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Even though 3Chics Politico is written and curated by three women: Ametia, Rikyrah, and SouthernGirl2, I must nominate this as one of the most engaging blogs I've found. Devoted to politics and culture, these three shine a light on contemporary life with humor and spirit.
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Republican official suspended after calling woman ‘a radical b*tch’
http://ow.ly/koxaN
The executive director of the Bernalillo County Republican Party in New Mexico has been suspended indefinitely without pay after calling a 19-year-old volunteer “a radical bitch” on Twitter.
“It was in ill-fated attempt at humor, on my personal page, not the county party’s page,” Steve Kush told the the Albuquerque Journal on Wednesday.
The Huffington Post reported that Kush tweeted the comment during a county commission hearing on raising the minimum wage.
Uh huh!
Hackers compromise AP Twitter account
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57580980/hackers-compromise-ap-twitter-account/
Hackers compromised Twitter accounts of The Associated Press on Tuesday, sending out a false tweet about an attack at the White House.
The false tweet said there had been two explosions at the White House and that President Barack Obama was injured. The attack on AP’s Twitter account and the AP Mobile Twitter account was preceded by phishing attempts on AP’s corporate network.
LA reaches $4.2 million settlement with women shot by LAPD during Dorner manhunt
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=9076452
TORRANCE, Calif. (KABC) — The city of Los Angeles has reached a $4.2 million settlement with the two women who were injured when police opened fire on their pickup truck during the manhunt for Christopher Dorner.
Each woman will receive $2.1 million each. The agreement is in addition to a $40,000 settlement reached in March for the loss of the women’s pickup truck.
“I am pleased that a fair settlement was swiftly reached in order to resolve any outstanding claims,” said Los Angeles City Attorney Trutanich. “In reaching this settlement, we hope Margie and Emma will be able to move on with their lives, the city will be spared millions of dollars in litigation expense and time, and this unfortunate chapter of the Dorner saga will be put to rest.”
Margie Carranza and her 71-year-old mother Emma Hernandez were delivering newspapers in their Toyota pickup truck in the early hours of Feb. 7 when LAPD officers, who were guarding the Torrance home of a police target named in Dorner’s manifesto, fired at least 100 rounds.
Dorner, who had vowed warfare on numerous LAPD officers and their families, was believed to be driving a dark-colored pickup. The women were in their blue truck when the violence suddenly erupted. Hernandez was shot twice in the back, but survived. Carranza had a minor injury. The truck was riddled with bullets.
The women’s attorney Glen Jonas calls it a fair and swift settlement, saying a drawn out trial wouldn’t have been good for the city or his clients.
http://youtu.be/OeGXfVRVhZg
Tell the TRUTHMooney ,and SHAME THOSE DEVILS.
Hey Chicas! Look at this bull. You’re not getting in the WH, Hillary. Ain’t gonna happen!
Poll: Hillary Clinton Viewed More Favorably Than Obama, Biden, Kerry
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/23/hillary-clinton-poll_n_3140870.html
Hillary Clinton is viewed favorably by nearly two-thirds of Americans, according to a Gallup poll released Tuesday, making her more popular than President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden or her successor as secretary of state, John Kerry.
The poll found that 64 percent of Americans have a favorable impression of Clinton, compared to 55 percent for Obama, 45 percent for Biden and 44 percent for Kerry.
It’s the PUMA POLL. LOL GTFOH Go through the neighborhoods of NEGROES, and poll them. I dare them.
bwa ha ha ha ha
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — One of Maya Angelou’s doctors says the poet and author is recovering at her North Carolina home following a brief hospitalization.
Dr. Jeff Williamson of the Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., says in letter dated Tuesday that, as leader of Angelou’s medical team, he has ordered the 85-year-old to forego any travel for the next three to four weeks.
The letter was sent to Angelou’s speaker’s bureau, MacRae Speakers & Entertainment LLC. A message seeking further details was left for the Pembroke, Mass.-based company.
Butler University in Indianapolis announced Angelou had canceled an appearance scheduled for Thursday after being notified by the speaker’s bureau.
Among Angelou’s most acclaimed works is the 1969 autobiographical work “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”
http://thegrio.com/2013/04/23/maya-angelou-recovering-after-hospitalization/
Linda Fondren, mayoral candidate, admits to past as a prostitute: ‘I was a working girl’
by Lilly Workneh | April 23, 2013 at 4:21 PM
Linda Fondren, a candidate running for mayor in Vicksburg, Miss., recently opened up about her employment record and admitted to a past life as a prostitute.
