$2,000,000,000,000

I recently happened upon a website named Axis of Justice. It was created by Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine) and Serj Tankian (S.O.A.D).

Their mission statement:

Axis of Justice is a non-profit organization formed by Tom Morello of Audioslave and Serj Tankian of System of a Down. Its purpose is to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice. We aim to build a bridge between fans of music around the world and local political organizations to effectively organize around issues of peace, human rights, and economic justice.

In browsing the site, I came upon a link to an article in The Toronto Sun from late January.
Aside from the diplomatic costs of the past five years, here's an idea of the monetary costs.


How the Iraq war's $2 trillion cost to U.S. could have been spent.

January 21, 2008

Caig and Marc Kielburger

In war, things are rarely what they seem.

Back in 2003, in the days leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon adamantly insisted that the war would be a relatively cheap one. Roughly $50 billion is all it would take to rid the world of Saddam Hussein, it said.

We now know this turned out to be the first of many miscalculations. Approaching its fifth year, the war in Iraq has cost American taxpayers nearly $500 billion, according to the non-partisan U.S.-based research group National Priorities Project. That number is growing every day.

But it's still not even close to the true cost of the war. As the invasion's price tag balloons, economists and analysts are examining the entire financial burden of the Iraq campaign, including indirect expenses that Americans will be paying long after the troops come home. What they've come up with is staggering. Calculations by Harvard's Linda Bilmes and Nobel-prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz remain most prominent. They determined that, once you factor in things like medical costs for injured troops, higher oil prices and replenishing the military, the war will cost America upwards of $2 trillion. That doesn't include any of the costs incurred by Iraq, or America's coalition partners.

"Would the American people have had a different attitude toward going to war had they known the total cost?" Bilmes and Stiglitz ask in their report. "We might have conducted the war in a manner different from the way we did."

It's hard to comprehend just how much money $2 trillion is. Even Bill Gates, one of the richest people in the world, would marvel at this amount. But, once you begin to look at what that money could buy, the worldwide impact of fighting this largely unpopular war becomes clear.

Consider that, according to sources like Columbia's Jeffrey Sachs, the Worldwatch Institute, and the United Nations, with that same money the world could:

Eliminate extreme poverty around the world (cost $135 billion in the first year, rising to $195 billion by 2015.)

Achieve universal literacy (cost $5 billion a year.)

Immunize every child in the world against deadly diseases (cost $1.3 billion a year.)
Ensure developing countries have enough money to fight the AIDS epidemic (cost $15 billion per year.)

In other words, for a cost of $156.3 billion this year alone – less than a tenth of the total Iraq war budget – we could lift entire countries out of poverty, teach every person in the world to read and write, significantly reduce child mortality, while making huge leaps in the battle against AIDS, saving millions of lives.

Then the remaining money could be put toward the $40 billion to $60 billion annually that the World Bank says is needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, established by world leaders in 2000, to tackle everything from gender inequality to environmental sustainability.
The implications of this cannot be underestimated. It means that a better and more just world is far from within reach, if we are willing to shift our priorities.

If America and other nations were to spend as much on peace as they do on war, that would help root out the poverty, hopelessness and anti-Western sentiment that can fuel terrorism – exactly what the Iraq war was supposed to do.

So as candidates spend much of this year vying to be the next U.S. president, what better way to repair its image abroad, tarnished by years of war, than by becoming a leader in global development? It may be too late to turn back the clock to the past and rethink going to war, but it's not too late for the U.S. and other developed countries to invest in the future.

Craig and Marc Kielburger are children's rights activists and co-founded Free The Children, which is active in the developing world. Online: Craig and Marc Kielburger discuss global issues every Monday in the World & Comment section. Take part in the discussion online at thestar.com/globalvoices.

This ends my politcal commentary.

The Little Things

You look in the mirror
At lines that were not there yesterday
And find a couple more hairs turned grey
With a nervous glance at me
You wonder if
I notice "Little Things"

Later, as I lay beside you
And sleep has closed your eyes
I think of the way you stroked my hair
And how, before you hung my jacket
You held it close to you

I reach out and take your hand
And with all the Love the world has ever known
I bring it to my lips
For yes
I notice "Little Things" - Javan

I woke up this morning - my back hurting from a long day previous - in no mood to repeat the inevitable. My alarm spoke of my fate. I thought of... no time breakfast... long drive... frozen car... cranky old men... a world without patience. Then I turned to my soul mate... sleeping so peacefully... with our dog curled up beside her. In an instant, she reminded me of the "little things".

