In 2005, the O’Jays were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Original members Eddie Levert, Walter Williams, Bobby Massey and, posthumously, William Powell, were inducted. In a note of controversy, Sammy Strain was also inducted with the group, while original member Bill Isles was not. (Strain is one of the few artists in popular music history who is a double RRHOF inductee: with The O’Jays in 2005, and The Imperials in 2009). In 2006, the O’Jays performed at the ESPY awards, hosted by Lance Armstrong. “For the Love of Money” is the theme song to the hit reality TV show The Apprentice, starring Donald Trump.
Scandal..
Mellie is crazy
Straight up crazy. When that clock struck 9 p.m., and Fitz had not come with the goods; she probably figured, what the fuck do I have to lose?
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM!
One male armed with a gun suffers life-threatening injuries after shots were fired at the Bush International Airport, police say.
Shots were fired near a ticket counter at Houston’s largest airport on Thursday, critically injuring one armed man and sending people in the terminal scrambling and screaming, a Houston police spokesman and witnesses said.
A call that there had been a “discharge of firearms” came into police at 1:35 p.m., John Cannon, the spokesman, said. The shots were fired near the ticket counter in Terminal B at Bush Intercontinental Airport, he said. One person has been taken to an area hospital with life-threatening injuries. It was not immediately clear who fired the shots.
Dale Howard, of Tomball, Texas, was at the baggage handling area of the airport waiting for his sister to arrive on an incoming flight when he heard two shots fired from the floor above. A few seconds later, he said he heard three more shots.
“People were screaming. I knew exactly what it was — gunfire,” Howard said.
Police from an adjacent station rushed in, and Howard said he directed them to the floor above.
Parts of the terminal remained blocked off as police investigated the shooting. The airport announced on its Twitter feed that the terminal had been closed and passengers would be redirected to other terminals.
Darian Ward, a spokeswoman for the Houston Airport System, confirmed the terminal had been closed but said the airport was still operating. Passengers who were scheduled to leave from Terminal B are being rerouted to other terminals, she said.
A “lone armed man” was injured in the shooting, Ward added.
Greg Newburn, who was in the terminal waiting for a flight to Oklahoma City, said he was sitting in a cafe area when he heard two gunshots and, after a pause, several more.
“It seemed like quite a few shots. Everyone was scrambling, running left and running right, turning tables up and hiding behind tables. Nobody knew what was happening. I couldn’t tell where the shots were coming from,” he said.
Newburn, from Gainesville, Fla., said it took him a few seconds to realize that the shots had come from the terminal ticketing area, near the security checkpoint. He said he didn’t see who had fired the shots.
http://news.msn.com/us/shots-fired-at-houston-airport-1-critically-injured
A Word on “Obamabot”-ism
by Michael Tomasky May 1, 2013 1:42 PM EDT
I don’t mind being called an Obamabot. I mean, I’ve written a few columns about the guy that were brutal, toughing than anything Dowd’s written, especially at the time of the debt ceiling fiasco. But I understand the game, and it doesn’t bother me.
I have something I wish to make crystal clear, however. If it seems to you (I mean you, pumpkinface!) that I’m always excusing Obama, you’re misreading me. I am instead seeking to cast blame where it properly belongs. And that is almost always the Republican Party. I’ve said all this a jillion times before, but it is simply not a mainstream political party in the traditional American sense. It is a radical oppositionalist faction, way beyond the normal American parameters both in terms of ideology and tactics. And that needs to be pointed out, unfortunately, again and again and again.
……………………..
On the subject of Gitmo, which I wrote about yesterday: In normal America, when a presidential candidate says he wants to do X once in office and then wins the election by a significant margin, Congress usually does X. The opposition party always attaches strings and conditions and so forth, but they obey the will of the people. Democrats, enough of them, led by Tip O’Neill, put Reagan’s programs through. Same thing with Bush’s tax cuts. (Republicans did not grant Clinton the same courtesy, but as bad as they were then, they’re worse now.)
So in normal America, a deal would have been worked out whereby Gitmo would close. After all, remember, the Republican candidate in 2008 supported closing Gitmo too. It was the GOP’s position! And yet, once Obama as president wanted to do it, they killed it cold in 2009.
They have been blocking it ever since. Here’s a vote on the question of use of funds to transfer Gitmo detainees from last November, after Obama had been handily reelected. Every Republican present voted no. Every one.
That was on an amendment to to the defense reauthorization. That passed, and Obama signed it. But he issued a statement to accompany the signing explaining that he was dead-set against the provisions I referred to in this morning’s post. Under the Constitution, of course, there is no line-item veto; a president either signs or vetoes an entire bill. This was a defense authorization, so he signed. But he made his position crystal clear. Here’s the letter for you to see.
I’m sure there’s more he could have done or could now be doing. But wouldn’t you get a little discouraged? Oh, fucking hell, he thinks to himself at 3 am. Yes, I want to keep this promise I made. But why should I bang my head against that particular wall again? If I’m for it, they’re against it. I won’t get one Republican vote.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/01/a-word-on-obamabot-ism.html
Top Conservative Cat @TeaPartyCat
Today is the National Day Of Prayer, so bow your head and thank God for the Tea Party, which dresses up racism in a veil of Liberty.
7:05 AM – 2 May 2013
Concentrations and Potential Health Risks of Metals in Lip Products
Sa Liu1, S. Katharine Hammond1, Ann Rojas-Cheatham2
Background: Metal content in lip products has been an issue of concern.
Objectives: We measured lead and eight other metals in a convenience sample of 32 lip products used by young Asian women in Oakland, California, USA, and assessed potential health risks related to estimated intakes of these metals.
