I was coming home from a regional blogger conference and was still mentally processing and mulling over alot of things in my head when I saw these symbolic grave markers at Green Lake in Seattle. I stopped to photograph them, but soon realized that it would be impossible to portray how many there actually were. First, I took a photo encompassing all that would fit in one frame, and then moved to where that photo ended and took another one, with the hope of connecting them for a panorama. It took me twenty photos. When walking back, I decided to film them. It took me a few seconds short of five minutes just to walk by and capture the graves of Arlington West, which are here in Seattle for the fifth year. For shame!
(See the video below. Please watch the whole thing before reading the article.)
Meanwhile, the networks are avoiding war coverage. They may be tired of it, but those of us who haven't forgotten should remember when we vote next.
Reporters Say Networks Put Wars on Back Burner
Getting a story on the evening news isn’t easy for any correspondent. And for reporters in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is especially hard, according to Lara Logan, the chief foreign correspondent for CBS News. So she has devised a solution when she is talking to the network.
“Generally what I say is, ‘I’m holding the armor-piercing R.P.G.,’ ” she said last week in an appearance on “The Daily Show,” referring to the initials for rocket-propelled grenade. “ ‘It’s aimed at the bureau chief, and if you don’t put my story on the air, I’m going to pull the trigger.’ ”
Ms. Logan let a sly just-kidding smile sneak through as she spoke, but her point was serious. Five years into the war in Iraq and nearly seven years into the war in Afghanistan, getting news of the conflicts onto television is harder than ever.
“If I were to watch the news that you hear here in the United States, I would just blow my brains out because it would drive me nuts,” Ms. Logan said.
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N Y Times
From the above article:
Almost halfway into 2008, the three newscasts have shown 181 weekday minutes of Iraq coverage, compared with 1,157 minutes for all of 2007. The "CBS Evening News" has devoted the fewest minutes to Iraq, 51, versus 55 minutes on ABC's "World News" and 74 minutes on "NBC Nightly News." (The average evening newscast is 22 minutes long.)
Meanwhile, US taxpayers have funded with $500 million dollars a propaganda network in the middle east, designed to counteract sources there, with failed results. (see Middle East Hearts and Minds)