John Robert “Joe” Cocker OBE (born 20 May 1944) is an English rock and blues singer, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic body movement in performance and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of the Beatles.
He is the recipient of several awards, including a 1983 Grammy Award for his #1 hit “Up Where We Belong“, a duet he performed with Jennifer Warnes. He was ranked #97 on Rolling Stone’s 100 greatest singers list.
Cocker was born on 20 May 1944 at 38 Tasker Road, Crookes, Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire. He is the youngest son of a civil servant, Harold Cocker, and Madge Cocker. According to differing family stories, Cocker received his nickname of Joe either from playing a childhood game called “Cowboy Joe” or from a local window cleaner named Joe.
So glad Potus put that swapping Joe Biden for Hillary to rest. Now they can STFU already!
Papa Pope: “One question, you get one question.”
Olivia Pope: “Did you give the order to kill my mother?
Papa Pope: “NO”
don’t believe him
LOL Cyrus comment about VP Sally. The ‘BALLS” on that woman.
No way in HEL what the fuck is he going to say to livvy. yes; I had your mama KILT? Harrison’s in trouble…
Wonderful comment by Rhoda:
a good reply:
annvic
I guess I’m odd man out in this thread because I really don’t believe that Hillary has a viable chance of winning the primary.
1. As was posted here some days ago, her favorable ratings have dropped back down to their pre-Secretary of State numbers.
2. She is overplaying her hand like crazy: she is out here in 2013 trying to set herself up as a nomininee by undercutting both the Vice-President (who helped rehabilitate Hillary’s image after 2007 by praising her capabilities and calling her a close friend) and the sitting President (who generously gave her the SOS job after her Missy Ann shenanigans). Coming off of 3 years of intense GOP obstruction culminating in a Government shut downk that cost this country money and jobs, Hill’s cuthroat loyalty-be-damned strategy will not sit well with an exhausted nation.
3. Hill and Bill are no longer Democratic royalty. The DLC is dead, the Blue Dogs cultivated by the Clinton’s were largely taken out in the 2010 election, and their political machine (chiefly the 50+1 strategy) have largely been transitioned out of power by Obama and the OFA. They do not have the power in the party that they once did and Hillary is essentially running an outsiders campaign for the nomination. Will the Democratic party higher-ups (including those who worked behind the scenes in 2007 to keep her from getting the nomination) really undercut a sitting Vice President to embrace a seriously, seriously flawed candidate who couldn’t even win when she had everything in her corner? Especially when her only strategy is the same-old divide and conquer that if utilized would destroy the Democrat’s hard won unity that led them to solid electoral victories?
Humph! I’m going to have to buy me a portable heater. It’s cold in this house. Folks don’t like it when I turn up the heat.
http://ametia.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/space-heater.jpg
LOL Check your email
Loves it! Just what I need.
Not this?
http://25.media.tumblr.com/b686d44e2bb3406b78a25e042bc7904a/tumblr_mi1kvs8WCH1s2589qo1_400.jpg
Charlie Christ is right; IT’S BAD BEHAVIOR
The right’s Virginia delusion: Somehow, a Democratic win is bad for Obamacare!
The truth: Cuccinelli’s anti-women positions were far more disqualifying than McAuliffe’s pro-healthcare stance
Brian Beutler
It was fun waking up this morning and witnessing the various ways Republicans across the spectrum are contorting themselves to argue that Obamacare was the one thing preventing Terry McAuliffe — World’s Most Likable Democrat™ — from winning an off-year landslide in a statewide race in Virginia.
Everything else is noise, but that Obamacare is the single greatest political liability to either party in the country! Some of the people repeating this mantra must know it’s silly, but are engaging in political psy-ops — hoping to spook Democrats, and trick them into fracturing over the issue or undermining the law.
But the phenomenon is also a twist on the question begging conservatives engage in to ward off all sources of ideological doubt. Conservatism can’t fail, it can only be failed. Republicans have invested too much in a scorched Earth campaign against the Affordable Care Act to acknowledge that their strategy is out of proportion to the law’s contentiousness. And as unrelenting hostility toward Obamacare has become a tenet of conservative orthodoxy, relenting somewhat would amount to more than simply confessing to strategic error. It would require conceding a failure of infallible conservatism. Thus anti-Obamacare absolutism can’t fail, it can only be failed. Arguing that Ken Cuccinelli’s defeat is bad news for Obamacare isn’t just psy-ops. For some, it’s a preservation instinct.
