Cranley retreats on his choice for Booth's vacant council seat
Britton or Cole? Why not Jane Anderson? I understand that Cole was a Democrat, but was not endorsed. Cole got more votes, so on general principal she should get the nod, no matter what her party affiliation is. I just hope Jane is not being ignored because of her race. Akiva Freeman would be next in line if Jane were unable to serve. Why is this starting to sound like the Miss Cincinnati beauty pageant?

Simon Leis, Step Down
Chris Anderson calls for the current Hamilton County Sheriff to step down. Chris is right. Leis has been a thug for years, and the latest incident is minor in comparison to the legal messes that would have caused a Democratic Sheriff to be in jail.

Updated News Outlets still in Baghdad
Still in Baghdad (as reported)
CBS: 1 reporter
CNN: 2 reporters -Nic Robertson
NPR: 1 reporter - Plans to stay throughout
Peter Arnett - freelance for MSNBC and National Geographic. - Plans to stay throughout
ITN
BBC: Total of 8 including 3 reporters - Plans to stay throughout
Washington Post
AP -Hamza Hendawi
Reuters
Sky News
Independent - Robert Fisk (what an ass)
Newsweek
Christian Science Monitor
ZDF (Germany)
Al Jazeera
Sydney Morning Herald/The Age - Paul McGeough

Not in Baghdad are NBC, ABC, CBC Radio, FOX News (kicked out), China's official Xinhua news agency, New York Times, Boston Globe (kicked out), USA Today, Daily Telegraph, London Times.

I will try to keep one post each day and update it when new information is known. There are many other foreign news agencies that are in Baghdad, but I am unable to determine which outlets are represented.

Booth to resign from council
Big news and big speculation will follow. This part sounds bad though:

Booth said he would stay out of the selection process unless Democrats asked for his input. He did say, however, that it would be important for City Council to appoint another African-American.

"It makes a difference in terms of the kind of representation we have," he said. "We're elected to serve all people. But council as a whole should as much as possible demographically represent Cincinnati."

Quota's are immoral and illegal. If race is made the deciding factor, then a legal challenged should be mounted against it. The Democrats should appoint the Democrat who got the next most votes in the last election, if that person is willing to serve. If not that person, then the Democrat with the next most votes who is willing to serve. I hope this does not turn into a boycott demand. Succumbing to that would be even more undemocratic then the current method to replace Council members.

News Outlets still in Baghdad
Here is the list of reporters or news outlets that I have found reports indicating they are still in Baghdad.
CBS: 1 reporter
CNN: 2 reporters
NPR: 1 reporter
Peter Arnett - special assignment for MSNBC and National Geographic.
ITN
BBC: Total of 8 including reporter(s)
Washington Post
New York Times
AP
Reuters
Sky News
Independent - Robert Fisk (what an ass)

There are others who are in the Kurdish area of Northern Iraq, but as far as I understand those reporters will not leave. I am sure there are many other outlets in Baghdad, but I can't find references to any others. Some of the outlets that are not in Baghdad are NBC, ABC, CBC Radio, FOX News, China's official Xinhua news agency.

Change of Focus
After much thought and random longs to branch out, I am officially opening up the topic of my blog to anything and everything, not just Cincinnati and Ohio. Cincinnati and Ohio will still be my focus and majority of my content, but with the impending war almost upon us, I will have much to say about media coverage of the war, and responses to the war here in America and the rest of the world. I have been slowly expanding topics that I used to reserve to my other blog, PulpStalag the Blog, but now that blog will become more of a semi-loose place to be semi-creative.

War Prediction Time
It is fairly clear war will be this week or not at all. I will make a "bold" prediction of the day and the time of the start of the war, and when it will hit the news. My Picks:

Date: Wednesday, March 19th, 2003
Time Attack Begins: 5:11 PM EST
Time Press First Reports Attack: 6:25 PM EST

If you care to make a guess, just add it to the comments section. The winner will get a free mention on the blog. Ties will be judged using the "Price is Right Rules" on the time the attack begins.