Good for Rep. Mike Doyle...

The United Nations has designated April 2 as World Autism Awareness Day. To mark this historic occasion, the Autism Society of America, the World Autism Organization and the Co-Chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Coalition for Autism Research and Education (C.A.R.E.), Rep. Chris Smith and Rep. Mike Doyle, will hold a press conference on the Cannon Terrace to build support for critical legislation that would provide needed autism services in the U.S. and around the world.

In February 2008, a bi-partisan group of legislators joined Congressmen Smith and Doyle in introducing the Global Autism Assistance Act, (HR 5446). This landmark legislation will establish a global health and education grant program related to autism spectrum disorders and provide support to families, educational institutions, clinics and medical centers in developing nations...read on

Related: Above shows L.A. Skyline by Stephen Wiltshire, who is diagnosed with autism. Click image for larger and read more about him and his work here. The PRI program Studio 360 had an excellent show this past weekend on Art and Autism which can be streamed and/or downloaded for free.

This clip from Tuesday's "Tucker" will get your blood boiling before he even finishes the setup. Tucker discusses the ACLU's recent lawsuit on behalf of three victims of the U.S. government's extraordinary rendition program with the Hill's A.B. Stoddard and L.A. Times columnist Rosa Brooks. The ever-whiny Carlson attempts to meld the ACLU with the Democrats and suggests that their lawsuit makes the left appear soft on terror, but Brooks shreds his talking points, one by one.  Tucker's ratings aren't as bad as Glenn Beck's, but it's still a mystery why MSNBC keeps him around.

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Via WFSA: (h/t L.A. Confidential)

You might say this year's regular legislative session will be known for politics, a pay raise, and a punch.

Republicans and Democrats have been at each others throats in the senate all session long, but they did pass themselves a pay raise. Then on Thursday, tensions escalated when violence broke out between two senators right on the State Senate floor.

So how did the fight get started? It began as the dispute between the minority group that is mostly made up of Republicans, and the majority group of 18 Democrats continued. So tempers could calm down and the senators could regroup they voted to take a recess, but that when the emotions flared. Republican Senator Charles Bishop tells WSFA 12 News that, "He (Senator Lowell Barron) called me a son of the bitch. Where I grew up that is somebody talking bad about your mother and when he did I responded with my right hand, and from that point on I don't know what happened because people grabbed me and I turned around and walked off." Read more...

That would be assault, right? Every company I've ever worked for had a policy on physical violence - if you physically assault a co-worker you're automatically fired. If this were you or I, we'd be standing in the unemployment line right now. Barron was wrong to use such language, but Bishop should resign, immediately.

What if Paris Hilton did something and the traditional media didn't cover it? Would anyone miss it? Would anyone care?

As it turns out, no. I know what you're thinking: well, duh, Nicole. But in all seriousness, AP newswire decided to experiment with a "No Paris Hilton stories" policy for a week. They were braced for questions and complaints ... instead they got thanks, from media and consumers alike.

Now contrast that to this quote David Sirota found from an LA Times owner in the Frontline series on today's media:

"[The LA Times] has got these 22 foreign bureaus...That's not what readers want. Readers care about the local entertainment industry...They care about things like fashion...Where the problem is, is that the people who are writing the L.A. Times, they want to be writing about international events. They want to be writing long-term pieces about why Bush went to war in Iraq. And we're saying, and the people at Tribune are saying, there are other people writing those stories...Do we really need the L.A. Times devoting the resources it has to that story?"

Actually, yes, we DO need the LA Times (and other media) devoting resources to that. And as the AP example show, your consumers will thank you for it. Duh.

Time 10:47am EST

"Local news posted photo of arrested photog - all arrests were directed by Republican poll watchers. I don't nor does any other legal authority, know why it is illegal" to photograph - TV news cameras abounded. I will challenge it tomorrow. It was intimidation pure and simple and the people buckled after the arrest. I have taken photographs myself and will have them in a few hours. That's if I'm not arrested too!"

Gilliard: Jay,You're wrong. The Post doesn't want transparency. They didn't like the fact that they were challenged on a major issue of credibility and factual error. Deborah Howell refused to conceed this major error and when challenged, they mischaracterized the response and then shut down comments..read on

AmericaBlog: The Washington Post today published an incredibly anti-gay comic strip for all of Washington...read on

Poynter: I hate to be one of those folks who points fingers at the "old media," especially since I both blog and write frequently for print, but Jim Brady at The Washington Post just doesn't get it in the same way Michael Kinsley didn't get it with the Wikitorial idea at the L.A. Times....read on

Terry Heaton. "Just because you don’t like the outcome doesn’t justify juvenile behavior like taking your ball and going home....read on"

LAT Political Writer Dick Bergholz, One Of A Kind