Methods: We analyzed lip products by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry and used previous estimates of lip product usage rates to determine daily oral intakes. We derived acceptable daily intakes (ADIs) based on information used to determine public health goals for exposure, and compared ADIs with estimated intakes to assess potential risks.
Results: Most of the tested lip products contained high concentrations of titanium and aluminum. All examined products had detectable manganese. Lead was detected in 24 products (75%) with an average concentration of 0.36 ppm ± 0.39, including one sample with 1.32 ppm. When used at the estimated average daily rate, estimated intakes were >20% of ADIs derived for aluminum, cadmium, chromium and manganese. In addition, average daily use of 10 products tested would result in chromium intake exceeding our estimated ADI for chromium. For high rates of product use (above the 95th percentile) the percentages of samples with estimated metal intakes exceeding ADIs were 3% for aluminum, 68% for chromium, and 22% for manganese. Estimated intakes of lead were < 20% of ADIs for average and high use.
Conclusions: Cosmetics safety should be assessed not only by the presence of hazardous contents, but also by comparing estimated exposures with health based standards. In addition to lead, metals such as aluminum, cadmium, chromium and manganese require further investigation.
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/1205518/
The Morning Plum: The one quote that says it all about Obama and the GOP
Posted by Greg Sargent on May 2, 2013 at 9:12 am
The New York Times and CBS News have released new poll findings that again confirm what other polls have showed: Large majorities agree with the Democratic position, and disagree with the Republican position, on key issues facing the country. But before delving into those numbers, I wanted to highlight this quote from a Republican voter — given to the Times in a follow up interview — because it perfectly captures what is currently causing all the gridlock and stalemate in Washington:
Rick Buckman, 52, a Republican and an electrical engineer from Dallas, Pa., said that while he supported stricter gun legislation, he did not necessarily approve of the president’s approach. “I was really ticked off that the law didn’t pass,” Mr. Buckman said. “But I thought it was wrong of President Obama to get in front of the public and use people who had been damaged by gun violence as props.”
Obviously one doesn’t want to read too much into what one voter says, but this is just perfect. This Republican supports stricter gun laws, and was “ticked off” that they didn’t pass. But to this voter, when Obama gets out there and advocates for what he supports, the president is just grandstanding. What’s more, this voter has been seduced by a ridiculous and lurid line pushed by far right Senators and right wing media — that there’s something nefarious and cynical about Obama’s alliance with Newtown families in pushing for gun control, even though better gun laws are exactly what those families want, and even though they themselves first contacted the White House to get involved in the campaign to push for it.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/05/02/the-morning-plum-the-one-quote-that-says-it-all-about-obama-and-the-gop/
Nullification campaign advances in multiple states
By Steve Benen
–
Thu May 2, 2013 2:31 PM EDT.
Measures like these continue to make me uncomfortable, largely because they’re premised on a discredited legal theory decided by the Civil War.
The Alabama state Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would nullify all federal gun laws in the state, joining a growing list of state legislatures looking to ban gun legislation from the books.
The Alabama bill says that any federal law that is contrary to the Second Amendment would be declared “null and void” in the state.
Now, there’s a certain tautological quality to appreciate: unconstitutional laws will be considered unconstitutional. Brilliant.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/05/02/18021870-nullification-campaign-advances-in-multiple-states?lite
The Republican War on Data
By Steve Benen
Thu May 2, 2013 11:38 AM EDT
The politics of paranoia can lead policymakers into some unfortunate directions. On everything from homeland security to education to guns, paranoid politicians invariably end up pushing some truly bizarre proposals for no good reason.
In the latest example, some far-right congressional Republicans have decided to wage a war on census data because they have paranoid ideas about “big government.”
A group of Republicans are cooking up legislation that could give President Barack Obama an unintentional assist with disagreeable unemployment numbers — by eliminating the key economic statistic altogether.
The bill, introduced last week by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), would bar the U.S. Census Bureau from conducting nearly all surveys except for a decennial population count. Such a step that would end the government’s ability to provide reliable estimates of the employment rate. Indeed, the government would not be able to produce any of the major economic indices that move markets every month, said multiple statistics experts, who were aghast at the proposal.
“They simply wouldn’t exist. We won’t have an unemployment rate,” said Ken Prewitt, the former director of the U.S. Census who is now a professor of public affairs at Columbia University.
The core issue is something called the American Community Survey, which the Census Bureau uses as a supplemental to the decennial reports, providing information on commuting, income, family structure, educational attainment, housing, and finance. The results are used extensively by businesses, researchers, academics, and government agencies, and have been an invaluable tool for decades.
Right-wing lawmakers, however, have to come believe nefarious government officials are collecting the information as part of a larger scheme — it’s never been entirely clear to me what they see as the point of the plot — that must be stopped. Sen. Rand Paul (K-Ky.), who revels in strange conspiracy theories, proposed legislation in March to make elements of the American Community Survey optional, apparently because he didn’t realize that they were already optional.
But it’s not just the American Community Survey that congressional Republicans are eager to crush.
——————————————————————————–
Indeed, Rep. Jeff Duncan’s (R-S.C.) bizarre proposal, which has 10 co-sponsors, would also explicitly eliminate the agricultural census, economic census, government census, and mid-decade census.
As a consequence, Duncan’s bill would eliminate the existence of the unemployment rate and the measurement of the nation’s GDP, among other thing.
Maurine Haver, founder of business research firm Haver Analytics and a past president of the National Association for Business Economics, told the Huffington Post’s Michael McAuliff, “Do they understand that these data that the Census Bureau collects are fundamental to everything else that’s done? They think the country doesn’t need to know how many people are unemployed, either?”