In the event that liberals overdetermine last night’s elections as a victory in a referendum on Obamacare, though, I want to associate myself with Greg Sargent’s comments here.
The Virginia gubernatorial election wasn’t a referendum on Obamacare, per se. It was a referendum on the idea that Obamacare is such a policy abomination that meeting it with Leninist tactics isn’t just critical to the cause of liberty — it’s good politics too
http://www.salon.com/2013/11/06/the_right_deludes_itself_about_virginia_no_a_democratic_win_is_not_bad_for_democrats_or_obamacare/
Who ALL, prey tell do they think voted for the first 43 POTUS? Just white folks?
Keith Boykin: Despite What Conservatives Try To Argue, Black People Do Vote For White Candidates
Although no Democrat has run New York City since Dinkins, New Yorkers on Tuesday chose a progressive white Democrat, Bill de Blasio, who was swept into office with enormous Black support, an accomplished African-American wife and a highly publicized interracial family, all of which served as a rebuke to the racial polarization of the Rudy Giuliani regime and the racist stop-and-frisk policies of the Michael Bloomberg era.
On the same day de Blasio was elected, voters also chose Letitia James to succeed him as the city’s public advocate, making her the first Black woman in New York history to hold citywide office. The real story was about the influence of Black women, who voted 91 percent for McAuliffe while only 38 percent of white women did so, according to a New York Times exit poll.
That’s a lesson Democrats should remember as they suit up for 2014 and 2016. Democrats win when they attract a wide and diverse group of voters, just as President Obama did.
http://www.bet.com/news/national/2013/11/06/commentary-election-night-s-winners-and-losers.html
When I hear what passes for “country” music these days, I just shrug and say to myself that ignorant folks need music too. Hell, if they didn’t have their music what else would they have other Walmart and Fox News assuming they get cable TV in their trailer park?
I hear you!
@Liza. Pure trailer trash
Hard to believe that Hank Jr’s dad wrote this song. Junior must have got his DNA from his mother.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWdegc6RgGA
How High Black Turnout Gave Terry McAuliffe His Win in Virginia
African American voters turned out in huge numbers for the Virginia gubernatorial election, giving Terry McAuliffe a win and proving the “Obama model” can work without Obama.
by Jamelle Bouie Nov 6, 2013 10:30 AM EST
One of the big questions of the next few years of politics is whether Democrats can replicate the “Obama model” of minority turnout without the presence of Obama on the ballot. If the Virginia gubernatorial election was a test case, then the early answer is a clear “yes.”
……………..
The explanation for that decline is straightforward. Overall, the electorate is broadly similar to where it was in 2009, when Virginians gave Republican Bob McDonnell a landslide victory of Democrat Creigh Deeds. It has the same proportion of older people to young people (nearly two-thirds of voters were over 45), and the same proportion of women of men. Likewise, the ideological profile of voters is close to where it was in 2009. Then, the electorate was 18 percent liberal, 42 percent moderate, and 40 percent conservative. This year, it was 20 percent of the electorate called itself liberal, 44 percent moderate and 36 percent conservative.
What’s more, Cuccinelli maintained the GOP’s traditional advantage with white and married women, winning the former by sixteen point spread of 54 percent to 38 percent, and the latter by a solid margin of 51 percent to 42 percent. This was a real change from the polls, which had the former Democratic Party leader with a huge lead among all women. McAuliffe’s actual advantage was with unmarried women, who he won 67 percent to Cuccinelli’s 25 percent.
Where the change from 2009 was most significant was among black voters. Then, African Americans were 16 percent were of the electorate, a significant drop from the 2008 election. This year, blacks were 20 percent of all voters, which means their turnout was exactly where it was in 2012. Put another way, for the second year in a row, African Americans turned out at a rate above their percentage of the population, and supported the Democrat by a 9-to–1 margin.
This is huge. For McAuliffe, what it meant is that—for almost every black voter who went to the polls—he could count on a vote, giving him crucial support in a tight race. To wit, more than 37 percent of his vote total came from African Americans. It’s not hard to see what the race would have looked like with 2009 numbers; a four percent drop in black turnout would have slashed roughly 80,000 votes from McAuliffe’s total, turning Ken Cuccinelli’s narrow loss into a slim victory.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/06/how-high-african-american-turnout-gave-terry-mcauliffe-his-win-in-virginia.html
If I were living in Virginny, I’d have clipped my nose with a clothes pin, while voting for McAuliffe.
