Open Thread–4/10/2011

Yesterday I was completely exhausted.  Except for installing a new widget in the right sidebar, I spent the day sleeping and resting.  I am up to date on comments.  This morning I have a month’s groceries being delivered.  With my physical limitations, it will take me between two and three hours to unpack and put them all away, after which I’ll be pretty useless.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today it took me 5:00 (average 6:04).  To do it, click here.  Hoe did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: I SPENT 18 years in prison for robbery and murder, 14 of them on death row. I’ve been free since 2003, exonerated after evidence covered up by prosecutors surfaced just weeks before my execution date.

This is John Thompson’s story.  It’s well worth the read.

From Bloomberg: China’s first quarterly trade deficit in seven years may ease pressure on the world’s biggest exporter to allow faster appreciation of the yuan.

How did that happen?  The only thing they import from here is jobs. 🙄

From McClatchy DC: Hardline Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr mobilized tens of thousands of followers Saturday to mark the eighth anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime with a warning that United States troops must not stay in Iraq past their scheduled Dec. 31 departure date.

In a speech read by an aide to the crowd, Sadr said that the failure of U.S. troops to leave on time would mean "escalating military resistance and reactivating the Mahdi Army,"

I hear buzz that Gates is toying with keeping troops there longer.  In a word, NO!

Cartoon:

Pray that Democrats grow spines!