IN THE MAIL: From Michael Barone, the 2010 edition of The Almanac of American Politics. Likely to be popular with the Tea Party crowd, and those following them.

POLIWOOD: Fonda, Moore and Stone: They’re Back!

ANOTHER TRAFFIC-CAM PIC FROM D.C.:

UPDATE: Reader Debra Fitz writes: “Are you aware that your link to the DC rooftop camera now shows empty streets and a flag at full staff, while your screen shot from awhile ago shows thousands of people and the flag at half staff? What’s going on?” Beats me. Either it’s an old pic now, or the crowd has moved on.

And another reader emails: “Is someone tampering with the DC Traffic Cams? The pictures on Fox News don’t match what is being displayed by the Cams. Could they be running a closed loop from an average Saturday? I can’t find any demonstrations on the Traffic Cams!” I doubt it, but maybe someone can look into things.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader John Coppella writes:

I’ve been watching them all morning. The view from the cam you initially
posted showed a sizable crowd gathering for quite some time (about 2 hours?)
and then it quite clearly began moving toward the Capitol. You could follow
the crowd’s progress very clearly on the other traffic cams positioned along
Pennsylvania Ave. I don’t think there’s any conspiracy or technical
problem — it’s just that everyone’s on the Mall now and you can’t really
see the crowd from that specific camera.

That makes sense.

STRATEGYPAGE: “A major reason for poor morale in the Iraqi security forces (army and police) is the lack of long term medical care for wounded troops. In theory, the Iraqi government is supposed to allow badly wounded soldiers and police to retire on a pension (based on the extent of their injuries), and provide lifelong medical care for service connected injuries. But the government rarely does this, and keeps the wounded men on the payroll, while not providing continuing health care. The injured soldiers end up spending much of their military pay on needed medical care.”

ASK DR. HELEN: Advice to men on dating borderlines, with Randi Kreger, author of Stop Walking on Eggshells.

IT’S EARLY YET, but the Tea Party crowd in DC is already looking pretty big, judging from these traffic cam shots.

UPDATE: A reader sends this Blackberry pic:

MEMORIES PERSIST even when “forgotten.” It’s a retrieval issue, not a storage issue. “Using advanced brain imaging techniques, the scientists discovered that a person’s brain activity while remembering an event is very similar to when it was first experienced, even if specifics can’t be recalled.”

HMM: Pelosi, Dems Bracing For Huge Turnout At Glenn Beck/Tea Party Gathering. Actually, I think they’re floating huge numbers — two million? are you kidding? — so that they can paint it as a disappointment if we see “only” hundreds of thousands.

But no, that can’t be it: “The House leadership memo predicting huge turnout could have been written in hopes that it would leak and inflate expectations for turnout, anticipating that it will fall far short. But Dems on the Hill insist they’re genuinely worried about what tomorrow will bring.” Well, if they insist that they’re genuinely worried . . .

UPDATE: Moe Lane shares my suspicions:

I am certain of three things:

1. The Democrats are trying to manage expectations about today’s DC demonstration by coming up with a number of ‘expected’ protesters that is far above actual expectations;
2. The media will play along;
3. It won’t actually work.

He’ll be there.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Matthias Shapiro writes:

As a numbers guy, I’d like to ask: What numbers you think would constitute success or failure for the Tea Parties?

I think the “2 million” number is hilarious. Do the Dems really think that the Tea Party will be 3 times bigger than the biggest Iraq war protest in the country (Feb 13, 2003) ? A protest whose organizers hired hundred buses across the nation to ship protesters in?

I think that meeting the 200,000 mark would actually mean far bigger things for the Tea Parties than for the Iraq wars. It would mean either 1) a higher percentage of those who disagree showed up (since urban areas tend to lean heavily Democratic and liberal), which means the topic reaches far closer to the middle or 2) more people came in from out of town.

Given that, I think 200,000 is a huge number for a protest. And, if you’re counting protests across the country, I think it the Tea Parties will reach that number and more.

Iagree. Two million would be about double the turnout of Obama’s inauguration. I don’t believe the Dems really expect that.

HEH: “Let’s move beyond the vitriolic namecalling, you ass-zit!”

THE MERCEDES GULLWING flies again.

WHERE UNDERPANTS come from.

SO WHAT AM I DOING FOR SEPT. 11TH? In the past I’ve given shooting lessons to a Marine, and over the years I’ve blogged, not blogged, etc. This year, I’m going to a Tea Party.

UPDATE: Andrew Breitbart, hanging with his homies.

Plus, me with Jim Hoft, Andrew Breitbart, Dana Loesch, and Adrian, whose last name never heard. He came all the way from Texas, though, which is pretty cool.

More pics at Foundingbloggers.com.

DAVE KOPEL CORRECTS SOME REVISIONIST HISTORY ON CIVIL RIGHTS.

REMEMBERING THE 1988 Ford Mustang 5.0.

ACORN: When you expose us, it’s racism!

I suppose it was racism when Acorn fired those people too, then. This whole thing is like a Saturday Night Live skit.

UPDATE: Census Bureau Terminates Relationship With Acorn. So is the Census Bureau racist, too?

TEA PARTY PLANNERS hit with bomb threat.

ANTI-ABORTION PROTESTER shot in Michigan.

TWITTERING while Rome burns.

SOME THOUGHTS ON civility and politics.

MARK TAPSCOTT loves the BMW 335d. “I never thought I would hear myself saying this, but I had a ball driving the 335d in great part because of the spark plug-less powerplant under the hood. I mean for starters, what’s not to love about 265 horsepower from a 3.0 liter twin-turbo inline six?”

JOHN SCALZI ranks Star Trek directors.

AGAIN: Home Office Deduction Trips Up Treasury Department Nominee.

FIRST LOOK: Batman / Superman: Public Enemies.

SHIKHA DALMIA: Obama’s Health Plan: Put Up And Shut Up.

PRAISE FOR BING.COM from reader Martin Shoemaker:

Today on Bing (Bing.com), we have:

A photo of the 9-11 Tribute in Light.
A link to information about the Tribute in Light.
A link to construction information about the permanent monument.
A link to information about the history of the World Trade Center.
A link to videos of Philippe Petit’s World Trade Center tightrope walk.

Today on Google (www.google.com), it’s just another day. No Google Doodle to remember the attacks.

No surprise there.

UPDATE: Reader Jennifer Ciccarella writes: “Hi Glenn, ask.com also has a beautiful tribute. I have finally decided to delete Google once and for all, and start using bing.com and ask.com.”

There’s a nice one at Dogpile.com, too.