Washington Post: Debt Collectors Face New Rules Under Proposal From Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The government is preparing restrictions on debt collectors, a loosely regulated industry under increasing scrutiny over complaints of abusive tactics. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is slated to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking to modernize the legal framework governing debt collection.
The government watchdog is seeking public and business comment before formally proposing the rules, which are expected to be finalized by next year. The bureau is asking Americans whether creditors and collection agencies are providing accurate information about their outstanding debts. It also wants to know whether people are receiving threatening calls at all hours of the night or being dragged into court for money they do not owe.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/cfpb-proposes-new-rule-to-govern-debt-collectors/2013/11/05/ef920b86-462a-11e3-bf0c-cebf37c6f484_story.html#
Ignore the spin war about Obamacare. It’s irrelevant. Rinse, repeat.
By Jonathan Bernstein
November 6 at 4:30 pm
So you thought Republicans had finally given up on “repeal and replace” as their slogan about the Affordable Care Act? It seemed to be dead and buried more than a year ago. But this is one that just can’t stay buried. In a new op ed piece, Paul Ryan claims that, yes, Republicans still intend to use the “republican remedy” of winning elections so that they can, yes, “repeal and replace Obamacare.” It’s back!
Granted, judging by their response to the results in Virginia, Republican spinners seem to have decided that actually winning those elections doesn’t count; it’s good enough, they want us to think, for them to do better than pre-election polls predicted and then credit it to Obamacare. But we can ignore that; Democrats have for years now proven that they’re not going to be baited by that sort of thing into abandoning reform. Republicans will actually have to win elections to supposedly implement “repeal and replace.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/11/06/ignore-the-spin-war-about-obamacare-its-irrelevant-rinse-repeat/
A new populist direction for the Democratic Party?
By Ryan Cooper
November 6 at 2:46 pm
It’s being overshadowed by the massive public rift among Republicans right now, but there is a debate underway inside the Democratic Party over how economically populist the party should be. Bill de Blasio’s big victory yesterday in New York, on a progressive economic platform, and the momentum among populist Democrats that is growing behind an expansion of Social Security, are signs of this broader trend.
But this is also being road-tested in policy terms, as the Obama administration takes tentative steps in the direction of more Wall Street accountability. JPMorgan is still reeling from the $9 billion Fail Whale fine. SAC Capital just paid a $1.2 billion fine for insider trading, and more importantly, pled guilty to the criminal conduct, which is a sharp break from scores of previous settlements where no wrongdoing was admitted. In response, anxious hedge funds are paying through the nose to make sure they’re, you know, not breaking the law.
This is a positive development not just for the sake of some long-overdue small scraps of justice, but also for the economic justice wing of the Democratic party. Until now, the administration has largely bent over backwards to cater to the needs of the financial sector, and programs to help normal homeowners, like HAMP, have been ignominious failures. But while the financial sector has lots of money, it is horrendously unpopular, and cutting it down to size could provide electoral benefits greater than could be had for Wall Street campaign cash.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/11/06/a-new-populist-direction-for-the-democratic-party/
G.O.P. Weighs Limiting Clout of Right Wing
By JEREMY W. PETERS and JONATHAN MARTIN
Published: November 6, 2013
Leaders of the Republican establishment, alarmed by the emergence of far-right and often unpredictable Tea Party candidates, are pushing their party to rethink how it chooses nominees and advocating changes they say would result in the selection of less extreme contenders
The push comes as the national Republican Party is grappling with vexing divisions over its identity and image, and mainstream leaders complain that more ideologically-driven conservatives are damaging the party with tactics like the government shutdown.
The debate intensified on Wednesday after Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, the deeply conservative Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, lost a close race in which Democrats highlighted his opposition to abortion in almost all circumstances, his views on contraception and comments in which he seemed to liken immigration policy to pest control.
The party leaders pushing for changes want to replace state caucuses and conventions, like the one that nominated Mr. Cuccinelli, with a more open primary system that they believe will draw a broader cross-section of Republicans and produce more moderate candidates.
Similar pushes are already underway in other states, including Montana and Utah, and last week Mitt Romney said Republicans should consider how to overhaul their presidential nominating process to attract a wider range of voters. He suggested that states holding open primaries be rewarded with more delegates to the party’s national convention.
