Yearly Archives: 2003

What's in the 28 redacted pages in the Congressional report on 9/11? Well, according to this article, a lot of ties between Saudi Arabia and the terrorists. The article goes on to say…

The Bush administration has, of course, good reason for not wanting to ruffle the Saudis by declassifying the 28 pages. Saudi Arabia sits atop 25 percent of the world's proven oil reserves and, through its dominant position in OPEC, essentially controls the global energy market. In addition to stabilizing world oil prices–most recently during the run-up to the war with Iraq–the Saudis also directly subsidize American consumers by offering oil at lower prices to the United States.

I dunno if this is true. But if it is, this may be what the next presidential election is all about: Bush phonied up the evidence and took us into a war against a nation that couldn't attack us while covering for one that helped support the hijackers but also supported the oil industry. He'd better come up with a way to knock that one down fast.

Here are some statistics from the Institute of Southern Studies…

• Percentage of the 108th U.S. Senate that engaged in combat while serving in the armed forces: 9
• Percentage of homeless men in the U.S. that have engaged in combat: 40
• Percent of lower ranking army personnel that experience "substantial financial difficulties": 40
• Percent of first-year members of Congress that are millionaires: 43
• Average tax cut to millionaires in President Bush's tax package: $93,500
• Number of children in military families that won't get the new child tax credit: 121,000

I don't guarantee their accuracy but if they're true, some of our priorities are seriously askew.

If you search the news sites, you'll find about fifty stories saying that, according to those close to him, Arnold Schwarzenegger has definitely decided not to run for governor of California. (Reuters: "Schwarzenegger to Terminate Governor Bid.")

You'll also find another fifty in which his official reps deny that he's made up his mind. (New York Times: "Schwarzenegger and Top Ally Mum as Filing Deadline Nears.")

I still think he won't run. I think he's milking this to get as much publicity as possible, to screw around a little with the press, and perhaps to get maximum attention when he tells his supporters that he won't be a candidate but wants them all to support his pal, Richard Riordan.

The filing deadline is Saturday, August 9. The current plan is for Arnold to appear with Jay Leno on Wednesday, August 6, to announce his decision. This is a smart move by Arnold to get attention and a smart move by Jay to get ratings. (Not that either needs it. Leno's ratings are through the roof lately. Near the end of Letterman's first year on CBS, that network's publicists were encouraging journalists to write articles that said the Late Night Wars were over and Dave was the once and future victor. Now, NBC's publicists are quietly hinting that the same story should be written, but with some nouns reversed.)

If Riordan runs, I'll probably vote for him to become the new governor. I can't think of anyone, Democrat or Republican, who's likely to be on the ballot I would prefer. But I'm also planning to vote "no" on the whole recall idea because I think it's an affront to the election process.

Paul Krugman on why we have a budget crisis in California and why, in his opinion, the federal goverment has most of the same problems.

A man named John Andrew lost his job. Okay, that happens. Then Bush's economic advisors did a tour that brought them near where John lives and used to work. Read what happened over at www.jobforjohn.com.

Kevin Smith is scheduled to be on The Tonight Show tomorrow night (Friday) with tape he shot at the Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Timothy Noah on why Condoleezza Rice's explanation doesn't make sense.

Remember how smart I said Ben Varkentine was to give a rave review to my new book, Wertham Was Right? Well, it turns out that Kenneth Plume over at IGN-FilmForce is equally smart.

It's probably rude to "review" a tribute drawing but I was struck by the way many of the political cartoonists (linked below) either didn't draw a very good Bob Hope or simply avoided having to do so. This man is not hard to draw, especially if you've seen the simple caricature that served as the basis of the long-running DC comic book. It was designed by Owen Fitzgerald but the drawing above is by one of his successors on the comic, Mort Drucker…the "definitive caricaturist" of Bob Hope, as far as I'm concerned. Mr. Drucker is also the definitive caricaturist of most other celebrities but we needn't dwell on that at the moment.

There was always something about the rendition of Hope in the comic that not only made him work as a funnybook character but caused you to read the dialogue with Bob's voice and delivery in your head. Worked for me, anyway.

Here's a medley of political cartoons about the passing of Bob Hope. You may note that in his honor, they repeat a lot of the same gags over and over.

Earlier, I linked to an article in Playbill about a planned Broadway show using Monty Python material. A well-placed source tells me that the Playbill item is wrong and that no such show is likely to materialize, though there are some new Python-related projects in the pipeline. I believe my well-placed source on this.

The other day, I linked to Jim "Rant-Man" MacQuarrie's website and a lot of you laughed yourselves silly over his exchange of e-mails with one of those gents who wants to share Nigerian cash with a stranger. You enjoyed Part One and you really enjoyed Part Two.

Well, Part Three is now up. Enjoy. And after you've enjoyed that, check out some of Jim's other attempts to scam the scammers (or spam the spammers or whatever the term should be…)