{"id":15477,"date":"2015-06-21T09:03:06","date_gmt":"2015-06-21T16:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=15477"},"modified":"2015-06-21T09:03:06","modified_gmt":"2015-06-21T16:03:06","slug":"open-thread6212015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2015\/06\/21\/open-thread6212015\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–6\/21\/2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer is upon us, and as an authentic Christian, I greet all of you for whom this day has spiritual significance and celebrate with you.  Just in case the universe is out of kilter, the days will shorten by kitty command (see below).  I\u2019m feeling somewhat tired, because street noise was worse than usual last night.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today\u2019s took me 3:09 (average 5:27).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

Fantasy Football Recruiting<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

We still need two new players for <\/font>Lefty Blog Friends<\/a><\/font>, our fantasy football league.  How about you?  For more information, <\/font>click here<\/a><\/font>.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From Daily Kos<\/a> (classic: 3\/2014): <\/font>http:\/\/www.salon.com\/…<\/a><\/p>\n

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[T]he only people still debating whether or not climate change is \u201creal,\u201d and caused by human activity, are the ones who aren\u2019t doing the actual research. In an update to his ongoing project of reviewing the literature on global warming, [geochemist James Lawrence  Powell] went through every scientific study<\/a> published in a peer-review journal during the calendar year 2013, finding 10,885<\/strong> in total (more on his methodology here<\/a>). Of those, a mere two<\/strong> rejected anthropogenic global warming.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Powell notes that very, very few of climate change deniers–who tend more towards filling Congressional hearings and cable "news" networks with their own carbon dioxide emissions–have ever written a peer-reviewed scientific article in support of their "position." That’s because if you write an article subject to peer review for a scientific publication, you have to back it up with…evidence<\/em>.<\/p>\n

You can be certain the two make a comfortable living from just the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise<\/em>.<\/font><\/p>\n

From NY Times<\/a>: <\/font>Granted, Khartoum, Tehran, Damascus and Pyongyang are not terribly popular tourist destinations. But they are places Americans can visit without running afoul of federal law. Yet, traveling to Cuba for tourism continues to be banned. Getting there for approved purposes remains needlessly difficult and expensive.<\/p>\n

The ban \u2014 the only travel prohibition American citizens are currently subjected to \u2014 never made sense, and it\u2019s particularly misguided in an era of broadening engagement between the United States and Cuba.<\/p>\n

A bill introduced early this year<\/a> by a bipartisan group of senators who want to repeal the travel ban is the most worthy of the flurry of legislative initiatives sparked by President Obama\u2019s decision last December<\/a> to re-establish diplomatic relations with Havana. The bill would rescind provisions in laws passed in 1996 and 2000 that barred travel by Americans as part of a strategy to punish and isolate Cuba in hopes of bringing about democratic change in that country. The freer flow of people, goods and ideas is far more likely to lead to meaningful reforms on the island.<\/p>\n

I fully agree.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Alternet<\/a>: <\/font>Friday night Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) got the rock star treatment from Real Time host Bill Maher who praised the darkhorse candidate\u2019s campaign for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, telling the fiercely liberal senator that his run from the left has forced consensus favorite Hillary Clinton to start \u201ctalking like Elizabeth Warren.<\/p>\n