Considering what we now know W. knew in the months leading up to 9/11, and what we know will happen in the near future, I kinda wish he wouldn't resort to spin as his first option.

I like it. Game 1 was over early...Lakers blow out to a quick lead, the game never gets closer than five points the rest of the way...I only hope the next three weeks are this easy.
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Gone for the night. I'm traveling to a birthday party at Mt. Baldy(add your joke here), and I won't be back til tomorrow afternoon, in time (I hope) for Game 1. Send your cards and letters to esstheman2@netscape.net.. Late....
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Empire, si, Republic, no? A new hope....
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So, does anyone have an opinion on this new Flyers' head coach?
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They thought Bin Laden was only planning a "traditional sort of hijacking"? What is that, exactly? Flying the jet to Bahrain in exchange for hostages? Blowing it up over Scotland? Yeah, I guess I understand why the White House would not want to panic the American people over something as trivial as that. Thank god Al Gore wasn't selected by the Supreme Court; he might have tried something irrational last August, like tighten security at our nation's airports....
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It appears that few of you took advantage of the link I offered (below) to download the latest Star Wars film, probably having read a review like this one. However, a minor quibble: at one point, the critic makes reference to a plot twist involving the parentage of Boba Fett, and refers to the character as a "vengeful" bounty hunter from the first three movies. In fact, Mr. Fett does not have a line in Episode Four: A New Hope, and his appearances in the other two movies are ridiculously brief (I think his only line in The Empire Strikes Back was "he's no good to me dead"). His motivation is more that of a dedicated professional than one riven by a spirit of vengeance. But then again, you're free to disagree...
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Coming on the heels of that embarrasing story about the GOP attempting to sell commemorative photos of the Usurper on 9/11(probably on his way to Nebraska or Louisiana, as I recall), the headlines yesterday about his foreknowledge that the Evil One was planning something big with airplanes can't be helping his credibility as a "leader". To me, the scandal isn't that he may have received advance word about hijackings; even today, with the long check-in lines and the patina of extra security at our airports, and the detention of every suspicious-looking Muslim, some nutcase (an airlines pilot, maybe) can still fly a plane into the Statue of Liberty one morning if he forgets to take his Prozac. There is only so much that you can do, and the President is going to get word of many such threats. What bothers me is that this administration kept the news secret for eight months. During that time, his A.G. has led a jihad against our civil liberties, when, as it turns out, there was evidence that he knew something might be happening last summer, but did nothing about it.

By the way, remember how some were saying after 9/11 that those attacks were Clinton's fault....
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Slow Wednesday ahead, so anyone interested in a funny theatrical experience should check out Billingsgate next week; its the final show, and I hear its good.

Another day closer to the grave...and a third straight title for the Lakers.
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Right now, one of the big topics on other "blogs" has to do with the assasination of a Dutch politician, Pim Fortuyn. Since he was a minor politician in a small European country, his death has obviously not resonated with normal Americans, but among the American right, he had become something of a folk hero, because a) he hated Muslim immigrants, and was in the process of building a political career around that issue; and b) he was gay, and had libertarian leanings on most social issues. In most of the civilized world, a) is enough to get you labeled as a racist, (ie., Le Pen, David Duke) since any indiscriminate hatred of the entire membership of a racial or ethnic group usually qualifies. However, the wingnuts in this country have seized on b) as a means of legitimizing a). See, if he's gay, and he smokes a joint now and then, how can he be a fascist, etc. Since September 11, Muslims have become the ethnic group that its ok to hate (replacing the French, I guess), so bigots who are smart to focus their bile on that group get a pass. Which just goes to show, if fascism ever comes to power again, don't be surprised if its led by a non-white, non-Christian, or non-straight politician.

Disturbing story in the LA Times, especially so when you realize that this creature does exist, and is better known to the public as the "San Antonio Spurs"

Once again, anyone who feels the need to contact Smythe's World may do so at esstheman2@netscape.net.

