Marvin Gaye week continues. How y’all feeling?
And if you feel like 3 Chics feels…
LET’S GET IT ON
Check out this list of Marvin’s songs. If you want to hear a particular song from the list, let me know in the comments section, and I’ll post it this week.
Even though 3Chics Politico is written and curated by three women: Ametia, Rikyrah, and SouthernGirl2, I must nominate this as one of the most engaging blogs I've found. Devoted to politics and culture, these three shine a light on contemporary life with humor and spirit.
“Black Farmers African American Vintners Black Wine Producers”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gPCROQ6xZFE
Published on Mar 20, 2013 by Johnhorse1823
“Family of Texas Freed Slave Donates Branding Iron”
October 8, 2013
Associated Press
http://www.athensreview.com/breakingnews/x703133352/Family-of-Texas-freed-slave-donates-branding-iron
Joy Reid @TheReidReport
Shutting down the govt is like shooting the first hostage. You don’t get to “have a conversation” after that.
6:10 PM – 8 Oct 2013
This is a great video of present day cowboys talking about the history of Black cowboys which has not been fairly documented. Each talks about their own personal history in the rodeo world and also their ancestral history as cowboys.
Cowgirls ROCK too!
Great picture!
Eboni Boykin: Once homeless, now thrives in Ivy League
by Jamil Smith, MSNBC | October 7, 2013 at 5:22 PM
Eboni Boykin‘s youth consisted of a variety of homeless shelters, and one constant goal: an Ivy League education. It was a dream sparked at age 13 by the youngest of television’s The Gilmore Girls, who was driven to attend an Ivy college or university.
Today, it’s a reality, as Boykin is in the midst of her sophomore year at Columbia University in New York City. Her incredible story was featured during last September’s Student Town Hall, and host Melissa Harris-Perry followed up with her on Sunday for an update.
“Literally, every day I ask myself, ‘What am I doing here?’” she told MSNBC in an interview prior to her appearance Sunday in the annual Education Nation Student Town Hall. “It never really ceases to amaze me, where I am — it never really sinks in.”
Boykin spent her childhood in countless schools in Mississippi and Missouri as her single mother struggled to raise her and her younger siblings–often living dependent upon homeless shelters and at times, sleeping in cars. She later became the first of her family to graduate from high school, and earned acceptance to Columbia University.
Columbia has been a “stark change” for her, as she now isn’t worried about where her next meal is coming from.
“When I started here at Columbia, I didn’t feel prepared at all, at least by my high school,” Boykin said. “As time went on, I found friend groups, and activities to get into, and started to get the hang of my work. Now I’m in a more secure place.”
http://thegrio.com/2013/10/07/eboni-boykin-once-homeless-now-thrives-in-ivy-league/
This is such a beautiful, uplifting story, rikyrah.
Thanks for posting this.
“The Voices of the Louisiana Black Fishermen”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=V7K-TeQX2Iw
Uploaded on Jul 20, 2010 by your story08
http://www.bet.com/news/national/2012/04/30/black-fishermen-still-bleeding-from-bp-oil-spill.html
African American Sacred Harp Singing”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=iBic1-twVkA
Uploaded on Oct 13, 2006 by H82c3G Ed Snell leads a Sacred Harp song at the Judge Jackson Memorial Singing, Union Grove Baptist Church in Ozark Alabama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=I55p_rSSFUg
Uploaded on Feb 22, 2007 by H82c3G
“I feel like traveling on” Southeast Alabama State seven shapenote convention held in Elba Alabama 10-10-1998
Thanks, Ametia!
http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2013/10/07/ron-sailor-sr-former-talk-show-host-at-waok-dies/
By Cynthia Lee October 08, 2013
WASHINGTON October 8, 2013 (AP)
By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/passport-items-found-driver-shot-dc-20506974
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/longform/speedy/?sct=hp_t1t_a2&eref=sihp
One of our sons just email this article to me saying:
Jesse LaGreca @JesseLaGreca 28m
Boehner wants a Super-Committee now. It’s like a kid who crashes dad’s SUV and now wants a smaller Prius. Boehner couldn’t govern a super-6 –
BWA HA HA HA Sorey; I thought Boehner wanted a smaller penis. *skipstonaughtycorner*
“Refusing to negotiate is an untenable position,” Mr. Boehner said.
1. 4/23 Reid asked to go to conference, Toomey blocked.
2. 5/6 Reid asked to go to conference, Cruz blocked.
3. 5/7 Murray requested to go to conference, McConnell blocked.
4. 5/8 Warner asked to go to conference, McConnell blocked.
5. 5/9 Murray asked to go to conference,McConnell blocked.
6. 5/14 Warner asked to go to conference, McConnell blocked.
7. 5/15 Wyden asked to go to conference, McConnell blocked.
8. 5/16 Murray asked to go to conference,Lee blocked.
9. 5/21 Murray asked to go to conference, Paul blocked.
10. 5/22 Kaine asked to go to conference, Rubio blocked.
11. 5/23 McCaskill asked to go to conference, Lee blocked.
12. 6/4 Murray asked to go to conference, Rubio blocked.
13. 6/12 Kaine asked to go to conference, Lee blocked.
14. 6/19 Murray asked to go to conference, Toomey blocked.
15. 6/26 Murray asked to go to conference, Cruz blocked.
16. 7/11 Murray asked to go to conference, Rubio blocked.
