{"id":24093,"date":"2016-10-06T14:53:22","date_gmt":"2016-10-06T21:53:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=24093"},"modified":"2016-10-06T14:53:22","modified_gmt":"2016-10-06T21:53:22","slug":"open-thread-1062016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2016\/10\/06\/open-thread-1062016\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread – 10\/6\/2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday’s supper was delicious, and we sent a green cloud north in search of the Squatch.  Tomorrow, I have an appointment with Courtney, my Physical Terrorist, so I may have nothing more than a Personal Update.  If you are in Matthew’s path, please take care.  You are in my thoughts and prayers.<\/font><\/p>\n

Jig Zone Puzzle<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

Today’s took me 3:54 (average 5:00).  To do it, click here<\/a>.  How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n

Short Takes<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n

From KOIN<\/a>: <\/font>The Republican candidate for Oregon governor drew boos at a Portland debate Friday when he suggested successful women aren\u2019t susceptible to sexual violence.<\/p>\n

Dr. Bud Pierce\u2019s remarks came after his Democratic opponent Gov. Kate Brown also disclosed she has been a victim of domestic violence.<\/p>\n

Oregon Public Broadcasting reports<\/a> that Pierce said \u201ca woman that has a great education and training and a great job is not susceptible to this kind of abuse by men, women or anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The line drew groans and boos from the audience at the Portland City Club.<\/p>\n

I proudly endorse Kate Brown, Oregon’s only rational choice for Governor.<\/font><\/p>\n

From CMD<\/a>: <\/font>Bayer announced<\/a> this month that it plans to purchase Monsanto<\/a>, the controversial chemical corporation that has been sued around the world over its products. Nowadays, Bayer<\/a> has a more consumer-friendly corporate reputation, but has a checkered past too. (Bayer\u2019s history as a German company during the Nazi era is well documented.)<\/p>\n

According to Vox<\/a>, if regulators approve the $66 billion deal, the merger would create the largest agribusiness giant in the world, \u201cselling 29 percent of the world\u2019s seeds and 24 percent of its pesticides.\u201d<\/p>\n

Selling nearly a third of the world\u2019s seeds actually means owning a huge portion of the seed stock on the planet. And, Monsanto has spent decades genetically modifying seeds to make them compatible with its chemical pesticides and herbicides, as with Roundup-ready corn<\/a>. Those are the kinds of chemicals and modifications that can\u2019t be washed off.<\/p>\n

In the U.S., citizens have been waging major campaigns to try to get GMO products<\/a> labeled and\/or to prevent the use of GMO crops in their communities. These efforts have been attacked by Monsanto and other chemical corporations, which have worked to defeat citizen democracy through subterfuge\u2014as with the deceptive ads that beat back California\u2019s proposition on GMO labeling and with a \u201cpreemption\u201d bill in Oregon to trump local ballot measures that passed overwhelmingly in two Oregon counties that banned GMO crops.<\/p>\n

I hope you already know just how evil I consider Monsanto to be, but Bayer is just as bad. They became a corporate giant using slave labor in concentration camps and conducting bizarre medical experiments on camp prisoners, working closely with the infamous Mengele Brothers. Their record continues to be horrid. Click here for more details<\/a>.<\/font><\/p>\n

From NY Times<\/a>: <\/font>Donald J. Trump\u2019s support has plunged across the swing-state map over the last 10 days, wiping out his political recovery from September and threatening to undo weeks of Republican gains in the battle for control of Congress.<\/p>\n

For his party, Mr. Trump\u2019s reversal in fortune comes at the worst possible moment: Having muted their criticism of Mr. Trump in hopes that he could at least run competitively through Election Day, Republicans must decide in the next few days, rather than weeks, whether to seek distance from his wobbly campaign.<\/p>\n

Should Mr. Trump falter badly in his second debate with Hillary Clinton on Sunday in St. Louis, Republican congressional candidates may take it as a cue to flee openly from their nominee, said two senior Republicans involved at high levels of the campaign who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss private party strategy.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump has already slipped perceptibly in public polls, trailing widely this week in Pennsylvania and by smaller margins in Florida and North Carolina \u2014 three states he cannot afford to lose. But private polling by both parties shows an even more precipitous drop, especially among independent voters, moderate Republicans and women, according to a dozen strategists from both parties who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the data was confidential.<\/p>\n

Hillary’s tactic of treating Trump as separate from the Republican party is wrong.  We need to keep tying Trump and every Republican candidate from Dawg<\/em> Catcher up together. The only difference between most of them and Trump is that they try assure their base of their hate-filled positions and policies using dog whistles, at the same time that they deceive the general public about them. On the other hand, Trump articulates those same positions and policies clearly. In short, he’s just another Republican, and they are just junior Trumps.<\/font><\/p>\n

From YouTube<\/a> (Move-on Channel<\/a>): <\/font>Complacency is Not an Option <\/font><\/p>\n