well this, was too tacky even for hearst and there was such an outcry that two day later the banner was drooped. the war went on for several more months and hearst with some justification continued to think of it as his war. no less vile than hearst, although in an entirely different manner was the reporting on soviet leader josef stalin's five year plan in the early 1930's by waller durante of the new york sometimes. stalin had determined that he would make the soviet union a military and industrial powerhouse to rival the united states and that he would do it in half a decade. one of the ways he tried to do it was by confiscating grain and other dietary staples from the soviet republic, the back woods soviet republic of ukraine. he would then see to it that this food was delivered to workers in the more technologically advanced soviet republics, so that they would be hearty and well nourished, will be able to work on the assembly lines and able to bring about the goals of stalin's five year plan. the result in ukraine was the worst famine in the 20t 20th century. anywhere according to

certainly it was not a high calling as practiced by william randolph hearst in the days leading up to the spanish-american war. in fact, to some extent cursed himself and his paper was responsible for the outbreak of war in the first place. in 1998 william hearst public journal published one incendiary article after another urging the u.s. to intervene in cuba where the spaniards who controlled the island were treating the cubans viciously. they were imposing higher taxes on the cubans, they were restricting the freedoms of the cubans, they were inflicted severe punishment on the cubans for the most minor of offenses. eventually the united states government got so upset about the situation that isn't the battleship maine into havana harbor not to do anything, just to sit there as a calling or perhaps intimidating presence. but on february 15th, 1898, the maine exploded, all to under 50 people on board were killed. the new york journal insisted in big black headlines and on the basis of no evidence whatsoever that spain had been responsible, the united states have to go to war now. abs

. -- william randolph hearst was. he is responsible for marijuana being illegal. i would like to know what your take is on legalizing marijuana as a simple, common-sense solution to the problems faced by places like california. . . an issue at the state level. but it's going to be a national issue and should be. when you look on one side of tobacco, their illnesses kill 400,000 a year, more than vehiclular accidents, cocaine and alcohol, combined. it's far away the largest call of preventable death in this country. compared to which marijuana looks rev lent lyly benign. ly -- relevant benign. and more than a decade ago "national review" said that the drug war is lost. and that's dealing with the drug problem on the demand side. and we have to deal with demand. and marijuana is not cocaine in its effects and social cost and all the rest. i think what the caller raised is interestingly in the next five years a discussable issue. host: the hearings got underway on capitol hill on the health care issue. and last sunday you were talking about health care, and i saw som

washington bureau chief, one of our former presidents with hearst newspapers. finally, editor and publisher with american journalism review. now you can give your applause. thank you. [applause] it may come as a surprise to some of you here today. we do not tend to invite members of the press to speak at the podium. it would get way out of control. we do have a special cause to do that today because our speaker is a special individual. we think that journalists the cover the news and we try not to put them in the spotlight. as i said, today's guest is an exception. david simon honed his skills reporting on the streets of one of the most dangerous cities in our country. after years of reporting, it wasn't the murders, drugs, or other crimes that drove him out of the industry. he told a newspaper because, " some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and its stock -- and it stopped being fun." [laughter] did we have that right? he took a leave of absence from the paper for a full year, chatted to detectives of baltimore's homicide unit. the result was the award winn

here is one of our former presidents with hearst newspapers. finally, the editor and publisher of the american journalism review. now you can do your applause. [applause] >> it may come as a surprise to some of you here today as you watch our legends over the years that we do not tend to and by members of the press to speak at the podium. we get way out of control. we do have a special cause it to do that today because our speak er strip is special individual. generally, we think journalists cover the news and we try not to put them in the spotlight that they might otherwise feel uncomfortable with. a longtime journalist of "the baltimore sun" reported the allies -- reported the lives of inner-city baltimore. he laughed and told the baltimore city newspaper in 2003 because "some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun." is that an accurate quotation? >> it is, indeed. >> he took an absence and shadow detectives of baltimore's homicide unit. the result was the edgar award winning book "homicide -- you're on the killing stree