The answers to these questions are unclear — Duncan and other supporters of this proposal have not explained why they oppose the data, why they see the need to eliminate the data, or even if they understand what it is they’re doing.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/05/02/18020175-the-republican-war-on-data?lite
Henry Kissinger teases Hillary Clinton for president
Presenting Hillary Clinton with an award for Distinguished International Leadership from the Atlantic Council, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger recalled the secretaries of state who have gone on to be president, reassuring Clinton that “there might be hope for a fulfilling life” now that her tenure at the State Department has ended.
Video: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50146055n
9 LGBT Athletes of Color Who Paved the Way for Jason Collins
Sexuality and sports make for a complicated mix. Throw in race and the persistent obsession with what it means to be a man in America, and the conversation becomes impossibly loaded.
That’s why it’s so significant for the NBA’s Jason Collins to come out. By telling his story—and doing so while he’s still an active player—the 34-year-old Washington Wizards alumn has created a moment in which racial justice and queer rights merge.
By and large, LGBT athletes push to be known for their performance rather than their sexual identities. But Collins has taken the risk of declaring himself gay, black and proud. Even with the early, public support of Bill Clinton, Kobe Bryant, Doc Rivers and other icons of American masculinity, it’s important to note that what Collins did isn’t easy. It sounds a bit cliche at this point, but our popular culture is rife with none-too-subtle messages that tell us that anything that falls outside of “mainstream” (read: straight and white) masculinity should be subject to judgement, ridicule, policing and exclusion. This idea impacts our attitudes, laws and who actually gets to participate fully in society.
So Collins’ coming out is a watershed moment in American sports and culture. But trust he’s not alone. In many ways, this moment has been in the works for years and has a diverse cast of characters. Below, a recap of the Collins pronouncement and a look at LGBT athletes of color who have helped pave the way.
http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/04/9_lgbt_athletes_of_color_who_paved_the_way_for_jason_collins.html
Sen. Kelly Ayotte: I voted against equal pay for women because we have enough laws
http://thkpr.gs/12rY15D
*******************
WTFF? What an idiot!
hopefully it’s on tape
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=l8RS9oCAWPQ
What a TOOL. More Jobs? Yes; while you and your buddies Graham & McShame obstruct the POTUS’ jobs bill.
This bitch is sleep-deprived, prolly because of those SINKING POLL #s.
A Gollum-like approach to public policy
By Steve Benen
–
Thu May 2, 2013 10:40 AM EDT.
8
Highlighting the many missteps of Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is generally a little too easy, but there’s a larger significance to this latest gem.
“There were numerous Republicans that voted against the sequestration because we knew all of these calamities were in the future. And so it reminds me of the Shakespeare line: ‘Thou protestest too much.’ Didn’t you know this was going to happen? We knew it. That’s why we voted against this bill.”
Now, most of the commentary around the quote, which Bachmann uttered on the House floor, mocked her for butchering Shakespeare. But the more salient point is that the congresswoman was lying.
To hear Bachmann tell it, she and many of her Republican colleagues knew the sequestration cuts would do so much damage, they voted against them out of their deep compassion towards the American people. They “knew” the sequester would cause “calamities,” so they “voted against this bill.”
Except, whether Bachmann understands reality or not, that’s completely at odds with what actually occurred. She and many of her far-right colleagues voted against sequestration, not because they thought it cut too much, but because they thought it didn’t cut nearly enough. Her new argument, while creative, is brazenly dishonest, even for her.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/05/02/18019444-a-gollum-like-approach-to-public-policy?lite
Rik, check your e-mail please. Thanks!
Tea Partiers Are Desperately Trying to Get Sarah Palin to Run for Senate
By: Jason Easley
May. 1st, 2013
Showing a level of cluelessness that is surprising even for them, a Tea Party PAC is trying to recruit Sarah Palin to run for the U.S. Senate in Alaska.
Todd Cefaratti of the Tea Party Leadership Fund sent out a fundraising email urging tea partiers to give his group money so that he could recruit Sarah Palin to run for Senate in Alaska. Cefaratti, who apparently hasn’t kept up with current events much since the 2008 election, wrote, “You and I both know that Sarah Palin is a fighter who will stand up to Harry Reid and his pals in the Senate to protect our Constitution in issues like amnesty, gun control and our nation’s crushing debt. We know that, with Sarah in the Senate, conservatives across America can rest a little easier at night knowing that she’s at the watch.”
You may be familiar with the Tea Party Leadership Fund from an incredibly annoying ad that features a beeping alarm clock, and sixty seconds of complete lies about Congress coming to take away your guns.
There are several problems with what the tea partiers are suggesting. First, Sarah Palin has repeatedly demonstrated that she has no idea what is in the constitution, so relying on her to protect your constitutional rights probably isn’t the best plan. Second, Sarah Palin was such a fighter that she couldn’t handle the ethic complaints filed against her in Alaska, so she resigned halfway through her only term in office. I believe the word Mr. Cefaratti meant to use was quitter, not fighter. Third, the other reason why Palin quit as governor was that she thought she was a big star, and couldn’t wait to get out of Alaska. In fact, Palin spends most of her time in Arizona now. She really doesn’t live in Alaska anymore.
http://www.politicususa.com/tea-party-palin-senate.html
LOL The Wasilla hillbilly? Alaskans aren’t trying to give ole Gov. half term another run at politics in that state. She’s been to the lower 48, and it has exposed & ruined her in the worst possible way.
