{"id":10715,"date":"2013-07-28T01:09:53","date_gmt":"2013-07-28T08:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=10715"},"modified":"2013-07-28T01:09:53","modified_gmt":"2013-07-28T08:09:53","slug":"open-thread7282013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2013\/07\/28\/open-thread7282013\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–7\/28\/2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writing early for day 44, I\u2019m still quite tired from my busy week and battling the intense heat.  At 8:20 AM it has cooled to 80\u00b0 at my desk, but today may be the start of a few less horrid days.  Here\u2019s hoping.<\/font><\/p>\n

Jig Zone Puzzle<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s took me 4:45 (average 5:53).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

Fantasy Football Reminder<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

The live online draft for our fantasy football league is today at 11 AM Pacific, 12 Noon central, 1 PM Mountain and 2 PM Eastern Daylight Savings Time.  My mama had a special word for players who do not attend: Lunch! \ud83d\ude09<\/font><\/p>\n

Short Takes<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

From NY Times<\/a>: <\/font>More than two years after Congress passed a landmark law meant to prevent the importation of contaminated food that sickens Americans, the Food and Drug Administration proposed rules on Friday that for the first time put the main onus on companies to police the food they import. <\/p>\n

Major food importers and consumer advocates generally praised the new rules<\/a>, but the advocates also said they worried the rules might give the companies too much discretion about whether to conduct on-site inspections of the places where the food is grown and processed. They said such inspections must be mandated. <\/p>\n

I’m OK with this as long as there is sufficient oversight to ensure strict accountability. Left completely to Wal-fart, a 1% per year customer death rate would fall within their acceptable parameters.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Common Dreams<\/a>: <\/font>The pristine Arctic ice of the North Pole has now melted into a lake.<\/p>\n

A time-lapse video, produced by Jake Bialer with images captured by a webcam erected near the North Pole Environmental Observatory<\/a>\u2014shows the state of Arctic sea ice since 2000 and documents the dramatically altered landscape as global warming takes its toll.<\/p>\n