I MENTIONED PAT TILLMAN’S DEATH BELOW, with some comments in tribute emailed from one of his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan. I don’t really have much to add to those. But here’s a comment worth repeating:

“In sports we have a tendency to overuse terms like courage and bravery and heroes,” said Cardinals vice president Michael Bidwill, son of the team’s owner Bill Bidwill, “and then someone like Pat Tillman comes along and reminds us what those terms really mean.”

Indeed. Mason Wilson has some further thoughts.

UPDATE: “Pat Tillman stadium?” Sounds like a nice idea.

I’VE UPLOADED SOME MORE PHOTOS to the Exposure Manager gallery for anyone who’s interested. They’re from Wednesday’s swing through the Cherokee National Forest, and return up US 11 past various small towns.

Sorry, but there are no cat pictures.

I actually enjoy driving through, and photographing, the small towns on the little highways (and US 11 isn’t one of the really little highways) as much as I enjoy the comparatively pristine nature. I like the hand-painted signs, and the impromptu still life settings, that you find as you pass through small town business districts. That was something that Walker Evans, one of my photographic heroes, had an incredible eye for. I’m not in his league, but then, hardly anyone is.

HOW LAME IS THIS?

Thursday’s New York Times misidentified GOP Senate candidate Pete Coors as a Ku Klux Klan member who murdered a black sharecropper. . . .

The Times story concerned a federal court decision upholding Louisiana resident Ernest Avants’ 2003 conviction in the slaying.

The story indicated the accompanying photo was of Avants. But the picture actually was of Coors on the day the Golden beer baron announced he was running in Colorado’s open Senate race.

In related news, over 200 million Americans were misidentified as people who trust the New York Times. [Above quote expanded from original post to make the nature of the misidentification clear.]

UPDATE: Ryne McLaren comments: “Funny how the media seldom makes these sorts of mistakes with Democrats.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: But wait, there’s more:

NOTE TO EDITORS : n04-059

Columbia Crew Mistakenly Identified As Iraqi War Casualties

Many news organizations across the country are mistakenly identifying the flag-draped caskets of the Space Shuttle Columbia’s crew as those of war casualties from Iraq.

Editors are being asked to confirm that the images used in news reports are in fact those of American casualties and not those of the NASA astronauts who were killed Feb.1, 2003, in the Columbia tragedy.

An initial review of the images featured on the Internet site www.thememoryhole.org shows that more than 18 rows of images from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware are actually photographs of honors rendered to Columbia’s seven astronauts.

News organizations across the world have been publishing and distributing images featured on the web site.

Sheesh. And these guys are dissing weblogs for inaccuracy?

MUST READING: Jim Dunnigan writes about Myths of Iraq over at StrategyPage. Read the whole thing.

“THAT IS NOT MY CAR. IT IS ONLY PASSING THROUGH ME.” Heh.

JOHN KEKES WRITES on the professoriate and the truth.

UPDATE: This OxBlog post goes interestingly with the above.

READER ARIEL PORATH EMAILS:

What are the odds that Iran is participating in UNSCAM-like activities?

Oh, somewhere around 100%, I’d say.

THIS SEEMS EMBARRASSING:

WASHINGTON — Vietnam combat records posted on John F. Kerry’s campaign website for the month of January 1969 as evidence of his service aboard swift boat No. 94 describe action that occurred before Kerry was skipper of that craft, according to the officer who said he commanded the boat at the time.

On the site, the Massachusetts senator is described as the skipper of Navy boat No. 94 during several actions in late January 1969.

However, Edward Peck, who was the skipper of the 94 before Kerry took over, said combat reports posted by the campaign for January 1969 involve action when he was the skipper, not Kerry. Peck, who was seriously wounded in fighting that took place on Jan. 29, 1969, said he believes Kerry campaign aides made a mistake in claiming Kerry as skipper of the 94 at that time.

The Globe has more — just follow the link.

UPDATE: Tom Maguire observes:

At a minimum, the campaign is confused about his dates of service, which seems odd, since Kerry’s Vietnam experience has been the foundation of his campaign (not to say his political life).

Yes, this makes me wonder if his campaign is ready for primetime.

NKZONE has loads of stuff on that North Korean explosion yesterday. Just keep scrolling.

SYRIA IS SENDING TERRORISTS TO IRAQ: “The sources said the reporting has not been clear on whether hard-line Syrian President Bashar Assad is involved directly in ordering the aid. But they say he has much to lose if Iraq becomes a pro-U.S. democratic country.” No kidding. And he’s not the only one.

