Open thread - and a request for some help

UPDATE: You guys were tremendously generous, thank you! No more donations are necessary, Michael now has enough to get the new computer (fortunately he already has the monitor, keyboard, etc., so all he needs is a tower). I think Michael was a bit shocked when I just called him - he didn't know I/we were doing this. This was terribly nice of you guys, thank you :-) JOHN

I'm heading back to DC in a few hours. Fellow AMERICAblog blogger Michael in NYC had a computer meltdown last night and is pretty much screwed - it's dead. Michael wasn't really budgeting for buying a new computer right now, so I have a favor to ask. For the next few days, any donations you make to AMERICAblog will instead go towards helping Michael get a new computer, so he can get back to blogging (and working - he's a freelance writer, so no computer means death). So please, if the spirit moves you, make a donation with the "Make a Donation" link at the top of the page via PayPal, and I'll pass 100% of the money along to Michael. He doesn't know I'm doing this, and won't for a while since he has no computer to find out!

Thanks as always, and Happy Easter to any non-orthodox Christians out there. JOHN