Fondren revealed that she was once involved in a brothel and that she met her husband while on duty.
“I was a working girl in a legal brothel over 30 years ago. It’s true, my husband was my client. My husband and I have been married for 28 years,” Fondren said.
The mayoral candidate says she was aware that the news would one day resurface.
Now, after her past has come to light, Fondren admits that she has no regrets and hopes to prove that her story is an example of how others can turn their lives around.
“My story is exactly why I’m running for mayor because I want to give other people better choices than what I had,” Fondren said.
“I want people to understand you can turn your life around. I turned my life around and so it definitely can happen for others as well.”
http://thegrio.com/2013/04/23/linda-fondren-mayoral-candidate-admits-to-past-as-a-prostitute-i-was-a-working-girl/
BWA HA HA HA
My Early Christmas Wish
By Charles P. Pierce at 2:30pm
It seems that Max Baucus, the pestilential trout-mask replica from Montana, will be hanging them up at the end of this term, guaranteeing that any future Democratic majority on the Senate Finance Committee will be considerably more, well, Democratic. The race to succeed him is already underway, with the blog’s former favorite politician, Denny Rehberg, being touted as a Republican politician. But, if Jesus is truly my amigo, there will be more string-tie in Washington than there used to be.
Read more: Max Baucus Retiring – My Early Christmas Wish – Esquire http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/max-baucus-retiring-042313#ixzz2RK2bQSf9
New Scandal episode this Thursday! *Gets popcorn ready*
ICAM
Don Draper’s Dead End
TA-NEHISI COATESAPR 23 2013, 1:22 PM ET
After last season ended with a woman hitting on Don Draper, and Don Draper giving her–and us–that “I’m up for it” look, I feared we’d get a season just like the one we now have. I know the shot was meant to be ambiguous, but it never really struck me that way. I’ve written quite a bit about my annoyance with pop culture’s current obsession with cynicism, darkness, and anti-heroes. It’s not so much that I pine for naiveté, as I pine for something different and new–especially in the same series. Watching Don Draper in his sixth season, I can’t escape the feeling that I’m watching Don Draper in his third season.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/04/don-drapers-dead-end/275225/
I love Mad Men.
I always thought, that once the series was over that you could honestly say that seasons 1-4 were the best.
I don’t think Don is supposed to ‘evolve’. I think he’s supposed to stay as he is, because Don is a fake, and it’s all he can do to keep up with his fake life.
Don is who he is – a rake. A rogue. A ho.
I accept that from him. I look to characters like Peggy and Joan if I want ‘evolving’ characters.
LOL Draper’s a straight up HO’
Joan takes NO prisoners, love her. And Peggy proves she’s go more brains than any man at that agency has a penis.
Senate Republicans on Tuesday prevented Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) from setting up a budget conference.
Reid sought the Senate’s unanimous consent to form a budget conference committee aimed at reconciling the wildly different House and Senate budget resolutions, but Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) objected.
Business as usual with Toomey. That partnering with Manchin was all for show, knowing full well it wasn’t going to pass.
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/295477-reid-to-seek-consent-to-convene-budget-conference-#ixzz2RJg0ia5f
In case you didn’t know…
Amazon is trying to get into ‘original programming’.
They have several pilots up at their website.
Some for adults, some for kids.
I’ve been checking them out.
Hmmm; sounds like they’re competing with Netflix
It’s Not the Arm-Twisting
by BooMan
Tue Apr 23rd, 2013 at 10:17:16 AM EST
The key to understanding why we can’t do anything about gun violence is not to do an analysis of the president’s arm-twisting talents. It’s to understand whether senators like Mark Begich of Alaska and Jeff Flake of Arizona are correct that voting for things like universal background checks will cost them their seats. Even in gun-loving states like Alaska and Arizona, the polling indicates that strong majorities support universal background checks, so why do these senators think the bigger risk is in supporting them? First, we need to figure out if they are correct. If they’re not, they can presumably be convinced that they are incorrect. If they are correct, then we either need to change the facts on the ground or convince them to risk their political careers.
