{"id":10732,"date":"2013-07-31T02:25:23","date_gmt":"2013-07-31T09:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=10732"},"modified":"2013-07-31T02:25:23","modified_gmt":"2013-07-31T09:25:23","slug":"open-thread7312013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2013\/07\/31\/open-thread7312013\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–7\/31\/2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s 84\u00b0 at my desk, as I write for day 47 and the last day of July.  We have a couple hotter days forecast followed by a couple more moderate days.  The down side is that in the past, August and September have been our hottest months.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today\u2019s took me 2:56 (average 4:45).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From NY Times<\/a>: <\/font>For generations, homosexuality has largely been a taboo topic for the Vatican, ignored altogether or treated as \u201can intrinsic moral evil,\u201d in the words of the previous pope. <\/p>\n

In that context, brief remarks by Pope Francis suggesting that he would not judge priests for their sexual orientation, made aboard the papal airplane on the way back from his first foreign trip, to Brazil, resonated through the church. Never veering from church doctrine opposing homosexuality, Francis did strike a more compassionate tone than that of his predecessors, some of whom had largely avoided even saying the more colloquial \u201cgay.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?\u201d Francis told reporters, speaking in Italian but using the English word \u201cgay.\u201d <\/p>\n

What a surprise that is!! What will the Republican homophobes, who have used their Catholicism to bolster their TEAbuggery, do to justify spewing hate now?<\/font><\/p>\n

From Truthdig<\/a>: <\/font>Illinois state Rep. Mike Bost is running<\/a> for Congress. Apparently, he\u2019s very loud.<\/p>\n

This is a video put together by liberal fundraising group ActBlue, which, it should be noted, would prefer to keep all Republicans out of Congress<\/p>\n