Word: short
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...According to the CSBA study, the Administration has fudged the war's true costs in two ways. Borrowing money to fund the wars is one way of conducting them on the cheap, at least in the short term. But just as pernicious has been the Administration's novel way of budgeting for them. Previous wars were funded through the annual appropriations process, with emergency spending - which gets far less congressional scrutiny - used only for the initial stages of a conflict. But the Bush Administration relied on such supplemental appropriations to fund the wars until 2008, seven years after invading Afghanistan...
...complaints, it would follow its Christmas Eve broadcast of the new Yule Log with a Christmas Day showing of the original. For those keeping score, that's almost ten and a half hours of festive holiday combustion - and for fans of Fred Thrower's original inspiration, it's nothing short of a Christmas miracle...
Drops in wealth do seem to reduce happiness, but even that is short-lived. The American Enterprise Institute's Arthur Brooks, who wrote Gross National Happiness, says our moods tend to adjust to new economic realities quickly. "We do find in poor economic times, you get dips in happiness, but they don't last long," says Brooks. "Money may buy happiness, but not very much...
...many Americans - even those who have sworn off airings of It's a Wonderful Life - the holiday season is crowded with pop CDs, TV specials and 24 hour holiday-music radio; in short, a nearly limitless array of festive Santa-tainment options. Traditionally, for those who celebrate Hanukkah, which started at dusk on Dec. 21, artistic representation has been harder to find. The comparatively minor Jewish holiday has long been inflated to match the commercial allure of Christmas (itself a day so far separated from its original religious meaning that the Puritans banned it in the 17th century...
With the U.S. in transition, and the E.U. preoccupied with its own troubles, there's not much chance that Bosnia, short of war, will get the attention from the West to change its intractable status quo. As for the local politicians, they have learned long ago that selling bigotry at home (with its nuisance value abroad) is the best way to stay afloat. Until the Bosnians decide to elect better leaders, they will just have to bear the weight of an uneasy peace...