Yesterday, Friday, I was tied up in yet another tedious deposition for one of student-loan mogul Cary Katz and phony conservative network CRTV-BlazeTV's multiple duplicative cases against me. So I apologise for not having weighed in on the bloodbath in New Zealand and other matters in the news. We will try to catch up with these grim events in the days ahead, although I should caution that, in a couple of these Katz cases, there's a court hearing scheduled for next week in one of them, and a full trial for another of them the following week.

Eventually, however, yesterday's yawneroo deposition ended, and I made a rare Friday appearance on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" to consider the unexpected appearance in the diverse Democrat presidential field of the Great White Privileged Hope, Beto O'Rourke. Click below to watch:

A week or so back we officially announced the Second Annual Mark Steyn Cruise, following last year's sell-out maiden voyage. On September 4th, we'll be sailing from Vancouver through Alaska's Inside Passage to Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay and Ketchikan. Michele Bachmann and others of our merry crew will be returning for this latest foray, but they'll be joined by my boffo Adorable Deplorable stage-show partner Dennis Miller, so it'll be a unique combination of gags'n'glaciers.

We'll attend to all the heavy civilizational-collapse stuff but we'll also kick loose in the evening with elegant dinners, convivial receptions and some late-night laughs and music. We'll do a lot of the things we do at SteynOnline but live and at sea, including Alaskan-themed editions of Tales for Our Time, Steyn's Sunday Poem and Song of the Week. Cabins are going amazingly fast, and, as with most travel accommodations, the prices are more favorable and the range of staterooms more varied the earlier you book.

For those coming from far afield, Cindy, our cruise manager, can help with flight and hotel bookings: If you'd rather speak in person and you're dialing from almost anywhere but Australia (ie, the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, Africa, South America), it's 001 (770) 952-1959; if you're calling from North America, it's 1-800-707-1634. Or you can email your query here. As last year's cruisers know, Cindy is super-helpful.

More on the cruise here. More on The Mark Steyn Club here.