Happy Monday, Everyone. This week’s featured artist is Annie Lennox.
Wiki: Ann “Annie” Lennox, OBE (born 25 December 1954) is a British singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s as part of the New Wave band The Tourists, she and fellow musician David A. Stewart went on to achieve major international success in the 1980s as Eurythmics. Lennox is the most recognised female artist at the Brit Awards, winning a total of eight awards. She has also been named the “Brits Champion of Champions”.[1]
Lennox embarked on a solo career in the 1990s with her debut album, Diva (1992), which produced several hit singles including “Why” and “Walking on Broken Glass”. To date, she has released five solo studio albums and a compilation album, The Annie Lennox Collection (2009). She is the recipient of eight Brit Awards, four Grammy Awards and an MTV Video Music Award. In 2002, Lennox received a Billboard Century Award; the highest accolade from Billboard Magazine.[2] In 2004, she won both the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Into the West”, written for the soundtrack to the feature film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.[3]
“Why”
No more I love you’s
https://twitter.com/ObamaFoodorama/status/356920472488792064/photo/1
Speaker Too Weak to Legislate
by BooMan
Mon Jul 15th, 2013 at 12:43:51 PM EST
It’s really stunning how weak Speaker Boehner is. He can’t even articulate a strategy for immigration reform. So, we’re left to trying to imagine how he might go about either passing or killing reform. He could do this or he could do that, but he can’t do this and he can’t do that.
He’s painted himself into a corner where he can’t do anything that doesn’t have the support of the majority of his caucus, but he doesn’t have the balls to say that he doesn’t intend to pass immigration reform. The result is that he has to pretend that he is going to do something, but whatever he does will be purely for show. He wants to be able to say that he tried and he wants to be able to blame someone other than his own caucus for his failure. That’s the only strategy he has. It’s pathetic.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/7/15/124351/696
trying to find humor where I can
…………………….
The New York Times ✔ @nytimes
Trailside: Poll Finds Quinn, Weiner and Spitzer Are Out Front http://nyti.ms/17gF8XG
3:30 PM – 15 Jul 2013
Why the 2010 election was disastrous for black America
by David A. Love | July 15, 2013 at 8:54 AM
That 2010 midterm election. It is the gift that just keeps on giving. And it is proof that elections do matter.
2010 was the year of a massive Republican power grab. The GOP took advantage of low voter turnout and disenchantment over President Obama—at a time when progressives thought he wasn’t doing enough on issues of importance to them, and conservatives thought he was destroying the nation, and in any case did not like the idea of a black president.
For the GOP, the 2010 takeover of Congress was payback for the trouncing John McCain received at the hands of Obama two years earlier. The Tea Party had its day, and the Obama presidency has been held hostage ever since. While the Republicans are jamming up Obama’s agenda and his nominees, everyday Americans—including African-Americans— are paying the ultimate price with sequester madness.
Meanwhile, redistricting in the form of severe racial gerrymandering has resegregated the South. This has allowed House Republicans to represent overwhelmingly white, conservative districts, and ignore the prevailing national sentiment on a wide variety of issues.
Anti-everything
Despite broad-based, bipartisan support for immigration reform, Republican lawmakers have doubled down on anti-immigrant rhetoric and have made raw appeals to racism among their base. The most outspoken critics of immigration reform come from overwhelmingly white districts. For example, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who wants to build a fence on the U.S.-Mexico border, has a district which is over 94 percent white. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota), who is known for a long list of controversial and outrageous statements, represents a district that is nearly exclusively white.
On Monday, Tea Party Republicans were expected to appear at an anti-immigration rally organized by a front group called the Black American Leadership Association, which has roots to white nationalist John Tanton. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Tanton is “the racist architect of the modern anti-immigrant movement.”
Meanwhile, despite widespread calls for gun control to stem the tide of armed violence in urban centers, rural and suburban areas alike, a radicalized National Rifle Association has called for armed rebellion against the U.S. government. The NRA has hijacked the GOP in the process, making it impossible to pass even the most milquetoast, common sense gun control laws in Washington. The powerful lobbying group has also stalled efforts by the Senate to confirm B. Todd Jones as director of the ATF. Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) has threatened to invoke the “nuclear option” and reform the filibuster, confirming executive branch nominees with a simple majority rather than the current 60 votes Republicans have used to block the president’s appointments.
