Domestic goings on dominated the news this Leap Year Day in 1996.

President Clinton was hosting a Media Summit on the subject of Sex & Violence on TV with much political hay being harvested in the way of the proposed Telecommunications Reform Bill. The topic was a popular one with everyone agreeing things were getting just a bit out of hand.

Elsewhere, FBI Regulators decided not to sue First Lady Hillary Clinton over the alleged Whitewater affair. Meanwhile, the House narrowly refused Government subsidies to expire for Sugar and Peanuts, but did vote to end Dairy subsidies.

On the GOP Primary front - Steve Forbes was making news on this day. He was given the okay to appear on the New York Primary ballot while some in the GOP accused Forbes of "buying" his Arizona Primary win. The Candidates were heading South this day, to get ready for the next batch of Primaries and the final debate being held in Columbia South Carolina later on in the day.

40 people were arrested and 4 gangs were said to be involved in a rash of warehouse robberies and the kidnapping of High-Tech industry executives in California's Silicone Valley. the robberies were said to net a low-ball figure of $500,000 per heist and a high-ball figure of $10 million per. Nothing to sneeze at. And drug-trafficking was muddled in there too.

The Cuban exile group "Brothers To The Rescue" were discovered to be aligned with not only the Cuban Government but also the FBI, playing both ends of the equation.

A judge refused to throw out Assisted Suicide charges against Dr. Jack Kevorkian - again.

And singer Alanis Morissette scored huge at the Grammy's, winning for her multi-multi-platinum Jagged Little Pill debut. Quick: Name a tune.

And that's how it went for February 29, 1996 as told to the curious among us by The CBS World News Roundup.

While our own particular grasp on Planet Earth goes wildly askew today, I thought it would be least sympathetic to look back on another particular April 29th as some sort of assurance that yes, the world has always been at least a little wacko.

So April 29th 1998 comes flashing on the screen - and maybe a dull one by comparison, but not without its own brand of nutiness as a reminder.

On April 29th 1998 the Senate Finance Committee investigated abuses by the IRS, with hearings bringing out stories of thuggery and Police state tactics. Meanwhile, the inimitable Kenneth Starr was shoveling his own stall of detritus with the Whitewater Hearings. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was visiting China, ahead of a state visit by President Clinton. Imelda Marcos, giving a tear-filled concession speech, ended her bid for Presidential election in the Philippines and the hopes for a "get out of jail free" card in the process. Prosecutors in the Unabomber case recommended Ted Kaczynski get Maximum Security Prison since it was felt he was capable of doing anything. Child Day Care workers were discovered to be making on average of $12K a year and most thought that was wildly unfair. Speaking of offspring, there was a call to ban infertility treatments that would result in multiple births. And scientists in England discovered a potential cure for tooth decay by using strains of Tobacco.

But don't take my word for it - here is a broadcast of the CBS World News Roundup for April 29th, 1998.

And if your finger is poised on the "download" icon you might want to also consider poising your finger of the "donate" icon too. That way you'll get to hear more of these and I won't disappear anytime soon.

(Picture the entire state of New York, homeless and in a shambles)

The devastating floods which are hitting Pakistan, and continuing as of this moment, have been getting scant coverage by our media. I'm not entirely sure why that's the case, but I can guess. Certainly, the U.S. government has been pledging aid and sending supplies. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered an address to the UN earlier today reiterating our efforts in aiding the 20million + displaced people whose homes and livelihoods have been washed away and the rains which continue to turn more people homeless as the flood waters rise.

I'm offering two reports to give some idea of the severity of this worsening situation. One is from the BBC World Service, broadcast at 2100 hours GMT earlier today (the 19th) and the other is a live news report from Radio Pakistan from 8:00 pm this evening Los Angeles time (8:00 am tomorrow in Islamabad).

The Radio Pakistan clip (down here) starts off in Pashto with excerpts from the UN addresses and then the hourly news starts in English.

And at last report there was no end in sight.