17. 7/17 Murray asked to go to conference, Lee blocked.
18. 8/1 Durbin asked to go to conference, Rubio blocked.
19. 10/2 Murray asked to go to conference, Toomey blocked.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/congress/19-times-democrats-tried-to-nego
It appears these assholes HAVE no intentions NEGOIATING. Could it be there’s NOTHING to NEGOIATE over dong their DAMN JOBS?
Good Morning 3Chics,
So much Marvin! So little time. OK, short request list. You’re All I Need (Duet of course), I Heard It Through the Grapevine, Drive (Diamond in the back, sun roof top…) of course Sexual Healing. I’ll come back when I think of more.
Now to the Yahtc videos on Scottland and ending school-to-prison pipeline.
Have a good day all.
Good Morning, Tyren. Always good to see your fonts my Minni-apple brotha.
Def will have those requests for you in the coming days. Yahtc’s BRINGS it everyday. Hope you’re enjoying the info.
UH OH. I hope he brings the branding IRON and stamps the GOP good with it.
Federal judge’s ruling frees way for folks to help uninsured sign up for health law coverage\
Churches, unions and social service organizations can now set up computer stations to help the uninsured sign up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act without fear of being fined by the state of Tennessee.
U.S. District Judge Todd Campbell issued a temporary restraining order today blocking Tennessee from enforcing a portion of the state’s controversial emergency rules for health law navigators. Campbell said the state rules defining a navigator contain language that is too broad.
Within an hour after the judge’s ruling, an agreement was struck on a similar lawsuit that had been filed in Davidson County Chancery Court. Bill Young, Tennessee’s solicitor general who also represented the state in federal court, signed an agreed final order that narrowed the entire scope of the emergency rules.
The state agreed that the rules would apply only to people and entities that are required by federal law to be registered as navigators or certified application counselors.
The federal ruling was a first victory for Service Employees International Union Local 205 and two of its members. Jerry Martin of Barrett Johnston LLC argued on behalf of the union that the rules would prevent his clients from helping people sign up for coverage on the Internet.
Judge Campbell said he issued the two-week injunction because the language represented a prior restraint violation of the First Amendment. Martin argued that the rules had a “chilling effect” on his clients.
Young said the state had no intention of stopping the union from helping people sign up for coverage, saying the rules were intended only for navigators and certified application counselors or those who purported to be those officials.
“It is a cold comfort,” Martin countered. “Mind sets can change.”
Young asked the federal judge to let the Davidson County Chancery Court decide the issue and said negotiations were under way to resolve the dispute.
Judge Campbell said he did not think it was appropriate for the federal court to be absent on an issue that involved First Amendment rights and a federal health-care program. The union’s suit remains active in federal court, where the case has been assigned to another judge, Chief District Judge William J. Haynes Jr.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20131007/NEWS07/310070057/Judge-grants-restraining-order-controversial-state-rules-health-law-navigators?gcheck=1&nclick_check=1
http://youtu.be/596TPv9Ucic
Thread up on this video and others. Thank you.
IF 4 Black Congressional leaders shut down the government and were holding the country hostage they’d be charged with treason and executed.
TRUTH! And meanwhile the losers are out there plugging books about the history of our great country. Total WHITE-WASHING IT.
America’s students failing to learn historyBy Callista Gingrich, Special to CNN
October 8, 2013 — Updated 1524 GMT (2324 HKT)
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/07/opinion/callista-gingrich-u-s-history/index.html
When this plastic doll starts writing about the abhorrent SLAVERY of AMERICANS, then this country will be on its way to GREATNESS
“It was 232 years ago this month, on October 19, 1781, that the British surrendered to George Washington’s Continental Army at Yorktown. This pivotal moment concluded an eight-year war in which thousands of brave men and women gave their lives to win the freedom we enjoy today. Yet we are for the first time in our history beginning to lose sight of our founders’ sacrifice and wisdom. We must fight historical amnesia to ensure that future generations continue to appreciate the greatness of our nation.”
Updated 10/8/2013 at 10:41am
Washington (CNN) – There appeared to be enough votes in the House on Tuesday to approve legislation to reopen the federal government, according to an ongoing CNN survey of House members.
CNN’s vote count
All 200 Democrats and 17 Republicans support passing a continuing resolution with no additional legislative strings attached that would reopen the federal government, which has been partially closed for a week over a bitter policy dispute between Republicans and Democrats on health care. The number 217 is significant in that it is the minimum needed for the measure to win approval in the House.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/08/votes-are-there-to-break-shutdown-but-not-the-will/
LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTZPlM58x3Q
ACA passed “…through some procedural tricks”?!?
Rik & SG2, check your emails please. Thanks!
The Morning Plum: GOP addicted to something-for-nothing governing
By Greg Sargent, Updated: October 8, 2013
If you want to understand why the White House and Democrats are saying they must not cave to GOP extortion demands, look no further than the present. The GOP addiction to something-for-nothing governing — in which Republicans continue to refuse to let go of the idea that the threat of economic disaster should give them leverage to extract unilateral concessions from Dems — is manifesting itself in the governing chaos you’re witnessing right now. In other words, we know what will happen later if this is legitimized: More of the same.
