I thought we’d share a little country music this week, focusing on the ladies.
Today’s selection: Dolly Parton.
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946[2]) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actress, author, and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music.
Beginning her career as a child performer, Parton issued a few modestly successful singles from 1959 through the mid-1960s, showcasing her distinctive soprano voice. She came to greater prominence in 1967 as a featured performer on singer Porter Wagoner’s weekly television program; their first duet single, a cover of Tom Paxton’s “The Last Thing on My Mind”, was a top-ten hit on the country singles charts, and led to several successful albums before they ended their partnership in 1974. Moving towards mainstream pop music, Parton’s 1977 single “Here You Come Again” was a success on both the country and pop charts. A string of pop-country hits followed into the mid-1980s, the most successful being her 1981 hit “9 to 5” (from the film of the same name), and her 1983 duet with Kenny Rogers “Islands in the Stream”, both of which topped the U.S. pop and country singles charts. A pair of albums recorded with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris were among her later successes. In the late 1990s, Parton returned to classic country/bluegrass with a series of acclaimed recordings.
Non-musical ventures include the creation of Dollywood, a theme park in the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, and her efforts on behalf of childhood literacy, particularly her Imagination Library, as well as Dixie Stampede and Pirates Voyage.
She has composed over 3,000 songs,[3] the best known of which include “I Will Always Love You” (a two-time U.S. country chart-topper for Parton, as well as an international pop hit for Whitney Houston), “Jolene”, “Coat of Many Colors”,”9 to 5″, and “My Tennessee Mountain Home”. Parton is one of the most successful female country artists of all time,[4] with an estimated 100 million in record sales.[5]
As an actress, she starred in the movies 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Rhinestone, A Smoky Mountain Christmas, Steel Magnolias, Wild Texas Wind, Gnomeo & Juliet, Straight Talk, Unlikely Angel, Blue Valley Songbird, Joyful Noise.
Music career[edit]
1967–75: Country music success[edit]
In 1967, country entertainer Porter Wagoner invited Parton to join his organization, offering her a regular spot on his weekly syndicated television program The Porter Wagoner Show, as well as in his road show.
As documented in her 1994 autobiography,[20] initially, much of Wagoner’s audience was unhappy that Norma Jean, the performer whom Parton had replaced, had left the show, and was reluctant to accept Parton (sometimes chanting loudly for Norma Jean from the audience).[21] With Wagoner’s assistance, however, Parton was eventually accepted. Wagoner also convinced his label, RCA Victor, to sign Parton. RCA decided to protect their investment by releasing her first single as a duet with Wagoner. That song, a cover of Tom Paxton’s “The Last Thing on My Mind”, released in late 1967, reached the country top ten in January 1968, launching a six-year streak of virtually uninterrupted top-ten singles for the pair.
Parton’s first solo single for RCA, “Just Because I’m a Woman”, was released in the summer of 1968 and was a moderate chart hit, reaching number seventeen. For the remainder of the decade, none of her solo efforts – even “In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)”, which later became a standard – were as successful as her duets with Wagoner. The duo was named Vocal Group of the Year in 1968 by the Country Music Association, but Parton’s solo records were continually ignored. Wagoner had a significant financial stake in her future: as of 1969, he was her co-producer and owned nearly half of Owepar, the publishing company Parton had founded with Bill Owens.
By 1970, both Parton and Wagoner had grown frustrated by her lack of solo chart success, and Porter had her record Jimmie Rodgers’ “Mule Skinner Blues”, a gimmick that worked. The record shot to number three on the charts, followed closely, in February 1971, by her first number-one single, “Joshua.” For the next two years, she had a number of solo hits – including her signature song “Coat of Many Colors” (number four in 1971) – in addition to her duets. Top-twenty singles during this period included “The Right Combination”, “Burning the Midnight Oil” (both duets with Porter Wagoner, 1971), “Lost Forever in Your Kiss” (with Wagoner), “Touch Your Woman (1972), “If Teardrops Were Pennies” (with Wagoner), “My Tennessee Mountain Home” and “Travelin’ Man” (1973). Though her solo singles and the Wagoner duets were successful, her biggest hit of this period would be “Jolene”. Released in late 1973, the song topped the singles chart in February 1974, and reached the lower regions of Billboard’s Hot 100 (it eventually also charted in the UK, reaching No. 7 in 1976, representing Parton’s first UK success).
Parton and Wagoner performed their last duet concert in April 1974, and she ceased appearing on his TV show in mid-1974, though they remained affiliated, with him helping to produce her records through 1975.[20] The pair continued to release duet albums, their final release being 1975’s Say Forever You’ll Be Mine.
In 1974, her song, “I Will Always Love You”, written about her professional break from Wagoner, went to number one on the country music charts. Around the same time, Elvis Presley indicated that he wanted to cover the song. Parton was interested until Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, told her that it was standard procedure for the songwriter to sign over half of the publishing rights to any song Elvis recorded.[22] Parton refused, and that decision is credited with helping to make her many millions of dollars in royalties from the song over the years.
Parton had three number-one singles in 1974 (“Jolene”, “I Will Always Love You” and “Love Is Like a Butterfly”), and a further chart-topper in 1975 with “The Bargain Store”.
1976–86: Branching out into pop music[edit]
From 1974 to 1980, she consistently charted in the country Top 10, with eight singles reaching number one. Parton had her own syndicated-television variety show, Dolly! (1976–1977). During this period, many performers, including Rose Maddox, Kitty Wells, Olivia Newton-John, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt, covered her songs, and her siblings Randy and Stella both received recording contracts of their own.[20]
It was also during this period that Parton began to embark on a high-profile crossover campaign, attempting to aim her music in a more mainstream direction and increase her visibility outside of the confines of country music. In 1976, she signed with the Los Angeles public-relations firm Katz-Gallin-Morey, working closely with Sandy Gallin, who served as her personal manager for the next twenty-five years.
With her 1976 album All I Can Do, co-produced by herself with Porter Wagoner, Parton began taking more of an active role in production, and began specifically aiming her music in a more mainstream, pop direction. Her first entirely self-produced effort, 1977’s New Harvest … First Gathering, highlighted Parton’s pop sensibilities, both in terms of choice of songs – the album contained covers of the pop and R&B classics “My Girl” and “Higher and Higher” – and the album’s production. While receiving generally favorable reviews, however, the album did not achieve the crossover success Parton had hoped for. Though it topped the country albums charts, it stalled at No. 71 on the pop albums chart; the album’s single, “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” only reached No. 87 on the Hot 100.
