William McKinley Hutchison (December 6, 1944 – September 19, 2005),[1] known professionally as Willie Hutch, was an American singer, songwriter as well as a record producer and recording artist for the Motown record label during the 1970s and 1980s.
Born in 1944 in Los Angeles, California, Hutch was raised in Dallas, Texas. He joined a doo-wop group, The Ambassadors, as a teenager. After graduating from Booker T. Washington High, Hutch shortened his last name when he started his music career in 1964 on the Soul City label with the song, “Love Has Put Me Down”.
♪ Blues ♫
@StaySweetDarlin
28m
#solidarityisforwhitewomen when my personality is different, and weird, even frowned upon because I am a proud educated black woman
Susan Komen’s Ghost
@SusanKomenGhost
30m
#solidarityisforwhitewomen when breast cancer survival rates improve overall …. But not for women of color.
Holly Kearl
@hkearl
32m
rt @NadineThornhill #solidarityisforwhitewomen when WOC are accused of creating racial division in feminism simply for saying it exists
Rania Khalek
@RaniaKhalek
7h
#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen when convos about gender pay gap ignore that white women earn higher wages than black, Latino and Native men.
Stephanie Morillo
@radiomorillo
1h
#solidarityisforwhitewomen when affirmative action is wrong but you getting a job through your dad’s connects is “working the system”.
♛MADEMOISELLE♛
@MizzLayd
1h
When a black criminal is a thug, a Muslim criminal is a terrorist, but a white criminal is just a criminal #solidarityisforwhitewomen
Aura Bogado
@aurabogado
1h
#solidarityisforwhitewomen is when you refuse to recognize that white women are the least affected by unemployment: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/06/business/economy/unemployment-lines.html …
Manahil
@_manahil_
2h
when all yr clothes are made by underpaid women in bangladesh factories but you’re a ‘proud vegan’ #solidarityisforwhitewomen
Ashleigh Not Ashley
@notashley
4h
#solidarityisforwhitewomen is trying to convince me that you’re my sister while demonizing my fathers, brothers, uncles and sons.
Adela Nieves
@Adela_Nieves
5m
RT @aurabogado #solidarityisforwhitewomen your organization offers internships without pay, which means most WOC can’t afford to do them
Knitter Scribe
@renaissanceeast
5m
#SolidarityisforWhiteWomen When short hair is a bold move for you, but is the “proof” of our lack of beauty & femininity.
Maza:)
@MazaHailu
7m
#solidarityisforwhitewomen When a white man is a murderer their sanity is always questioned.
I am saving all of these tweets. Thanks, rikyrah.
Auragasmic @Auragasmic 6m
#solidarityisforwhitewomen when journalists didn’t bother to learn how to pronounce the name of the youngest actress 2b nominated 4 Oscar
JJ @J1mmyJ0hns0n 5m
#solidarityisforwhitewomen when so called ‘honor killings’ are fetishized and exotified as different than domestic violence murders
Janelle Hanchett @renegademama1 21m
#solidarityisforwhitewomen white women dismissing race in the Trayvon Martin case b/c THEIR kid isn’t profiled for wearing a hoodie.
This video link shows the Dream Defenders in action:
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/45755884/vp/52680381#52680381
I love the Supremes’ rendition here of “Around the World in 80 Days”:
@Auntie_Allison: @Only4RM waiting for MHP to blame “daddy issues” for Oprah’s spending habits.”
@rolandsmartin 2m
The issue @MHarrisPerry is that even when you got $3 billion like @Oprah, some see your Black skin before your Black American Express card!
@rolandsmartin 5m
We can mock a BILLIONAIRE like @Oprah for spending $38K on a bag. But the real issue is still the racism denying her the bag @MHarrisPerry
@rolandsmartin 7m
Let’s be real, @MHarrisPerry. Rich folks buy expensive stuff. I didn’t know that came with a breaking news flash. @Mediaite @Oprah
@rolandsmartin 15m
And the day we act as if racism is lessened by how much money we make, then we have made a serious error. @Oprah @MHarrisPerry @Mediaite
Interesting that they are all making assumptions. Oprah was never told the price, and so we will never know if she would have bought it had she been told the price.
I wonder how many other Black shoppers have had similar assumptions made about their ability to purchase by white clerks.
Dying Teen Is Being Denied A Heart Transplant Because He’s Had Trouble With The Law
By Tara Culp-Ressler on August 12, 2013 at 3:30 pm
Fifteen-year-old Anthony Stokes has less than six months to live unless he receives an emergency heart transplant. But his family has been told that Anthony doesn’t qualify for the transplant list because he has a “history of non-compliance” — partly due to his history of earning low grades and having some trouble with the law.
“They said they don’t have any evidence that he would take his medicine or that he would go to his follow-ups,” Melencia Hamilton, Anthony’s mother, told WSBTV News. Hamilton explained that her son has an enlarged heart, and a transplant is the only thing that will help his condition.
