Theeeeeere’s a blogwatch on the rise…

The Agitator:

If you’re in the D.C. area, you might consider coming to the Cato book forum I’m hosting this Thursday for Maia Szalavitz’s new book, Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids.

Opening remarks are by Evan Wright, a Rolling Stone contributing editor, award-winning war journalist, and a guy who as a teen went through The Seed, an abusive drug rehab program that was a precursor to Straight, Inc. (link)

I missed the forum, but you can listen to it here.

Two charity links:

Two Texan servicemen are raising money for disabled veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. Rush Vann, an Infantry Officer in the Army National Guard, and David Broyles, a Pararescueman in the Air Force, will be attempting to swim the 13 miles of the Gibraltar Strait from Spain to Morrocco.

Their website is here. Their Charity is the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes, which is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that offers several programs to assist disabled veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, including services like urgent financial assistance, housing, job placement, family support, and educational and service events.

(via)

and, from Donors Choose:

For the Blogger Challenge, bloggers can visit our website, look through a list of projects that teachers are requesting for their classrooms, and select one or more to ask their readers’ help to fund. …

We put together a site with everything you need to know to get involved here: http://www.bloggerschoose.org

No amount is too small (or too large): projects awaiting funding right now range from $147 for a set of dictionaries in San Francisco to $8,578 for a new playground field in South Carolina.

And R.I.P. Muriel Spark–Joseph Bottum on her take on individuality, Kelly Jane Torrance on making art.