After New Harvest’s disappointing chart performance, Parton turned to high profile pop producer Gary Klein for her next album. The result, 1977’s Here You Come Again, became her first million-seller, topping the country albums chart and reaching No. 20 on the pop albums chart; the Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil-penned title track topped the country singles chart, and became Parton’s first top-ten single on the pop charts (reaching number three). A second single, the double A-sided single “Two Doors Down”/”It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right” also topped the country singles chart and crossed over to the pop top twenty. For the remainder of the 1970s and into the early 1980s, many of Parton’s subsequent singles charted on both pop and country charts, simultaneously. Her albums during this period were developed specifically for pop-crossover success.
In 1978, Parton won a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her Here You Come Again album. She continued to have hits with “Heartbreaker” (1978), “Baby I’m Burning” and “You’re the Only One” (both 1979), all of which charted in the pop singles Top 40, and all of which also topped the country-singles chart; 1979’s “Sweet Summer Lovin'” became the first Parton single in two years to not top the country singles chart (though it still nonetheless reached the top ten). During this period, Parton’s visibility continued to increase, with television appearances in 1977, 1978 and 1979. A highly publicized candid interview on a Barbara Walters Special in December 1977 (timed to coincide with Here You Come Again’s release) was followed by appearances in 1978 on Cher’s ABC television special, and her own joint special with Carol Burnett on CBS, Carol and Dolly in Nashville. She also served as one of three co-hosts (along with Roy Clark and Glen Campbell) on the CBS special Fifty Years of Country Music. In 1979, Parton hosted the NBC special The Seventies: An Explosion of Country Music, performed live at the Ford Theatre in Washington, D.C., and whose audience included President Jimmy Carter.
Parton’s commercial success continued to grow during 1980, with three number-one hits in a row: the Donna Summer-written “Starting Over Again”, “Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You”, and “9 to 5”, which topped the country and pop charts in early 1981.[20]
With less time to spend songwriting as she focused on a burgeoning film career, during the early 1980s Parton recorded a larger percentage of material from noted pop songwriters, such as Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Rupert Holmes, Gary Portnoy and Carole Bayer Sager.
“9 to 5”, the theme song to the feature film 9 to 5 (1980) Parton starred in along with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, not only reached number one on the country charts, but also, in February 1981, reached number one on the pop and the adult-contemporary charts, giving her a triple-number-one hit. Parton became one of the few female country singers to have a number-one single on the country and pop charts simultaneously. It also received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Parton’s singles continued to appear consistently in the country Top 10: between 1981 and 1985, she had 12 Top 10 hits; half of those were number-one singles. Parton continued to make inroads on the pop charts as well with a re-recorded version of “I Will Always Love You” from the feature film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) scraping the Top 50 that year and her duet with Kenny Rogers, “Islands in the Stream” (written by the Bee Gees and produced by Barry Gibb), spent two weeks at number one in 1983.[20] Other chart hits during this period included Parton’s chart-topping cover of the 1969 First Edition hit “But You Know I Love You” and “The House of the Rising Sun” (both 1981), “Single Women”, “Heartbreak Express” and “Hard Candy Christmas” (1982) and 1983’s “Potential New Boyfriend”, which was accompanied by one of Parton’s first music videos, and which also reached the U.S. dance charts.
She also continued to explore new business and entertainment ventures such as her Dollywood theme park, that opened in 1986 in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
By the mid-1980s, her record sales were still relatively strong, with “Save the Last Dance for Me”, “Downtown”, “Tennessee Homesick Blues” (all 1984); “Real Love” (another duet with Kenny Rogers), “Don’t Call It Love” (both 1985); and “Think About Love” (1986) all reaching the country-singles Top 10. (“Tennessee Homesick Blues” and “Think About Love” reached number one. “Real Love” also reached number one on the country-singles chart and also became a modest pop-crossover hit). However, RCA Records did not renew her contract after it expired that year, and she signed with Columbia Records in 1987.[20]
1987–94: Return to country roots[edit]
Along with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, she released the decade-in-the-making Trio (1987) to critical acclaim. The album strongly revitalized Parton’s somewhat stagnant music career, spending five weeks at number one on Billboard’s Country Albums chart, selling several million copies and producing four Top 10 country hits including Phil Spector’s “To Know Him Is to Love Him”, which went to number one. Trio won the Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. In 1987, she revived her television variety show, Dolly.
After a further attempt at pop success with 1987’s Rainbow (including the single “The River Unbroken”, Parton refocused on recording country material. White Limozeen (1989) produced two number-one hits in “Why’d You Come in Here Lookin’ Like That” and “Yellow Roses”. Although it looked like Parton’s career had been revived, it was actually just a brief revival before contemporary country music came in the early 1990s and moved all veteran artists out of the charts.[20]
A duet with Ricky Van Shelton, “Rockin’ Years” (1991) reached number one but Parton’s greatest commercial fortune of the decade came when Whitney Houston recorded “I Will Always Love You” for the soundtrack of the feature film The Bodyguard (1992); both the single and the album were massively successful.
Parton’s soundtrack album from her own 1992 film, Straight Talk, however was less successful, though her 1993 album Slow Dancing with the Moon won critical acclaim, and did well on the charts, reaching No. 4 on the country albums charts, and No. 16 on the Billboard 200 albums charts.
She recorded “The Day I Fall in Love” as a duet with James Ingram for the feature film Beethoven’s 2nd (1993). The songwriters (Sager, Ingram, and Clif Mangess) were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song and Parton and Ingram performed the song on the awards telecast.
Similar to her earlier collabrative album with Harris and Ronstadt, Parton released Honky Tonk Angels in the fall of 1993 with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette.[23] It was certified as Gold Album by the Recording Industry Association of America and helped revive both Wynette’s and Lynn’s careers.
Also in 1994, Parton contributed the song “You Gotta Be My Baby” to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization.
