Sorry to keep harping on poor CNN. I know its just one of many divisions of Time Warner Inc. and therefore just a slave to profit-lusting shareholders and Wall Street analysts. But the news company's desperate attempts at competing with Fox News are doing serious harm to Americans at a time when we should be clamoring for more news - not less. By now we all know what happens when we ignore news reality for reality TV.

This morning's top story on CNN.com was "Oregon Climbers Rescued by Dog", telling the tale of another exciting rescue on Mt. Hood. It was later updated to a story about "Teen 'Sport Killings' of Homeless on the Rise", inspired by a recent murder in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Okay, I agree that both of these stories are newsworthy, but are Americans getting the most important information? The former story affected just a few climbers, while the latter points out that just 20 homeless people were killed in 2006. Is that a social epidemic? I think not.

BBC.com reports what is perhaps a more important story: "US Iran Attack Plans Revealed". Hmmm, the White House has announced its plans for attacking Iran and we're reading about dog-rescues? The article states that "US contingency plans for air strikes on Iran extend beyond nuclear sites and include most of the country's military infrastructure". Also, "...diplomatic sources have told the BBC that as a fallback plan, senior officials at Central Command in Florida have already selected their target sets inside Iran."

But wait! There's more. Yes, not one, but two top stories on the BBC about the U.S. plan to attack Iran. From the article entitled "Tehran Alarm Over U.S. Tough Talk" the BBC reports that:

"What will alarm Tehran about the latest details of US military planning for a strike on Iran is the fact that there are now two possible triggers for an attack.

One is, as expected, the nuclear program. But the new one is any major attack on US forces in Iraq that could be traced back to Iran."

Hmmm, that's a little scary considering all the weight the White House and the Pentagon are puting on reports that bombs found in Iraq were manufactured in Iran. African yellowcake anyone?