President Defines "Some". The May 28, 2005, edition of the New York Times carried the story of President Bush speaking at the graduation of the latest class of Midshipmen [should that not be Midshippersons?]. At the United States Naval Academy on May 27, the president said: "Some of our men and women in uniform have given their lives in this cause and others have returned home with horrible injuries," he said. "America honors their sacrifice, and we will uphold the cause they served."

The article mentions that the graduating class was "nearly 1,000."

The president last spoke at the academy graduation in 2001. Ten Annapolis graduates have been killed in the fighting in Iraq since that time.

On the facing page to this article was the official (and unfortunately daily) listing of those service members killed in the war in Iraq. The total as of May 28 was 1,639 American Service members.

As a kid, we used to joke that a couple of something was two, a few was three and some was four or more. This usually came up when you were asking a friend for a few of his M&M's or other pieces of candy he was eating. Personally I think 1,639 are certainly more than some.

I think it is a dishonor to those people who have lost their lives in the war to be referred to as some.

I understand war is not a nice thing and people get killed in war, I do not see any reason to minimize the cost in human lives because it may make us uncomfortable.

The White House has been asked on some occasions, [some used here to mean certainly under ten!] why the president did not make a comment about a particular horrific helicopter crash, or other occasion when there has been more then a few [few meaning three as mentioned above] American casualties, and the White House response has always been that the president does not comment on any specific casualties, in order to not show any sense that one death is more important than the other.

Irony to me is how we are in the midst of some major corporate scandals and legal actions, caused by the leaders of those companies doing all sorts of actions to hide the bad news, the poor financial condition of the company from the public. Hiding the bad news does not make it go away or decrease its importance in making informed decisions.  ¶ 3:59 PM