{"id":12920,"date":"2014-06-03T00:58:42","date_gmt":"2014-06-03T07:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=12920"},"modified":"2014-06-03T01:00:43","modified_gmt":"2014-06-03T08:00:43","slug":"open-thread632014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2014\/06\/03\/open-thread632014\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–6\/3\/2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m writing for tomorrow and starting early to get the <\/font>jump on a very busy day.  Tasks include a trip to the barber shop, putting the files I’ll need to take to Salem on a DVD, firing up the notebook computer long enough to make sure it’s fully charged and updated for my prison volunteer trip, and cleaning the kitchen area thoroughly, so as not to leave a mess behind.  Day 43.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today’s took me 4:18 (average 6:18).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From Reuters<\/a>: <\/font>The U.S. power sector must cut carbon dioxide emissions 30 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels, according to federal regulations unveiled on Monday that form the centerpiece of the Obama administration's climate change strategy.<\/p>\n

The Environmental Protection Agency's proposal is one of the most significant environmental rules proposed by the United States, and could transform the power sector, which relies on coal for nearly 38 percent of electricity.<\/p>\n

Gina McCarthy, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said on Monday that between 2020 and 2030, the U.S. amount of carbon dioxide the proposal would reduce under the plan would be more than double the carbon pollution from the entire power sector in 2012.<\/p>\n

Imagine what could have been done with cooperation from Congress.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Robert Reich<\/a>: <\/font>I spent several days in New York last week with students from around the country who were preparing to head into the heartland to help organize Walmart workers for better jobs and wages. (Full familial disclosure: My son Adam is one of the leaders.)<\/p>\n

Almost exactly fifty years ago a similar group headed to Mississippi to register African-Americans to vote, in what came to be known as Freedom Summer.<\/p>\n

Call this Freedom Summer II.<\/p>\n

The current struggle of low-wage workers across America echoes the civil rights struggle of the 1960s.<\/p>\n

Today, as then, a group of Americans is denied the dignity of decent wages and working conditions. Today, just as then, powerful forces are threatening and intimidating vulnerable people for exercising their legal rights. Today, just like fifty years ago, people who have been treated as voiceless and disposable are standing up and demanding change.<\/p>\n

Like Robert Reich, The Reich on the left, not the Republican Reich on the right, I fully support Freedom Summer II.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Huffington Post<\/a>: <\/font>Asked whether she would be running for president in 2016, Elizabeth Warren framed the coming debate as one of defining values at a critical moment. She stopped short of committing to or rejecting a White House bid, and her answer will likely further speculation about a Warren candidacy.<\/p>\n

In an interview with The Huffington Post that will air in full on Monday evening, Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, was asked about the promise in her book that she was "fiercely determined to do everything I can to help us once again be the America that creates opportunities for anyone who works hard and plays by the rules." She was also questioned about her warning that "we're running out of time."<\/p>\n

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