The war in Iraq on Monday received the dubious distinction of having killed 4,000 American soldiers.
Add to that the roughly 85,000 civilians that died, according to estimates by this Web site, and the real magnitude of this mistake becomes clear.
Any soldier dying is a tragedy, but tens of thousands of civilians who had no choice in the matter? That's beyond tragedy, beyond apology, but somehow I'm still sorry.
I wonder if our country can ever live this down.
Since this seems to be the week of potty talk, let's now examine how a vast vat of shite in the Central Valley (not the city of Modesto, though it qualifies) could be the solution to the state's energy problems.
It's a simple principle: There are cows. Cows poop. Normally, such cow dollups sit meditatively in a field as adornments that can fuel a fire in a pinch, but little else.
Now, the pooled poop is set to power 1,200 houses per day.
That is, crap from 5,000 cows — "effectively a 33 feet deep, 5 football field-sized vat" — will be converted into natural gas, and thus energy. With 2 million cows statewide, the article says, the potential for renewable energy is huge.
For even more potential, they could stick a hose under my nine-year-old's blankets at night and catch more than a whiff of the real stuff. That boy farts like a bowlegged bartender.
I really have no problem admitting guilt ... you can ask my wife about the strange and harrowing list of crimes for which I've taken credit over the years. This time, it's a public setting, but what the hell? Grownups face up to their crimes, and I committed one. Well, kind of.
I'm a hooker looker.
I consider myself enough of a connoisseur of the feminine form that the local hooker set does nothing for me. But the prostitute who was under the ... uh ... employ of New York Governor Elliot Spitzer? I gave her the old Internet what-for.
First, I saw her photo on Drudge. Then I read about her on MSNBC. And then, shamefully watching over my shoulder for bosses and coworkers, I visited her MySpace page. I listened to her sing. I even checked out her favorite movies.
We have some things in common.
I feel dirty.
Some scientists have figured out, according to the Daily Mail, that marijuana can be used to counteract some of the impacts of Alzheimer's, specifically those dealing with memory.
"One of the 400 compounds in the drug can significantly slow memory problems caused by the disease, tests show," says the article.
With Ronald Reagan being the unfortunate poster president for that tragic disease, does this mean the end of "just say no" to marijuana? Or does it mean that while 1 compound helps fight Alzheimer's, the rest vaporize so many brain cells that in the end for most long-time dope smokers the end result is a wash?
I have old friends I could call as research subjects, but I can never seem to remember their phone numbers ...
I'm not saying Gunderson did it — give the accused the right defend themselves, right? — but something has been stinky about law enforcement in Blue Lake for years.
A couple of years ago, I attended a City Council meeting where scores crowded into the old store there in Blue Lake to decry the Police Department and Chief Dave Gunderson. Consider me naive, but that doesn't happen in my opinion unless there's a reason.
We here at the newspaper have received numerous tips alleging all sorts of things, and the latest flap just seems to make the point that stink follows poop.
You know you're going to see them, sprouting like Eureka Reporters in the yards of Humboldt County media outlets over the next two weeks — the obligatory year-end lists. Every print media organization on the North Coast will be concocting its lists for the top stories of 2007.
But what do you think? What were the top stories of 2007? Give me your list and I'll try to get a few printed in the paper.
Some seem obvious, but others less so.
Neely eking out a victory against über-challenger Nancy Flemming? Maybe, maybe not. Bill the Chimp succumbs to old age ... probably. I mean, if it had been Bill matched up against Neely, we'd have had a new 4th District supervisor. (Where's the law stand on non-human candidates, anyway?)
Update: Alright, alright — as Hank Sims so unceremoniously points out, the Flemming/Neely race was 2006 ... but I couldn't waste the Chimp for Supervisor comparison, now could I? And everyone, bow down before the North Coast Journal for being the FIRST NEWSPAPER IN HUMBOLDT COUNTY HISTORY to do the year's top stories edition.
Wasn't that the point alluded to at top, Hank? Obligatory, get it? That's spelled U-N-O-R-I-G-I-N-A-L, not S-C-O-O-P.
Update No. 2: And notice, if you will, how the NC Journal barely mentions the indictments of Zanotti and Douglas in their list (cough: What were you smoking, Hank?) They actually give the "trail uprising" precedence over the only indictment of commanding officers EVER.