Tagged as the most expensive high school in Massachusetts, at $154.6 million, Newton North High School could be replicated almost 3,000 times using the money spent on the war.

http://www.boston.com/news/natio n/gallery/050207_TheCostofWar?pg =2

30 Big Digs At almost $15 billion, Boston's Central Artery project has been held up as the nation's most expensive public works project. Now multiply that by 30 and you're getting close to US taxpayer’s commitment to democracy in Iraq… so far.

30 Big Digs At almost $15 billion, Boston's Central Artery project has been held up as the nation's most expensive public works project. Now multiply that by 30 and you're getting close to US taxpayer’s commitment to democracy in Iraq… so far.

Free gas for everybody for 1.2 years US drivers consume approximately 384.7 million gallons of gasoline a day. Retail prices averaged $2.64 a gallon in 2006. Breaking it down, $456 billion could buy gasoline for everybody in the United States, for about 449 days.

http://www.boston.com/news/natio n/gallery/050207_TheCostofWar?pg =4

Or go green (with ethanol) With just one-sixth of the US money targeted for the Iraq war, you could convert all cars in America to run on ethanol.

TheBudgetGraph.com estimates that converting the 136,568,083 registered cars in the United States to ethanol (conversion kits at $500) would cost $68.2 billion.

http://www.boston.com/news/natio n/gallery/050207_TheCostofWar?pg =5

14.5 million years through Harvard (44 million at UMass) At published rates for next year, $456 billion translates into 14.5 million free rides for a year at Harvard; 44 million at UMass.

http://www.boston.com/news/natio n/gallery/050207_TheCostofWar?pg =6

Medicare benefits for one year In fiscal 2008, Medicare benefits will total $454 billion, according to a Heritage Foundation summary.

http://www.boston.com/news/natio n/gallery/050207_TheCostofWar?pg =7

A LONG-term contract The Red Sox and Daisuke Matsuzaka agreed on a six-year, $52 million contract. The war cost could be enough to have Dice-K mania for another 52,615 years at this year's rate.

http://www.boston.com/news/natio n/gallery/050207_TheCostofWar?pg =8

Need more perspective? According to World Bank estimates, $54 billion a year would eliminate starvation and malnutrition globally by 2015, while $30 billion would provide a year of primary education for every child on earth.

At the upper range of those estimates, the $456 billion cost of the war could have fed and educated the world's poor for five and a half years.

http://www.boston.com/news/natio n/gallery/050207_TheCostofWar?pg =9

Do you have any other ideas on how to spend $456 billion -- or comparisons for what that money could have bought?

http://www.boston.com/news/natio n/gallery/050207_TheCostofWar?pg =10

see tags above

Brian Lewis said:

Need more perspective? According to World Bank estimates, $54 billion a year would eliminate starvation and malnutrition globally by 2015, while $30 billion would provide a year of primary education for every child on earth.

At the upper range of those estimates, the $456 billion cost of the war could have fed and educated the world's poor for five and a half years.

http://www.boston.com/news/natio n/gallery/050207_TheCostofWar?pg =9

Brian, do you think that is possible? 54 billion a year is not a lot of money. With a couple of allies WE, at least OUR country, could pull that off. How do WE start?

Some other things we could have bought instead of a war*

A college education - tuition, fees, room and board at a public university - for about half of the nation’s 17 million high-school-age teenagers.

Pre-school for every 3- and 4-year-old in the country for the next eight years.

A year’s stay in an assisted-living facility for about half of the 35 million Americans age 65 or older.

Hire 6,224,739 schoolteachers for a year

Total health care and insurance for more than 215 million children a year

For more go to: http://costofwar.com/index.html

The video on war profiteering Republicans don’t want you to see Progressive film director Robert Greenwald is scheduled to testify at a hearing on Thursday, May 10 about war profiteering. He requested to show a few minutes of one of his films, but Republicans blocked his request. Here’s what Congress won’t see:

http://www.politicstv.com/blog/? p=2618

Former Powell aide says Bush, Cheney guilty of 'high crimes'

A former top State Department aide to Colin Powell said today that President Bush and Vice President Cheney are more deserving of impeachment than was Bill Clinton. Lawrence Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to then-Secretary of State Colin Powell, said on the public radio program On Point Thursday that "Bill Clinton's peccadilloes ... pale in significance" when compared to the "high crimes and misdemeanors" of Bush and Cheney. http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Fo rmer_Powell_aide_says_Bush_Chene y_0510.html

i can't even begin to relate to you how angry i get at the thai government times like this.....unban youtube

Linda, you sound like a teenager!

;D nmw

ps/BTW: is anarchism prohibited in Thailand? What about in the "good ol' USA"?

see also: "Teenage Wind" ;D

Last week there was a meeting at the border between North and South Korea between the heads of the two militaries. This is the most heavily fortified place on the earth and relations between the North and South have been on edge for some time.

As the meeting commenced the head general from North Korea stood and began to speak. He was seeking to say something that all the parties at the table would agree upon.

He said: “The other day President Bush was jogging outside the White House. As he was jogging a car aimed directly at him.”

Everyone in the room looked at the general wondering what it was that may have happened.

The general from the North continued: “As the car came rushing toward President Bush and was within moments of striking him, a group of school children ran out and pushed President Bush out of harm’s way.”

Realizing that the children had just saved his life, the North Korean general continued, President Bush turned to the children and said: “You know, I am the President of the greatest country in the world. You just saved my life. In gratitude I would like to give you anything, and you know I am President and I can give you anything, anything that you would like.”

Each of the children who had just saved the President’s life said the same thing in reply: “ We would like a plot at Arlington National Cemetery.”

Puzzled, President Bush looked at the children. He asked: “You are all very young and have a long life ahead of you.”

In response, each of the young children said simultaneously: “When our parents discover what we have done they are going to kill us!”

With that, everyone in the room nodded their heads in agreement and the meeting started off on a good note.