Today House Republicans are set to meet to chart the way forward, even as polls continue to show they are losing this battle. There are various ideas being bandied about. One idea is to package funding of the government and a debt limit hike into a big budget deal that would give Republicans a bunch of spending cuts and other goodies. But conservatives are wary of this plan because it doesn’t destroy or substantially delay Obamacare, so it’s unclear whether House Republicans could pass it. Another idea is for short term funding of the government and a temporary debt limit hike, to buy time to keep up the fight, but Republican aides say this, too, would face substantial resistance among House Republicans.
In other words, it’s not even clear whether stopgap solutions can pass the GOP House, because they don’t extract enough in unilateral concessions from Dems.
There are two moving parts to keep an eye on right now. One thing to watch for at today’s meeting will be how ferociously conservatives in the House react if John Boehner suggests something short of continuing total war against Obamacare. Another thing to watch for is whether “moderate” House Republicans seriously demand a way out. This quote from one such moderate is instructive:
“A big deal would be great, but we’ll have to wait and see,” says Representative Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.). “We’re trying to talk to [the conservative wing] about the impact shutdown has in suburban, moderate, and competitive districts like mine, and I hope they listen. But Ted Cruz sold them this line, and they’ve run with it.”
So moderates are trying to get conservatives to see that the current GOP strategy is having a real impact in swing districts. But conservatives are having none of it. Democrats have offered a way out: A clean CR and debt limit hike that pass with mostly Democrats, and the latter will come to the fore if and when Senate Dems pass a clean debt limit bill and send it over to the House. GOP leaders won’t allow a vote on it.
All of the current craziness just underscores, again, why Dems must not cave in this fight. Republicans are using the government shutdown and threat of default to extract unilateral concessions from Dems — particularly on Obamacare — as an explicit way to avoid engaging in the normal give and take of governing. It isn’t just that legitimizing GOP extortion makes default more likely later, because it will mean we have to go through all of this again and again, though that’s true enough. It’s also that we are seeing the governing implications of it right now, in all the confusion and uncertainty that flows directly from the fact that Republicans are not prepared to give up on using the threat of widespread harm to the country as leverage to get something for nothing.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/10/08/the-morning-plum-gop-addicted-to-something-for-nothing-governing/?print=1
The GOP do it, because they know they can do it and not have their feet held to the fire. It’s time to BURN these muthafuckas to a CRISP!
It’s open season on black men in America.
Georgia Police Kill Diabetic Black Man After Family Calls 911 Requesting Ambulance.
http://raniakhalek.com/2013/10/08/georgia-police-kill-diabetic-black-man-after-family-calls-911-requesting-ambulance/
On Friday afternoon, 43-year-old Jack Lamar Roberson was shot to death by Waycross police officers in front of his mother, fiancé and 8-year-old daughter.
Waycross Police Chief Tony Tanner said Monday that his officers were responding to an emergency call about a suicide threat and were updated en route that the man had become combative and was damaging items in his home.
When police arrived, Roberson lunged toward them “aggressively armed with two items used as weapons,” said Tanner, though he refused to specify what those items were. The officers yelled repeatedly for him to drop the weapons, but Roberson “gained ground on the officers and raised one of the weapons in a threatening manner,” forcing police to open fire in self-defense.
The two officers responsible have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), a standard procedure in police shootings.
Meanwhile, Roberson’s family vehemently disputes the police version of events.
Alicia Herron, Roberson’s fiancé and girlfriend of 10 years, says she called 911 to request an ambulance for Roberson out of concern for his diabetic condition. But police arrived at their home instead.
Contrary to police claims, Herron insists Roberson’s hands were empty and in the air when he was shot and that no words were exchanged during the encounter.
“He didn’t have nothing in his hands at any time or period at all before they came, any time while they were here, anything. They just came in and shot him. He didn’t say nothing, the police didn’t say nothing, anything, it was like a silent movie. You couldn’t hear anything, all you could hear were the gun shots go off and I seen them going into his body and he just fell down,” Roberson’s grief-stricken fiancé told First Coast News.
WTF is this? Black man in NC gunned down while seeking help, Trayvon walking home in Sanford Florida gunned down, black man suffers diabetic reaction in Georgia gunned down. It’s open season on killing black men.
Seditious Conspiracy- to prevent, hinder or delay the execution of any law of the U.S. WHEN will Boehner, Cruz, Cantor & McConnell be charged?
The media needs to stop referring to the hostage takers as spoiled children. Call it what it is…Sedition!
Do your damn jobs!
That’s the $64,000 question, SG2.
Another postable video, please.
Maddow explaning the NYTimes story of how the shutdown was planned MONTHS ago
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26315908/vp/53213605#53213605
Bernie Sanders Terrifies the Koch Brothers By Outting Their Role In the Government Shutdown
By: Jason Easley
Monday, October 7th, 2013, 3:58 pm
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is standing up the Koch brothers attempted takeover of the United States government by outing the conservative billionaires’ role in causing the government shutdown.
http://youtu.be/6LC_4h8rk9E
Sen. Sanders put the blame for the government shutdown square on the Koch Brothers, “Let’s not kid ourselves. This shutdown is not something that just came about a couple of weeks ago through Ted Cruz. This has been planned by the Koch brothers and other very, very wealthy people from the day after Obama was reelected, and what their feeling is. Let us go to the extreme. Let us be prepared to shutdown the government, not pay the national debt. Let us use every ounce of leverage that we have. Even if it means catastrophic pain for America and the world, so long as we get our way.”
