THE IRAQ WAR IS OVER!!!!! Or is it?

After 4421 American lives lost, $5 billion a week for seven and a half years, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians lost, untold Iraqi soldiers, and allied forces from dozens of friendly countries, scandals and atrocities from both sides, and an all but destroyed nation, the carnage may finally end with the announcement tonight that American involvement in combat in Iraq is over. Maj. Gen. Stephen Lanza, spokesman, has said that he would "not call it a war " any longer. Our dear friend Mike Kane, who has served for the last year, was on one of those last vehicles that we watched exit the country on their way through that border gate into Kuwait. The last combat vehicle exited Iraq at 8:53 P.M. EST, according to live coverage from MSNBC News with Keith Olbermann and Rachael Maddow. One war down, two to go. (If you count the "silent drone war " in Pakistan, as well as the increasingly more violent one in Afghanistan.) Richard Engel of NBC News deserves a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting in the war zones.

Nurse Jessica

We are so very proud of you for your dedication and hard work, as you struggle to balance your time between your marriage, your four wonderful children, your never ending friendships, your church, and your future career in nursing. When I heard, from the posting that you sent to April, that you now intend to further your commitment by working at the hospital to advance that career, even before graduating, I was brought to near tears. If those patients, had any idea, how lucky they will be to be administered by you...
I, April, Stone, and your brother Sam, are so impressed, and so behind you on this. You go girl!

irritating phrases

It's time to eliminate, outlaw, stop, or even ban certain over used and irritating phrases. Please!
Not unlike fingernails, or the flat end of a piece of chalk on a blackboard, or a loud accelerating motorcycle in the next lane of traffic, these phrases make me ignore everything that is said after they are used, no matter how important the rest of the message may seem to be. It is lost on my deaf ears as I shut down all my senses to avoid being hit with two such phrases at once. If it is on a television interview, which is often the case, I grab the remote as quickly as possible, and change to "anything" , even Spongebob Squarepants is a welcomed relief at this time.
Those who are sqeemish, or are too young or sensitive may need to leave the room at this time, as we are about to reveal these most heinous expressions. "The whole nine yards." "More bang for the buck."
Please, please, please! Write to your congressmen and women, and get these phrases stopped.