Open Thread and Diary Rescue

This evening's Rescue Rangers are Louisiana 1976, watercarrier4diogenes, hhex65, Got A Grip, BentLiberal and joyful with Avila as editor.

Please take a moment to read Cantinflas' compassionate photo diary, China's Grief and Pain (Graphic Images Warning) and help if you can.

• juliewolf describes the rigors and requirements of volunteering to do "defense" at clinics which performs abortions in I did clinic defense for three years. (hhex65)
• StrangeAnimals gives us a personal account of a terrible tragedy in It Was Ten Years Ago: The Thurston Massacre. (Got a Grip)
• Julia Rain gives a moving personal account of two of her friends, one who left us too soon and another who may soon follow, in Why Are Republicans Killing My Friends? (Got a Grip)
• Not Brit points out an obvious flaw in Bush's "appeasement" drivel in A REPUBLICAN said that, Mr. Bush while Crashing Vor throws some light on one very special Nazi appeaser and how the media might help in educating the country in general and one of his descendents in particular in My Challenge to the Media. (Got a Grip)
• LithiumCola eloquently dissects the seemingly mild-mannered but actually alarming call for a permanent U.S global counterinsurgency campaign, in Robert Gates' New Rhetoric and The Forever War. (Avila)
• NeverStopTheProgress continues a heartrending series on the despicable treatment of our military in Diary Series, Part IV: The Trauma of Silence. (Got a Grip)
• Thomas Dobbs examines, from a position of knowledge and expertise, our planet's food crisis and its roots, in More reliance on 'markets' to deal with world food crisis, or less reliance? (watercarrier4diogenes)
• Project Vote's Erin Ferns writes of the alarming trend toward laws that require voters to provide proof of citizenship, with a potential to disenfranchise an estimated 13 million Americans lacking ready access to documentation. Block The Vote! Proof of Citizenship On The Rise, Flashpoint Mo. (BentLiberal)
• Breakfast this morning, Wow is nuggatron's simple and elegant lament on the loss of his diner and his town to the short-sighted economic policies of the Bush Administration. "The truth is war is armed robbery, plain and simple...the American people are being robbed..." There's plenty more nuggets like this one. (BentLiberal)
• "The nail sticking up is very likely to be hammered down." dogemperor delves into a fascinating scientific study demonstrating how people's basic psychological makeup changes after spending time in coercive religious groups, when compared to a control group of mainstream, non-coercive denominations. Cell churches, personality changes, and coercion. (BentLiberal)
• All right, history buffs: Line up to see how the 13th century Catholic Church compares with the Bush-Cheney administration in iampunha's May 15, 1252: The beatings will continue until morals improve. (BentLiberal)
• BENAWU tracks in detail the 2008 slate of Democratic House candidates in 417 House races filled. (hhex65)
• GOTV for the Republican candidate as CarmenT brings us all the snark-a-lious reasons why in the hilarious THANK YOU: Vote for John McCain. (joyful)

jotter has High Impact Diaries - May 14.

emeraldmaiden has Top Comments - Internetus Interruptus.

Please promote your own favorite diaries in the open thread.