In addition to blocking Obama’s cabinet picks, Republicans in Congress are responsible for the sequester, painful mandatory cuts which are implemented when lawmakers cannot agree on budget cuts. The implications of the sequester are most disastrous for poor and working people, with cuts to programs such as Head Start, Meals on Wheels and federal unemployment compensation. And the effects on the legal system—including furloughs in the federal defender system, cuts to the judiciary, and dwindling resources to pay jurors—could cause a constitutional crisis.
And just recently, Tea Party members of Congress ripped the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as the food stamp program, out of the federal farm bill. And now one of the most effective anti-poverty programs is in danger of cuts.
Doing damage on the state level
On the state level, the Tea Party wing of the GOP seized state legislatures and governor’s mansions across the country in 2010. And they ran with it, passing through some of the most horrendous and draconian legislation of all time, from voter ID and forced ultrasounds to bans on Sharia law. The result is nothing less than a political freak show playing out
Ushered into office with the 2010 Republican landslide, Florida Governor Rick Scott transitioned from his prior job as a hospital executive, where the corporation he led was involved in the largest Medicare fraud scheme in history. As governor, Scott has banned paid sick leave for local governments, initiated a voter purge, and denied voting rights to ex-felons. And weeks ago, Gov. Scott signed into law the Timely Justice Act, which will speed up the pace of executions and increase the likelihood of putting innocent people to death, in the state with the highest number of wrongfully convicted death row survivors.
http://thegrio.com/2013/07/15/why-the-2010-election-was-disastrous-for-black-america/
And of course this is all OBAMA’s fault! /snark
Folks like Ed Schultz called for not voting in 2010, and the progressives who stayed home and refused to vote, because the black guy in the White House wouldn’t jump and say, “How high Massa” to placate their whim, really helped out the REthugs.
And now they’re protesting and screaming for PBO to undo the damage that has been inflicted on this country for over 5 decades. And now that he’s been re-elected we’re witnessing the complete MELTDOWN of the party that’s throwing a tantrum and punishing not just black Americans, but anyone who voted for Barack Hussein Obama.
And we owe it all to Ed Snowden. /SNARK
July 14, 2013
Attention, Shoppers: Store Is Tracking Your Cell
By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD and QUENTIN HARDY
Like dozens of other brick-and-mortar retailers, Nordstrom wanted to learn more about its customers — how many came through the doors, how many were repeat visitors — the kind of information that e-commerce sites like Amazon have in spades. So last fall the company started testing new technology that allowed it to track customers’ movements by following the Wi-Fi signals from their smartphones.
But when Nordstrom posted a sign telling customers it was tracking them, shoppers were unnerved.
“We did hear some complaints,” said Tara Darrow, a spokeswoman for the store. Nordstrom ended the experiment in May, she said, in part because of the comments.
Nordstrom’s experiment is part of a movement by retailers to gather data about in-store shoppers’ behavior and moods, using video surveillance and signals from their cellphones and apps to learn information as varied as their sex, how many minutes they spend in the candy aisle and how long they look at merchandise before buying it.
All sorts of retailers — including national chains, like Family Dollar, Cabela’s and Mothercare, a British company, and specialty stores like Benetton and Warby Parker — are testing these technologies and using them to decide on matters like changing store layouts and offering customized coupons.
But while consumers seem to have no problem with cookies, profiles and other online tools that let e-commerce sites know who they are and how they shop, some bristle at the physical version, at a time when government surveillance — of telephone calls, Internet activity and Postal Service deliveries — is front and center because of the leaks by Edward J. Snowden.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/15/business/attention-shopper-stores-are-tracking-your-cell.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&&pagewanted=print
House GOP’s endgame on immigration: Do nothing?
