{"id":6221,"date":"2011-10-29T00:02:07","date_gmt":"2011-10-29T07:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2011\/10\/29\/open-thread10292011\/"},"modified":"2011-10-29T00:02:07","modified_gmt":"2011-10-29T07:02:07","slug":"open-thread10292011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2011\/10\/29\/open-thread10292011\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–10\/29\/2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m back.  Thursday I went to do volunteer work in prison.  It was our group\u2019s annual victims awareness<\/em> meeting.  Two prisoners, a drunk driver, who killed a pedestrian, and a murderer who killed two people in a gang war when he was just 17, spoke about their understanding of how their crimes had harmed their victims, their victims families, themselves and their families.  Two victims, the mother of a murdered son and a woman, whose fianc\u00e9e was murdered, spoke about the pain they suffered and their recovery.  The first evolved from hating all prisoners into a level of compassion, where she is now a chaplain in the local jail, helping prisoners.  The second turned to drugs for years to mask her pain, bit is putting it behind her now.  She has been clean for over 70 days.  Several other victims and about 100 prisoners attended.  The two groups mingled afterward.  As we were leaving, all the victims told me that the men had helped change their concept of prisoners for the better.  I could not be prouder of my guys.<\/font><\/p>\n

Yesterday I rested, waited for the home services provider to come do their annual inspection of my O2<\/sub> unit, did my online grocery shopping for the month, and caught up on comments.  I am now current.   Today I\u2019ll be receiving my grocery delivery, unpacking it and putting it away, an effort that takes hours.<\/font><\/p>\n

Congrats to the St. Louis Cardinals for winning the World Series.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Friday\u2019s took me 4:22 (average 4:33).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  Today it took me 3:40 (average 4:59).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From Crooks and Liars<\/a>: <\/font>Labor support for Occupy Wall Street protesters continues to grow as AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka visited Zucotti Park<\/a> this week, releasing a video of his visit. Trumka also responded<\/a> to the use of tear gas against protesters in Oakland<\/a> and the arrests of peaceful protesters in Chicago, Atlanta and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m so pleased that the times when hard-hats were about attacking demonstrators are behind us.  Go Labor!!<\/font><\/p>\n

From Daily Kos<\/a>: <\/font>Wow. Gov. Jan Brewer is on the verge of going nuclear on Arizona’s redistricting commission, all because Republicans can’t believe they didn’t get a map that was perfectly gerrymandered to suit their tastes. Yes, she’s invoking the specter of impeachment.<\/p>\n

The map they produced is badly lopsided and likely to face challenge for racist intent.  Burt even that is not enough for the Arizona Death Angel<\/font><\/p>\n

From MoveOn<\/a>: Why an I here?<\/font><\/p>\n