A live acoustic album, Heartsongs, featuring stripped down versions of some of Parton’s hits, as well as a number of traditional songs, was released in late 1994
When I’m looking for the latest country music, I always end up in one spot – 103.1 WIRK. I was even lucky enough to catch up with Keith Van Allen in the streets and got free ‘Rib Round Up’ tickets. Just one of the many events that keep me tuned into http://www.wirk.com
Having lived in Boca Raton for several years, listening to the 103.1 WIRK has become a daily ritual for me. I start my day with a cup of coffee and a side of the WIRK ‘Morning Show’. WIRK is a stay at home mom’s best source for great entertainment. Tune in today or stream online at http://www.wirk.com!
Dolly mi luv her sooo much!
OMG! Renisha McBride’s shooter didn’t call 911 until 65 minutes later. Please tell me why they haven’t charged him already?
Police scanner audio reveals details of Renisha McBride shooting
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/new-details-shooting-death-renisha
Police scanner audio is revealing new details from the night a Dearborn Heights, Mich. homeowner shot and killed Renisha McBride on his porch.
In the recording, collected from Broadcastify and published by the Detroit News, a female dispatcher can be heard telling police that she received a call from a man who said he “thinks” he shot someone on his porch, before hanging up.
Later, an officer on the scene can be heard telling the dispatcher: “There’s somebody down on the porch … it appears it’s going to be a black female.”
McBride’s death was characterized as a homicide on the autopsy report released Monday by the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office. The report indicated she died of a shotgun wound to the face fired from a great enough distance that no gunpowder residue or soot was found on her. No other remarkable injuries were found.
McBride’s family believes she was at the home seeking help after being involved in a car accident. Police say that accident occurred shortly before 1 a.m. when McBride hit a parked vehicle. By the time police responded to that crash, she was nowhere to be found. The homeowner did not call 911 to report the shooting until 4:45 a.m., according to the Detroit News report. What happened in the hours in between is unclear.
If the murderer of Renisha McBride would have gunned down a dog on his porch, his ass would be in jail in 3-2-1..
I know.
Oh, SG2……..I just want to weep.
This is so wrong.
JUSTICE FOR RENISHA!
Praying.
Ted Cruz’s Father: Black People ‘Uninformed’ And ‘Deceived’
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/13/rafael-cruz-black-people_n_4256737.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
Evangelical pastor Rafael Cruz, father of tea party star Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), called black and Hispanic voters “uninformed” and “deceived” during a speech to conservative activists in February.
After attending a panel on minority outreach at the FreedomWorks grassroots summit, Cruz, a Cuban-American, born-again Christian, spoke at the conference. He noted that a previous speaker “mentioned something about Hispanics being uninformed or deceived.”
“Well, the same thing is true of the black population,” Cruz said.
Cruz also suggested how blacks and Hispanics should vote. “As a matter of fact, if we could communicate the truth, not only to the Hispanics but to the black population, all blacks should be Republican,” he said.
“Highly religious, strongly pro-family, strongly pro-life” values and high military enrollment rates align Hispanics’ principles with the Republican Party’s, said Cruz.
****************
A place in hell has his name on it. May he go there early.
Dante de Blasio, Malia Obama named to TIME’s ‘most influential teens’
by Lilly Workneh | November 13, 2013 at 11:43 AM
Dante de Blasio and Malia Obama were named to TIME magazine’s list of most influential teens Tuesday.
The 16-year-old, afro-sporting son of New York City mayor-elect Bill de Blasio was listed at no. 6. while Malia was ranked at no. 10. The two teens were listed among other influential youngsters including Malala Yousafzai, who came in at no. 7 and Justin Beiber, who was listed at no. 12.
Malia, 15, along with her sister Sasha, 12, were recognized for their poise and maturity — much of which TIME credits to Michelle Obama.
“They seem to lead as normal lives as they can while still meeting the demands of being in the limelight,” the magazine writes.
As for Dante, TIME claims he has become the “city’s latest fashion icon” and his style-setting afro has been admired by many and inspired a style feature in the New York Times.
His hairdo has even been lauded by President Barack Obama, who previously admitted: “Dante has the same hairdo as I had in 1978. Although I have to confess my afro was never that good. It was a little imbalanced.”
Meanwhile, his older sister Chiara, 18, – who also played a large role in several initiatives during her father’s campaign – was not featured among the 16 teens on the list. Although, she did receive recognition for her signature floral headbands.
http://thegrio.com/2013/11/13/dante-de-blasio-malia-obama-named-to-times-most-influential-teens/
eclecticbrotha @eclecticbrotha
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I’d heard Bubba trolled ACA but I’m shocked at just how fucking stupid his comments actually were. Better benefits don’t help healthy folks?
5:03 PM – 13 Nov 2013
Joy Reid @TheReidReport
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So turns out the number of “no people” who’ve signed up for healthcare is 106,185. I expect Fox News to fully report on … oh never mind.
3:13 PM – 13 Nov 2013
Joy Reid @TheReidReport
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Not released by @HHS: the number of well paid journos who already have health insurance who have been unable to pretend to sign up. (Ahem).
3:15 PM – 13 Nov 2013
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
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#ObamaCare Numbers: 106,185 people signed up on the exchanges, 396,261 are eligible for Medicaid/CHIP, 846,184 have completed applications.
2:55 PM – 13 Nov 2013
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
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#ObamaCare Numbers: 1,509,883 individuals applying for coverage with completed applications.
2:58 PM – 13 Nov 2013
Dare you not to cry
……………….
Video Of Staff, Patients At Minnesota Children’s Hospital Goes Viral
Two nurses at a Minnesota children’s hospital had an idea. They
wanted to make a video featuring their patients, something fun to look back on, when cancer is hopefully just a memory. The video has since gone viral. There is perhaps little sadder in this world than a kid with cancer.
But the nurses in unit 5 at the University of Minnesota Amplatz
Children’s Hospital heard the song “Brave” by Sara Bareilles and knew it just fit. So, on their days off and before their shifts, they shot a video. Nearly 70 staff members danced their hearts out and cheered on their patients, who were not just the inspiration, but the stars.
http://youtu.be/N8xnLkyKgsE
Dianne Feinstein Joins Colleagues In Undermining Affordable Care Act, Thanks Obama!
http://wonkette.com/534253/dianne-feinstein-joins-colleagues-in-undermining-affordable-care-act-thanks-obama
Hey, you folks who live in states represented by United States Senators who are not unprincipled hacks with only a passing relationship to reality, we must ask: what is that like? See, here in our beloved adopted state of California we are represented by one Dianne Feinstein – or DiFi if you’re nasty – and good Lord and butter would we like to read one thing about her that does not make us want to stick a piano wire through our eyeball directly into our brain and then swirl it around for awhile.