The doctors at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta weren’t very specific about what exactly contributed to their decision to label Anthony as “non-compliant.” But family friends explained to WSBTV News that they were told it’s partly because of Anthony’s performance in school and run-ins with law enforcement.
His family and friends don’t accept that as a valid reason to deny the teen life-saving treatment. “We must save Anthony’s life,” family friend Mack Major, identified as Anthony’s mentor, told CBS Atlanta. “We don’t have a lot of time to do it, but it’s something that must be done.”
Civil rights organizations are beginning to take up Anthony’s cause, saying a child’s past shouldn’t have anything to do with the medical care they receive. “He’s been given a death sentence because of a broad and vague excuse of non-compliance,” a representative from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Christine Young Brown, said. “There was nothing specific in that decision. Just non-compliance.”
Regardless of Anthony’s specific past, his story fits into a larger pattern of racially-motivated skepticism about young black men. The routine criminalization of black youth — thanks in large part to the so-called “school-to-prison pipeline,” which funnels a disproportionate number of black teens into the justice system for minor infractions — ensures that teens like Anthony are often seen as threats. And once society labels those kids as criminal, suspect, or “non-compliant,” their lives are typically considered to have less value.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/08/12/2453941/dying-teen-heart-transplant/
I am in tears over this.
In my opinion, this is just another way of killing young, black males. He’s 15 years old, for crying out loud. Who are these people to decide that a 15 year old should not be allowed to live?
Sorry to be so blunt.
I am with you all the way
OMG! Denied a heart transplant because he had trouble with the law? This is too cruel!
Ayesha A. Siddiqi @pushinghoops 2h
#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen when you think I need to be saved from the men in my community while ignoring fetishization from the men in yours
Friday Foster-ABWW @eshowoman 1h
#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen when young white girls lose their compassion for Rue (Hunger Games) when they realized she was a black child.
Retweeted by Mikki Kendall
These Tweets are SPOT ON.
Can GOP avoid government shutdown debacle?
By Greg Sargent, Published: August 12 at 11:56 am
Democrats on the Hill closely read the Wall Street Journal’s Stephen Moore, because they believe his columns are a decent guide to the thinking among GOP-aligned business establishment types and even in some cases among GOP leaders who want to float trial balloon ideas they are unwilling to venture publicly.
And so Dems think today’s column by Moore contains some interesting clues as to how Republicans and business leaders are thinking about this fall’s looming battles over the debt limit and funding the government. Short version: they are hoping to avoid it.
Moore’s column is mostly devoted to declaring the sequester cuts a huge success. He notes that the big untold story in Washington is that the budget is shrinking and that the deficit is falling (try telling that to Republican officials who remain committed to the falsehood that the deficit continues to grow). But buried at the end of the column is the really important point:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/08/12/hed/
MoDo’s Pure Washingtonism
Aug 11 2013 @ 9:53pm
It couldn’t possibly be that a Democratic president, always liable to be deemed “weak” on terror, waited for domestic opinion to shift before restraining the least ineffective and counter-terrorism strategy, could it? Nah. He’s just “aloof”. That’s been the story-line from long before Day One, when MoDo was giving bad conventional advice to candidate Obama, and she’s sticking to it. More Leonism:
Oh, please. The first was wound down once it had achieved its primary objective and had begun to become counter-productive. The second was a politician bullshitting a little in order to expedite a civil rights revolution, by taking himself out of the front lines until the critical end-game. And if you don’t regard these political stratagems as a function of Obama’s alleged moral snootiness, but as pragmatic adjustments to shifting objectives, they look a little different, don’t they? Five years into Obama’s term and the entire Afghan al Qaeda franchise was taken out. As for his pathetic weakness on gay rights, he has presided over the end of the military ban – brilliantly maneuvered through Congress by Admiral Mullen – and federal recognition of marriages for gay couples. I’m not sure even being Tip O’Neill could have succeeded more powerfully, do you?
Then MoDo’s warning – even after 2008! – that Obama is not tough enough to counter the malign and crafty Clintons. Now I am second to none in maligning the Clintons. But what Obama grasps and MoDo doesn’t is that politics need not always be zero-sum.
It is not, for example, a threat to Obama that Hillary is already up to her neck in campaign machinations and shenanigans. This is the Clintons’ natural state of rest: machinations and shenanigans in the seeking and holding of power and money. And there is no cost to Obama if Hillary is campaigning to complete Bill’s third term. If she succeeds, then a great deal of Obama’s legacy is secure, and part of it could be the final humiliation of the GOP at his successor’s hands. If she doesn’t succeed – and she has never won a race outside the super-safe New York Senate seat she was bequeathed by her marriage – then … the story is all about the Clintons’ failure, not Obama’s. The president’s current strategy gives him a chance of winning either way. It’s not high-minded. It’s the most nakedly political position there is.
http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/08/11/modos-pure-washingtonism/
From an election study called Souls to the Polls, on Florida’s voter suppression efforts in 2012 (pdf)
……………………………
we see a notable view of racial and ethnic early voting trends. In particular, white
early voters tend to vote in the first half of the early voting period, not including Sundays. Across all early voting days, the two days that featured the lowest white participation rates, relatively speaking, were both Sundays. In contrast, on the first Sunday of early voting, the racial and ethnic group with the highest relative participation rate was African American voters. And on the last Sunday, the group with the highest relative participation rate was Hispanic voters, followed by African American voters. Finally, on the two Saturdays of early voting, the racial and ethnic group with the highest participation rate was Asian voters.
