{"id":27629,"date":"2017-05-23T11:18:21","date_gmt":"2017-05-23T18:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=27629"},"modified":"2017-05-23T11:18:21","modified_gmt":"2017-05-23T18:18:21","slug":"squatchs-open-thread-23-may-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2017\/05\/23\/squatchs-open-thread-23-may-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Squatch’s Open Thread 23 May 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have not posted in a while as I deal with my mother's passing and preparing her estate.  There is still much to do and it will get done eventually.  This week is very busy with numerous meetings all crammed into 4 days because yesterday was Victoria Day, a statutory holiday in most of Canada (Québec calls it Patriot's Day).  Today's big adventure is taking my 3 furbabes to the vet's for their annual checkup and shots.  They love their vet (he's their godfather) and he loves them.  By the time I get them home, the car and me will be covered in cat fur, literally!<\/span><\/p>\n

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

CBC<\/strong><\/span><\/a> <\/span>— A jawbone discovered by German troops in Athens during the Second World War could be evidence that apes and humans diverged 200,000 years earlier than the current theory says.<\/p>\n

Chimpanzees and bonobos are the nearest known relatives to humans, sharing 99 per cent of our DNA. It's believed that we split between five and seven million years ago. <\/p>\n

However, researchers analyzing two fossils — a jawbone from a German museum and an upper premolar from a collection in Bulgaria — concluded their ages to be roughly 7.2 million years, and belonging to a pre-human.<\/p>\n

But there's another significant finding: that human split occurred in the eastern Mediterranean and not Africa, as it is believed.<\/p>\n

Well doesn't this just bite if you're an evangelical creationist who believes the earth was created only 6,000 years ago and that God created humans, and humans did not evolve from apes!  While the 7.2-million-year-old pre-human fossils might challenge current evolutionary theory, it certainly slams creationists.  Let's hear it for science!<\/span><\/p>\n

Business Insider UK<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/strong>— For most in the hospitality industry, the odd bad review is part and parcel of the trade, but one venue appears to be determined to silence its critics.<\/p>\n

According to The Mirror, Sarah Gardner, a 44-year-old mother and part-time nurse, has been threatened with legal action after posting a negative review on TripAdvisor of the Tunbridge Wells-based High Rocks restaurant and wedding reception venue.<\/p>\n

The review posted on March 22 has since been taken down, but according to a screenshot obtained by the Daily Mail, it said: “Visited here with my family, been coming here for years. I have found the staff more and more rude each time."<\/p>\n

“They have an arrogance that should not exist in a service industry, particularly the management. It’s as if they are doing you a favour, I found dealing with them frustrating and perplexing."<\/p>\n

Click through for the rest.  Don't let Drumpf see this or he'll try to sue everyone and anyone who speaks negatively about him whether it comes under freedom or speech or not!<\/span><\/p>\n

Washington Post<\/strong><\/span><\/a> <\/span>— President Trump asked two of the nation’s top intelligence officials in March to help him push back against an FBI investigation into possible coordination between his campaign and the Russian government, according to current and former officials.<\/p>\n

Trump made separate appeals to the director of national intelligence, Daniel Coats, and to Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, urging them to publicly deny the existence of any evidence of collusion during the 2016 election.<\/p>\n

Coats and Rogers refused to comply with the requests, which they both deemed to be inappropriate, according to two current and two former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private communications with the president.<\/p>\n

Trump sought the assistance of Coats and Rogers after FBI Director James B. Comey told the House Intelligence Committee on March 20<\/font><\/a> that the FBI was investigating “the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”<\/p>\n