If this was my money ... oh wait! It is!

Oil prices broke a new record, $93 a barrel. Yes, for a non-renewable energy source. As in, one day it will run out.

The cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are expected to be at least $2.4 trillion.

Crazy me, I wonder if that $2.4 trillion wouldn't be a little more wisely spent to research renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and water.

Just sayin'.

Was Pat Tillman Murdered? AP Gets New Documents

AP reports, via Common Dreams:

Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman’s forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player’s death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

“The medical evidence did not match up with the, with the scenario as described,” a doctor who examined Tillman’s body after he was killed on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2004 told investigators.

The doctors — whose names were blacked out — said that the bullet holes were so close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.

As American citizens, we're being bombarded with so many fantastic stories it's almost hard to take them all seriously. I mean, I watch Alberto Gonzales testify before Congress, and almost cannot believe my eyes and ears. He is so blatantly lying, it truly is almost beyond belief.

And now details are emerging about Pat Tillman's death that are also beyond belief. The medical evidence does not match up with the story we were all told about his last moments. It's not even close.

Read the rest of the story here.

Reservist fighting his fifth war call-up

This story from the Miami Herald makes the previous story about Bush even harder to stomach.

After serving in Afghanistan and three times in Iraq, an Army Reserve sergeant from Port St. Lucie recoiled at still another deployment.

Erik Botta believes he's done right by his country. Days after 9/11, as a young Army reservist, he volunteered to go to war. He was soon in Afghanistan.

The next year, he was sent out again, this time to Iraq, part of a Special Operations team.

In the next two years, he was sent to Iraq again. And again.

He thought he was done. But now, the Army wants Sgt. Botta one more time.

The 26-year-old Port St. Lucie man has been ordered to report to Fort Jackson, S.C., on July 15 for his fifth deployment. And that has compelled Botta, a first-generation American who counts himself a quiet patriot, to do something he never thought he'd do: sue the Army.

Read the entire story here.

Meanwhile, remember Osama bin Laden?

Osama bin Laden. He's the one who masterminded the 9/11 attacks. Remember him? We used to hear all about him. In 2005, CNN did a huge special report you can read here. The report refers back to a September 15, 2001, article that states, “The 19 men suspected of Tuesday's hijackings were either directly or indirectly linked to Osama bin Laden.”

Osama bin Laden is still on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, although his page there hasn't been updated since 2001. In reality, no one even knows if bin Laden is still alive. ABC news reports:

Earlier this spring, coalition forces in Afghanistan launched a major offensive in the Eastern Kunar province, a lawless frontier area where bin Laden was rumored to be hiding. Just a few days earlier, however, the Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell told Congress that he believed bin Laden to be in Pakistan. Many experts believe that bin Laden is able to travel somewhat freely between both countries along the border where tribal leaders are quite sympathetic to Al Qaeda. McConnell said just last week, that wherever they are, bin Laden and Zawahiri are still engaging their followers.

Which brings us back to Afghanistan and Pakistan, in an extremely complicated region of the world. Our leaders sent troops in with a grand yet simplistic plan to overtake the enemy (sounds familiar, doesn't it?). And in typical Bush Administration behavior, at same time playing down the actions, as if we don't really care so much about it. In March 2002, Bush was asked about bin Laden at press conference and replied:

And, again, I don't know where he is. I — I'll repeat what I said. I truly am not that concerned about him. I know he is on the run. I was concerned about him, when he had taken over a country. I was concerned about the fact that he was basically running Afghanistan and calling the shots for the Taliban.

So while we spend a lot of time right now focusing on bringing our troops home from Iraq, let's not forget that we have soldiers and marines in Afghanistan, also in harm's way because of the misguided policies of the Bush Administration. Today, a suicide bomber killed 17 people in Afghanistan. Look for the story, it's buried in the news. Also look for this from the Associated Press, because it didn't get much airtime, either:

As of Sunday, July 8, 2007, at least 342 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department.

When all the evidence points to Osama bin Laden as the leader of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and other terrorist acts against the US, it is unconscionable to throw American lives and money into a misguided war in Iraq. The Iraq war was initiated on the basis of lies and deceit by President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Please join me in calling for their impeachment.