Veteran television correspondent Peter Arnett, who has been covering the war with Iraq for NBC News through an arrangement with National Geographic Explorer, went on Iraq's state television network and praised Iraq's treatment of journalists.

In a transcript of Arnett's comments during the interview, he seemed to praise Iraq's Ministry of Information, saying it has "allowed me and many other reporters to cover 12 whole years since the Gulf War with a degree which we appreciate and that is continuing today."

Of course they have been courteous and cooperative to some of the journalists within their borders, how else would you build your propaganda machine to the level they have without the help of journalists within their own country? Oh, don't start. Journalists within the "control of the regime" are no longer objective reporters since they CANNOT state anything that is not approved by the regime. Enough said.

A Columbia University professor told thousands of students and faculty that he would like to see "a million Mogadishus" referring to the 1993 ambush in Somalia that killed 18 Americans and inspired the movie "Black Hawk Down."

The professor, Nicholas De Genova, also called for the defeat of U.S. forces in Iraq and said, "The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military." And he asserted that Americans who call themselves "patriots" are white supremacists.

I was not there, nor do I know anyone who was there, but this sounds like a very disturbed man who needs "an attitude adjustment". Exactly who is this guy? Here is some information from the Columbia University website:

Nicholas De Genova,
Faculty Fellow, Anthropology/Latino Studies

Nicholas De Genova is Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Program in Latina/o Studies at Columbia University. He was previously Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology at Stanford University. He received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Chicago. His ethnographic research explored the social productions of racialized and spatialized difference in the experiences of transnational Mexican migrant workers in Chicago.

I would encourage you to contact him, but my mother always warned me to stay away from possibly rabid animals.

The World Health Organization doctor who first identifed the outbreak of a deadly mystery illness died of the disease on Saturday.

Italian Dr. Carlo Urbani, 46, a WHO expert on communicable diseases, died in Thailand where he had been receiving treatment after becoming infected while working in Vietnam, the U.N. agency said.

Like I said before, keep your eyes on this one…

To date, SARS has killed at least 55 people and sickened 1,485, with the biggest number of cases and deaths in China's Guangdong province, where an earlier outbreak began in November.

Reuters is reporting that U.S. military commanders are ordering a 4-6 day pause in Iraq advances. (I heard this via FoxNews of course). No link yet. Will update when I see one.

Update: Here is the link.

In a statement Friday, Sarandon said that "considering the depletion of federal funds for community programs and the faltering economy, it is disturbing to me that the United Way is letting partisanship determine its support base".

"Once again, the shortsightedness of the powerful will end up hurting those in need."

Yeah, let's blame the cancellation on anyone (or anything) other than your record.

Their decision had nothing to do with partisanship, or the "powerful". Their decision was made (if you paid attention to their statements) because (and I quote), "the organization decided the event had the POTENTIAL to become divisive".

Did you get that? These people wanted their annual fund-raiser, not the potential for a "political platform for Susan Sarandon".

Get it? Got it! Good. Now Go.