{"id":13301,"date":"2014-07-24T00:17:16","date_gmt":"2014-07-24T07:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=13301"},"modified":"2014-07-24T00:17:16","modified_gmt":"2014-07-24T07:17:16","slug":"open-thread7242014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2014\/07\/24\/open-thread7242014\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–7\/24\/2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m writing for tomorrow, day 94.  Yesterdays CoDA meeting in prison went very well.  I cleaned house this morning and an now waiting fore Store to Door to driver groceries.  Then I\u2019m going to rest, because I have another volunteer day in prison tomorrow.  This is the general meeting with around 100 of my guys.  So this is tomorrow\u2019s only article.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today\u2019s took me 2:53 (average 4:29).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From Daily Kos<\/a>: <\/font>The BBC<\/a> reports:<\/p>\n

\n

Iran has turned all of its enriched uranium closest to the level needed to make nuclear arms into more harmless forms, the UN nuclear agency says. <\/p>\n

The conversion of its stock of 20%-enriched uranium was part of a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear programme.<\/p>\n

The US said last week it would unblock $2.8bn in frozen Iranian funds in return for Iran’s compliance.<\/p>\n

A four-month extension to talks on Iran’s nuclear ambitions was agreed on Friday between Iran and world powers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is a big deal.  A major foreign policy success.  Iran is ending its nuclear program.  All without a shot being fired. <\/p>\n

The author goes on to say that because we didn’t bomb anyone, the media didn’t considerate it worth reporting. Is that sick or what?<\/font><\/p>\n

From The New Yorker<\/a>: <\/font>An aide to Rick Perry is confident that the Texas Governor proved he \u201chas what it takes to be President\u201d with his decision on Monday to send troops somewhere for no reason.<\/p>\n

By deploying a thousand National Guardsmen to the U.S.-Mexico border, Perry has shown that as President he would be \u201cready and willing\u201d to use troops without a defined objective, mission, or exit strategy, the aide confirmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cSending troops someplace with no clear idea of why they are going or what they are supposed to be doing once they get there is a key part of the Presidential skill set,\u201d said the aide, Harland Dorrinson. \u201cRick Perry has just shown that he\u2019s got that nailed down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did Andy hide some satire in there?<\/font><\/p>\n

From Huffington Post<\/a>: <\/font>An Arizona inmate gasped and snorted in an execution that lasted nearly two hours on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

Lawyers for Joseph Wood had filed an emergency motion to abort the execution because their client was still alive more than an hour after receiving a lethal injection that was intended to kill him quickly and peacefully. <\/p>\n

Their motion<\/a>, filed in federal district court, failed to save Wood. Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne announced that the 55-year-old convicted killer was pronounced dead<\/a> at 3:49 p.m.<\/p>\n

Court papers said the execution started 117 minutes earlier. <\/p>\n

"He has been gasping and snorting for more than an hour," Wood’s lawyers wrote in their hurried attempt to call off the execution and force Arizona to provide Wood with life-saving care. "He is still alive."<\/p>\n

A journalist from the Arizona Republic who witnessed the execution said Wood gasped for air<\/a> 660 times after the drugs were introduced through intravenous tubes. <\/p>\n

If strapping down a human being and torturing him for two hours is not cruel and unusual punishment, what is?<\/font><\/p>\n