Shudder
Another thing just hit me about the whole Bush buildup thing. Maybe Bush wants to beef up the military more so that there will be enough troops to invade Iran?
December 19th, 2006
Archive for December 19th, 2006
Draft Anyone?
The very first headline I saw when I got online this morning was this -
Bush to Expand Size of Military
By Peter Baker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 19, 2006; 4:18 PM
President Bush said today that he plans to expand the size of the U.S. military to meet the challenges of a long-term global war against terrorists, a response to warnings that sustained deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan have stretched the armed forces to near the breaking point.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Bush said he has instructed newly sworn-in Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to report back to him with a plan to increase ground forces. The president gave no estimates about how many troops may be added but indicated that he agreed with suggestions in the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill that the current military is stretched too thin to cope with the demands placed on it.
“I’m inclined to believe that we do need to increase our troops — the Army, the Marines,” Bush said in the Oval Office session. “And I talked about this to Secretary Gates and he is going to spend some time talking to the folks in the building, come back with a recommendation to me about how to proceed forward on this idea.”
The president’s decision comes at a time when he is rethinking his strategy in Iraq and considering, among other options, a short-term surge in troop levels to try to secure violence-torn Baghdad. The Joint Chiefs of Staff are resisting the idea during internal debates in part out of the conviction that it will further strain already-pressed forces.
The first thing that popped into my head was “Oh My God. Bush is going to try to reinstate the draft.” I mean how else would it be possible to expand the size of the military? I mean Bush already “wants the Pentagon to lift its restrictions on the frequency and duration of involuntary call-ups of Army National Guard and Reserve troops, a politically sensitive issue. That would mean Army Guard and Reserve soldiers could expect more and longer tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, disrupting careers and imposing hardships on their families.” (from Cincinnati Post)
I guess it would kind of make sense for him to reinstate a draft. I mean so many things have been happening that are slowly turning this country into a fascist/military state. Plus, he also has 2 more years left in office so if it is proposed, it’s not like this is going to threaten his re-election efforts since he can’t be re-elected again. Of course, I am just speculating here, but I really wouldn’t be surprised if a draft came up simply because Bush is being stubborn about his Iraq policies and it seems that he thinks that more troops are the answer to stability there when we really should be getting out of there ASAP.
December 19th, 2006
Highest Rent In The Nation
I saw this in the local newspaper today.
Steepest rents in U.S.
By Mary Vorsino
Advertiser Staff WriterTo afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment in 2006, Hawai’i renters had to earn $48,940 a year — more than anywhere else in the nation, according to a state-by-state report on housing affordability.
It’s the second year in a row Hawai’i has ranked as the most expensive state for renters, topping California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. The report, released last week by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, also shows rents in Hawai’i and nationwide are outpacing wages and pricing out millions of Americans.
Nationally, renters had to earn $33,924 in 2006 to afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent, the study says.
Hawai’i’s “housing wage” — or hourly pay needed to rent a two-bedroom apartment for $1,224 a month — was $23.53 this year, according to the study. The figure is more than double the average hourly wage for a renter in Hawai’i and more than three times the state’s minimum wage of $6.75.
December 19th, 2006
Walking, Walking, Walking
Grrr, I didn’t work out on Sunday night. I really wanted to. The whole afternoon I was thinking that I should go down and use the treadmill again, but I was like “Naaaah. I am going to do the Firm Complete Aerobics and Weight Training again, Yea!”
I should have gone down and used the treadmill. My Mom and Grandma decided to wrap presents Sunday night and watch a movie while they were doing that. That’s cool – except that they didn’t get done until 2:30 in the morning. Ugggh.
So, I should have done the tape on Monday, but I figured that I really needed the alone time and went on the treadmill again. It was great, oh so great. I was on that thing for like an hour. I finally figured out the heart rate thing, so I tried one of those heart rate programs first. The target heart rate I entered was in that “fat burning zone,” but I think that it was actually a little low. The first program I did was just about 25 minutes long and after that was done, I tried another heart rate program with a higher target heart rate for like another 5 minutes. After that I tried a couple of different interval workouts. The first one has elevation and speed changes and the other 2 were just speed changes.
I am still not walking very fast, but I did throw in some jogging during the last couple of intervals.
After that I did another short set of walking lunges and then I wanted to do a little bit of ab work. Instead of getting down on the floor and doing some crunches, I picked up a 7 pound weight and decided to do a short set of dumbbell swings. What’s a dumbbell swing? Well, you pick up a weight and hold it in both of your hands. Personally, I like to hold onto the ends of the dumbbell so the weight is horizontal – some people like to hold the bar in the middle, but I am just more comfortable holding the ends. Then you do a squat while holding the weight in front of you and when you stand up, you raise the dumbbell over your head. You don’t want to throw it back too far, just so it’s over your head. When you are standing up, you should automatically feel it in your abs since you need to really suck in that gut to stabilize your body during the move.
I think it’s a great compound exercise. You work your butt and guts at the same time and if you do a long set of them with minimal breaks, it will also get your heart rate up. I only did a set of 25 of them. I should have done more. Heck, I can still do some right now too. This website shows some pictures and tells you a little more about the exercise too. I think that is how I found out about this exercise actually. It’s an exercise you can also do with a small weighted ball or even a kettlebell.
December 19th, 2006