In particular, Figure 8 shows trends in the composition of the early voting electorate in this group of counties, and we see here a familiar drop in weekend white early voting. Similarly, Figure 9 displays early voting trends among voter types as broken down by racial and ethnic group. Notice here the same white voter pattern as was seen in Figure 7, i.e., white voters vote disproportionately less often on weekends and in particular on Sundays. In Figure 9 one sees as well that Asian early voters voted disproportionately on Saturdays, and that Sundays tended to feature disproportionate numbers of Hispanic and African American voters.
We conclude with the suggestion that changes to convenience voting laws, including but not limited to the truncation of EIP voting in Florida, may have considerable effects in future elections. As Richard Hasen notes, ‘‘These laws will have an effect on the margin on who votes. And in a state like Florida, a small difference matters. It could easily decide the outcome.’’ Whether or not one believes that the Florida legislature’s effort to restrict EIP voting in anticipation of the 2012 General Election parallels ‘‘methods pioneered by the white supremacists from another era that achieved the similar results,’’ as Risa Goluboff and Dahlia Lithwick contend, it very well could negatively impact turnout among Democratic, minority, younger, occasional, and first-time voters in the Sunshine State.
https://www.supportthevoter.gov/files/2013/07/Election-Law-Journal-Souls-to-the-Polls-Early-Voting-in-Florida-in-Shadow-of-House-Bill-1355.pdf
GOP Rep: We Have The Votes In The House To Impeach Obama (VIDEO)
Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) told constituents at an event Saturday in his district that, although it would amount to a fruitless effort that could potentially damage the country, Republicans have the votes in the House to impeach President Barack Obama.
Fielding a question from a birther at a gathering in Luling, Texas, Farnethold at first lamented that Congress didn’t do more to investigate Obama’s birth certificate.
“I think unfortunately the horse is already out of the barn on this, on the whole birth certificate issue.” Farenthold said. “The original Congress when his eligibility came up should have looked into this and they didn’t. I’m not sure how we fix it.”
“You tie into a question I get a lot, if everybody’s so unhappy with what the President’s done, why don’t you impeach him,” Farenthold continued. “I’ll give you a real frank answer about that, if we were to impeach the President tomorrow, you could probably get the votes in the House of Representatives to do it. But it would go to the Senate and he wouldn’t be convicted.”
Farenthold said the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton should serve as a cautionary tale for Republicans. Clinton was impeached by the House in 1999, but was not convicted by the Senate and therefore remained in office.
“What message do we send to America if we impeach Obama and he gets away with what he’s impeached for and is found innocent? What do we say then is okay,” the Congressman conclude. “Aside from the fact that it wouldn’t be effective, I think there’s some potential damage to society that would be done with a failed attempt at impeachment.”
]
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/gop-rep-we-have-votes-in-house-to?ref=fpb
Hmmmm. I guess I always thought there needed to be an impeachable offense. Perhaps being a black man and being democratically elected as the President of the United States, twice, is an impeachable offense to these people.
I’m so sick of these people, same sh!t, different day, and neverending.
@sfpelosi
AG Holder says confront #schooltoprison pipeline; infraction should put a student in principal’s office, not police precinct // Amen!
@VinceWarren
One #stopandfrisk client heard that we won and cried. Another sees that he could have been another #trayvon but for this case
NYC Mayor Bloomberg: ‘There is just no question that stop-question-frisk has saved countless lives’ via @breakingpol
************
KICK ROCKS, BLOOMBERG! BIG POINTED ROCKS!
Ari Melber ✔ @AriMelber
Going beyond the general constitutional claims, Judge finds NY ” adopted a policy of indirect *racial profiling* ” through Stop and Frisk.
9:14 AM – 12 Aug 2013
Ari Melber ✔ @AriMelber
After a stop, data shows:
(1) whites “more likely” to have weapons or contraband” &
(2) whites less likely to face use of force by police.
9:17 AM – 12 Aug 2013
@ConPro
RT @AriMelber “In 98.5% of the 2.3 million frisks, no weapon was found.”
Judge reviews 8 years of data in #StopandFriskRuling
“@Karnythia: #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen when you idolize Susan B. Anthony & claim her racism didn’t matter.”
nealcarter @nealcarter25m
#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen is when Joan Walsh thinks she can collect black friends like pokemon
Sydette @Blackamazon28m
#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen means Rihanna has a responsibility but Miley is just experimenting
Cabbage Patch Ninja. @thewayoftheid29m
#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen means criticizing Beyonce for wearing onesies while applauding Lena Dunham for going topless.