you know enough of the history of this country to know who harry amsinger was, who william randolph hearst, two of the great megaloman yakes, th

rick dunham, washington bureau chief, one of our former presidents here with hearst newspapers and glad to have rick here as well. finally, r.e.m. writer editor and publisher with american journalism and review. and now you can give your applause. thank you. >> it may come as a surprise to some of you here today as you've watched our speakers luncheons over the years that we do not intend to site members of the press to speak at the podium. for one thing it would get way out of control if we start letting those doors open, right? but we have a special cause to do that today because our speaker is truly a special individual. but generally we think that journalists cover the news and we try not to perhaps put them in a spotlight they might otherwise feel uncomfortable in. but as i said, today's guest is an exception. david simon, a long time journalist at the baltimore sun, honed his skills reporting on the streets of one of the the most dangerous cities of our country. and after years of reporting the realities of inner city life it, wasn't the murder, drugs or other horrific crimes that

i will limit this to america -- we have a tendency in this country going back to william randolph hearst -- my friend evan thomas is writing a book about the spanish-american war, eerily resonant where you have a culture in which the march to war becomes a consuming drum of -- drama. journalists are absolutely susceptible to that. a man named chris hedges wrote a book, war is a force that gives us meeting. talking about how it is a construct in which everyone has a role and can play out a certain drama. fine if you're sitting in new york or washington making editorial decisions. those doing the fighting, those who are victims of the violence that is unleashed have a different view, understandably. so the questions you raise are things we think about all the time. and the goal has to be to learn from the iraq experience so that we do a better job next time, which is not to say that the next time going to war won't be the right thing. the correct answer is not always not projecting force. but we are a fallible and human institution like any other in the media, and i think if we tried to pr

you on this important issue to assist in a smooth transition to the joint base mcgwire, dix, lake hearst, starting on october 1, 2009. mr. skelton: i thank the gentleman for his comments and in response i will tell the gentleman i will work with him, the committee of jurisdiction and the relative government agencies to resolve the issue and help the joint base transition. mr. adler: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. skelton: i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. >> mr. chairman, i rise to claim the time in opposition although i am not opposed to the amendment and i'll reserve the balance of my time. the chair: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. the gentleman reserves his time. the gentleman from missouri. mr. skelton: mr. miller has a request for a colloquy at this time. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. mr. miller: thank you, mr. chairman. the service members service relief act protects service members when their military service hinders their ability to meet financial obligations or defend their rights in a lawsuit. recent c

know another of the history of this country, you know who harry is lawyer was and william randolph hearst were through and the great megalomaniacs of this history and that there are responsible for it marijuana being illegal. i like to know your take on legalizing marijuana as a simple common-sense solution to the revenue problems in places like california. thank you. >> guest: it is going to be an issue soon. it will be an issue particularly at state level, medical use of marijuana and a less and will be a national level and should be. with a look on the one side of tobacco it kills, tobacco related illnesses kill former thousand americans a year, more than vehicular accidents, cocaine, heroin, alcohol, combined. it is far and away the largest cause of preventable death in this country -- tobacco is. compared to which marijuana looks relatively benign. there are intelligent men and women of goodwill who insist it is a gateway drug to worst drugs, but i tend increasingly to believe that my old friend and employer, bill buckley, and his magazine national review were right when more than a

so they were willing to pay for 500 people in order to run the hearst paper out of town, in order to run the news american to the ground which folded in '86, and then to sustain an evening edition of the paper for long enough to get as many of the purest across -- sorry, in another world entirely now, and other readers to come over to an evening paper but then they folded the evening sun to. they also ran is zoned editions in four of the surrounding counties to try to get as much circulation as they could in the growth areas of baltimore and they do that until the figure out the easier thing to do was to buy the original papers in those counties and in that part of their monopoly so they were willing to have 500 and then given 400 reporters when the pursuits that they were after was a monopoly. there were not willing to do to make a great product or even a good product, and that is what our industry discovered. they discovered this in 1980's and they went to wall street and wall street rewarded them handsomely by basically saying, you know what, we can make a lot more money putting o