I’m writing for tomorrow, and I shall post just this article, because my COPD interfered with my sleep last night. I plan to watch a lot of the Olympic coverage. I have long been a fan of amateur sports, although I admit to frustration over the way pros have taken over some venues and even most “amateurs” are now pros. Nevertheless, there will be lots of moments worth seeing, even though I expect those dang Canadians to kick our butts more often than not.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 3:35 (average 5:26). To do it, click here. How did you do?
From My Window:
The Winter Storm Warning has been extended through tomorrow night. Lots of places are colder and have more snow, but this is highly unusual here.
Short Takes:
From Mother Jones: There’s one main rule at the conservative donor conclaves held twice a year by Charles and David Koch at luxury resorts: What happens there stays there.
The billionaire industrialists and their political operatives strive to ensure the anonymity of the wealthy conservatives who fund their sprawling political operation—which funneled more than $400 million into the 2012 elections—and to keep their plans private. Attendees of these summits are warned that the seminars, where the Kochs and their allies hatch strategies for electing Republicans and advancing conservative initiatives on the state and national levels, are strictly confidential; they are cautioned to keep a close eye on their meeting notes and materials. But last week, following the Kochs’ first donor gathering of 2014, one attendee left behind a sensitive document at the Renaissance Esmeralda resort outside of Palm Springs, California, where the Kochs and their comrades had spent three days focused on winning the 2014 midterm elections and more. The document lists VIP donors—including John Schnatter, the founder of the Papa John’s pizza chain—who were scheduled for one-on-one meetings with representatives of the political, corporate, and philanthropic wings of Kochworld. The one-page document, provided to Mother Jones by a hotel guest who discovered it, offers a fascinating glimpse into the Kochs’ political machine and shows how closely intertwined it is with Koch Industries, their $115 billion conglomerate.
Click through for the complete list of Koch Suckers.
From NY Times: The Senate failed to move forward on a three-month extension of assistance for the long-term unemployed on Thursday, leaving it unlikely that Congress would approve the measure soon while undercutting a key aspect of President Obama’s economic recovery plan.
The Senate did not fail. The Republican Party sabotaged it. Every Democrat voted for it. All but four Republicans voted against it.
From Think Progress: With the 2014 Winter Olympics kicking off Friday, all eyes are on Sochi to see who will violate Russia’s ban on “gay propaganda.” This ambiguous law, purportedly designed to protect children from homosexuality, has been used to punish any positive messages about LGBT people; just on Friday, more than a dozen were arrested in St. Petersburg for a sign quoting the Olympics’ nondiscrimination ordinance (Principle 6).
The International Olympics Committee seems to have arranged a truce with Russia that the law will not be enforced during the Games, but has also discouraged athletes from making any political statements. A “speakers corner” has been set up for athletes, but it’s several miles away from any of the venues and President Vladimir Putin said this week that Sochi is “not the place” to debate gay rights.
Of the 2,500 athletes attending the games, only seven are openly gay, an improbably low proportion, but openly lesbian Dutch snowboarder Chery Maas has already flashed her unicorn rainbow glove for the camera . It remains to be seen how enforcement of the law will actually play out, but here are 10 attendees who are likely to violate the ban:
Click through for the list of athletes, who may have the courage to challenge GOP Pootie (R-RU) and his Republican War on the LGBT community.
Cartoon:
One of the best arguments for health-insurance reform is that our traditional employer-based system often locked people into jobs they wanted to leave but couldn’t because they feared they wouldn’t be able to get affordable coverage elsewhere. 
TomCat,