The president doesn’t want vulnerable Democratic senators to take suicidal votes on bills that won’t pass anyway. But it’s hard to understand why an amendment that has the support of 90% of the people can be considered risky, even in states that don’t like the president and don’t like gun control. So, job one for people who support efforts to curb gun violence is to really understand the truth about the choice these senators are making. We can’t just hold up favorable poll numbers and stomp our feet. We tried that and it didn’t work.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/4/23/101716/410
* With two weeks remaining before South Carolina’s closely watched congressional special election, Public Policy Polling finds Elizabeth Colbert Busch (D) leading former Gov. Mark Sanford (R) by nine, 50% to 41%.
Flake relies on nuance to mislead grieving mother
By Steve Benen
–
Tue Apr 23, 2013 12:35 PM EDT
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) seems to be in a little trouble this week, and it’s a problem of his own making. He told Caren Teves, whose son was killed in the Aurora slayings, that he supports “strengthening” background checks, only to turn around and vote against the bipartisan Manchin/Toomey measure last week. It’s led to headlines like these: “Flake Voted Against Background Checks After Telling Shooting Victim’s Mother He Supported Them.”
It might seem like a relatively straightforward question: either he lied or he didn’t. Flake’s hand-written note is a little tough to read, but after receiving a dinner invitation from Teves, the Republican said he was “truly sorry for your deep loss,” adding, “While we may not agree on every solution, strengthening background checks is something we can agree on.”
When Flake then voted against background checks, Teves felt betrayed. “What he did was to go against his own words and vote no against comprehensive background checks … I believe he’s a coward,” she said.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/04/23/17879643-flake-relies-on-nuance-to-mislead-grieving-mother?lite
So Flake’s a Fake. This was just too easy to pass on.
Tsarnaev Admits Bombings, Blames Brother
Fresh details of questioning, court hearing emerge
By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has confessed to the Boston Marathon bombings, but told interrogators that his dead brother was the driving force behind the attacks, a government source tells CNN. The 19-year-old, who has been charged with using weapons of mass destruction and told he could face the death penalty, is being questioned in the presence of doctors every few hours. He has told investigators that he and his brother acted alone, without the involvement of any Islamic terrorist groups, though officials say the pair’s religion motivated the attacks. The Tsarnaev brothers got bomb-making instructions off the Internet, adds NBC.
Tsarnaev’s gunshot wounds have left him barely able to speak, but he communicated mostly by nodding during a court hearing held in his hospital room, the New York Times reports. He spoke only once, to say “no” when asked if he could afford a lawyer, according to a transcript. “I find that the defendant is alert, mentally competent, and lucid. He is aware of the nature of the proceedings,” the judge said, setting Tsarnaev’s next court date for May.
http://www.newser.com/story/166686/tsarnaev-admits-bombings-blames-brother.html
lookey here……
look who’s hanging out now…
uh huh
uh huh
………………………..
U.S. Representatives Luis Gutierrez, Paul Ryan team up to push for immigration reform
BY NATASHA KORECKI
April 22, 2013 7:56PM
Promising it would enhance national security and strengthen the American economy, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was in Chicago on Monday making a case for immigration reform, partnering with an unlikely ally: U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez.
Gutierrez (D-Ill.), known as a national leader on the issue, paired up with Ryan to promote Congress’ next anticipated big battle, with Ryan predicting it would take the bulk of the summer to hammer out an agreement acceptable on both sides of the aisle.
http://www.suntimes.com/19655869-761/us-representatives-luis-gutierrez-paul-ryan-team-up-to-push-for-immigration-reform.html
You know Gutierrez much too well, Rikyrah. He’s a Snake in the grass.
You were wrong, NOW APOLOGIZE.
CNN’s John King: Boston blunder ’embarrassing’
Audio:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/04/cnns-john-king-boston-blunder-embarrassing-162389.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=cheatsheet_afternoon&cid=newsletter%3Bemail%3Bcheatsheet_afternoon&utm_term=Cheat%20Sheet
GTFOH TJWALKER. No excuses. John King needs to apologize. Nobody gives a flying fuck if John King is EMBARRASED.
Because not finding Ricin in one’s home deigns them innocent?
pr. 23, 2013 11:50 AM ET
Ricin suspect hearing cancelled, announcement set
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Officials have cancelled the third day of a hearing for the Mississippi man accused of mailing poisoned letters to President Barack Obama, a U.S. senator and a local judge.
Christi McCoy, defense attorney for Paul Kevin Curtis, says that federal authorities and defense attorneys will speak to reporters at 5 p.m. CDT about the case.
