{"id":35141,"date":"2018-12-25T10:05:50","date_gmt":"2018-12-25T18:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=35141"},"modified":"2018-12-25T10:05:50","modified_gmt":"2018-12-25T18:05:50","slug":"open-thread-12-25-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2018\/12\/25\/open-thread-12-25-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread &#8211; 12\/25\/2018"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">It&#8217;s a lazy Christmas Day, and I have nothing special planned.&#160; WWWendy and I are celebrating tomorrow evening, as it&#8217;s only fitting that her family gets Christmas Day.&#160; May you have a safe peaceful Christmas, or whatever Winter holiday, if any, is appropriate for you.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\"><strong>Jig Zone Puzzle<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">Today&#8217;s took me 4:03 (average 8:13).&#160; To do it, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jigzone.com\/puzzles\/2018-12-25-CE2504A965A9\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a>.&#160; How did you do?<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\"><strong>Religious Agony<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.7thstep.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/1224-Broncos14-Raiders27.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"1224-Broncos14-Raiders27\" style=\"border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px\" border=\"0\" alt=\"1224-Broncos14-Raiders27\" src=\"https:\/\/www.7thstep.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/1224-Broncos14-Raiders27_thumb.jpg\" width=\"754\" height=\"54\" \/><\/a><\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">The Browns last week and now the Raiders?&#160; ARGH!!&#160; I said last year that Vance Joseph should be fired.&#160; I was right then and still am.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\"><strong>Fantasy Football Report<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">Here&#8217;s the news from our own <a href=\"http:\/\/fantasy.nfl.com\/league\/342380\" target=\"_blank\">fantasy football league<\/a>.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">Playoffs:<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\"><font color=\"#0000ff\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"P2\" style=\"border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px\" border=\"0\" alt=\"P2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.7thstep.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/P2.jpg\" width=\"750\" height=\"1300\" \/><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">Congrats to Wendy and I for winning our Semifinal games.&#160; We meet next week for the Championship, and my sphincter already hurts from the beating it&#8217;s going to take.&#160; Pamela and Vivian play for third place.&#160; Patty Monster and the Squatch play for fifth place.&#160; Good luck to all.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\"><strong>Short Takes<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=x5dt5bnr5PQ\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/msnbcleanforward\/videos\" target=\"_blank\">MSNBC Channel<\/a>): <\/font>Democrats Aim To Build On Historic 2018 Win, Overcome GOP Skewing (19 min.)<\/p>\n<p>&#160;<iframe loading=\"lazy\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/x5dt5bnr5PQ\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"640\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe> <\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">I&#8217;m pleased to see that Democrats are willing to fight. We can&#8217;t win where we don&#8217;t run! <strong>RESIST<\/strong>!!<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">From <a href=\"https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/trumps-new-pentagon-head-reportedly-pushed-military-to-buy-outdated-planes-from-his-old-company-e9d0a2750ff8\/\" target=\"_blank\">Think Progress<\/a>: <\/font>At least in the short term, Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan will serve as acting secretary. Shanahan is a former top executive with the defense contractor Boeing, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/trumps-acting-defense-secretary-patrick-shanahan-is-a-controversial-former-boeing-executive?ref=scroll\" target=\"_blank\">received $20 billion in contracts<\/a> from the Pentagon since Shanahan became second in command at the Defense Department.<\/p>\n<p>That alone might not be disqualifying. Boeing, after all, received billions from the Pentagon long before Trump took office. And the company is allowed to compete for contracts even if a former executive serves in a senior role within the Defense Department.<\/p>\n<p>Shanahan\u2019s obligation, like other officials facing conflicts of interest, is to recuse himself from decisions involving his former employer. Yet a report in the Daily Beast suggests that Shanahan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/trumps-acting-defense-secretary-patrick-shanahan-is-a-controversial-former-boeing-executive?ref=scroll\" target=\"_blank\">did not recuse himself from a $1.2 billion Boeing contract<\/a> involving outdated fighter planes<\/p>\n<p>The F-15 Eagle is a 45-year-old, \u201cfourth-generation\u201d fighter jet. The Air Force has <a href=\"https:\/\/nationalinterest.org\/blog\/buzz\/boeings-new-f-15x-fighter-really-joining-us-air-force-39677\" target=\"_blank\">not purchased new F-15s since 2001<\/a>. And while Boeing released an updated version of this older airplane \u2014 the F-15X \u2014 Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson previously said that her branch of service has no interest in buying Boeing\u2019s updated offering.<\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">I have no doubt we&#8217;ll see far more corporate corruption by Republican lackeys. <strong>RESIST<\/strong>!!<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.palmerreport.com\/analysis\/poor-me-piles-trump-unhinged\/14935\/\" target=\"_blank\">Palmer Report<\/a>:&#160; <\/font>Defeated and depressed, Donald Trump now sounds like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, if Eeyore were a racist traitor illegally occupying the White House. Trump appeared to bottom out today, tweeting \u201cI am all alone (poor me)\u201d \u2013 and he didn\u2019t seem to mean it sarcastically. No one was about to let the moment go unnoticed.<\/p>\n<p>Various people on Twitter compared Donald Trump\u2019s self-centered pity party to the uplifting Christmas Eve message delivered by President Obama. One respondent to Trump quipped \u201cFive kids and grandkids and none want to spend Christmas Eve with you. Sad.\u201d Another mocked his failed border wall con game: \u201cSo Why don\u2019t you run down to Mexico and grab that check since you have some free time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another hit the nail on the head: \u201cHow is anyone suppose to take you seriously when you whine like a child and act like a lunatic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\">Of course he&#8217;s alone. Can you imagine a worse way to spend Christmas than with Trump? <strong>RESIST<\/strong>!!<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\"><strong>Cartoon<\/strong>:<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font color=\"#0000ff\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.7thstep.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/1225Cartoon.jpg\" \/><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s a lazy Christmas Day, and I have nothing special planned.&#160; WWWendy and I are celebrating tomorrow evening, as it&#8217;s only fitting that her family gets Christmas Day.&#160; May you have a safe peaceful Christmas, or whatever Winter holiday, if any, is appropriate for you. Jig Zone Puzzle: Today&#8217;s took me 4:03 (average 8:13).&#160; To <a href='https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2018\/12\/25\/open-thread-12-25-2018\/' class='excerpt-more'>[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-open-thread","category-personal","category-politics","category-35-id","category-3-id","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\/35141","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}