In the current New Yorker, Seymour Hersh reports that some hawks in the U.S. administration saw Israel's battle with Hezbollah as a test case for a possible air attack on Iran.

This NYT piece from Aug. 14 (I thought I'd be the last media blogger in the world to mention it) talks about the difficulty of assigning proportionality to image when covering a conflict like Lebanon.

On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart said cable news algebra works this way: A three-year war in Iraq has less news value than a 34-day war in Lebanon, but both mean shit compared to an apparent break in the 10-year-old JonBenet Ramsay case.

The news shows had a word for the Ramsay update, he said: "Oxygen." :)

The Beeb has a feature reviewing the Ramsay case -- and it happens to be the most-read story on the website right now. The NYT's look at the suspect's "confession" is on the home page.

Those are two relatively sober, high-quality news organizations. Whether the Ramsay case ever should have become as high-profile as it did is, to me, a moot point now.

The Beeb did a round-up of some Mideast bloggers in the wake of the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Lebanon.

The bloggers do not feel we have achieved peace in our time. :)