Bayan @ThatAlgerian9m
#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen when Femen thinks they know what’s best for Arab women – equating clothing with liberation
Sydette @Blackamazon12m
#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen is questlove finding a woman attractive is rape culture but fetishizing Idris Elba is empowering
@kchamomile: #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen because attacks on FLOTUS’s looks are no big deal but attacks on Hilary’s are hateful & unfair.”
Sydette @Blackamazon10m
#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen calls Hillary the first viable women’s candidate even though Shirley was the first and only nominee
– – -☺Studs Twerkel
@so_treu
RT @NisiNirvana #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen who feel they need a medal for having mixed kids when BW having been doing it for centuries #rape
— ☺@kilkenny_cat
#SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen who describe calls for the recognition of others folks’ diversity of experience as “divisive”
— ☺@kchamomile
So some white feminists r trying to make this abt their feelings and ignoring legit critiques. Point = missed. #solidarityisforwhitewomen
– -☺@Awkward_Duck
#solidarityisforwhitewomen when FLOTUS MO is a fair target for your misdirected anger, but Hilary is the Holy Grail.
— -☺terri jones: RT @RaniaKhalek: #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen when convos about gender pay gap ignore that white women earn higher wages than black, Latino a…
—☺ @Blackamazon: #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen calls Hillary the first viable women’s candidate even though Shirley was the first and only nom…
GOP anxiety grows over Ga. Senate race
By Cameron Joseph – 08/11/13 12:20 PM ET
Republicans are increasingly concerned about Georgia’s Senate race, where a crowded primary threatens to produce a flawed candidate who could put a seat in a Republican-leaning state.
Recent polling shows the two candidates Republicans are most anxious about — Reps. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) and Paul Broun (R-Ga.) — leading the pack. Whoever emerges from the clown-car primary, with seven candidates and counting, will face a candidate Democrats are high on in a state where shifting demographics benefit their party
Losing Georgia’s open Senate seat would do severe damage to Republicans’ hopes of winning the net of six seats necessary to take control of the Senate.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/316489-gop-anxiety-grows-over-georgia-senate-race#ixzz2bm5mUcaH
Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook
‘They can mingle in’
By Steve Benen
Mon Aug 12, 2013 12:35 PM EDT.
Back in April, as the latest debate over immigration reform was beginning in earnest, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) raised eyebrows when he argued that radical Islamists are training to “act like Hispanic,” so Congress should reject immigration reform to prevent terrorism. “It is just insane not to protect ourselves,” he added. Insane, indeed, congressman.
Apparently, Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) missed the story at the time, because as Andrew Kaczynski reported, he made very similar remarks last week.
The audio is admittedly very tough to hear, but as Kaczynski noted, McKeon argued that “Arab persons” might leave the Middle East, move to Mexico, disguise themselves as Latinos, then enter the United States.
“There are people that can’t tell the difference between a Hispanic person and an Arab person,” the congressman argued, adding, “They can mingle in, and they can get in here, and then they can do damage.”
So, let’s consider the Republican message to Latinos in a nutshell: when the GOP isn’t accusing you of being lazy and/or drug mules, the party’s elected lawmakers are also questioning whether you might inadvertently help terrorists by looking like al Qaeda. (I was, by the way, quite fond of Kal Penn’s response.)
Jon Chait predicted four months ago, “A drawn-out immigration debate commanding center stage will simply create more opportunities for conservative Republicans to say offensive things about Latinos. And make no doubt: however diligently their consultants coach them not to, they will say offensive things about Latinos.”
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/08/12/19990506-they-can-mingle-in?lite
Harry Reid trolls Republicans on race and identity politics
By Steve Benen
Mon Aug 12, 2013 11:00 AM EDT.
From time to time, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has a knack for making provocative comments that infuriate Republicans. Friday offers just such an example.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/08/12/19989472-harry-reid-trolls-republicans-on-race-and-identity-politics?lite
Now why dat TROLL Harry Reid be TRUTH-TELLING like that? LOL
PLEASE PROCEED, MR. REID.
AMEN! We WILL NOT allow folks to CO-OPT All our blood, sweat, and tears.
How LePage would target his critics
By Steve Benen
Mon Aug 12, 2013 9:00 AM EDT
Gov. Paul LePage, who has long derided the state’s journalists, targeted the Portland Press Herald Friday morning when he climbed into the cockpit of a fighter jet simulator in North Berwick.
As he strapped into the F-35 Lightning II demonstrator machine, set up for attendees of Pratt & Whitney’s annual employee appreciation day, Maine’s Republican governor joked to a nearby Lockheed Martin Corp. guide: “I want to find the Press Herald building and blow it up.”
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/08/12/19988035-how-lepage-would-target-his-critics?lite
jelani cobb @jelani9 43m
Judge referenced both Michelle Alexander’s book and Pres. Obama’s speech following the Zimmerman verdict in her Stop & Frisk ruling.
GOP Congressman: The House Would “Impeach The President Tomorrow” If Given The Opportunity
http://thkpr.gs/17JbmsV
PLEASE PROCEED GOP.
