We were having a perfect evening, the four of us.  Pan's Labyrinth was wonderful, a safe but gripping fantasy of courage and virtue in a place comfortably long ago and far away.  And afterwards, we were planning a wonderful, safe dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

Host:	Your table will be ready in about 20 minutes.  You can take this beeper to remind you, but it doesn't work on the top floor or in Borders book store. ...
Epi:	Let's have tea while we're waiting.
Dusty:	Borders has tea, I could read while you and Suzie have tea.
Suzie:	Looks like we'll need a "designated beeper carrier."
Epi:	Um, maybe not, Borders is right here ....
Suzie:	(To the clerk at the Borders cafe) They told us the beepers don't work over here.  Are we likely to miss our supper if we stay here?
Borders Clerk:	No.  (Smiling) They work just fine here.  The Cheesecake manager is just ticked because people come over and get distracted reading, and ignore the beepers.
Epi:	Wait, are you saying they lied to us at the Cheesecake factory?
Clerk:	Basically.  My boss isn't too happy with them, he's had words with their manager about it.
Epi:	Wow.  Maybe we should eat somewhere else.  What if they lie about other things, like where their food comes from?
Niki:	And miss out on cheesecake?!  No way!
	. . . . . . . .
Host:	Williams, party of four.
Epi:	(Sternly) I wanna talk with the manager.
Host:	Certainly ....
Manager:	(To young to serve beer) How may I help you?
Epi:	(Glaring) We were told the beeper didn't work at Borders.  It was a lie.
Manager:	No it isn't, the beepers don't work in Borders.
Epi:	(Louder, attracting a growing crowd of staff and onlookers)  Look, we just tested this one, and it worked just fine at Borders.  You're lying!
Manager:	No, some of them work and some of them don't — because of the Wi-Fi at Borders.
Epi:	That's not plausible.  They all work on the same frequency.  (Leaning into the manager's face) You're lying!
Manager:	(Starting to shout) No, I'm not lying.
Epi:	Uh huh.  And how many lies do you think the President told during his last State of the Union Address?  And how many people will die as a result?!
Manager:	Yh?!
Waiter:	(Drawing us away) Your table's ready ....
Suzie:	In the bar?  This is really not a good idea!
Dusty:	I know a good exit.  It's right this way.
Suzie:	I think what we need is the nearest exit!
Waiter:	Sorry we couldn't serve you.  Is there anything else I can do for you tonight?
Epi:	Ya, tell the manager to stop lying! ....
Dusty:	Geesh!  Guess I shouldn't do anything that reminds you of George Bush tonight!
Epi:	You're in no immediate danger, trust me.

A conscience ignored is a dangerous thing.  You just never know when it will burst through uninvited, beckoned by the ancient Pele, goddess of Kīlauea. 

Mercifully, our supper at Bertucci's was quiet, elegant, and delicious.  But that very day, upwards of a hundred thousand people had marched in Washington, angrily calling the President a liar, shouting their rage at his throwing still more troops and money into the failed blood bath in Iraq. 

If the president has been lying, he and the cheesecake manager have plenty of company.  CNN, Google, and the New York Times all told some good whoppers that day as well. Ya really!  The New York Times article led with a photo of just three protesters and failed to report the constant spontaneous chants of Impeach Bush.  The CNN article also falsified the size of the protest and attempted to smear the protesters with the word "Fonda," as in "Hanoi Jane Fonda."  Google initially carried an even-handed cluster of articles under the title "Thousands Protest Bush Policy," then conspicuously substituted a different cluster about a pro-escalation Congressman, and finally replaced that with a "Hanoi Jane" cluster.

By contrast, the lengthy Washington Post article and photo show provided in-depth coverage, and its pictures show the huge crowd stretching from the Washington monument to the Capital.  The strip from the Monument to the Capital easily holds upwards of 100,000 people.

Well!  If mention of cheesecake stimulates your appetite, there's this blog you might be interested in: www.epifurious.com.

Jim Williams, 1/30/07