Open Thread–11/25/2010

Yesterday I managed to keep up with comments, but that is all.  The steam return in the ceiling above my desk gave way, causing a severe water leak through a crack in emy ceiling, directly above my computer desk.  So I’ve been playing water tag with towels and buckets.  I’m typing on my bed, using a piece of 2 x 6 as a mouse pad.  I completely dismantled my computer system and jury rigged my home WI-Fi network on the other side of the room.  I have had no sleep.  On Friday morning a crew will come and tear into my ceiling to find and repair the problem, so I will be thoroughly discombobulated for a few days.  So if there are no posts from me for a day or two, please do not worry.  I’m alive and expect to stay that way.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 4:18 (4:22 average)(a miracle given current conditions).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Huffington Post: Elizabeth Warren was the first senior Obama administration official to recognize the potentially incendiary impact of a bill that would have made it significantly easier for mortgage companies to foreclose on homes, and her subsequent warnings played a crucial role in persuading the President to veto the measure, according to freshly released documents and people familiar with the deliberations.

The disclosure that Warren was instrumental in halting a bill that would have streamlined the foreclosure process comes as she confronts fierce criticism from Republicans on Capitol Hill for the way she was appointed to construct a new consumer financial protection bureau, and characterizations that she is inclined to take an overly punitive tack with Wall Street.

She just proved she is Obama’s best appointment.

From Washington Post: Republicans are the only group that favors racial profiling at airports, with a majority of them supporting the policy, while Democrats and independents are strongly opposed to it.

Even TSA groping is more tolerable than Republican hate and racism.

From Alternet: The US government on Wednesday designated “critical habitat” for polar bears who live on Alaska’s disappearing sea ice, a move that could impact new oil and gas drilling projects in the Arctic.

The Fish and Wildlife Service set aside 187,000 square miles (484,000 square kilometers) off Alaska as the threatened bears’ habitat, which means any project that could impact the animals’ way of life must undergo careful review.

Far more is needed, but this may be bearly adequate.

Cartoon:

Give thanks!