{"id":19221,"date":"2016-01-20T01:02:14","date_gmt":"2016-01-20T09:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=19221"},"modified":"2016-01-20T01:02:14","modified_gmt":"2016-01-20T09:02:14","slug":"squatchs-open-thread-19012016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/20\/squatchs-open-thread-19012016\/","title":{"rendered":"Squatch&#8217;s Open Thread 19\/01\/2016"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\">After physio, teaching and then taking my student shopping, I finally arrived home at 19:45, exhausted and in pain (my knee). &nbsp;As a result, there was no post yesterday. &nbsp;But a good sleep did wonders, and after leaving what felt like 5 kilos on the hair salon floor, I feel great! &nbsp;Tomorrow is more physio and then back to the keyboard.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\"><strong>Short Takes<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rawstory.com\/2016\/01\/hilarious-or-depressing-kimmel-interviews-americans-who-actually-believe-mlk-endorsed-donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\">Raw Story<\/span><\/a><\/strong><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\"><strong> <\/strong>&#8212;<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/span>On<span style=\"color:#0000FF;\"><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/span>Monday, the nation honored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, the slain civil rights leader who changed America by leading a movement to end legislated racism.&nbsp;ut it seems some on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood had a confused idea of who King was and even how campaign endorsements work.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"695\" height=\"391\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DtLRrnn7pZY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\">A little dose of humour to keep your engines purring . . . either that or you will cry at the lack of knowledge some people have. &nbsp;Saints preserve us!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/entry\/kansas-voter-registration_us_569ea25ae4b0cd99679bb3c5?utm_hp_ref=politics\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\"><strong>Huffington Post<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\"> &#8212;&nbsp;<\/span>Kris Kobach&#39;s efforts to make voters prove that they&#39;re citizens aren&#39;t going so well.<\/p>\n<p>A district state judge declared Friday that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has overstepped his legal authority by implementing a dual voter registration system.<\/p>\n<p>The federal voter registration form only requires a sworn statement, under penalty of perjury, that citizens who are registering are U.S. citizens. Kobach introduced a requirement that residents of Kansas seeking to vote must produce documentation of citizenship, like a passport or birth certificate. The requirement took effect in 2013.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In his ruling last week, Judge Franklin Theis wrote, &ldquo;The Secretary is not empowered to determine or declare the method of registration or create a method of &#39;partial registration&#39; only.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\">When I think of the amount of time and money spent for such frivolous lawsuits, lawsuits that try to disenfranchise people, it annoys me. &nbsp;The time and money could be put towards education or a multitude of other worthwhile endeavours. &nbsp;But then, that&#39;s not how Republicans work. &nbsp;The votes to repeal Obamacare is yet another example, this time at the federal level.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/montreal\/quebec-patient-doctor-assisted-death-1.3405666\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\">C<\/span><\/a><\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/montreal\/quebec-patient-doctor-assisted-death-1.3405666\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\"><strong>BC<\/strong><\/span><\/a> &#8212;&nbsp;A Quebec City patient has died with the&nbsp;assistance of a doctor, in a Canadian legal first.<\/p>\n<p>A spokeswoman for the authority&nbsp;that oversees health care in the Quebec City region confirmed to CBC News that one patient has received medical aid in dying and a second request is being considered.<\/p>\n<p>Annie&nbsp;Ouellet of&nbsp;the&nbsp;Quebec City&nbsp;Integrated University Health and Social Services Centre&nbsp;would offer no further details on the patient or the circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>It is the first known case since the&nbsp;province&#39;s assisted dying law came into effect on Dec. 10, 2015.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\">From a related <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/assisted-dying-supreme-court-federal-1.3406009\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\"><strong>CBC<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\"> article,&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>In its&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/1657039-supreme-court-ruling-on-assisted-dying.html\">Feb. 6, 2015 ruling<\/a>, the court [Supreme Court of Canada]&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/supreme-court-says-yes-to-doctor-assisted-suicide-in-specific-cases-1.2947487\">struck down&nbsp;the&nbsp;ban on physician-assisted dying<\/a>&nbsp;on the grounds that it violated Canadians&#39;&nbsp;charter rights. Justices then&nbsp;gave the federal and provincial governments 12 months to prepare for the decision to come into effect.