After eight years of invading Afghanistan, the last three months have been the bloodiest for the American troops. More than a thousand soldiers have been seriously injured and have to be amputated. Most of the casualties are caused by roadside bombings, so more US soldiers are being sent for support and lessen the bombings. With 350 out of 68,000 soldiers injured, this rate is much higher than the one in Iraq although more troops are there.

Over 1000 improvised explosives devices either exploded or were discovered first in August alone. This is double the number among all the other months. Aside from that, those devices are much stronger now and can destroy bomb-resistant military tanks. The bombs are found almost anywhere: roads, footbridges, foot trails, and even the waters.

Although this is the case, the survival rate is higher now thanks to modern medicine and quick responses. Hospitals work round the clock to provide for the soldiers, and the beds are always full of the wounded people. The hardest part when dealing with the injured is the rehabilitation where constant care and assistance are needed. This problem is endurable as long as more people are saved from this war.

A new metal specialty show for KEXP called “Seek and Destroy” launches on Halloween night and will be on the air every Saturday from midnight till 2 a.m. following the launch.  Quality, metal broadcasts that embraces both the old and new-school swath of metal sub-genres has been MIA from Seattle airwaves, and this show hopes to change that.  Hannah Levin and Tanner Ellison will host.

Hannah at Seattle Weekly has been counting down her top 10 favorite metal records of all time.  Her opening salvo was Girlschool, a female-fronted metal band that absolutely shredded in the early 1980s.  This English band of royal marauders was conceived in 1975, and underwent some changes prior to their explosion onto the scene in the early 80s.  Girlschool most likely flourished from Motörhead leader Lemmy Kilmister’s mentoring, whose management team got involved on the Overkill tour in 1979.  Unlike other megalomanics during his time, Kilmister provided direction but didn’t dictate.  Girlschool released their first single, “Take It All Away” in 1978 and their first album, Demolition, materialized in the spring of 1980.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Levin’s countdown is already on Day 8 and launch day is on Halloween, right around the corner.

With a smiling, photo-op seeking Nancy Pelosi leading the way, House leaders unveiled a health care reform bill on Thursday. The bill promises to greatly expand coverage of the uninsured while alleviating budget deficits over the next decade. It also addresses a public option that is not as robust as some are calling for, but may pass the House nonetheless.

So how much? The bill means a net cost to the federal government of $894 billion over the next decade, but proponents insist that the provisions would generate revenue from new taxes and from savings in Medicare to pay for the cost. Critics argue that Pelosi is conveniently leaving out other measures that would bump the cost north of a trillion dollars.

So who’s getting the shaft? The primary victims of tax increase would be those whose annual income exceeds $1 million for couples and $500,000 for individuals. Many predict the wealthy will find a way around this blatant redistribution of wealth, and that the only people who are going to end up paying for this are Mr. and Mrs. Joe Citizen and their children. The deficit will mount, the government will continue to borrow, and the future generations will be indebted long before they’re old enough to even own a bank account.

Incidentally, the bill requires employers to offer health coverage to their workers and pay a substantial share of the premiums or get slapped with a big penalty. Proponents claim that such an approach would be a useful “prod” to make insurance more available and affordable to employees. Maybe. Or maybe businesses will shutter their doors and business owners will just turn into someone else’s employee. Or maybe business owners will shift their base of operations outside the country. Time will tell. But the possibilities are quite unnerving.

This Sunday, Favre will return to the house he rebuilt with Mike Holmgren in the 1990s. He will lead the Vikings against Aaron Rodgers and the new look Packers in his first game on Lambeau field as a non-Packer. Favre, under the tutelage of Holmgren, became an idol in Green Bay by gun slinging his way to win Superbowl XXXI. He would have bagged XXXII as well, but for the superhuman effort of an old fart named Elway. Favre fell a touchdown short against the underdog Broncos.

Since Favre left the Packers is a messy split in 2007, Aaron Rodgers, former Cal QB, took the helm. Thompson and McCarthy wanted to go with youth, so out went old man Favre. “I totally understood the direction they wanted to go in,” Favre said.

Rodgers was impressive in his first year post-Favre, throwing for more than 4,000 yards with 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. This year, he has the second-highest rating in the league, second only to Peyton Manning.

The old wily veteran Brett Favre has been on a mission this season. He has a completion rate of just under 69 percent, 12 touchdowns and look-at-this: only three interceptions. Already, Favre has made the rest of his team that much better. Who would have thought that tight end Visanthe Shiancoe could look so good catching balls in short yardage situations?

