{"id":21561,"date":"2016-05-02T14:02:26","date_gmt":"2016-05-02T21:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=21561"},"modified":"2016-05-02T14:02:26","modified_gmt":"2016-05-02T21:02:26","slug":"open-thread-522016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2016\/05\/02\/open-thread-522016\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–5\/2\/2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday and today have been unseasonably warm and quite humid with highs in the 80\u00b0s.  That has interfered with my sleep, as I still have not gotten used to the loud A\/C next to my head.  In addition to that,. I missed a nap yesterday, collecting the data for today\u2019s Monthly Report.  After doing my research this morning, I felt so tired that I uncorked a Lona-nap, so I\u2019m running late today.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today\u2019s took me 2:38 (average 4:39).  To do it click here<\/a>,  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From NY Times<\/a>:  <\/font>It is an old congressional ritual: loading up vital spending bills that are meant to keep the government running with dangerous amendments aimed at satisfying ideological causes and benefiting special interests.<\/p>\n

The Republicans have become adept at this practice in recent years, and this year is no different. Legislative riders attached to appropriations bills would undermine the Iran nuclear deal, weaken highway safety and reduce the Food and Drug Administration\u2019s authority over tobacco products.<\/p>\n

These measures would be unlikely to succeed as stand-alone bills, either because they could not get enough votes on their own or because President Obama would veto them. So better to sneak them in without even holding hearings to make a case on their behalf.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, Democratic lawmakers<\/a> and public interest groups are calling attention to these stealth attacks. In the Senate, Democrats managed on Wednesday to block a vote<\/a> on a water and energy spending bill after Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, tried to attach a provision that would have dealt a severe blow to the Iran nuclear deal. Mr. Cotton\u2019s measure would have blocked<\/a> the administration from purchasing heavy water used in Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities. Iran has to get rid of the water to comply with the deal. By denying Iran an American market, Mr. Cotton and other Republicans hoped to undermine the deal, which they hate.<\/p>\n

Click through for more. One big irony here is that by trying to block Iran’s sale of heavy water to the US, Republicans are actually helping to enable the development of an Iranian nuke.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Think Progress<\/a>: <\/font>Teachers across Detroit called in sick to work on Monday \u2014 a \u201csick-out\u201d protest that ultimately shut down all but three public schools in the city because there weren\u2019t enough teachers in class. <\/p>\n

The coordinated protest, which was organized by the Detroit Federation of Teachers, came soon after the school district\u2019s emergency manager, Judge Steven Rhodes, announced that there won\u2019t be enough money to pay teachers<\/a> after June 30.<\/p>\n

\u201cDetroit teachers deserve to be paid fairly for their work like every other working person\u2026 But Detroit Public Schools has just informed us that it cannot guarantee to pay these dedicated men and women for their work. This isn\u2019t right. It isn\u2019t fair,\u201d the president of the teachers union, Ivy Bailey, told<\/a> the Detroit News.<\/p>\n

In January, in an effort to bring attention to the condition of Detroit schools, teachers used the same \u201csick-out<\/a>\u201d tactic to shut down<\/a> many schools. They posted photos to social media of inedible food, dead rodents, and cracks in the floors, among other problems. After the sick-outs, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan (D) called for inspections<\/a> of all of the schools and found evidence of many of the same problems teachers cited. <\/p>\n

Detroit Public Schools is in major financial distress<\/a>, and lawmakers and educators have been concerned the school system will go bankrupt. After being sued<\/a> by the teachers union and dealing with weeks of sick-outs, DPS filed a lawsuit<\/a> against the state last month, claiming that the state violated the civil rights of students through its emergency manager law. <\/p>\n

How many more examples do we need before American voters know that the mix of greed and incompetence Republicans bring to public office invariably spells tragic deprivation for those they govern.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Liberals Unite<\/a>: <\/font>Wayne Simmons, a frequent Fox News<\/a> \u201cCIA expert,\u201d pleaded guilty on Friday after being indicted last October<\/a> by a federal grand jury on charges lied about his service with the CIA.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia<\/a> issued a press release<\/a> announcing the plea:<\/p>\n

Simmons, 62, of Annapolis, Maryland, a former Fox News commentator who has falsely claimed he spent 27 years working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), pleaded guilty today to major fraud against the government, wire fraud, and a firearms offense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWayne Simmons is a convicted felon with no military or intelligence experience,\u201d said Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. \u201cSimmons admitted he attempted to con his way into a position where he would have been called on to give real intelligence advice in a war zone.  His fraud cost the government money, could have put American lives at risk, and was an insult to the real men and women of the intelligence community who provide tireless service to this country.  This case is a prime example of this office\u2019s ongoing commitment to vigorously prosecute government fraud and threats to national security.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Simmons lied about his criminal history and CIA employment in order to fraudulently obtain government contracts, and separately, defrauded a victim through a phony real estate investment deal,\u201d said Paul M. Abbate, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI\u2019s Washington Field Office.  \u201cWith these criminal actions, Mr. Simmons abused the trust of others, both in and outside of government, for his own personal financial gain.  I commend the work of the talented FBI personnel and prosecutors who vigorously pursued this case and brought about today\u2019s guilty plea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless Simmons still met the standards needed for employment by the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise<\/em>, and for them to present him to their sheeple as an expert.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

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Yesterday and today have been unseasonably warm and quite humid with highs in the 80\u00b0s.  That has interfered with my sleep, as I still have not gotten used to the loud A\/C next to my head.  In addition to that,. I missed a nap yesterday, collecting the data for today\u2019s Monthly Report.  After doing my […]<\/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-21561","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\/21561","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=21561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21561\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}