Todays’ featured artist is Kathleen Battle.
Wiki: Kathleen Deanna Battle (born August 13, 1948) is an African-American operatic light lyric-coloratura soprano known for her agile and light voice and her silvery, pure tone.[1][2] Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid-1970s. She made her opera debut in 1975. Battle expanded her repertoire into lyric soprano and coloratura soprano roles during the 1980s and early 1990s. Although she no longer appears in operas, she remains active in concert and recital performances.[3]
Early years and musical education[edit]
Battle was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, USA, the youngest of seven children. Her father was a steelworker, and her mother was an active participant in the gospel music of the family’s African Methodist Episcopal church. Battle attended Portsmouth High School where her music teacher and mentor was Charles P. (Phil) Varney. In a Time Magazine interview with music critic Michael Walsh, he recalled first hearing the eight-year old Battle sing, describing her as “this tiny little thing singing so beautifully.” “I went to her later”, Varney recalled, “and told her God had blessed her, and she must always sing.”[4] In that same interview, Walsh described Battle as “the best lyric coloratura in the world”.[4]
Battle was awarded a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she studied voice with Franklin Bens and also worked with Italo Tajo.[5] She majored in music education rather than performance in undergraduate school and went on to get a master’s degree in Music Education as well. In 1971 Battle embarked on a teaching career in Cincinnati, taking a position at a Cincinnati inner-city public school. While teaching 5th and 6th grade music, she continued to study voice privately. She later studied singing with Daniel Ferro in New York.[6]
2000–present[edit]
Battle has continued to pursue a number of diverse projects including the works of composers who are not associated with traditional classical music, performing the works of Vangelis, Stevie Wonder, and George Gershwin.
In August 2000, she performed an all-Schubert program at Ravinia.[33] In June 2001, she and frequent collaborator soprano Jessye Norman, performed Vangelis’ Mythodea at the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens, Greece. In July 2003 she performed at the Ravinia Chicago Symphony Orchestra Gala with Bobby McFerrin and Denyce Graves. In 2006 she and James Ingram sang the song They Won’t Go When I Go in a Tribute to Stevie Wonder[34] and she began including Wonder’s music in her recitals.[35] In July 2007 she debuted at the Aspen Music Festival performing an all-Gershwin program as part of a season benefit.[36] In October 2007, at a fundraiser for the Keep a Child Alive Charity, Kathleen Battle and Alicia Keys performed the song Miss Sarajevo written by U2’s Bono.[37]
On April 16, 2008, she sang an arrangement of The Lord’s Prayer for Pope Benedict XVI on the occasion of his Papal State visit to the White House. This marks the second time she sang for a pope. (She first sang for Pope John Paul II in 1985 as soprano soloist in Mozart’s Coronation Mass.)[38] Later that year, she performed “Superwoman” on the American Music Awards with Alicia Keys and Queen Latifah. Since that time she has appeared in the occasional piano-voice recital, including a recital of works by Schubert, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff in Costa Mesa, California accompanied by Olga Kern (February 2010) and a recital in Carmel, Indiana accompanied by Joel A. Martin (April 2013).[39][40]
Rep. Ed Markey will win a special U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts, CNN projects.
The 20-term Democratic congressman faced off against Republican businessman and former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez.
Markey will serve out the remaining year and a half of the term of longtime Democratic Sen. John Kerry, who stepped down this year to become U.S. secretary of state.
Olivia Pope Fashion
What Olivia Pope Wore on Scandal.
http://scandalmoments.tumblr.com/Olivia%20Pope%20Fashion
Josh Dorner @JoshDorner
Stories collide: TX GOP tried to redistrict @WendyDavisTexas out of office, but their changes blocked by #VRA Sec. 5. http://www.wendydavisforsenate.com/article.cfm?articletype=2&articleid=48 …
5:41 PM – 25 Jun 2013
https://twitter.com/sandvig_julie/status/349639067983548417/photo/1
Ann Richards is smiling down on you Wendy Davis! YOU GO GIRL!
David Plouffe @davidplouffe3m
@SarahPalinUSA Jobs up, unemp down, war over, terrorists dead, autos humming, equality rising, clean energy up. Reality. You should try it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1mKTaSi2WA&feature=player_embedded
MA Senate Special election is today. Markey’s got a 7 point edge.
