Open Thread–12/22/2013

Yesterday I attended the community meeting at my building.  We discussed maintenance issues, conduct issues, and plans for future group activities.  Between that and taking three much needed naps, there was not much time left for research, but I’m not completely empty handed.  Tomorrow is a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  Sadly, my Broncos worship won’t be televised here. 🙁

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:25 (average 4:57).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From NY Times: The budget deal that Congress approved and sent to President Obama on Wednesday may bring some relief to agencies burdened by sequester cuts all year, but it does nothing to bring the two political parties closer together. Republicans immediately reverted to their obstructionist agenda, making it clear that the budget compromise with Democrats was a brief aberration.

Paul Ryan, the House budget chairman, defied the Tea Party by negotiating the deal with his Senate counterpart, Patty Murray, but he quickly announced plans to “get something” in exchange for raising the debt limit early next year. “We’re going to decide what it is we can accomplish out of this debt limit fight,” he said on Fox News. [Faux Noise delinked] One of those demands, he suggested,[propagandist delinked] could be the president’s approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, or unspecified “reforms” (meaning cuts) to social-welfare programs. The White House will once again refuse to pay the ransom, leading to yet another standoff.

While Mr. Ryan prepares his list of demands, Senate Republicans are still stomping around their chamber, infuriated that they can no longer block the president’s nominees with filibusters. Rather than accept the reality that a simple-majority vote will now be used to confirm nominees, Republicans have chosen to erect a continuing series of procedural roadblocks, delaying confirmations and votes, and even preventing committees from meeting.

2014 promises even more of the Republican sedition we’ve learned to despise. This aberration was only a stunt to mask the negative publicity they earned from their 2013 attempts to transfer even more of our resources to the 0.1% and to establish a permanent, totalitarian Republican Reich in which elections exist only for show.

From Crooks and Liars:

What the hell is the deal with these Republican slobs living in filth? First, we learned that the Rohrabacher family took umbrage with not getting their rental deposit back after leaving a formerly pristine million-dollar rental home with more than $25,000 damage and truly horrifyingly unsanitary living conditions. And now we have the story of Rep. Steve Stockman, the whackadoodle congressman from Texas who wants to arm fetuses and regularly flamebaits on Twitter, whose campaign office in Webster, TX was recently condemned:

The story, to recap, was reported last month by The Houston Chronicle. According to the Chronicle, officials in Webster, Texas in November ordered the emergency closure of Stockman’s campaign headquarters, citing multiple safety violations. The newspaper reported that various campaign staffers and volunteers were working and sleeping in the office, located in a former a former motorcycle shop considered unsafe for habitation.

Since this is how Republicans treat their own staff, shouldn’t it tell you just how they will treat YOU?

From Daily Kos:  Well, Texas killed satire again. It’s dead. Hope you’re happy, Texas.

Larry Kilgore has made God, gays and guns an important part of his campaign for governor, but his No. 1 issue is secession. Kilgore is so committed to the idea of having Texas leave the union that he legally changed his name – Larry SECEDE Kilgore. That’s the way he’ll appear on the ballot next March in the Texas Republican primary, where he is challenging front runner Greg Abbott for the GOP nomination.

Kilgore talking with the clerk when next renewing his driver’s license: "No, that’s SECEDE with all caps. All the letters."

Apparently Larry SECEDE’s big contribution to Republicanism is that he wants gay Americans to vote for him too so that, at long last, Texas can SECEDE. Once that’s out of the way, we’ll worry about the pesky details of who in the new Texas utopia will be able to kill who, and why.

Kilgore believes the Bible offers a good guide for government. As such, he suggests that in accordance with the biblical injunction against homosexuality, gay people should be put to death. But Kilgore says he’s willing to temporarily set aside his opposition to homosexuals in the interest of winning.

WHAT?!!? I’m really not making this up.  REALLY!!

Cartoon: