It is my pleasure to congratulate Howard Witt for being a finalist for a 2008 Pulitzer Prize in Journalism.  Howard, Southwest Bureau Chief of the Chicago Tribune, was a finalist in the category of National Reporting for his examination of racial issues in America.  I count Mr. Witt as a friend of Dallas South.  Howard ran a quote from me in a September issues of the Chicago Tribune, and I gained a whole new audience as a result. I've made sure to keep up with what he's been up to since he has been way ahead of the curve as it relates to covering race in America.  I'm going to repost an interview I conducted with Howard back in October for those of you who may not have been part of the Dallas South family back then.  Congrats again to Howard and many happy returns. Last March, Howard Witt wrote an article in the Chicago Tribune about the sentencing of a 14 year-old girl in my hometown of Paris, Texas.  In the 6-plus months that have followed, the landscape of the internet, the civil rights movement, and the media has greatly changed. Some, including yours truly, attribute the outcry in the ShaQuanda Cotton and Jena 6 cases ...

  On Tuesday, General David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker will testify before Congress on the status of the so-called War in Iraq.  The testimony comes after a spike in violence in Iraq.  The two are expected to tout the overall levels of violence that have dropped to points not seen since 2004.  A closer inspection of the numbers would show a plateau in violence more than a steep decline. Eleven U.S. soldiers have been killed in the last 48 hours, including one from Texas.   The clashes in Basra between Iraqi forces and Shiite militias continues.  Rockets were fired into the U.S. Green Zone in Baghdad Sunday killing three American soldiers. Sen. John Mc Cain (Armed Services Committee), Sen. Hillary Clinton (Armed Services Committee) and Sen. Barack Obama (Foreighn Relations Committee) will all be present for the testimony of Petraes and Crocker.  Expect McCain to tout the gains made since the surge and the need to stick out in Iraq.