On March 20,
2003, four years ago this week,
American and coalition forces started what was called the "shock and awe" campaign to oust Saddam
Hussein.
See video of the attack here.Here are a few Web sites that show how many American lives have been lost, so far, in Iraq and Afganistan:
Here, from the
World Almanac and Book of Facts 2007, is some information about the length of America's involvement in several other wars:
- The Revolutionary War
lasted for 8 years and 2 months.
- The
American Civil War lasted 4 years, ending on April 9, 1865.
- The
Spanish-American War began on February 15, 1898, and ended in the same year, on July 17.
- World
War I lasted 4 years and just under 5 months.
- The U.S. role in World War II started in December of 1941; it ended with the Japanese surrender in 1945.
- The U.S. involvement in Vietnam lasted well over a decade,
until Saigon fell to North Vietnam on April 30, 1975.
It is nearly impossible
to know how many civilians have died
in this war.
Some sites make estimates. Last
fall,
The
Washington Post published a story suggesting civilian deaths may have
topped 655,000.
Pet Food RecallOver
the weekend,
Menu Foods recalled millions of containers of cat and dog food nationwide.
The
recall involves
48
brands of dog food and
40 brands of cat food
distributed at places like Wal-Mart, Kroger and
Safeway.
The Associated Press reports:An unknown number of cats and dogs had suffered
kidney failure and about 10 died after eating the affected pet food,
the company said. [...]
A complete list of the recalled products along
with product codes, descriptions and production dates was available
from the Menu Foods Web site, http://www.menufoods.com/recall. The
company also designated two phone numbers that pet owners could call
for information (866) 463-6738 and (866) 895-2708 but callers kept the
lines busy for much of Saturday.
Menu Foods' chief executive and president Paul
Henderson told the Associated Press on Friday that the company was
still trying to figure out what happened.
He said that the company had received an undisclosed number of owner
complaints that dogs and cats were vomiting and suffering kidney
failure after eating its products. He estimated that the recall would
cost the company, which is mostly owned by the Menu Foods Income Fund,
an estimated $26 million to $34 million.
Who is in Jail?Here is a Web site designed to help victims of crime. The site allows you to check to
see who is in jail and, in many cases, who is in prison. It also lets you see when they're slated to get out. In
states like Florida, every jail
and every prison is included. In other places, it is up to the individual jails
to post their data.
Al's Morning MultimediaToday's multimedia
piece is a follow-up to the one
I did last week
on Washington Post video journalist Travis Fox. Several of
you wanted me to ask Travis a few more questions about the gear he uses. So, I
did.
Al Tompkins: What camera(s) do you use and what do you like/hate about them?
Travis Fox: I use
the
Sony HDV camera. It's important to have high definition in order to pull high-quality stills for the newspaper.
Al: Lots of backpack journalists are asking me if they should go to
a tapeless format. What would you say and why?
Travis: I don't think it really matters. If
you're doing daily, breaking news, then of course it's faster. I suspect my
next camera will probably be tapeless, but it's not something I think too much about.
Al: What microphones do you take with you?
Travis: I use a shotgun
mic on the camera and then often mic the people I'm working with using a small
wireless mic.
Al: What's the most useful gadget you've added to your bag in the past year?
Travis: Haven't really changed
much in the last few years, just updated cameras when new better ones
come out, but everything else -- mics, tripod, bag -- is the same that I've been using for probably five years.
My favorite new gadget is probably my Blackberry, which is what I'm typing this on as I ride the subway.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's
Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story
excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as
original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly
from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided
whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the
accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and
inaccuracies found will be corrected.
I wanted to point out something dangerous that’s being commonly...