Later Sanders discussed the Koch brothers’ agenda, “If you look at what the Koch brothers agenda is. Look at what many of the extreme right wing people believe. Obamacare is just the tip of the iceberg. These people want to abolish the concept of the minimum wage. They want to privatize the Veterans Administration. They want to privatize Social Security, end Medicare as we know it, massive cuts in Medicaid, wipe out the EPA. You don’t have an Environmental Protection Agency anymore. Department of Energy, gone. Department of Education, gone. That is their agenda, and many people don’t understand it. Koch brothers have poured hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars into the tea party, and to all other kinds of ancillary organizations to push this agenda. So what you are finding now is a continuation of the class warfare that as been going on this country for the last many years. The rich are getting richer. Poverty, number of people in poverty all time high. Middle class disappearing, and these guys using Citizens United and other forms are now banging away and doing everything they can to get more tax breaks for the people on top, and devastating cuts for working families.”
The Koch brothers don’t like the kind of attention that Bernie Sanders brings to them. They want to operate behind closed doors. The Koch brothers know that their agenda is doomed if the American people understand what they are trying to accomplish. Charles and David Koch are happy to let their Republican stooges like John Boehner and Ted Cruz take the fall for them. As long as they are willing to spend the money, Republican politicians are disposable goods.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/10/07/bernie-sanders-terrifies-koch-brothers-outting-role-government-shutdown.html
The Koch Bros failed in 2012, and they will FAIL in 2013.
Where Are The Gutsy Republicans?
By Charles P. Pierce at 2:30PM
You’ll forgive me if, at the moment, I decline to believe that we will be saved from the Reign Of The Morons by unicorns, the Easter Bunny, or reasonable Republicans in either house of Congress who would gladly vote with the Democrats, if only evil castrato Speaker John Boehner would allow them to do it. You will also forgive me if, at the moment, I decline to believe in mermaids, the Pooka McPhillimey, or fed-up plutocrats who can find a sucker to primary Tea Party congresscritters from what passes for The Left in the Republican party these days.
But within Grand Rapids’ powerful business establishment, patience is running low with Amash’s ideological agenda and tactics. Some business leaders are recruiting a Republican primary challenger who they hope will serve the old-fashioned way – by working the inside game and playing nice to gain influence and solve problems for the district. They are tired of tea party governance, as exemplified by the budget fight that led to the shutdown and threatens a first-ever U.S. credit default.
Bull. Also, shit.
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/gop-elders-and-tea-party-shutdown-100713
The GOP Debt Ceiling Strategy: Lies, Grabassery and Default Denialism
By Bob Cesca · October 08,2013
The Republican Party’s geyser-like misinformation campaign regarding the government shutdown, accompanied by continued misinformation about the Affordable Care Act and the debt ceiling, has been almost too powerful to follow as it whizzes by.
The latest line, which appears to have convinced a majority of Republican voters, is that nothing will happen if the debt limit isn’t raised, least of all a default. As I pointed out yesterday, this is complete nonsense. We’ve heard this before in the form of denying the climate crisis in the face of almost unanimous scientific consensus. In this case, dozens of experts are forecasting the worst possible consequences if the House GOP doesn’t perform what was formerly a very customary task, devoid of melodrama or hostage-taking.
Yes, it’s true. Until 2011, Congress has never used the debt ceiling as a political hostage. Not once.
So when Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said the following on Sunday’s edition of This Week with George Stephanopoulos, he was lying. Again.
Once again, Boehner is exaggerating something else and making it seem as if debt ceiling brinksmanship always happens. As Steve Benen pointed out yesterday, out of 45 votes to raise the debt ceiling, there have been exactly seven debt ceiling increases that were a part of separate budget negotiations. Seven out of 45. This, of course, is very different from refusing to raise the debt ceiling or else, because to do what Boehner and the House GOP are doing today was never on the table before 2011 — it was considered to be so preposterous and irresponsible that no one dared to try it. What happened in those seven cases was a debt ceiling increase was more akin to a deal sweetener — not the centerpiece of the negotiation.
http://thedailybanter.com/2013/10/the-gop-debt-ceiling-strategy-lies-grabassery-and-default-denialism/
The Complete Guide To The Rise Of The Debt Ceiling Truthers
By Igor Volsky on October 7, 2013 at 2:27 pm
With just days to go until the nation hits the debt ceiling on October 17th, a growing chorus of Republican lawmakers have begun dismissing the dangers of national default, insisting that the government can continue paying interest on its debt and fund the most critical programs.
Economists have dismissed this prioritization scheme as chaotic and unworkable, warning that the United States would be “unable to pay between 40 to 45 percent of the 80 million payments it makes every month.” If the debt ceiling is not increased, the credit markets would freeze, the value of the dollar would plummet, interest rates would skyrocket, and a global recession would ensue.
But the so-called debt ceiling truthers, who swept into power after the 2010 midterm elections and, to the surprise of GOP leaders, took over the debt ceiling debate, continue to deny this reality. Below is a brief timeline showing how they rose to power and prominence within the Republican party:
2010
OCT: CANTOR PROMISES A CLEAN VOTE. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) says Republicans will ask for a clean up or down vote on an increase of the debt limit next year.
NOV: BACHMANN KICKS OFF DEBT CEILING PETITION. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) starts a petition calling on voters to “force our elected officials to stop spending cold turkey, and we can start by making sure they do not raise the debt ceiling.”