What is DiFi doing today to make us all stabby? Not much, just joining with Bill Clinton in wetting her pants because people who have been paying no attention to the Obamacare debate for the last five years suddenly realized “Holy crap, this is going to change our health insurance plans! What should we do?”
If you are a politician with half a brain you saw this coming a long time ago and ordered your constituent services people to get up to speed on the law’s changes so they could educate the general public. Maybe you even set up forums and did community outreach, made sure your state grabbed some Navigator grants, tried to get people up to speed on what to expect.
Now, if you’re a Republican with a vested interest in killing the law, you can be a dick about these things. And if you are a Democrat, you can wait until the law goes into effect and 30,000 people call your office to complain about it (out of a statewide population of around 38 million), and then you can panic and jump on a bill that will undo the major reforms that the law brought into effect. Would anyone like to guess which path DiFi chose?
“The Affordable Care Act is a good law, but it is not perfect,” Feinstein said. “I believe the Landrieu bill is a commonsense fix that will protect individuals in the private insurance market from being forced to change their insurance plan. I hope Congress moves quickly to enact it.”
The Landrieu bill, offered by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), is not a commonsense fix. One of the key goals of the Affordable Care Act was to establish minimum benefit levels for insurance plans. Companies have been cancelling these plans left and right and offering ACA-compliant plans with vastly increased premiums. Which sucks! But the Landrieu bill would force insurers to continue offering indefinitely these individual junk policies they have been suckering people into buying for years, which lets the insurers off the hook for being rapacious scumbags who would fleece your grandmother for every last nickel if it meant their stock prices would tick up a couple of points. Here, let’s let a perfesser of health law at Washington and Lee University sexplain it to you, sexily.
“This basically repeals the market reforms,” Tim Jost, a professor of health law at Washington and Lee University who supports Obamacare, told TPM earlier this month. “You’re continuing to allow people to buy a defective product. Mechanically it’s very difficult and it denies people the community rating advantages that were the whole reason — or one of the reasons — for the law in the first place. … So I think it would be significantly disruptive to the law’s goals.”
In other words, thanks for the market reforms that we fought so hard to get passed, President Obama. Now that insurance companies have decided to use the opportunity to screw over their customers and the Republicans have poisoned minds by screaming “SOCIALISM! REPEAL! BOOGA BOOGA!” nonstop for five years, would you mind terribly if we send you a bill to undo them?
We have already taken the Big Dog to task for his opportunistic triangulating on this issue. And we have defended DiFi on other issues, even though we think her bringing back the assault weapons ban after Newtown was a knee-jerk response that in no way addressed the underlying issues causing gun violence in this country and gave the wingnuts an easy issue to demagogue instead of talking about those issues. (The way she told Ted Cruz to FOAD is still pretty awesome.) And we voted for her in 2012, mostly because we wanted no part of turning the Senate over to Yertle the Turtle and his band of scabies-ridden howler monkeys. But good God, woman, at a time when we need proponents of the ACA to sack up, with you representing the largest state in the union with a golden opportunity to find ways in which the ACA might be benefiting people, you instead revert back to your natural quisling state.
When is she up for re-election? Oh not until 2018. Someone fetch us that piano wire.
What is white privilege? Darrell Issa, a common thug criminal sitting in our government where laws are made. What Black or Latino would be holding hearings in our government if they had a rap sheet like Darrell Issa? White privilege is a hellava drug.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Big Dog Tears Up The Furniture Again
Posted by Zandar
The closer we get to a 2016 Hillary Clinton run, the more likely Big Dog Bill seems to take pot shots at President Obama. This time around it’s Obamacare, and of course the former president just has to take a swing at this pinata.
Yanno Billy Boy, I distinctly recall you trying to fix the health care system about 20 years back when I was in college, and it blowing up in your face. Glass presidencies, stones, man.
And people wonder why DEMOCRATS IN DISARRAY is a permanent fixture of our pundit class. Clinton is far from the only Democrat taking pot shots at Obamacare, too, but he’s the one who should definitely know better.
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2013/11/big-dog-tears-up-furniture-again.html
Close Election Matters
by BooMan
Wed Nov 13th, 2013 at 08:47:37 AM EST
If you are ever tempted to think that your vote doesn’t matter, consider the 163-vote margin separating Mark Herring and Mark Obenshain in Virginia’s Attorney General race. With over 2.2 million votes cast, the result is a statistical tie. And, because the Attorney General oversees elections in Virginia, it could be an important win for the Democrats in 2016, should the presidential vote be similarly close.
The results won’t be certified until November 25th, after which I expect that there will be a recount. With results that close, there ought to be a recount.
The election turned on provisional ballots that were cast in populous Fairfax County. The Republicans tried to foul things up by forcing people to reappear to fight for their votes, but the local election board used their discretion to extend the deadline. Now the Republicans are blaming the extension for a violation of equal rights protection for provisional voters in other counties.
Republicans said Tuesday night that they were unhappy with the way Fairfax had handled the 493 provisional ballots cast there. Fairfax gave voters who wanted to appear in person to argue for the validity of their ballots until 1 p.m. Tuesday to do so. Other jurisdictions had observed a Friday deadline.
Republican attorney Miller Baker, who had been observing the screening of provisional votes, formally objected to the results before the Fairfax Electoral Board voted Tuesday. He said the equal-protection rights of other provisional voters were violated because voters in Fairfax County had more time to testify to the legitimacy of their ballots.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/11/13/84737/976
Oh! Oh! Now THAT’s what’s UP!
Ken Burns: Bill De Blasio Has Agreed To Settle 10-Year-Old Central Park Five Case. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/12/bill-de-blasio-central-park-five_n_4262203.html
During a visit to HuffPost Live Tuesday to discuss his new initiative “Learn the Address,” documentary filmmaker Ken Burns gave an update on the ten-year-old Central Park Five civil suit and told host Josh Zepps that New York City’s new mayor will finally settle the case.
Burns’ 2012 documentary “The Central Park Five” tells the story of five juveniles convicted in 1990 of raping a jogger in Central Park. In 2002, the convictions of the five defendants were vacated when another man confessed to the crime. The following year, the Central Park Five filed a civil suit against the City of New York for their wrongful convictions that, after a decade, has yet to be resolved.
