{"id":18019,"date":"2015-12-09T20:18:36","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T04:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=18019"},"modified":"2015-12-09T20:18:36","modified_gmt":"2015-12-10T04:18:36","slug":"squatchs-open-thread-09122015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2015\/12\/09\/squatchs-open-thread-09122015\/","title":{"rendered":"Squatch\u2019s Open Thread 09\/12\/2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

A bit of a crazy day today but in addition to physio, I managed to finish up my Christmas shopping for my student's family.  I was going to get young Simon (18 mth old) a wooden truck but changed that to a small stuffed dinosaur.  He is very adept at throwing so figured the dinosaur would do less damage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Puzzle<\/strong> — Today’s took me 3:07 (average 5:40). To do it, <\/span>click here<\/span><\/a><\/strong>. How did you do?<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Alternet<\/strong><\/span><\/a> — According to an investigation by the New York Times, half of all the money contributed so far to Democratic and Republican presidential candidates—$176 million—has come from just 158 families<\/a>, along with the companies they own or control.<\/p>\n

Who are these people?  They’re almost entirely white, rich, older and male—even though America is becoming increasingly black and brown, young, female, and with declining household incomes.<\/p>\n