My predictions haven't been too accurate lately, but I will go out on a limb and state that the second half of Game 3 last night was a turning point in the Lakers playoff run. If anything, the Spurs played even better in the first half than they did in Game 2; in particular, Tony Parker was making the Lakers look old trying to guard him, scoring twenty in the first half, and Duncan was dominant, as always. The Lakers still led at halftime by one. Obviously, the Lakers figured out a way to stop Parker in the second half, since he scored only four points thereafter, and only one basket (perhaps that's the key; just have Rick Fox "guard" your star in the first half, allow him to run up and down the court getting easy lay-ups, and wait until he dies of exhaustion in the second half). They stayed close for awhile, and even led with 7 1/2 minutes left. But 15 for 43 shooting will usually kill a team, unless they're playing in the Eastern Conoference, and the Spurs had no game at all in the final five minutes.

Or then there's this trenchant analysis of the Middle East situation, given to us by a guest on Hardball with Chris Matthews last week:

"I would ask you, looking at the Israeli/Palestinian question and say this, how many Palestinians were on those airplanes on September 9th? None."

---Dan Quayle
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It comes out in another week, but for those who are interested in obtaining a bootleg copy of the Star Wars sequel, check this out.

In the meantime, I'm getting e-mail (one, that is) concerning my position on Middle East politics. Considering the US of A is in the middle of fighting a war there, against a threat that has already proven it can strike directly at the mainland, and seems to be spoiling now for a fight with Iraq, one would hope that this would be a much more fiercely debated subject. My view on the current Israeli-Palestinian struggle is simple: Israeli occupation and settlements are indefensible, both politically and morally; Gen. Sharon is a fascist war criminal; Arafat is a terrorist; and Palestinian suicide bombings are an abomination, reflecting more a generalized hatred of Jews than a political protest against apartheid. Any policy that doesn't acknowledge those truths will fail. For an even more cogent analysis of the above, check out this broadside.

Looks like Gen. Sharon really took care of that terrorist problem...it doesn't take a PhD to realize that the assorted West Bank raids of the past few weeks had less to do with "defending Isreal" than they did with crushing any semblance of civic life among Palestinians. One way to keep perspective as to what's going on there is that more Palestinians under the age of eighteen have been killed by Sharon's army as Israeli civilians have been murdered by Palestinian wack-jobs in the past twelve months.

Sad to say, as I watch the lads finally sink back into a double-digit deficit against San Antone, that my prediction about the Lakers not repeating is coming true. It looks like Shaq is gone back to his bad habits at the line. Obviously, they are going to have to split in Texas to have a realistic chance.

By the way, check this story out, and remember whose friend is now in the White House the next time you pay an electrical bill.

On another date-related subject, after a day spent working at my old office and watching hockey, I decided to check out a movie at 3rd Street Promenade. On impulse, I decided to spend $8.50 to see The Scorpion King, a worthless piece of drivel that served the positive purpose of keeping me from getting behind the wheel of a car for two hours. I mean, I wasn't expecting an EM Forster-based character study about life in ancient Egypt ("this isn't Forster", to quote the John Hurt character in Love and Death on Long Island), but still, I was hoping to see a movie in which I could have remembered the ending twelve hours after the fact. By the way, M.C., "Memnon" will not be cracking the fifty greatest screen villain list....

As many of you are perhaps too painfully aware, I am single. That means I am obliged, on occasion, to buy dinner, drinks, movie, etc. for members of the fair sex, in the usually forlorn hope that it might lead to free sex (and let's face it, that's all a date is, although I assume others usually have more luck with the getting free sex aspect of it). Well, here is an article that shows how plain wrong that whole convention of guys buying dinner for gals is. The question does come up, though, of how does one know after the check is split that the gal is a feminist, or just doesn't respect you enough to expect you to pay.

For those of you who care, the TV schedule for football is presented. Get your VCR's ready.