Syria and Iran fear that they’re next. They’re trying to keep us busy until we get tired and go home. They’ll keep it up until either we make them stop, or it appears that it’s not working.

JOHN FARRELL says that the movie industry is committing slow-motion suicide.

MICKEY KAUS points to a potential screwup in the planned trial of Saddam. Can this be right?

Kaus: “Did ‘Brandini’ know about this? Does he approve?”

WOW: My brother just updated his band’s homepage and it’s pretty slick.

LT SMASH is offering premiums to people who donate to Spirit of America. And these guys are giving away free blogs! With hosting!

UPDATE: Then there’s this!

INSTAPUNDIT’S AFGHANISTAN PHOTO-CORRESPONDENT, Major John Tammes of the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps, sends this from Bagram, Afghanistan. It seems that the Ordnance Corps has taken a back-to-the-future approach to transport. . . .

My secretary once rode a camel across much of Mali, and has retained a deep hatred for camels ever since. As has just about everyone I know who has ever had much to do with camels.

UPDATE: On a less cheerful note, Major Tammes sends this followup:

I suppose the story has reached you by now about Pat Tillman being KIA. I guess when I said it was still dangerous here – I didn’t hope to be proved correct so soon in such a sad and public way.

I admired him for what he did. He was a rare person to cast aside fame and fortune to go defend the society that would have been happy to continue to glamorize him as an NFL player. He was a man dedicated to duty, honor, country in every respect.

Indeed. Story here.

UPDATE: More thoughts here.

YESTERDAY, I MENTIONED THAT RANDALL BECK, editor of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, had a hissy fit concerning blogs. Here’s an analysis of what this reveals about the South Dakota political scene.

IRAQ AND SOUTH AFRICA: Interesting observation from one of Andrew Sullivan’s readers.

UNSCAM: IS EVERYONE ON THE TAKE?

A former French ambassador to the United Nations, Jean-Bernard Merimee, is listed as receiving vouchers totaling 11 million barrels. Also on the list is a vocal friend of Iraq, Gilles Munier of the Franco-Iraqi Friendship Association.

At the Vatican, the Rev. Jean Marie Benjamin — a French priest who is reported to have arranged a meeting between the pope and Tariq Aziz, the former deputy prime minister of Iraq — is listed as receiving the rights to sell 4.5 million barrels.

The list is dominated by Russian citizens and organizations. In addition to Mr. Zhirinovsky, the list names the former Soviet Prime Minister Nikolai Ryzhkov, the Russian Orthodox Church, the “office of the Russian president,” President Vladimir Putin’s Peace and Unity Party, and companies linked to the Communist Party.

In Indonesia, the list is headed by Mrs. Megawati, whose spokesman has said she is “aware of the allegations.”

The files purportedly show vouchers being handed to socialist, communist and nationalist political parties in Ukraine, Belarus, the former Yugoslavia, Romania, and Slovakia.

There are also vouchers for the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

A prominent British member of Parliament is listed, along with his Jordanian business partner.

Obviously, United States foreign policy needs to place a heavier emphasis on covert bribery of foreign officials. It seems to work!

UPDATE: More here from the BBC. And here’s a roundup of today’s British coverage. One headline says it best: “Sick children sacrificed for profit and propaganda.”

JAMES LILEKS is suffering from blog burnout, and needs a vacation. It happens to the best from time to time.

RYAN BOOTS has posted his Iraqi blogger roundup for this week. Don’t miss it.

ERIC DREXLER has set up a new website full of technical information on nanotechnology.

WEISBERGISM OF THE DAY: Eugene Volokh wields a very sharp knife.

A FAVORABLE REVIEW for Randy Barnett’s book, Restoring the Lost Constitution: The Presumption of Liberty.

INDCJOURNAL POSTS AN AMUSING PHOTO-REPORT from yesterday’s protests in front of the Supreme Court. If you watched the TV coverage, you’ll find this behind-the-scenes look amusing. If you provided the TV coverage, you’d better hope your friends don’t see this post. . . .

Fans of the ’80s metal band “Krokus,” on the other hand, will be scratching their heads.

KERRY’S MILITARY RECORDS ARE (PARTIALLY) OUT, and Tom Maguire is looking at them, which is more than some people opining on them have done, apparently. Here’s the Boston Globe story.