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\">The Conservative government of Stephen Harper did very little in drawing up the federal guidelines for physician assisted dying before he lost the election on 19\/10\/2015. &nbsp;Trudeau&#39;s new government now has a 4 month extension to get the rules and processes in place. &nbsp;In the interim,&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The court [Supreme Court of Canada]&nbsp;also ruled that, in fairness to Canadians outside Quebec, those wishing to exercise their right to die with the help of a doctor&nbsp;can apply to a superior court [provincial Supreme Court]&nbsp;in their home province for &quot;relief in accordance with the criteria&quot; set out in the high court&#39;s ruling last February.&nbsp;The ruling noted this was the first time the Supreme Court had been asked to grant&nbsp;individual exemptions of this kind.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\">In my view, this is good news. &nbsp;We show compassion for animals when they are suffering or terminally ill by euthanising them. &nbsp;Should people not have that same right? &nbsp;Some argue that a doctor&#39;s oath which says &quot;do no harm&quot; prevents them from assisting. &nbsp;But I question this since there may well be a greater harm, a greater suffering for the patient if they live. &nbsp;It is complicated, and there need to be processes in place&nbsp;to prevent abuse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/entry\/netanyahu-iran-deal_us_569e82afe4b0cd99679b893d\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\"><strong>Huffington Post<\/strong><\/span><\/a> &#8212;&nbsp;As the agreement reached its &ldquo;<a data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;entry_text&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:5}}\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/how-irans-hardliners-still-threaten-the-nuclear-deal-53236\">implementation day<\/a>&rdquo; with the removal of international sanctions following Iran&rsquo;s compliance with the deal, Netanyahu was quick to credit Israeli efforts for preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. According to the&nbsp;<a data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;entry_text&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:6}}\" href=\"http:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/netanyahu-credits-israel-with-deferring-iranian-nukes\/\">Times of Israel<\/a>, Netanyahu opened his weekly cabinet meeting by stating, &ldquo;If it weren&rsquo;t for our efforts leading the way in enforcing the sanctions on Iran&rsquo;s nuclear program, Iran would have had a nuclear weapon long ago.&rdquo; &nbsp;<span style=\"color:#000000;\"><strong>&#8230;<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The fact that the international community, and the United States in particular, was willing to engage with Iran has left Netanyahu &quot;<a data-beacon=\"{&quot;p&quot;:{&quot;mnid&quot;:&quot;entry_text&quot;,&quot;lnid&quot;:&quot;citation&quot;,&quot;mpid&quot;:15}}\" href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-iran-nuclear-israel-idUSKCN0UV0J4\">licking his wounds<\/a>,&quot; but with Implementation Day, even Netanyahu has made a subtle pivot towards pragmatism. Bibi may still hate the agreement, but his response this past weekend reflects a slight shift from the past as he seeks to leverage the deal for Israel&rsquo;s political and strategic interests.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\">Just like Netanyahu build himself and Israel up . . . &nbsp;when he didn&#39;t get his way, he inserted himself into the solution.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\"><strong>My Universe<\/strong><\/span> &#8212;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"31Happy_Harley_CAN\" src=\"https:\/\/d177aoed03zmjm.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/31Happy_Harley_CAN-300x226.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color:#0000FF;\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><span style=\"font-family:comic sans ms,cursive;\"><strong>I wish I had the password to the on-line poker site!<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After physio, teaching and then taking my student shopping, I finally arrived home at 19:45, exhausted and in pain (my knee). &nbsp;As a result, there was no post yesterday. &nbsp;But a good sleep did wonders, and after leaving what felt like 5 kilos on the hair salon floor, I feel great! &nbsp;Tomorrow is more physio <a href='https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/20\/squatchs-open-thread-19012016\/' class='excerpt-more'>[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19221\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}