How to tell if you're unpopular, part 2

Sure, a Nobel Peace Prize winner said she wants to kill George Bush, to the delight of an audience of applauding schoolchildren. But, shit, that could happen to anyone. Here's how to really tell that you're not presence is not wanted.

Mayan priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate "bad spirits" after President Bush visits next week, an official with close ties to the group said Thursday.

"That a person like (Bush), with the persecution of our migrant brothers in the United States, with the wars he has provoked, is going to walk in our sacred lands, is an offense for the Mayan people and their culture," Juan Tiney, the director of a Mayan nongovernmental organization with close ties to Mayan religious and political leaders, said Thursday.

Bush's seven-day tour of Latin America includes a stopover beginning late Sunday in Guatemala. On Monday morning he is scheduled to visit the archaeological site Iximche on the high western plateau in a region of the Central American country populated mostly by Mayans.

Tiney said the "spirit guides of the Mayan community" decided it would be necessary to cleanse the sacred site of "bad spirits" after Bush's visit so that their ancestors could rest in peace.

The Mayans are an ancient and wise people, and I have to admit, when Bush took office (and, let's face it, that's how it happened), I thought we were in for four years of jogging in place, a four-year vacation for progress under the ineffectual leadership of the fratboy-in chief. I thought this guy was a dim bulb, but basically harmless. Never in my wildest dreams did I think a visit from him would trigger Mayan purification rituals.

George, I misunderestimated you.

Getting warmer

Why does the Bush administration hate America?

By 2020, the United States will emit almost one-fifth more gases that lead to global warming than it did in 2000, increasing the risks of drought and scarce water supplies.

That projection comes from an internal draft report from the Bush administration that is more than a year overdue at the United Nations. The Associated Press obtained a copy Saturday.

The United States already is responsible for roughly one-quarter of the world's carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse" gases that scientists blame for global warming.

The draft report, which is still being completed, projects that the current administration's climate policy would result in the emission of 9.2 billion tons of greenhouse gases in 2020, a 19 percent increase from 7.7 billion tons in 2000.

So the administration knows its policy is disastrous and is sticking to it.

Now that's what I call resolve.