2008 3:42 PM and is filed under Crappy Economy Redux,Third World United States,Iraq Project Two.
Just one sad footnote on money that hit me between the eyes while in Turkey and Iraq. The dollar has fallen significantly to both the Iraqi Dinar and the Turkish Lira since my last visit to the region. In October of 2006 I could get approximately 1.50 Turkish Lira to one Dollar. Now you get 1.17 Lira. In October of 2006 I got approximately 1500 Iraqi Dinar to one Dollar. I hear now it is more like 1100 to the Dollar. This is troubling considering as I belabored before, Iraq does not really even have a viable banking system that I could see.
On my first day in Iraq in the fall of 2006 my driver looked at my funny when I asked to be taken to a bank. The people in the "commerce" bank rolled their eyes and sent me across the street the mafia jewelery shop to exchange my U.S. Dollars. Apparently the "bank" was for all the chaotic construction projects that were overlapping each other out in the streets.
The obvious point should be this: The Dollar has lost almost one-third of its value against a monetary unit in a country with no banking system. Perhaps then, the U.S. economic recession is best documented in an Iraqi war zone as opposed to the shelves of Wal-Mart. Poetic, considering "the many peoples" suggest Iraq is the driving force in our economic collapse.
Stupid pop culture, media-complex, distraction-from-reality story
I see the main stream pundits are still up to their old tricks more than ever while I was gone to Iraq. So, I am thinking, each day I should continue to jot down the stupidest news story that is foist upon us by the big-media-complex as a distraction from the reality that has become America. So here we go - welcome to today's "Stupid Pop Culture, Media-complex, Distraction-from-reality Story."
While the war in Iraq languishes on; the dollar collapses; gas prices prevent us shlubs from having a night out; and, Washington continues to be run by lunatics, yet another Wisconsin story leaches into the national news. Perhaps the tragic poetry in this story is that soon we all may be so broke that prayer is all that most of us can hope for when we get sick. Prayer was just not enough to save this poor girl. Now there is some real God damned news!
Wisconsin military service person of the week
Marine Staff Sergeant Chad J. Simon, 32 of Monona died on August 4, 2005 while under hospice care in Madison, Wisconsin. His death was caused from wounds he received nine months earlier in an explosion during combat in Babil Province, Iraq, on November 8, 2004. Staff Sergeant Simon was with the Madison-based Company G, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve. Three of the other area soldiers - Lance Corporal Shane K. O'Donnell, 24, of De Forest; Lance Corporal Branden Ramey, 22, of Belvidere, Illinois; and, Corporal Robert Warns II, of Waukesha - died shortly after the attack. While in Iraq, the unit was stationed in Babil province, 30 miles south of Baghdad. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned Simon is survived by his wife, Regina; 6-year-old son, Dylan; parents, Jerry Simon of Cuba City and Carol Parham of Bradenton, Florida; and, a sister, Stacy Simon of Bradenton, Florida. Chad enlisted in the reserves a few months before he graduated from Madison's La Follette High School in 1990. Staff Sergeant Simon had earned the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal three times; the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; and, for his November, 2004 wounds, the Purple Heart Medal. Simon's unit was called to duty in June 2004 and sent to Iraq in September 2004. Staff Sergeant Chad Simon was the 44th Wisconsin soldier to die in Iraq since the spring of 2003.
4,001 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
487 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
308 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
290 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
29,451 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1,898 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
87 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
10 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
127 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
15 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Soldier of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; and, icasualties.org.
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