Wednesday morning: Laundry today, hockey tonight . . .

1. There is a gauzy fog blanketing the North Country this morning, and it seems to be lifting as the coffee lifts the gauzy fog in my brain. It's 40 degrees this morning, headed to 74.

2. I have writing and job-hunting to do (What do we do every day, Liam?), then laundry, and I am covering a hockey game tonight.

3. This morning's earworm is "God Willing," bu the Dropkick Murphys, largely because they just sent out their schedule, which covers the next four months and includes Scotland, England, Ireland and the U.S.

4. The new Harry Dresden book is waiting for me at the library! The wonders of Internet library accounts.

5. Good to see Stanford give UConn a game last night. Good to see UConn win. The Red Sox and Yankess play again tonight.

6. April is Confederate History Month in Virginia.Call me a cynic, but it seems as though this is being done for every wrong reason.

If the governor really believed in the importance of this for the people of Virginia, that would be a good reason.

But politics and economics? Nope.

Oh, and mentioning slavery and Civil Rights would have helped.

Washington Post

RICHMOND -- Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, reviving a controversy that had been dormant for eight years, has declared that April will be Confederate History Month in Virginia, a move that angered civil rights leaders Tuesday but that political observers said would strengthen his position with his conservative base.

The two previous Democratic governors had refused to issue the mostly symbolic proclamation honoring the soldiers who fought for the South in the Civil War. McDonnell (R) revived a practice started by Republican governor George Allen in 1997. McDonnell left out anti-slavery language that Allen's successor, James S. Gilmore III (R), had included in his proclamation.

McDonnell said Tuesday that the move was designed to promote tourism in the state, which next year will mark the 150th anniversary of the start of the war. McDonnell said he did not include a reference to slavery because "there were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states. Obviously, it involved slavery. It involved other issues. But I focused on the ones I thought were most significant for Virginia."

7. Good physical at the doctor yesterday. My heartbeat is apparently more regular than usual, the nurse didn't gasp when she took my blood pressure, and my weight has not gone up. Now it's time to bring it down.

Recommendation of an article

For those who have been involved in the discussion of the Catholic Church sex-abuse scandal, I highly recommend this piece by Maureen Dowd, who turns her column over to her brother, who is a devout Catholic.