Republicans Are Beginning To Censor Their Town Halls By Limiting Gun Questions
By: Jason Easley
May. 1st, 2013
Sen. Kelly Ayotte recently held a town hall where her moderator intentionally limited gun questions. This is the first sign that Republicans are resorting to censorship when faced with public backlash.
For the last couple of years, when Republicans have been faced with a constituent backlash over an unpopular vote, they have resorted to various forms of censorship at their town hall meetings. There was a wave of censorship and arrests at Republican town halls after members faced constituent outrage over their vote to kill Medicare. Rep. Steve Chabot had police seize a citizen’s camera after he tried to record the congressman talking about his vote to kill Medicare. Rep. Paul Ryan had five people kicked out, and three people arrested at one of his town halls, and Eric Cantor had the jobless kicked out of one of his events.
After facing criticism and chaos for voting against expanded background checks, the moderator for Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte did something different. He only allowed one question on guns. The moderator, former Rep. Jeb Bradley admitted that he intentionally limited the questions on guns
http://youtu.be/CCf4Lw1S-Es
http://www.politicususa.com/republicans-beginning-censor-town-halls-limiting-gun-questions.html
What a rattled politician looks like
By Steve Benen
Thu May 2, 2013 9:55 AM EDT
That Public Policy Polling survey that offered Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) some discouraging news seems to have gotten into the senator’s head.
Earlier this week, PPP found that Flake, on the heels of his support for a Republican filibuster on gun reforms, has become the nation’s least popular senator, with support at just 32%. Flake’s initial reaction was to blame the pollster, which didn’t make any sense.
A day later, the Arizonan was more circumspect, conceding that his standing no doubt deteriorated after his vote against background checks. “It was a popular amendment, and I voted against it,” Flake said, adding, “Given the public’s dim view of Congress in general, that probably puts me somewhere just below pond scum.”
Yesterday, the Republican lawmaker was back to blaming PPP again.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/05/02/18018727-what-a-rattled-politician-looks-like?lite
What Pat Toomey Was Really Saying About DC Gridlock Is Obama Hate Runs The GOP
By: Sarah JonesMay. 1st, 2013
Speaking to a roundtable of Digital First Media editors in the offices of The Times Herald newspaper, Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania lamented that the background checks legislation he co-sponsored with West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin didn’t pass because Republicans don’t want to be seen helping the President (even if it means doing the wrong thing).
Toomey explained, “In the end it didn’t pass because we’re so politicized. There were some on my side who did not want to be seen helping the president do something he wanted to get done, just because the president wanted to do it.”
Toomey tried to walk it back by adding that he meant to say Republicans across the nation in general, not just those in the Senate. “The toughest thing to do in politics is to do the right thing when your supporters think the right thing is something else.”
It’s not clear why Toomey would blame supporters, when poll after poll shows gun owners and Republicans in favor of background checks. Also, Republican voters aren’t in danger of being seen as helping the President. The only people that refers to are people who get elected, not those who vote.
http://www.politicususa.com/toomey-suggests-republicans-vote-support-obama.html
Kenya finds two Iranians guilty of planning attacks
NAIROBI – A Kenyan court on Thursday found two Iranian men guilty of possessing 33 pounds of explosives and planning to carry out bombings in Kenyan cities.
Ahmad Mohammed and Sayed Mousavi were arrested in Nairobi last June. Investigators said at the time it was unclear whether the pair had ties to al Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia or were part of another network.
“I must appreciate our Kenyan security personnel for detecting and taking swift action to stop the catastrophe and ensure our country was safe,” Waweru Kiarie, Nairobi’s chief magistrate, said after convicting the two men.
Kenya was hit by a spate of bombings and attacks last year, which the Nairobi government mostly blamed on the Somali al Shabaab rebels its forces were hunting down inside Somalia.
Mohammed and Mousavi were charged with being in possession of 15 kg of explosives and preparing to commit a felony.
They had both pleaded not guilty and will be sentenced on Monday. They face up to 15 years in prison, the prosecution said.
http://preview.reutersnext.com/2013/5/2/kenya-finds-two-iranians-guilty-of-planning
GO KEVIN & GOLDEN SENSE! ISLAND MAN… :-)
House of Cards: Plots Against Obama Have Morphed Into Total Republican Self-Destruction
By: Sarah Jones
May. 2nd, 2013
The plots Republicans laid against President Obama in 2008 have created a lot of turmoil, civil unrest, and obstruction—but they didn’t bring down the President. Instead, some four years later, those plots are turning on the Party, according to numerous inside sources who spoke to Politico.
The GOP leadership is dealing with an unprecedented level of frustration in running the House, according to conversations with more than a dozen aides and lawmakers in and around leadership. Leadership is talking past each other. The conference is split by warring factions. And influential outside groups are fighting them.
Yes, you knew the Republican House was a divided, chaotic mess of dysfunction. But it’s impossible to overstate just how dysfunctional it is. We’ve seen it in action, from outside conservative groups threatening Republican lawmakers over the budget to Boehner having to pull his own bills.
Freedom Works gloated recently after a humiliated Speaker Boehner and Eric Cantor had to pull a Republican “healthcare” (defund ObamaCare) bill for lack of support. It’s civil war, on top of fractured leadership with a side of gleeful outside groups prodding on the dysfunction for their own purposes. But it’s worse than that. We saw much of that last session.
This session is even worse, as their foiled plots did nothing but drive them further into camps of now divided extremism. The gerrymandered districts they carved out with their 2010 win are only furthering the extremism, as the feverish electorate within their congressional districts drives them deeper into their chosen camp of Republican extremism.
