2011 Pride, held in Durham, NC on 9/24/2011, was a festive, albeit rainy affair (toward the end). Given the recent act by the NC state legislature to put a marriage amendment on the ballot, I expected a healthy fundie turnout. I saw only about 10 people tops, however.

I liked it better when it was “Stop whining,” “Wake up,” “Get over it,” and “Get in gear.” Easy to see why they’ve brought this back — it worked so well for them in 2010.

All of our financial elites are Oh! So Innocent! Eric Holder and Barack Obama agree.

Rin Tin Tin might be the ideal American: rugged enough but loyal and loving; a devoted friend and embodiment of empathy; a loner committed to community

The first instance of police making mass arrests of Occupy Wall Street protesters happened yesterday. Police had not detained a large group of protesters before, preferring to arbitrarily pick off individuals they thought warranted arrest. The harassment, intimidation and violence on display on the streets of New York City yesterday moved a number of major news outlets to roll on down to Liberty Park (Zuccotti Park), where the occupation has been taking place, to interview those who had survived the NYPD crackdown on dissent during the afternoon.

Firedoglake has been live blogging Occupy Wall Street since Day One. Live blogging continues and follow this Twitter list for the latest updates from the scene.

I caught the last half of Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels explaining his new budget math to CNN’s Candy Crowley. Daniels is trying to pitch himself and his book with the idea that the federal deficits and long-run debt pose an existential threat to the Republic. It’s just arithmetic, he says. But which numbers matter?

Math can be hard, but it’s impossible for those who ignore the relevant numbers.

The CLASS Act was inserted into the Affordable Care Act as a sort of tribute to the late Ted Kennedy, the bill’s longtime champion. It enacts a federal long-term care insurance program, a kind of public option for long-term care. The Obama Administration, emails now show, didn’t like it from the beginning. And now, there are signs that they may not put it into practice.

Happy Fall, happy morning. Major topics this morning, Economy stuff, debate stuff, and Palestine at the UN. White House advisor and campaign man David Plouffe makes a rash of appearances.

FDL Book Salon, hosted by Edward Teller features the new Sarah Palin tell-all by Joe McGuinniss. Emptywheel and Avedon Carol will be Virtually Speaking. Movie Night Monday will be Chasing Madoff.

Enjoy Marc Martel’s entry into the Queen Extravaganza talent search, if you haven’t seen it all ready (it has almost two million views). Here he is singing opera. It must be nice to be able to sing so gloriously. May he sing long and prosper.

Snagglepuss — Knights and Daze. This Hanna-Barbera cartoon first aired on April 3, 1961.

I’m thinking of Braniff tonight because one of the people who brought it down, Scot Spencer, is currently, erm, unavailable for questioning by the authorities (i.e., he skipped town), a status that is probably related to his latest brush with fame, the Berdoo Boondoggle (aka the “Airport to Nowhere”).