Hutch later co-wrote songs that were recorded by the Jackson 5 and their front man Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, the newly rechristened Miracles, and Marvin Gaye.[2] In 1973, Hutch started recording albums for Motown, releasing the Fully Exposed album that year. That same year, Hutch recorded and produced the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film, The Mack. Hutch had several R&B hits during this period, including “Brother’s Gonna Work It Out” and “Slick”. He also recorded the soundtrack for Foxy Brown.[2] Hutch recorded at least six albums for Motown, peaking with 1975’s single “Love Power”, which reached number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100. He left Motown in 1977 for Norman Whitfield‘s Whitfield Records.
“Millions Face Cuts In Food Assistance”
http://washingtoninformer.com/news/2013/aug/14/millions-face-cuts-food-assistance/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2013/08/07/the-african-americans-chronicles-500-years-of-history/2628699/
“The African Americans’ chronicles 500 years of history”
Bill Keveney, USA TODAY
August 8, 2013
https://twitter.com/DaRiverZkind/status/367798512999620608/photo/1
GOP congressman invites controversial Obama-mask rodeo clown to perform in Texas
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/14/20027046-gop-congressman-invites-controversial-obama-mask-rodeo-clown-to-perform-in-texas?lite
**************************
It’s your right to act a fool but it doesn’t mean you should jump at the opportunity. You are a disgrace! Get out of our Government!
SG2,
Did you and the 3 others receive my email in the last hour?
I sent it to the general 3chics email.
Yes we did. I responded.
He should get out of government tonight!
I’ve never seen anything like this before. The disrespect and hate is off the chain.
I am horrified by it!
How many others are like this who work for the DOJ as federal prosecutors? What are the implications? Also, just think of some in the FBI and its leadership during the civil rights era.
“African American Citizens Sue City of Rochelle, GA over Decades of Sewage Dumping”
http://www.atlantadailyworld.com/201308148235/Original/african-american-citizens-sue-city-of-rochelle-georgia-over-decades-of-sewage-dumping
This is so upsetting!!!!!!!!
Just so incredibly horrible.
North Carolina’s Attack on Voting Rights
by Jamelle Bouie Aug 13, 2013 3:30 PM EDT
A new law rushed through by North Carolina Republicans contains a laundry list of measures brazenly designed to target Democratic voters. Jamelle Bouie on the bill so extreme Hillary Clinton is getting involved.
………………..
The centerpiece of the law is a strict new mandate for voter identification, that’s more notable for what it bans than what it permits. Of the various forms of state-issued ID, only four are valid for voting: driver’s licenses, passports, veteran’s IDs, and tribal cards. Everything else is unacceptable. This includes college IDs, public or municipal employee IDs, ID from public-assistance agencies, and out-of-state driver’s licenses.
It’s no accident that those are the excluded categories. As with similar laws in other states, the restrictions target Democratic voters, from students and young people—who are more likely to rely on university-issued identification—to public employees and the poor. And of course, a large share of these voters are black and Latino. Overall, the state estimates that as many as 318,000 voters could lack (PDF) appropriate identification.
Echoing many supporters of voter identification, Governor McCrory points to other activities that require photo ID: “Common practices like boarding an airplane and purchasing Sudafed require photo ID, and we should expect nothing less for the protection of our right to vote.” But voting is just that, a right, and restricting particular kinds of ID—used by particular kinds of people—without expanding access to other forms of identification is an obvious attempt to make voting hard for some and not others.
Indeed, the other provisions of the law make it plain that this was the intent. Governor McCrory’s “common sense” initiative bans paid voter-registration drives, removes a week from the early voting period (which was a popular option for black voters in 2008 and 2012), eliminates straight-ticket voting, repeals out-of-precinct voting, repeals a mandate for high-school voter-registration drives (again, because Republicans don’t want young people participating), eliminates flexibility in early-voting hours, and makes it more difficult for precincts to designate additional voting sites for the elderly or voters with disabilities.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/13/north-carolina-s-attack-on-voting-rights.html
They are blatantly trying to eliminate part of the voting population!
White House compares GOP to A-Rod
By Justin Sink – 08/14/13 01:10 PM ET
Republicans complaining about ObamaCare delays are like Alex Rodriguez complaining about baseball’s drug testing program, the White House said Wednesday.
Asked about GOP criticism that the president’s signature health-care law wasn’t ready for prime time, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Republican lawmakers lacked credibility on the subject, and compared them to the Yankees third baseman, who was suspended through the 2014 season for the alleged use of performance enhancing drugs.
“It’s a little hard to take their criticism seriously, considering their opposition to the law in the first place,” Earnest said. “I was telling some of my colleagues earlier this is akin to Alex Rodriguez complaining that the drug testing program that Major League Baseball has in place isn’t sufficiently strict. It’s just hard to take on its face … it’s difficult to take them seriously in their complaints.”
