A certain kind of job in journalism can only be kept if its holder, for the most part, refrains from doing it.

Walter at andrewsullivan.com on the unspoken rule of political journalism.

shreds of evidence

Originally uploaded by EssG.

Torn Poster Art (via Boing Boing)

Is it really so hard for Bush to explain to the American people what’s at stake and what will be required to achieve it; to admit mistakes, to fire Donald Rumsfeld and hold accountable others who have failed to perform effectively; and to ask for sacrifices from those who can most afford them, including himself?

Some interesting thoughts at Harry’s Place: Bush’s failure and Cindy Sheehan’s pain.

A team of top-flight investigative reporters from America and Russia has committed itself to untangling the case of Klebnikov, the 41-year-old editor of Forbes Russia who was gunned down at the peak of his career while walking home from his offices in northeastern Moscow on the evening of July 9.

Dubbed Project Klebnikov, it’s a cooperative mission that involves at least 20 journalists, New York University’s department of journalism, the Economist, Bloomberg News, Vanity Fair, and Forbes.

This one will be interesting to watch. Russian security services are not known for their thoroughness in this field. But this bunch are. (Via the New York Sun) Link here.

Conductor: …we are told the delay is indefinite…for future reference “indefinite” does not mean the train won’t leave at all. So all those people that just got off the train and went upstairs to wait, are still waiting! And you’re on your way!

–Penn Station

(Via Overheard in New York)

Sheehan has obviously taken a short course in the Michael Moore/Ramsey Clark school of Iraq analysis and has not succeeded in making it one atom more elegant or persuasive. I dare say that her “moral authority” to do this is indeed absolute, if we agree for a moment on the weird idea that moral authority is required to adopt overtly political positions, but then so is my “moral” right to say that she is spouting sinister piffle. Suppose I had lost a child in this war. Would any of my critics say that this gave me any extra authority? I certainly would not ask or expect them to do so. Why, then, should anyone grant them such a privilege?

Hitchens on Sheehan (and Dowd) (via Clive Davis).

Also via Clive, a fascinating NPR Interview with Steven Vincent’s widow. (For those who don’t know, Steven Vincent was a freelance journalist from New York who was murdered in Basra a couple of weeks ago. He has been mentioned on EiNY before here and here.)

Spotted on 5th Av, Brooklyn.

Remember the Russian spammer Vardan Kushnir who was bludgeoned to death in his Moscow apartment? First, everyone thought it was a revenge killing for his spamming activities. Then they thought it was a burglary gone wrong. Now, apparently a 15-year-old girl, two teenage boys and a 27-year-old man have been arrested. According to Russian police, the four broke into his apartment to rob him—and it all went horribly wrong.