The other day, I posted a link to a column in which rabid left-winger Robert Scheer explained why Gray Davis should not be recalled. Here's a column from rabid right-winger Jonah Goldberg on why Gray Davis should not be recalled. Admittedly, their reasoning is a little different but they get to the same place, which happens to be where I'm at.

Go ahead. Find me another weblog that would link to both those guys. Can't be done.

Here's an interview with the CEO of the TiVo company.

Remember not long ago, we told you that the Journal American had removed Bill Bennett's name (and therefore, the punchline) from a Doonesbury strip? Well, over on The Doonesbury FAQ Page, Mr. Trudeau says it seems to have just been a printer's error. Who, apart from Bill Bennett, would have bet money on such a thing?

The Comic-Con International in San Diego is, as you know, July 17-20. If you're going, you might also like to know that the AccuWeather people are predicting clear and sunny skies for that period, with highs in the low eighties and lows in the high sixties.

Want to know where the Weapons of Mass Destruction are? Click here.

The great figure model Bettie Page has avoided public appearances for the last few decades, largely because she felt her many fans would prefer to remember her as she was. If you'd like to maintain that fantasy, don't peek at the issue of Playboy that's currently on-sale. On page 11, there's a batch of photos from one of Hef's near-daily birthday parties. The pictures aren't very large but one of them does have a recent, clothed shot of Ms. Page, who looks damn good for eighty. (If you'd like to see her in her prime, www.bettiepage.com has a load of them, plus merchandise one can purchase of the lady. Over the years, she's been ruthlessly exploited and ripped-off by an awful lot of sleazy publishers and entrepreneurs, so it's nice that she has the website where the cash goes to her.)

Have you got about a half-hour of your life that you want to throw away? I don't, but I got hooked on this anyway. Over on the Garfield website, you can wander around a haunted house and try to conquer Garfield's Scary Scavenger Hunt. But don't even click on that link unless you have the time to spare. You have been warned.

I'm not sure if it's morbid or a sad reminder or a nice bit of immortality but a lot of folks die and their website remains up and active. The website of my old pal Lorenzo Music is still operational almost two years after we lost him. The website of Buddy Hackett is of course still there — we only lost him a few days ago — and it provides us a chance to see some neat photos of him and to hear him sing "Shipoopi." (Though it's a little odd to see the pages that tell us he's fine, that he's retired and that he's taking a nap.) And I will also mention the website of Buddy's son, Sandy Hackett. Sandy's a popular comedian in Las Vegas and there's an e-mail link on his page if you want to send a condolence e-mail.

Every so often, a cartoonist comes along and something about his work "connects" with you. You don't know the guy but you know you're on the same wavelength; that you find the same kinds of things funny. I felt that way the first time I saw the work of Gahan Wilson. If you did too, here's a link to his website.

Recently, the Rio Suites Hotel in Las Vegas introduced a gimmick involving its cocktail waitresses. In one of those moves that makes you wonder if someone understands the concept, the Rio got rid of all the servers who'd been hired because of their cleavage and/or buttocks, and now hires based on singing and dancing. Every so often, these "bevertainers" (as they're called) stop bringing you watery scotch and instead hop up to perform on little platforms situated throughout the casino. I haven't seen it yet but reports do not make this sound like a fabulous idea. "Bevertainers," by the way, is a term derived from the word "beverage" and I'm told most people pronounce it by inserting an extra "a," guess where.

Not to be outdone, the Imperial Palace now has "The Legends Pit," which features Blackjack dealers who are celebrity imitators. Thursday through Sunday evenings, a grouping of seven tables is manned by Elvis look-alikes, Madonna clones, Cher doppelgangers, etc. This sounds like the set-up to about three weeks of Leno monologue jokes. The first one that comes to mind is that they had to fire the Michael Jackson impersonator because he wouldn't hit on anything over twelve.

See? I told you there'd be updates about the panels I'm hosting at the Comic-Con International in San Diego. We've just added another guest to the Seduction of the Innocent panel, which takes place on Thursday afternoon, July 17 at 1:00 in room 9. In addition to the previously-announced panelists and rare video footage of Dr. Fredric Wertham, we'll be welcoming Al Feldstein, the writer-editor of EC's horror, crime and science-fiction comics, as well as (later on) MAD Magazine. No one alive knows more about what Wertham's book meant to the comic book industry. Here's how the schedule looks now with Al's name added.

Regarding gay marriage, Michael Kinsley has an odd suggestion in the "never gonna happen but it's an interesting way to look at the problem" category.

One of the complications that will hover over most discussions of gay marriage is that most people in this country really don't believe in State's Rights. Some say they do, generally because they think they can win certain emotion-laden battles in a smaller arena. But when they lose — say, when the voters in a state elect to have medical marijuana or assisted suicide or gay marriage — they immediately want the Fed to step in, enforce some higher law…or if there isn't one, make one.

The concept of gay marriage makes the whole concept of State's Rights dicier, since states are supposed to honor each others' laws. That hasn't been a big concern with other issues that seem to be in play, since you can only smoke medical marijuana or assist suicide or abort a fetus in one state at a time. But gays who marry in whatever state first recognizes gay marriage would want to travel, perhaps relocate, maybe buy insurance from companies in another state, etc. And if you give Sam and Fred the right to marry in a state and they do, what happens to their union if the voters of that state later repeal the law?

I don't know what's going to happen here. But I do know it's going to be messy.

Every year at the annual Comic-Con International, they let me host a batch of wonderful events, most of them about the history of the comic book medium. Last year, I did twelve. This year, I'm taking it easy: I'm hosting ten, plus I'm a panelist on one other. I can be a bit of a nag about these program items because, first of all, they feature a lot of terrific people who are nice enough to show up and answer questions and/or perform, and I'd like to see their generosity rewarded with big audiences. Secondly, the con is a huge place with much to see and do. (There are even some fine panels and presentations that I don't host. The whole schedule will be up shortly on the convention website. By the way, that's also where you can go to get info on attending the con.)

So every year, I host these terrific once-in-a-lifetime events and every year, some brain-dead acquaintance of mine staggers up to me after they're over — or calls up the day after the con — and says, with an I.Q. reminiscent of Crazy Guggenheim, "Duhhh….I forgot about that great panel of yours I wanted to see. Did anyone tape it?" The answer is that the panels are sometimes taped but they're not readily available for public consumption even when they are. If you want to see one, you have to actually go to it. When I tell them this, they act like it's my fault: "Duhhh…you should have reminded me." Well, I'm reminding you all now. I'll remind you before the con, too.

I've posted the schedule of my program items as it currently stands. There could be a few changes so check in here before and even during the con for last-minute updates. But here is how it currently stands. Click there to read it.

Reuters has corrected its report to say that Buddy Hackett was 78.

Here's a defense of Gray Davis that's worth a look. The argument seems to be that Davis isn't responsible for California's financial woes…various Bush deregulations and buddies are. There is some truth to that but it doesn't change the fact that Davis allowed them to loot the state.