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/317037-white-house-compares-gop-to-a-rod#ixzz2by3kBkaz
Trading one hostage for another
By Greg Sargent, Published: August 14 at 2:05 pm
Various reports are telling us that House Republicans are mulling a new anti-Obamacare strategy: Rather than push for a government shutdown to force the defunding of Obamacare, they will use the coming debt limit fight to force the administration to delay implementation of the law.
Meanwhile, back here on Planet Earth, Obama and Congressional Democrats continue going about their day jobs.
House GOP aides confide to the Washington Examiner’s Conn Carroll and National Review’s Robert Costa that they are less and less inclined towards a shutdown fight, and are looking towards the debt limit as their point of leverage over the Affordable Care Act. As Costa puts it:
Sources tell me the House GOP will probably avoid using a shutdown as leverage and instead use the debt limit and sequester fights as areas for potential legislative trades. Negotiations over increasing the debt limit have frequently been used to wring concessions out of the administration, so there may be movement in that direction: Delay Obamacare in exchange for an increased debt limit.
It’s unclear, at least to me, what happens in this scenario to John Boehner’s vow to insist on dollar-for-dollar spending cuts in exchange for a debt limit hike. But put that aside for a sec. As Jonathan Chait notes, this is an even more dangerous threat than the shutdown chatter, since no one knows what default would bring.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/08/14/trading-one-hostage-for-another/
Jesse Owens’ 1936 Olympic gold medal goes to auction
by Nick Zaccardi, NBC Sports | August 14, 2013 at 10:52 AM
BC Sports – A prized piece of Jesse Owens‘ historic triumph at the 1936 Olympics is available — at a price.
SCP Auctions will sell one of Owens’ four gold medals from the 1936 Olympics in a November online auction.
The company does not know if the medal is from the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump or the 4×100-meter relay, SCP Auctions managing director Dan Imler said.
It just might be the most famous Olympic medal ever sold. In 2010, 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey player Mark Wells sold his gold medal from the “Miracle on Ice” team for $310,700. Mike Eruzione sold his hockey stick from the U.S.-Russia game and his jersey from the following game against Finland for $262,900 and $286,800, respectively, to a 9-year-old boy named Seven in February.
“To me, this is the most historically significant medal that’s ever been found (to be sold),” said Imler, whose company has sold Olympic medals before but none this old. “I would think we’re talking about several hundred thousand dollars
http://thegrio.com/2013/08/14/jesse-owens-1936-olympic-gold-medal-goes-to-auction/#s:jesseowensmedal_16x9
Ooh…..Jesse Owens medal should be in the Smithsonian’s African American History Museum.
Pentagon expands benefits for same-sex military couples
By Steve Benen
Wed Aug 14, 2013 1:46 PM EDT
In February, the Defense Department made a welcome announcement, extending new benefits to gay men and women serving openly in the military and their families. But as we discussed in June, there was a catch: the Defense of Marriage Act prevented the Pentagon from going as far as officials wanted to.
After the Supreme Court’s ruling striking down DOMA, the Defense Department quickly endorsed full benefits for same-sex military couples, and today, the Pentagon went a little further still.
The Department of Defense announced a plan Wednesday to extend a range of federal benefits to same-sex spouses of military service members starting Sept. 3.
The Pentagon will extend to legally married same-sex couples the same privileges and programs that are provided to legally married heterosexual couples, including benefits tied to health care, housing, and family separation allowance, compensation paid to military members when their dependents can’t live with them at their permanent duty station.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/08/14/20025048-pentagon-expands-benefits-for-same-sex-military-couples?lite
Give me strength, Lord!
Caught On Camera: Florida cop punches 14 year-old mentally disabled girl in the face.
they are out of control
Tabloid Left Goes Apeshit Over Obamacare Non-Issue, Again
Tuesday, August 13, 2013 | Posted by Spandan C at 5:22 PM
The howling Left had another freakout today about something the Obama administration did six months ago. This phenomenon is also known as “a day in which the sun rises in the east.” The total freakout this time stemmed from a February announcement by the Departments implementing the Affordable Care Act that for small group plans meeting certain conditions only, the ACA’s requirement to impose an out-of-pocket maximum will be relaxed only for the first year. Here’s an excerpt from the New York Times report:
The limit on out-of-pocket costs, including deductibles and co-payments, was not supposed to exceed $6,350 for an individual and $12,700 for a family. But under a little-noticed ruling, federal officials have granted a one-year grace period to some insurers, allowing them to set higher limits, or no limit at all on some costs, in 2014.
