{"id":14454,"date":"2015-01-06T00:00:13","date_gmt":"2015-01-06T08:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=14454"},"modified":"2015-01-06T00:00:13","modified_gmt":"2015-01-06T08:00:13","slug":"open-thread162015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2015\/01\/06\/open-thread162015\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–1\/6\/2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m writing for tomorrow, day 62.  I\u2019m quite busy year-change record keeping for both myself and my volunteer organization.  The Dulcolax finally worked, so I feel 20 lbs. lighter are far more like a Democrat.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today\u2019s took me 3:15 (average 4:55).  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>Sixty-four unskilled workers will report to new jobs in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday as part of a federal jobs program that provides employment for people unable to find productive work elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The new hires, who have no talents or abilities that would make them employable in most workplaces, will be earning a first-year salary of $174,000.<\/p>\n

For that sum, the new employees will be expected to work a hundred and thirty-seven days a year, leaving them with two hundred and twenty-eight days of vacation.<\/p>\n

Some critics have blasted the federal jobs program as too expensive, noting that the workers were chosen last November in a bloated and wasteful selection process that cost the nation nearly four billion dollars.<\/p>\n

But Davis Logsdon, a University of Minnesota economics professor who specializes in labor issues, said that the program is necessary to provide work \u201cfor people who honestly cannot find employment anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"0106Unskilled\"<\/p>\n

Andy has never been more accurate!!<\/font><\/p>\n

From Yahoo News<\/a>: <\/font>Police officers turned their backs on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday during the funeral for Wenjian Liu<\/a>, one of two NYPD officers killed in a Dec. 20 ambush, exposing the ongoing rift between the department and City Hall.<\/p>\n

The officers were seen turning away from an outdoor screen showing de Blasio\u2019s eulogy at the service in Brooklyn, defying a request by New York Police Commissioner William Bratton not to protest at the funeral.<\/p>\n

\u201cA hero\u2019s funeral is about grieving, not grievance,\u201d Bratton wrote in a memo to officers on Friday<\/a>, less than a week after officers turned their backs on de Blasio at the funeral of Rafael Ramos, the other NYPD slain officer. \u201cI remind you that when you don the uniform of this department, you are bound by the tradition, honor, and decency that go with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The memory of Wenjian Liu is certainly worthy of honor and respect. Officers who dishonor that memory, while in uniform, by mimicking Westboro Baptist Republicans have forgotten their calling to serve and protect. They should be fired.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Reuters<\/a>: <\/font>U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert, a conservative Tea Party Republican from Texas, said on Sunday he would challenge John Boehner for speaker of the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n

Gohmert’s announcement came a day after fellow Republican Representative Ted Yoho of Florida said he might be willing to put his name up against Boehner, the Ohio Republican who is widely expected to retain the top job in the chamber when the full House votes on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

"Ted is a good man for whom I could vote, but I have heard from many supporters and also friends in Congress who have urged me to put forward my name for Speaker as well to increase our chances of change," Gohmert said in a statement. "That is why I am also offering my name as a candidate for Speaker."<\/p>\n

While I doubt that Go Go Goosestep has even the slightest chance to become Speaker, his actions will sow dissention in the ranks of the Republican Reich and embarrass Agent Orange.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\"0106Cartoon\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m writing for tomorrow, day 62.  I\u2019m quite busy year-change record keeping for both myself and my volunteer organization.  The Dulcolax finally worked, so I feel 20 lbs. lighter are far more like a Democrat. Jig Zone Puzzle: Today\u2019s took me 3:15 (average 4:55).  To do it, click here.  How did you do? Short Takes: […]<\/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-14454","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\/14454","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=14454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14454\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}