The penguin flies south for the winter!

Or a small portion of late fall, anyway.

I shall be attending LosCon 34 This November in Lost Angles (the non-Euclidean city!) Due to a lack of available time off, the lovely and talented kshandra shall not be joining me.

Current plan is to fly down on Friday morning and leave Monday afternoon. Ideally, I'd like to arrive back at SJC a bit after 1700.

I've already spoken with isomeme to let him know. Anyone else on my flist attending or planning to attend?

Unamerican acts at the Senate.

Hindu prayer in the Senate draws protesters

Three protesters disrupted a prayer by a Hindu chaplain Thursday at the opening of a Senate hearing, calling it an abomination and shouting slogans about Jesus Christ.

It was the first time the daily prayer that opens Senate proceedings was said by a Hindu chaplain.

Capitol police said two women and one man were arrested and charged with causing a disruption in the public gallery of the Senate. The three started shouting when guest Chaplain Rajan Zed, a Hindu from Nevada, began his prayer.

They shouted "No Lord but Jesus Christ" and "There's only one true God," and used the term "abomination."

Religious figures from various faiths have said the prayer, which is normally recited by a Christian chaplain.

Barry Lynn, executive director of religious watchdog group Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the protest showed the intolerance of the "religious right."

"I don't think the Senate should open with prayers, but if it's going to happen, the invocations ought to reflect the diversity of the American people," Lynn said in a statement.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had invited Zed.

"I think it speaks well of our country that someone representing the faith of about a billion people comes here and can speak in communication with our heavenly father regarding peace," he said after the disruption.

I've been following this on some of the loon sites, and some nuts think that having a Hindu prayer before an mostly-empty Senate chamber violated some law that only they can see.

There are a million American citizens who are Hindu. It's their Senate too.