{"id":11840,"date":"2013-12-23T00:19:07","date_gmt":"2013-12-23T08:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=11840"},"modified":"2013-12-23T00:19:07","modified_gmt":"2013-12-23T08:19:07","slug":"open-thread12232013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2013\/12\/23\/open-thread12232013\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–12\/23\/2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday was a slow day for news, and I took advantage of it to continue to catch up the tremendous sleep deficit from the move.  However, I could find enough for this article.  I\u2019m also beginning to recover from the flu.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today\u2019s took me 3:04 (average 4:52).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\"1222-Broncos37-Texans13\"<\/font><\/p>\n

The Broncos clinched AFC West and the privilege of honoring the LGBT community with a first round bi week.  Peyton Manning broke Tom Brady\u2019s record with his 51st touchdown pass this season.  From a political perspective, it\u2019d great when the horse rides the  Texan. \ud83d\ude42<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From Raw Story<\/a>: <\/font>The libertarian leader of one of the largest online retailers in the world has decided to step into the bitcoin fray. <\/p>\n

Overstock.com\u2019s CEO Patrick Byrne told bitcoin news site NewsBTC.com [TEAbagger fraud delinked<\/em>] on Wednesday that the decision isn\u2019t completely decided yet, because the logistics \u2014 and the law \u2014 of accepting the virtual currency have to be worked out. <\/p>\n

Byrne\u2019s target is the second half of 2014, but Overstock.com may be able to implement bitcoin sales as soon as April, he said. <\/p>\n

Add Overstock to your "never patronize" list.  They were already on mine, because they fund Republicans.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Huffington Post<\/a>: <\/font>In a bizarre pronouncement by ever-colorful Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera<\/a>, the veteran commentator has defended Alec Baldwin’s recent homophobic outburst toward a paparazzo, claiming "cocksucking faggot" isn’t necessarily a gay slur.<\/p>\n

"I don’t think are insults are equal," Rivera said during an appearance on Sean Hannity\u2019s Fox News show December 19<\/a>. Rivera was chiming in to a heated discussion between Hannity and panelists Rachel Sklar and about whether or not A&E made a mistake by suspending \u201cDuck Dynasty\u201d star Phil Robertson<\/a> for recent anti-LGBT and racist statements.<\/a><\/p>\n

Claiming that Alec Baldwin had been "drummed off MSNBC by fundamentalist gay activists," Rivera tried to argue that the actor had merely been using ingrained neighborhood lingo when he allegedly hurled the "cocksucking faggot" epithet at a photographer on November 14.<\/a><\/p>\n

The included video was broken, but I found it on YouTube.<\/font><\/p>\n