NEWS-RELATED ACTIVITIES PROGRAMS

It's hard to know which is the bigger news-related activities program: the Oscar nominations, the weapons inspector David Kay, the Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, or the author Carrie Fisher? And that's not counting Martha Stewart.

Let's see. ... In the wake of Sunday's Golden Globules, this morning's Oscar nods seem slow off the mark, suprises notwithstanding. Meantime, Kay, who finally admits the United States won't be finding any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, is making excuses for our know-nothing Maximum Leader, claiming he was duped and abused -- OK, misled -- by the intelligence community.

Asked if Mr. Gee Whiz owes the nation an apology for the gaps between his warnings and Kay's findings -- OK, an explanation -- Kay said in an interview with National Public Radio, "I actually think the intelligence community owes the president, rather than the president owing the American people." And if you go along with that, Dick Cheney has some WMD to show you.

Fisher gets my vote. She signed books last night across the street from Lincoln Center in a publicity event for her latest Hollywood novel, "The Best Awful." The bookstore was packed with fans and celebrities who are fans. Even that furious glitteratus himself showed up. No, it was not the great author-about-town Jay McInerney. "As Ms. Fisher signed her last autograph, Salman Rushdie slipped into the room ..." < FONT color=#003399>Anthony Ramirez reports. If anybody wants an explanation for my vote, I apologize in advance.