I’m going on a rare vacation (got a few new posts below), but you are in for a treat. An excellent and eclectic group of guest-bloggers is taking over this week:

*Val Prieto blogs at Babalu Blog, “an island on the net without a bearded dictator.” He’s fidel castro’s fiercest blogging nemesis. (And don’t write in to correct his non-capitalization of castro’s name. That’s deliberate.)

*Karol Sheinin blogs at Alarming News. She’s vivacious, funny, and a rare species: a conservative in NYC.

*Mary Katharine Ham blogs at Townhall.com. She’s the wise-cracking, fresh-making conservative blogbabe immortalized recently by Day by Day’s Chris Muir.

*Columnist Diana West writes for the Washington Times. She is one of the most cogent thinkers and writers I have the privilege to know, and I owe her an incalculable debt of gratitude for pushing me in the right direction on the subjects of jihad and dhimmitude.

Give them all a warm welcome (you know they’ll be getting hate mail and bizarro mail within minutes of this introductory post). Bryan Preston will also stop by to keep you up to date on happenings at Hot Air. I’ll have new Vents all week in case you start to suffer withdrawal symptoms.

I’ll be popping in here on occasion if big news breaks or insomnia strikes. Otherwise, I plan to spend every free minute enjoying my family and the waning days of summer. Thanks to my guest-bloggers for helping make it possible!