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Well, we've got a whole year full of bad news ahead of us. And we're all one year closer to death. A rather graphic illustration of what lies ahead occurred on December 28th: the 3000th US servicemember died in Iraq. His name was William D. Spencer, USMC, 20 years old, of Paris, Tennessee. I have to wonder how his family feels about the new year. A year, as all years in succession shall be, without him. His next of kin will recieve a Gold Star and a Purple Heart, and their boy in a plyboard box, shipped in the cargo hold of large jet, met without much fanfare by perhaps one of two of his fellow Marines at Andrews AFB. A happy new year of them, I'm sure.
This year will be another one of death, violence, and strife. A year of carpet bombs, depleted uranium, "smart bombs" (which are no more accurate than dumb bombs, just more expensive,) white phosphorus, napalm, M16s, AK-47s, rocket propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices. For the Iraqi people it will be another year of airstrikes, suicide bombers, checkpoints, collective punishment, disappearences, execution style killings and mass graves. Another year of ethnic violence, cleansing of neighborhoods, flights from homes, reprisal killings, daily funerals, no electricity, no sanitation, no clean water, not enough food but too many bombs. Hospitals full of patients but empty of doctors. A year of no jobs, no foreign investment save infusions of Saudi riyals for Sunni terrorists and Iranian rials for Shiite death squads. The United State directly finances the Kurds.
For Americans, it will be another year of lies, corruption, bribery, official misconduct, classified documents, incompetent media, warrantless searches, extraordinary rendition, torture, detainment without charge or legal counsel, and signing statements. Perhaps there shall be another war based on lies (certainly not a war not based on lies, however.) Our continuing constitutional crisis will go on mostly unmentioned. We shall continue to be ruled by the most corrupt administration in our history. What's more, we will have another year of hunger, poverty, homelessness, murder, rape, drugs, disease, and ignorance. Schools continue to fail, libraries will continue to close, chemo patients will continue to be prosecuted for smoking pot, and the poor will continue to go to jail for stealing bread, sleeping under bridges, and begging in the streets. Corporations will continue to oppress their workers, pollute the environemt, steal from the public domain, poison our food and profit from out suffering, all while selling us useless crap and telling us to have a nice day. Television will continue to exist.
This is what the new year will bring. All these things and more. The world will continue on, the largely the same as it ever was.
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I could have kept going, but I don't feel the will to continue. My brother thought you might appreciate this. Is there anything I missed?
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