Mo Cowan of Massachusetts: A short-timer heads for the Senate exit
By Ed O’Keefe, Tuesday, June 25
Sen. Mo Cowan (D-Mass.) loves being in the U.S. Senate, but is completely unwilling to do what it takes to get there or stay there. “I’ve come to love the job, but I still hate the application process,” he said. By which, he means raising money and campaigning.
“I think money has such a pervasive, pernicious influence on governing around here that it’s getting in the way,” he said. “And perhaps it’s not even money; it’s the fear of what may happen to you, who may mount a challenge against you if you’re seen as capitulating or compromising too much or violating the principles of your given base.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mo-cowan-of-massachusetts-a-shortimer-heads-for-the-senate-exit/2013/06/25/2daf49f2-d9f6-11e2-a9f2-42ee3912ae0e_story.html?wpisrc=nl_pmpol
REPOSTING
Ayvaunn Penn: Black Men More Likely to Date White Women According to Research
Black men swore it was a myth. Black women swore it was the truth, but research now gives us the facts both sides have been waiting for. A recent online dating study conducted by researchers at the University of California Berkeley proves that African-American men really are more likely to date white women. In an attempt to explain the reason for this phenomenon, Professor Mendelsohn states, “In this country, our notions of feminine attractiveness are based almost entirely on images of white women… the hypothesis that some people have argued is that there is no surprise that black men should contact white women, because that’s where we get our notions of who’s pretty.”
That is not the end of the startling facts, however. African-American women’s worst fears continue to be confirmed. The Berkeley study also shows that African-American women are the group least likely to be contacted by men of any race. The study showed that if black women did not initiate contact or express romantic interest, they not only failed to be approached by men outside of their culture, they also failed to be approached by men of their own race.
No doubt, this can leave a sista wondering what she can do for her love life. If she’s not wanted by the brothas, should she go out on a limb and approach men outside of her race? “Waiting For My Hershey’s Kiss” from the book entitled Ephemeral Moments — video excerpt above – gives a modern black woman’s humorous and outrageous account of how she decided to put black men in their place while also giving vanilla love a try. What choice would you decide to make?
http://naturallymoi.com/2013/06/news/myth-proven-true-black-men-more-likely-to-date-white-women-according-to-research/
To each his/her own. I’m not tryna tell folks who they should love or marry.
Financial GURU Mellody Hobson GETS HITCHED To BILLIONAIRE “Star Wars” Director George Lucas
This weekend, ABC News contributor Mellody Hobson walked down the aisle with her long time man Star Wars creator George Lucas. PEOPLE Magazine confirmed that the nuptials took place on Saturday at 5pm before an intimate gathering at George’s Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California.
According to the HuffPost, the ceremony was officiated by journalist Bill Moyers, who quoted the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi: “When I heard my first love story, I was thinking of you.” And during the reception, Steven Spielberg gave the toast from the groom’s side, joking that The Force had a name: Mellody. And John W. Rogers an executive at Ariel Investments, spoke on behalf of the bride. Also, director Francis Ford Coppola read a poem by Maya Angelou.
Singer Van Morrison flew in from Ireland to entertain the guest alongside Janelle Monae, who also performed.
Mellody was walked down the aisle by former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley, whom she’s known since she was 17. Bill also gave a toast before the cake-cutting ceremony.
Mellody wore a white dress by Peter Soronen and changed skirts between the ceremony and the party. George’s son, Jett, was his best man, and his daughters, Katie and Amanda, were bridesmaids.
The ceremony was attended by some of Hollywood’s A-list, including actor Samuel Jackson who tweeted,
And director Ron Howard, who star in George’s 1973 film American Graffiti, tweeted that the ceremony “was a joy to behold.” Adding, “Bill Moyers service was beautiful, nothing short of profound. Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Lucas.”
http://theybf.com/2013/06/24/wedding-fab-financial-guru-mellody-hobson-gets-hitched-to-billionaire-star-wars-director?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
[caption id="attachment_46381" align="alignnone" width="545"]
Over the weekend, financial expert Mellody Hobson married famed film director George Lucas. [/caption]
Congratulations, Mellody and George! A beautiful couple, all the best.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SG2!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SG2!!!!
Yum! I supposed I should wait for SG2, before I take one. LOL
SG2, where are you?
Supreme Court rule for couple over baby girl’s adoption
Tue Jun 25, 2013 10:53am EDT
(Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out a lower court order requiring a South Carolina couple to turn over a young girl they had raised since birth to her biological father simply because he was an American Indian.