Things are so bad within the party that the House is in a perpetual state of “stalemate” according to Politico. Even House leadership are having “trouble staying on the same page”.
This results in them being unable to pass anything of any import, and instead trying to fill up their time with “frivolous” (according to Nancy Pelosi) activities like taking two days to pass legislation to extend the government’s helium reserves.
http://www.politicususa.com/house-cards-republicans-imploding.html
She’s called KARMA. It’s a UNIVERSAL/SPIRITUAL LAW. She’s exacting, and she will not be denied
Rik, did you check out the video SG2 posted on the Kiera Wilmot thread? Chris Hayes did an EXCELLENT 9 minute segment on her and had a Brotha on from Youth Advocacy Group.
thank you
Young Man Saves Up To Pay Off His Mom’s Mortgage
With Mother’s Day coming up in less than two weeks (it’s Sunday, May 12), we thought this video could serve as inspiration.
Although, don’t feel you have to go as far as this young man.
In the video, he talks about how much respect he has for his mother and how thankful he is for everything she’s done for him.
So, on his own birthday, he decides to give his mom a present.
After years of two and a half years of saving, he surprises her by paying off her mortgage because he wanted to do right by a very special woman.
http://youtu.be/0QXW4l0auLg
get ready to cry
http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/alt-news/dear-mom-thanks-for-everything-i-just-paid-off-your-mortgage.html
RNC takes the low road
By Steve Benen
Thu May 2, 2013 9:10 AM EDT.
This week brought the 100-day mark of President Obama’s second term, and the Republican National Committee used the occasion to release a curious video.
It stands to reason the RNC isn’t impressed with the White House, but for some reason, Republican officials are pushing a message that doesn’t seem to help them much: Obama is pushing a popular policy agenda that enjoys public support; Republicans are killing that agenda in Congress; so Obama is bad. Or something.
Of particular interest is the visual in the RNC video about a third of the way through. Viewers are shown President Obama consoling Nicole Hockley, whose son was massacred at Sandy Hook Elementary, after Senate Republicans successfully filibustered bipartisan gun reforms.
I understand the RNC is going to go after the president aggressively, and I understand that some of the rhetorical shots the RNC takes are going to cheap and ugly. But what exactly is the viewer supposed to take away from this? That Obama is a failure because congressional Republicans ignored popular will and common sense, crushing bipartisan measures intended to save American lives? That the RNC thinks it’s appropriate to exploit a grieving mother for a crass attack video?
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/
Evidence of South Carolina smear campaign emerges
By Steve Benen
Wed May 1, 2013 2:58 PM EDT
South Carolina has developed an unfortunate reputation for sleazy tactics, especially when the far-right targets a candidate — see McCain, John, circa 2000 — and ThinkProgress has a report today about the latest smear campaign, this time against Elizabeth Colbert Busch.
A mysterious conservative group has been placing highly-misleading phone calls to South Carolina voters, trying to dissuade them from voting for the Democrat in an upcoming congressional special election. […]
ThinkProgress spoke with multiple individuals in South Carolina’s first congressional district who have received push polls from an unknown conservative group that only referred to itself as “SSI Polling”.
Occasionally, “push polls” are misidentified. It’s not uncommon, for example, for a campaign to do message-testing polls, asking respondents to react to various criticisms, to see which attacks a campaign has to worry about most. Push polls, meanwhile, aren’t polls at all, but rather, direct-to-voter smear campaigns masquerading as polls.
In South Carolina, the calls ThinkProgress reported on appear to actually be push polls, in which voters were asked bogus questions about things that never happened: “What would you think of Elizabeth Colbert Busch if I told you she had had an abortion?”; “What would you think of Elizabeth Colbert Busch if she had done jail time?”; and “What would you think of Elizabeth Colbert Busch if I told you a judge held her in contempt of court at her divorce proceedings?
For the record, there’s no evidence of any of these claims having any shred of truth. While message-testing polls are sometimes confused with push polls, there’s no reason to think Democrats or Colbert Busch would call voters and ask them to respond to made-up smears.
We may never know who, exactly, paid for these tactics, but it suggests Republicans are deeply worried about the race — if Mark Sanford were winning in this “red” district, the calls wouldn’t be necessary — and see Colbert Busch as a very strong candidate
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/05/01/18003325-evidence-of-south-carolina-smear-campaign-emerges?lite
Encouraging polling on civil liberties
Posted by Greg Sargent on May 1, 2013 at 5:05 pm
A new Post poll finds that a large majority of Americans, 70 percent, support the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnev, which set off a bit of a buzz among conservatives today.
But the Post poll also finds that the Lindsey Graham-John McCain crusade to have Tsarnaev tried in a military court doesn’t appear to have exactly caught on with the public:
As you may know, a suspect has been charged with the bombings at the Boston Marathon last week, and his brother was killed in a shootout with the police. Do you support or oppose the decision to put the bombing suspect on trial in the federal court system as opposed to a military tribunal?
Support: 74
Oppose: 19
Seventy-two percent of Republicans, and 71 percent of conservatives, support trying the suspect in the civilian court system, too. And that’s not all! A separate Time/CNN poll finds:
When given a choice, 61 percent of Americans say they are more concerned about the government enacting new anti-terrorism policies that restrict civil liberties, compared to 31 percent who say they are more concerned about the government failing to enact strong new anti-terrorism policies.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/05/01/encouraging-polling-on-civil-liberties/
Black Construction Workers Boycott Menards Updated May 1, 2013 8:53am
May 1, 2013 8:25am | By Wendell Hutson, DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
About 200 black construction workers gathered Tuesday at the corner of 91st Street and Western Avenue to protest what it said was a lack of black contractors used to build a nearby Menards store.
