I refuse to watch the NBA playoffs until there is an effort to make the games interesting again. I want fun and gun 80s, not this boring defensive struggles that end up 65-64. I can see that in the WNBA, and I choose not to watch that, either. Another thing, how's about playing games more than four days apart? I forget who's playing whom, and what team leads what series when they take four days to play game two of a five-game series.

Did anyone do research to see if sales of Reese's Pieces at theaters went up with the re-release of E.T.? These are the things I think about.

As much as I hate to bring this up again (that's a lie), it turns out that the General Accounting Office found that departing Clinton aides did indeed vandalize the White House and Old Executive Office Building, "stealing two historic doorknobs, scrawling obscene graffiti on walls and inflicting $14,000 worth of damage," the Washington Times reports. "Those who have seen the GAO report, a preliminary document, say as many as 75 computer keyboards had to be replaced--at a cost of more than $5,000--because Clinton staffers had broken off the W keys, a jab at George W. Bush, the winner of the bitterly contested 2000 presidential election, who was often referred to during the campaign as W."

Remember this the next time Clinton and his apologists continue to try and denounce this is a myth.

The B.S. over Jenin may finally be settling, as more and more Palestinian sympathizers realize that their knee-jerk reactions to Arafat's propaganda were (as usual) completely false. Hundreds of Palestinians didn't die, civilians were targeted and there are no mass graves. The entire Israeli operation took place in a small part of the town - the size of a football field - and the destruction was complete because of the methods employed by the terrorists in the camp.

My favorite quote on Jenin comes from Daniel Henninger in Wall Street Journal editorial, that it is "a place that in fact has been the West Bank's version of the Star Wars bar, the primary haunt and collection point for the most extreme Palestinian gunmen and suicide planners."

Even as U.N. workers trot out the lies, Palestinians are bragging about their roles in bringing about the conflict in Arab newspapers. Jonathan Cook of the Egyptian paper al-Ahram interviewed an Islamic Jihad bomb-maker in Jenin, who says he and others "made hundreds of explosive devices and carefully chose their locations," and they "had more than 50 houses booby-trapped around the camp. We chose old and empty buildings and the houses of men who were wanted by Israel because we knew the soldiers would search for them."

The terrorist says that the ambush of the 13 Israeli soldiers was achieved by sending women out to surrender and say that the men were out of ammunition.

The New York Post's John Podhoretz makes a great point, that while the U.N. criticizes the Israelis over supposed war crimes by focusing on 'citizens,' it is in fact that Palestinians who are violating the Fourth Geneva Convention by using their own citizens as human shields and by the combatants dressing as civilians in order to trick Israel's army into firing on innocents, and to hide those who fight.

"The simple truth is this: International law relating to the conduct of the incursion exculpates the Israelis and convicts the Palestinian Authority. Period," Podhoretz concludes.

Islam means peace:

Ananova.com reports that Nigerian Muslim prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for two men accused of converting from Islam to Christianity. Lawali Yakubu and Ali Jafaru have been given three days to re-convert by an Islamic court judge in Mada. The judge says the Koran calls for the execution of Muslims who accept another religion.

The Christian right and Jews are continually slammed in the media and by the Left. Yet 80 percent of the Jewish voters continue to pull the lever for Democrats, despite the fact that the best friends to those of the Jewish faith and Israel are religious conservative columnists and in Congress. The Washington Post and New York Times are flabbergasted that the Republican Party is so "Pro-Israel." Even still, the Left knows they will still get the Jewish vote, counts on it and exploits it, just as they do African-Americans, gays and environmentalists.

To get an idea of how European elites see Israel, and forget their own history so soon, just note this quote from the French ambassador to Britain, said not long ago at a London dinner party: Israel -- that ``sh---- little country... Why should we be in danger of World War III because of those people?'' France is freaking out that Jean-Marie La Pen garnered 17% of the vote in the first round of the country's presidential election. I'm no fan of his, but I find it great fun when the country has a collective self-hate cry fest.

I also find it interesting that, as Andrew (Stuttaford) of National Review noted, several Stalinist Communists regularly received more than 20% of the vote during the Cold War, yet there weren't any protests against the candidates.

In the end, La Pen is less a threat to democracy on the continent than the elites and the European Union (I know, that's redundant), so maybe the French pantywastes should direct their emotions elsewhere, like protesting the anti-Semitic attacks by the dozens that have swept across the country. .

By the way, did you ever notice that in Europe, the "extreme right wing" and "extreme left wing" are really the same thing?

Reuters reports that "Pope John Paul . . . told American Catholic leaders ... that pedophilia was 'a crime' that had no place in the Church."