So who’s going to prevail this coming Sunday? The old man or the smooth kid? Favre vs Rodgers. In Lambeau. Vikings vs Packers. This will be a good one.

Afghanistan’s election authority defies international pressure to cut the number of polling centers in order to reduce fraud. Instead, the dubiously named Independent Election Commission (IEC) is planning to open 155 more polling stations, each a potential fraud case.

An official inquiry revealed that nearly 1 million fraudulent votes were cast in favor of the incumbent President Hamid Karzai during the primary elections. It was hoped that with the run-off, the number of polling stations can be significantly reduced, so as to minimize the risk of fraud taking place. It would have been bad had the number of polling stations remained the same. But to increase it would be disastrous, insists UN officials. The run-off takes place next Saturday with the IEC scrambling to open of more voting centers. Score one for the fraudsters.

During the primary voting, polling stations operated were operating in insecure areas that prevented election monitors from detering large scale ballot stuffing. Abdullah Abdullah, the run-off challenger, insists he would only participate if 500 polling centers were closed and the head of the IEC was fired. Perhaps he shouldn’t hold his breath.

A western representative tasked with helping with the elections said that this latest development was like a “punch in the stomach, because everything we asked them to do they rejected”. Morale among election workers, already reeling after six UN staffers working with election organizing were killed by a Taliban hit squad in Kabul yesterday. In response to this outrage, the UN appears to have ordered all non-essential staff to leave Afghanistan.

Regardless of what Richard Holbrooke is trumpeting, election observers in Kabul believe a clean vote is not attainable, claiming that “It’s going to be a fraudulent election, we can’t kid ourselves on that…” Some accuse the US and the UK of turning a blind eye to many of the IEC’s transgressions in the first round of voting just so that the process can move forward. Nothing good can possibly come from that bone-headed move. It merely sets a precedent for future bad-boys wanting to defraud the nation.

Mega hit vampire show True Blood is garnering a lot of buzz about their next season. So what is being thrown around? The writers and creators of the acclaimed series were reportedly discussing details of what’s next at the Paley Center this week.

We heard reassurances that Bill and Sookie will be holding strong. Hmmm, how about we split them up to add to the tension? I never did get used to that name, soooookiiiieeeee. Sounds like a sushi dish gone bad. Anyway… Also heard that tons, or as they said it, boatloads of new characters are coming in. Really? Wonder what precipitated that move. New characters, sure. But boatloads? Guess there’s a glut of unemployed actors out there. Among them will be werewolf Alcide. Who? Allegedly still uncasted, but rumored to be appearing starting the third episode. We’ll see. What they really need to add are some more hotties. Female hotties. There are enough male neck biting, blood suckers on that show. We need more of the tender loving type of neck biting, blood sucking battie femme fatales.

Though it’s been said that there will be no out-of-place casting (Snoop can go back to the sidelines of USC football practices), rumors are that Skarsgard appears sans clothing (well, almost fully sans textile) in the first episode of season 3. A big cheer from the contingent who can’t wait to see that. Some of us would rather see Rogue naked.

What’s the scoop today as we prepare to sail away?

The Washington Post is alerting us that the sneaky rats in congress are up to no good again. A confidential House report, inadvertedly placed on a public facing network, allegedly reveals details of investigations into lawmakers; in fact, reports are that more than 30 of those unscrupulous meatheads, including their aides, are being investigated on issues related to defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling. Whatever happened to the “new way of doing things” peddled by Mr. Yes We Can? Apparently, no we can’t have a transparent government because the needs of the few scumbags far outweigh the needs of Mr. Joe and Mrs. Jane.

And the greed keeps manifesting itself incessantly. People keep figuring out how to make money off of the now deceased Michael Jackson, who is proving to be a more lucrative commercial entity now that he’s off to the spirits. The shameless film “This Is It” leads the way, despite protest mounted by the Jackson family, no doubt because they aren’t the ones profiting from it. Now, people are lining up to peddle gifts given to them by the deceased King of Pop. Bidding begins on November 21. NY-based Julian’s auctions will be conducting the event, and people can expect to see a scarf worn by Jackson, the white glove he made famous when he first unveiled the Moonwalk in 1983, and even a Mercedes he gave to his aunt. Like I said, greed keeps manifesting itself. In all, expect to see around 80 Michael-related items, and sadly, 34 of them were gifts given by Michael to friends and fans.