{"id":11277,"date":"2013-10-03T00:36:14","date_gmt":"2013-10-03T07:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=11277"},"modified":"2013-10-03T00:36:14","modified_gmt":"2013-10-03T07:36:14","slug":"open-thread1032013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2013\/10\/03\/open-thread1032013\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–10\/3\/2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m writing for tomorrow, and I think I\u2019ll start counting months, instead of days.  It\u2019s over three now.  I really was tired after yesterday, because I overslept this morning, and now it\u2019s almost bedtime.  Now what am I forgetting?  That\u2019s it!  EAT!! ;-)  Fantasy players check your lineups for Thursday night\u2019s game.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today\u2019s took me 2:48 (average 4:24).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From MSNBC<\/a>: ObamaCare or the ACA?<\/font><\/p>\n

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Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news<\/a>, world news<\/a>, and news about the economy<\/a><\/p>\n

America’s big problem is that sheeple like these reproduce\u2026 and vote!!<\/font><\/p>\n

From Raw Story<\/a>: <\/font>Fears were mounting Wednesday that a fight over the government\u2019s debt ceiling will overtake the budget battle that has paralyzed Washington, threatening to trigger an unprecedented US default.<\/p>\n

Republican lawmakers, frustrated that they have not won any concessions from Democrats over health care reform, have threatened to roll the two issues together.<\/p>\n

That signalled [sic] not only that the government shutdown could run for two weeks, but also that there could be a battle to the brink over the borrowing limit that would frighten global markets.<\/p>\n

Whatever damage Republicans do, caving-in to their seditious terrorism will only demonstrate to them that they can get away with doing it again. They must be taught, once and for all, that the political price they pay for anti-American behavior outweighs the benefits they hope to gain!<\/font><\/p>\n

From Salon.com<\/a>: <\/font>A nuclear bomb just exploded in the world of Bitcoin libertarianism. The FBI has busted the Silk Road, the online black market emporium in which nearly anything illicit imaginable could be purchased \u2014 but only via the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. On Wednesday, the FBI arrested Ross Ulbricht, a.k.a \u201cDread Pirate Roberts,\u201d a man whom they believe to be the founder and chief operator of the site, on charges of narcotics trafficking, computer hacking, and money laundering. The criminal complaint<\/a> filed by the FBI also alleges that Ulbricht solicited a \u201cmurder-for-hire\u201d hit on another Silk Road user who was attempting to extort Ulbricht.<\/p>\n

The complaint makes for lurid and fascinating reading, along with providing a decent tutorial on how to use the Tor anonymizing network and Bitcoin currency. If the details reported in the complaint are true, over the past several years, thousands of Silk Road users bought and sold illicit substances worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Ulbricht was reportedly arrested in possession of 26,000 Bitcoins, currently worth around $3 million.<\/p>\n

But the most interesting aspect of the complaint has less to do with its voluminous allegations of criminal activity than its implications for cyber-libertarian dogma. Countless articles about Bitcoin, the supposedly untraceable, uncrackable digital currency, have referenced the Silk Road as an example of how the crypto-currency enabled an online marketplace that could scoff at the oppressive totalitarian attention of law enforcement or the tax man.<\/p>\n

It was easy to tell that Bitcoin, so loved by TEAbagger extremists,  was a right wing scam. How?  That\u2019s easy!<\/font><\/p>\n