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ON APRIL 6, 2004, Cpl. Jason Howell, a Marine squad leader who had arrived in Iraq three weeks before, was enduring his baptism of fire in what later became known as the "first battle of Fallouja." Howell, who had not eaten in 18 hours or slept in 36, was running on nothing but adrenaline. His dehydrated spittle, caked around the side of his mouth, was dirty white. Kneeling on a roof, he saw a flash of movement. An Iraqi child put his face out the window. Exhausted, Howell found himself unable to process the Arabic word he had learned for...

Gale Holland, LA TIMES newsdesk: "If something newsworthy happens, we'll cover it" phone conversation, 4-14-06 If the mainstream media cannot figure out why they are going the way of the dinosaurs and the Whigs, perhaps a little encounter with Gale Holland can serve as but a small example of the problem. On Monday, I called the LA TIMES, and they connected me to Gale Holland at the newsdesk. I let her know that a trial date was set on the previous Friday for defendant Bill Clinton, et al in the historic civil lawsuit of Peter Paul. Holland, not surprisingly, knew...

HISTORIANS OF the future will look back with amazement at U.S. foreign policy at the turn of the millennium, especially with regard to Russia. It's true, of course, that the Soviet Union once posed a severe threat to the United States and its allies — a global challenge that tied up American energies for 50 years and cost tens of thousands of American lives in anti-communist proxy wars. But that struggle ended in 1989 with a Western victory that was not only complete but miraculously peaceful. Since then, the U.S.-Russia relationship has been uneasy but usually cooperative. Not one American...

In today’s editions of the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, there are editorials praising Los Angeles Archbishop Roger Cardinal Mahony for opposing restrictive immigration bills. If a bill with punitive measures gets passed, Cardinal Mahony wants priests and the laity to defy the law. Here’s what Catholic League president Bill Donohue had to say about this development: “The Los Angeles Times not only commends Cardinal Mahony for his latest statement on public policy, it congratulates him for ‘reinforcing the right of religious leaders to speak out on the moral ramifications of political issues.’ This is a dramatic...

Warriors and wusses I DON'T SUPPORT our troops. This is a particularly difficult opinion to have, especially if you are the kind of person who likes to put bumper stickers on his car. Supporting the troops is a position that even Calvin is unwilling to urinate on. I'm sure I'd like the troops. They seem gutsy, young and up for anything. If you're wandering into a recruiter's office and signing up for eight years of unknown danger, I want to hang with you in Vegas.

Bad news tonight for Tribune Company shareholders: Shares in Tribune Co. tumbled Thursday after the media company reported a 6.1% drop in revenue last month on declines in both its newspaper and television businesses. Tribune, whose holdings include 26 television stations, 11 urban U.S. dailies and Spanish-language Hoy, said December revenue fell to $539 million from $574 million a year earlier. The company's stock fell $1.01, or 3.2%, to $30.80 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Tribune shares sank 28% in 2005. Advertising revenue in the publishing division fell 4.5%to $333 million, down from $349 million. The...

Michele Naar-Obed knows she will not stop the war in Iraq by walking the streets of Baghdad, unarmed and unguarded, calling for an end to the violence, but she considers it her duty to try. She is 49 years old, a mother, a wife, a pacifist who can't stand to be passive. Soldiers put their lives on the line for their country; she will risk hers too, in pursuit of peace. Four of her colleagues in the pacifist movement were kidnapped in Baghdad late last month. The men — fellow members of Christian Peacemaker Teams — have been threatened with...

WHO IN THE White House knew about DITSUM No. 044-02 and when did they know it? That's the newly declassified smoking-gun document, originally prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency in February 2002 but ignored by President Bush. Its declassification this weekend blows another huge hole in Bush's claim that he was acting on the best intelligence available when he pitched the invasion of Iraq as a way to prevent an Al Qaeda terror attack using weapons of mass destruction. The report demolished the credibility of the key Al Qaeda informant the administration relied on to make its claim that a...

IT'S OFFICIAL: 2005 WILL BE the newspaper industry's worst year since the last ad industry recession. And things aren't looking much better for next year either, according to a top Wall Street firm's report on newspaper publishing. "Sadly, 2005 is shaping up as the industry's worst year from a revenue growth perspective since the recession impacted 2001-2002 period," says the report from Goldman Sachs, adding a warning that meaningful growth in 2006 is "very unlikely."

Most of Europe is moving closer to the 0.7% goal, but the United States has long lagged; last year it contributed 0.16% of national income to foreign aid. Bolton's amendments make it clear that the Bush administration would like to pretend the millennium agreement never happened. This is a slap in the face for the aid organizations and international donors that have been working for years toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals. But it's far worse than that for the Third World, where their abandonment would be a death sentence for millions.