“Bill de Blasio, the mayor-elect, has agreed to settle this case, and though this is justice delayed way too long, and that is justice denied, [they] will not only be exonerated … but they will have justice, they will see some closure, they will be able to be made whole,” Burns said.
“Criminalizing Black Corpses”: No Charges Filed After White Man Kills Detroit Teen Renisha McBride
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Anger is growing in the Detroit area over the killing of Renisha McBride, a 19-year-old African-American woman who was shot dead by a white homeowner on his front porch. Her family says she died as she was seeking help after a car accident. The homeowner told police he believed McBride was trying to break into his home, but he claimed his gun accidentally fired at her. No charges have been filed. An autopsy revealed McBride was shot in the face by a shotgun, but not at close range. We are joined from Detroit by Dawud Walid, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations; and by dream hampton, a writer, activist and filmmaker.
Read more…
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/11/13/criminalizing_black_corpses_no_charges_filed
Sweet Jesus! I can’t take anymore of this.
*hugs*
Although published in 1948, the following piece written by Welborn Victor Jenkins, still needs to be heard today:
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Five Reasons To See #BestManHoliday: A Bougie Movie Review
First, no spoilers. Feel free to read without fear of learning all the twists and turns (and there are plenty) in @TheBestManMovie.
My first thing was getting past the tagline: Times change. Friendship doesn’t. That is patently untrue so start off by suspending your disbelief. Hey, this is a movie and movies need a premise. Friendships are tricky but they are a universal theme so we’ll go with it.
And now… a disclaimer: I will admit that I was not a huge fan of The Best Man. The characters didn’t feel fully fleshed out, there was a lot (too much) going on and there were some characters you were supposed to like but didn’t so much. Not only a hot mess movie but a wedding movie as well – reunion of old friends, bachelor/bachelorette party drama, drinking, confessions, fights, will they/won’t they, they do, electric slide, garter toss, everybody’s happy and we’re out. Put that aside, this movie grows up. I appreciated it and found there are lots of reasons for everyone (both guys and gals) to go see this movie. I’m serious. Let’s start with a trailer:
http://youtu.be/k6iNiJivOOQ
Okay then, here we go:
1) It’s for the grown & sexy set. While there are universal themes that people of all ages will easily relate to, this movie is geared for people who have real-life-sometimes-shit-happens-and-you-got-to-deal-with-it experiences. I loved that about this movie. There are “we got kids” struggles, “we’ve been together and now what” struggles, the “I’m a professional woman and can I actually have it all” struggles as well as “what do do when your perfect life ain’t perfect” struggles and “have I fully lived up to my potential or are my best days behind me” struggles. Here. For. It. All of it.
2) It’s not really a chick flick. Oh there’s enough hearts and flowers to spill into that territory but this movie deals with some real stuff. Yes, they feel compelled to bowtie up things up but that’s just smart movie making. There’s stuff that will make you think, laugh, cry, wince, drool and even “whelp!” Over-the-top but real. At one moment, half the audience stood up and applauded while the rest of us held our breath because we sensed what came next. That’s smart theater.
3) It’s well written, it’s not just over-the-top dramatical, we need a laugh here, we need some skin there formulaic. It flows and makes sense (it’s probably about twenty minutes too long but we forgive that part when they set up the ending). The characters become very much like prettier versions of people in your life that you’ve seen in similar situations. It feels like we’ve been invited into the plot and can hang out and make ourselves at home while everything unfolds.
4) Eye Candy. Eye Candy for the fellas, for the ladies, for the exotic, for the light and the dark. And it’s all on display. Wonderfully wardrobed from evening wear to next to nothing, all of the pretty is on display.
5) It’s better than the first one. Did I say that already? So much better, I need to check and see if the same person wrote them both. This one had some depth. Even the fellas at the screening were nodding like, “Okay.” Something for everyone, I’m telling you. Except the kids, do not take kids to see this movie. Grown. And. Sexy.
http://www.blacknbougie.com/2013/11/five-reasons-to-see-bestmanholiday.html
Boehner won’t compromise with Senate on immigration
11/13/13 11:45 AM
By Steve Benen
Late last week, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) confirmed that comprehensive immigration reform is dead, at least for the rest of 2013. And what about next year? The odds appear poor – after all, it’s not as if far-right House members are suddenly going to become flexible in an election year – and took a turn for the worse this morning.
The general idea has been that the Senate passed its bipartisan bill in June, which in turn presented the House with some choices. The Republican-led chamber could pass the Senate bill; they could kill it; or they could pass an alternative bill and go to a conference committee for bicameral negotiations.
House GOP leaders have already ruled out a vote on the popular Senate bill – in an up-or-down vote, the legislation would almost certainly pass – and as of this morning, approving a rival bill and searching for a compromise is out, too.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/boehner-closes-door-immigration
A Letter to Senator Feinstein
by Liberal Librarian
Dear Senator Feinstein,
It is with great dismay that I’ve learned about your joining in the effort to “reform” the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Specifically, in allowing consumers to keep insurance policies which no longer meet the standards of the PPACA.
Any cursory review of the matter will show that the insurance companies are behind the effort to scupper the successful implementation of the PPACA. They could have easily informed their customers that their current plans do not meet the requirements of the Act, and worked to provide them with plans which do pass muster. For reference, you can read this investigation published by Talking Points Memo. Insurance companies are cancelling customers’ insurance plans, without informing them of the options available on the health exchanges. Obviously, this is a problem of their own creation, and one which has now exploded into accusations of “broken promises”.
Being the senior Senator from California, a state which has its own health exchange, I’m very saddened that you would lend your name to an effort by frightened red state Democrats to show “independence” from President Obama. The President has always said that he’s open to making the law better. This “reform” would raise insurance premiums for everyone, and encode insurance plans which are near fraudulent into law. This goes directly against the aim of the PPACA, which is to provide everyone in the United States with comprehensive, affordable health care. The plans which the insurance companies are cynically cancelling are far from comprehensive; and while they may be “affordable” in regards to a monthly premium, their high deductibles make them near worthless.