NOV: LEE’S PLAN TO NEVER RAISE THE DEBT CEILING AGAIN. Senator-elect Mike Lee (R-UT) appears on PBS’s News Hour and pledges that he will vote against any increase in the debt ceiling. Instead, he urges Republicans to “consider across-the-board cuts” as a solution to the debt ceiling.
NOV: FRESHMEN WON’T SUPPORT A DEBT CEILING VOTE. GOP leaders informally poll the incoming freshman and were surprised to discover that “all but four of them said they would vote against raising the ceiling, under any circumstances.”
DEC: IT WON’T BE ‘THE END OF THE WORLD.’ Rep.-elect Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) said he would vote against any attempt to raise the nation’s debt ceiling because “I have heard people say that if we don’t do it it will be the end of the world.” “I have yet to meet someone who can articulate the negative consequences.”
2011
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/10/07/2742581/the-complete-guide-to-the-rise-of-the-debt-ceiling-truthers/
Seven Big Companies Working To Help Americans Sign Up For Obamacare
By Tara Culp-Ressler on October 7, 2013 at 11:01 am
Now that Obamacare’s new insurance marketplaces are open to the public, some uninsured Americans are eager to sign up. However, many others likely remain confused about their options under health reform, particularly as Obamacare continues to get caught in the political crossfire. In order to bridge the education gap about the health law, advocates are ramping up their enrollment efforts in creative ways. For instance, you can now text ENROLL to Planned Parenthood to receive information about health reform.
But nonprofit and government groups can’t do it all on their own. Here are seven large companies that are currently joining in on the effort and helping to spread the word about the new insurance options available under Obamacare:
1. Trader Joe’s
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/10/07/2740621/big-companies-promote-obamacare/
Gina Loring sings a lament for Trayvon Martin and the man he could have become.
Message for Trayvon and other victims of violence:
“We come together in solidarity, compassion and peaceful protest to speak up against injustice… We remember you, we honor you, and we vow to use our lives for the betterment of humanity so that your death was not in vain.”
PRICELESS! thanks for this.
Wonderful!!
Thanks, SG2.
Oklahoma Woman Tells GOP Lawmakers: Without Obamacare, ‘I Will Be Dead Before My 27th Birthday’
By Tara Culp-Ressler on October 7, 2013 at 3:44 pm
As the deadline approached for Congress to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government funded, Republicans refused to strike a deal unless it defunded or delayed Obamacare. Now, a week later, GOP lawmakers still seem unwilling to compromise unless they are able to dismantle some of the health reform law. One Oklahoma resident wants them to understand the human impact of that political position.
On the eve of the looming government shutdown, 26-year-old Kendall Brown published an open letter to the lawmakers who wanted to delay Obamacare for one year before agreeing to pass a funding bill. Brown didn’t mince words. “I am dying, because of the political games you are playing right now,” her op-ed began.
The Oklahoma resident explained that she was born with Crohn’s Disease, an inflammatory bowel disease that has no cure. When Brown was in college, she was removed from her mother’s health care coverage. Since her illness prevented her from being able to take a full course load, she couldn’t meet the credit requirements to qualify as a student to remain on the plan. During that time, she could only afford a limited student health plan, and she accumulated thousands of dollars in medical debt.
Once Obamacare allowed young adults to remain on their parents’ plans regardless of their academic status, Brown was able to return to her mother’s insurance. That provision of the health law was enacted at a crucial time — not long afterward, Brown needed to undergo emergency surgery to remove two feet of her intestine that had swollen shut. She wouldn’t have been able to afford the procedure otherwise.
But Brown is now 26 years old, and no longer qualifies for coverage under that Obamacare provision. Although she’s currently employed full-time at a nonprofit, the small organization can’t offer her any health benefits. She’s tried to apply for insurance plans on her own, but she’s been denied because of her pre-existing condition. She cannot currently afford the lifesaving treatment to manage her illness, a form of chemotherapy that costs $15,000 for each infusion. She is desperate to enroll in the health law’s new marketplaces so she can have the coverage she needs.
“I tell you this because I am tired of being reduced to a number, a statistic or, even worse, being described as a freeloader that wants to live off of the government health care teat,” Brown explains in her open letter. “I tell you this because if you defund Obamacare, or delay it even for one year, as you are debating today, then this will be my last letter to you. I will be dead before my 27th birthday.”
In an interview with ThinkProgress, Brown explained that she had been following the political drama in the lead-up to the current shutdown, and she decided to write her letter “out of incredible hurt and anger.”
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/10/07/2744411/uninsured-oklahoma-woman-obamacare/
Some Republicans plan to give ‘Obamacare’ another look
By Steve Benen
Mon Oct 7, 2013 4:26 PM EDT.
As far-right House members go, Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.) is becoming more influential. Last month, for example, after three years in which lawmakers from both parties supported continuing resolutions that funded the Affordable Care Act, it was Graves who convinced right-wing lawmakers to pursue an extortion strategy. When House GOP leaders picked eight members to serve on a budget conference committee, the Georgia Republican made the cut.
Graves, despite his personal financial crises, even helped lead the charge for a debt-ceiling crisis in 2011, railing against the evils of “compromise.”
Over the weekend, the New York Times filed an interesting report from Graves’ deep red Georgia district, where locals said they’d be prepared to throw their congressman out if he backed down in a fight against Democrats.
