The Dish

Top this one, Leon:

Pope Benedict XVI's personal preacher on Friday likened accusations against the pope and the Catholic church in the sex abuse scandal to "collective violence" suffered by the Jews. The Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa said in a Good Friday homily with the pope listening in St. Peter's Basilica that a Jewish friend wrote to him to say the accusations remind him of the "more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism."

Four dudes act like their girlfriends. Totes LOL:

George Packer updates us on the political situation in Burma. The junta's election laws made Aung San Suu Kyi ineligible for office. (Suu Kyi has lead the most important opposition party in Burma for twenty years.) The opposition responded by boycotting:

Once again, Burma and the world are moving in opposite directions. The U.S. might be ready to seek a compromise with the regime, but the regime is still doing what it does best: by its own brutal rigidity, forcing the opposition into a rigid and, perhaps, a self-defeating response.

From Calculated Risk:

According to the [Bureau Of Labor Statistics], there are a record 6.55 million workers who have been unemployed for more than 26 weeks (and still want a job). This is a record 4.3% of the civilian workforce. (note: records started in 1948)

Philip Pullman responds to a question about whether the title of his new book, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, is offensive to Christians. It's a wonderfully brisk defense of free speech in this fundamentalist age:

And they both helped bring Obamacare to Massachusetts. A memoir from Karen Tumulty.

"They want 'blow jobs' first [in the press sense]. Then you have to be on good behavior for a bit or be willing to deal, and then you get access," – a White House reporter on how the Obama press operation works.

A reader writes:

As you'll recall, a fellow member of my state, Oklahoma, sued in February over his right to have the phrase "IM GAY" as his license plate. I'm saddened to inform you that the man, Keith Kimmel, has died. The official reason of death is unconfirmed as of yet, but signs so far point to suicide.

I don't agree with homosexuality. I'll state that. But it does sicken me that people can be driven to such extremes because of who they are.

I'll be damned if I don't support the rights of gays to be a person. And people should never have to live in a world that treats them as the gay community is treated. What the hell is wrong with us? I hope for a day when people can be loved no matter their color, religion, or sexual orientation. I'm 23 years old and I don't believe I will see it in my lifetime. But, I will know hope. I think that will be my generations mark of this country and possibly the world. We believe in hope. Sometimes it seems as if that's all we have.

My apologies for droning on. My friends and family wouldn't understand my talking about this. That's just the place I live in.

A more extensive news report here. Money quote:

Kimmel also said that when he complained about pain, officers remarked that they were "experts at putting people in their place without leaving marks. They train us on that."

A multiple sclerosis sufferer gets five years in prison for growing marijuana to treat his disease.