My One Favorite Thing this week is Scramble, an anagram word game on Facebook that is basically the online equivalent of the old board game Boggle.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, the basic idea is you are given a bunch of letter tiles laid out on a square board and you must string adjacent letters together to form words of at least three letters long, racking up more points for longer words.

It's quite the simple premise ... and also dangerously addictive.

When we last left our hero, Roland Burris had submitted amended testimony to indicate that he maybe did have those conversations about fundraising for Rod Blagojevich that he had previously adamantly denied. He got confirmed anyway and the people of Illinois moved on to bigger issues, like which shade of green to dye the Chicago River for Saint Patrick’s Day.

All alleged misconduct right now, but it appears Obama auto czar nominee Steve Rattner could be in some big trouble due to a potential NY pension kickback scandal related to the private equity firm Rattner ran. Some really damaging allegations in here, most notably an inexplicable investment in a DVD distribution plan.

I AM DEADMAN. HEAR ME TWEET!

Big news today. Ashton Kutcher just attracted his one millionth follower on the microblogging service Twitter, a milestone which has generated a fair amount of fanfare, but it's only the beginning as cult leader Oprah is going to feature Twitter on her talk show today and send her first tweet over the air.

Oh, how wonderful.

Excuse me if I don't join in the celebration - if I'm not all, ahem, atwitter with the news - but I have very mixed feelings here.

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).