“This has got to stop. Building businesses in black areas but not using black contractors,” said Edward Gardner, founder of the former Soft Sheen Products Co., who has been advocating for the hiring of more black construction workers.
“If I have one last crusade in life this will be it. I want to see more black faces at the beginning of a project, not at the end,” the 88-year-old Gardner said.
Across the street from where protesters gathered is a new Menards store in south suburban Evergreen Park, where two dozen police officers occupied the parking lot and stood in front of the store’s front entrance.
“We are here to maintain safety and peace and order,” said Evergreen Park Police Chief Michael Saunders. “The protesters have a constitutional right to express themselves as long as they do not cause any problems or prevent customers from entering or leaving.”
After marching around the parking lot a few times, Gardner lead the group inside the store to speak to Juan Horton, general manager for Menards, which opened the new store Tuesday.
“I am not the one who hired contractors to build the store. I manage the store once it’s built and as you can see several of our employees are black,” Horton told Gardner as the two shook hands.
Jeff Abbott, a spokesman for the privately-held, Eau Claire Wisconsin-based Menard Inc., was not available for comment.
Protesters handed out fliers in the parking lot to customers that read “Boycott Menards.”
And Donald Estes, a 65-year-old retired construction worker, joined protesters to show his support.
“I agree with everything Mr. Gardner said. I see white boys working on all the construction projects in the ‘hood making $30 an hour,” said Estes. “But at the same time I see black boys standing around selling loose cigarettes because there are no jobs available.
“Now, I have nothing against white folks but I am tired of them coming to our communities and taking away jobs from qualified black folks,” Estes said.
Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130501/west-beverly/menards-boycott-initiated-by-black-construction-workers#ixzz2S8pvjR6B
Hit the MOFOS in the pockets. The Benjamins are all they care about.
Did Black People Own Slaves?
100 Amazing Facts About the Negro: Yes — but why they did and how many they owned will surprise you.
By: Henry Louis Gates Jr. | Posted: March 4, 2013 at 12:03 AM
100 Amazing Facts About the Negro No. 21: Did black people own slaves? If so, why?
One of the most vexing questions in African-American history is whether free African Americans themselves owned slaves. The short answer to this question, as you might suspect, is yes, of course; some free black people in this country bought and sold other black people, and did so at least since 1654, continuing to do so right through the Civil War. For me, the really fascinating questions about black slave-owning are how many black “masters” were involved, how many slaves did they own and why did they own slaves?
The answers to these questions are complex, and historians have been arguing for some time over whether free blacks purchased family members as slaves in order to protect them — motivated, on the one hand, by benevolence and philanthropy, as historian Carter G. Woodson put it, or whether, on the other hand, they purchased other black people “as an act of exploitation,” primarily to exploit their free labor for profit, just as white slave owners did. The evidence shows that, unfortunately, both things are true. The great African-American historian, John Hope Franklin, states this clearly: “The majority of Negro owners of slaves had some personal interest in their property.” But, he admits, “There were instances, however, in which free Negroes had a real economic interest in the institution of slavery and held slaves in order to improve their economic status.”
In a fascinating essay reviewing this controversy, R. Halliburton shows that free black people have owned slaves “in each of the thirteen original states and later in every state that countenanced slavery,” at least since Anthony Johnson and his wife Mary went to court in Virginia in 1654 to obtain the services of their indentured servant, a black man, John Castor, for life.
And for a time, free black people could even “own” the services of white indentured servants in Virginia as well. Free blacks owned slaves in Boston by 1724 and in Connecticut by 1783; by 1790, 48 black people in Maryland owned 143 slaves. One particularly notorious black Maryland farmer named Nat Butler “regularly purchased and sold Negroes for the Southern trade,” Halliburton wrote.
Perhaps the most insidious or desperate attempt to defend the right of black people to own slaves was the statement made on the eve of the Civil War by a group of free people of color in New Orleans, offering their services to the Confederacy, in part because they were fearful for their own enslavement: “The free colored population [native] of Louisiana … own slaves, and they are dearly attached to their native land … and they are ready to shed their blood for her defense. They have no sympathy for abolitionism; no love for the North, but they have plenty for Louisiana … They will fight for her in 1861 as they fought [to defend New Orleans from the British] in 1814-1815.”
http://www.theroot.com/views/did-black-people-own-slaves?wpisrc=obinsite
YES
How a Black Queen Conceived a White Baby
Image of the Week: This Dutch painting from the 1640s tells the complicated origin story of an ancient Greek priestess.
By: Image of the Black in Western Art Archive | Posted: March 12, 2013 at 12:38 AM
This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black in Western Art Archive at Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research.
The image is the first in a series of 10 large canvases by the Dutch artist Karel van Mander depicting a remarkable tale of love, misadventure and reconciliation. The paintings illustrate the complex narrative related in The Aethiopica, a late antique novel written by Heliodorus of Emesa in Syria.
The epic became popular in the 16th century when it was rediscovered and translated from the original Greek. The Aethiopica flashed across the skies of the European visual imagination amid an energetic burst of interest in the story for about 50 years and then mysteriously declined.
The story begins in the middle with an encounter with pirates by the two protagonists: Theagenes, a descendant of Achilles, and Chariclea, a priestess of Artemis at Delphi. Only at this point is an amazing backstory revealed: Chariclea turns out to be the daughter of King Hydaspes and Queen Persina of Ethiopia.
