February 23, 2004

    This was a quiet weekend. Wasn't feeling too good, so I didn't do much, just saving any energy I had
for work at night. I heard I missed a great time in the Rock on Saturday afternoon, with JR diving into the
water for charity. Also sorry I didn't make it to Ed and Mary's on Saturday. Hopefully next weekend, I'll
be back in form.

THIS JUST IN: I worked on a story last night and it should be in the Late City Final of Monday's Post.
There was a fire at Hofstra University Sunday night. I called it in to Ed Robinson, so it should be the both
of us in the byline.


Religious Furor over movie
    Mel Gibson's controversial new movie "The Passion of Christ" opens this coming Wednesday. One of
the fears that has been raised by Jewish groups is that the movie will spark anti-Semitism, because the
movie portrays the Jews as Christ-killers. If this is true, (and Gibson says he took the movie straight from
the Gospels) I have just one thing to say to the Jews.
Thank you.
    I always believed it was the Romans who put Christ to death, but regardless, whoever it was that
crucified Jesus, did us a huge favor, at least that what I was taught. When God sent the great flood to
wipe out everyone except Noah in the Old Testament, he locked the gates of heaven. Rather than kill us
all again, God sacrificed his son. That paid for all our sins and reopened heaven for all of us, if we
behave ourselves on Earth. Hence why the day Jesus died is referred to as Good Friday, and why most
of us had that day off from school. REMEMBER?
      All the reviews of the movie stress that it is a gore fest. Once I heard that it was under 3 hours, I
decided I would go see it myself. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, I'll have a Weekly Mail review of
the movie.

The Martha Stewart Trial.

    Haven't weighed in too much on Martha, who won Weekly Mail's 2002 Nerd of the Herd Award. Here
are some observations:

I felt bad for poor Douglas Faineul. My sympathy lessened for him a bit after I saw he was a former
model, but I still felt bad for him. He seemed like one of these guys who watched Wall Street a million
times when he was a kid, and decided he wanted to be a big time stockbroker. He probably thought he
hit the jackpot when he hooked up with Peter Banconovic, who had a stable of big shot clients including
the domestic diva herself. But like Charlie Sheen in the aforementioned flick, he got royally screwed.
    Martha has done nothing to make me regret giving her my lowest honor. She's as guilty as sin and she
should be tossed in the slammer. However, I believe she'll walk. Either her attorneys will come up with a
few tricks or the jury will sympathize with her, either way I don't see her spending any time in jail.

                                        PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004

R.I.P. Howard Dean's Campaign

     I was surprised at how sorry I was to see old Howard pack it in this week. I guess when all was said
and done, I had to admire his energy, and the fire he seemed to light under the asses of the Democratic
party. I guess he would have been the gutsy choice, as opposed to John Kerry, who many see as the
safe one, the one who can beat President Bush in November.
    But just because he grew on me some doesn't mean this guy had any business being President. He
gave me no indication that he had any clue on National Security and his foreign and domestic policies
consisted of saying "whatever George W. Bush says, put me down for the opposite." And of course
there was all the stupid things he said, like giving Osama Bin Laden a fair trial, and belittling the capture
of Saddam Hussein. His dropping out of the race and not endorsing either Kerry or John Edwards just
shows how selfish he can be.
    In any event, prepare to be inundated with commercials the next couple of weeks. With Edwards close
second place finish in Wisconsin last Tuesday, he figures he's back in the race. Especially if he picks up
a few wins on Super Tuesday, (next week) Edwards is campaigning hard in upstate NY, and Kerry is
planning to campaign here in the city.
This Tuesday, Hawaii, Utah and Idaho, have their primaries.

Welcome back from the mother country Krissy. Steve and newly engaged McGrath and Frankie.

As soon as I get the link, I'll send around the story. In the meantime, lay down a quarter and buy the
Post.

Everyone have a great week
Billy G