"Twenty-six American service members killed in the past week."

The list is endless

Iraq in a second, but first, the latest in entertainment

Editor, The Times:

Twenty-six American service members killed in the past week.

Iraq's power system near collapse, with Baghdad's water supply being cut off for days at a time.

Local police find 60 decomposed bodies dumped in thick grass in Baqouba (north of Baghdad).

A suicide bomber kills at least 28 people in a northern Iraqi city, including 19 children, some playing hopscotch and marbles in front of their homes.

The U.S. military reports that it believes that the Shia-led government in Baghdad is trying to cleanse the city of all Sunnis.

A study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office shows U.S. military officials have lost track of about 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi forces in 2004 and 2005.

And all at a cost of anywhere between $700 billion to $1.4 trillion to the American taxpayers.

And what do I expect from this? A barrage of Nicole Richie, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton in-depth reporting; Chris Matthews' (MSNBC "Hardball") on-the-air drooling over Sen. Hillary Clinton's cleavage; a gaggle of hypocritical Republican presidential candidates shrieking about how only they can keep us safe; and an administration's continued planning on how to blame this mess on the next president of the United States.

Oh yeah, the surge is working — feeding the [vortex] known as Bush's ongoing occupation of Iraq.

— Don Christine, Sammamish

Fear's catalog

Pipes in New York City burst due to old age, causing loss of life.

A bridge in Minnesota collapses, perhaps due to age and fatigue, with loss of life,

Mines collapse in Utah, Pennsylvania and West Virginia when they lack adherence to regulations, again with loss of life.

Clearly, terrorism isn't the only threat that plagues Americans in these past few years. Clearly, the mantra of lower taxes has hidden costs when we can't/won't fix our infrastructure (from which everyone benefits), and when we can't/won't enforce our regulations developed to protect workers, such as in mines.

Meanwhile, military contractor Halliburton is making unchecked billions in Iraq and oil companies are making obscene profits.

I know the world is a dangerous place, but it seems that Democrats want to keep us safe while Republicans only want to keep us safe if they can make money at it.

— Bert Schulz, Redmond

The big to-do

Infrastructure.

Water.

Energy.

Pollution.

Hazardous waste.

Deficits.

Affordable health care.

Middle-class demise.

Traffic.

Education.

Cultural degradation.

Tolerance.

The real debate in 2008 should be around the United States' foreign interventionist policies vis-à-vis its domestic obligations.

Nation-building begins at home.

— Barry MacLean, Gig Harbor

What to pack

Some readers may find the following immigration laws to be a bit harsh. See if you agree:

• There will be no special bilingual programs in the schools, no special ballots for elections, and all government business will be conducted in one common language.

• Foreigners will not have the right to vote, no matter how long they live here. They will never be able to hold political office.

• Foreigners will not be a burden to the taxpayers — no welfare, food stamps, health care or any other government assistance program.

• Foreigners can invest in this country, but it must be an amount equal to 40,000 times the daily minimum wage. If foreigners want to buy land, that's OK, but their options will be restricted. They are not allowed to own waterfront property; that property is reserved for citizens naturally born into this country.

• Foreigners may not protest — no demonstrations, waving a foreign flag, political organizing, bad-mouthing the president or his policies. If they do, they will be sent home. If a person comes to this country illegally, they will be hunted down and sent straight to jail.

Harsh, you say? They happen to be the immigration laws of Mexico.

— Richard Dill, Redmond

Things to get

The neighbor running his gas-powered pressure washer, the lawn mower down the street, the leaf-blowers and the weed-whackers. Top that all off with the Blue Angels and the racing boats and all the folks jamming the roads to attend Seafair. The EPA reminds us that just one gasoline lawn mower used weekly during the growing season pollutes as much as do 43 late-model cars driven 12,000 miles a year.

Every one of us is a major pollution factory. The Northwest has the highest cancer rates in the country. Something to consider.

Do we get it?

— Pat Hughes, Enumclaw

Put off for tomorrow

Environmental issues have always been important to my family and me. Until recently, we've mainly just turned lights off in rooms when leaving, and used other similar practices.

Recently, however, I've gone on the hunt for other "low-hanging fruit." Easy targets are all the myriad devices that are needlessly plugged in continuously.

• Our phone chargers only need to be plugged in when the phones are charging (not a daily activity).

• I've plugged all my computer-related devices (router, monitors, CPU, speakers) into a power strip so that they can be easily turned off at night.

• I now turn monitors off when I walk away from the computer.

• I've started using compact fluorescent lamps in areas where we don't dwell (they can be noisy): closets, garage, outside fixtures.

These things are easy. So, what's the impact of all this? Well, our July energy consumption was 25 percent less than last July's! I hardly broke a sweat doing these things and the impact is clearly profound.

We can all do this. We all need to do this. We can easily make a difference.

— David Schwartz, Bellevue

7-step program

This is so easy, maybe even Congress could do it.

How To Start Each Day With A Positive Outlook:

1. Open a new folder on your computer.

2. Name it "George W. Bush."

3. Send it to the trash.

4. Empty the trash.

5. Your PC will ask you, "Do you really want to get rid of 'George W. Bush'?"

6. Firmly click "Yes."

7. Feel better.

P.S.: Tomorrow we'll do Dick Cheney.

— Twig Menne, Edmonds