{"id":11622,"date":"2013-11-11T00:13:19","date_gmt":"2013-11-11T08:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=11622"},"modified":"2013-11-11T00:13:19","modified_gmt":"2013-11-11T08:13:19","slug":"open-thread11112013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2013\/11\/11\/open-thread11112013\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–11\/11\/2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m writing for tomorrow, day 150, starting to feel slightly better, and staying down to continue that trend  This and the holiday greeting are all, and I am spending  today meditating on the holy Ellipsoid Orb from bed.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today\u2019s took me 4:15 (average 5:26).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

Religious Ecstasy<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

\"1110-Broncos28-Chargers20\"<\/p>\n

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

From Daily Kos<\/a>: <\/font>Texas is the state that can proudly claim that it is the winner in a dubious category: Texas has more uninsured citizens<\/a> than any other state. Yet its governor, Rick Perry, says the Affordable Care Act is "a criminal act<\/a>."<\/p>\n

President Obama visited Texas<\/a> yesterday to thank those that are working very hard in Texas to help people sign up for insurance under the Obamacare:<\/p>\n

During his speech, Obama mentioned how badly many Texans were in need of affordable health care because the state is home to the highest rate of uninsured Americans.<\/p>\n

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Of course, the Republican did what Republican politicians always do when faced with an inconvenient truth.  He lied.  Medicaid is not broken.  Blaming the website on Obama, albeit partially justified, is a waste of time. He’s getting it fixed as fast as possible. Blaming Obama for the scams by Big Insurance to hoodwink their customers into more expensive policies that they need is an injustice. Obama cannot control what corporate criminals do, when Congress refuses to legislate to protect consumers. Blaming Rick Perry and other Republicans for preventing citizens from receiving health care, for no reason other than ideologue spite, is where media should focus. Just say yes accepting the federal funding for it.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Alternet<\/a>: <\/font>Larry Pratt: Trayvon Martin\u2019s broken family is what killed him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s never too late to pile more pain onto the grieving parents and loved ones of slain teenager Trayvon Martin. His killer is free, Trayvon has been blamed for his own death, and now, taking it one step further, Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America has suggested that Martin’s dysfunctional family is responsible for the boy\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what he said in an interview with NewsMax\u2019s Steve Malzberg this week: Trayvon Martin was killed because he had a \u201cbroken family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who else can you blame? Triggerman, neighborhood-watch volunteer George Zimmerman was just lawfully \u201cstanding his ground\u201d when he shot unarmed Martin. \u201cStand Your Ground\u201d laws can\u2019t be to blame because, as Sen. Ted Cruz explained to Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton in a Senate hearing on the controversial law, she\u2019s just \u201cmourning the loss of her son.\u201d Stand-your-ground laws in fact \u201cprotect those in African-American communities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Facts be damned, gun nuts and Tea Partiers agree. According to Right-Wing Watch, a recent \u201cTampa Bay Times analysis<\/a> of stand-your-ground cases in Florida found substantial racial disparities<\/a> in the application of the law, including that \u2018people who killed a black person walked free 73 percent of the time, while those who killed a white person went free 59 percent of the time. A national study<\/a> found a similar disparity.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, it\u2019s Trayvon Martin’s family\u2019s fault he\u2019s dead. Probably his mother\u2019s.<\/p>\n

This is only one out of ten Republican whackos from last week alone, and this one is nowhere near the most obscene case of TEAbuggery. Click through for the other nine.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Crooks and Liars<\/a>: <\/font>Today, as part of the Obama administration’s continuing efforts to increase access to mental health services, the final rule<\/a> implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 was issued.<\/p>\n

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Friday that new regulations will require health insurers to treat mental health coverage like all other aspects of healthcare, the culmination of a long effort to achieve parity for mental health coverage and part of Obama\u2019s effort to curb gun violence. The regulations put into effect a 2008 law, and will affect nearly 85 percent of Americans with health insurance. Insurers will be required to pay as much for mental health as they do for medical and surgical procedures, and cannot limit the geographical area where mental health care is covered.<\/p>\n