LOS ANGELES - A tabloid publisher that was negotiating a business deal with Arnold Schwarzenegger arranged a $20,000 confidentiality agreement with a woman who said she once had a relationship with the actor, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. Malibu resident Gigi Goyette signed the deal on Aug. 8, 2003, with American Media Inc., which publishes the National Enquirer, Star and other celebrity tabloids. That was two days after Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy in the recall election against then-Gov. Gray Davis, according to the Times. Later that year, American Media reached an agreement with Schwarzenegger that made him editor of...

Some in GOP fear more revelations, and hope naming a court nominee will overshadow case.WASHINGTON — If Karl Rove was source No. 2, who was source No. 1? Rove, President Bush's top political advisor, has survived a bruising week of controversy over his role in the unmasking of a CIA officer. But White House officials and their Republican allies acknowledge that they may face more revelations in the weeks and months to come.

American photojournalists and their editors are frustrated that they can't show more photos of U.S. soldiers dying in Iraq, saying that the nation isn't getting an accurate picture of the horrors of war. In a comprehensive report on Saturday, the Los Angeles Times noted: "A review of six prominent U.S. newspapers and the nation's two most popular newsmagazines during a recent six-month period found almost no pictures from the war zone of Americans killed in action." The paper explained: "Many photographers and editors believe they are delivering Americans an incomplete portrait of the violence that has killed 1,797 U.S. service...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Times, owned by media company Tribune Co. said on Monday it would spend more than $10 million this year on marketing campaigns to boost its declining circulation. The fourth-largest U.S. daily newspaper said it launched a $2.5 million ad campaign late last month and would spend $8 million on database/direct marketing efforts to attract new readers. It said ads will run on radio, TV, in the newspaper and over the Internet. The newspaper sustained steep circulation declines last year. For the six months ended Sept. 30, 2004, the newspaper's average daily circulation fell...

The Los Angeles Times today, folks, has one of the most vicious, angry, bitter editorials I can recall in that paper in a long time. "Republican leaders, eyeing an opportunity to appease their radical right-wing constituents--" And you radical right-wingers out there know who you are, "--convened Congress over the weekend to shamelessly interject the federal government into the wrenching Schiavo family dispute. They brushed aside our federalist system of government, which assigns the resolution of such disputes to state law, and state judges. Even President Bush flew back from his ranch to Washington on Sunday to be in on...

It's time again to grade the governor. Wednesday will mark one year in office for Arnold Schwarzenegger — one full year of learning on the job. How's he progressing? There is only one fair way to go about this: Split the grade in two. • One grade for politics. Give him a solid A. • A second grade for policy. He gets a generous C. A tougher grader would have given the guy a D in policy — or categorize it as substance, all that serious stuff a governor is supposed to do to solve state problems. The one problem...

Not satisfied with the Muslim terrorist resistance in Fallujah, the LA Times is trying their hardest to inflame Muslims here in America, by publishing a huge front page, above-the-fold picture of Infidel soldiers defiling a Mosque on Arab soil. Of all the pictures of all the action in Fallujah, THIS ONE is chosen by the LA Times as represent our efforts there. American Christian GI's kicking back smoking Marlboros in their mosque after killing the faithful freedom fighters within. I'm surprised they didn't Photoshop in a pic of them roasting a pig on a spit over a pile of buring...

ORLANDO, Fla. - Ever since President Bush (news - web sites) narrowly won Florida four years ago, Democrats have meticulously courted key voting blocs that strategists believe could help reverse the party's fortunes in 2004 - showering attention on seniors, African Americans, Jews, and Cuban and Haitian Americans. On Sunday night, a surprising new ethnic thread wove itself into Florida's ever-complicated political fabric: the frustrated Arab American. Business owners, physicians, lawyers and others - furious over the Bush administration's post-Sept. 11 policies that many believe unfairly target Muslims and Arab Americans in the government's quest to root out terrorists -...

When leftist billionaires such as George Soros, Stephen Bing, Peter Lewis and Ron Burkle donate to 527s and other groups trying to defeat President Bush, the media make, maybe, a passing reference to their Democrat party ties. For the most part, these donors are simply portrayed as "philanthropists." But when a wealthy conservative Republican donates to help the president, every donation he ever made and every Republican connection he ever had must be unearthed and splashed across the papers. After all, there must be a vast right-wing conspiracy at work. Take, for instance, Texas homebuilder Robert J. "Bob" Perry, who...

The news: A nation divided TIM RUTTEN If the American news media are lucky, 2004 will be remembered as the year of living dangerously. If not, then this election cycle may be recalled as the point at which journalism's slide back into partisanship became a kind of free fall. Presidential elections always challenge the press: The pace of events and competitive pressure invariably war with the media's duties to provide balance and perspective. Readers, viewers and listeners inevitably become more critical news consumers as their personal preferences solidify. This year, the polls instruct us, the country is likely to approach...