By a 5-4 vote, the court ruled in favor of Matt and Melanie Capobianco, who had been caring for the girl they named Veronica until a family court ordered them to turn her over to her biological father Dusten Brown, a member of the Cherokee Nation.
Brown had argued that the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, intended to curb practices that caused many Native American children to be separated from their families, entitled him to custody of the girl, who was 3/256th Cherokee.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/25/us-usa-court-custody-idUSBRE95O0V420130625
this must be stored away in the 3CHICS gif bank
Troubles worsen for Virginia’s Bob McDonnell
By Steve Benen
Tue Jun 25, 2013 9:25 AM EDT.
The ongoing scandal surrounding Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) continues to get progressively more serious, with the Washington Post reporting Friday that federal investigators are asking the governor’s associates “about previously undisclosed gifts given by a campaign donor to McDonnell’s wife that total tens of thousands of dollars and include money and expensive designer clothing.”
Today, the Richmond Times Dispatch fleshes this story out with details the McDonnells may find embarrassing.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/06/25/19132629-troubles-worsen-for-virginias-bob-mcdonnell?lite
THREAD IS UP on SCOTUS RULING & PBO Climate CHANGE REMARKS
The conservatives used the success of the Sec. 4 of the Voting Rights Act as their justification for killing it. Their reasoning was deeply flawed, and their motives were laughably transparent. This was the conservative justices’ attempt to put a Republican back in the White House. Through this decision, they opened the door to all sorts of voter suppression laws that will largely target two key pieces of the new Democratic coalition that has grown up during the Obama years, Hispanics and African Americans.
The next wave of voter suppression will also target students and the poor. It also will target Democratic voters in urban areas. In short, the Supreme Court has given the Republican Party the green light to declare all out war on Democratic voters.
The majority on this court apparently wants to return to the battles of civil rights era, and with Congress paralyzed by Republican incompetence, the remedy is to fight. Instead of signing an Internet petition, really get involved. Tell your friends and family about what has happened today. Pick up the phone, or write a letter by hand urging your member of Congress to protect your right to vote.
It is going take even more than that. You may have to willing to join a protest. Are you willing to stand up and speak out, or are you going to let 5 men with a political agenda allow Republicans to disenfranchise you?
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/06/25/angry-arrogant-activist-supreme-court-majority-demolished-vote.html
jds09 >
It’s mind boggling. In 2014 a legitimate question for a candidate will be “what is your position on the Voting Rights Act of 1965?”.
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/349545268489904128/photo/1
The Morning Plum: With new climate push, Obama accepts reality of broken GOP
By Greg Sargent, Published: June 25, 2013 at 9:21 amE-mail the writer
submit to reddit
President Obama’s big climate change rollout — which he’ll present in a speech this afternoon — relies almost entirely on the promise of executing a series of ambitious policy proposals by executive action. As such, it represents perhaps the most direct White House response yet to a defining fact about the Obama era: The refusal of many in the GOP to act as a constructive, minimally functional partner when it comes to basic governing designed to address the country’s most pressing problems.
To be sure, a handful of red state Dems, such as Joe Manchin, can also be blamed for standing in the way of climate action. But the GOP is far and away the primary reason such action remains all but impossible. Indeed, as Jonathan Cohn details this morning, national Republicans are already laying plans to make Democratic candidates in 2014 (some of whom may distance themselves from Obama because of GOP attacks) pay politically for his climate push. In other words, the GOP is not only populated with a fair amount of climate deniers; it also institutionally views climate change only as an issue to exploit for short term political gain, rather than a long term challenge facing the country.
Indeed, the early response to Obama’s push from GOP leaders confirms that they view the very notion that climate change is a governing challenge worth addressing as plainly absurd on its face. So acting without them is the only option.
NBC News’ Michael O’Brien has a good summary of everything Obama will propose today to combat climate change, all of it aiming to reduce greenhouse gas production. A directive for the EPA to establish carbon emission standards for existing power plants. An end to financing of green-unfriendly coal plants abroad. Higher fuel efficiency standards for heavy vehicles. A greater focus by federal agencies on how climate change is effecting the economy. A more aggressive push for international climate agreements and environmentally friendly free trade pacts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/06/25/the-morning-plum-with-new-climate-push-obama-accepts-reality-of-broken-gop/
John Lewis On Voting Rights Act: Supreme Court ‘Put A Dagger In The Heart’ Of The Law
http://pulse.me/s/neO8v
Areas covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act
SEE MAP
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/section-five-voting-rights-act-map/?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Commitee, issued a statement Tuesday reacting to the Supreme Court decision striking down a key provison of the Voting Rights Act.
“Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act has protected minorities of all races from discriminatory practices in voting for nearly 50 years, yet the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the coverage formula effectively guts the ability of Section 5 to protect voters from discriminatory practices,” he said in a release. “I could not disagree more with this result or the majority’s rationale. The Voting Rights Act has been upheld five times by the Supreme Court on prior occasions, and Section 5 was reauthorized and signed into law by a Republican President in 2006 after a thorough and bipartisan process in which Congress overwhelmingly determined that the law was still vital to protecting minority voting rights and that the coverage formula determining the jurisdictions to be covered was still applicable.
He continued: “Several lower court decisions in recent years have found violations of the Voting Rights Act and evidence of intentional discrimination in covered jurisdictions. Despite this sound record, and the weight of history, a narrow majority has decided today to substitute its own judgment over the exhaustive legislative findings of Congress. As Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I intend to take immediate action to ensure that we will have a strong and reconstituted Voting Rights Act that protects against racial discrimination in voting.”
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/leahy-i-will-take-immediate-action-to-bolster
john miller @deaconmill
The GOP has always used fear to drive its based to the polls. Next year we will have righteous anger on our side. And that will win.
10:27 AM – 25 Jun 2013
Attorney General Eric Holder will make a statement on the Supreme Court’s decision on the Voting Rights Act.
Jessica Pieklo @Hegemommy
Congress did vote to “fix” the VRA. SCOTUS didn’t like the ‘fix’ and rejected it. Roberts opinion is cowardly.
9:58 AM – 25 Jun 2013
Steve Weinstein @steveweinstein
Legacy of John Roberts: the man who made discrimination cool again. #votingrightsact
9:49 AM – 25 Jun 2013
zizi2 @zizii2
Thank you @RevAl they took away the “medicine that remedies the patient’s ailment” @msnbc
9:51 AM – 25 Jun 2013
zizi2 @zizii2
Folks, THIS IS WAR!!!!!!!!!! 2014 to the polls!!! #Obamacoalition we fight harder than 2008 & 2012
9:48 AM – 25 Jun 2013
john miller @deaconmill
Not sure which decision worse, Bush v Gore which helped create this Neanderthalic SCOTUS, or today’s which helps legalize discrimination.
10:14 AM – 25 Jun 2013
Why Are Conservatives Trying to Destroy the Voting Rights Act?
A five-decade bipartisan consensus on this key piece of civil rights legislation has collapsed—right when we need its protections more than ever before.
BY ARI BERMAN
————————————————
The current campaign against the VRA is the result of three key factors: a whiter, more Southern, more conservative GOP that has responded to demographic change by trying to suppress an increasingly diverse electorate; a twenty-five-year effort to gut the VRA by conservative intellectuals, who in recent years have received millions of dollars from top right-wing funders, including Charles Koch; and a reactionary Supreme Court that does not support remedies to racial discrimination.
.
.
Attorney General Eric Holder has called Section 5 the “keystone of our voting rights,” and the Justice Department and voting rights groups have argued that it is an essential tool for dismantling barriers to the ballot box. “The record compiled by Congress demonstrates that, without the continuation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 protections, racial and language minority citizens will be deprived of the opportunity to exercise their right to vote, or will have their votes diluted, undermining the significant gains made by minorities in the last forty years,” Congress stated in reauthorizing the act in 2006. The disappearance of Section 5 would be a devastating setback for voting rights—akin to the way the Citizens United decision eviscerated campaign finance regulation—and would greenlight the kind of voter suppression attempts that proved so unpopular in 2012.
http://www.thenation.com/article/172685/why-are-conservatives-trying-destroy-voting-rights-act#axzz2WlquCO3c
NSA leaker Edward Snowden is in the transit zone at the international airport in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin says.
“He is a transit passenger in the transit zone and is still there now,” Putin said. “Mr. Snowden is a free man. The sooner he selects his final destination point, the better both for us and for himself.”
Putin said Snowden’s arrival in Russia was “completely unexpected.”
