But, but, I got this one form e-mail from some guy who says he's there and its all great and stuff... Several weeks ago, many conservatives, including Crazy Andy, were praising the even-handed work of John Burns of the NY Times. They will have to get a new "meme" [Blogger contract for April 2004 fulfilled]. JOHN BURNS: Well, the events of the past three weeks have changed the geography of the country radically for most of us. We of the New York Times, and most print and broadcast organizations, have decided for the time being to pull back from our wider coverage outside Baghdad because there's no such thing as an even approximately safe road in Iraq, and there is, of course, no commercial air traffic. So bombings in Basra yesterday -- 50 or 60 people dead, including perhaps 20 schoolchildren in a bus -- a story we would normally dispatch a correspondent to immediately; we decided after discussions with New York that the risks on the road were too great. Inside Baghdad, it's also pretty dangerous. Just today, as I'm sure you know, there was a foreigner, a South African, I believe, who was shot dead by masked men in an area not much more than a mile or two from where most of us have our offices. So we have to be extremely wary.