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.

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I’m writing for tomorrow, and for now, the standoff continues.  Tick-tick-tick… Fantasy players, be sure your lineups are ready for Thursday night’s game.

Update: Woooo Hoooo!!!!!

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:36 (average 4:33).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Esquire: Are You in the New American Center?

An Esquire/NBC poll.

It’s really quite interesting.  Click through to take it.  I’m not in the so-called New American Center.  This is me:

From Upworthy: Congress Did Something So Spectacularly Creepy That It’s Too Unbelievable To Make Up

On the House floor, Congressman Chris Van Hollen decided to get a clarification on the rules of the shutdown. Apparently, normally any congressperson can call for a vote on any bill at any time. But just before the shutdown happened, the GOP quietly passed a measure that said only House Majority Leader Eric Cantor can call for the shutdown to end (unless he gives a designee permission).

If nothing else, this should show you that, on October 1, the Republican Party leadership anticipated that their sedition would comprise a minority position, even in the House where Republicans hold the majority.  They acted to prevent majority rule, thereby rendering the democratic process in Congress moot. Seven pieces of DINO dog crap betrayed America and goose-stepped with the Republicans in support of HR 368: Ron Barber AZ-2, John Barrow GA-12, Dan Maffei NY-24 Sean Patrick Maloney NY-18, Jim Matheson UT-4, Mike McIntyre NC-7 and Collin Peterson MN-7.  Of one of them is yours, tell them what you think of what they did.

From The New Yorker: Adding his voice to the eleventh-hour debate about the government shutdown, Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) today proposed reopening just enough of the government to hold new hearings on Benghazi.

“Across this great nation of ours, people are suffering,” he told Fox News’s Megyn Kelly. “Suffering, Megyn, because they still don’t know what really happened in Benghazi.”

Noting that the government shutdown had furloughed investigators who could be looking into Benghazi, he said, “If there’s something in our government more worthy of funding than that, I can’t think of it.”

Andy may have just given Idiot, Son of Idiot, Named after Idiot an idea.

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