About this British woman jailed in Sudan for naming a teddy bear 'Mohamed'...

I just did a phone interview for the FSN radio feed with a friend from Sudan. He said that he had not heard people calling for her death (like the news has been reporting). Some people are hurt by what she did, but many feel that she should not be jailed. Unfortunately, those who oppose her incarceration can not openly express their feelings.

Sudan is a very religious country, and naming anything besides a person is offensive to them. But it was the students who named the bear, not the teacher. Even the people who put her in jail must realize that it was an honest mistake. Mohamed is by far the most common name in the country. I think it has more to do with a general anti-western sentiment over the deployment of UN troops in Darfur, than wanting to punish her for this "crime".

In live news production, everything is done at the last minute. Simon and Dennis are in Pakistan producing and shooting for the NewsHour. Apparently the correspondent was making changes until the very last minute. The piece was suppose to be in by 4:00 pm, but we didn't get it until 5:00. I converted it and exported it to a Beta tape as quickly as I could. Helen waited outside the building with her car running and Malcolm stood next to me cussing at the TV (because the piece was so long). The second it finished he ran down, jumped in the car with Helen and raced to NewsHour headquarters.

When I got home, I turned on the TV just as it was airing. It was neat to see the video go from my computer at work straight to my living room.

Today I did an interview with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Look for the videos on the Washington Post website in the next few weeks. And check out my intimate moment with the Archbishop!

Daniel and I covered the TransAfrica Lifetime Achievement Award Gala tonight. As members of the press, we were allowed access to the VIP cocktail event. Danny Glover is the head of the TransAfrica board, so we got an exclusive interview with him. Check out the finished package.

I had a terribly frustrating day. It was fine until about 6:30pm, when I got a call from the office that I had to come back. Apparently (un-named reporter) had been working on his one page script all day. Not only did he wait until I got home to finish the script, he thought it was acceptable to turn in a script at 6:30pm! Everyone else can write their stories in a matter of hours, but he took literally all day to write one page.

When I got back to the office, he was still tweaking the script and didn't give it to me until after 7:00. I quickly edited the video and showed it to him. He decided that half the pictures didn't work and asked me re-edit them. I gritted my teeth and made the changes. Then he came back into the edit suite and asked me to change the other half of the pictures. I resisted the urge to strangle him, as I made the changes. Finally he watched the piece for the third time and decided to re-write the entire script. I was pissed. I told him that I would either send it the way it was, or he could finish it himself. He stumbled over his words and explained that it wasn't 'broadcast ready', so I left.

After 30 minutes talking to Emily, she convinced me to go back and finish the edit. The boss said that his behavior was unacceptable and would never happen again. I begrudgingly went back and made his final round of changes.

Yesterday I filmed Bush at the White House. It wasn't the first time I have filmed there, but it was the first time President Bush was in attendance. I arrived at 7:30am for an 8:30 pre-set. All of the camera-people waited in the Press Briefing Room (between the West Wing and the main White House building). We were led into the East Room and given about 15 minutes to set up. Then we had to wait in the Press Briefing Room for another hour. The Medal of Freedom ceremony, which I was there to film, started at 10:00. The award recipients were announced and they each took the stage. I was shooting for SABC, so our main subject was Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (the president of Liberia). Of course, she sat right behind the podium where I could not get a good shot of her. George and Laura Bush walked in to 'Hail to the Chief'. He spoke briefly about each award recipient and handed out the awards. After the ceremony, the guests were invited to brunch with the president. I thought about taking off my press passes and sneaking in, but I decided that the Secret Service wouldn't be that easily fooled.

Emily and I had a great Halloween! This is probably the only holiday that I will celebrate. We bought candy, got costumes for the dogs and were all ready for the kids. Unfortunately, we were caught up at work until 7:15. When we got home, we dressed up the dogs and sat on the front porch with a big bowl of candy. Turtle loved running around in his little peacock costume. We had more Trick or Treaters than candy, so we had to dip into our personal stash. Most of the kids came dressed as rappers or gangsters (we live in north east DC). It was weird being the one handing out the candy not getting it. I felt old.

Myanmar's state run news agency continues to attack our VOA stories. Now they are starting to make personal threats! Check it out...

Emily have been extremely busy at work. It is unrelenting. We were shooting and editing IMF / World Bank footage all weekend and we won't have a break until sometime next week. This week I am working on fake news stories for Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE), which will be used in their oil supply catastrophe simulations. At the end of the week, the Economist videos are suppose to start. Things have been continually up in the air though, so who knows if it will actually happen.

We are starting an exciting new project next month. The Washington Post wants us to make online videos for them, the first of which will an interview with Desmond Tutu.