The Holy Bible of the Tabloid Left, the Huffington Post, promptly branded this a “setback” for Obamacare. A highly acclaimed diary on Daily Kos tells us how much of a (p)outrage this is that Obama is trying to help insurance companies and employers instead of helping the people who really need help – the uninsured. OMG! So scary! Obama is doing what? He is letting the insurance companies and the richy rich employers off the hook again!
Except that this is a temporary rule designed to help small business while protecting consumers, not insurance companies. The White House, in a blog post just hours ago, clarified exactly what was happening with that rulemaking:
First, this does not affect anyone purchasing insurance through the ACA exchanges. Any plans sold on those (and any individual plans sold) still have to abide by the out-of-pocket maximums at $6,350 for individuals and $12,700 for families (lower for lower income people). All the screaming about how Obama is throwing the neediest under the bus is absolute garbage and has no connection to reality whatsoever.
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2013/08/the-tabloid-left-goes-apeshit-over.html
The Morning Plum: Dems must get it right in this fall’s spending fights
By Greg Sargent, Published: August 14 at 9:24 amE-mail the writer
submit to reddit
What if House Republicans are in such disarray that they can’t pass anything funding the government this fall?
In a new interview with the Hill that contains clues to the coming confrontation, Dem Rep. Chris Van Hollen makes it clear Dems are increasingly asking that question as shutdown fever continues to grow among conservatives — and as GOP leaders continue to try to tamp it down. The core point: if GOP divisions translate into more leverage for Dems this fall, they have a chance to get it right this time, as opposed to what happened in the 2011 spending and debt limit fights, when Dems essentially acquiesced to the austerity frame that continues to damage the country today.
One key factor that could shape the budget battles, as Jonathan Bernstein explains, is that House Republicans may not be able to pass anything funding the government even at cut spending levels Republicans themselves say they want (in principle), because they are “stuck between some members who are never satisfied with any level of spending cuts and others who object to those very unpopular cuts.”
This could mean Republicans may need Dems to pass a measure to avoid the shutdown that many believe will be politically disastrous to their party. Van Hollen says Dems will use this as leverage to try to undo some of austerity’s continuing damage.
“In the House when you have a got a core group of hard-right Republicans that oppose any kind of negotiated agreement, that obviously means that House Democrats have to be at the negotiating table,” Van Hollen told the Hill. “Because [Boehner] cannot control his caucus, that gives House Democrats more leverage.”
Van Hollen added Dems will lay down three core principles: No negotiating on the debt limit. No restoring defense spending without hikes in domestic spending. And no entitlement cuts without tax increases (here clarification is needed; what kind of benefit cuts would this entail?)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/08/14/the-morning-plum-dems-must-get-it-right-in-this-falls-spending-fights/
U.S. attorney under scrutiny for Facebook posts
Beaumont office will ‘look into’ assistant’s online comments about Obama, Trayvon Martin
By Brooke Crum | August 13, 2013 | Updated: August 13, 2013 10:45pm
The U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Texas said he will “look into” derogatory comments about minorities and President Barack Obama posted on Facebook by a Beaumont-based assistant U.S. attorney.
John Craft, an attorney in the criminal division, posted comments on a private Facebook page in response to a status update backing stand your ground laws. He made reference to Trayvon Martin, a black 17-year-old killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who was acquitted in a July trial of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.
Craft wrote: “How are you fixed for Skittles and Arizona watermelon fruitcocktail (and maybe a bottle of Robitussin, too) in your neighborhood? I am fresh out of “purple drank.” So, I may come by for a visit. In a rainstorm. In the middle of the night. In a hoodie. Don’t get upset or anything if you see me looking in your window … kay?”
Martin, who was wearing a hoodie when he was fatally shot on Feb. 26, 2012, was returning to father’s Sanford, Fla. home after going to a nearby store for a package of Skittles and an Arizona iced tea.
In another comment, Craft wrote that “low information voters carried the day for the Dalibama in the last election” and posted an image of a graphic that said: “Obama: Why Stupid People Shouldn’t Vote.”
The Chronicle received an email of a screen capture of the Facebook interaction, with the name of the other participant redacted.
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/U-S-attorney-under-scrutiny-for-Facebook-posts-4730377.php?cmpid=hpbn
http://newsone.com/2677261/barack-obama-prayer/?omcamp=sf_N1TW
http://youtu.be/-YI4813_v-E
So sweet!
Both Jacksons get prison terms
By Katherine Skiba and Marina VilleneuveTribune Newspapers
12:30 p.m. CDT, August 14, 2013
WASHINGTON – Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. was sentenced today to 30 months behind bars and his wife, Sandi, got a year in prison for separate felonies involving the misspending of about $750,000 in campaign funds.