The announcement came 90 minutes after the hearing was supposed to start in federal court. Lawyers spent that time conferring with the judge. Later, Curtis and family members were escorted into a meeting room with his lawyers, followed by a probation officer.
On Monday, an FBI agent said federal authorities didn’t find any ricin in Curtis’ Corinth, Miss., home or vehicle.
McCoy says the search results bolster Curtis’ claims of innocence.
http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-04-23-Suspicious%20Letters/id-f7dc6608dd7b4c2b8039b3dc50a6d7b4
Playing the blame game poorly
By Steve Benen
–
Tue Apr 23, 2013 10:20 AM EDT.
14
Associated Press
In the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in December, President Obama decided to ignore the political risks and long odds of legislative success, and dove into the debate to reduce gun violence. He created a task force, led by Vice President Biden, which helped shape a detailed agenda — ahead of schedule — intended to save lives.
Obama proceeded to invest quite a bit of capital into the fight, including the issue in his inaugural address, hosting several public events, taking his message to the public and the media, and reaching out to lawmakers directly, urging them to do the right thing.
In the end, it wasn’t enough. As we discussed yesterday, Republicans opposed gun reforms; Republicans lied about gun reforms; Republicans partnered with extremists against gun reforms; Republicans filibustered gun reforms; and last week, Republicans killed gun reforms.
And now the Beltway crowd is expressing its disappointment … by blaming Obama.
Maureen Dowd offered a high-profile example the over the weekend, but the meme is spreading. The New York Times has an analysis piece today, connecting the defeat of the gun bill with the president’s reluctance to “twist arms.” John Dickerson has a piece in Slate today on the death of the legislation and Obama’s clumsy legislative prowess, though the article neglected to even mention the word “Republican” in passing.
I realize overly simplistic answers to complex questions can be unsatisfying and at times incomplete, but last week’s developments were fairly straightforward: Republicans opposed new gun laws, so the legislation died. There wasn’t anything the president could do about it.
This wasn’t about schmoozing or arm-twisting. It had nothing to do with a movie Maureen Dowd liked or the “tone” of the White House’s message. Yes, there were some red-state Democrats who balked, but it wasn’t their filibuster, and even if they’d voted with the majority, it wouldn’t have been enough to overcome GOP opposition.
There’s no denying that the legislative outcome represents a defeat for the president — he fought for a bill that failed — but to blame him is to overlook every relevant detail of what actually happened
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/
Boston bombing suspects motivated by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, officials say
The 19-year-old suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings has told interrogators that the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan motivated him and his brother to carry out the attack, according to U.S. officials familiar with the interviews.
From his hospital bed, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has acknowledged his role in planting the explosives near the marathon finish line on April 15, the officials said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing investigation, said Dzhokhar and his older brother, Tamerlan, who was killed by police as the two attempted to avoid capture, do not appear to have been directed by a foreign terrorist organization.
Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/boston-bombing-suspect-cites-us-wars-as-motivation-officials-say/2013/04/23/324b9cea-ac29-11e2-b6fd-ba6f5f26d70e_story.html
Montana’s Baucus latest to announce retirement
By Steve Benen
–
Tue Apr 23, 2013 10:40 AM EDT.
4
Getty Images
Senate Democratic leaders who hoped to keep 2014 retirements to a minimum have apparently failed to persuade their colleagues.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) is retiring rather than seek re-election in 2014, according to two senior Democratic strategists familiar with his plans.
First elected in 1978, Baucus has been the top Democrat on the powerful committee since 2001.
The news comes as something of a surprise — Baucus had given every indication that he intended to run again, and was clearly trying to balance his party’s agenda with the ideological leanings of his red-state constituents.
As is always the case with these retirement announcements, there are a couple of angles to consider. The first is who’s likely to succeed Baucus once he gets a lobbying job departs from public service. In this case, Republicans will welcome the chance to compete in a state Mitt Romney won by 14 points, former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) is reportedly interested — he was rumored to be eyeing a primary race against Baucus — and would be a strong contender.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/04/23/17878559-montanas-baucus-latest-to-announce-retirement?lite
LOL I love this pic. The captions for this one would be off the chain
* skips to the naughty corner* LMBAO
jds09
This is one of the million reasons that I love black people….