(Sarcasm alert) Glad he was brave enough to take such a bold stand.

I weep for the U.S. sometimes. Why this time? Because the Federal Bureau of Prisons posted an announcement recently that it is seeking a "dance instructor" to teach a variety of beginning and advanced dance classes to the inmate population, starting in Texas.

Yep, I'm sure Brutus, the mad dog rapist, will love to have little druggie Jerome in his cell, and who knows where good dancing will lead?

Our friends the Saudis, part one:

Reuters reports that a leading Saudi Arabian Muslim cleric, in a sermon carried live by several Arabic television and radio networks, told worshippers at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam's holiest shrine, prayed to God to "terminate" the Jews, whom he described as "the scum of humanity . . . the rats of the world . . . prophet killers . . . pigs and monkeys."

Prominent government official cleric Sheikh Saad Al-Buraik hosted a two-day long telethon raising funds for Palestinians, which raised $109 million, and is the host of a TV show called "Religion and Life." During the recent telethon he said of Jewish women:

"Muslim Brothers in Palestine, do not have any mercy neither compassion on the Jews, their blood, their money, their flesh. Their women are yours to take, legitimately. God made them yours. Why don't you enslave their women? Why don't you wage jihad? Why don't you pillage them?"

About America he said:

I am against America until this life ends, until the Day of Judgment;
I am against America even if the stone liquefies
My hatred of America, if part of it was contained in the universe, it would collapse.
She is the root of all evils, and wickedness on earth.
Who else implanted the tyrants in our land, who else nurtured oppression?
Oh Muslim Ummah don't take the Jews and Christians as allies."

Our friends the Saudis, part two:

Rather than denounce the 15 Saudi terrorists from Sept. 11, or separate themselves from terrorism from the Palestinians, it seems as if Saudi Arabia is looking to align themselves with other non-democratic Muslim states and the Axis of Evil in order to save their precious despotism.

While Abdullah poses as a man of peace, his government holds a telethon to raise money for Palestinian "martyrs" and his ambassador to London publishes poems in praise of mass murder. Then, right before meeting with Pres. Bush, Crown Prince Abdullah warned of "a strategic debacle" that could result in the Saudis employing "the oil weapon" against the United States, and demanding that U.S. forces leave their bases in the Kingdom.

Our friends the Saudis, part three:

Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah's representatives asked that women be barred from air traffic control duties when he traveled Thursday to Central Texas for a summit with President Bush, several Texas aviation officials say. Texas aviation officials said the controversy began Thursday morning when members of the prince's entourage approached the manager of the Texas State Technical College airport in Waco, the airfield used by Mr. Bush and dignitaries visiting his ranch in nearby Crawford.

"Apparently, what happened is that an advance group of Saudi Arabians went in and talked to the airport manager and told him they did not want any females on the ramp and also said there should not be any females talking to the airplane," said Ruben Gonzalez, regional manager for RVA Inc., which operates the airport's control tower under a contract with the FAA.

Another instance where our women are forced to succumb to Saudi standards while in Arabia, but we're wimps when it comes to enforcing our own customs on home soil.

Don't look now, but the Montreal Expos, Pittsburgh Pirates and Minnesota Twins are at or near the top of their divisions. These small-market teams are all in trouble financially and the Expos and Twins are slated for elimination. I think we should contract Bud Selig instead, who can't be happy about the current standings.

ESPN's "Baseball Tonight" has the best commercials on the air right now, by far. Wonderful idea, of slipping the hosts into roles of famous baseball movies and shows.

Whatever happened to Jason and Justine Bateman? That's a brother-sister duo that should have had more success in Hollywood.

Is the art of the love song dead? When was the last time you heard one from the last five years while tuning in to a station's overnight love show (ahem -not that I do).

The latest Vents from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

- Mark my words. Those same liberal senators who voted against oil drilling in the Alaska wastelands will be the first to criticize Big Oil for price gouging the next time we have a major oil shortage.

- To err is human, to forgive is up to my wife.

- "TV is boring," said my 8-year-old Nintendo-crazed son. "You can watch the people, but you can't control them."

- My blond friend just returned from Kinko's with 200 copies of her resume to fax to prospective employers.

- Forget about Vanilla Coke. When does Bourbon Coke come out?

- My Yankee friends are always surprised I have an ice scraper in my car until they visit during pollen season.

Batman's Words of Wisdom: "It's obvious. Only a criminal would disguise himself as a licensed, bonded guard yet callously park in front of a fire hydrant!"

Homer quote: "You can't keep blaming yourself. Just blame yourself once, and move on."

Random site: Normisms -- The best from "Cheers" regular Norm.

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