Commonplace Book

According to http://3trillion.org/, the estimated cost of the war in Iraq is $3 trillion. Here’s how that $3 trillion breaks down:

• $526 billion — borrowed money poured into Iraq so far
• $615 billion — total interest costs for taxpayers
• $280 billion — to rebuild our military
• $590 billion — disability benefits and health care for Iraq veterans
• $1.5 trillion — estimated costs through 2017

I shopped around to see what I could buy with that much money. I still have close to $3 million left, but hey, a girl (or a nation, I suppose) needs her pin money, y’know?

	100 New Libraries QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $5,000,000,000.00
	give every teacher a rai$e QUANTITY: 2 PRICE:$100,000,000.00
	Secret Island Fortress QUANTITY: 2 PRICE: $15,000,000.00
	Help Iraq Children QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $500,000,000.00
	Plant 1,000,000 trees QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $10,000,000.00
	Luxury Cruise Around the World QUANTITY: 2 PRICE: $1,200,000.00
	Pay a Teacher’s Salary QUANTITY: 5 PRICE: $39,274.00
	Build 100 New Schools QUANTITY: 4 PRICE: $2,500,000,000.00
	Kyoto Protocol Worldwide Compliance QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $400,000,000,000.00
	Make a Hollywood Movie QUANTITY: 3 PRICE: $106,600,000.00
	End Third-World Debt QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $422,000,000,000.00
	New Clothing, Shoes, Coats, and School Supplies for Ten Million Children QUANTITY: 5 PRICE: $10,000,000,000.00
	Cure a Deadly Disease QUANTITY: 5 PRICE: $1,500,000.00
	Achieve Universal Literacy QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $5,000,000,000.00
	End our Dependence on Foreign Oil QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $500,000,000,000.00
	Switch to Solar QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $420,000,000,000.00
	End hunger and poverty related diseases QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $195,000,000,000.00
	Fight AIDS in Developing Nations QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $15,000,000,000.00
	Pay a Peacekeeper QUANTITY: 6 PRICE: $130,000.00
	Universal Health Care for All QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $932,368,000,000.00
	Provide Clean Drinking Water for the World QUANTITY: 1 PRICE: $25,000,000,000.00
	Sustainable Agriculture Education, Worldwide QUANTITY: 1 PRICE:$200,000,000.00

Actually, I think this speaks for itself:

Italy’s food fraud police seizes fake ham? But… I didn’t even know that Italy had "food fraud police". Nonetheless, I sleep better at night knowing that we’re being kept safe from counterfeit prosciutto.

But are there French food fraud police protecting us from bogus Brie? I may not be able to sleep tonight…

Apropos of absolutely nothing at all, I ran across this on McSweeneys Internet Tendency, and I thought it was too good not to share.

I just signed up to participate in Amnesty International’s Global Write-a-thon, taking place December 7-10, 2007.

December 10th is Human Rights Day. To mark this day, thousands of people will gather across the United States and all around the world to participate in Amnesty International’s Global Write-A-Thon. Last year activists in more than 30 countries wrote over 100,000 letters to political leaders and others in a position of authority, to help make a difference in the life of someone whose human rights were being violated. Everyone can participate! It all begins with people just like you taking a few minutes to write a short letter.

I hope you will take part in the Global Write-A-Thon. This December you can save a life.

Register today at Amnesty International USA’s Sign up for the 2007 Global Write-a-thon.