It's the little things that are important.

Remember that today... and every day.

Buffalo Dies?

We all can assume J.P. Losman's days in Buffalo are over. He has said that he prefers to be traded and his house on Oakland Place is for sale as of December.

The question that remains is will the organization he founded, Buffalo Lives, survive?

Losman's attempt to help beautify Buffalo "one street at a time" conducted a downtown clean up event in September but has been silent since then. We'll credit the lack of action to football season and the Buffalo winter.





What will happen when the snow melts? Is there anyone in place to continue the effort? Will another sports figure step up to the plate? Let's hope so. It's a good idea that has the potential to go a long way.

It could, however, be Losman's final incomplete pass in Buffalo.

Loaning Buffalo

I guess it's only a matter of time before the Sabres start playing games in Hamilton.



For that matter, let's throw a few Albany's way.



What happened to the game in Rochester?

All of these games will be necessary to sustain the longer term viability of the Sabres in Western New York. All of the rocks have been overturned.

If only potato bugs were the answer.

#3

The third item on my Buffalo Wishlist...

A downtown indoor public ice rink.

Photos: The Depot Ice Rink, Downtown Minneapolis

Take everything from the Amherst Pepsi Center and bring it downtown.

Scale it down.

Since it was built, the Pepsi Center has struggled to survive financially. The reason is not because it isn't used, but rather the cost involved in simply maintaining the massive facility.

So let's put in one full size rink for hockey, instead of four, and maybe two smaller ones for open skates and other events.

Build it with the help of the Buffalo Sabres

When the Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix and became the Coyotes, they helped build the
Alltel Ice Den in Scottsdale. It gave them a place to practice and also provided the community with a smaller venue to discover and learn about hockey.

A downtown ice rink would give the Sabres more practice flexibility when HSBC is busy hosting other events. It would also give them a more intimate environment to host charity events. The Pepsi Center can live without them.

Throw in a satellite Sabres store and pro shop. Maybe a nice upscale restaurant and sports theatre. Round it out with a Sabres Hockey Museum.

Introduce hockey to the Buffalo Public Schools

It really is a shame that an area so passionate about hockey has so few athletic programs to support it. What's worse is the fact that most parents are forced to shuttle their kids out to Amherst in order to participate in it. As far as the city goes, well there aren't many options. I am willing to bet there are plenty of youth in Buffalo that would love to play hockey if given the opportunity.

Let's give them the opportunity.

Designate Saturdays as Hockey Day in Buffalo

Organize weekend tournaments, both youth and adult. Establish leagues and crown champions. Encourage sponsership from local businesses and well as community organizations.

How about a Gus Macker on ice? The Rob Ray Hockey Derby?

Hockeytown?

If Buffalo wants to claim that title, we need to prove we deserve it!

"You probably should fire the driver!"

From the Daily Show, November 7, 2005.

"Your clothes get washed while you get sloshed!"

Wednesday night I found myself desperately needing to do a load of laundry. I also found myself sitting in a darkened room with no power... staring at the wall.

I was on the brink. My clothes were crammed into the laundry basket. I had laced up my shoes and thrown on my jacket. A trip to the dreaded laundromat was in my immediate future. Then... suddenly... lights! Power! Laundry in the comfort of my own home!

While watching the Daily Show... far away from the annoyingly rhythmic sounds of an agitating washer... I began to think. Why did I loathe the laundromat so immensely?

The previously mentioned out-of-time beat of 15 washers going at once?

The irritating clang of a metal snap bouncing off the side of a dryer?

The mysterious piece of underwear left in my chosen machine?

The thought of days spent pacing the halls of the Ellicot Complex waiting for that asshole to come get his laundry so I can get my mine done sometime before 2am?

It wasn't any one of those things that made me hate laundromats so much. It was all of them.

So with that I give you the next item on my Buffalo Wishlist.

Photo: Brainwash Cafe Laundromat; San Francisco, CA

A full service bar and food menu. Live music. A real live person to help you with your laundry woes. WiFi. Comfortable seating.

Imagine a place to hang out with friends, suck down a Bacardi and Coke and get your laundry done! Now that is what I call time management.

If only they had bowling lanes!

Lucky Buffalo

While browsing through the pictures in my girlfriend's latest gossip magazine...

I stumbled upon on an article about Lucky Strike Lanes. Yes, it is a bowling alley. No, it's not a bowling alley. It's a bowling lounge. Well, it's a lot of things. It's an upscale lounge with bowling lanes. High-tech bowling lanes.