While the discussion may appear arcane, it reflects a fierce struggle for power between the activist, often Tea Party-dominated wing of the Republican Party — whose members tend to be devoted to showing up and organizing at events like party conventions — and the more mainstream wing, which is frustrated by its inability to rein in the extremist elements and by the fact that its message is not resonating with more voters.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/us/politics/gop-weighs-limiting-clout-of-right-wing.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&hp&
Tea Party Steals our Money, Wants to Sell National Parks to Subsidize their Greed
By: Hrafnkell Haraldsson more from Hrafnkell Haraldsson
Thursday, November, 7th, 2013, 8:13 am
So remember how upset the tea partiers were when the shutdown closed the national parks? It smacked even then of false outrage. After all, these are the people who support the Keystone XL Pipeline which , according to the Department of the Interior, “has the potential to affect resources and values at seven units of the National Park System,” but did you know at the time that they want to sell our national parks?
Small government anarchists like Alaska’s Joe Miller want their states to control (and be free to develop) federal lands within their states. “The ultimate goal has to be state control over the (resource) base,” Miller said in 2010. Michele Bachmann wanted to drill for oil in the Everglades in 2011. Anti-Semite Ron Paul (R-TX) echoed these calls in 2012, saying he wanted to disband the Department of the Interior.
This is a broad enough attack on our national parks. But in the Environment News Service reported in 2005 that Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) wanted to allow “foreign and U.S. mining corporations to buy millions of acres of public lands in the West, including land in national parks, wilderness and other protected areas.”
Since 2005 we’ve been afflicted with the anarchists of the tea party, and we’ve seen these calls renewed. In 2011, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) wanted to sell 3.3 million acres of our land (and not share the profits with us, of course). ClimateProgress reported,
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/11/07/tea-party-steals-money-sell-national-parks-subsidize-greed-2.html
My fellow FRINGE FANS… a deal from Amazon today
Up to 62% Off “Fringe: The Complete Series
http://www.amazon.com/gp/goldbox/ref=pe_341930_41249710_pe_button/
How black women save Democrats
Progressive black women have often been essential for putting Democratic candidates over the top.
http://on.msnbc.com/HKyPnp
YOU GOT THAT, HILLARY CLINTON?
November 7 in NYC history:
– See more at: http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/shows/today_in_nyc_history/2516/november-7th-in-nyc-history#sthash.xDT9gcaF.dpuf
Koch group, unions battle over Colorado schools race
By STEPHANIE SIMON | 11/2/13 4:16 PM EST
It isn’t often that the Koch brothers’ political advocacy group gets involved in a local school board race.
But this fall, Americans for Prosperity is spending big in the wealthy suburbs south of Denver to influence voters in the Douglas County School District, which has gone further than any district in the nation to reshape public education into a competitive, free-market enterprise.
The conservatives who control the board have neutered the teachers union, prodded neighborhood elementary schools to compete with one another for market share, directed tax money to pay for religious education and imposed a novel pay scale that values teachers by their subjects, so a young man teaching algebra to eighth graders can make $20,000 a year more than a colleague teaching world history down the hall.
Conservatives across the U.S. see Douglas County as a model for transforming public schools everywhere. But with four of seven seats on the board up for grabs in Tuesday’s election, reformers find themselves fending off a spirited challenge from a coalition of angry parents and well-funded teachers unions. The race has been nasty and pricey, too; spending from all parties is likely to hit at least $800,000.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/koch-group-unions-battle-over-colorado-schools-race-99252.html#ixzz2jy7dNPvF
Douglas County: The Cavalry is Coming!
October 29, 2013 by Kris Nielsen 10 Comments
Douglas County, Colorado is one to watch. For too long, an aggressively unprofessional school board has been playing politics with the schools, rather than concerning themselves with serving the community’s children. Now, an important election is coming up, and it can change the current destructive course with four board seats being contested.
I had the chance to meet the parents who are working tirelessly to promote change and get new faces into the seats up for grabs. There is both visceral anger and fear among these folks, and they fear for the futures of their kids and their community. The stakes are high. Douglas County schools are not urban and they’re not failing — not a usual target for privatizers — and we’re seeing a different strategy at play. The drive from the current board is to create “niche” schools, where students are tested, matched to a future career based on the scores, and then eventually placed into a niche school where they fit best, based on those criteria.
