HOT ENOUGH FOR YA?

See this story, and a few other short stories here.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any hotter in Iraq, welcome to Ab al-ahab el limor al bismar al hab, or the “August days that are so boiling, the pins melt out of the doorframe.” Friday’s peak temperature in Baghdad was over 135 degrees Fahrenheit, with some soldiers reporting temperatures of 148 degrees in the full sun.

And in the un-air-conditioned warehouse that passes for sleeping quarters for the 2nd Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, the low temperature Thursday night was 120 degrees, according to 1st Lt. Jason Tolbert, a Woodville, Texas, native who is with the squadron.

After Aug. 15, “it starts getting cooler,” one Iraqi said. How much cooler? “More like 115 or 120 degrees.”