Our Man in . . . oblivion, it seems. Sorry I've been a lousy correspondent. Bad news, too: I'm just weeks away from another sabbatical, since I am beginning rehearsals for Much Ado About Nothing. It's a bit of a wake up call to look in the mirror and think, "Yeah, I could play Don John," only to have the director say, "You can play Leonato." No matter. It's a fine cast, a great crew, and, as with everything in serious theater for the last 5 years, it will be the director's allegorical indictment of "the Bush regime." Sigh. What will liberals do with their time when Bush leaves office?

Er, what's that you say? That I never actually returned from my last sabbatical? I suppose you're right. But it has been the Worst. Winter. Ever. I've been sick at least once a month. And when I wasn't sick, someone else in the family was. Plus, it looks like I might have to (gasp!) get a job! After two fine years staying at home with the boy (that's Little Enobarbus), I am facing the fact that he is now enrolled in full-day preschool and will begin kindergarten in the fall. By gad, man, I've almost forgotten how to work, if I ever knew.

So I see that the Iraqi document declassification project is starting to accord quite nicely with the Volcker Report.

Two Iraqi documents dated in March 2003 — on the eve of the U.S.-led invasion — and addressed to the secretary of Saddam Hussein, describe details of a U.S. plan for war. According to the documents, the plan was disclosed to the Iraqis by the Russian ambassador.

(Editor's Note: The Russian ambassador in March 2003 was Vladimir Teterenko. Teterenko appears in documents released by the Volker Commission, which investigated the Oil for Food scandal, as receiving allocations of 3 million barrels of oil — worth roughly $1.5 million. )

Perhaps I don't fully understand the nature of the oil graft in Iraq, but on what planet does oil go for $.50/barrel? Anyhow, more to come, I'm sure. In most totalitarian regimes, there's a real need to write things down, if for no other reason than to pass the buck when dear leader gets angry and wants to shoot some underling: "See, Excellency, I signed this project off to Habib last Thursday. Allah be praised, his is the head that should roll!"

In passing, I note that Viking Pundit is back on line. Okay, Blogger, you don't suck as hard as I thought, but you still suck TKE house bong water.

Finally, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (the Council of Guardians for the, er, secular theocracy here) has ruled that "local health authorities can restrict smoking inside private clubs." From there, it's a short, short step to criminalizing smoking in my house.