Parents aren’t okay with that. And neither are most community members, since it is probably the least democratic way to run a school system that we’ve seen so far in this country.
So, we have four challengers running for school board, and the grassroots movement to get them elected has been very active. Hundreds of volunteers spend every hour of free time canvassing, picketing, attending meetings and forums, and speaking to anyone who will listen.
Apparently, it’s working, because the “other side” is getting nervous. So nervous, in fact, that they’ve decided to call in the cavalry. Scott Gessler, the current Secretary of State and candidate for Colorado Governor, has put out the call to counter the grassroots movement with his own offensive. He’s even (cough) heroically put his campaign for governor on hold to support the decidedly partisan corporate candidates running for Douglas County — the candidates who support the niche campaign. And by “support,” I mean “pay for.”
There are some striking differences between the two sides.
Douglas County parents and teachers volunteer their time and money to support their candidates.
Douglas County privatizers spend corporate money to trash them. Look at the comparison below
http://atthechalkface.com/2013/10/29/douglas-county-the-cavalry-is-coming/
Will Public Education Die in Douglas County, Colorado?
By dianerav
November 2, 2013 //
Investigative reporter Stephanie Simon of Politico reports on the most bizarre school board race in the nation: Douglas County, Colorado.
There, a powerful coalition of rightwing extremists has gained control of the school board and is determined to turn education into a free market, where competition and choice replace public education. They want vouchers, charter schools, and differentiated pay for teachers.
Simon writes: “The conservatives who control the board have neutered the teachers union, prodded neighborhood elementary schools to compete with one another for market share, directed tax money to pay for religious education and imposed a novel pay scale that values teachers by their subjects, so a young man teaching algebra to eighth graders can make $20,000 a year more than a colleague teaching world history down the hall.”
The future of this free-market policy will determined in the school board election, where powerful rightwing ideologues have funded the pro-market members of the board, and teachers’ unions and parents are funding those opposed to the elimination of public education.
The Koch brothers have contributed $350,000 to the free-market campaigners. They would, if they could, privatize all of what we now know as public education. The current board, fighting to maintain control, hired conservative icon Bill Bennett for $50,000 to be a consultant. It also hired Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute to write a paper praising the district’s initiatives, for $35,000.
Among the changes that conservatives admire:
http://dianeravitch.net/2013/11/02/will-public-education-die-in-douglas-county-colorado/
I love me some Joe Cocker…LOL
that old soul, raspy voice..
I have loved this week…thank you…good music
Yeah Baby! Feelin’ Alright…. Where’s that dancing graphic, SG2?
Good Morning, Everyone:)
The U.S. economy expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate from July through September, a surprising sign of strength ahead of the 16-day partial government shutdown. Exports rose, businesses stocked up, home construction increased and state and local governments spent at the fastest pace in four years.
The Commerce Department says growth increased from a 2.5 percent annual rate in the April-June period to the fastest pace in a year.
Read more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/us-economic-growth-like-slowed-in-second-half-of-the-year-hurt-by-government-policies/2013/11/07/52514d00-4783-11e3-95a9-3f15b5618ba8_story.html
But, but, but, IRS, BENGHAZ, DEFICITS….WAHHHHHHHHHHHI!!!!!
“Oakland Names Obasi Davis as Youth Poet Laureate”
August 06, 2013
http://rockridge.patch.com/groups/around-town/p/oakland-names-obasi-davis-as-youth-poet-laureate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=IYf9k1A8u9c
Here it is:
This is totally AWESOME! Thanks for the share, Yahtc.
YW, Ametia.
He is bright, talented, in touch, and tells it like it is!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ-tKj6N1fQ
“African American Students in Oakland Awarded for Perfect Scores on State Test”
http://oaklandlocal.com/2013/11/african-american-students-in-oakland-awarded-for-perfect-scores-on-state-test/
Excerpt from article:
http://www.yourerie.com/news/news-article/first-african-american-elected-to-county-council-in-200-years/d/news/news-article/YIHA7hrhd0Capi6t5OxhtQ
Wishing all of you a great morning!
Good Morning, Yahtc & Everyone! :-))) Aww, sitting on the dock of the bay, with my feet in the water.
:)
Morning, everyone!
It’s snowing here. I want to go for a sleigh ride.
Snow?? Wow!