{"id":14019,"date":"2014-11-02T00:00:40","date_gmt":"2014-11-02T07:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=14019"},"modified":"2014-11-02T00:00:40","modified_gmt":"2014-11-02T07:00:40","slug":"open-thread1122014-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2014\/11\/02\/open-thread1122014-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–11\/2\/2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m writing for tomorrow, day 195.  I had to take advantage of a break in the bad weather to out and buy a new winter coat, as the zipper was torn in my old one.  That is one of the few items I cannot buy online, because anything that reaches around my middle has sleeves a foot too long, so I\u2019m getting one tailored.  The down side is that, even though it\u2019s downtown, the trip required about a mile and a half of walking.  I was already worn out.  So this will be the only article for the day.  I have the data collected for the monthly report, but I\u2019m just too pooped to write it tonight.  Tomorrow is a Holy Day in the Church of the Ellipsoid ORB.  My AFC West leading Broncos are worshiping with the AFC East leading Patriots, the week\u2019s featured game.  I won\u2019t get to see it, because CBS thinks Portland would rather watch the AFC West last place Raiders against the NFC West 3rd place Seachickens.  Grrrrrrrr!!!!!<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today\u2019s took me 5:01 (average 5:56).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From The New Yorker<\/a>: <\/font>The billionaire Koch brothers have approved a controversial plan to shoot cash from cannons directly at voters heading into polling places on Election Day.<\/p>\n

The plan, which Koch insiders have privately referred to as Operation Money Shot, would distribute as much as seventy million dollars in small bills in the hopes of seizing Republican control of the United States Senate next Tuesday.<\/p>\n

While most state laws prohibit electioneering within a hundred feet of polling places, the Koch plan craftily skirts that restriction by using high-powered cash cannons, similar to the T-shirt cannons used in sports arenas, which have a range of up to a hundred and fifty feet.<\/p>\n

According to a spokesman for the Kochs, \u201cUnder the law, corporations are considered people, and people have always had the right to fire money from cannons at other people.\u201d<\/p>\n

I wouldn’t be surprised, Andy. There’s nothing else they haven’t done!!<\/font><\/p>\n

From NY Times<\/a>: <\/font>Democrats are nervously counting on an enduring edge among female voters in most states to prevent a Republican rout in Tuesday\u2019s elections. Yet so great is the uncertainty that even before the returns are in, some are second-guessing the party\u2019s strategy of focusing more on issues like abortion and birth control than on jobs and the economy.<\/p>\n

This is a mistake. Women are just as interested in jobs and the economy as they are in abortion and birth control. Both are fronts in the Republican War on Women.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Daily Kos<\/a>: <\/font>How many times have you heard Republicans accuse Democrats, specifically blacks and Latinos, of using the race card. Many times they get away with the accusations because they have mastered Lee Atwater’s techniques. Lee Atwater was an adviser to U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and chairman of the Republican National Committee. He was the strategist who taught Republicans how to touch their constituents racial funny bones without being explicitly racist<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It turns out Dallas County Judge candidate Ron Natinsky learned the technique but was rather clumsy in its use. The Dallas Morning News<\/a> reported about statements Ron Natinsky made in a video a few months ago.<\/p>\n