From Wonkette:

Our paranoid friends over at Bring It On have put together a story
that hasn't exactly made Washington Whispers. It's real short and real
simple:

    * The Cuban news service reports that George W. Bush has purchased
98,840 acres in Paraguay, near the Bolivian/Brazilian border.

    * Jenna Bush paid a secret diplomatic visit to Paraguayan
President Nicanor Duarte and U.S. Ambassador James Cason. There were
no press conferences, no public sightings and no official confirmation
of her 10-day trip which apparently ended this week.

    * The Paraguayan Senate voted last summer to "grant U.S. troops
immunity from national and International Criminal Court (ICC)
jurisdiction."

    * Immediately afterwards, 500 heavily armed U.S. troops arrived
with various planes, choppers and land vehicles at Mariscal
Estigarribia air base, which happens to be at the northern tip of
Paraguay near the Bolivian/Brazilian border. More have reportedly
arrived since then.

for more go to: 

Link

The study was authored by four people from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore Maryland, and Al Mustansiriya University in Baghdad.

It found that in the pre-invasion period (during which an embargo had held sway for more than a decade) the mortality rates were 5.5 per 1000 people per year.

The mortality rate post-March 2003 was found to be 13.3 people per 1000.

"We estimate that as of July 2006, there have been 654,965 excess Iraqi deaths as a consequence of the war, which corresponds to 2.5% of the population in the study area. Of post-invasion deaths, 601,027 were due to violence, the most common cause being gunfire."

The ranges of the estimates varied from at least 392,979 excess deaths to as many as 942,636 excess deaths, overall. That means the estimates are just estimates - the study used cluster sampling, surveying 1,849 households contaiing 12,801 people in 47 clusters.

Other estimates based on media reports of specific casualties have resulted in a high figure (Iraq Body Count) less than 7.5% of this study's median estimate. It is my personal opinion that this lower figure is due to the Iraqi media's inability to cover the conflict, due to the collapse of security engendered by the invasion and the resistance to the invasion.

What we must ask ourselves is this:
Which families of those killed have been affected by the offensive military hardware we allowed to go out through our port? What part of this is our responsibility? What will we do to end our role in this war, to end the war, and to foster justice, reconciliation, and finally peace? And when will we do this, if not now? Who will do it, if not us?

I thought you all might be interested in this. Please feel free to discuss

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15346079/

It certainly caught my curiosity.