In addition to the 2.5 years in prison, Jackson Jr. was sentenced to three years of supervised release. Sandi Jackson was ordered to serve 12 months of supervised release following her prison term.
The judge emphasized that Sandi Jackson was sentenced to exactly 12 months, not the year-and-a-day sentence that some criminals get. Defendants sentenced to a year or less cannot qualify for time off for good behavior in prison. But those sentenced to a year and a day can qualify, which means they may end up serving only about 10 months. Under this rule, Sandi Jackson must serve the full year
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-jesse-jackson-jr-sentence-20130814,0,6369649.story
BREAKING: Jesse L. Jackson Jr. Sentenced To 30 Months In Prison. Wife gets 12 months.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-jesse-jackson-jr-sentence-20130814,0,6369649.story …
UPDATE: Judge sentences Jackson wife to 12 months in federal prison.
WASHINGTON – Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. was sentenced today to 30 months in prison plus three years of supervised release for misspending about $750,000 in campaign funds.
His wife, Sandi, a former Chicago alderman, is expected to be sentenced within minutes on a related charge.
Both Jacksons wept in court as they addressed the judge before sentencing.
Jackson Jr. apologized for his crimes and expressed special regrets to his mother and father.
“Your honor, throughout this process I’ve asked the government and the court to hold me and only me accountable for my actions,” he said.
When Jackson Jr. spoke, he voice was firm except for the few times he wept openly and paused to dry his eyes with tissue, blow his nose and collect himself.
“I am the example for the whole Congress,” he said. “I understand that. I didn’t separate my personal life from my political activities, and I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
Talking about his desire to be sent to a federal prison camp in Alabama, he said: “I want to make it a little inconvenient for everybody to get to me.”
He said he hoped that his wife could earn enough money in his absence to keep the family together. “When I get back, I’ll take on that burden,” Jackson Jr. said. “By then I hope my children will be old enough that the pain I caused will be easier to bear.”
Despite closings and budget cuts, CPS calls for new charter schools
BY LAUREN FITZPATRICK Education Reporter
August 13, 2013 7:50PM
As Chicago Public Schools officials finish shuttering a record number of schools and leave many neighborhood schools to open their doors in two weeks with diminished budgets, the district has quietly issued a call for new charter schools.
In a 52-page PDF posted without fanfare on the district’s website, CPS is asking for new charter operators and campuses for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 school years mainly — but not only — in 11 so-called “priority communities” on the Northwest and Southwest Sides where district-run schools have been complaining of overcrowding.
“The focus of this year’s (request for proposals) is to address communities that are experiencing overcrowding, which is a separate issue from underutilization,” CPS spokeswoman Keiana Barrett said, adding that the call for charters is one strategy proposed to help with overcrowding. Others, as laid out in the city’s 10-year Educational Facilities Master Plan, advises redefining attendance area boundaries, building annexes, or building new facilities, but the district’s finances are tight, Barrett said.
“However, we need to pursue all options throughout all geographies since we can’t simply build our way out of the overcrowding challenges on the Southwest and Northwest,” sides, she said.
CPS has not specified in its request nor to the Illinois Network of Charter Schools how many charters it seeks to add to a roster of more than 125 charter campuses open and operating as of the first day of class .
http://www.suntimes.com/21908824-761/despite-closings-and-budget-cuts-cps-calls-for-new-charter-schools.html
McCrory struggles with his own voter-suppression law
By Steve Benen
Wed Aug 14, 2013 10:46 AM EDT
Two weeks ago, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) touted the state’s sweeping new voting restrictions, though he clearly struggled with the basics. The Republican governor boasted, for example, that the law allows online voter registration, which turned out to be wrong. When McCrory said new measures are intended to prevent fraud, a reporter asked what eliminating pre-registration for North Carolinians under 18 has to do with preventing fraud.
“I don’t know enough, I’m sorry, I haven’t seen that part of the bill,” he replied.
This week, McCrory signed the most severe voter-suppression bill in the nation into law — dismissing “scare tactics” from the “extreme left” — but he’s still confused about what it does.
First, 10 days of early voting isn’t the same as “two weeks of early voting.” The difference may not sound like much, but when McCrory and North Carolina Republicans cut the early-voting window by 41%, for no reason other than to punish voters they don’t like, those lost days matter.
Second, when McCrory says “every” precinct will be open for early voting, he’s wrong.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/08/14/20023542-mccrory-struggles-with-his-own-voter-suppression-law?lite
Because this never gets old:
Steve Harvey calling out Travis and Corny
http://youtu.be/F3K1ZQlWkUU
Children of Bill de Blasio rolling with the punches as their father makes mayoral run
Chiara and Dante de Blasio talk about ‘unfair’ media coverage of parents, growing up in biracial household and, of course, Dante’s afro.