Sahil Kapur @sahilkapur
Justice Ginsburg: “Hubris is a fit word for today’s demolition of the VRA.”
10:11 AM – 25 Jun 2013
Lord, I come out of a meeting and see the SCOTUS has furthered their agenda to take us back to the days of SLAVERY & JIM CROW! IT’S ON & POPPIN NOW.
john miller @deaconmill
Considering what is happening in some states that aren’t under Section 4, push to make Section 5 apply nationally.
10:20 AM – 25 Jun 2013
There’s always a way to keep moving forward, and that’s to fight for it. Our country’s being taken over by CORPORATIONS, GREED, & RACISM
GOVCHRIS1988 •
The Republicans have just declared war. No bones about it. They have all out declared war on every Minority in America. They have basically endorsed the idea that white supremacy is their goal and their birthright and that they will fight to the death to maintain that. Four white guys and one Uncle Tom coon who has been a DISGRACE to the very seat he took over from Thurgood Marshall 23 years ago voted to relive Paula Deen’s dream America. Some of us fell asleep at the wheel. In 2000, my father kept saying that THAT election and my Grandfather’s assertion that the 1980 election would lead to a reversal of all our ancestors fought for is being proved right every day. This is war now. They have declared it. We cannot ignore it. We cannot pretend it is not in existence. June 25, 2013 is the new Plessy v. Ferguson and we need to fight to the death if need be to drown out the folks who long for the days of the Antebellum South and Jim Crow. We are at war and I’m tired of giving the benefit of the doubt about it.
Yes, the Republican SCOUTUS have declared war on VOTERS and they will not win.
Supreme Court strikes down part of Voting Rights Act
By Steve Benen
Tue Jun 25, 2013 10:13 AM EDT
In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court this morning ruled that Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional. The ruling was written by Chief Justice John Roberts, a long-time VRA critic, with Justices Ginsburg, Breyer Sotomayor, and Kagan dissenting. More soon.
First Update: The entirety of the ruling is online here (pdf). For more background, here’s the overview from Scotusblog.
Second Update: The court majority rejected Section 4 on the grounds that it was based on a legitimate formula in 1966, but that formula can no longer be used today. Apparently, these five justices believe institutional racism and systemic discrimination in voting rights have effectively vanished to their satisfaction.
Third Update: The decision draws a distinction, saying it’s striking down Section 4, not Section 5, but since the former provides the coverage formula for the latter, it looks like the issue will return to Congress to write a new formula.
Fourth Update: Justice Thomas, true to form, explains he wanted to go ahead and strike down Section 5 altogether, rather than leaving it to Congress to fix. To his mind, there is no adequate formula.
Fifth Update: Good write-ups from NBC News’ Pete Williams and Erin McClam, as well as the AP. The key detail: “The court did not strike down the advance approval requirement of the law that has been used, mainly in the South, to open up polling places to minority voters in the nearly half century since it was first enacted in 1965. But the justices did say lawmakers must update the formula for determining which parts of the country must seek Washington’s approval, in advance, for election changes.” Raise your hand if you have confidence in this Congress’ ability to do that fairly and effectively.
Sixth Update: So, just to clarify, the principle of pre-clearance is intact, but for voting-rights advocates, that’s cold comfort, since the standards that provide the foundation for those principles has been struck down as unconstitutional. Section 5 is, in other words, in semi-permanent limbo, awaiting Congress’ eventual attention.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/06/25/19133249-supreme-court-strikes-down-part-of-voting-rights-act?lite
@ariberman:
Chief Just. Roberts has been trying his entire life to gut the Voting Rights Act. He finally succeeded http://www.motherjones.com/pol… …
Voting rights struck down. Separate but equal is around the corner.
BREAKING: SCOTUS strikes down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act 5-4. States no longer have to ask permission to change voting laws.
************************
ALL that hard work, lives lost, marches, beatings, blisters on the feet GONE with the stroke of a pen by the high court to appease racists.
Bottomline. The VRA was struck down to appease the racists for Barack Hussein Obama’s election as President of the United States.
