Dept. of Doublespeak:

"O'Reilly labels Foley a Democrat (AP too)" at AlterNet.

Let's get it right: Foley is and has always been a Republican. So was serial killer Ted Bundy, by the way; such illustrious cohorts . . . .

"The Mystic Word: The Life and Work of Hart Crane" is a review-essay of the Library of America's Hart Crane: Complete Poems and Selected Letters by Adam Kirsch at the New Yorker's website.

"Words Without Borders," which is where you can find out about the collection Literature from the "Axis of Evil," which is chock-full of goodies from really baaad places.

Poem of the Day (in Geological Time) Dept.:

I short while back I came across one of the more perversely (unintentionally?) hilarious stanzas of "Mary's Ghost" by Thomas Hood. It was cited in an entry in my old trade-paperback copy of Bulfinch's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Been meaning to put a link to it up here.

It is really funny; I can imagine it being recited like an old and friendly ritual of an October evening by the fireside with the entire family gathered 'round--the Addams Family.