This reminds me that there is, at any rate, one benefit to the economic idiocy of the one GK calls the "current occupant."

With the dollar at such a pathetic low relative to the rest of the world's currency, we shall have to stay here in the good old US of A for the next year or so of vacations. While I may miss Europe or other exotic environs, I look forward to returns to San Francisco and NYC, Boston and St. Louis. And to new discoveries in New Orleans and Austin, Boulder and Nashville, and so many other fine domestic locales.

America, here I come! (Now all I need to do is find some gas money.)

I suppose if the musical version of 1776 got people interested in history then it is indeed a fine thing. However, the HBO project is based on a different book, a quite good biography, in fact.

It appears, from the few clips I've seen and the reviews I've read, that the mini-series (god I hate that term) captures DM's book, which humanized the men and women who struggled to form this country 200+ years ago, and put the entire effort into a context not much known beyond academia and amateur history geeks. Reading it inspired me to seek out better biographies of the rest of the central figures of the age (though I've not found one yet that's as enjoyable to read as McCullough's), in order to get a clearer picture of each of these fascinating characters.

As to Adams himself, and the posts already lambasting him, I can only say that he was, indeed, flawed -- as were most all the important figures of this era (and of course all of us, too). The biographies I'm still wading through certainly bear that out.

And I daresay that each one of these people, given the chance to look back through the long prism of history, would likely slap their forehead at any number of the things they said or did at the time. And I suspect that Adams, specifically, would rue the Alien & Sedition Act. But there was a benefit even to that, as the clear and decisive repudiation of that Act demonstrated that we as a young nation were capable of recognizing mistakes and fixing them. I only hope that we still have that capacity today.

I know it's not quite precise, but I always thought of Ellison as the anti-Heinlein, though I enjoyed and admired both.

The biggest weapon the GOP has today in American politics is fear. Another major attack would vastly increase that fear, and the GOP would roundly decry that they could have stopped the attack if only the weak-kneed Democrats would have let us torture people, and spy on US citizens and conduct strip searches of every airline passenger, and on and on ad nauseum.

The terrorists may be crazy, but they're not stupid. If, as McCain and his cohorts postulate, al Qaida wants a Democrat in the White House, the last thing they would do is stage another attack before the election.

Now, here's where the GOP logic really goes 'round the bend. There has never been a greater recruitment tool for bin Laden and his rabid gang than GW Bush's debacle in Iraq. The last thing they want is for us to withdraw and make peace with the Arab world.

So McCain is right -- and of course absolutely wrong at the same time: the terrorists might want to influence the election here, but it would not be to defeat him, but to assure his election, so that they could continue to use US troops as bomb targets in a hostile desert, instead of the US using a newly freed-up military to actually pursue al Qaida at its source.

I know of almost 4,000 men and women who would have been glad to swap places with the President.

Time is People for people who think they are smarter than the average demographics of People readers. It's time all people stop reading Time and turn only to People, where they'll get the same level of information and accuracy without any pretence to relevance.

In the same way that the doctor who removes both legs to cure the bunion on your left big toe is "successful."

1. Intentionally slipping references to Iran and al-Qaida into his comments, knowing it still seeps into the public subconscious even when he gets corrected or corrects himself;

2. So deperate to see a linkage that his own subconscious can't get it right;

3. Stupid;

4. Senile.

There are no other excuses. I think it's probably #1, but you could make a strong argument with me for #4.

The losing score for all three games completed so far: 61. Things that make you go "huh."

Extra super bonus points to CBS Sportsline (and a solution for the reader who wants to return to ESPN): you can replay any already-completed game in its entirety! (Or just watch highlights.) This is outstanding news for true bracket junkies and a great use of technology.

If King thinks watching 2 games is tough for the attention-challenged: I was in a bar at lunchtime with all four games in progress on side-by-side-by-side-by-side screens. Thank god for beer or my head really might have exploded.

Look, Bush and his cronies clearly believe there is no such thing as privacy in America. They never have; they never will. And of course, as some have noted in relation to the breach of Bill Clinton's passport info in '92, the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree.

This is what happens when you a) elect the former head of the CIA as president and then b) have the Supreme Court install his half-bright drunken frat-boy son in the same position. I'd say we look like a banana republic, but that would be an insult to banana republics down through history.

The word Patrick is looking for is "clusterfuck."