So you bought that great new computer.  Sure,it's cool, and faster than your old one. And you did the right thing. You took it out to be recycled, and you're now happy to know that it will be kept out of the waste stream, even though you legally could have just thrown it in the trash.

Ever wonder what happens to it after you recycle it?  This photo essay from Foreign Policy will show you one of the places it's most likely to end up - in China. And will show you what happens after it gets there.

Maybe you didn't need that new computer so badly after all. 

- via Editor and Publisher

Andrew J. Bacevich, a Boston University professor and a vocal critic of the Iraq war, had his worst nightmare come true Sunday when his son, 1st Lt. Andrew J. Bacevich, 27, of Walpole, Mass., died Sunday in Balad after an explosive detonated near his unit in Salahuddin province.

In a March 1 op-ed for the Boston Globe, Bacevich Sr. wrote that "our reckless flirtation with preventive war qualifies as not only wrong, but also stupid. Indeed, the Bush Doctrine poses a greater danger to the United States than do the perils it supposedly guards against."

How many more will die?

See more at Editor and Publisher

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via MAL Contends

The Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council released an anticipated report entitled PTSD Compensation and Military Service on May 8.

The report came as criticism has mounted over Veteran Administration (VA) Sec. Jim Nicholson’s tenure at the VA that saw budget shortfalls, a backlog of 600,000 disability cases, staffing shortages at Vet Centers, security breaches, alleged neglect of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) cases, and even the criminalization of the VA benefit process.

After a storm of veterans’ and Democrats’ denunciations, on Nov. 10, 2005, the (VA) announced that there would “no across-the-board review of (PTSD) cases,” reversing its controversial plan to review 72,000 PTSD cases.

“The process of gathering evidence to prove PTSD disability is extremely time-consuming. It requires the compilation of medical records, military service records, and testimonies from other veterans who can attest to a person’s combat exposure. I cannot fathom why the VA would require veterans to go through this emotionally painful process a second time,” said Sen. Barrack Obama (D-IL) on August 10, 2005.