{"id":11961,"date":"2014-01-04T01:02:08","date_gmt":"2014-01-04T09:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=11961"},"modified":"2014-01-04T01:02:08","modified_gmt":"2014-01-04T09:02:08","slug":"open-thread142013-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/04\/open-thread142013-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–1\/4\/2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m writing this for tomorrow and running several hours behind where I hoped to be.  I asked a stupid question, when prompted to download and install new drivers for my new graphics card (the reason for my improved puzzle times).  I asked, how long can that take?  It took almost three hours.  ARGH!  I also renewed the HSP service for the servers, where Politics Plus resides, locking in a lower price through mid 2015.  Tomorrow and Sunday are high holy days in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  My Broncos won\u2019t be worshiping, as the earned the right to honor the LGBT community with a bi week, but I shall be meditating on the other services.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today\u2019s took me 2:34 (average 4:16).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From Media Matters<\/a>: <\/font>The trial of former News Corp. employees for their role in the massive phone hacking scandal has already produced several noteworthy revelations, including the hacking of voicemails from the British royal family, a six figure contract between News Corp. and its phone-hacking private investigator, and more alleged phone hacking victims, including actor Jude Law. <\/p>\n

Former News International editors and executives Rebekah Brooks,Andy Coulson, and Stuart Kuttner are on trial<\/a> in England for conspiring to intercept the communications of news figures, celebrities and public officials. All four deny the charges. The trial of another executive, Ian Edmonson, has been postponed due to medical issues.<\/p>\n

The hacked voicemails were used as the basis for stories in Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid, which was shuttered in July 2011 after details<\/a> of the scandal came out. News International is a part of News Corp., the parent company of the Wall Street Journal and a sister company to 21st Century Fox, which owns Fox News.<\/p>\n

Click through for the juicy details. You can take it to the bank that, if Murdoch has been doing that in the UK, he’s been doing it everywhere. There needs to be an in-depth investigation of all News Corp outlets in the US, especially the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise<\/em>, and Faux Print<\/em>, aka the WSJ.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Alternet<\/a>: <\/font>Know what? If you had told me, a month ago, that the Christian Right would have a strong reaction to a bearded religious zealot in a headscarf urging men to take child brides, I’d have believed that. And I would have believed that the man’s family would go on Fox News to defend him, but I would have assumed they were doing it from a bunker somewhere, with voice filters and behind a screen \u2026 not in the studio on New Year’s Eve<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yet this is how things are playing out in the aftermath of footage [Faux Noise delinked] showing Duck<\/a> Dynasty’s Phil Robertson advising young men to "marry \u2026 girls when they are about 15 or 16", after, of course, "making sure she can cook a meal". "You need to eat some meals that she cooks. Check that out," he said to an audience at a Christian retreat in 2009. "Make sure she carries her Bible," he added. "That will save you trouble down the road."<\/p>\n

This is so extreme that I wondered at it\u2019s authenticity, but I found this:<\/font><\/p>\n