I urge you to reconsider your stance. You are seen as a leader among Democrats in the Senate; you do yourself and the people of California a disservice by lending your name to this effort by colleagues running for the hills. Among my friends and family, we always wonder why Democrats can never stand firm in the face of an assault of lies and disinformation from those on the Right and in the corporate media. As a party, we have a chance to take back the House and increase our majority in the Senate in 2014. This can only happen if we stand firm, and fight lies with truth, rather than “triangulating” against the President. If that happens, 2014 will be another 2010, with grievous consequences for the country.
Please stand with the President in finding a workable fix for a problem brought about by insurance companies. Making the PPACA successful is the surest route to electoral success.
http://theobamadiary.com/2013/11/13/a-letter-to-senator-feinstein/
SG2….WHERE’S THE FINGER?
…………….
Sarah Palin Tells African Americans That They Misinterpreted the Word Slavery
By: Jason Easley more from Jason Easley
Tuesday, November, 12th, 2013, 6:47 pm
Sarah Palin is telling African-Americans that they don’t know what the word slavery means. Palin reacted to her use of the term slavery by saying that people are misinterpreting her.
………….
Sarah Palin seems absolutely unaware of the fact that a white person telling African-Americans that they misinterpreted the term slavery reeks of both white privilege and racism. Palin is an example of the Republican Party’s attitude towards minorities. She doesn’t care if the use of the term slavery offends people. In fact, she probably hopes that it will offend people so that she will get even more attention.
Republicans are always trying to diminish slavery by comparing their own plight of maybe having to pay higher taxes, or the bills that our government ran up as slavery. The truth is that these things have nothing in common with slavery. The debt does not mean that the American people are literally shackled with no human rights. Paying the debt does not make Republicans property.
The legacy of slavery is alive and well in much of the racism that we see in our country today. The sort of racism that Sarah Palin has repeatedly used against President Obama.
All Americans know what Sarah meant, and her attempt to blame African-Americans and others for misinterpreting her only compounds the racism.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/11/12/sarah-palin-tells-african-americans-misinterpreted-word-slavery.html
thank you….and, I’ll add this:
http://youtu.be/IDXuoWXCw38
Kiss My. E.N.T.I.R.E. ASS!
I suggest returning her to the store and getting your money back:
http://www.letsplaydolls.com/image/barbie/bd18.jpg
House GOP pushes distractions over policy
11/13/13 11:00 AM
By Steve Benen
At the start of every Congress, the leadership of both chambers generally set aside bill numbers as a way of designating their biggest priorities. The House Republican majority, for example, will set aside H.R. 1 through H.R. 10 for their top 10 most important bills – the ones they’re most eager to pass.
And in this Congress, H.R. 1 has nothing to do with immigration, health care, energy, or security. Rather, it’s tax reform.
For the last several months, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) has been quietly meeting with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on a major overhaul of the federal tax code – the first in a generation. It’s no easy task, and Camp has made clear he considers this the most important project of his political career.
The general proposition is pretty straightforward: if Congress eliminates unnecessary deductions, closes loopholes, and scraps superfluous tax giveaways, the result will be a simpler, streamlined tax code that produces more revenue. The benefit would mean more deficit reduction, lower rates overall, or both. The trouble, of course, is that those deductions, loopholes, and giveaways have their champions and they’re hard to get rid of, compounded by the fact that Democrats and Republicans disagree on what to do with the new revenue.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/house-gop-pushes-distractions-over-policy
http://www.jbhe.com/2013/11/online-articles-that-may-be-of-interest-to-jbhe-readers-93/
https://twitter.com/amk4obama/status/400643576775716865/photo/1
I hope the father is not a racist, rikyrah.
The little kitty is too dang CUTE!
Hi 3Chics,
Last week I emailed Carmen the video “Black Bruins” that you had posted last week. She sent it on to her son in California who is also a UCLA Bruin. After I repost your video, I will post the article that her son just emailed her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BEO3H5BOlFk
Now, here is the shocking article her son emailed her:
Posted: Thursday, October 24, 2013
By Earl Ofari Hutchinson
http://wavenewspapers.com/opinion/op-ed/article_6af38af4-3cdd-11e3-8662-0019bb30f31a.html
The article mentions “The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education”
Here is a link to this journal’s page:
http://www.jbhe.com
The journal is
Ta-Nehisi Coates: Richard Cohen In Context
The problem is that Richard Cohen thinks being repulsed isn’t actually racist, but ”conventional” or “culturally conservative.” Obstructing the right of black humans and white humans to form families is a central feature of American racism. If retching at the thought of that right being exercised isn’t racism, then there is no racism.
Context can not improve this. “Context” is not a safe-word that makes all your other horse-shit statements disappear. And horse-shit is the context in which Richard Cohen has, for all these years, wallowed. It is horse-shit to claim that store owners are right to discriminate against black males. It is horse-shit to claim that Trayvon Martin was wearing the uniform of criminals. It is horse-shit to subject your young female co-workers to “a hostile work environment.”It is horse-shit to expend precious news-print lamenting the days when slovenly old dudes had their pick of 20-year old women. It is horse-shit to defend a rapist on the run because you like “The Pianist.”
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/richard-cohen-in-context/281426/
Igor Volsky: 6 Reasons Why Obamacare Enrollment Is Going Better Than You Think
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that between 40,000 and 50,000 uninsured Americans signed up for health care coverage in the 36 states where the federal government is running the Obamacare exchanges. But the initial estimate doesn’t tell the whole story about how many people are connecting to coverage. Here is what you need to know about the enrollment figures
More than 500,000 have signed up for insurance overall. Avalere Health, a consulting firm tracking sign-ups, estimates that at least 440,000 people have signed up for Medicaid and another 49,000 people enrolled in coverage in 12 states and the District of Columbia that are operating their own exchanges. Significantly, that state number don’t appear to include enrollment from California, Massachusetts, or Oregon. Thus, all told, more than 529,000 have enrolled in coverage.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/11/12/2923931/obamacare-enrollment-going-better-think/
Turtle Soup: Desperate Mitch McConnell Announces that He Will Only Talk About Obamacare
A desperate Mitch McConnell announced to the media back home that he
will only talk about Obamacare. The problem is that the ACA is popular
and working well in Kentucky.[….] Sen. McConnell hasn’t seemed to notice that the ACA is working
beautifully in his home state. McConnell refused to talk about his
horrible job approval numbers, or the fact that he is tied with Democratic challenger Alison Grimes in the latest poll.[….]