Clarence Thomas is a Slave Catching Coon
I need every cooning graphic we’ve got
From SCOTUSblog, succinct opinion re: today’s VRA decision and why, with current teaparty Congress, it’s so impactful:
Amy Howe: Today’s holding in Shelby County v. Holder, in Plain English: Today the Court issued its decision in Shelby County v. Holder, the challenge to the constitutionality of the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act. That portion of the Act was designed to prevent discrimination in voting by requiring all state and local governments with a history of voting discrimination to get approval from the federal government before making any changes to their voting laws or procedures, no matter how small. In an opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts that was joined by Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito, the Court did not invalidate the principle that preclearance can be required. But much more importantly, it held that Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, which sets out the formula that is used to determine which state and local governments must comply with Section 5’s preapproval requirement, is unconstitutional and can no longer be used. Thus, although Section 5 survives, it will have no actual effect unless and until Congress can enact a new statute to determine who should be covered by it.
Bernie Sanders’ Plan to Create 400,000 New Jobs Scores A Major Senate Victory
By: Jason Easley
Jun. 24th, 2013
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Youth Jobs Act that would create 400,000 new jobs scored a major victory in the Senate when it was passed as part of the Border Surge amendment.
Sen. Sanders said, “At a time when real unemployment is close to 14 percent and even higher among young people and minorities, it is absolutely imperative that we create millions of decent-paying jobs in our country.”
The Sanders plan would provide $1.5 billion over two years for states and local communities to help find summertime and year-round jobs for more than 400,000 16- to 24-year-olds.
The Sanders Youth Jobs Plan is designed to balance out a provision in the immigration bill that would allow students from colleges other countries, and other guest workers to take American jobs. As Sen. Sanders said, “Today the J-1 program has morphed into a low-wage jobs program to allow corporations like Hershey’s and McDonald’s and many others to replace young American workers with cheaper labor from abroad.”
We have been following the progress of the Youth Jobs Act, since Sen. Sanders introduced it. With each hurdle that the legislation overcomes, Sen. Sanders is showing that he is not only an effective voice for the voiceless, but also an effective legislator.
The Youth Jobs Plan is based on both the stimulus and the American Jobs Act, and it may be the first piece of real job creation legislation to come out of the Senate since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was passed early in President Obama’s first term. The American Jobs Act was killed by Republicans who didn’t not want to give President Obama a win before the 2012 election, so it is ironic that some of these same Republicans are desperate for a win on immigration would help to pass an amendment that is modeled after legislation that they claimed to despise.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/06/24/bernie-sanders-plan-create-400000-jobs-scores-major-senate-victory.html
The Price Is Racist: When Women and Minorities Are Asked to Pay More
Untangling the weirdness of sexism and racism in the car and auto-repair market
Derek Thompson
Jun 24 2013, 5:53 PM ET
The first rule of prices is that nobody knows anything. That makes us exquisitely sensitive to little tricks and biases. Research suggests that getting something extra “for free” tends feels better than getting the same thing for less. Expensive items are placed strategically near the front of a store to make other high prices seem like a bargain.
Merchants use prices to manipulate us. That’s frustrating, but inevitable. More worrisome is research that finds merchants charging different prices to different people based entirely on their race and gender.
A study by economists Meghan R. Busse, Ayelet Israeli, and Florian Zettelmeyer looked at car repair shops and found that women tend to be quoted consistently higher prices than men when the callers didn’t mention a price. The most reasonable explanation, as Nanette Fondas explained on TheAtlantic.com, was that repair shops believe women are less informed about prices than men. So they’re gullible.
But get this. When women and men suggested a price — any price, fair or too high — both genders got the same offer. Just saying a number closed the price gap. Once the mechanic had data telling him exactly how well-informed his potential clients were, gender was no longer “a useful basis.” In fact, repair shops were more likely to offer a price concession if asked by a woman.
Remember the first rule of prices? Nobody knows anything. Biases and anchors rule our brains. When mechanics had no information but gender, they were anchored by gender bias. But once they heard a price, they were anchored by the price.
But where does the demographic bias even come from? Another car study by economists Ian Ayres and Peter Siegelman might have some answers. This survey of new-car dealerships revealed that merchants quoted lower prices to white males than to black (or female) test buyers. “In negotiations for more than 300 new cars, Chicago car dealers offered black and female testers significantly higher prices than the white males” even with identical bargaining strategies, they found.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/06/the-price-is-racist-when-women-and-minorities-are-asked-to-pay-more/277174/
Stick a fork in the IRS controversy; it’s done
By Steve Benen
Tue Jun 25, 2013 8:53 AM EDT
The good news for conservatives is that new information about the IRS controversy came to light late yesterday, which renewed coverage of the story Republicans are heavily in. The bad news for conservatives it that the revelations were the opposite of what they wanted to hear.