Stop-and-Frisk ruling:
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/nystop0812.pdf …
Dear Trayvon,
You did not die in VAIN. Justice WILL prevail for ALL of America’s citizen.
Thank you.
Ametia
x2
The Morning Plum: GOP talking points on Obamacare descend into gibberish
By Greg Sargent, Updated: August 12, 2013
At first it looked as if one of the more absurd claims voiced by some on the right — that Obama is the one who really wants to shut down the government over the health law — would remain insulated inside the comfortable confines of the conservative entertainment complex, undisturbed by too much outside scrutiny. But now leading Republican officials are giving voice to it on national television, signaling that this is effectively official party-wide messaging — and the results are not pretty.
Republican National Committee chairman Reice Priebus made this argument on CNN’s State of the Union yesterday. After CNN’s Candy Crowley pointed out some Republicans are challenging the conservative demand for a government shutdown confrontation to force the defunding of Obamacare, Priebus actually responded:
“I think all Republicans are unified on one thing and that is defunding, delaying, getting rid of, eliminating Obamacare. So we have total unanimity on that issue and the question is what are the tactics? And you know, even if you take the position of a Ted Cruz or Mike Lee, basically what they’re saying is we actually are funding 100 percent of the government except for that small percentage of nondiscretionary — excuse me, discretionary funding the Obamacare.
“So Mr. President, if you want to shut the government down because you want to continue to fund this monstrosity that you’ve already admit is half broken, then go ahead. I mean the fact that it’s on the Republican Party I just think is spin from the Democratic Party that you ought not be adopting. I don’t know why you’re adopting that spin.”
The claim that Republicans remain “united” behind the “defunding” of Obamacare is a pretty creative one, given that a host of leading GOP officials have denounced the push for a shutdown as crazy. But Priebus’ comments are noteworthy beyond their low-comedy entertainment value. They capture something important about the GOP’s broader posture on Obamacare and what it means for the fall’s budget fights.
In a sense it’s not surprising that Republican officials have effortlessly internalized the framing of the coming Obamacare/government shutdown Priebus adopts above. Thanks partly to the GOP leadership’s willingness to lavish years of care and feeding on the base’s preoccupation with Obamacare repeal, large swaths of the party’s base appear to remain convinced that the law is entirely illegitimate and that they need not accept that the law is here to stay. It’s easy to get from here to the conclusion that Obama will be to blame for any catastrophic consequences that flow from the continued showdown over Obamacare; after all, this whole situation was created by Obama’s initial exercise of tyranny (Dems rammed the law through!!!) and is now being perpetuated by his continued tyrannical resistance to undoing it in the face of the popular will. (Republican leaders regularly mislead the base by conflating of disapproval of the law with support for full repeal, a claim that is not backed by the evidence; indeed a majority of Americans wants Republicans to stop blocking the law, even though a plurality disapproves of it.)
The trouble is that conservatives also appear to be persuading the base that, since the window to do away with the law is closing fast, anything short of the most aggressive tactics — such as a shutdown threat — constitute insufficient opposition to the law. This has divided the GOP between those who cynically gain from keeping alive the notion that a final, Apocalyptic showdown over Obamacare remains a realistic goal and those elites who know a shutdown fight is insanely dangerous to the GOP. Faced with this problem, Priebus needs to paper over it by claiming the party is united behind the general goal of defunding the law, while simultaneously trying to mitigate the damage the shutdown chatter risks doing to his party by blaming the looming confrontation on Obama. The result is a holding pattern in which the basic tension over whether to accept that Obamacare is the law of the land — and whether to level with the base about it — remains unresolved.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/08/12/the-morning-plum-gop-talking-points-on-obamacare-descend-into-gibberish/?print=1
Obama Is Giving Up Some Executive Power, and He’ll Still Get No Credit
by Michael Tomasky Aug 12, 2013 4:45 AM EDT
Obama’s NSA proposals may not have been broad and sweeping, but when was the last time any president gave up power when he didn’t absolutely have to? Not since the presidency became imperial, says Michael Tomasky.
……………..
…There was no mortal threat to his presidency here. Yet even so, he took a
couple steps away from the imperial presidency. I think that’s the
first time since the presidency became imperial—after World War II, more
or less—such a thing has happened. And Obama was, as he claimed Friday,
headed down this course before the Snowden leaks. Those began on June
5. But on May 23, he gave a speech at the National Defense University in which he foreshadowed the moves he just announced. Combine all this with John Kerry’s recent announcement that we have a plan for ending drone strikes in Pakistan, and you might have thought liberals would be cheering.