To put it simply - it's pretty fucking cool.

The article talked about Lucky Strike Lanes in Chicago. It wasn't until I visited their website that I learned they have locations all across the country. Hollywood, Las Vegas, Boston, Philly to name a few. Now you might think Dave and Buster's when you read this. You would be wrong. Lucky Strike Lanes is an adult playground. No one under 21 is allowed in after 9pm. Prior to that any minor must be accompanied by an adult. They are known for their huge menu and amazing drink selection. Just browsing through the photos on the website had me drooling.

Admittedly I love bowling. Being from Buffalo, I know I am not the only one. My choices, however, when it comes to bowling are... well, pathetic. For being such a bowling hotbed, Buffalo's bowling lanes... suck. You have the choice of seedy or suburban. Voelkers and Broadway Lanes... or Transit and Thruway Lanes. Tonawanda or Lockport?

So I give to you the next big thing for Downtown Buffalo!

Photo source: bowlluckystrike.com

Serving Buffalo

Let's face it. In this day and age there is a "serve yourself" mentality. Buffets, salad bars, "you-scan" checkouts, ATM machines, etc. So as to be expected, customer service in many industries has suffered. Immensely.

If you own a business and want it to succeed and grow, provide outstanding customer service. Most of us are so used to receiving sub-par service that we will be blown away. It's an easy formula.

If you want to see just how bad customer service has become, read BuffaloGeek's post about his recent dealings with Joe Cecconi Chrysler Jeep in Niagara.

Having worked in retail, I tend to believe that there is usually another side to the story. Some sort of miscommunication or something the customer failed to understand. In this case, however, there seems to be only one side to the story. Horrible customer service.

The problem with auto dealerships is that once you sign on the dotted line, they have your money. There is nothing to guarantee you a positive service experience after the sale. Also, because of the severe disconnect between auto manufacturers and the dealerships that sell their cars, customer service complaints are usually met with an apology and a suggestion to contact your dealership in regards to the matter.

So I hope everyone who reads BuffaloGeek's horror story will think twice before ever patronizing this dealership. I recently leased a vehicle from Transitowne Dodge and the service I have received has been outstanding.

I encourage BuffaloGeek to not let this issue die. I would like to believe that the owner of this dealership cares enough about his customers to hold those involved accountable.

If a tree falls in the forest...

If I don't update my blog for a month, does anyone notice?

If you did, I apologize. December was a very busy month and as far as priorities go, there were others. Anyhow, time is again on my side.

Irv!

Buffalo media just hasn't been the same since Irv Weinstein retired. I miss him.



Daaa duuuun dunt... IRV!

Loving Buffalo

Yes - I love Buffalo. For all it's good - and all it's bad - I love this city.

I keep thinking that Buffalo does not do enough to advertise itself. The stigmas this city lives with are like most - hard to overcome. I was browsing YouTube to see if there were any sponsored clips of the city - maybe produced by the Convention and Visitors Bureau - anything out there shouting out Buffalo. I didn't find any. I did, however, find these two videos.

I don't know who tbananaz is... but I think he too loves his city!






If our elected leaders can't put Buffalo out there... then maybe it's up to us.

Dreaming Big (Lessons for Buffalo)

Driven up Transit Road to Lockport any time recently? Chances are you probably noticed a new building - a new business. I would say that I each time I visit my parents in my former hometown, I can easily pick out some structure that wasn't there the previous month. Knowing what it was just twenty years ago, the amount of development along this corridor is really quite staggering.

Home Depot Plaza - City of Lockport; Photo Credits: TransitNorth.com

Cornerstone Credit Union - Town of Lockport

For most businesses in Lockport, Transit Road is the place to be if you want to be successful.

It seems now that local government leaders in the City of Lockport, Town of Lockport, and the Town of Pendleton want to put the pedal to the metal. So - together - they created the Transit North Historic Canalway Corridor. "Our Plan" pretty much says it all. As you browse through it - be sure to take note of one very important goal of this project. That is, to attract businesses that do not already have a presence within 150 miles of the area. The City of Buffalo can learn a few things from this. Have the vision to dream big. Develop a plan to foster that dream. Get the community involved from the very beginning. Listen to the people when they tell you what they want.

I think I may be visiting my parents a little more often.

Concept Rendering. TransitNorth.com

Solitarity

A repeat of the Colbert Report... but it struck me.

