{"id":6906,"date":"2012-01-28T00:01:02","date_gmt":"2012-01-28T08:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=6906"},"modified":"2012-01-28T00:01:02","modified_gmt":"2012-01-28T08:01:02","slug":"open-thread1282012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2012\/01\/28\/open-thread1282012\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread–1\/28\/2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

My trip to prison on Thursday was a meeting of over 100 men.  I was pleased to learn that two of the men, that I have known for over twenty years, are coming up for parole.  I have absolute confidence that both have learned the skills they will need to stay free, as law abiding citizens, and the motivation to use them, if the parole board releases them.  I feel intense pride in and hope for them.  Yesterday I slept for most of the day.  I\u2019m current with replies.  Today is a day of recovery and catching up.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

Yesterday it took me 4:32 (average 5:46).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  Today it took me 4:49 (average 5:38).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

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

From News OK<\/a>: <\/font>A state lawmaker [Oklahoma] said Tuesday he wants a serious discussion on his bill that would make it illegal in the state to manufacture or knowingly sell food or any other product intended for human consumption that contains aborted human fetuses.<\/p>\n

This is nothing but a highly disingenuous Republican attempt to frighten voters with a totally manufactured issue.  It has absolutely no basis in reality.<\/font><\/p>\n

From Raw Story<\/a>: <\/font>Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul wants to abolish all income taxes \u2014 but he says he\u2019ll have to completely destroy the \u201cwelfare system\u201d to do it.<\/p>\n

During CNN\u2019s Republican debate in Florida on Thursday, moderator Wolf Blitzer asked Paul if he agreed with the tax policies that former President Ronald Reagan put in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe taxed too much,\u201d Paul replied. \u201cMy goal is to get rid of the 16th Amendment and the only way you can do that is not run a welfare system and a warfare system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ronnie the Racist includes Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in the welfare system<\/em>. in addition to food stamps and other programs to aid the needy.  He would replace income tax with a sales tax that would decrease taxes on the rich and increase them on everyone else.<\/font><\/p>\n

From LA Times<\/a>: <\/font>But the secretary of state said Thursday that after decades of "being on the high wire of American politics," it’s about time for some R & R.<\/p>\n

"It would be probably a good idea to just find out how tired I am," she joked. Then she teased: "Everyone always says that when they leave these jobs."<\/p>\n

Clinton, during an event with State Department employees, had been asked, "What could we do to persuade you to run for vice president?" Clinton said she has enjoyed her time as the nation’s top diplomat and would continue to serve only as long as it takes for a replacement to be selected and confirmed after the election.<\/p>\n

This may be a good thing, but I\u2019m concerned.  She would draw a lot of support if she becomes Obama\u2019s running mate, but the cost would be high.  She and Bill have been adept at influencing Obama to the right.  I\u2019m not optimistic about her replace, because Senate Republicans are likely to block any choice that is not a bad one.<\/font><\/p>\n

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

\"28Cartoon\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My trip to prison on Thursday was a meeting of over 100 men.  I was pleased to learn that two of the men, that I have known for over twenty years, are coming up for parole.  I have absolute confidence that both have learned the skills they will need to stay free, as law abiding […]<\/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-6906","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\/6906","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=6906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6906\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}