Here is a list of some words that I believe are being waaaaaayyyy overused right now. By Bush: “evil-doer” (followed closely by “punish”). In weblogs: “jingoistic.” By all news commentators: “New kind of war.” By Hardball host Chris Matthews: “beachhead.”

Here is a list of some words that I believe are not being used enough right now. By Bush: “meatloaf.” By news commentators: “I’ll shut up now.” In weblogs: “jingoistic.” By Hardball host Chris Matthews: “bunny.”

Here’s a long drawn-out note about the word “evil-doer.” Have you ever seen the movie Nell, with Jodie Foster? Nell is this feral girl who lives in the woods and speaks very butchered English. Some educated folks find her and try to interact with her. It is discovered at one point that Nell’s mother told her that all men were “evil-doers,” and so when she sees Liam Neeson for the first time, she utters in her feral girl slang,”Eba-doh! Eba-doh!” (Get it? Evil-doer? Eba-doh?) Anyway, everytime Ari and I hear Bush say “evil-doer” on the t.v., we lapse into our best Nell impersonations. Ari is far better at it than me, and can even quote other moving Nell passages: “Nell is tay … tay in tha’ wiiiiiiiiiind.”

In case you haven’t heard, the “new war” is called Operation Infinite Justice. Catchy, huh? Sen. John McCain went on Leno last night saying that America will rid the world of the terrorists responsible for the disasters in NY and DC. One of Ari’s co-workers said something yesterday that suggests this just might be possible. I haven’t checked sources on this yet, so I may be over-simplifying some points. Apparently in the 1800’s, pirates were as rampant as terrorists are today. America and England decided they were going to wipe out the pirates. And guess what? They did. For the most part, anyway. I’m sure the story is far more complicated than that, but for me it sheds some positive light on this very bad trip we’re about to embark on. [Note: someone posted a link at metafilter to an article about this. I haven’t had time to read it yet.]

Also, have you seen the list of songs Clear Channel Radio has deemed questionable and advises its 100+ radio stations against playing right now?

And finally, pictures for all my friends! I’ve posted my Fray Day 5 gallery. Have a gander, won’t you? [A funny sidenote about those pictures: from my vantage at the edge of the stage, I was able to get a picture of every storyteller with this flag in the background:

I just think that’s sort of a weird omen, considering how people are suddenly rallying around the flag right now. Was this a sign of things to come? Did Thom the World Poet ever make it back to Melbourne? Did the girl who poked Ari’s boob ever get that boob-job? Does David really give away free tacos? Answers to these questions and more when we return.]