By Greg Sargent, Published: July 15 at 12:06 pm
National Review’s Jonathan Strong, who is well connected among House Republicans, makes a point that is absolutely crucial to understanding the road ahead on immigration reform:
This is why the critical question remains: Is there anything that can get a majority of House Republicans to support a path to citizenship under any circumstances? If there isn’t, then there is no percentage for those House Republicans who oppose citizenship to allow the process to move forward at all, even if it means advancing efforts to fix the system they themselves support. After all, that process could mean Republicans will be forced to negotiate with Democrats in conference, which could mean they will be under increased pressure to compromise, which could mean they would be under increased pressure to accept citizenship, which they aren’t prepared to accept, even if it means getting their own way on increased border security and enforcement in return.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/07/15/house-gops-endgame-on-immigration-do-nothing/
The Morning Plum: Time to go nuclear
By Greg Sargent, Published: July 15 at 9:14 am
With the confrontation over the filibuster set to hit nuclear meltdown temperature this week, there’s a great deal of hand-wringing out there over the current breakdown in Senate comity. The Post talks to a lot of current and former Senators who are deeply upset about how ideological and polarized the Senate has become. There’s little talk about whether one side is more to blame than the other for this state of affairs, as if this occurrence were natural and inevitable.
It’s probably too much to expect observers who maintain an aura of neutrality to take a stand on whether one side is more culpable than the other for the current state of things in the Senate. Certainly those more sympathetic to the GOP won’t concede this, and are denouncing Harry Reid’s threatened move as a power grab that will destroy the Senate.
So I’m going to pose the question in another way: Is there any point at which folks would be willing to concede that the Dem rules change on the table — doing away with the filibuster on executive nominations — is justifiable? In other words, is there any level of Republican obstruction that would justify acting on Dems’ part?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/07/15/the-morning-plum-time-to-go-nuclear/
Backpedal Fail: Glenn Greenwald Steps Deeper in His Own Petard
Monday, July 15, 2013 | Posted by Spandan C at 10:45 AM
4
After a gaffe of gargantuan proportions by issuing blackmailing threats to the United States government, Glenn Greenwald attempted to backpedal profusely, in an article thinly veiled with poutrage. He tried to explain that even though he had said in an interview that (a) Snowden has enough information to cause grave damage to the United States if released, and (b) therefore the US government should be on its knees praying that nothing happens to Snowden, that didn’t mean that he was trying to threaten or blackmail the United States.
Then, Greenwald kills his own message by making the blackmail even more explicit. Greenwald claims that Snowden has created a “dead man’s switch” which would cause those documents to be released should he be killed by the US government (the paranoia of this crowd is truly astounding). But this is where Greenwald makes things interesting. He claims, specifically, that said ‘switch’ can also be flipped if Snowden is forcibly taken into custody, via entirely legal channels. I quote:
I was asked whether I thought the US government would take physical action against him if he tried to go to Latin America or even force his plane down. That’s when I said that doing so would be completely counter-productive given that – as has been reported before – such an attack could easily result in far more disclosures than allowing us as journalists to vet and responsibly report them, as we’ve [been] doing.
Let’s leave alone for a second Glenn Greenwald’s spurious claim to be a “journalist.” Let’s look at what he’s saying here. He’s saying that should the United States or one of its allies forcibly ground a plane carrying Edward Snowden over their airspace, and then presumably take Snowden into custody so that he could face the charges that the United States has filed against him, that legal process would also open the floodgates on the supposed ‘dead man’s switch’ and thereby cause unprecedented damage to the US. That’s not a threat? That’s not blackmailing? What in his sick mind does Greenwald think blackmailing is?
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2013/07/glenn-greenwald-again-tries-to.html
Schweitzer gives GOP new Senate hopes
By Steve Benen
Mon Jul 15, 2013 12:43 PM EDT
After Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) announced his retirement, former Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) made one thing clear: he was interested in the race. Indeed, the scuttlebutt suggested Schweitzer was even considering a primary campaign against Baucus if he didn’t retire. After statewide polls showed him running strong, the announcement from the former governor seemed to be a matter of when, not if.
It made the news over the weekend that much more surprising.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/07/15/19486944-schweitzer-gives-gop-new-senate-hopes?lite
@HonestToddler
You like food trucks because they’re dirty and exciting. That’s how we feel about sidewalk apple slices.
