Osama branches out to become newest book reviewer. Oprah is now determined to bring him to justice.

Twenty-four hours after Osama bin Laden told the world that the American people should read the work of a little-known Washington historian, William Blum was still adjusting.

Blum, who at 72 is accustomed to laboring in relative left-wing obscurity, checked his emotions and pronounced himself shocked and, well, pleased.

"This is almost as good as being an Oprah book," he said yesterday between telephone calls from the world media and bites of a bagel. "I'm glad." Overnight, his 2000 work, "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower," had become an Osama book.

An "Osama book"? Look I am sure it is a fine book, but are you sure this is the type of endorsement that you want?

Other books on Osama's reading list:

• "Cave decorating and simple meals on the run for the Muslim on the go" by Martha Stewart
• "Keeping the polygamist marriage fresh" by Dr. Phil McGraw
• "1,000 places you must see, and then blow up, before you die." by Patricia Schultz
• "The I hate George Bush Reader" by Clint Willis

I am pretty sure that Bin Laden has internet access. He made reference to George Bush's plan to bomb Al-Jazeera and most of that information has been exclusively written about on the internet.

Hey...uh....Osama? If you do happen upon this little site can you....uh...never tell anybody! Ever! I would rather just have a handful of surfers that visit here then to suddenly get famous because Osama "I bombed the shit out of you and you can't catch me" Bin Laden took a liking to something I wrote. So thanks, but no thanks.