During conception, which is about to take place in the picture here, her mother had looked at a painting of the mythical Greek figure Andromeda. In accordance with the theory of maternal impression, still current when this image was painted, this gaze caused her child to be born white. Fearing an accusation of adultery, Persina abandoned her daughter, who was eventually adopted by Charicles, a Greek priest. After many adventures, she and Theagenes arrive in Meroe, the capital of Ethiopia. Chariclea is reunited with her parents, and the couple weds.
Of the many depictions of The Aethiopica, van Mander was the only one to unambiguously embrace this distinction of black and white. He treated the whole course of the narrative, not just the episodes taking place outside of Ethiopia, while most of his contemporaries significantly downplayed the blackness of Hydaspes and Persina.
He brings this ancient tale to life through a vigorous, unrestrained treatment of action and facial expression, and a lively portrayal of the black protagonists. In fact, there is evidence that at least some of the figures were based on actual models — that is, black people living in northern Europe, most likely Denmark, where Van Mander was serving as court painter when the series was created.
To a modern audience, the story of Theagenes and Chariclea, with its seamless connections among the people and cultures of Greece, Egypt and sub-Saharan Africa, may offer a corrective to the more one-sided view of classical civilization that subsequently developed in the European consciousness. Martin Bernal, in his insightful study Black Athena, critiques this received tradition and argues for the essential role of Africa in the development of Western civilization. We can see a precocious foreshadowing of his point of view in the freshness of van Mander’s presentation of the royal court of Ethiopia.
http://www.theroot.com/views/how-black-queen-conceived-white-baby?wpisrc=obinsite
LOL all these Root articles. Imma have to get to the “ROOT” of them, when I get home. Thanks Rik.
Google Equates Black Girls With Sex; Why?
The search engine’s profit motive doesn’t always work in the best interests of women of color.
By: Safiya Umoja Noble | Posted: March 13, 2013 at 12:26 AM
Ever do a search in Google and get back some crazy result you weren’t expecting?
A few years ago, I did a Google search on the term “black girls” to assist my nieces and stepdaughter in some stuff for school. What was the first search result? http://www.hotblackp–sy.com.
I was horrified. But I was also curious about why this kind of material was most representative of black girls. As a researcher and educator, I knew there had to be more to this phenomenon. I kept collecting searches. That was in 2010.
By 2011, I was conducting a study about Google search to figure out how and why it is that women are hypersexualized in search engines. At that time, when I did a search on the term “black girls,” the No. 1 hit was http://www.sugaryblackp–sy.com, followed by more porn sites and a rock band of white guys from the United Kingdom using the name “Black Girls.” After the page jump below (click on the number 2) is a not safe for work partial screenshot from Sept. 18, 2011:
http://www.theroot.com/views/google-equates-black-girls-sex-why?wpisrc=obinsite
No surprises here. GOOGLE manipulates information EVERY SECOND of the DAY. It’s a dangerous game they play with information. They’re NO better than FOX.
Did African-American Slaves Rebel?
100 Amazing Facts About the Negro: Haitians weren’t the only ones unwilling to accept their fates.
By: Henry Louis Gates Jr. | Posted: April 22, 2013 at 12:40 AM
Amazing Fact About the Negro No. 28: What were the largest slave rebellions in America?
One of the most pernicious allegations made against the African-American people was that our slave ancestors were either exceptionally “docile” or “content and loyal,” thus explaining their purported failure to rebel extensively. Some even compare enslaved Americans to their brothers and sisters in Brazil, Cuba, Suriname and Haiti, the last of whom defeated the most powerful army in the world, Napoleon’s army, becoming the first slaves in history to successfully strike a blow for their own freedom.
As the historian Herbert Aptheker informs us in American Negro Slave Revolts, no one put this dishonest, nakedly pro-slavery argument more baldly than the Harvard historian James Schouler in 1882, who attributed this spurious conclusion to ” ‘the innate patience, docility, and child-like simplicity of the negro’ ” who, he felt, was an ” ‘imitator and non-moralist,’ ” learning ” ‘deceit and libertinism with facility,’ ” being ” ‘easily intimidated, incapable of deep plots’ “; in short, Negroes were ” ‘a black servile race, sensuous, stupid, brutish, obedient to the whip, children in imagination.’ ”
Consider how bizarre this was: It wasn’t enough that slaves had been subjugated under a harsh and brutal regime for two and a half centuries; following the collapse of Reconstruction, this school of historians — unapologetically supportive of slavery — kicked the slaves again for not rising up more frequently to kill their oppressive masters. And lest we think that this phenomenon was relegated to 19th- and early 20th-century scholars, as late as 1959, Stanley Elkins drew a picture of the slaves as infantilized “Sambos” in his book Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life, reduced to the status of the passive, “perpetual child” by the severely oppressive form of American slavery, and thus unable to rebel. Rarely can I think of a colder, nastier set of claims than these about the lack of courage or “manhood” of the African-American slaves.
So, did African-American slaves rebel? Of course they did. As early as 1934, our old friend Joel A. Rogers identified 33 slave revolts, including Nat Turner’s, in his 100 Amazing Facts. And nine years later, the historian Herbert Aptheker published his pioneering study, American Negro Slave Revolts, to set the record straight. Aptheker defined a slave revolt as an action involving 10 or more slaves, with “freedom as the apparent aim [and] contemporary references labeling the event as an uprising, plot, insurrection, or the equivalent of these.” In all, Aptheker says, he “has found records of approximately two hundred and fifty revolts and conspiracies in the history of American Negro slavery.” Other scholars have found as many as 313.
http://www.theroot.com/views/did-african-american-slaves-rebel?wpisrc=root_lightbox
Were There Slaves Like Stephen in ‘Django’?
