It has been a while since I last posted an Open Thread. Today I have 2 articles, with a new feature on the Open Thread. TomCat brings the Jigsaw Puzzle to you, and I wanted a suitable Soduku but could not find one. I did however find a word game for you. I hope you enjoy it.
Word Wonders (from Microsoft Ultimate Word Game)
I will give you a set of letters and the number of words and their lengths from which you will make words. At least one word will utilise every letter. I will post the answers at Politics Plus even if I do not publish an article. Let me know if you enjoy these puzzles.
Letters: A L N R S U
5 words with 3 letters each
4 words with 4 letters
2 words with 5 letters
1 word with all 6 letters
Good luck!
Short Takes
Politico — In early December, as President Donald Trump’s approval rating reached a new low of 32 percent, the commander in chief was rating the 2020 Democratic field from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — who had recently bested Trump in a poll that tested the two septuagenarians in a head-to-head matchup — wasn’t a serious threat and would be easy to beat, Trump told a Republican with close ties to the White House who was in the room.
It wasn’t the lefty politics of the self-described socialist that Trump thought were a losing proposition. Instead, according to the person in the room, Trump was hung up on Sanders’ age, arguing that Sanders, now 76, wouldn’t have the energy to run another national campaign.
Sanders wasn’t the only potential presidential candidate who Trump, 71, brushed off as a non-threat. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the woman he has nicknamed “Pocahontas,” would be “easy to beat,” he said. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker probably wouldn’t end up running, Trump mused. When someone in the room brought up California Sen. Kamala Harris, the president seemed not to have her on his radar yet.
So, not only is Trump raising money for his 2020 run, he is handicapping possible Democratic opponents in the most arrogant way. Recently, he committed to campaigning for 2018 hopefuls but with a caveat . . . only if the candidate supports his agenda. We saw how well that went in Alabama with Roy Moore.
Canadian Press — Shakil Afridi has languished in jail for years — since 2011, when the Pakistani doctor used a vaccination scam in an attempt to identify Osama bin Laden’s home, aiding U.S. Navy Seals who tracked and killed the al-Qaida leader.
Americans might wonder how Pakistan could imprison a man who helped track down the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. Pakistanis are apt to ask a different question: how could the United States betray its trust and cheapen its sovereignty with a secret nighttime raid that shamed the military and its intelligence agencies?
“The Shakil Afridi saga is the perfect metaphor for U.S-Pakistan relations” — a growing tangle of mistrust and miscommunication that threatens to jeopardize key efforts against terrorism, said Michael Kugelman, Asia program deputy director at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington.
The U.S. believes its financial support entitles it to Pakistan’s backing in its efforts to defeat the Taliban — as a candidate, Donald Trump pledged to free Afridi, telling Fox News in April 2016 he would get him out of prison in “two minutes. … Because we give a lot of aid to Pakistan.” But Pakistan is resentful of what it sees as U.S. interference in its affairs.
Quid pro quo Trump style? Admittedly, this started under Obama and might have thought that Obama could use diplomatic finesse to free Shakil Afridi. But now, the boastful Trump waded into the fray saying that he would free Afridi in “two minutes. …Because we give a lot of aid to Pakistan.”. How has that worked out Trump? Now the US under Trump has withheld aid to Pakistan and the problem still exists. Trump has no idea of the intricacies of foreign affairs and the necessity of “walking quietly” and listening.
The Hill — President Trump in two late-night tweets on Saturday pitched his immigration plan while slamming Democrats, saying they are only interested in obstruction.
Trump called his fix for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program “wonderful” and said there were two reasons for proposing it.
“I have offered DACA a wonderful deal, including a doubling in the number of recipients & a twelve year pathway to citizenship, for two reasons: (1) Because the Republicans want to fix a long time terrible problem. (2) To show that Democrats do not want to solve DACA, only use it!” he said.
“Democrats are not interested in Border Safety & Security or in the funding and rebuilding of our Military. They are only interested in Obstruction!” he added in a subsequent tweet.
Obstruction??? Horse puckey!!! First, Republicans don’t want to fix anything. Second, I would be interested in knowing what Trump thought about Republican performance during the Obama years. Now THAT was obstruction on an unprecedented scale. We will have to wait to see if DACA gets renewed since some Democrats allowed it to be deferred in the negotiations to end the government shutdown. Personally, I think it was all a Republican ruse.
Jalopnik — Montreal police probably rolled their eyes at the person who parked their snow-covered early ‘90s Toyota Supra right in a snow-removal lane, completely blocking in other parked cars.
They went to ticket the car, and got to the point of lifting its very real windshield wiper when they realized, hey, this isn’t a snow-covered car—it’s a snow pile shaped like a car.
Oh my! Such great art work! Thankfully the police enjoyed the prank.
5 Responses to “Squatch’s Open Thread 30 January 2018”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
It’s been far too long!
LAN, RAN, RUN, SUN too pooped. After 5 minutes, that’s too time intensive for me.
Without Russian involvement, Sanders, Warren, Booker, or Harris would take the popular vote.
We need Pakistan as a a supply and withdrawal route for our soldiers in Afghanistan.
It’s a racist SCAM!
LOL!!
Good one Squatch!
Politico – He thinks everyone would be easy to beat. When he couldn’t beat Hillary for the popular voteeven after 25 years of slander had tarnished her image, and only won the Electoral College because of Russian hacking. I suppose he could beat anyone with Russian hacking – which is another reason why we must prevail in 2018.
Canada – Yes, well, that’s what happens when you think that everything, everything in the world, everything that can be imagined, comes down to money. It doesn’t exactly make me want to barf, but it does make me want to cry.
HILL – I think getting a vote deferred was the best we could do. But I also think that, if a proposal can be brought to the Senate, and presuming McConnell will allow it to be voted on, that it will then go to the House where Ryoan will NOT allow it to be voted on.
Jalopnik – Some art work indeed, if they could determine the year, make and model of a car that didn’t even exist. I used to have trouble getting that much information out of peopl trying to add an actually existing vehicle to their insurance policies. I also am glad LE enjoyed it.
Politicio: I’d love to see Sanders, Warren, Booker, or Harris run. All are worth opponents vs. this id. Mitchell, I like your comment though! lol
CP: Trump’s empty words, and going nowhere. How sad that this id is in office. Still.
TH: Remember our Military over there! I agree with your comment, Lynn.
Artwork: How cool!!
Will have to come back to view the puzzle. Nice to see you back on board. Take care, Thanks, Lynn.
Politco: It’s so easy to understand why Drumpf is already trying to raise money for 2020: it’s so very much like campaigning and the one thing he had any success with. Goodness forbid he has to do some real work and actually govern America as any true president would, right?
CP: People in the dumps like Shakil Afridi all over the world are starting to shake in fear of Drumpf interfering with their release only to promote his own ego. His alter ego in the UK, Boris Johnson, is equally feared among people languishing in foreign captivity. He refused to apologize for a gaffe that threatens a British mother in jail in Tehran with an extra five years on her sentence.
TH: Not to worry, Lynn, Drumpf, together with his adoring Republican fans, seems to have undermined any solution of the government shutdown problem with his State of the Uniom. There’s no Democrat who can now say he/she doesn’t know it is a ruse.
Jalopnic: Artwork in the new realistic style, eh? Great, and above all, harmless fun.
That is one cool car.