By Annie Karni / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Sunday, July 28, 2013, 2:30 AM
Updated: Sunday, July 28, 2013, 2:30 AM
Dante de Blasio, 15, never knew the details of his mother’s lesbian past until suddenly they were everywhere: TV, newspapers.
A cartoon depicted his mother, Chirlaine McCray, smoking a cigarette in bed next to her husband, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who was dressed in women’s lingerie.
It was a lot for a high school kid to absorb.
“The coverage annoyed me,” the soft-spoken teen admitted over breakfast at a Park Slope diner. “A lot of it was negative and wasn’t fair.”
But coverage like that is part of Dante’s life now.
His father, far more than any other candidate for mayor, has put his family in the glaring spotlight of New York politics as he makes his case to voters
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election/de-blasio-kids-fro-dad-bid-mayor-article-1.1410852#ixzz2bxaVd4vx
Here you go, Rikyrah
thank you
Joy Ann told the truth
Joy Ann made several points:
1. Quinn hasn’t reached out to the Black Community
2. DeBlasio has been , with the Asian Candidate – the only ones who have been out front about STOPPING
Stop and Frisk .
The Black candidate has tried to be mealy mouthed about Stop and Frisk (Joy didn’t say it that way, but it’s what she meant)
3. The most fluid vote out there is THE BLACK VOTE, which accounts for 28% of the NYC voting populace.
Nina Turner Rocked Preterm Cleveland Last Night
Submitted by Anastasia Pantsios on Tue, 08/13/2013 – 10:55pm.
We have GOT to get this woman elected secretary of state.
http://ninaturner.org/
No, not just because she’s wearing an amazing dress in these photos, although she is. Rather, because she is not afraid to boldly speak out on behalf of the rights of all Ohioans — including and especially voters and women.
Nina was the featured guest speaker at an event at Cleveland Preterm abortion clinic yesterday evening, and there was a packed house of women (and men) who are mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore.
While a handful of fanatics “prayed” out on the tree lawn, Nina pointed out what we all know now since they’ve expanded their fight to attacks on contraception and sex education: “They are not pro-life, they’re pro-birth.” She added that she’s “pro-quality of life,” which includes every child’s access to a quality education “regardless of zip code.”
http://www.ohiodailyblog.com/content/nina-turner-rocked-preterm-cleveland-last-night
Cory Booker Wins Senate Primary. The Far-Left Wins Nothing. Again.
By Bob Cesca · August 14,2013
Newark, New Jersey mayor Cory Booker is one step closer to being the next senator from the Garden State. He won the Democratic primary on Tuesday by a significant margin over his rivals, Rep. Frank Pallone, Assembly Speaker Shiela Oliver and Rep. Rush Holt.
Historically speaking, if he wins on October 16, Booker will also be the only elected African American member of the United States Senate, and the ninth member in history. (Yeah, there’s still something very, very wrong with American voters.)
There’s another dimension to this election, meanwhile, that only appeared briefly on the blogs and via social media. Were it not for the divisiveness on the left created by the Edward Snowden NSA drama, with far-left activists supporting Snowden’s leaks and with pragmatic center-left liberals expressing disdain for the hyperbolic, outraged sensationalism of the story, the New Jersey special election would’ve surely been a huge battleground between those two factions.
Honestly, I didn’t really think about how the far-left, which orbits around writers like Glenn Greenwald and publications like Salon.com and which essentially helms the progressive movement, would regard Booker’s candidacy. But in hindsight, this faction coming out in sharp opposition to Booker doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. For some reason, be it ideological purity or self-immolation or both, the far-left appears to enjoy losing spectacularly and in a way that serves to ostracize it from the policy-making grown-up’s table.
Even though the far-left’s support was too little too late, activists vocally rallied around Holt, who was regarded as the only truly progressive candidate of the field. However, they supported Holt in a way that wasn’t just an endorsement of their candidate, they also scathingly attacked Booker’s record, even scoffing at his heroic deeds in Newark, such as when rescued a woman from a burning building and when he saved an abused dog. Among others, the attacks on Booker came from Alex Pareene and David Sirota from Salon.com, Crooks & Liars, DailyKos and, naturally, Glenn Greenwald. Together they engaged in a tone-deaf, polemical, bridge-burning group assault on Booker.
Why? What could the far-left have possibly won by this strategy?
In a word: nothing. Nothing. Actually, I take it back — they’ve won the sanctimonious self-satisfaction and hipster cred that goes along with taking a principled stand and then losing by embarrassingly horrendous margins, while subsequently being tagged as politically impotent. Other than that, it’s yet another example of the utter strategic foolishness of this crowd.
http://thedailybanter.com/2013/08/cory-booker-wins-new-jersey-primary-the-far-left-wins-nothing-again/
http://youtu.be/cwqEeTDb160
Rikyrah, check your email.