Think Route 5.

In this scenario, the role of "the man" is played by the NYSDOT.

Enjoy.

Driving Buffalo

Ok... it's going to snow soon.

It snows every year in Buffalo. Why then are there so many bad.... bad... winter drivers? You know... they are the ones in the ditch on the side of the road with their flashers on. They are the ones with the smashed in bumpers outside the collision shop. Come on... you know who I'm talking about! Maybe I'm talking about you!?

Talk a look at this quiz and see how you do.

Better yet, talk some advice from AAA.

And some of you may need to take this quiz also!

Educating Buffalo

We are starting to see what a billion dollars can do for Buffalo.

I'm not talking about downtown development. I'm referring to the $1.1B Joint Schools Construction Project that is reshaping and reinventing Buffalo Public Schools.

According to Buffalo Business First, phase II of this massive 5 phase program is now complete with a price tag of $327M. This brings the total investment to date to $500M.


Photo: The Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts Theatre
under construction. Credit.

The scope of this project is simply mind boggling. The past three years, combined with the remaining three phases expected to be completed by 2010, will have brought Buffalo from an underscoring, under performing system to a modern progressive educational model for the rest of the country.

Money well spent.

Thank you James A. Williams. Thank you for bringing your vision to Buffalo.



The key to economic development in this city is an educated work force. The key to socio-economic reform is an educated youth.

It's exiciting to have learned that the old Kensington High School is slated to be included in the Joint Schools Construction Project. The school, dating back to 1937, is one of only a handfull of art deco buildings in the city. It is now the home of the Olmsted School for the Gifted and Talented.

Photo: The former Kensington High School at 319 Suffolk Avenue

Innovate Buffalo

You've had your chance Buffalo. Now it's time to welcome new ideas.

The FLW Boathouse was a good start.

I do support projects such as Canalside that wish to invoke Buffalo's grand past as a building block for the future. However, the fact that it is the past that we're talking about means that there needs to be other avenues to a brighter Buffalo future. Simply recreating the past in much different modern times will only serve to fulfill a limited number of needs. It's time for this city to open itself up to the modern world.

Buffalo is a blank canvas... brownfields, parking lots and abandoned buildings.

Nowhere is the opportunity greater than Buffalo for architectural and environmental innovation.


Photo: City of Culture of Galicia
Santiago de Compostela, Spain

The time to play it safe has gone (moved to Charlotte).

Buffalo needs to market itself as a city open to new ideas. The status quo should no longer be acceptable. It frustrates me that every national broadcast of a sporting event in Buffalo shows a cut-away shot of Niagara Falls. It should frustrate everyone that there is nothing in this city worth looking at, sort of speak.

The opportunity exists. Let's start with the National Weather Discovery Center. Let's create a modern marvel!

Take a look at Eisenman Architects. (click on the red N)

ReUse Buffalo

Everyone should take a few moments and check out Buffalo ReUse.

If you're not familiar with them... well now you are.

Take a look at their salvage services. Now think back a few years.
How many items, inluded in this list, have you considered trash and put to the curb?

I found 11 things.

The next time you think about throwing something out, take a look at Buffalo ReUse.
Better yet, give them a call.

BuffaloReUse
(716) 885-4131

KX2-391

The following article was published by the University at Buffalo on 11/16/2007

Buffalo-Made Anti-Cancer Drug Begins Human Trials
Potential 'Blockbuster' Developed by Kinex and UB Chemist

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- An anti-cancer drug developed by Kinex Pharmaceuticals of Buffalo and a University at Buffalo faculty researcher has begun clinical testing with patients.

As part of FDA-mandated phase 1 testing, KX2-391 is being administered to a group of patients with advanced cancer who have not responded to other therapies. In non-human testing, the drug has been shown to be active against all cancers, according to Kinex Pharmaceuticals CEO Allen Barnett.

KX2-391 may be the first small-molecule drug discovered and developed in Buffalo that has progressed to the human trial stage. The phase 1 trial is a first step toward FDA approval of the drug and is intended to test the safety and dosage tolerability of the drug.

"We're very excited about the drug's potential," Barnett says. "As we go further in the drug's development, and do broader testing, we get better and better data. If the drug works half or a third as well as it's worked in pre-clinical trials, it will have blockbuster, billion-dollar potential."
During non-human testing by Kinex over the past two years, KX2-391 has reduced tumors in several types of cancer. Though the drug must complete two additional phases of testing after phase 1, Kinex has attracted significant interest from venture capital firms, private investors and several major pharmaceutical companies, Barnett says.

