By Mark Finkelstein | December 23, 2005 | 6:53 PM EST

You know the old challenge: try to describe a spiral staircase without using your hands.

This evening's Abrams Report on MSNBC managed to pull off an equally impressive feat: describing a gay porn and sexual exploitation ring without mentioning that it was just that, or indeed even that males were involved.

By Mike Bates | November 21, 2005 | 1:06 PM EST

Last Friday on MSNBC’s “The Abrams Report,” Hoda Kotb made an appearance to plug that evening’s NBC “Dateline” program centering on John Lennon’s murderer, Mark Chapman. Ms. Kotb said that in listening to 100 hours of audiotape she was struck by Chapman’s being “so meticulous. He’s so calm.