We're on the bonus plan today:

News Item: NHL Shows 'em

As I and many others have asked, Colin Campbell announced this morning that Todd Bertuzzi will be suspended for the balance of the regular season, ALL of the playoffs and he will need to meet with President Gary Bettman before he can be cleared to play next season. As well, the Canucks were fined $250,000. This was EXACTLY the right decision. Kudos to Colin Campbell and Gary Bettman for making the right choice in a difficult situation, as this decision might cost the Canucks a shot at the Cup this year.

News item: Bombs in Spain

Austin has posted a link to this on his site. Apparently a terrorist group known as ETA has set off a series of bombs targeting Madrid's commuter train system, killing over 100 citizens and wounding 1400 more. John Kerry, are you prepared to play on this playground? You will need to get your hands dirty, and your recent record seems to indicate that you won't. Guaranteed GW will be all set to go in and get this lot with whatever is at his disposal and I say go get 'em.

One of the great traits humankind has is a strong elasticity when it comes to recovering from hard shocks. Today, we act like 9/11 is a long-distant memory. It's very difficult to keep a society on a war footing for a long time. Unfortunately, the war on terror continues to rage, as evidenced by the events of today. GW has called it already, that he is a "war-time" President and, regardless of your opinions on his decision to enter Iraq (which I now oppose, knowing what I know), we are at war with those who would prefer to see us live our lives in fear of the next terrorist act. This is the new model of war, not a battle between nation-states standing up to face each other, but against small, well-funded and well-organized cells that hit hard and fast and then disappear, knocking us out of our safety zones. This is something GW understands and, Mr. Kerry, I hope you understand it too.

In happier news, my friends at www.tvshowsondvd.com report that a number of popular 1980's TV shows will begin appearing on DVD shortly. Fans of Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Mork & Mindy and the Dukes of Hazzard will be able to buy season 1 of their favorite shows before the end of 2004. Nanu-nanu!!!!!!!!!!!!