Just a note……My email server isn’t working today. I haven’t received any emails for a few days…..are any of you having trouble with yours. My email provider actually has a message out that they are unable to retrieve emails.
Hat tip Yahtc
Study: Sugar even at moderate levels toxic to mice health, reproduction
Sugar, even at moderate levels, could be toxic to your health — or at least to your sex life, a new study says.
Scientists at the University of Utah looked at how sugar affected mice and found that the mouse equivalent of just three sugary sodas a day had significant negative effects on life span and competition for mates.
That’s three sodas if the rest of your diet is pristine and sugar-free,” said lead author and biologist James S. Ruff. “And those are 12-ounce sodas, not double Big Gulps.”
Sugar-fed females died twice as quickly as control mice, which were fed the same total number of calories. While the sugar-fed males did not die more quickly, they had trouble competing against the control males for mates and were less likely to hold territory and reproduce.
The study was published online Tuesday by the journal Nature Communications.
For the rodents on the sweetened diet, sugar accounted for 25 percent of their total calorie intake. Up to a quarter of Americans consume that proportion of sugar as part of their diets. Previous studies that found harmful effects of sugar consumption tended to use unusually high amounts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/study-sugar-even-at-moderate-levels-toxic-to-mice-health-reproduction/2013/08/13/95887bee-0443-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines
Oh rats! :)
Rubio hopes to leverage right’s Obama hatred on immigration
By Steve Benen
Wed Aug 14, 2013 9:20 AM EDT.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) realizes that his party’s base disagrees with him on immigration reform, and is all too aware of the impact this might have on his national ambitions. It’s one of the reasons the far-right Floridian has been pushing for a government shutdown and new restrictions on reproductive rights — Rubio wants to get back in conservatives’ good graces.
But the senator hasn’t given up on immigration altogether, and yesterday offered the right another defense of his efforts.
It’s worth pausing to note what angle to the immigration debate Rubio considers most persuasive to the right. Is it the moral, pro-family argument? Or maybe a focus on economic growth? Deficit reduction? Beefing up border security?
No, Rubio believes the only argument that conservatives might find compelling is the one that leverages the right’s contempt for the president. We need to pass reform, he says, or that awful Obama will cut out the legs from under us.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/08/14/20022665-rubio-hopes-to-leverage-rights-obama-hatred-on-immigration?lite
Obamacare: Still not a “trainwreck”
By Greg Sargent, Published: August 13 at 2:33 pm
The other day I asked a nonpartisan expert in House races how the battle over Obamacare implementation will play in the 2014 Congressional races. His conclusion: The party that wins over independents on the issue will be the one who most convincingly demonstrates a genuine interest in fixing our health care system.
This comes to mind again with the latest dust-up over Obamacare’s implementation, which Republicans are citing as the latest sign it’s a “train wreck.” As Robert Pear reports: “the administration has delayed until 2015 a significant consumer protection in the law that limits how much people may have to spend on their own health care.” Obamacare’s limits on what people pay as part of deductibles and co-payments has been put on hold.
Ezra Klein has a nice summary of what this means in policy terms. As he notes, this is a small provision relative to the whole law, and the Obama administration is showing appropriate flexibility in implementing a complicated, ambitious reform. Klein also notes the downside: we still don’t know whether the law — including the protections designed to limit costs, particularly for the chronically ill, who would blow past the limits fastest — will work. More delays or changes may be necessary.
Not all opponents of the law are claiming this latest news proves the law is a “train wreck.” As Ramesh Ponnuru put it, “sometimes a glitch is just a glitch.” Ponuru concluded: “this provision of the law will be able to be implemented.”
But some GOP officials are grabbing on to it. “Yet another White House Obamacare delay,” tweeted RNC chair Reince Priebus, utilizing the ubiquitous #trainwreck hashtag.
Republicans seem to think that if they kick enough noise about the law, it will reinforce the narrative that it is a catastrophe, helping them in 2014. But whether or not that will work among persuadable voters — for all I know the main target of it is the base — this particular case reinforces the incoherence and even potential political weakness of the overall GOP posture on health care.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/08/13/obamacare-still-not-a-trainwreck/
The Latest Right-Wing Freakout Over Obamacare
BY JONATHAN COHN
The headline was splashed across the top of the Drudge Report this morning: “Obamacare Cost Caps Delayed Until 2015.” The link went to a New York Times story about another Obamacare regulatory decision—in this case, a ruling that some employers have one more year before they must comply with one of the law’s key consumer protections.
