{"id":15620,"date":"2015-07-15T11:55:21","date_gmt":"2015-07-15T18:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=15620"},"modified":"2015-07-15T11:55:22","modified_gmt":"2015-07-15T18:55:22","slug":"open-thread7152015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2015\/07\/15\/open-thread7152015\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–7\/15\/2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a busy day today.  I\u2019m trying to keep pace with the news, watching Obama, and it\u2019s a grocery delivery day, so I have all that work to do..  It\u2019s also quite muggy.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today\u2019s took me 3:12 (average 4:51).  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 former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin would bring much-needed dignity to the 2016 Republican field, a new poll shows.<\/p>\n

According to the poll, conducted by the University of Minnesota\u2019s Opinion Research Institute, Palin\u2019s ability to articulate her positions on issues with precision and restraint is sorely lacking among other entrants in the G.O.P. race.<\/p>\n

Additionally, voters said that the former governor\u2019s breadth of knowledge in the fields of economics, foreign affairs, and American history would place her head and shoulders above the current crop of Republican hopefuls.<\/p>\n

In the words of one voter who was surveyed, \u201cWhen I hear some of these candidates talk, I sure do miss Sarah Palin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dang Andy! As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right. Bloody Bullseye Barbie is rather tame, compared to the Clown Car.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Daily Kos<\/a>: <\/font>I wonder if Rep. Steve "Melon Calves" King is going to commandeer Republican anti-LGBT policy like he commandeered the party’s anti-immigration policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

It would have no force of law, but U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, on Friday announced he has introduced a House resolution for representatives to formally disapprove of the June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that legalized gay marriage nationally. […] <\/p>\n

King said the "resolution expresses the sense" by the House that the court ruling "unconstitutionally and indefensibly perverts the definition of marriage," that states are not required to license gay marriage and that "individuals, businesses, churches, religious groups and other faith-based organizations are encouraged, empowered, and protected to exercise their faith without fear of legal or government interference."<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Since a Sense of the House resolution does nothing, this serves only as one more opportunity for Republican to voice their hatred and display their sedition.<\/font><\/p>\n

From NY Times<\/a>: <\/font>A federal appeals court Tuesday handed the Obama administration another victory in its effort to guarantee coverage of contraceptives under the Affordable Care Act<\/a>, rejecting a challenge by the Little Sisters of the Poor, an order of Roman Catholic nuns.<\/p>\n

The United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit<\/a>, in Denver, found that the nuns could opt out of a requirement to provide contraceptive coverage under an \u201caccommodation\u201d devised by the administration. The rule does not impose a \u201csubstantial burden\u201d on the nuns\u2019 free exercise of religion, the court said.<\/p>\n

Four other federal appeals courts \u2014 in the District of Columbia, Philadelphia, Chicago and New Orleans \u2014 have issued similar decisions upholding the accommodation, which is intended to address the concerns of nonprofit religious organizations that object to providing contraceptive coverage for women enrolled in their health plans.<\/p>\n

Another win for women.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\"0715Cartoon\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a busy day today.  I\u2019m trying to keep pace with the news, watching Obama, and it\u2019s a grocery delivery day, so I have all that work to do..  It\u2019s also quite muggy. Jig Zone Puzzle: Today\u2019s took me 3:12 (average 4:51).  To do it, click here.  How did you do? Short Takes: From […]<\/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-15620","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\/15620","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=15620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15620\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}