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/11/13/turtle-soup-desperate-mitch-mcconnell-announces-talk-obamacare.html
SMGDH Deperation is so not an attractive look for a TURTLE.
Dianne Feinstein joins effort to change Affordable Care Act.
http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2013/11/12/dianne-feinstein-joins-bill-to-change-affordable-care-act/
*******************************
Feinstein is colluding with the Clintons! This ISH was planned to come out against Potus’ healthcare law. They want it to FAIL.
Of course they can’t have Barack Hussein Obama succeeding on something as HUGE as Healthcare, particularly since Hill & Bill both FAILED at it.
I LOATHE THESE PEOPLE.
Jim Stuart: What’s Trying to Emerge?
I think a successful ACA is trying to emerge, through the fog of political war. Do not think the GOP can reverse the process; the policy fundamentals are in place. For me the question is not whether a working ACA will emerge, but when this will be recognized….
…. I, too, worry about the website, the slow enrollment uptake, the GOP onslaught, and their and the MSM’s total assurance that the ACA is and will remain an unmitigated catastrophe. But the facts on the ground tell me that major seeds have been planted, that they will not be dug up, that they will, now planted, grow naturally into a splendid harvest that will not be prevented.
Republicans are making a fatal and permanent mistake in seeking all-out to destroy the ACA with no attempt to replace it with something that could address the same issue of the uninsured.
…. So what is trying to emerge from the fog of political war? A gold mine of help to the poor and the middle class, and to the country’s economy by helping to tame healthcare costs; and this gold mine is the much maligned ACA!
http://jimstuartnewblog.blogspot.ie/2013/11/whats-trying-to-emerge.html
http://youtu.be/kJ_h2HB9Do0
Joy Reid @TheReidReport Follow
Other things that must really freak out Richard Cohen’s ‘conventional people’: Oreo’s (they’re chocolate AND vanilla, for God’s sakes…)
11:00 AM – 12 Nov 2013
Joy Reid @TheReidReport Follow
I wonder how Richard Cohen’s “conventional people” avoid hacking up a lung everytime the biracial president is on TV?
12:33 PM – 12 Nov 2013
Joy Reid @TheReidReport Follow
And since when is it “conventional” to be a racially retrograde Philistine who can’t handle the thought of the DiBlasio family? Just sayin.
12:35 PM – 12 Nov 2013
Where’s that paddle, SG2? Cohen needs a thorough ass whuppin’
Hey Chicas!
So Chris Jansing says Bill Clinton is distancing his wife from Obamacare. Really? Please proceed, Hill & Bill.
The Keep Your Health Plan Act
11/13/13 09:30 AM
By Steve Benen
Over the weekend, The Hill published an interesting piece suggesting congressional Republicans, who had been fully committed to repealing the entirety of the Affordable Care Act since its inception, have “shifted their strategy.”
The “pivot,” the article said, was from repealing the health care to law to helping “fix” it through something called the Keep Your Health Plan Act, sponsored by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.). “The GOP,” The Hill reported, “wants to rebuild its political capital and public credibility by solving ObamaCare’s implementation problems.”
With respect to The Hill, whose reporting I rely on frequently, the piece was a little naive. To think that House Republicans, a month after shutting down the government over a health care law they hate with blinding rage, suddenly want to improve the Affordable Care Act is hard to take seriously. Upton’s Keep Your Health Plan Act is about a partisan game to undermine the law and put Democrats on the defensive – and little else.
The issue started taking on new urgency this week as panicky congressional Democrats, responding to media pressure and widespread confusion, began inching towards support for Upton’s bill (or at least one like it). Even Bill Clinton said yesterday, “I personally believe, even if it takes a change to the law, the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got” – which delighted Republicans who immediately saw the comments as an endorsement of their plans.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-keep-your-health-plan-act
jennifer bendery @jbendery 1m
Seriously, look at the batch of nominees GOP is blocking right now. Freaking Benetton ad. http://huff.to/1gJHfLd
pic.twitter.com/oTZKGbuaSe
And don’t forget the Kenyian, Marxist, Socialist, Nazi, BLACK GUY who appointed them all!
— – -☺@NerdyWonka
17M children can no longer be denied care for a preexisting condition. #ObamaCare beats the hell out of I don’t care. pic.twitter.com/rFqhwGHadT
Tina Turner to Give Up U.S. Citizenship
Nov 13, 2013
By BlackAmericaWeb.com
Soul legend Tina Turner is saying goodbye to the United States.
According to the Washington Post, Turner filed papers at the U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland to relinquish her American citizenship.
Turner, 73, says she and her family have no plans to live in the United States. She has lived in Switzerland for over 20 years.
http://blackamericaweb.com/183507/tina-turner-to-give-up-us-citizenship/
Wall Street’s nightmare: President Elizabeth Warren
By BEN WHITE and MAGGIE HABERMAN | 11/11/13 8:55 PM EST Updated: 11/12/13 7:44 PM EST
NEW YORK — There are three words that strike terror in the hearts of Wall Street bankers and corporate executives across the land: President Elizabeth Warren.
Anxiety over Warren grew Monday after a magazine report suggested the bank-bashing Democratic senator from Massachusetts could mount a presidential bid in 2016 and not necessarily defer to Hillary Clinton — who is viewed as far more business friendly — for the party’s nomination
And the fear is not only that Warren, who channels an increasingly popular strain of Occupy Wall Street-style anti-corporatism, might win. That is viewed by many political analysts as a slim possibility. The fear is also that a Warren candidacy, or even the threat of one, would push Clinton to the left in the primaries and revive arguments about breaking up the nation’s largest banks, raising taxes on the wealthy and otherwise stoke populist anger that is likely to also play a big role in the Republican primaries.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/wall-street-elizabeth-warren-president-2016-elections-99697.html#ixzz2kXILZga0
DCCC ✔ @dccc
Follow
It’s a Democratic sweep in Virginia! By 163 votes out of 2.2 million, @SenMarkHerring wins! #VAAG #FairfaxFinale #EveryVoteMatters
9:27 PM – 12 Nov 2013
amk4obama @amk4obama
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@billclinton @HillaryClinton – Appalachian votes alone won’t get you the presidency, bill.
7:55 PM – 12 Nov 2013
I sincerely hope that either VP Joe Biden or Gov. Martin O’Malley run for the 2016 presidency. These two with all their drama that the right and PUMA left just love need to BE-GONE.
