The most depressing aspect of the Administration's efforts to scare the public away from the stories emerging about its own pre-9/11 negligence is the tacit admission of failure in the "war against terrorism". As is noted here and elsewhere, during the whole time that Dickhead was claiming that another bombing of American soil would soon happen, the Ridge color-coded warning system never changed from "yellow". The mendacity of W. and crew matches his predecessor, except rather than lying about sex, they lie about policy.

Lord, what an awful performance. If you are a Laker fan, the most depressing aspect of Game 3 had to be their decision to fire up panic threes once Sactown opened up a lead, rather than trying to pound the ball into Shaq...oops...wait a minute, they did pound the ball into Shaq; I forgot about all those fifteen footers he attempted last night. Memo to Aristotle: your not Vlade Divac; don't bother trying to establish a perimeter game. Just get to the basket and power dunk !!

The Lakers best chance to win this series was to blow the Kings out early (in the series, that is; I suppose it would be asking a lot for them to show up and play like they cared in the first half of any game). If that happened, the injury to Peja Stojakovic and the fact that the Kings were beaten the last two years by the Lakers would combine to put them into a defeatist mindset, much the same as what happened to San Antonio this year. Stojakovic is still out, but now the Kings have the home court edge back.

By the way, how exactly did it become such an established fact that the Western Conference championship was the de facto title series. Has anyone actually watched the Celtics play in this year playoffs? Their next bad game will be their first; more than can be said about the two-time defending champions (who, by the way, lost both times to Boston in the regular season).

Any comments? Then by all means, contact me at esstheman2@netscape.net. Or just hit the link above that says "contact".
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Hopefully, this little item of news will be what's finally needed to bring closure to this story.

Game 2 this past Monday featured a dying Kobe, an absent Shaq, and a game plan that seemed designed to allow Fox and Samaki plenty of "looks" at the basket, at the expense of getting the ball to anyone with a prayer of scoring. And the Lakers still only lost by six...I don't buy into too many conspiracies, but one would be stupid to ignore this one.
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One final word on the Flyers, for the one of you that cares:

I think it's a safe assumption on my part that the Flyers will be back in the playoffs next season. I have faith that coach Cock can get us there and, in keeping with the fine tradition of players not shaving while playing for The Cup, I will not shave my face until the chase for the elusive Cup ends for the Flyers in 2003. If things work out the way I think they will then the Flyers should be in the playoffs just long enough for me to attain a nice five o'clock shadow. --"Palpatine"

Some fans of real teams, like the Kings or Ducks, would be so filled with embarrasment that they would pray that their team take a playoff hiatus for several years rather than be subjected to further first round humiliation. Matt C., on the other hand, welcomes the degradation.
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About a decade ago, the beloved ex-Commissioner of baseball, Bowie Kuhn, was involved in a law partnership that brought him (and presumably, a lot of his clients) a good deal of grief. So when the heat was on, and creditors, the FBI, the IRS, Hamas, and who knows what else began to show up at his doorstep with summons, he went down to Florida, bought a multi-million dollar home with his remaining assets, and filed bankruptcy. And not only got rid of all of his debts, but got to keep his home. Nice....
Some ivory tower intellectuals see this as wrong, and point out here that the current "reform" bill currently stuck in Congress would actually make it easier to pull a kuhn. Even more amusing to me is the fact that "bankruptcy law" is apparently taught in our nation's law schools. Back in the day, when I was at SC we had one of the more illustrious practitioners in the country, George Triester, teach the subject, and most of us would have rather worn bicycle pants and a training bra to school than attend. Back then, bankruptcy was the sort of legal specialty that you did only if ambulance chasing and workers comp proved too difficult. Thanks to a couple of post-graduation recessions (I luv Bushes), the disappearance of the aerospace industry, the '92 troubles, and the society-wide discovery that credit card companies, unlike loansharks, won't bust your kneecaps if you default, bk's are suddenly hot, prestigious even, and I am more thankful than ever that I blew off law school.

She's glamorous. She's notorious. She's an entertainment lawyer, and she has an evil twin. She's Carolyn H., and she has a pretty good link to this week's "Tom the Dancing Bug".
As always, thanks, and don't bogart any gossip about "Gwynnie".
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Well, I guess I deserved this one. About my invitation for comments on the new Flyers' coach, Matt C. writes,

Yes the hiring of Mr. Hitchcock should be explored and yes I have an opinion. I will, however, keep a lid on that opinion about our beloved new coach (who I prefer to just call "Coach Cock") until this time next year when hopefully I can look back on another record setting first round exit.

Aren't you assuming the Flyers are even going to make the playoffs. As if....

As a bankruptcy lawyer, I naturally have an interest in whether Congress passes what has euphemistically been called the "reform bill" currently in conference. The bill received overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress, but has become stalled over a dispute as to whether individuals who get fined for blockading abortion clinics can discharge their debts. I have to admire the genius of Senate liberals, who for the most part voted in favor to appease the credit card lobby, using what is a relatively minor issue effecting less than 1% of 1% of all filings to scuttle the bill; I only wish they would display the same ingenuity in opposing the Administration on other issues. Since I oppose the current bill, no matter what it says about abortion, it was good to read this cogent argument as to why this bill should be defeated as a matter of public policy.

I'm still not sold on the idea that anyone, much less W., could have prevented 9/11, so I can't say that I agree with every point in this article. The hijackers weren't stupid (except for the part about them getting kicked out of stripclubs), and even if three of the teams had been stopped at the airport, just one group being able to complete their mission would have been catastrophic. The two points that have inflamed my bile are that for months this administration used its media shills to blame the whole thing on Clinton, and that it kept its prior knowledge, no matter how scant or imprecise it may have been, secret from not only the American people but from Congress as well, even going so far as to deny it had any foreknowledge of what was to happen on 9/11.
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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.