Take a look, however, at the perspective of Jon Tripcony, a local voter who has no use for Democrats, and said he doesn’t “trust” the Affordable Care Act because it’s President Obama’s policy and the Georgian doesn’t “feel comfortable with anything he’s got to do with” (thanks to my colleague Laura Conaway for the heads-up).
……………………….
The Republican solution for folks like Jon Tripcony, who told the NYT he underwent heart surgery not long ago without health insurance, is to wish them well and point them in the direction of the nearest emergency room, while telling them about the joys of “freedom” that comes with being uninsured.
When push comes to shove, there are Republican policymakers prepared to sabotage the federal health care system, but there aren’t many Americans prepared to sabotage their own well being. In the long road, that means more folks signing up for benefits, and fewer folks backing repeal.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/10/07/20858102-some-republicans-plan-to-give-obamacare-another-look?lite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=zn01x1-wb-M
Published on Youbtube on May 16, 2013 by GriotSoulRecordings
Correction Published in 2012
.
Shutdown takes its toll on congressional GOP
By Steve Benen
Tue Oct 8, 2013 8:00 AM EDT.
As the deadline neared for the nation’s first-ever war-time government shutdown, the consensus was that congressional Republicans, already unpopular, would feel the brunt of the public backlash. So far, those expectations were correct.
A Washington Post/ABC News poll released yesterday found widespread dissatisfaction across the board, but Americans’ attitudes towards Republicans are especially brutal.
While approval for President Obama and congressional Democrats ticked higher in the wake of the government shutdown, approval for congressional Republicans dropped to a woeful 24%. Just as important, GOP lawmakers, who shut down the government exactly one week ago, have seen their disapproval ratings soar to 70%. A majority of Americans, 51%, now say they “strongly” disapprove of the nation’s far-right party.
Republicans might take some solace in the fact that no one in Washington is faring especially well right now, but there’s just not much of a silver lining for the GOP. ABC’s Gary Langer explained, “In another way to look at the results, Obama’s gone from 41-50 percent approve-disapprove last week to 45-51 percent now — a 9-point negative margin then, a similar 6-point negative margin today. The Democrats likewise show little change overall (from a 22- to a 26-point negative gap). But the Republicans have gone from 26-63 percent approve-disapprove to 24-70 percent, an initial 37-point difference widening now to a 46-point negative result.”
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/10/08/20869284-shutdown-takes-its-toll-on-congressional-gop?lite
Senate Dems poised to move on debt-ceiling bill
By Steve Benen
Tue Oct 8, 2013 8:45 AM EDT
The deadline for Congress acting on the debt ceiling will likely come as early as next week, and for now, in the halls of Capitol Hill, nothing is happening.
At least in the upper chamber, that’s about to change.
……………
Regardless, Senate Dems aren’t inclined to wait for House Republicans to play games with the full faith and credit of the United States, so they’re going to advance a clean, straightforward bill that would protect the country from the consequences of yet another self-imposed crisis.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/10/08/20869888-senate-dems-poised-to-move-on-debt-ceiling-bill?lite
The House GOP has nothing to show for its government shutdown
By Editorial Board,
WHAT HAVE House Republicans managed to accomplish in a week of government shutdown?
Damage the livelihood of millions of Americans? Check. Government secretaries, food-truck operators, cleaners who work in motels near national parks: They’re all hurting.
Waste billions of taxpayer dollars? Check. It costs a lot to shut agencies, Web sites and parks, and it will cost a lot to reopen them. Meanwhile, the House has voted to pay the salaries, eventually, of hundreds of thousands of employees whom it has ordered not to work. That’s an odd way to manage an enterprise.
Interfere with key government operations? Check. The National Transportation Safety Board can’t investigate an accident last weekend on Metro’s Red Line that claimed the life of a worker. That could make future accidents more likely. On the other side of the world, U.S. allies from Tokyo to Singapore are wondering whether they can rely on a nation whose president has to go AWOL from a key summit meeting in their region.
Rattle the markets, slow an economy in recovery, interrupt potentially lifesaving research at the National Institutes of Health? Check, check and check.
Derail the hated Obamacare? Ch . . . — oh, no, wait a minute. That was the GOP’s ostensible purpose for this travesty of misgovernment, but the online insurance markets created by that law opened on schedule last week and continue to operate. In fact, the Republicans managed only to distract attention from the computer glitches that would have gobbled up all the news attention if the government weren’t shut.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-house-gop-has-nothing-to-show-for-its-government-shutdown/2013/10/07/69650016-2f66-11e3-bbed-a8a60c601153_story.html
Ametia, SG2, I really need this as a postable video:
Lawrence O’Donnell about the GOP trying to shut down not the Government but the OBAMA PRESIDENCY.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/45755883/ns/msnbc-the_last_word/vp/53213073#53213073
Working on it for a thread.
When the Treasury Runs Out of Cash
By BRUCE BARTLETT
———————————————–
Some scholars have asserted that should members of Congress ignore their oath to defend the laws of the United States and default on the debt becomes unavoidable, the president should invoke the Constitution to override the debt limit. They point to Section 4 of the 14th Amendment and other sections of the Constitution that would permit such action.
President Obama has said repeatedly that the constitutional option is off the table. The Treasury says failure to make any payment when due constitutes default. And Republicans either think that they have the president over a barrel or that it is no big deal, depending on whom you ask.
