Returned for Re-Grooving
(I have just dated myself by making a Firesign Theatre reference)

There can't be any better recommendation for spending time in Newfoundland than how COMPLETELY OUT OF IT I was for five days. Later today I should be ready for some photo-blogging on that subject (at present I am experiencing total failure at uploading images), though the exact location will go unnamed, lest the next thing we know Kurt and Goldie will discover it, mow down the trees and build a mansion and an air-strip, and head up yet another rape-by-multi-millionnaries of yet another Canadian natural wonder. (See Muskoka.)

Lots of catching up to do. The follow-up on the Anti-War/Bush/America/capitalism rally, twinned with the Pro-troops/America/freedom/general-sanity rally in Washington, D.C. over the weekend was best expressed in photographs, here and here vs. here. The Peace and Make-Love-Not-War crowd wins hands down in the Most Vulgar, Hateful, Ignorant, Incoherent, Factually-challenged sweepstakes, with special awards for cruelty to troops in the field and their families. And kudos to the support-the-troops crowd who flooded the Walter Reed Hospital neighborhood to outnumber the Code Pink Kooks who have been harassing wounded soldiers there over the past few weeks.

Apparently the anti-everything bunch thought it would be clever to taunt those who opposed them by chanting "GO SIGN UP!"-- like that's something no real people would ever do. When they encountered many of their opposite numbers holding up their military ID cards (and one veteran holding up his artificial leg) there seemed to be no other counter-measure than to scream and point and make phenomenally nasty faces. Well, that wins elections doesn't it? Such a long way from their stated goal of "taking back their country." They are welcome to attempt to prove proprietary rights-- they just need 50%+plus of the voters behind them. We're waiting.

Meanwhile, back in reality, the Houston branch of my family (plus an entourage of colleagues) made a 16-hour drive to east Texas (normally four) and took refuge in the woods-- apparently all was successful, and no doubt there was good wine even if showers were scarce. There was no telephone there (I think that's intentional), so the next few days will reveal if the Houston digs are still intact.

It was great to have been on such a complete mental vacation for five days on the Rock that I stopped fretting about what-the-hell's-up with the Corridors of Power. Diane West at Jewish World Review has the business covered for me on the subject of Presidential leadership then and now. OFFICIALLY LISTED AS MISSING AFTER TWO HURRICANES AND A COUPLA YEARS OF WAR: this guy doing this. It's been raining like a maniac for weeks now-- think if we pour enough water on the President he'll grow a pair....?