{"id":3172,"date":"2010-10-23T02:03:38","date_gmt":"2010-10-23T09:03:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=3172"},"modified":"2010-10-23T02:03:38","modified_gmt":"2010-10-23T09:03:38","slug":"open-thread-10232010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2010\/10\/23\/open-thread-10232010\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread – 10\/23\/2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I was tied up with appointments.  I expected to be done with my morning appointment by noon, but did not finish until two.  By the time I completed the rest of my errands, the day was gone, so I have an extra day of comments needing replies and visits needing returns.  I think I can manage that today.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Today it took me 3:38.  I nailed it.  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

Lefty Bloggers Plus<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

Players, remember to set your lineups.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From NY Times<\/a>: <\/font>After nearly three weeks of debate and a series of national strikes, the French Senate voted Friday evening to pass President Nicolas Sarkozy\u2019s bill to raise the minimum retirement age to 62 from 60 and the age for a full pension to 67 from 65. <\/p>\n

The vote, 177 to 153, all but seals passage of the measure.<\/p>\n

I would not advise traveling to France in the immediate future. \ud83d\ude44<\/font><\/p>\n

From Bloomberg<\/a>: <\/font>A U.S. government program aimed at reviving the mortgage-backed securities market returned more than triple what stocks or bonds gained in the past year. <\/p>\n

The eight funds created under the Public-Private Investment Program, or PPIP, reported net internal rates of return averaging 36 percent through Sept. 30, the Treasury Department said in a report this week.<\/p>\n

Not bad.  PPIP was the Democrats\u2019 response to Republican mismanagement of TARP, purchasing toxic assets at a discount as TARP was supposed to do, albeit much smaller, because Republicans had already given the TARP money to the banksters.<\/font><\/p>\n

From RepubliCorp<\/a>: <\/font><\/p>\n