@HonestToddler
The only difference between a meal and garbage is time. And since time is relative, garbage is food. Let me know if I’m going too fast.
LOL These tweets are hilarious.
Bachmann explains ‘the way we spank the president’
By Steve Benen
Mon Jul 15, 2013 2:00 PM EDT
I don’t generally laugh out loud while watching Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) share her wildly creative views on reality — I’m usually more inclined to wince — but this is one of the greatest Bachmann videos of all time. And given her track record, that’s not easy.
In this case, Right Wing Watch flags a video of Bachmann sitting down with WorldNetDaily, a fringe conspiracy website, in the hopes of rallying opposition to immigration reform. For those who can’t watch clips online — and really this one needs to be seen — here’s my transcript of the video:
http://youtu.be/3KIC3Jc6rz4
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/07/15/19487749-bachmann-explains-the-way-we-spank-the-president?lite
Not all filibusters are created equal
By Steve Benen
Mon Jul 15, 2013 10:16 AM EDT.
The stage is already set in the Senate for an important showdown that’s likely to affect the future of the chamber, at least for the foreseeable future. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is moving forward on seven confirmation votes on pending nominees, and if Republicans, as is their wont, use obstructionist tactics to prevent up-or-down votes, Reid says he’s prepared to try to “nuclear option.”
First, if Democrats decide to go down this road, will they have the votes to pull it off? It obviously matters — it’s entirely up to Reid; it’s up to Reid and his 50 friends. As of the weekend, the Democratic leader said the support is in place.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/07/15/19485414-not-all-filibusters-are-created-equal?lite
There Was No Justice For Trayvon But We Cannot Be Silenced
[ 19 ] July 14, 2013 | Luvvie
This weekend, I was at a convening with 100 young Black leaders and activists, brought together from across the country by the Black Youth Project. We were there to talk about our advocacy work as well as issues affecting the Black community. And more importantly, we were there to talk about what we can DO about it and put some of those things to action. They called us the BYP100.
Yesterday, we had just wrapped day 2 around 8:35pm CST and everyone was ready to kick it. After 10 hours of work, we deserved it. And as our facilitator, Melinda Weekes dismissed us, someone said “The jury reached a verdict.” We weren’t ready to hear it and some of us kind of freaked out. I started shaking because I WAS AFRAID.
I’ve avoided watching the trial of George Zimmerman for his murder of Trayvon Martin because I honestly could not deal. I knew it wouldn’t be good for my psyche to watch it. Because I was already so angry. What I need to cope sometimes is avoidance. And that’s real.
Read on
http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2013/07/justice-for-trayvon.html
Hollywood Reporter @THR32m
EXCLUSIVE: ABC’s #Scandal Heads to @BET in Early Syndication Deal; S1, S2 Set for Summer, S3 in Fall http://bit.ly/15dleeV @ScandalABC
Yippee! This will get me watching BET again.
Good day everyone.
Hello, CarolMae. Top-o-the morning to you~ :-)
;) Isn’t it getting closer to late morning? Which thread are we talking about JFTrayvon? I’m still emotional.
Thanks for asking CarolMae. You can post at this link:
http://3chicspolitico.com/2013/07/14/protests-sweep-across-the-country-in-lieu-of-zimmerman-not-guilty-verdict/#comment-171423
Italian lawmaker likens black minister to orangutan
Reuters) – A senior parliamentarian in the anti-immigration Northern League party likened Italy’s first black minister to an orangutan and only apologized on Sunday after a storm of criticism.
Cecile Kyenge, an Italian citizen born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been the target of repeated racial slurs since her appointment as integration minister in April.
Roberto Calderoli, vice president of Italy’s Senate, said on Saturday at a political rally in the northern town of Treviglio: “I love animals – bears and wolves, as everyone knows – but when I see the pictures of Kyenge I cannot but think of, even if I’m not saying she is one, the features of an orangutan.”