For two days in a row, the videos I edited for Malcolm Brown have been "Video of the Day" on the Voice of America Website! Check out 'Child Soldier Turned Rapper' and 'Ordinary People Doing Evil'.

This is a very interesting piece I edited for Malcolm about a Nazi photo album which was donated to the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC.

This morning I filmed the Americans for Prosperity Foundation meeting. Among the speakers were Ron Paul, Rudy Guiliani, and Fred Thompson. The group is mainly concerned with ending pork barrel spending and reducing the size of the government. I certainly agree with their principals, but I could never fit in with their members. I have never seen so many cowboy hats or heard so many God Bless America's since I have been in DC. I enjoyed hearing Ron Paul speak. I may not agree with him on all of the issues, he seems like the most honest and consistent presidential candidate in the race.

The Nigerian Foreign Minister was in town yesterday, so I asked him to respond to Biafra's declaration of independence. Here is what he had to say...

We must be doing something right with these VOA stories about the protests in Myanmar (Burma). Check out what their Government run news station had to say about us.

Yesterday, Simon (the boss), Jessica (the intern) and I took a trip out to Lancaster Virginia to shoot an interview for A&E Biography. We got a little lost on the way down there and were starving by the time we approached the interview location. So we stopped at the only nearby gas station to ask about restaurants. The closest one was "11 miles down the road, turn right on the dirt road and go 5 more miles". Luckily they had a grill in the back of the gas station, where we purchased some amazingly tasty burgers.

The interview was with Brian Latell, the author of a book about Fidel and Raul Castro, for the A&E Biography of Raul Castro. I was so afraid that after driving 3 hours to get there, I would be missing something crucial to the shoot and we would have to drive back without the interview. I ended up having all the necessary gear, so the interview went smoothly.

On the way home Simon wanted coffee, but he refused to stop for gas station coffee. I reminded him that there are no Starbucks in the boonies. Just around the next corner, there was a small independent coffee shop, which was closing as we drove up. The owner was nice enough to unlock the door for us and we picked up some delicious coffee and pastries.

Last night we went to a restaurant called Marrakesh to celebrate Matt's birthday. I dropped everyone off near the restaurant, then went to find a parking spot. Across the street, someone waived me into the lot and directed me to a parking spot. He told me that it would be $7.00 to park. I gave him a $20 bill and he handed me a receipt, before running off to get change. He did not work in the parking lot and never returned with my change. I got pissed off and yelled at the parking lot attendant for allowing thieves to operate in his lot. He was unapologetic, so I flagged down a passing cop. They laughed at my story and promptly left.

I haven't had much time to post lately. My shoot schedule has been incredibly hectic lately. Since I posted the story on Biafra, the ambassadors from the fledgling country have been calling me non-stop. They want me to provide copies of the story in every conceivable format. It reminds me of Sudan, when my students or random people I met on the street would constantly call.

Today Emily and I are shooting and editing four different TV packages. It will be another late night.

I covered a couple interesting stories so far this week. The first was the resignation of Alberto Gonzales. The room at the Department of Justice was packed with reporters. He spoke for just over a minute and a half before bolting out of the room. Everyone stood around in confusion for a few minutes, waiting for him to come back to answer questions. But he never did. I barely had time to grab my shots before he was gone.

Today I covered the independence of Biafra, a small region of Nigeria. The press conference was scheduled to start at 9:00. On the way to the National Press Club, I realized that I had forgotten to bring a tape. I rushed to find a nearby CVS. Luckily there was one a block down from the Press Club. When I arrived for the conference, I was the first one there. An official of the new country of Biafra introduced me to the members of the government, including the President. I had plenty of time to set up my equipment and speak with the officials, before other people arrived. The President gave a passionate and rousing speech about the mistreatment of his people by the Nigerian government and outlined his plan for the country. Biafra has been under Nigerian control since they lost the country's civil war. For the past 30 years, the Nigerian government has looted oil from Biafra and waged a brutal campaign against its citizens. Hopefully now this will begin to change. However, few took notice of the Provisional Government of Biafra's announcement of independence. I hope that this story will begin to change that.

Here is a photo of me at the office.

Emily, Matt, Neetha and I signed a lease for our new house! It is located on 3rd St. NE in a transitional neighborhood. For many years DC has been completely segregated between white and black. Now the eastern sections of the city are beginning to be gentrified. Our house is in one such area. We have the entire row house to ourselves; it is three stories including the basement. There is a ton of space and even room to park four cars in the back. Our lease starts today, so I can't wait to move in. Emily and I are close enough to work that we could walk.

Check out what I found on the AP feed.