LEAVWORLD: GRAFFITI POLITTI

No one can dispute the lack of reporting on improvements in the Iraqi front of the war. Here are three (make that four) stories that haven't seen much exposure, but they are far from the only ones. Let's start with the number of US casualties dropping greatly in the last months. This excerpt is from Special Report, with Britt Hume : Washington Post media writer Howard Kurtz spoke Sunday with Post reporter Robin Wright and CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr about why the media paid so little attention to the shrinking casualty numbers coming out of Iraq. Kurtz asked Wright if the story should have received more play. She responded - "Not necessarily. The fact is we're at the beginning of a trend - and it's not even sure that it is a trend yet... The numbers themselves are tricky." Starr said she needed more than one month's numbers before she "gets too excited" about the subject. But when Kurtz asked if an increase in casualty figures would ...

"I'm innocent, I'm VERY innocent"... So said Isaiah Thomas, after he, James Dolan, and MSG were found guilty of sexual harassment of Anucha Browne Sanders in the workplace. The trial featured depositions of Mr. Thomas saying that a Black man calling a Black woman "bitch" was not as offensive as a White man doing the same thing, and another MSG executive saying that the "N" word is okay for executives to use to co-workers. You won't find any record of that in a Google search, but I saw it myself, in the early part of the trial. Why is race relevant to a sexual harassment trial? Good question, but maybe Mr. Thomas answered it. If he sees a difference in the meaning of the word "bitch," directed at a Black woman, from White and Black men, it seems to support the case that he is insensitive to women's perceptions, which is a prerequisite of this kind of harassment. As a man, I can say that I've seen this type of man before, and th...

In response to the Media Matters -inspired "dustup" over Rush Limbaugh's "phony soldier" comment, Sen. Tom Harkin took to the Senate floor, and said "Maybe he was just high on his drugs again. I don’t know whether he was or not. If so, he ought to let us know. But that shouldn’t be an excuse." As a person who has been addicted to drugs, I am outraged. To use a federally-sanctioned (and subsidized) "handicap" as a slur demeans the office he holds, and the floor he spoke on. Would he be able to get away with saying that "Rush is back on crutches again?" Or how about "that disease must be getting to his brain, again?" Would the "honorable" Senator Harkin deign to use that phrase against a political pundit? The Senate needs to censure Harkin, for citing Mr. Limbaugh's addiction in the lowest, most offensive type of personal attack. Harkin's comments, and the whole ginned-up controversy are covered over at Mic...

Bob G from Sweet Spirits of Ammonia has been missing from this blog for far too long! Here's a "roundup" of his recent posts, which are all worth a read. I love his common-sense attitude! The synopses are mine, and contain commentary on his posts, as well. Out Of The Shadows The story of Pedro Zapata, an illegal immigrant from Guatemela, who was caught bringing $59,000 out of the country, without declaring it to customs. Couldn't he have wired it? Make Sure LOST Loses An important, and severely under-reported story about the "Law of the Sea Treaty," and it's effect on the US. Why are both the Congressional Dems and the Bush administration giving positive political signals on this 30-plus year old monstrosity? See the link in Bob's post for the details. Hofstra's Ethics Horrors Conference Lynne Stuart, a former lawyer convicted of helping pass messages from her terrorist client, who was in prison, to his terrorist associates outside of prison,...

After reading Newt Gingrich's latest "Winning the Future" email, I got the impression that he's been out of politics too long. Don't get me wrong; I like Mr. Gingrich. I'd gladly vote for him, if he were the Republican nominee. Of course, he hasn't even entered the race yet, amid much speculation. He's been testing the waters through his AmericanSolutions.com website, and the email newsletter. Online version at Human Events, linked here. This week, he mentions the 13th anniversary of the "Contract With America." He also sets out what appears to be a "trial version" of a new "Contract." Here are his 10 points: 1. Levees shouldn't break, and the Corps of Engineers should be changed until it is reliable. 2. Bridges shouldn't fall, and our federal and state highway programs should be changed until we have reliable inspection and repair. 3. Students should learn, and the bureaucrats and bureaucracies that dominate fai...

Recently, the ACLU set their doomsday clock at six minutes before midnight! Once it reaches the ‘dark hour’ of midnight…we will be slaves to the ominous and evil ’surveillance society’. This isn’t science fiction. This is a typical scare tactic from the ACLU. They prey upon the paranoid. This is how they get donations to fund their machine. They cry about American citizens being spied upon " when in fact there is no evidence that anyone has been hurt by the government's terrorist surviellance program. While the ACLU cry that they are the guardian's of liberty, and that privacy is one of those liberties....they have been exposed as being violators of that very liberty. They have a massive database of their own member's private financial information they use for soliciting donations. The group's new data collection practices were implemented without the board's approval or knowledge and were in violation of the ACLU's privacy policy at the time, according t...

I have a question: Does John F. Kerry think that the tasering of the FSU student was "torture?" After all, he mentioned electrocution as a method of US torture of N. Vietnamese, in his famous "winter soldier" speech to Congress. Isn't his word, as a soldier and statesman, of what constitutes "torture" still valid, even if the electrocution was not on the genitals at FSU? Didn't Kerry hear the screams of the victim, as he droned on in the lecture hall? I'm sure that more than a few people were tortured by having to listen to Kerry, but that's a separate point.