100 Amazing Facts About the Negro: Whether so-called house slaves betrayed others in bondage.
By: Henry Louis Gates Jr. | Posted: April 29, 2013 at 12:10 AM
Amazing Fact About the Negro No. 29: What were the biggest acts of betrayal within the enslaved community, and were they more likely to be committed by slaves who worked closely with their masters?
In a speech delivered to Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee workers in Selma, Ala., on Feb. 4, 1965, Malcolm X, in one of his most memorable, humorous and devastatingly effective rhetorical performances, defined the difference between “The House Negro and the Field Negro”:
“Back during slavery,” Malcolm begins, “there were two kinds of slaves. There was the house Negro and the field Negro. The house Negroes — they lived in the house with master, they dressed pretty good, they ate good ’cause they ate his food — what he left. They lived in the attic or the basement, but still they lived near the master; and they loved their master more than the master loved himself. They would give their life to save the master’s house quicker than the master would … Whenever the master said ‘we,’ he said ‘we.’ That’s how you can tell a house Negro.”
Then, with devastating rhetorical effect, if not full historical accuracy, Malcolm breaks down the difference in how these two types of slaves behaved in relation to the master: “If the master’s house caught on fire, the house Negro would fight harder to put the blaze out than the master would. If the master got sick, the house Negro would say, ‘What’s the matter, boss, we sick?’ We sick! He identified himself with his master more than his master identified with himself.”
And what about running away, or rebelling? According to Malcolm, the house Negro wanted nothing to do with either option: “And if you came to the house Negro and said, ‘Let’s run away, let’s escape, let’s separate,’ the house Negro would look at you and say, ‘Man, you crazy. What you mean, separate? Where is there a better house than this? Where can I wear better clothes than this? Where can I eat better food than this?’ That was that house Negro. In those days he was called a ‘house nigger.’ And that’s what we call him today, because we’ve still got some house niggers running around here.”
In contrast, Malcolm continues, there was the field Negro, who “hated his master”: “When the house caught on fire, he didn’t try to put it out; that field Negro prayed for a wind, for a breeze. When the master got sick, the field Negro prayed that he’d die.” And how did the field Negro feel about running away or staging a rebellion? “If someone come [sic] to the field Negro and said, ‘Let’s separate, let’s run,’ he didn’t say, ‘Where we going?’ He’d say, ‘Any place is better than here.’ You’ve got field Negroes in America today. I’m a field Negro. The masses are the field Negroes.”
http://www.theroot.com/views/were-there-slaves-stephen-django
http://youtu.be/f0ETX-PI5d0
I love her Scandal Recaps….
Poor Kim. Ray-J is a Bitter Dustrag and Kanye is a Douchebag
[ 63 ] May 1, 2013 | Luvvie
Ever since Kim Kardashian got #PREGNET with Kanye West’s baby, she’s been catching a lot of flack. Folks were already calling her everything but a child of God. But after we learned she had conceived the little coffee baby she had mentioned she wanted, she has been the object of even more roast and side-eyes.
Y’all already know I’m not a Kim K fan because I think she needs to have a seat. I e’em wrote about how she can’t dress herself WORTH A DAMB right now (Kim Kardashian’s Pregnancy Wardrobe is Awkward), rocking bodycon dresses and looking like a squozed up sausage. And peplum. PEPLUM IS NOT YOUR FRIEND, PREGNANT KIMBERLY! All I’m asking is that she dresses better for her new body.
Meanwhile, everyone is calling the girl fat, as if they expected to LOSE weight when carrying a baby in her womb. Let’s all cut her some slack. The chile has had it rough, by her own admittance. She says she’s had a touch pregnancy and I believe her because she be looking like “the struggle” epitomized. I feel bad for her. She’s prolly somewhere wishing she could take a gulp of wine to the head.
But what sucks more for the lady is that the Ghost of Exes Past keeps haunting her. Her divorce to Kris Humphries finally got finalized. They were in court for like 1,000 times longer than they were actually married. Kris behaved though. It’s Ray-J who really ain’t tryna have her live in peace.
A month or so ago, Brandy’s lil bother brother, released a single called “I Hit It First.” In ultra-messy status, the cover was a pixelated version of Kim Kardashian in a bikini And he just came out with a video where he is frolicking with a Kim look alike.
I mean seriously?? The first line is ”She might move on to rappers and ballplayers, but we all know I hit it first.”
http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2013/05/kim-kardashian-rayj-kanye.html
about the folks complaining about the Justice Department appealing the Plan B decision.
…………………..
does nobody remember what is was like being a 13, 14, 15 GIRL?
Because, despite your attitude and mouth, we were just GIRLS.
Would you REALLY want your 13, 14, 15 year old self to have access to OVER THE COUNTER BIRTH CONTROL WITH NO MEDICAL GUIDANCE?
SERIOUSLY?
I cannot wrap my mind around that people don’t understand that folks like me would have apprehension letting CHILDREN have access to this DRUG.
I don’t get it.
Lemme guess is teh FEMMENAZIS yammering about reproductive rights. The same women who have money, wealth and the power of a big mouth who can afford to take their daughters to a dr. and get all the BIRTH CONTROL scripts they want.
Birth control meds are NO JOKE. They can do irreparable damage to young bodies. HORMONES!!!! folks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izt4Zz37MX8
System work; Ms Lindsey, if PEOPLE WORK the system. War mongering PUNK.ASS.BITCHES, both of them.
Good Morning, Everyone! :-)
Good Morning, Everyone at 3CHICS!
Morning, everyone!
My darling darling baby…