Wow. Can you believe it's been five years since the invasion of Iraq? A lot's happened since then: Saddam was captured, the Human Genome Project was completed, and Britney shaved her head. But a lot of other stuff happened too: Just look at the numbers. According to costofwar.com, since 2003, the United States has spent an estimated $500 billion (that's a five with 11 zeros behind it) on the war in Iraq. And that's only the official tally. According to a new book by economists Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes, the total cost of the war, counting health care costs to treat veterans and higher oil costs and such, would be between $3 trillion and $5 trillion. It's been four years and 10 months since Bush declared "Mission Accomplished." About 4,000 American soldiers are dead, including at least two San Luis Obispo soldiers, and as many as 60,000 are wounded. But that's just a drop in the bucket compared to estimates of 700,000 dead Iraqis. Yes, a lot can happen in 2,628,000 minutes.

March 19 marks five years in Iraq. In respect to that anniversary, at 1 p.m. on March 15, people involved with SLO Code Pink, along with others from dozens of interfaith groups, will meet at Santa Rosa Park in SLO and march to the County Government building for a rally. For more information, visit www.slocodepink.org.