What we know for certain is that we will be in uncharted waters. And given that United States Treasury securities are essentially the foundation upon which the entire world financial system rests, those are dangerous waters indeed. Only a fool would enter them if they could be avoided.
——————————————————————
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/08/when-the-treasury-runs-out-of-cash/?_r=0
Ted Cruz Flops On Fox While Trying to Blame Obama For the Government Shutdown
By: Jason Easley
Monday, October 7th, 2013, 11:13 pm
Ted Cruz’s Fox News interview with Megyn Kelly was an epic disaster. Cruz tried to blame President Obama for the government shutdown, but he couldn’t even get that right.
Cruz said, “I think it is pretty remarkable that the president feels the need to run out of his way to attack senators from the other party, and let me say I wish he hadn’t been following his own advice in the last month. I mean the president has kept such a low profile. He has been AWOL. He has not been part of the negotiations. He is refusing to even talk to Congress. He finally invited Congressional leaders to the White House. He sat down with them and said you’re here because I want to tell you that I am not going to negotiate. I mean that’s not reasonable.”
Later in the very same interview, Cruz claimed that the only thing that he would consider a victory would killing Obamacare, “I think a victory is if we prevent some of the enormous harms Obamacare is inflicting on millions of Americans.”
What makes Obama unreasonable in Ted Cruz’s mind is that he refuses to kill the ACA.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/10/07/ted-cruz-flops-fox-blame-obama-government-shutdown.html
Poll of Congressional Races Shows That Michigan Has Grown Weary of Republicans
By: Keith Brekhus
Monday, October 7th, 2013, 9:09 pm
The Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey released this week of two dozen competitive House districts reveals the tremendous risk Republicans face by shutting down the government. In the 24 districts that were polled Republican incumbent trail a generic Democrat in 17 of the races. In 16 of those 17 races the incumbent Republican House member has a negative approval rating as well. Much attention has focused on the electoral peril these Republicans face, but a closer look at the numbers reveals something else as well. The Republican Party has fallen into serious disfavor in the state of Michigan. Whether it is national Republicans, or Rick Snyder’s dictatorial tendencies as Governor of the state, it is clear that the Republican Party’s grip on power in the Wolverine State is slipping away, because of their unpopular policies.
Among the seventeen most embattled GOP incumbents in the US House, the two most vulnerable members (Dan Benishek and Kerry Bentovolio) are from Michigan as is Tim Walberg who is also in the top five in terms of electoral vulnerability. While it is possible to note that most of the seventeen Republican incumbents in jeopardy are in toss up races, that is not the case for the Michigan trio. These guys are in deep, deep trouble. Dan Benishek, who represents the First District, which includes the Upper Peninsula, has a dismal 33 percent approval rating from his constituents with 54 percent disapproving of his job performance in the US House. In a head to head matchup against a generic Democrat he would get shellacked by a gaudy 56-35 margin if an election were held today.
Downstate, Tim Walberg, does not fare much better. His popularity is also mired at 33 percent approval with 46 percent of his constituents disapproving of his job performance. In a match up against a Democrat he would get pummeled 49-41. His prospects are not quite as bleak as Benishek’s but he still faces the possibility of a double digit repudiation at the polls.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/10/07/poll-congressional-races-shows-michigan-grown-weary-republicans.html
Greenwald: I’m ‘Completely Unrestrained by the Unwritten Rules of American Journalism’
By Bob Cesca · October 07,2013
In a brand new New Yorker piece about The Guardian‘s role in the NSA story, as well as its broader place in digital media, Glenn Greenwald dropped the following quote regarding the tone and style of his articles on the topic:
http://thedailybanter.com/2013/10/greenwald-im-completely-unrestrained-by-the-unwritten-rules-of-american-journalism/
Goi Ms. Kelly! Powderhorn is an eclectic, diverse neighborhood in Minneapolis.
J.P. Morgan 7 Freddie Mac are THUGS
I hope readers post this video on their blogs and on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.
coup d’état: koch brothers are warlords
COUP D’ETAT: KOCHS ARE WARLORDS
@zizii2
I have lived through 5 coups d’état. I know a coup d’état when I see one. USA is living through one right now as we speak. A Coup doesn’t have to have guns (yet) and a military takeover of power to be one.
****
A nation is manipulated through a series of fiendishly planned rolling crises. Inchoate mass fear grows but its targeting is skillfully re-directed toward infighting, such that it becomes diffuse and rather impotent against the actual instigators. Trust for government and national institutions grows rancid.
Then a messiah runs to the rescue, suspends the constitution, promises to get rid of “waste, fraud, & abuse.” Says the abrogation of said Constitution is only “temporary.” Commandeers media to support “the people” in their new “Freedom, Liberty, Fraternity”. Flag and anthem totems resurge in fresh parades glorifying the mother/fatherland. Power has been seized. Resistance is futile.
****
My native country went 5 times through this familiar choreography in its first 24 years after independence from colonial rule. Western Scholars of “the Third World” posited that these upheavals were the result of societies that had yet to build:
1. Strong Democratic governing institutions, rather than strongmen
2. Consensus of the governed
3. A national Identity rather than ethnic loyalties
4. An educated ruling elite that creates mechanisms for distributing political power efficiently among different constituencies
5. Capitalist ethos that productively harnessed and competitively rewarded the nation’s talents
6. Rule of Law and a Constitution that balanced majority rule with protecting minority rights
****
Well then, so why is the good old USA, the “oldest democracy” hurtling toward the fissures that cause a FAILED STATE, ripened for a coup d’état? It is no hyperbole to identify all the symptoms of a coup d’état in the making, from the GOP hostage taking underway.
