Wow. Just as an FYI, we hear explosions here on a daily basis, and we usually ignore them. There's nothing else to do. Sometimes we can even feel them. Yesterday, we felt two. As it turns out, they were pretty bad, and they occurred just outside the main gated entry/exit between Baghdad and Camp Victory. We call it "Flying Man Gate", because of the statue of, um, a flying man that marks its location. Above is a photo I took of the gate on a recent run to pick up some items for work.

Well, the two recent explosions killed 17 or more Iraqis and one American civilian contractor. I pray these two cuties we nicknamed the "Pepsi Kids" (because they sell Pepsis) are ok. We hear some kids were killed, and many, many people were wounded.

Click here for full story: MSNBC.com.

At least 41 killed in weekend attacks across Iraq
2 U.K. soldiers slain; Shiite shrines destroyed; unity government in setback

Updated: 8:44 p.m. ET May 14, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A string of deadly attacks ripped through the Iraqi capital Sunday, killing at least 26 people and wounding nearly 70, police said. Six small Shiite shrines also were damaged in a series of blasts around Baqouba, a mixed Sunni Arab-Shiite region where sectarian tensions are running high.

Other attacks elsewhere in Iraq killed 15 people, including two British soldiers who were killed in a roadside bombing Saturday night.

Baghdad’s deadliest attack Sunday involved two suicide car bombs that exploded near a main checkpoint on a four-lane road leading to the international airport, killing at least 14 Iraqis and wounding six. The other 12 Iraqis were killed by four roadside bombs, three targeting Iraqi police patrols and one that exploded in an open market....con't...