I suppose some liberals are. I am. But not civil libertarians. With
them, it’s all or nothing. If you’re not signed on to the whole program,
you might as well be Joe McCarthy. Environmentalists and tax reformers
and campaigners for the poor and those fighting for greater consumer
protections and even civil rights advocates understand that the
political process is about compromise and getting what you can, and they
acknowledge that there are such things in this world as competing
compelling interests. But you are well advised not to try to mention
such things to a civil libertarian.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/12/obama-is-giving-up-some-executive-power-and-he-ll-still-get-no-credit.html
Theseso-called civil libetarians are just as racist as the rethugs. It’s first and foremost all about their white privilege. PERIOD
National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice briefs President Barack Obama during his Presidential Daily Briefing in Chilmark, Mass., August 12, 2013.
I love this picture….let me count the ways
PRICELESS. True American LEADERSHIP.I’m with you, rikyrah.
In the words of Pattie LaBelle…Go Sista! Go Sista! Soul Sista! Go Sista!
Hey now!
Great video, SG2!
Susan Rice is great!
Detroit firefighters, cops ineligible for Social Security
Brian J. O’Connor
Detroit News Finance Editor
If their pensions are cut, thousands of city of Detroit retirees won’t have anything to fall back on other than their own savings, the support of their families or charity. That’s because the city’s firefighters and police aren’t eligible to receive Social Security benefits.
When Social Security was first instituted, the plan didn’t cover any worker with a public pension. States can opt in, and Michigan has, but each city, county, township, school board or other local government entity also has to join. Existing public pension funds can continue to operate out from under Social Security, and with generous government pensions, many workers felt they were getting a better deal from their own pension fund than they’d ever get from Uncle Sam. Instead, the contributions the employer and worker would have made to Social Security benefits went to their pension funds.
As cities, counties and states have phased out pensions that pay a guaranteed benefit in favor of plans where workers and the employer contribute to a defined contribution plan similar to a workplace 401(k) account, most government workers not covered by a public pension or a special exemption have been required to contribute to Social Security. Since Detroit’s firefighters and police officers still had a public pension plan, they continued to avoid Social Security payments.
Of the nearly 21,000 city retirees now collecting pensions, 9,017 retired police officers, firefighters or their surviving spouses don’t get Social Security, or about 44 percent of all city pensioners.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130812/METRO01/308120023#ixzz2blblQtTx
Cherokee Indian girl’s father faces charges in adoption dispute
The biological father of a 3-year-old Cherokee Indian girl faces arrest in a custody dispute that reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
Dusten Brown, who is a Cherokee and has been training with the National Guard in Iowa, had been ordered to turn over his daughter, Veronica, to a South Carolina adoptive couple who had initially raised the girl.
An arrest warrant has been issued on a charge of custodial interference because has failed to do so.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57598007/cherokee-indian-girls-father-faces-charges-in-adoption-dispute/?tag=nl.e875&s_cid=e875&ttag=e875&ftag=TRE497675b
CNN is reporting Dusten Brown is in custody. Taking a child away from their own father? It’s heartbreaking.
George Lucas, Wife Welcome Baby (Report)
6:51 AM PDT 8/12/2013 by Hilary Lewis
The girl, Everest Hobson Lucas, was born on Friday.
George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson have welcomed their first biological child, daughter Everest Hobson Lucas, Huffington Post reported.
The girl, who was delivered via surrogate, was born on Friday, HuffPo adds.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/george-lucas-wife-welcome-baby-604202
Congrats Melody & George!
HOW DOES A JUDGE GET TO CHANGE A CHILD’S NAME? GTFOH
Tenn. judge changes infant’s name from ‘Messiah’
A judge in Tennessee changed a 7-month-old boy’s name to Martin from Messiah, saying the religious name was earned by one person and “that one person is Jesus Christ.”
Child Support Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew ordered the name change last week, according to WBIR-TV (http://on.wbir.com/1cDOeTY). The boy’s parents were in court because they could not agree on the child’s last name, but when the judge heard the boy’s first name, she ordered it changed, too.
“It could put him at odds with a lot of people and at this point he has had no choice in what his name is,” Ballew said.
It was the first time she ordered a first name change, the judge said.
Messiah was No. 4 among the fastest-rising baby names in 2012, according to the Social Security Administration’s annual list of popular baby names.
The judge in eastern Tennessee said the baby was to be named Martin DeShawn McCullough, which includes both parents’ last name.
The boy’s mother, Jaleesa Martin, of Newport, said she will appeal. She says Messiah is unique and she liked how it sounded alongside the boy’s two siblings _ Micah and Mason.
“Everybody believes what they want so I think I should be able to name my child what I want to name him, not someone else,” Martin said.
http://poststar.com/news/national/tenn-judge-changes-child-s-name-from-messiah/article_8ca483b8-764f-5606-9542-6ce093adc689.html
MESSIAH
Just toooo sweet!
Although I’d never name my child “Messiah” but the judge has lost her freaking mind. People can name their kid whatever they want. She has gone too damn far.
Holder: ‘We Can’t Incarcerate Our Way to Becoming a Safer Nation’
http://bit.ly/14oA0gw
The nation of “COWARDS” are getting their wakeup call.
These laws were designed to take out our BLACK MALES. PERIOD.