“Who hasn’t changed their views of Bush? African Americans (90 percent
disapproval in 2008, 84 percent disapproval now) and Democrats (90
percent disapproval in ’08, 73 percent now).”
We don’t forget shit. lol
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/04/23/george-w-bushs-approval-rating-just-hit-a-7-year-high-heres-how/
Yes; the WaPo and other news rags are trying to hype up this lame, incompetent.
ONE WORD: KATRINA!!!!!!!
KILLING.ME.SOFTLY.
;)
…WITH. HIS.SONG.TELLING MY WHOLE LIFE WITH HIS WORDS.
Sooky! Sooky!
[caption id="attachment_43897" align="alignnone" width="540"]
President Obama looks at the COOL PADS for shoulders, helmet, armpits and groin created by Evan Jackson, Alec Jackson and Caleb Robinson, from Flippen Elementary School, McDonough, Georgia, during the White House Science Fair[/caption]
Look at the posture on that one little Brotha…LOL
Ok! This pic is FRAMABLE. All there of these young boys are future leaders, not DOUBT about it. Thanks for posting, Rik.
I love this! They’re too cute!
It’s one for the sidebar, yes?
It has to be resized to fit. 200 x 300 will work.
Ok; I think Rik’s taking care of re-sizing it. Check your email, please, Thanks
Check the pics for sidebar draft.
it’s the first one.
OK! Thanks!
LOL Ya’ll know these boys mamas told them they’d better stand TALL, be proud, and look the President in the eye. Mama don’t play.
You got it.
LOL
That is EXACTLY what Mama told them to do.
This pic has become my favorite sidebar pic to date.
[caption id="attachment_43896" align="alignnone" width="540"]
President Obama tries the bicycle-powered emergency water-sanitation station, created by high schoolers Payton Karr and Kiona Elliot from Oakland Park, Florida[/caption]
LOL Looking forward to Saturday’s WHCD. Here’s a clip about Bo and PBO’s secret dog agenda!
If the Republican Party wants to speak on the Boston bombers and RADICALIZATION, they need only look in the mirror and stare RADICALIZATION squarely in the face.
Walmart Workers Plan Wednesday Scheduling Showdowns in a Hundred Stores
Josh Eidelson on April 23, 2013 – 12:03 AM ET
On Wednesday, workers in at least a hundred Walmart stores plan to confront local managers with demands for change in the retail giant’s scheduling system.
Scheduling issues have been a recurring focus for the union-backed retail workers group OUR Walmart since its founding. Workers have charged that insufficient and erratic work schedules consign them to poverty, wreak havoc on their personal lives, and shortchange customer service. At an October forum, backroom receiving associate Lori Amos said that because of understaffing at her Washington State store, 2,000 pounds of Halloween candy didn’t make it onto the shelves until it had expired and changed color.
At a January address to the National Retail Federation, Walmart US President Bill Simon announced that the company was “working on clarifying the opportunities that we offer,” and would act to “bring more transparency into our scheduling system,” and “make sure that part-time associates have full visibility” for full-time openings. Three months later, OUR Walmart charges that the situation hasn’t improved. “I haven’t seen any associates that were part-time, that were requesting more hours, getting more hours,” Lancaster, Texas, worker activist Colby Harris told The Nation. Rather, he said, his store has been increasing its use of temps, and “I’ve actually seen associates get less hours.” Walmart did not respond to a Monday morning request for comment.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/173983/walmart-workers-plan-wednesday-scheduling-showdowns-hundred-stores#
BREAKING:
Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) plans to retire rather than seek reelection.
Bye, Max! And don’t let the door hit cha, where the good lord split ya!
Come on, Gov. Schweitzer
********************
GET OUT!
LOL Get’em, SG2!
http://youtu.be/lVCEucsHPHk
Yep; the video is posted on the gun thread.
The Morning Plum: The Green Lantern Theory of Presidential Power
Posted by Greg Sargent on April 23, 2013 at 9:16 am
submit to reddit
Why couldn’t President Obama get expanded background checks through the Senate, given that the idea is supported by over eight in 10 Americans? The chatter around that question continues this morning, with the New York Times weighing in with a big piece arguing that the failure of the Toomey-Manchin compromise in the Senate is rooted in Obama’s unwillingness to “twist arms.”
