Zacharias Moussaoui now says he was only kidding. He wants to take back his guilty plea to being a terrorist member of Al Quaida and in on the 9/11 plots. He says all the outlandish claims he made about being set to fly a plane into the White House with shoe-bomber Richard Reid were lies. He says he didn't really believe the jury would cut him a fair shake until after he read its answers to the required findings in his sentencing trial. He says he thought his trial would be nothing but a show and a sham. He claims that he was truly astounded that the jury could put aside its hatred of him and make rational judgments.
But "It's too late . . ." Thank you, Carole King.
Under the applicable laws, no guilty plea can be rescinded after sentencing--good thing, too--or else we'd have nothing but "do-overs" clogging up an already overcrowded court system. Moussaoui had his chance. He had plenty of chances. He just doesn't want to give up the spotlight. He finally realized just what being sentenced to life in prison without parole means. Poor baby! I shed crocodile tears for thee.
* * * * * * * * * *
Now for the Goat Cheese: the curse on the Chicago Cubs lives. The Cubs managed to win a few more games after first baseman and spark plug of the Cubs' offense Derrek Lee got his wrist broken about two weeks ago. But now the Cubs have lost something on the order of 8 in a row, with no end to the freefall in sight. They were 4 games above .500; now they are 3 games and counting below it. "Notice how they do not so much fly as plummet." Thank you, Graham Chapman.
[This is why I take the stand that if you have to choose between good pitching and good hitting, take good hitting. The best good pitching can get you is no runs scored against you--and while you do not absolutely need hits to win, it's much easier to score runs when you get hits than it is when you don't. And without runs, the best you can hope for is a 0-0 tie.--Ed.]
So the curse of the billy goat lives. For those of you who don't know the story, during the Cubs' last World Series appearance (in 1945, if memory serves--the last time the Cubs won one was in 1908), a local fan wanted to bring his billy goat into the stadium with him to watch a game. He even bought the goat a ticket. But the Wrigley Field staff would not let the goat on the premises, so the owner cursed the team, and the Cubs have been losing and otherwise breaking hearts ever since.
Now is the (spring and) summer of my discontent. Apologies to William Shakespeare. Methinks that despite both the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox ending their respective curses by winning the last two World Series Championships, the Cubs won't win one until Charlie Brown's team wins a game by other than a forfeit. And that just will not happen. Damn. It would have been glorious. I don't think that even the impending return of Kerry Wood will rescue the Cubbies. However, I will reserve judgment for at least a few more weeks . . . even though that little voice in the back of my brain is already whispering "wait'll next year!"
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