Fareed Zakaria gives his take on the U.S. government shutdown, calling it extortion
http://youtu.be/tJTuLiV93Vc
……………………………..
Fast forward more than a century and new challenges test the applicability of the Insurrection Act. In the aftermath of 9/11 and Katrina debacle, Bush got congress to tinker with Insurrection Act to allow the government to act in the event of terrorists operating within the US, and natural disasters. The definition of terrorist of course only related to Foreign agents. However in 2008, those expansions in the law were repealed and it reverted to the 1807 law.
****
What this means is that if there IS domestic rebellion that threatens the very security of this country, the only authorities who can directly act are State governors deploying National Guard, not Federal government. So here we are with independent warlords, like Koch brothers, Art Pope, and the many billionaires who have purchased themselves federal, state and local legislators, often in collusion with State governors and legislatures threatening to dissolve the constitutional power of the Federal government. And the Federal government can’t fight back.
http://theobamadiary.com/2013/10/07/coup-detat-koch-brothers-are-warlords/
White power and hate is a lethal thing.
Republican disapproval grows in budget battle, Post-ABC poll finds
By Scott Clement and Peyton M. Craighill, Published: October 7 at 3:01 pm
Disapproval of congressional Republicans’ budget wrangling after a weeklong shutdown has shot up to 70 percent, with 51 percent disapproving “strongly,” according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
At the same time, President Obama’s approval rating has ticked up due to improved marks among moderate Democrats and independents. No group, however, earns positive marks for their handling of budget negotiations overall.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/10/07/republican-disapproval-grows-in-budget-battle-post-abc-poll-finds/
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics to scientists Francois Englert and Peter Higgs on Tuesday for their 1964 postulation of the existence of the Higgs boson. Scientists confirmed in July 2012 the existence of the so-called God particle, which is what gives matter its mass.
The July 2012 discovery of the particle in the most powerful particle accelerator in the world, the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland, has been billed as one of the biggest scientific achievements of the last 50 years.
John Riddley’s on Murdering Joe talking about the movie 1″2 years a Slave.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=pn_sVxbpNic
Published on June 27, 2013 by DonnaBlakely
Good Morning, Yathc & Everyone! :-)) Glad you’e enjoying Mr. Gaye.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=nYxwj7GYH_k
Thanks for the videos, Yahtc.
YVW, Ametia.
“Senate Chaplain to Congress: End the Madness You Selfish Hypocrites>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kBLK68gpAw8
http://gawker.com/senate-chaplain-to-congress-end-the-madness-you-selfis-1442117875
Chaplain Barry Black’s my new best MAN! Thank you for posting this, Yahtc.
TRUTH-TELLING!
Yes, isn’t he just the greatest!
http://washingtoninformer.com/news/2013/oct/07/md-violating-constitutional-rights-students-hbcu/
by Cameron Combs in the “World”
http://www.policymic.com/articles/66511/the-genocide-you-never-knew-about
http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/2013/10/national-museum-of-african-american.html
By Steven McKenzie
BBC Scotland Highlands and Islands reporter
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-24347632
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/08/20858492-goodbye-zero-tolerance-program-aims-to-cut-school-to-prison-pipeline#comments
Joseph Lowery who turned 92 on October 6 wrote these beautiful words about his wife who died on September 26 at the age of 88:
” For more than 50 years, Evelyn Lowery assisted in advancing the cause of women, the African-American family unit, as well as people, in general. She was a regular fixture at the side of her husband during the Civil Rights Movement, beginning with the Montgomery, Ala. bus boycott.
” But she carved out her niche in the 1950 through 1970s as she championed women’s rights within the movement, as well as worked with her husband with the Atlanta-based Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
” SCLC/WOMEN, Inc. was formed in 1979. Sixteen years later, she led the drive to rehabilitate SCLC/WOMEN’s headquarters and coordinated various programs and initiatives to benefit women and the family unit. Among her signature achievements were creation of SCLC/WOMEN’s annual “Drum Major for Justice” awards dinner, held every April 4, the anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The awards, established in 1980, recognize individuals advancing justice, equality and peace.
” Another landmark achievement was the Evelyn Gibson Lowery African-American Civil Rights Heritage Tour, held the first weekend in every March. Evelyn Lowery served as a guide to students touring major civil rights sites in Alabama.
” Although her husband, Joseph, retired in January 1998 as the longest serving president of SCLC, Evelyn Lowery wasn’t ready to retreat from public life.
” ‘There is much more to be accomplished; so many successes have taken place over the years, yet, so many more are still coming,’ she said 15 years ago. ‘We must remain on course, stand and work vigilantly, and witness the rewards of our labor for the cause of freedom, justice and peace.’ ”
http://www.districtchronicles.com/politics/sclc-veteran-evelyn-lowery-dies-at-88-1.3074126#.UlPrIhaffUR
Good Morning 3Chics and Everyone!
Ametia, I love listening to Marvin Gaye!
Good morning, Yahtc, Ametia, SG2 and Everyone at 3CHICS!
Morning, everyone!
I’m so loving Marvin Gaye this morning.
TYVM, glad you’re enjoying Marvelous Marvin.