The Times piece, which comes a day after Maureen Dowd made a similar argument, traffics heavily in what a lot of folks like to describe as the Green Lantern Theory of Presidential Power. The thesis appears to be that Toomey-Manchin failed because Obama failed to put enough pressure on red state Democratic Senators like Mark Begich, and that this bodes ill for the rest of his presidency.
“Mr. Begich’s defiance and that of other Democrats who voted against Mr. Obama appear to have come with little cost,” the Times reports. “After more than four years in the Oval Office, the president has rarely demonstrated an appetite for ruthless politics that instills fear in lawmakers.”
But this thesis suffers from several problems. To begin with, even if every red state Democrat had voted for the measure, it still wouldn’t have passed.
Just look at the roll call for the vote. It failed by 54-46; if Harry Reid had not voted against the measure for procedural reasons, the tally would have been 55-45. Four red state Dems voted against the bill: Begich, Heidi Heitkamp, Mark Pryor and Max Baucus.
In other words, if Obama had twisted the arms of every one of those Democrats into pretzels — indeed, if he had twisted all of their arms together into one giant tangle and mounted it atop the Capitol — it still wouldn’t have achieved the 60 votes necessary to pass.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/04/23/the-morning-plum-the-green-lantern-theory-of-presidential-power/
The media won’t highlight the GOP OBSTRUCTION. It’s easier to pretend PBO’s weak and has no powers to persuade these nitwits.
Won’t have to twist Max Baucus’ arm; he’s not seeking 2014 re-election.
Look who the media is trying to ressurect
As Bush library opening puts his presidency back in the spotlight, his approval rating is up
By Dan Balz, Published: April 22
George W. Bush will return to the spotlight this week for the dedication of his presidential library, an event likely to trigger fresh public debate about his eight fateful years in office. But he reemerges with a better public image than when he left Washington more than four years ago.
Since then, Bush has absented himself from both policy disputes and political battles. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll suggests that the passage of time and Bush’s relative invisibility have been beneficial to a chief executive who left office surrounded by controversy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bush-library-opening-puts-his-presidency-back-in-the-spotlight/2013/04/22/bb7e6b9c-ab65-11e2-a8b9-2a63d75b5459_story.html?wpisrc=nl_politics
Our Nerd-in-Chief
POTUS at the WHite House Science Fair
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26315908/#51627464
Man, do I love that our President respects science.
in the video there are three Black boys – young, who made an invention to help football players stay cool while practicing. there’s so many things to make me happy about that sentence, I don’t know where to begin.
LOL Yes indeed to stay cool in a myriad of ways. Our POTUS ROCKS, such an inspiration to our boys.
In Which Maureen Dowd Seeks A Manly Man
By Charles P. Pierce
at 8:17AM
In case you missed it over the weekend, Maureen Dowd came swanning around the op-ed pages of the New York Times again, swooping across the main parlor and sprawling across the staircases, and wondering why the president — or any president — just doesn’t come sweeping in and carry her off to the land where pleasure knows no boundaries and rapture no frontiers.
Or something.
Actually, she was writing about gun control. And Aaron Sorkin movies.
President Obama has watched the blood-dimmed tide drowning the ceremony of innocence, as Yeats wrote, and he has learned how to emotionally connect with Americans in searing moments, as he did from the White House late Friday night after the second bombing suspect was apprehended in Boston. Unfortunately, he still has not learned how to govern.
Holy mother of god, you can break an ankle in the middle of that passage.
How is it that the president won the argument on gun safety with the public and lost the vote in the Senate? It’s because he doesn’t know how to work the system. And it’s clear now that he doesn’t want to learn, or to even hire some clever people who can tell him how to do it or do it for him.
Uh, I dunno. Maybe because the Senate is uniquely suited by its very structure and rules — one might even say, it’s “system” — to be hijacked by crazy people? Or because Mitch McConnell is afraid that, somewhere in Kentucky, there’s a wildeyed bastard of a state representatibe with his name on him?
It’s unbelievable that with 90 percent of Americans on his side, he could get only 54 votes in the Senate. It was a glaring example of his weakness in using leverage to get what he wants. No one on Capitol Hill is scared of him.
No, it’s actually not. It’s the way the “system” is supposed to work.
Even House Republicans who had no intention of voting for the gun bill marveled privately that the president could not muster 60 votes in a Senate that his party controls.
