{"id":12503,"date":"2014-04-07T01:01:21","date_gmt":"2014-04-07T08:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=12503"},"modified":"2014-04-07T01:01:21","modified_gmt":"2014-04-07T08:01:21","slug":"open-thread472014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2014\/04\/07\/open-thread472014\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–4\/7\/2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m writing for tomorrow, and feeling as though I have  a hangover from getting sleep.  I\u2019m heading into another busy week, ending with a Board Meeting at my place on Saturday.  Between now and then, I need to do taxes for myself and for my volunteer organization.  A good pest control company can handle Norway Rats and roof rats, but God save us from bureaucrats!<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today\u2019s took us 3:38 (average 4:31).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From Daily Kos<\/a> (Hat-Tip to JL A at Care2<\/a>): <\/font>My Cat’s Number One Priority is His Own Needs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Geoffrey has a routine. As cats go, and I have had many, he’s the most routine-driven feline I have ever met. He’s deeply conservative that way. If I’m not up by 7am, he sees to it that I am and then flumpity flump down the stairs to the door. Out he goes just long enough for me to freshen his food and water, which I have paid for. He doesn’t care if I have to pee first, or forgot to put out the garbage on garbage day, he has his routine and nobody is going to change it. The next thing he does is come in and eat that food, that FREE food, and he’s smug and entitled when he does it. He then makes a commentary on his human companion:<\/p>\n

The author on to to describe a list of reasons why he knows his cat is a Republican. Click through. How horrid! Now as attached as I am to my own kitty dingles, I really hate to wish the big snip on any cat. However, unless yours is a DemoCAT, take it to the vet to be neutered!!<\/font><\/p>\n

From The New Yorker<\/a>: <\/font>By a five-to-four decision, the United States Supreme Court today defended the right of the wealthiest Americans to own the United States government.<\/p>\n

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts summarized the rationale behind the Court\u2019s decision: \u201cIn recent years, this Court has done its level best to remove any barriers preventing the wealthiest in our nation from owning our government outright. And while the few barriers that remained were flimsy at best, it was high time that they be shredded as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Citing the United States Constitution, Justice Roberts wrote, \u201cOur founding fathers created the most magnificent democracy in human history. Now, thanks to this decision, the dream of owning that democracy is a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

This time, Andy’s satire is so accurate that tears are a more appropriate response than laughter.<\/font><\/p>\n

From NY Times<\/a>: <\/font>After months of wincing in the face of negative ads funded by the industrialists David and Charles Koch, Democrats believe they have finally found a way to fight back: attacking the brothers\u2019 sprawling business conglomerate as callous and indifferent to the lives of ordinary people while pursuing profit and power.<\/p>\n

By drawing public attention to layoffs by subsidiaries of Koch Industries across the country \u2014 a chemical plant in North Carolina, an oil refinery in Alaska, a lumber operation in Arkansas \u2014 Democrats are seeking to make villains of the reclusive billionaires, whose political organizations have spent more than $30 million on ads so far to help Republicans win control of the Senate.<\/p>\n

Portraying the Koch Brothers as villains is functionally equivalent to portraying The College of Cardinals as Catholics, or portraying bears as woods-shitters.<\/font><\/p>\n

Cartoon<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

\"0407Cartoon\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m writing for tomorrow, and feeling as though I have  a hangover from getting sleep.  I\u2019m heading into another busy week, ending with a Board Meeting at my place on Saturday.  Between now and then, I need to do taxes for myself and for my volunteer organization.  A good pest control company can handle Norway […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-open-thread","category-personal","category-politics","category-35-id","category-3-id","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12503\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}