Today's edition of quick hits:
* President Obama's straightforward message to House Republicans: "Don't shut down the government."
* A parting shot: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Friday that the Senate is done acting on legislation to avert a government shutdown and that House Republicans have no choice but to pass the Senate's bill if they want to keep the government open."
* On a related note, the Senate's stopgap measure has an expiration date of November 15th, instead of December 15th. Why is that? Greg Sargent explains it's all about the sequester.
* Climate: "The world's top climate scientists on Friday formally embraced an upper limit on greenhouse gases for the first time, establishing a target level at which humanity must stop spewing them into the atmosphere or face irreversible climatic changes. They warned that the target is likely to be exceeded in a matter of decades unless steps are taken soon to reduce emissions."
* Detroit: "Detroit won't be getting a bailout any time soon, but that doesn't mean that Washington is neglecting the financially troubled metropolis entirely. On Friday, the White House unveiled its plan to add $300 million to the Detroit's coffers, a cash infusion which may boost economic development but is unlikely to put much of a dent in the city's colossal debt burden."
* An important case to watch: "The Texas omnibus abortion law that state Senator Wendy Davis tried to block with a 13-hour filibuster is headed to court. A trio of women's and civil liberties groups–Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the ACLU of Texas–filed a federal lawsuit Friday against some provisions of the law, including restrictions on medication abortion and the regulations openly intended to shut down many of Texas's abortion clinics. They were joined by more than a dozen Texas women's health providers."
* Arkansas: "Earlier today, the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services notified state officials in Arkansas that it has approved the states' Medicaid expansion plan. And this is not any old expansion plan: Arkansas will be the only state in the country that will use Medicaid dollars to purchase private health insurance for its new public program enrollees."
* Preparing for the worst: "Pentagon officials are preparing to furlough nearly all of the department's civilian workforce, severely curtail day-to-day U.S. military operations and bring any plans for new business contracts to a halt if the federal government shuts down next week."
* I guess the religious right movement has a new favorite pasta? "The chairman of Barilla Group says his company will not feature gay families in advertisements for his products because he likes the 'traditional' family. If someone disagrees, well, they can go 'eat another brand of pasta.'"
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.