He said the success of Kyenge encouraged “illegal immigrants” to come to Italy, and she should be a minister “in her own country”, according to media reports
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/14/us-italy-minister-racism-idUSBRE96D0BO20130714
Snowden and the potential for the USA’s ‘worst nightmare’
By Steve Benen
Mon Jul 15, 2013 9:22 AM EDT.
The controversy surrounding former NSA contractor Edward Snowden took an unexpected twist over the weekend, with provocative comments from the one journalist who’s been at the heart of the story from the beginning.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/07/15/19484696-snowden-and-the-potential-for-the-usas-worst-nightmare?threadId=3768129&commentId=77598968#c77598968
Snowden should be behind bars for his criminal behavior. He should be on his fucking knees begging to bring his white ass back to America, the country he has BETRAYED.
Fuck him!
Dudette @Dudette9t9
“@levarburton One hug at a time! MT @OnPointCelebz: @levarburton How do we teach our young black youth that their life is meaningful?
12:20 AM – 15 Jul 2013
Monday Morning Open Thread: No Place At the Table
Posted by Anne Laurie at 4:35 am
Via Corby Kummer at the Atlantic, who says that after “House Republicans split food stamps off the main package, it’s time to revisit a devastating documentary about hunger in America“:
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/07/15/monday-morning-open-thread-no-place-at-the-table/
If at first you don’t succeed, fail and fail again
By Steve Benen
Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:00 AM EDT.
It was just a month ago when Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), his party’s most recent vice presidential nominee, shared his theory on why he and his ticket came up short in 2012: it was the Affordable Care Act’s fault. Republicans had to “argue against the promise” of “Obamacare,” Ryan argued, and it was too tough to overcome.
Exactly a month later, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) yesterday made a very different kind of argument on “Meet the Press.”
For those who can’t watch clips online, McConnell, asked about the health care, said:
To recap, in 2012, Republicans made repealing the Affordable Care Act one of the premiere issues of the election cycle. The strategy failed — GOP candidates lost the presidential race and lost seats in both the House and Senate. So in 2014, Republican intend to make repealing the Affordable Care Act one of the premiere issues of the election cycle.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/07/15/19483552-if-at-first-you-dont-succeed-fail-and-fail-again?lite
Only one way to know if House could pass immigration bill
By Steve Benen
Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:32 AM EDT.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was asked yesterday whether he expects the House to act on comprehensive immigration reform. “Yes,” he replied. “They will act. They have to. This is something that the vast, vast majority of the Republicans, Democrats, and Independents support. And John Boehner should let the House vote. That’s all he has to do. If the House voted, it would pass overwhelmingly.”
In an unexpected public appeal, Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch soon after announced his agreement, saying on Twitter that Reid is “right” and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) “should allow” the House to vote. “Lead,” Murdoch said to the Ohio Republican, for the “country’s sake.”
But is Reid correct about support for the bipartisan Senate bill? If Boehner allowed a vote, would it pass? On ABC yesterday, Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) repeated the prediction that the House considered the Senate bill, “there would be enough House Republicans that would vote for it.” It led to this exchange between George Stephanopoulos and Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.).
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/07/15/19484100-only-one-way-to-know-if-house-could-pass-immigration-bill?lite
McCrory to sign motorcycle-turned-abortion bill
By Steve Benen
Fri Jul 12, 2013 5:02 PM EDT
With remarkable speed this week, Republicans in the North Carolina state legislature amended a bill on motorcycle safety, included new restrictions on reproductive health, and got to work passing it. Would the state’s freshman Republican governor, Pat McCrory, go along with this?
As it turns out, yes.
Keep in mind, as a gubernatorial candidate just last year, McCrory was asked what changes to the state’s abortion laws he would support. His answer, which helped him get elected, was unambiguous: “None.” As in, if elected, McCrory wouldn’t support any changes to the state’s abortion laws.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/07/12/19441839-mccrory-to-sign-motorcycle-turned-abortion-bill?lite
https://twitter.com/JamesPMorrison/status/339907894109687808/photo/1
Serious business here; and CREATIONISM doesnt’ cut it, wingnutters.
Good Morning, Everyone! :-)
Good Morning, Everyone at 3CHICS!