{"id":14065,"date":"2014-11-07T00:00:36","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T08:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=14065"},"modified":"2014-11-07T00:00:36","modified_gmt":"2014-11-07T08:00:36","slug":"open-thread1172014-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2014\/11\/07\/open-thread1172014-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–11\/7\/2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m writing for tomorrow, day 2, even though 11-7 feels no luckier than Tuesday, which came up snake-eyes.  Obviously, I\u2019m still not a happy camper, but I didn\u2019t give up after the disasters of 2000, 2004, or 2010.  We should have another chance to save this nation in 2016, so campaign 2016 starts now.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today\u2019s took me 3:01 (average 4:54).  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>Congressional seats are on pace to fetch a whopping four billion dollars on Tuesday night, a record-smashing sales figure that has exceeded the expectations of even the most optimistic insiders.<\/p>\n

The seats, which include four hundred and thirty-five in the House of Representatives and thirty-six in the Senate, have attracted buyers from a broad spectrum of industries, including investment banking, energy, pharmaceutical, and gun.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all of the uncertainty in the world today, the United States Congress is considered a very safe place for the rich to invest their money,\u201d said Charles Michollot, of the auction house Sotheby\u2019s. \u201cCongressional seats are like Manhattan real estate\u2014they aren\u2019t making any more of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Anton Pickardin, of the rival auction house Christie\u2019s, sounds more skeptical. \u201cI hate to be a wet blanket, but these sales figures lack rhyme and reason,\u201d Pickardin said. \u201cWhen someone is willing to pay millions of dollars for a pre-owned Mitch McConnell, you know that people have lost their minds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given that this came out on election morning, before any returns were available, Andy proved himself a prophet, not just a comic.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Upworthy<\/a>: <\/font>The Great Barrier Reef is in real danger. A lot of good folks are drawing attention to what’s going on and calling out companies that are doing the literal dirty work. How dirty? Very dirty.<\/p>\n