Solidarity!

James Fallows: On strategy and tactics

Cutting Through The Crap: Calmness under fire, careful deliberation...since when?

The Osterley Times: John McCain is campaigning on change whilst telling us that change is dangerous

The Moderate Voice: The liberal Palin pity party, lies, and self esteem

The Peking Duck: What could be more unnerving than having your largest creditor begin pondering your financial demise?

It's fiscal meltdown time at The Opinion Mill's Weekend Bookchat! Learn about the con-man who caused the first banking collapse in America, and read about the book that all but prophesied the current collapse. There's a new creationist pseudo-textbook out, and we've got the reviews! Here's a story about the new India that Thomas Friedman would rather not read! All this and more!

Guest hosted by Blue Gal (I'll be here all week, send me tips, but don't try the veal.)

Susie Bright (nsfw): The most expensive birth control in the world, and why is it so cheap in Houston?

The Aristocrats: Signs you have too many houses.

CJSD: First Veep Possibility to answer the phone at 3am wins!

Eh? The Canadians are making fun of our turning small Iowa towns into open air prisons. (h/t Existentialist
Cowboy)

There is a conference this weekend in New Orleans on The Future of New Orleans including a blogger meet up tonight. No word on whether you'll be able to receive text messages at the conference. (On the Obama text msg. topic, Sef leaves the best. comment. ever.)

Wow. Just wow.

KOCO 5 (Oklahoma City):

An Oklahoma church canceled a controversial gun giveaway for teenagers at a weekend youth conference.

Windsor Hills Baptist had planned to give away a semiautomatic assault rifle until one of the event's organizers was unable to attend.

The church's youth pastor, Bob Ross, said it's a way of trying to encourage young people to attend the event. The church expected hundreds of teenagers from as far away as Canada.

"We have 21 hours of preaching and teaching throughout the week," Ross said.[..]

"I don't want people thinking ‘My goodness, we're putting a weapon in the hand of somebody that doesn't respect it who are then going to go out and kill,'" said Ross. "That's not at all what we're trying to do."

Ross said the conference isn't all about guns, but rather about teens finding faith.

What Would Jesus Do? Give a semi-automatic weapon to a teenager, naturally. Makes perfect sense to me. (/sarcasm)

AP:

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy say he has a malignant brain tumor.

Doctors for the Massachusetts Democrat say tests conducted after Kennedy suffered a seizure this weekend show a tumor in his left parietal lobe. His treatment will be decided after more tests but the usual course includes combinations of radiation and chemotherapy.

The 76-year-old senator has been hospitalized in Boston since Saturday, when he was airlifted from Cape Cod after a seizure at his home.

His wife and children have been with him each day but have made no public statements.

His doctors said in a statement released to The Associated Press that he has had no further seizures, is in good spirits and is resting comfortably.

Update: Senator Kennedy's staff has set up a space on the Senator's website where you may wish him well.

During an exchange on Tim Russert's show last weekend about the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Christopher Hitchens mocked his fellow Englishman Andrew Sullivan when he forgets the second point he was trying to make.

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Transcript via MM:

SULLIVAN: Two things. One, it's important to clear up that he [Wright] did not say "The Jews are going to get you" in some conspiratorial, classic anti-Semitic fashion. I think that's just --

HITCHENS: He [Wright] thinks only Jews are going to object to [Rev. Louis] Farrakhan and [Libyan leader Moammar] Gadhafi. Excuse me?

SULLIVAN: No, he didn't say "only."

HITCHENS: No, but --

SULLIVAN: Again, you keep playing with that quote. We're happy to have it on the record. And now you've made me forget my second point, which is --

HITCHENS: Oh, well, don't be such a lesbian. Get on with it.

At least Sullivan doesn't seem to take offense to Hitchens' remark.

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.

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I can't even watch this gibberish anymore. I started editing down the clip to find the most ridiculous statements Bush made on the war, but it's all ridiculous.

Here's the speech. Al-Qaeda is everywhere, but we're winning. Blah, blah, blah...

dday:

As if on cue, news came out that two Americans had been killed in rocket attacks inside the Green Zone, the city of Baghdad is under a weekend curfew, per MSNBC all Green Zone personnel has been told to stay inside fortified areas, and the Iraqi Army may have "faltered" in Basra...

click for larger. Dr. Zaius's contribution to Blog Against Theocracy, happening all weekend at http://blogagainsttheocracy.blogspot.com. Lots of great bloggers linked there.

Open thread below.

(click for a larger calendar) Attention all bloggers and those who read 'em:

Iraq War Blogswarm is Wednesday...how-to's, list of participants, etc. here .

Blog Against Theocracy is next weekend, how-to's and details (participants will be linked at the site throughout the weekend) here.

Open Thread below....