The ruling itself isn’t supposed to be such a surprise. The Administration signaled its intentions in February. But almost nobody (including me) noticed it until last night, when the Times posted a story by Robert Pear. Now some of the law’s critics are pouncing. They say it’s more proof that the law is a “train wreck” and that the administration is sticking it to consumers. “Once again the president is giving a break to big businesses struggling with his health care law while individuals and families unfairly remain stuck under its mandates,” House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement. “This report is just the latest evidence that the law is too costly and too complex to work – and that it’s not being implemented fairly.”
Everybody needs to breathe—and to put the story in its proper, rather different context.
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114297/obamacare-consumer-protection-delay-and-conservative-overreaction
eclecticbrotha @eclecticbrotha
For the record; responding with “you’re being divisive” when PoC express their concerns sounds a lot like “I don’t want to hear it”
11:32 AM – 13 Aug 2013
NAILED IT!
Short memo to those 2520s: “YOU’RE BEING DISMISSIVE.”
Next!
Why Do We Allow So Many Ex-GOP to be “Authorities” on “Real Progressives”
Posted on August 3, 2013 by Milt Shook
Look, folks; I peg my progressive roots to the age of 14, when I worked for the McGovern Campaign, but my actual roots probably precede that. My father was a union steelworker, and my mom was the daughter of a union worker, as well. I was royally pissed off at the Kent State massacre. I thought Abbie Hoffman was amazing. Spiro Agnew’s and Richard Nixon’s names were said with derision in my house as early as 1968, and I cried, at the age of ten, when Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed. To this day, Bobby Kennedy is still my idol.
In am just as liberal as anyone out there who claims to speak for the progressive cause, and I have been for pretty much my entire life. So, it really pisses me off when someone comes along and insinuates or says that I’m not a “real” progressive, because I don’t think exactly the way they do. Being liberal or progressive is about being tolerant, and about understanding that not everyone sees every issue the same way. There are a lot of moderates out there who are actually progressive, but they don’t know it, in part because some of the loudest elements of the liberal media scream at the top of their lungs, telling us all what we should believe on every issue. Because they don’t believe exactly that, they figure they’re not very progressive. The problem with this is, they may hate the right wing, but they also come to hate us, even though they probably agree with us on most things.
What that means is, they’re more likely to stay home, which is virtually a vote in favor of the GOP. How can anyone call themselves a progressive, and claim that voter suppression is a major problem, at the same time they’re discouraging people from voting against the right wing? It makes no sense.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve been looking at some of the loudest and most influential voices on the left, and I’ve detected a pattern. Let’s see if you can tell what it is.
http://pleasecutthecrap.com/why-are-so-many-real-progressives-former-republicans/
would really like to see this segment from Larry O about the NYC Mayor’s race put in a publishable video:
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/45755883/#52750096
‘The majority is at risk’
By Steve Benen
Tue Aug 13, 2013 4:21 PM EDT.
Is there any real point to talking in any depth about the 2016 race? Of course not; it’s too far away and the last presidential race was just nine months ago. But the 2014 midterms? That’s something else entirely.
Byron York at the conservative Washington Examiner has a piece that’s generated some interesting conversation today, suggesting that the conventional wisdom surrounding next year’s congressional elections — that the House Republican majority is a virtual lock — is not universally accepted within the GOP.
A lot can and will happen between now and next fall, and making firm predictions this far out is a fool’s errand. That said, I can understand why there’s some anxiety in GOP circles.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/08/13/20009399-the-majority-is-at-risk?lite
Senate Minority Bystander
By Steve Benen
Wed Aug 14, 2013 8:00 AM EDT.
The fight among Republicans over whether to shut down the government in the fall isn’t going away. The Heritage Foundation’s political-activism arm is trying to convince GOP lawmakers that the fallout wouldn’t be that bad; Karl Rove and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) sparred this week on Sean Hannity’s radio show over the strategy; and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus are conspicuously contradicting each other.
This is ordinarily the point at which Republican leaders intervene to prevent the intra-party fissures from getting too severe. And for a brief moment yesterday, it looked like that had finally happened.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/08/14/20021730-senate-minority-bystander?lite
Congress isn’t ‘exempt’ from Obamacare
By Steve Benen
Wed Aug 14, 2013 8:35 AM EDT
If you’ve been following the health care debate lately, you’ve probably heard quite a bit of talk about Congress being “exempt” from the Affordable Care Act. It’s a talking point the right has pushed quite aggressively, but is it true?
Republicans certainly want us to think so. Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) complained about an “outrageous exemption for Congress.” The far-right editorial page of the Wall Street Journal and Heritage Foundation president Jim DeMint touted a similar line last week. Over the weekend, Republican media figures, including Bill Kristol and Ana Navaro, repeated the talking point on the Sunday shows, and no one thought to correct them. This morning, in an unusually hysterical piece, a Washington Times columnist suggested the policy might constitute “treason.” (No, seriously, that’s what it said.)
