Clipmarks | missmartini's clips

clipped by: missmartini
clipper's remarks: Yeah. Shocking - we don't have enough troops ; the troops in Fort Bragg live in a literal cess pool ; there is not enough health care (physical or mental) for the troops coming back ; enlistment is down (even though I've heard otherwise) - yes, there is a problem and we are already over-working the troops in Iraq & Afganistan and in turn, destroying families. I don't get it and this just pisses me off.

Clip Source: www.slate.com

The Army's Math ProblemWe don't have any more soldiers to send to Afghanistan unless we take some out of Iraq.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates wants to send 7,000 more U.S. troops—about two brigades—to Afghanistan, according to the May 3 New York Times. But there's a problem, which the story underplays: We don't have any more troops to send. The Army is in a zero-sum state: No more soldiers can be sent to Afghanistan without a one-for-one reduction of soldiers in Iraq.

Let's look at the numbers.

Tags: war, iraq, increase, troops, afganistan, slate

How the Wikipedia scanner works

Mon, 05 May 2008 19:52:19 GMT

clipped by: missmartini
clipper's remarks: We have to teach kids how to properly use Wikipedia. Some teachers do not mind it's use while other's describe it as "the devil." I am slowly moving on the side where it is ok to use as a reference point but not as a source to cite. As one of our history teachers said, "You would not cite World Book, so why would you cite Wikipedia." Exactly! But I do think it is a pretty good resource.
There have been tales of how people and companies are creating their own entries and this Wikipedia Scanner helps to assure that those individuals do not create their own biased entries. It's good to see that something is in place so hopefully Wikipedia does not turn into another marketing tool like MySpace and Facebook and Google.

Clip Source: computer.howstuffworks.com

How the Wikipedia Scanner Works

by Jacob Silverman

Image courtesy Jake Appelbaum/Virgil Griffith
Virgil Griffith created the Wikipedia Scanner to catch companies and organizations who were editing Wikipedia articles to their own benefit.

In this article, we'll take a close look at how the WikiScanner works, look at some particularly controversial or simply bizarre examples of anonymous editing and consider some of the reactions to the WikiScanner. We'll also show you how you can use the WikiScanner to see what some organizations and companies may be up to on Wikipedia.

Tags: wikipedia, scanner, howitworks, education, interesting

Tips for saving money $100 a month

Mon, 05 May 2008 15:16:45 GMT

clipped by: missmartini
clipper's remarks: Gotta start small right?

Clip Source: finance.yahoo.com

Save in Small Bites

Saving an additional $100 a month means (obviously) you'll have saved an extra $1,200 in a year. If you had put an extra $1,200 in your kindergartner's college fund this year, it would be worth $2,263 by the time she heads to college. That assumes a pretty conservative 5% growth rate.

So, there's plenty of incentive to figure out how to save that extra $100 every month. To get you started, here's a list of savings ideas that don't require any major lifestyle changes. You may have to do a little research, but you won't have to sacrifice your morning jolt of caffeine. Combine a few and you might hit $100 in savings without doing much at all.

• Contribute an extra 1% of your salary to your 401(k) or other workplace retirement plan. Because the money is withdrawn before taxes, you'll lose less than 1% from your take-home pay. You'll probably never even notice the money's gone, but your retirement fund will start to fatten up faster.

Tags: finances, motley fool, saving, money

The global effects of the declining dollar - LAT

Mon, 05 May 2008 15:10:29 GMT

clipped by: missmartini
clipper's remarks: I'm Filipina so this is of interest to me...

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Philippines feels the pinch of dollar's decline

Many here rely on remittances from overseas relatives, and the dollar's slide against the peso has forced some people to cut back, with private education the first to go.

MANILA -- The U.S. dollar has always been king down by the docks on Manila Bay, where Philippine seamen congregate to swap stories and look for work.

On the swarm of recruitment booths outside the Luneta Seafarers Center, photocopied fliers advertise jobs that pay in dollars: $2,300 a month for a welder on a natural gas tanker or $3,900 for a second mate on a passenger liner.

The dollar's slide against other currencies is rippling across the globe: It is keeping more American tourists at home, raising prices on imports and creating bargains for foreigners swooping down on U.S. assets.

Tags: philippines, dollar, decline, global, effects

All this killing to "save" the salmon

Mon, 05 May 2008 05:17:29 GMT

clipped by: missmartini
clipper's remarks: I remember reading about how WA & OR have "approval" to kill sea lions but this is still shocking. I know that they have suspended fishing for salmon but is killing sea lions really going to help the population? Aren't there a lot of other factors as to why the salmon population is down? like over fishing by people? the lack of rain & snow in the mountains? the changing ocean temperatures? Not sure who shot them but it all seems a bit extreme to me. Though, I don't live in WA or OR so I'm not sure how big salmon fishing is for those communities...

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Sea lions shot dead on Columbia River as salmon battle rages

PORTLAND, Ore. - Six federally protected sea lions were apparently shot to death on the Columbia River as they lay in open traps put out to ensnare the animals, which eat endangered salmon. State and federal authorities are investigating.

The six animals appear to have been shot by somebody on the Washington side during the night, said Brian Gorman, a spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Washington and Oregon have been granted federal authorization to capture or kill as many as 85 sea lions a year for five years at the base of the dam, where they feed on endangered salmon headed upriver to spawn.

Tags: sea lions, dead, salmon, fishing