Why, oh why, must the Red Sox suck so? I mean, I don’t mean to be overly demanding here, but generally when you’re playing head-to-head against the team with which you are competing for the final playoff spot, it helps to win at least half of your games, ideally more, rather than losing every night.

And to think, I bought tickets to the Red Sox-Yankees game at Yankee Stadium next month, figuring I’d be watching baseball’s greatest rivals play in the midst of a heated pennant race. Now the Sox are all of 7 1/2 games behind the Yankees (and 2 games out of the wild card spot).

New in the last couple of days: Dad has a fine post on the evils of terrorism. Toby, equipped at last with a phone line and a computer, finally gives us her thoughts on her new living situation. Kristy fills us in on the early days of her year “abroad” in Los Angeles. (My term, not hers — but hey, it is sort of like a foreign country. Apologies to Texas.) And last but certainly not least, Becky gives us an update on the severe gas shortage in Phoenix. (News coverage of that crisis here.)

“You’re kind of a cross between Potter and Weasley.”

–Mike Silva, one of my co-workers, speaking to me and referring, of course, to boy wizard Harry Potter and his red-haired best friend Ron Weasley

“We cannot appease these people, we must not reward these people, we must defeat these people. … We are either going to fight them and win, or surrender.”

–Clifford May, former director for the Republican National Committee, speaking to the New York Sun about yesterday’s terrorist attacks in Iraq and Israel

A road map to hell:

A powerful suicide bombing aboard a Jerusalem bus killed 20 people, children among them, and wounded more than 80 others, rescue workers and police said Tuesday night. …

A statement from the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the bus was carrying children on their way back from a visit to Jerusalem’s Western Wall.

A few weeks ago, I bought a bumper sticker that says “Death to Terrorists.” Then, the weekend before last, a couple of my more liberal friends were coming over to visit, and I took the bumper sticker down for fear that its starkness might offend their sensibilities. I haven’t put it back up since. I think I will today, when I get home.

My God/Allah have mercy on our troubled world.

Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the blackout. The government doesn’t believe them. Hmm… I wonder. Does Al Qaeda have a history of claiming responsibility for things it didn’t do?

The reports about unexplained massive energy surges hours before the Ohio power lines failed made me suspicious as soon as I heard them. Well, time will tell, I suppose. Fox News, at least, reports that officials “are unable to rule out the possibility that a computer hacker plunged 50 million people into darkness.” Islamic fundamentalist hackers? Hey, it could happen.

First the blackout; now, the washout. Frequent lightning too. (So much for that blog holiday. But hey, Moblogging doesn’t really count, right? :)

audblog audio post

Thunderstorm moving through; cloud-to-ground lightning seen. I think maybe I’ll stay on buses and off subways for now, just in case. :)

I got a copy of yesterday’s Times! Yay! I ventured out too late yesterday to find one in Washington Heights, but here in Riverdale the news box (which does not stock Sunday papers) still had two!

Pretty flowers, and (so far) light rain.

I’m here at Wave Hill, just in time to hear the booming thunder of a storm just to our north. :) Hopefully it will bypass us.