carlfense Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Still, I had no sooner spelled out these core, depressing facts than I kept thinking of the other, less noticed ones. There were, after all, plenty of reasons for be cheerful in 2013. The number of US troops killed in Afghanistan reached a new low of 161, down from 711 three years’ ago. The war in Iraq remained over. Growth accelerated to 4.1 percent in the third quarter and looks set to continue next year. The Dow is now comfortably over 1600 – more than double where it was five years ago, at the trough of the recession. The budget deficit shrank 37 percent in 2013, and was falling faster than at any time since the end of the Second World War. Yes, perhaps the austerity was premature and the big fiscal crisis has yet to hit. But an economy that’s growing and a deficit that’s fast shrinking is a pretty good combo for the time being. For good measure, the US is now in the full throes of a domestic energy revolution and is scheduled to be energy independent by 2020, a goal sought for decades. In part because of this, the US position in the Middle East is far less constrained, enabling a potentially world-changing detente with Tehran. Terror attacks – widely thought after 9/11 as a new norm – have dwindled to negligible levels in the West. Crime perked up a little, but was still way, way down from its past heights, despite the recession. http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/12/29/2013-an-alternative-history/ Link to comment
Excel Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 711 American Soldiers died in OEF '10-11? Looks like this guy effectively doubled the total. LINK Link to comment
carlfense Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 711 American Soldiers died in OEF '10-11? Looks like this guy effectively doubled the total. LINK 711 in 2010, right? Or are you just pointing out that he used the all nationalities total instead of US only? If so, should be 127 in 2013 and 499 in 2010. Either way. A positive trend. 1 would be too many. Link to comment
NUance Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Odd stat: Afghanistan 2013 deaths: 161 Chicago 2013 murders: 409 Someone mentioned this stat to me yesterday. Not really sure what to make of it. Perhaps we should move the war on terror to Chicago. (And BTW, that's the fewest murders in Chicago since 1965 LINk) Link to comment
carlfense Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 Odd stat: Afghanistan 2013 deaths: 161 Chicago 2013 murders: 409 Someone mentioned this stat to me yesterday. Not really sure what to make of it. Perhaps we should move the war on terror to Chicago. (And BTW, that's the fewest murders in Chicago since 1965 LINk) And 63 murders in Flint, MI, a city with only 100,000 people . . . Link to comment
Excel Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Crazy: Homicides in Chicago by year 1928: 399 1965: 395 1973: 864 1974: 970 1988: 660 1989: 742 1990: 851 1991: 927 1992: 943 1993: 855 1994: 931 1995: 828 1996: 796 1997: 761 1998: 704 1999: 643 2000: 633 2001: 667 2002: 656 2003: 601 2004: 453 2005: 451 2006: 471 2007: 448 2008: 513 2009: 459 2010: 436 2011: 435 2012: 516 Link to comment
MLB 51 Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 711 American Soldiers died in OEF '10-11? Looks like this guy effectively doubled the total. LINK 711 in 2010, right? Or are you just pointing out that he used the all nationalities total instead of US only? If so, should be 127 in 2013 and 499 in 2010. Either way. A positive trend. 1 is too many. FIFY Carl. Link to comment
carlfense Posted December 31, 2013 Author Share Posted December 31, 2013 711 American Soldiers died in OEF '10-11? Looks like this guy effectively doubled the total. LINK 711 in 2010, right? Or are you just pointing out that he used the all nationalities total instead of US only? If so, should be 127 in 2013 and 499 in 2010. Either way. A positive trend. 1 is too many. FIFY Carl. Other than the passive voice . . . why is that a FIFY? Link to comment
walksalone Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Since '06, over 60,000 people have been killed in Mexico in drug wars... and they're next door... Link to comment
knapplc Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 To date, from 2001-present, the U.S. has lost 6,717 combined in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, a period of about 12 years. By way of comparison, America lost 6,800 KIA in one month taking Iwo Jima in 1945. As carlfense stated, one is too many. But the perspective of our combat deaths as reported by the media is way skewed, and people eat it up because they don't have even a basic grasp of history. Link to comment
walksalone Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 To date, from 2001-present, the U.S. has lost 6,717 combined in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, a period of about 12 years. By way of comparison, America lost 6,800 KIA in one month taking Iwo Jima in 1945. As carlfense stated, one is too many. But the perspective of our combat deaths as reported by the media is way skewed, and people eat it up because they don't have even a basic grasp of history. And almost 8000 guys died at Gettysburg in 3 days.... Perspective is a mother... Link to comment
carlfense Posted December 31, 2013 Author Share Posted December 31, 2013 And almost 8000 guys died at Gettysburg in 3 days.... Perspective is a mother... Or almost 22,000 casualties in a single day at Antietam. (KIA and WIA) Or if we want to go foreign . . . more than a million casualties during the Battle of the Somme. Link to comment
Recommended Posts