The policy certainly sounds awful, doesn’t it? If “Obamacare” is so great, why are members of Congress eager to exempt themselves from the new federal system? No wonder Fox is so worked up over this.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/08/14/20021898-congress-isnt-exempt-from-obamacare?lite
Can de Blasio Give New Life to Liberalism?
by BooMan
Tue Aug 13th, 2013 at 05:31:17 PM EST
It’s hard to believe that it has been 20 years since New York City last had a Democratic mayor. I don’t know what you want to call Michael Bloomberg, but he isn’t a Democrat. I don’t know whether or not many people are thinking about it, but a Democratic mayor is going to be a game-changer in the whole culture of liberalism in this country, much like Gov. Jerry Brown is having a big effect on the left coast. It’s going to matter a lot who wins the mayoral contest and then how they perform once in office. This is a point that Benjamin Wallace-Wells touches upon in his piece on Bill de Blasio and the New York Times. It’s time to start paying attention because Quinnipiac just came out with a poll showing de Blasio in the lead and as the winner of any likely run-off. So, what is de Blasio talking about? Turns out, he’s talking about “neglected hospitals, a swelling poverty rate and a broken prekindergarten system.”
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/8/13/173117/701
Always be VERY SUSPICIOUS when white folks are happy with the way thing ARE, when you’re fighting for the same basic survival and civil rights you’re being DENIED.
Ready For BookerTime?
by BooMan
Tue Aug 13th, 2013 at 10:12:26 PM EST
Sorry, Alex, it looks like New Jersey Democrats didn’t even come close to taking your advice. With half the vote in, Cory Booker is cracking 60% in a four-way race. Frank Pallone is in second place with 22%. So, Cory Booker is going to be a U.S. Senator. Whether he’ll be as bad or annoying as Alex thinks, I can’t really say, but I’d like to point out a few things. Maybe Booker is the right kind of person with the right point of view to run in elite’s circles without being a third wheel or a token black. But let’s look at what Booker’s done so far.
His parents were some of the first black executives at IBM, so Booker wasn’t raised in the Hood. He also wasn’t sent to any elite prep school. He was a star football player at a well-regarded public high school. He was good enough and smart enough to land a gig at Stanford University, where he became class president. He won a Rhodes Scholarship and studied at Oxford, where he received honors. Then he got a law degree from Yale. Along the way, he found time to do charitable work wherever he went. And then he won a seat on Newark’s city council and started butting heads with some seriously corrupt politicians, including the joke of a mayor, Sharpe James.
It’s true that spending part of your life studying with kids at Stanford, Yale, and Oxford will color how you view things, but let’s not pretend that Cory Booker hasn’t been excellent at pretty much everything he’s done so far in his life. That he’s made wealthy friends that have made him wealthy? White people do it all the time.
Booker might vote like a Goldman Sachs executive and break John McCain’s record for appearing on Sunday morning shows, but I doubt he’ll be ineffective. If he agrees with you on an issue, he’s going to be a valuable advocate.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/8/13/221226/446
Now all Corey Booker has to do if he get in the Senate is work for the people of NJ and the rest of the country. This is more than about him being the MINORITY in the US Senate
What other black politicians can learn from Booker’s victory
Opinion
by Perry Bacon Jr. | August 14, 2013 at 12:01 AM
With a overwhelming victory in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in New Jersey, Cory Booker put himself on the path to becoming only the fourth black person ever elected by popular vote to the U.S. Senate.
If he wins in October, as expected, Booker will join the ranks of Massachusetts’ Edward Brooke, a Republican who served in the Senate from 1967 to 1979, and two Democrats from Illinois, Carol Moseley Braun (1993-1999) and Barack Obama. (Four other blacks have been tapped for Senate seats by governors or state legislatures.)
The controversies around Booker’s connections to Wall Street and Silicon Valley and his occasional breaks from liberal orthodoxy have in some ways obscured the historic achievement Cory Booker is nearing. Only six blacks in U.S. history have ever been elected governor or senator, the positions that give one the most power in America’s political system and put a politician on the path to becoming president or vice-president.
Here’s how Booker did it, and what his path could suggest for other black politicians
http://thegrio.com/2013/08/14/what-other-black-politicians-can-learn-from-bookers-victory/
not a fan, but give the devil his due
http://youtu.be/N3h1r-Unnac
Good Morning, Everyone at 3CHICS!
Good morning, everyone!
Wishing all of you a bright, sunshiny day!
Inspirational message:
http://www.dot2dot.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/3_NiaFin.jpg
thanks for this
Good Morning, Everyone! :-)))
Hee, hee!