America Looks Inward -- And CNN Helps

It's time for another brief and informal study in "Comparative Media". Just before 4PM your lowly and nearly frozen blogger made the rounds, visiting the five media sources from five countries. What's new? I suppose that depends on who you ask. Here are the most prominent new headlines from each of the five.

Radio Netherlands:

Voting over in Dutch referendum : exit polls forecast 63 percent No vote

Voting on the EU Constitution in relative ignorance : A 'No' vote in the Netherlands looks almost certain, but are those opposed to the EU constitution voting on the basis of knowledge or are they being steered by emotions or issues that have nothing at all to do with the new treaty?

CBC:

Dutch voters reject EU constitution : Dutch voters have rejected a proposed European Union constitution by a margin of 63 to 37 per cent, according to exit polls Wednesday.

U.S. offered to return Arar to Canada, inquiry hears

Zimbabwe arrests thousands in slum crackdown

BBC:

Dutch voters 'reject EU treaty' : A key exit poll in the Netherlands suggests voters have firmly rejected the proposed EU constitution in a referendum.

'Suicide bomb' at Afghan mosque : At least 20 people are killed by a suspected suicide bomber at a mosque in the Afghan city of Kandahar.

Young Russians face health crisis : Ill-health, drug addiction and illiteracy mean Russia's young are as unhealthy as in 1945, a senior minister admits.

Aljazeera:

Dutch voters reject EU constitution : Dutch voters have rejected the European Union's first constitution Wednesday by an overwhelming 63% to 37%, according to an exit poll broadcast by Dutch NOS television.

Polls: Dutch 'no' likely in EU vote

French vote emboldens Dutch no camp

Many killed in Afghan mosque blast

CNN:

FBI exhumes body in shocking murder of teen: Half a century after Emmett Till's mutilated body was found, federal investigators exhumed his remains at a suburban Chicago cemetery Wednesday, hoping to find clues into the 1955 Mississippi slaying that became a key event in the civil rights movement. "For me, personally, the event signifies that even though the system of justice sometimes turns very slowly, it still turns," said an FBI assistant special agent.

Couple celebrate 80th anniversary

California landslide sends homes crashing

'Deep Throat' mystery solved

I tell my American friends: "If you want real news you have to read the foreigners."

And I tell my foriegn friends "You don't know how lucky you are!"

Speaking of which...

This one is credited to Lennon & McCartney but I think Paul wrote it:

Back In The U.S.S.R.

Flew in from Miami Beach, B.O.A.C
didn't get to bed last night
All the way the paper bag was on my knee
man I had a dreadful flight

Back in the USSR,
You don't know how lucky you are, boy
Back in the USSR

Been away so long I hardly knew the place
Gee it's good to be back home
Leave it to tomorrow to unpack my case
Honey disconnect the phone

Back in the USSR,
You don't know how lucky you are, boy
Back in the USSR

Well the Ukraine girls really knock me out
They leave the west behind
And Moscow girls make me sing and shout
That Georgia's on my mind

Show me round your snow-peaked mountains way down south
Take me to your daddy's farm
Let me hear your balalaikas ringing out
Come and keep your comrade warm

Back in the USSR,
You don't know how lucky you are, boy
Back in the USSR