Read more: In Which Maureen Dowd Seeks A Manly Man – Esquire http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/In_Which_MoDo_Seeks_A_Manly_M#ixzz2RIB6bTMi
Not the DO DO BIRD again…
Valerie Jarrett Tells Esquire What She’s Learned: ‘I Respect My Boss’
Apr 22, 2013
By Abena Agyeman-Fisher
Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett (pictured) chatted with Esquire Magazine for their “What I’ve Learned” feature series, and her varied musings on her relationship with the President, why she doesn’t keep ice cream in her home, as well as why she switched paths along her professional journey provide a delightful lens in to an accomplished woman’s life.
While many may know that Jarrett was tapped to become an advisor to President almost as soon as he became the President-Elect in 2008, some may not know exactly how far back Jarrett and the Obamas actually go.
Jarrett actually met the Obamas in 1991, after she interviewed and immediately offered Michelle, who was Barack‘s fiancee at the time, a position at the mayor’s office. Afterward, the young couple reportedly went to dinner with Jarrett, where Jarrett was introduced to Barack.
Their relationship would gel quickly, with Jarrett “introduc[ing] them to a wealthier and better-connected Chicago than their own.” And when Jarrett would leave then-Mayor Richard Daley‘s office to go to Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development, she would take Michelle with her.
And the rest is history.
In her interview with Esquire, the former CEO of the Habitat Company openly talks about the difference between Michelle and Barack, saying, “The President is the kind of person who, the day before the final exam, would open the book, read it, and get an A. The First Lady is the kind of person who, the first day of class when they were discussing dissertations, would plot out how to finish hers.”
Jarrett also talks about her comfort with going from boss to “employee”:
“I spent the first 18 years of our relationship being the older mentor. I liked our relationship like that. It worked for me. One of the reasons it was so easy to have my mentee become my boss is because I respect him.
And if you are wondering whether Jarrett always knew that Mr. Obama would be something special, she says about his Senate run, “I did question the President back when he decided to run for the U.S. Senate. I wasn’t sure it was the right time for him. That has generated periodic humor at my expense.”
….
“If you had asked me on the night when I first met him, could that be possible, I probably would’ve said yes, but it would’ve been a fantasy. But to then live it and share it with my daughter, who thinks it’s perfectly normal to have your mom’s friend become president of the United States….”
Jarrett also sheds some light on how her earlier path as a high-powered lawyer made her “miserable”:
“I was the first person in my family to become a lawyer. I was working on the seventy-ninth floor of the Sears Tower. I had a great office overlooking the sailboats on Lake Michigan. But I was miserable. A friend advised me to think about city government. I was hesitant—I was on my path and, miserable as I might be, it was my path.
“But Harold Washington had become the first black mayor of Chicago, and I made the move. I got a cubicle … with a window facing an alley. That was a little jarring. But as soon as I stepped in that cubicle, I felt This is where I belong. I was working with people who shared a common passion in their love for the city. I thought, Hey, I can get used to this cubicle.”
http://newsone.com/2407200/valerie-jarrett-esquire/
Great article. This is why some folks are trying to go after Jarrett. She ain’t never Scurred of those mofos.
this racist ass mofo, here.
……………………
Donald Trump Reminds Us: Black People Not Allowed In Park
by Rich Abdill
Hey, there is a really big national story going down right now — you know what that means! It’s time for the snide, slithering publicity slug that is Donald J. Trump to attempt to expand his shit-stain of public influence by gurgling up trite, inaccurate pond-spooge and passing it off as legitimate social commentary.
This time around, Trump’s using legless marathon runners to expand his slime-bubble of influence, by tweeting brave stances such as, “NO MERCY TO TERRORISTS you dumb bastards!” and “I hate when the news media, so afraid to offend anyone, always refers to the BOSTON KILLER as ‘the suspect’,” because the gentleman who has actually whined that libel laws set an unfairly high bar for him to win lawsuits does not believe people other than Donald Trump should get to benefit from them.
Anyway, the guy’s a fucking racist.
Amidst tweets about how he’s a “very compassionate person (with a very high IQ)” and watching Celebrity Apprentice, Saint Mensa Of Gameshow also had time to weigh in on a different case that enflamed his glands with gallons of white privilege-flavored lymph: The Central Park Five.
For those of you who do not remember/were not alive for the Central Park Jogger case, it happened in April of 1989 (yes, 24 years ago), and was named for a woman who was found brutally raped and beaten in the park. Five black teens were questioned — the oldest was 16. Two were 15, two were 14. After as many as 28 hours of interrogation, much of it without lawyers present, they all issued conflicting confessions that were all later recanted. All five were convicted anyway.
