Journalists in trouble

I though we had problems when I was a foreign correspondent but the difficulties some face now make those of the '60s, '70s and '80s seem pale. We dealt with death in Central America, imprisonment in Cuba, beatings in Mexico. Our communications were state-of-the-art but the art then was rudimentary in comparison.

Mexico, where we spent 15 years, has become a very dangerous place for journalists. Some parts have just flat become dangerous for everyone.

It was a rarity for journalist to be killed in those days although some were. Some of us were injured or traumatized covering coups, wars in Central America and some terrible natural disasters. Vietnam could be a dangerous place for reporters. But consider this:

In the past 15 years from 1992 through 2006 there have been 580 journalists killed around the world. Only a few cases have been fully investigated and in even fewer cases has there been punishment for those who murdered the journalists. And most of them have been murder. The typical slaying is at the journalist's home, or on a commute to work, or while at the desk. The Committee to Protect Journalists -- which didn't exist when I was a foreign correspondent -- reports that seven out of 10 were targeted in retaliation for their reporting and hunted down to be murdered. Even in war zones murder is the leading cause of death.

You can read CPJ's report, a country-by-country death toll, and other important facts about dangerous reporting at the CPJ home page, http://www.cpj.org/index.html.

Shiver me timbers...

We are definitely into winter here in Western North Carolina. No serious snow or ice but the thermometer fell to 18 degrees. And we are in the "moderate" isothermal belt where it is supposed to be warmer. The temperature got into the single digits in some parts of the state.

Winter is here, though.

The beautiful leaves of October are now almost all on the ground. One or two trees did not lose their leaves. The leaves turned brown but hang on to the tree anyway. This is what early winter looks like from our front porch.

I am thinking about going into the leaf business next fall. Set me up a "store" on E-Bay to sell leaves by the pound to those poor souls in the Southwest who don't get to rake. Genuine Smoky Mountain leaves! Never touched asphalt! Spread 'em on your lawn and driveway! Be the envy of your desert neighbors!

We're going through firewood rapidly but a warm fireplace and a cozy room are sure nice in the evening. The house is getting all spruced up for Christmas. All of our children and grandchildren will be with us starting Dec. 23. We'll have at least 15 people around the Christmas table. What a blessing for us!

Dr. Sean got things rolling by shipping a case of his favorite Oregon wines, all now tucked away safely in the wine rack. We have ordered a smoked turkey and a pork loin from a restaurant in Columbus. A turkey from the place was on our plate at a friend's house for thanksgiving and it was mighty tasty. That will save Sylvia some work in the kitchen. She suggested Chef Charles might want to cook for us but I think that would be a busman's holiday. Why should he take time off from his chefing career to chef for us? Maybe desserts?

On another note

Cuba celebrated Fidel Castro's birthday last week, while we were in Texas visiting my Mom, my sister and my brother-in-law (who had even fewer side effects from the radiation therapy than I did). The celebration that Castro did not attend because of his poor health reminded me of my trips to Cuba, our work with independent journalists in Cuba, and our Cuban-American friends.

Read this story about a poor guy who is only a journalist wanna-be but still got tossed into a Castro jail. The course mentioned in that story was a distance learning project I developed while I was still teaching. I get impatient with people who try to ignore the abuse of basic human rights in Cuba.

Bonnie Anderson is a journalist I have known since our days in Mexico City. Bonnie now runs a charter fishing deal in Puerto Rico. But read this moving piece she wrote about what Castro did to her. She used to be a big time exec with CNN but she got crosswise with management over the dumbing down of news.