Goldie Taylor @goldietaylor
No two policies have done more to feed the school-to-prison pipeline than mandatory minimums/ stop-and-frisk…
8:54 AM – 12 Aug 2013
Good Morning 3Chics!
I just saw the Cluster Map. 3Chics is truly world wide with it! It’s a beautiful thang. Have a good day all.
Thank you, Tyren! Have a wonderful day as well.
@Tyren. Good to see you Brotha. Thanks for stopping in and hanging with us for a bit. It’s always good to see those MN fonts.
Breaking:
Stop-and-Frisk Practice Violated Rights, Judge Rules
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/13/nyregion/stop-and-frisk-practice-violated-rights-judge-rules.html?hp&_r=0
In a repudiation of a major element in the Bloomberg administration’s crime-fighting legacy, a federal judge has found that the stop-and-frisk tactics of the New York Police Department violated the constitutional rights of tens of thousands of New Yorkers, and called for a federal monitor to oversee broad reforms.
In a decision issued on Monday, the judge, Shira A. Scheindlin, ruled that police officers have for years been systematically stopping innocent people in the street without any objective reason to suspect them of wrongdoing. Officers often frisked these people, usually young minority men, for weapons or searched their pockets for contraband, like drugs, before letting them go, according to the 195-page decision.
These stop-and-frisk episodes, which soared in number over the last decade as crime continued to decline, demonstrated a widespread disregard for the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government, according to the ruling. It also found violations with the 14th Amendment.
Good Morning SG2,
This is huge. May it render Bloomberg and Kelly unfit for any higher office.
**sips coffee**
Daps!
@SG2 & Tyen, *just waking up from girls night out with my sistas.
THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS! Suck EGGS, Bloomberg#F*ck YOU!
*SIPS EXTRA SHOT OF ESPRESSO*
Morning, Ametia!
Hey now! I’ll second that Bloomberg#F*ck YOU!
BWA HA HA HA DAPS!
NewsBreaker @NewsBreaker
JUST IN: New York City’s “stop-and-frisk policy” violated rights, judge rules.
Gee Wally, so negroes are considered human?
LOL That’s why they’re MAD. We will NOT EVER be GOING BACK.
funniest take on the birth of Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge
from Luvvie:
The Bossiest Birth Certificate You Ever Did See
[ 35 ] August 2, 2013 | Luvvie
Folks have been all up in Kate Middleton’s Love Pocket since she got married to Prince William and it only got worse when she got pregnant. A couple of weeks ago, she finally had the Royal Baby, and the world cheered collectively. Because apparently, we all got a nephew we won’t ever see or know.
I can’t blame those who were excited though. Because you know doggone well folks threw parties when Blue Ivy was born. She’s the closest we have to a royal baby in the U.S. right now.
Anywho, the baby’s birth certificate was just released (Huffington Post got it), filled out by pops William and his chicken scratch handwriting. And I must say that this birth certificate’s content is pretty bad ass.
His Royal Highness Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge
The only way this birth certificate could be anymore BAWSE is if the ink used to print it was molten 24K gold. Seriously.
First of all, the baby’s name is LEGALLY “His Royal Highness…” You can’t just walk around calling him “George Alexander.” NAWL. If he was to ever have a resumé (laughable but go with me here), he has to put “His Royal Highness Prince George” at the top. That’s pretty damb dope.
Let me take this moment to side-eye all those fools and hoodrats who’ve named their children based on their wishes to be royalty. Names like “Jermajesty.” I’m looking at YOU, Jermaine Jackson, the biggest and greasiest hoodrat of them all. If you ask the mirror mirror on the wall, I’m pretty sure it’ll confirm this.
Another cool thing is that Prince George’s parents’ jobs are “Prince and Princess of the United Kingdom.” SIR WELPINGTON OF WELPCHESTER! How awesome is that?? The only thing I can claim is Princess of My Blog. Dang. Their jobs are basically to just be. They exist to just do what they wanna do and have fancy dinners with their non-smiling Granny who happens to be the Queen.
http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2013/08/royal-baby-birth-certificate.html
The gifs are hilarious too.
I need a second shot-o-espresso, before I read this. LOL
‘It’s not my issue’
By Steve Benen
–
Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:30 AM EDT.
Two months ago, Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) appeared on a right-wing radio show and called for an investigation into “the president’s validity.” Two weeks ago, Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) said he remained hopeful that a birther investigation may “get rid of everything” President Obama has done in office. Last week, Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said he “believes” the birther conspiracy theory.
And then yesterday, for reasons I can’t explain, ABC’s “This Week” hosted arguably the nation’s most notorious birther, Donald Trump, giving him a platform to spew his nonsense all over again. Consider this exchange between Jonathan Karl and the clownish media personality:
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/08/12/19987743-its-not-my-issue?lite
This is…as the Vice-President would say….
a BIG FUCKING DEAL!!
……………………………….
