Open Thread –11/11/2010

By noon yesterday, I had recovered sufficiently to do some volunteer work on the 7th Step website and then to come here and catch up on comments.  I may even get some return visits in today.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:57 (average 6:38).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Think Progress: Yesterday, however, a shocking lawsuit brought by the state of Pennsylvania against a debt collector in Erie, PA illustrates why federal oversight is necessary for the industry, which deals with vulnerable people often on the brink of financial collapse. Unicredit America Inc. is accused of using phony Sheriff’s deputies and a corporate office decorated as a courtroom to confuse debtors into thinking they were in legal trouble in order to coerce them into making immediate payments.

It’s practices like these that Republicans are fighting to protect.

From TPM: Joyce Kaufman, the south Florida talk-radio host and new incoming chief of staff for Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL) has made an auspicious debut in her staff work: Calling outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) "garbage."

This is the same hate monger that promised to organize armed revolution in the hills if West lost.

From News Hounds: Glenn Beck outdid himself in crazy yesterday as he went on an hour-long smearfest against George Soros that suggested – via suggestion and unfounded hypothesis – he has somehow conspired with Democrats, progressives and the Obama administration to demolish the U.S. economy.

Consider a Beck/O’Donnell ticket for 2012.  How sweet would that be?

Cartoon:

What’s up in your world?