Barnett is negotiating with several pharmaceutical companies considering funding Kinex's development of the drug through phase 1 and other clinical phases needed to test the drug's effectiveness with larger patient populations. A deal, which would include an upfront payment, milestones and royalties, could be made by early next year.

An alternate source of funding would be via venture capital investment, which would provide necessary funds to progress KX2-391 further in clinical trials before partnering with a large pharmaceutical company in a bigger deal. Those discussions are in progress as well.
The drug was created from the work of David Hangauer, Ph.D., UB associate professor of chemistry, who developed a compound that targets Src ("sark") kinase, a protein that is linked to the survival of cancer cells. Hangauer's drug compounds, known as protein kinase inhibitors, are designed to shrink tumors and prevent metastases.

Kinases are considered one of the most lucrative classes of drug targets in the pharmaceutical industry, and Hangauer is the first to develop a kinase drug that targets a unique site on the kinase target. KX2-391 is the first in this class of drugs to progress to the clinical trial stage.
"We have the first success to come from this approach," explains Hangauer, who also serves as Kinex senior vice president of research and development. "Our drug compound has been shown to be active against all cancers.

"Cancer is a very tough disease to treat with drugs," he adds, "but we think this will be better than any kinase inhibitor currently available."

Hangauer also sees great potential for using related drug compounds, under development at Kinex, to treat autoimmune diseases like lupus, ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Roswell Park Cancer Institute and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston are performing the phase 1 trials, which are expected to enroll a total of 50 patients and last about a year. Alex Adjei, Ph.D., M.D., senior vice president of clinical research at Roswell, is principal investigator for the phase 1 study at Roswell. Adjei is a national leader in translational research, drug development and thoracic oncology.

The drug was synthesized by Albany Molecular Research Institute, a contract research organization, and the final dosage form for human trials was prepared in UB's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, where Kinex Pharmaceuticals is headquartered. Kinex's progress has been bolstered by significant cost savings from their use of Center of Excellence facilities and its funding programs, including funding from the UB Center for Advanced Biomedical and Bioengineering Technology (UB CAT).

Kinex originally licensed three patent filings from UB that describe the drug's makeup, as well as a methodology for the design and synthesis of this and other kinase inhibitors. Kinex now has four issued patents and six other filings under review.

Marnie LaVagine, Ph.D., director of business development at UB's Center of Excellence, says the drug's progression to human trials "is a critical milestone" in the development of a local life-sciences economy.

"We're banking on our ability to create private-sector jobs in drug discovery and development, rather than licensing university-developed technologies to out-of-state firms, which had been the more common path for moving locally grown inventions from the lab to the marketplace."
Success for KX2-391 and Kinex would be a huge win for Buffalo's emerging biotechnology industry, agrees Lyn Dyster, Ph.D., Kinex vice president for operations, who, like Barnett and Hangauer, earned a doctoral degree at UB.

"Big pharma is thriving by licensing innovations from small-drug discovery and development companies like ours," Dyster says. "The success of Kinex and other Buffalo companies like Smart Pill will put Buffalo on the biotech map and help other local companies grow."

Collaboration between scientists at UB's Center of Excellence, Roswell and Hauptman Woodward Medical Research Institute -- as well as the attraction of new companies like Cleveland Biolabs to Buffalo -- should continue to fuel groundbreaking life-sciences research in Buffalo, according to Barnett.

"You're starting to see the right kinds of scientific and entrepreneurial activity and partnerships you need to build a biotech industry in Buffalo," Barnett says. "If Kinex is successful, you'll start to see more local investment in local companies and also more investors from the outside starting to take a closer look at Buffalo opportunities."

Buy Buffalo

I challenge everyone to buy local this holiday.

When you shop locally owned businesses, you keep your money in the community and help the local economy. When you shop national retailers, you send your money off to the home office to benefit another economy in another community.

Make up your shopping list and head down to Elmwood this Saturday. That is where I will be.
I have set a personal goal to buy at least half of the items on my list locally. If all goes well, I will likely knock out the majority of what I have planned to buy.

So... avoid the mall (do you really want to deal with that traffic?)... forget about Target... and make your first stop Elmwood Ave. I guarantee you will be surprised at what you find.

There are also plenty of places to park. So don't worry about having to walk a mile in the rain or snow. A block or two won't kill you though. You do live in Buffalo after all.