So I ask: imagine, if you will, that we�re at war. (Just pretend.) A Democrat president is attempting to pacify Krepistan, which has been shooting at American planes for a decade. The Republican candidate says he�s been in contact with foreign leaders who really want him to win, and is caught on tape telling a supporter he thinks the current administration is made up of crooked liars.
Think the New Republic might write a disapproving editorial or two?

Probably not.---- Lileks.

Once more, read it all.

Two pounds down, and I've been cleaning pretty much. I did some knitting, but the round robin is still sitting here.

For some reason, Yahoo! wouldn't let me update the usual way, but I discovered a back door to get to the program. Heck of a note, when I'm behind, that they help mess me up.

My afternoon with Casey started well. We went to the Gee Whiz Geology exhibit and learned about the different kinds of rock, floated pumice, and the kid got a crystal point. We dropped off Mesozoic Park, which has been sitting in my back bedroom for the winter. We went to the playground. Everything was hunky-dory till we got back to Casey's home, where the foster mom was late. I didn't have a pencil so the child could do homework. I started reading a new Just-so Story, and the kid was fidgeting with everything in the car. I finally lost it, and we didn't really part friends, though I did say I didn't call the kid stupid, just the way the kid was acting.

Then it took 45 very intense minutes to get home.

The reception at Jesuit for the play was actually enough to be dinner, but we hadn't known that so we'd stopped at KFC first. Oh, well. The musical itself, Batboy, based on the "true story" from Weekly World News, was a great deal of fun. The words were sometimes lost in the amplification, but the kids did really well and hammed it up just enough. The same teenagers who were a little stiff for A Few Good Men found their metier here. This is a great play for high school, and Jesuit's performance was the world premiere of high school doing it. One of the actors heard today that he's going to USF, and he leapt in the air with joy and twisted his knee, so one of the teachers, who was acting when Bernadette did, took his place. He fit in really well. He has no left arm, but I remember seeing him as a sailor(!) in South Pacific in Davis and it never showed.

In the fall, they're doing Princess Bride, which should be fun, a little different from the director's usual dark choices. Of course, with his adaptation, it may be a little darker than usual.

Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautiful ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles.

I'll do my best to stay awake...

Peggy Noonan: "I heard a rumor the other day that Republicans are in control of the Senate and House. Could this be true? I ask because every day on the news Teddy Kennedy is at a hearing toasting the posties of some Republican or administration figure. ... GOP senators and congressmen seem to me to be acting not like they're excited by this moment in history but intimidated by it. As if they're thinking, 'Oh no, we're in charge now and everyone will blame us when things go wrong!'"

Military deaths are down, probably because:

According to Falah al-Nakib, the governor of Salahadin province [where Tikrit is located], it was Saddam's money that was funding most of the trouble.

"His capture has definitely reduced the finances that were supporting many of these gangsters," Mr al-Nakib said. "There were also some who thought that one day he might come back."

UN Corruption.