During all of this, Trump was so angered, and so positive the guilty parties had been found, that he spent $85,000 to take out adds in the New York Times, the Daily News, the Post and Newsday calling for New York to bring back the death penalty — inspired by five high-schoolers who hadn’t committed a capital crime. He was also pretty curious to take a peek at their birth certificates.
In any case, they didn’t do it. Not like, they probably didn’t do it — their convictions were vacated more than a decade ago after a serial rapist confessed from prison and DNA evidence corroborated his story. Not good enough for Donald, though, as Trump Justice is not about justice nearly as much as it is about Trump.
A high-school basketball coach, making a connection between Trump back then and Trump’s tweet of, “We are not dealing with an innocent baby here-DEATH,” tweeted at him: “With all due respect, after your rant about the Central Park 5, perhaps you should keep law and order comments to yourself.”
“Tell me,” Trump wrote, “what were they doing in the Park, playing checkers?”
Indeed! Black 14-year-olds? Outside? They must have been up to SOMETHING, good thing the police coerced confessions out of them and they spent a decade in prison, because maybe they were not playing checkers.
Brave Trumpy feels so strongly about his blatant racism that he then deleted the evidence completely, which is a startling departure from his usual move of repeating the claims on Fox News so he can lead the field of Republican presidential candidates. But this is America, where we are free not only to imprison minorities, but also take screenshots of revolting tweets. Here you go:
Read more at http://wonkette.com/513200/donald-trump-reminds-us-black-people-not-allowed-in-park#QG4BBcI0qIdmKMBY.99
Fuck Donald Trump!
African Students Create Anti-Malaria Soap, Win Business Competition
Apr 22, 2013
By Hannington Dia
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malaria soap cropped
Moctar Dembele (pictured right) and Gerard Niyondiko (pictured) have won the Global Science Venture (GSVC) competition for creating an anti-malaria repellent soap, reports CP-Africa.
SEE ALSO: High Times: Gunfire Breaks Out During Colorado 4-20 Celebration
Burkina Faso native Dembele and Burundi native Niyondiko created Faso Soap from different herbs, including karate citronella. According to the product profile:
In many countries of tropical Africa, malaria is the leading cause of death for the population. It represents 30-40% of hospital admissions and up to 40% of public health expenditure.
Solution
Production and marketing of soap “mosquito,” based on shea butter and enriched with essential oils of lemongrass and concern, to protect its users from malaria.
Impact
Reduction massive number of people affected by malaria, especially among the poorest and basic hygiene.
According to Niyondiko, the soap will initially be available in African countries hit hardest by malaria. “The soap will be available first here, and then given to NGO.”
Watch the Faso Soap GSVC pitch here:
“We want a simple solution, because every one uses soaps, even in the very poor communities,” Dembélé added.
Dembele and Niyondiko have not only helped Africa with their creation, they’ve also made history.
They are also the first non-Americans to win the GSVC, which challenges students across the world to create their own business plans for social ventures. The grand prize is $25,000
According to the World Health Organization, the African continent accounts for 85 percent of malaria cases and 90 percent of malaria deaths worldwide. Eighty-five percent of those deaths occur in children under 5 years old.
http://newsone.com/2407143/moctar-dembele-gerard-niyondiko-faso-soap/
Guns and terrorism, a double-barreled standard
By Eugene Robinson,
Published: April 22
The nation demonstrated again last week how resolute it can be when threatened by murderous terrorists — and how helpless when ordered to heel by smug lobbyists for the gun industry.
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s deadly rampage through the Boston area provoked not fear but defiance. Even before one brother was killed and the other captured, the city was impatient to get back to normal, eager to show the world that unspeakable violence might shock, sadden and enrage but never intimidate. “Sweet Caroline,” the eighth-inning singalong at Fenway Park, became an unlikely anthem of unity and resistance.
Read on here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-guns-and-terrorism-a-double-barreled-standard/2013/04/22/7247571c-ab84-11e2-b6fd-ba6f5f26d70e_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions
Good Morning, Everyone! :-)
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Morning, all!
Join me ladies; we’re still bundling up here after another night of snowfall…. 4 more inches… *SIGH*
mmmmmmm…chocolate!