{"id":19442,"date":"2016-01-29T04:36:53","date_gmt":"2016-01-29T12:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=19442"},"modified":"2016-01-29T04:36:53","modified_gmt":"2016-01-29T12:36:53","slug":"squatchs-open-thread-28012016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/29\/squatchs-open-thread-28012016\/","title":{"rendered":"Squatch’s Open Thread 28\/01\/2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sorry I wasn't here yesterday to post an Open Thread but my arthritis flared up, swelling my fingers and making it too painful to type or use the mouse, although I managed to respond to TC's articles.  I suspect the heavy rains were the catalyst.  It wasn't until late this afternoon that things started to normalise.  Well I know I am in the dog house, so to speak, with my furbabes as Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday they ignored me, completely!  I suspect it may be the reduced rations.  It is amazing though — the power of food — as they started coming to me a bit more.  I think I am forgiven now.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Intercept<\/span><\/a><\/strong> — New FEC filings<\/a> show that all of the $417,250 in monetary donations to a Super PAC called “Black Americans for a Better Future” comes from conservative white businessmen — including $400,000<\/a>, or 96 percent of the total, from white billionaire hedge fund manager Robert Mercer.<\/p>\n

\"donors-theintercept-graphic-v2\"<\/p>\n

Call the PAC something that it is not in hopes that it will convince some African American voters to get behind Ted Cruz . . . Black Americans for a Better Future, thy name is deception.<\/span><\/p>\n

Huffington Post<\/strong><\/span><\/a> — California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) is asking voters to overturn a strict sentencing law he signed nearly 40 years ago because of its "unintended consequences," including a surge in the prison population.<\/p>\n

Brown, in a call with reporters Wednesday, announced a ballot initiative called the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016<\/a>, which he said would likely reduce prison time for many of the 127,000<\/a> nonviolent offenders locked in the state's overcrowded<\/a> correctional facilities. <\/p>\n

Personally, I think this is  a great move.  Couple it with Obama's recent call to ban solitary confinement for juveniles and as punishment for low-level infractions in federal facilities, and you have the first steps of prison reform.<\/span><\/p>\n

Global News<\/strong><\/span><\/a> — Months after being released from an Egyptian jail, Mohamed Fahmy<\/a> is adjusting to the life of an academic at the University of British Columbia, talking to students about his experiences as a journalist.<\/p>\n

“It feels very inspiring that I’m actually lecturing students and getting feedback about various topics,” he said.<\/p>\n

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He has no shortage of things to talk about. Fahmy spent more than 400 days in prison on terrorism charges after an Egyptian court case that was the subject of broad international criticism.<\/p>\n