Hovering around a 700 point drop at this point...
UPDATE: (Nicole) The Dow closed 777.68 points to 10365.45

That's lower than on Bush's first day in office, January 22, 2001

Living off Dividends:

If you think that gas prices are high at over $3.50 per gallon (I just paid $3.95 for mid-grade for my wife's Acura TSX), wait until summer. There are reports that the refineries are absorbing the cost of high oil prices right now (and some of them have hedging contracts in place to mitigate this high price), but within a few months they'll be passing this burden on to the consumers. Oil prices at the pump could very well hit $5 and if this trend continues, it could hit $8/gallon.

Due of course to the outrageous oil costs, which are more than double what it was going for this time last year.

Oil recently hit an all-time high of nearly $120 a barrel, more than double its early 2007 price of about $50 a barrel. It closed Friday at $118.52.

The forecasts calling for a jump to between $7 and $10 a gallon are based on the view that the price of crude is on its way to $200 in two to three years.

Translating this price into dollars and cents at the gas pump, one of our forecasters, the chairman of Houston-based Dune Energy, Alan Gaines, sees gas rising to $7-$8 a gallon. The other, a commodities tracker at Weiss Research in Jupiter, Fla., Sean Brodrick, projects a range of $8 to $10 a gallon.

Of course, that's what they're paying now in Europe. Fortunately for many Europeans, the choice of easy public transportation is available as well, unlike much of our country.

A couple of days ago, I linked to this Burnt Orange post about the Prairie View A&M students walking 7 miles from campus to the one voting location alloted for their district. Well, we now have video of the march:

and this update:

The day closed yesterday with:

Rep: 82 voters
Dem: 472 voters

In a county that votes for Republicans in large numbers, this number is HUGE!!!!

Also, I can report that in Austin County, the race was almost equal yesterday. That is HUGE information because Republicans normally out vote Democrats (at least in primaries) at the rate of 10-to-1.

Michigan Messenger has the latest information.

And according to MM, weather conditions are not conducive to high turn-out. Many parts of the state were blanketed in 3 to 5 inches of sloppy, wet snow overnight, with schools being closed in some areas.

UPDATE: This site, Pick Your President has been measuring online votes in key states: California, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, Washington and Wisconsin. Call me skeptical, but it looks like there may be some gaming of the polls by a few ardent supporters.

(h/t Heather)

Democracy Now!:

A federal criminal investigation has been opened into a 58,000-gallon spill of heavy bunker fuel into the San Francisco Bay. The spill took place when a container ship slammed into the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Wednesday. Coast Guard officials acknowledged Friday that they had waited over four hours before notifying the public of the magnitude of the spill. They had previously reported a leak of just 140 gallons.

The oil spill has shut down over a dozen beaches and killed at least 60 birds. Ecologists warn that it could take months to clean up and that it threatens the Bay's diverse ecosystem, including several endangered species.

Environmental organizations like Friends of the Earth and San Francisco Baykeeper have condemned the ecological impact of the spill and the slowness of the official response. They are also calling for a ban on the shipping industry's use of the heavily polluting bunker fuel, which they say is a thousand times worse for the environment than highway diesel.

CNN offers pictures of the spill, of which the impact is horrifying to consider. Beaches all around the Bay Area are closed with big signs telling people not to touch the beach tar that is floating up to shore. Oil has been reported as far as 15 miles away and reports are that this will impact wildlife in the area for years to come.

There's a delicious sense of schadenfreude to this story.

  Houston Chronicle:

From a wooden bench in front of a shop selling mementos of "The Western White House," tourist Chuck Yorde wondered aloud why he seemed to be the only visitor in town.[..]

The Youngstown, Ohio, resident was almost apologetic about his own presence in the town that hosts President George W. Bush's 1,600-acre ranch. He said he was visiting his sister in nearby Gatesville who's "a big Bush fan. ... She dragged me over here."

Shuttered storefronts and eroding retail sales figures show tourism and the Bush memorabilia business are slumping in this once-sleepy farm-and-ranch town of 732 residents.

A for-sale sign is the only thing in the smudged window of the turn-of-the-century, two-story brick building that once housed the Crawford Country Style store. "The numbers just weren't working," said Norma Nelson Crow, who closed the shop at the beginning of the year.[..]

Bill Johnson, owner of the Yellow Rose, Crawford's largest gift shop, said he has been stocking more Texana and Americana items in response to the drop-off in sales of Bush merchandise. "We're changing our mix," Johnson said. "As a business we have to do what we have to do to be successful."

 The comments attached to the article are worth a laugh or two as well...

  Reuters:

A portion of a sixth-floor ABC News office housing "Good Morning America" was closed down for five hours Friday afternoon after an employee found a letter containing an unidentified white powder.

A portion of a floor in the building at 147 Columbus Ave. was shut down after 1 p.m. when the unnamed employee found the letter. Addressed to "Good Morning America" weatherman Sam Champion, the letter mentioned anthrax.[..]

ABC News said police were questioning a "person of interest" in connection with the case. The news organization said that "Good Morning America" operations would resume Friday and continue throughout the weekend. Even though tests for anthrax came back negative, the area would be thoroughly cleaned.

Although there was some discussion that Champion as to why was targeted, a former studio temp admitted to sending the letter and is being questioned.

The Right's Field:

Senator Sam Brownback sexually harassed his colleague, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, earlier today.

It started off innocently enough as he made small-talk with Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, mentioning, in passing, that senators often take off their ties when negotiating bills behind closed doors. Klobuchar needled him about it.

Klobuchar: "Ties off?... But I don't wear a tie."
Brownback: "I could say ‘dresses off' but I won't."
Klobuchar (laughing, blushing): "Not while you're running for president."

First, eww. Second, I'm sure the Gannon-Coulter defense, "He didn't actually say she should take her dress off" will be brought up by Brownback's supporters who will refuse to see this as anything for which he should be condemned.

A mountain out of a molehill? Perhaps. But I sure wouldn't be happy about a colleague making a crack like that in front of me.

WaPo blogger William M. Arkin created a little dust up in the virtual pages of WaPo this week. A little background: After watching an NBC Nightly News report that had troops bemoaning the lack of support at home Arkin posted that the soldiers should be grateful that we do respect them, even if we don't support the mission.

Well, I'm sure you can guess how well that went over with many. WaPo's editors had to close the comments after more than 900 made it through their filters, most not so nice in tone. Apparently the masochist, Arkin responded again.

1500 comments and another closed thread later, Arkin had been insulted in every possible way. Never one to back away from a fight, Arkin takes issue with the ad hominem used in lieu of debate:

I'm trying to make sense of the worldview of those who have responded. For the critics, I have become the enemy and have been demonized. In that process, I have ceased being a person, an individual, or a human being, all essential to justify the campaign to annihilate me. I'm not trying to offer myself up as victim here, nor do I expect the critics to change their view. I'm merely pointing out the process and the implications of the dehumanization.

So what do you think? Arkin's plea for civility (one I share--you commenters can be brutal and seem to forget that there are real people behind the words you're reading) suggests that a civilized exchange is a lost art. Is it the anonymity of the internet? Is it that certain topics are just too provocative to discuss calmly? Or have we collectively forgotten our manners?

This seems like a good opportunity to also give big props to our site monitors. I see the grumbling about edited posts, but I give them full credit for trying to encourage real debate and keep the trollage to a minimum.

On CNN, I just heard McCain, Graham and his posse being called "The Rebel Republicans." I might come up with a different name for the men who spent a few minutes hidden behind closed doors to help Bush authorize torture in America. But, that's just me.