Following up on Rachel’s segment from last night, the last remaining pillar of the Republican talking points — groups on the right were singled out for unfair scrutiny — has collapsed.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/06/25/19132220-stick-a-fork-in-the-irs-controversy-its-done?lite
@BFriedmanDC
Party that let Osama bin Laden run loose for 10 years is now calling Obama WH “incompetent” for not apprehending Snowden in a matter of days
Star Jones @StarJonesEsq26s
CAPTURE, ARREST, PROSECUTION, JUDGMENT, PRISON. NEXT…>RT @rebeccamacatee: what would you like to see happen next with edward #snowden?
did you all see this?
they didn’t learn anything from Mama’s horrible video.
they really should have called the real-life Olivia Pope.
………………
igorvolsky @igorvolsky
Paula Deen’s son tells CNN’s @NewDay that people are engaged in “character assassination” and “extortion” against their mom.
6:30 AM – 25 Jun 2013
igorvolsky @igorvolsky
Paula Deen’s sons are denying that Deen said what she said in her deposition.
6:32 AM – 25 Jun 2013
igorvolsky @igorvolsky
Paula Deen’s sons: “We were not raised in a home where that word was used.” Paula Deen: I sometimes use the N word.
6:33 AM – 25 Jun 2013
igorvolsky @igorvolsky
“It was a different time when my mother was growing up” — Paula Deen’s sons on CNN’s @NewDay.
6:34 AM – 25 Jun 2013
igorvolsky @igorvolsky
Paula Deen’s son says that there is a “pretty good chance” that other employees will accuse her of racism b/c they are opportunists.
6:37 AM – 25 Jun 2013
igorvolsky @igorvolsky
Paula Deen’s sons: “It really is an extortion case…there are opportunists.”
6:38 AM – 25 Jun 2013
igorvolsky @igorvolsky
Hard to imagine that Paula Deen’s sons’ CNN interview could have gone any worse than those apology videos, but it did.
6:39 AM – 25 Jun 2013
Stick a FORK in all these FUCKERS, They’re DONE!
Immigration reform clears key hurdle, on track for big win
By Steve Benen
Tue Jun 25, 2013 8:00 AM EDT
After last night’s vote, the question isn’t whether comprehensive immigration reform will pass the Senate, but by what margin. A couple of weeks ago, there was still some chatter about whether the bipartisan bill could overcome a Republican filibuster, but that talk has since ended
At issue was the so-called “border surge” amendment crafted by Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.), and tolerated by Senate Democrats, which is intended to resolve the one thing reform opponents said they wanted: more border security. And the push was largely successful: 67 senators backed the measure, which was widely seen as a test vote for the overall bill.
What’s more, the actual vote total would have been even higher, but two Democrats had travel problems and couldn’t reach the floor in time. Had Senate attendance been 100%, we would have seen a 69-31 vote.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/06/25/19131618-immigration-reform-clears-key-hurdle-on-track-for-big-win?lite
Updated 06/24/2013 11:34 PM
Mayor, Police Commissioner Blast Stop-And-Frisk Bills
By: Courtney Gross
The City Council is taking heat from the mayor over legislation proposing more oversight in law enforcement.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined Police Commissioner Ray Kelly on Monday to condemn two proposed bills that are part of the Community Safety Act.
The council will vote on the act’s two parts later this week, after deciding to move it out of the committee stage.
One bill would create an independent inspector general to oversee the New York City Police Department’s policies and practices.
The other would open the door for lawsuits against police for “disparate impact,” if a New Yorker feels they were targeted based on their age, gender, race or sexual orientation.
If passed, the mayor and commissioner say the NYPD would be left crippled, and flooded with frivolous lawsuits.
They say it will prevent officers from flooding high crime areas and prevent them from going after gang members who they say could be both young and male.
http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/184347/mayor–police-commissioner-blast-stop-and-frisk-bills
@Kennymack1971
Just observing how a certain segment of White America prove every day that having a Black POTUS has driven them mad. Both left & right.
THE HOODS HAVE COME OFF.
Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks – the 2013 Stanley Cup Champions!!!
http://youtu.be/tOdW0gssRpI
CONGRATULATIONS, BLACKHAWKS! :-)))))
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Good Morning, Rikyrah & Everyone! :-))