Dear Dag Boys:

I am writing to express my concern with a new development that has very recently come to my attention. I am referring, of course, to the invitation for readers to follow Dagblog on Twitter. 

Being, as I am, ever so slightly behind the curve when it comes to internet advancements, I write to suggest--nay, implore--that you not require your bloggers to in any way engage in this new endeavor.

I believe that, should you make the tweeting an imperative, I would be able to master the techology. However, I simply do not want to.

Well, it just so happens that your boy, DF, was able to move some things around and get down to the mass teabagging that took place on the steps of California's Capitol Building in Sacramento.  Fox News had dispatched Big, Bad, Business-Is-My-Business Anchor, Neil Cavuto, and Lesser Blogosphere Harpy, Michelle Malkin.  I took a bunch of pictures at the event.  Sadly, these pictures were taken with my phone and aren't the best quality, but hopefully they will provide a sample of the flavor of the afternoon.

Steve Benen over at the Washington Monthly has an interesting piece today about some remarks that Glenn Beck has been making. Beck is apparently of a mind that the founding fathers would support state secession if the federal government were committing suicide, whatever that means.

Now, I happen to agree that we should not follow our leaders like lemmings. But I also happen to be fond, perhaps to a fault, of sound reasoning.

Exhibit A:

My girlfriend sent this to me. Do you think it's a hint? Pretty funny in any case.

More animations at Tales of Mere Existence.

U.S. consumer prices fell unexpectedly in March and recorded their first annual drop since 1955, government data showed on Wednesday, as slumping demand pushed down energy and food costs. [Reuters]

Falling prices? It's like a national fire-sale. What's not to like?

When we last left our hero, he was pitifully angsting about whether to leave his home of New York City. Many readers have demanded to know what he decided. OK, no one has actually demanded, but that won't stop him from sharing, nor from referring to himself in the third person.

The Baby Boomers have blown it in spectacular fashion.

For much of the past 20 years, they have been the ones in charge of this country. During that time, they have...

... ignored the looming Social Security crisis, which has been simmering for decades and is now apparently coming to a boiling point much quicker than originally estimated.

After breaking the camera of an aggressive paparazzo who was photographing him with his daughter, Woody Harrelson explained that he mistook the photographer for a zombie:

"I wrapped a movie called 'Zombieland,' in which I was constantly under assault by zombies, then flew to New York, still very much in character. With my daughter at the airport I was startled by a paparazzo, who I quite understandably mistook for a zombie."

Under relentless media pressure after weeks of foot-dragging, the Obama Administration finally selected a nominee for a top government post: First Dog.

Banks are chafing under Federal bailout terms, according to today's New York Times. Fearing that they will be forced to sell off toxic assets and curtail executive compensation, some banks are trying to return bailout money. But there's a catch. In order to receive the bailout loans, the banks had to grant the Federal Government stock warrants. The warrants give the Federal Government the option to buy stock in the company at a specified price.

I feel dirty.

And also, somehow, proud of Rachel Maddow and Ana Marie Cox. Tonight on Rachel's show, they found the Holy Grail of double entendre. I wonder if Glenn Beck gets it.

You've no doubt seen the video in which Obama bowed meekly before King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia:

I'm going to try and keep this short and sweet.  The basic point I want to drive home is this: Climate change is occurring, but "cap and trade" policies will not stop it.

While "cap and trade" seems to offer a sensible policy prescription for reducing carbon emissions, marginal, near-term reductions in atmospheric carbon dioxide will not put a halt to climate change.  In order for me to explain why, I'm going to set down a few of the facts about climate change so that we're all on the same page.

This financial crisis is more than what it appears.

It is symptomatic of a society that at some point over the last 30 years lost its way by seeking not the road less traveled, but instead the quickest route.

It is the culmination of a mindset that increasingly became interested in pursuing immediate gratification at any cost.

Look around you. In every area of modern life, the shortcut has become the rule, not the exception.

These days, everybody is blaming someone. The democrats blame the republicans, who blame them right back. The rich blame the poor. The poor are ordering pitchforks.

New York blames Detroit. Detroit blames the labor unions. Labor unions blame Walmart. 

George Bush blames Osama bin Laden. DickCheney blames President Obama.  Evangelical Christians blame San Franciso values. Gays in California blame the Mormons (although, let's face it, when blame is launched, it can sometimes hit the target spot on).

Just a few weeks ago, I fell in love with singer Ingrid Michaelson while watching her perform an amazing concert.

After 35 years of living, I had my first celebrity crush.

Happy Earth Hour, everyone! In a gesture of appreciation for our beautiful planet, which if all goes according to plan will slowly simmer to death sometime this century, dagblog is joining the stampede of environmentally concerned municipalities and other organizations turning the lights off major landmarks for one hour this evening.

Could this be the beginning of the end for our markets' last great bubble?

An auction today of $34 billion in 5-year U.S. government bonds didn't go over so well, fetching prices well under what analysts were expecting.

Ruh-roh.

Oh I know, it may not seem like that big of a deal. The debt still got sold, unlike an unsuccessful auction for 40-year bonds in the UK. The fact that our auction resulted in yields (which move in the opposite direction of the price of bonds) of 1.849% versus the expected 1.801% seems like rather unimportant, inside-baseball type of stuff.

Every Tuesday night after my weekly basketball game, I pick up some Mickey D's for me and Ms. Deadman (or Deadwoman, if you prefer) to eat at home. It's a classy tradition in the Deadman household, one that we both totally look forward to, with the main source of our enjoyment being the Filet-O-Fish sandwich that always makes up the entree portion of our meals.

A recent World Bank study indicates a disturbing rise in trade protectionism around the world in response to the economic crisis. Here are a few examples: