{"id":18015,"date":"2015-12-12T00:13:47","date_gmt":"2015-12-12T08:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=18015"},"modified":"2015-12-12T00:27:46","modified_gmt":"2015-12-12T08:27:46","slug":"squatchs-open-thread-11122015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2015\/12\/12\/squatchs-open-thread-11122015\/","title":{"rendered":"Squatch\u2019s Open Thread 11\/12\/2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night was a mostly sleepless night, or it certainly felt that way.  Hence I indulged in a needed cat nap this evening which put me behind.  I was teaching today and running interference with young Simon who chose to be especially naughty today.  I think it is time to have a discussion with the kids about acceptable play.  I think that Simon is following their lead in roughhousing without knowing the consequences.  The work of a teacher is never done.  Tomorrow, it's off to Costco with Lucia, my student, for a major shop . . . 6 mouths to feed!<\/span><\/p>\n

Puzzle<\/strong> — Today’s took me 3:43 (average 5:51). To do it, <\/span>click here<\/span><\/a><\/strong>. How did you do?<\/span><\/p>\n

Short Takes<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

CBC<\/span><\/a> — <\/strong>"Now, we feel as if we got out of hell and we came to paradise," Jamkossian told Trudeau through an interpreter. "That's how we feel." …<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In Syria, Zires worked as a clerk in a women's clothing shop and Jamkossian worked as a blacksmith.<\/p>\n

A better life for their daughter Madeleine was the main motivation for coming to Canada. <\/strong><\/p>\n

"She is the reason for us to come here because here she can do many things," Zires said, also through an interpreter. "In other countries, she can do nothing."<\/p>\n

Read through to hear some of the experiences that these refugees have had to endure.  My physiotherapist fled Iran 7 years ago because he and his wife wanted a better life for their children.  My ESL student fled South Sudan and then Uganda with her two oldest children because of the violence and war.  The military\/industrial complex, the merchants of death, grow fat while children die.  The US needs to get its act together to live up to the words on the plaque at the Statue of Liberty, or maybe we should take the statue away.<\/span><\/p>\n

CBC<\/span><\/a> — <\/strong>Calls are growing to remove Donald Trump's name from a Vancouver tower following the Republican presidential candidate's call for a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims<\/a> entering the United States."<\/p>\n

After Trump made the remarks on Monday<\/a>, former Vancouver city planner Brent Toderian tweeted that the developers building the Trump Tower in Vancouver<\/a> should remove his name from the building. <\/p>\n

"I seriously suggest that Vancouverites call on @TrumpVancouver to remove his name," Toderian said on Twitter.<\/p>\n

That call was then echoed by Vancouver city councillor Kerry Jang on Tuesday, who says the city can't do anything to stop the building from bearing Trump's name, but he has written to the developer asking them to part ways with Trump.<\/p>\n

Trump's hate rhetoric is having more than just political consequences and goes beyond the US borders.  There are petitions to have him banned in Australia and I believe the UK.  Here in Vancouver, a petition with over 45,000 signatures and a movement to boycot the new Trump Tower are proceeding.  Dubai has taken Trump's name from a Dubai golf course.  It must really suck to be Trump with so many people world wide disliking you intensely.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Nation<\/span><\/a><\/strong> — <\/span>So what is really being discussed in DC by the party establishment is a strategy to unite all the delegates who are not Trump backers behind an alternative candidate. Under this theory, Trump might arrive with 49 percent of the delegates and get beat by some united-front alternative like Jeb Bush or Chris Christie or Paul Ryan or Mitt Romney.<\/p>\n

This is a lot like what was said to be happening during Canada's last election . . . strategic voting . . . with the goal of anyone but Harper!  It is too bad that the RNC didn't act sooner to contain Trump earlier.  Or perhaps as a progressive, I should say "way to go RNC!".  Trump could split the vote if he goes independent.<\/span><\/p>\n

My Universe<\/strong> —<\/span><\/p>\n