In a major shift in criminal justice policy, the Obama administration will move on Monday to ease overcrowding in federal prisons by ordering prosecutors to omit listing quantities of illegal substances in indictments for low-level drug cases, sidestepping federal laws that impose strict mandatory minimum sentences for drug-related offenses.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., in a speech at the American Bar Association’s annual meeting in San Francisco on Monday, is expected to announce the new policy as one of several steps intended to curb soaring taxpayer spending on prisons and help correct what he regards as unfairness in the justice system, according to his prepared remarks….
Mr. Holder will also introduce a related set of Justice Department policies that would leave more crimes to state courts to handle, increase the use of drug-treatment programs as alternatives to incarceration, and expand a program of “compassionate release” for “elderly inmates who did not commit violent crimes and have served significant portions of their sentences.”….
Under a policy memorandum being sent to all United States attorney offices on Monday, according to an administration official, prosecutors will be told that they may not write the specific quantity of drugs when drafting indictments for drug defendants who meet the following four criteria: their conduct did not involve violence, the use of a weapon or sales to minors; they are not leaders of a criminal organization; they have no significant ties to large-scale gangs or cartels; and they have no significant criminal history…
“While the federal prison system has continued to slowly expand, significant state-level reductions have led to three consecutive years of decline in America’s overall prison population — including, in 2012, the largest drop ever experienced in a single year,” Mr. Holder’s speech says. “Clearly, these strategies can work. They’ve attracted overwhelming, bipartisan support in ‘red states’ as well as ‘blue states.’ And it’s past time for others to take notice.”…
Mr. Holder’s speech marches through a litany of statistics about incarceration in the United States. The American population has grown by about a third since 1980, he said, but its prison rate has increased nearly 800 percent. At the federal level, more than 219,000 inmates are currently behind bars — nearly half for drug-related crimes — and the prisons are operating at nearly 40 percent above their official capacity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/us/justice-dept-seeks-to-curtail-stiff-drug-sentences.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&
Mo. state fair apologizes for Obama-mocking performance
Clown in Obama mask threatened, ridiculed
Officials from the Missouri State Fair have issued an apology for a performance in the rodeo Saturday night
The rodeo featured an appearance from a clown wearing a mask of President Barack Obama’s face.
According to a post on the liberal blog Show Me Progress, an announcer asked the cheering crowd if it wanted to see Obama run down by a bull. Another clown bobbed the lips on the Obama mask. After the exchange, a bull charged toward the clown, forcing him to run away while the crowd cheered.
“The performance by one of the rodeo clowns at Saturday’s event was inappropriate and disrespectful, and does not reflect the opinions or standards of the Missouri State Fair,” said spokeswoman Keri Mergen. “We strive to be a family friendly event and regret that Saturday’s rodeo badly missed that mark.”
The Jackson County Democratic Committee also issued a statement condemning the performance.
“This is not who we are in Missouri. Folks in this state are decent and caring, they are fair. We would expect that at a state funded event designed to showcase the Show Me State, more care would be exercised when firing up a crowd,” the statement said. “Disrespecting the President is one thing; whipping a crowd into a frenzy is another. Encouraging physical harm to the President, whatever the party, is not acceptable and should not be tolerated.”
Read more: http://www.kmbc.com/news/kansas-city/mo-state-fair-apologizes-for-obamamocking-performance/-/11664182/21423300/-/qgu01jz/-/index.html#ixzz2bl3h4HCn
THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE.
On Benning Road, these ‘housewives’ are keeping it real
A locally made parody of the “Real Housewives” reality-show franchise has drawn 1 million hits on the Web.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/on-benning-road-these-housewives-are-keeping-it-real/2013/08/09/03a59aa0-0136-11e3-9711-3708310f6f4d_gallery.html?hpid=z7#photo=1
Steve King just can’t help himself
By Steve Benen
Mon Aug 12, 2013 8:00 AM EDT
Democrats and other proponents of immigration reform caught another lucky break over the weekend: Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) appeared on “Meet the Press” yesterday, and just kept talking. If the progressive goal is to see reform opponents discredit themselves on the national stage, the right-wing Iowan has become the left’s most reliable ally.
Indeed, who do you think was happier to see King on the air, the DNC or the RNC?
Republican strategist Ana Navarro, a Latina who worked on the McCain/Palin campaign, responded that King “should go get himself some therapy for his melon fixation,” adding, “I think he’s a mediocre congressman who’s got no legislative record, and the only time he makes national press is when he comes out and says something offensive about the undocumented or Hispanics.”
King jumped back in to question whether Navarro “understands the language.”
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/08/12/19987285-steve-king-just-cant-help-himself?lite
Weiner; your BUNS are COOKED. Pun intended…
http://youtu.be/GgvXniTz7D8
Dance Theatre of Harlem School
http://youtu.be/LIsDrgmpX2o
https://twitter.com/DTHBallet/status/338410015666868224/photo/1
SPECTACULAR
https://twitter.com/WideAsleepNima/status/366339860417622017/photo/1
Excellent Tweet. Have a seat, Lemon.
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Good morning, everyone!
Good Morning, Ladies & Everyone @ 3CHICS! Happy Mundane. :-)
Loving Mr. Hutch this morning.
;)