Tuesday, January 28, 2003

This Morning's Engine Starter: As hard as it is to hear when one's head is in the sand, it's time for even Janeane Garofalo to listen up. Bob Woodward, who appeared on LKL last night - a sure sign a biggie is coming - has a front pager this morning that spells out how Saddam is moving really bad stuff around just ahead of the inspectors and how the administration plans to handle the release of classified information without getting our intelligence people killed. Riveting stuff.

Live by The Whisper.... Among the chattering classes who do a lot of swell eating at each other's swell homes, it is called "owning the table." This particular stunt is when you come up with the such a fascinating tale you could hear a fig mousse drop. It's one thing to have your hostess clutching her pearls, it is quite another to retail such an act on national TV. Apparently, that's what happened to Vanity Fair chronicler of the rich and dishy, Dominick Dunne. It is a Trollopian tale told by Felicity Barringer in the New York Times who, for this morning anyway - owns the table.

If Tom Daschle Fell in The Forest.....In a speech at the National Press Club yesterday, Tom Daschle offered what the dem leadership quaintly called a "prebuttal" to the State of the Union speech tonight. This is tricky to pull off when no one has seen the speech and deserves every bit of the attention it got - which seems to be none.

So Much For Higher Learning: Students and faculty at Schenectady County Community College are mulling over whether to allow short arms inspector and parking lot performer Scott Ritter speak there on February 12th. We like the way the Schenectady Daily Gazette keeps on this story. Perhaps someday the New York Times might get around to mentioning it. If you feel strongly about whether Mr. Ritter should instruct our young folks, Ldotter PayThePiper has graciously provided the school president's coordinates including his email.

Ding Dong The Worm Is Dead...or is it? There are several articles on the board concerning the cyber-worm sent in to Microsoft servers over the weekend that made a major mess worldwide. It was either done by two Romanian teenagers bored out of their skulls or there is something more sinister afoot. Coming weeks before a war should give one pause.

-Your Occasionally Skeptical LComStaff