{"id":15813,"date":"2015-08-11T07:15:41","date_gmt":"2015-08-11T14:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=15813"},"modified":"2015-08-11T07:15:41","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T14:15:41","slug":"open-thread8112015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2015\/08\/11\/open-thread8112015\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–8\/11\/2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m in a huge rush to get my articles written and posted in time to take a nap before going to prison to do volunteer work.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today\u2019s took me 2:24 (average 4:38).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From Daily Kos<\/a>: <\/font>Josten Bundy found himself before Judge Randall Rogers in an east Texas courtroom to face a misdemeanor charge stemming from a fight he got into with the ex-boyfriend of his girlfriend, Elizabeth Jaynes. With Elizabeth by his side, the judge asked Bundy if "she was worth it" and then put him on probation with bizarre stipulations:<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cI said, well to be honest, sir, I was raised with four sisters and if any man was talking to a woman like that,\u201d recalled Bundy,  \u201cI\u2019d probably do the same thing.\u201d <\/p>\n

Judge Rogers asked Bundy if he was married to Jaynes and then said, \u201cYou know, as a part of my probation, you\u2019re going to have to marry her\u2026within 30 days.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That’s right. Judge Rogers forced the young couple to get married, which they did. Bundy was fearful the jail sentence would cost him his job and the couple had previously talked about getting married…..in the future. Judge Randall also forced Bundy to get counseling and write Bible verses. <\/p>\n

Rogers should be defrocked and disbarred for 1st Amendment violations against Bundy and 8th Amendment violations against Janes.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Alternet<\/a>: <\/font>Informed readers are well aware that US police have the dubious reputation of killing lots of civilians<\/a>, compared to other countries. The War on Drugs provides much of the basis for this abomination\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026The Free Thought Project constantly reports on senseless, unjustified murders carried out by police, in the attempt to bring accountability to law enforcement run amok. Here are 10 of the most outrageous excuses police have used for killing unarmed people during the last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was walking with a purpose.\u201d Officer Vanessa Miller killed<\/a> Ryan Bollinger, 28, after witnessing him \u201cdancing in the street\u201d during a traffic stop. After a low-speed chase, Bollinger exited the vehicle and was \u201cwalking with a purpose\u201d toward Miller, who then shot him from inside the car through the rolled-up window.<\/p>\n

I’ve shared just one and ten examples of excuses made by police after they murdered innocent victims. Click through for the other nine.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Democrats Unite<\/a>: <\/font>If I wrote that \u201cBernie Sanders admits to being a socialist,\u201d nobody reading it would need an explanation of the word \u201cadmits.\u201d \u201cSocialist\u201d is as dirty a word in US politics as \u201cracist\u201d or \u201cbigot.\u201d And for lots of voters, it\u2019s probably even more of a deal-breaker. When a Republican really wants to insult President Obama, for example, he or she calls him a socialist.<\/p>\n

The thing is \u2014 as the video below makes clear \u2014 America is already a socialist country, but just quietly, and only for the rich and for corporations. So the insult \u201csocialist\u201d only seems to really apply to things we ask the government to do for the rest of us.<\/p>\n