I like a one term Biden in 2016 with Elizabeth Warren as a strong VP, then Warren in 2020. But who listens to me?
Chicago State University wants faculty blog shut down
By Juan Perez Jr., Chicago Tribune reporter
7:23 a.m. CST, November 12, 2013
A blog written by Chicago State University faculty members that has been critical of the school’s administration was sent a “cease and desist” notice by university lawyers Monday, deepening an ongoing rift between a group of professors and administrators.
Online since 2009, the Faculty Voice Blog labeled itself “the faculty’s uncensored voice” for the South Side campus. Phillip Beverly — a faculty senate officer and associate professor of political science — said he founded the site to challenge some of the school’s leaders and policymaking. The site’s latest post, for example, roundly criticizes CSU administrators and their hiring practices.
“I know, as a faculty member, I don’t run the university. I can’t stop what’s going on there,” Beverly said. “But I can shine the light of day on it. That’s the purpose of the blog, to put into the public sphere what is happening in the name of the citizens of Illinois.”
But in a Nov. 11 letter, Patrick Cage, a university vice president and its general counsel, said the site used university “trade names and marks” without permission. Cage also said the blog “violates the University’s values and policies requiring civility and professionalism of all University faculty members.”
Cage demanded that site administrators “immediately disable” the blog and provide written confirmation of that no later than Friday to “avoid legal action.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-chicago-state-university-blog-20131112,0,1259026.story
Florida woman sentenced to 20 years for firing warning shot at husband seeks bail until new trial
Marissa Alexander, 31 — who was convicted of aggravated assault in March 2012 — may be released after a bail hearing on Wednesday. A new trial for the Jacksonville mother-of-three will begin next April.
A Florida woman who was granted a new trial after she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot during a fight with her husband may be released after a bail hearing on Wednesday.
Marissa Alexander, 31 — who was convicted of aggravated assault in March 2012 — was granted a new trial in September, after an appeals court ruled that prosecutors gave erroneous instructions about the state’s self-defense laws.
A new trial for the mother of three will begin next April.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/florida-woman-sentenced-20-years-firing-warning-shot-husband-seeks-bail-new-trial-article-1.1514183#ixzz2kXF3Xray
Got that Angela Corey?
Dem appears to prevail in Virginia
11/13/13 08:38 AM
By Steve Benen
A week after the 2013 elections, there’s one incredibly close race the political world is watching with great interest: who’ll be Virginia’s new state attorney general?
The vote-counting process ended last night, and as the dust settled, Democrat Mark Herring finished with 163 more votes than Republican Mark Obenshain – out of more than 2.2 million votes cast. Overnight, Herring declared victory.
So, is that it? Of course not. Given the margin, Obenshain has not conceded the race – it stands to reason that if the roles were reversed, Herring wouldn’t concede, either – and a statewide recount is probably inevitable. That, however, can’t begin until these preliminary tallies are certified, and that won’t happen until Nov. 25.
My MSNBC colleague Jessica Taylor raised an important point about the larger context.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/dem-appears-prevail-virginia
Grassley threatens ‘more Scalias and Thomases’
11/12/13 04:30 PM
By Steve Benen
Two weeks ago, Senate Republicans, many of whom vowed never to filibuster a judicial nominee, blocked Patricia Millett’s nomination to serve on the D.C. Circuit appeals bench. Republicans refused to allow the Senate vote, not because they objected to Millett on the merits, but because the GOP believes the vacancies on the D.C. Circuit must remain vacant until there’s a Republican president again.
It is, for the record, a level of obstruction never before seen in the United States.
Senate Democrats are poised to try again, bringing Nina Pillard’s D.C. Circuit nomination to the floor, perhaps as early as this evening. If Republicans filibuster her, too, the Senate majority believes it will probably have no choice but to execute the so-called “nuclear option,” and restore majority rule on judicial nominees.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has a message for Senate Democrats: “Go ahead.”
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/grassley-wars-more-scalias-and-thomases
JessicaRRG @Mumaroo1
@JeffersonObama Bill lost it for Hillary once, now he is working on a repeat performance. Maybe he just wants only 1 POTUS in family.
Liberal Librarian @Lib_Librarian
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Welp, Clinton is pissing off the Obama voters, whom Hilary needs. Mission accomplished?
6:20 PM – 12 Nov 2013
Jeff Gauvin @JeffersonObama
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The Clintons of 2007-08 are back. GOD HELP US
5:36 PM – 12 Nov 2013
Arapaho415 @arapaho415
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WaPo Richard Cohen shocked to discover that slavery was not benign, in which whites owned innocent & grateful blacks.
http://www.salon.com/2013/11/08/how_much_will_it_cost_to_make_these_racist_old_men_go_away/ …
4:50 PM – 9 Nov 2013
With 106 Vote Attorney General Victory, Virginia Democrats Sweep State
The difference between a vote cast and a vote counted was nowhere clearer than in the Virginia race for attorney general
Herring’s win marks the first time in over forty years that the Democrats swept all five statewide offices: both Senate seats, Virginia governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general.
http://swampland.time.com/2013/11/13/with-106-vote-attorney-general-victory-virginia-democrats-sweep-state/
First Lady Michelle Obama speaks to sophomore class at Bell Multicultural High School in Washington, D.C. and addresses the importance of higher education and her hopes for them as college graduates in 2020.
http://youtu.be/AY6h804boFs
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Getting schools up to 21st-century speed
By Lyndsey Layton, Wednesday, November 13, 5:37 AM
When a student at Elliston Elementary in rural Montana logs onto her laptop for a remote lesson over the Internet, Tressa Graveley must ration the Web for the rest of her tiny school. The teacher tells other students to shut down their browsers and stop streaming video or there won’t be enough bandwidth for the eighth-grader’s lesson.
Elliston Elementary is on the wrong side of a new digital divide in this country. The school, decked out with laptops and whiteboards, hoped to harness the power of the Internet to break out of its isolation. But its connection is too slow to allow the 15 students and two teachers to fully use everything the digital world offers — videos, music, graphics, interactive programs.
But it’s not just rural school systems that are cut off from the digital world. An estimated 72 percent of public schools — in the countryside, suburbs and cities — lack the broadband speeds necessary to fully access the Internet, according to Education Superhighway, a nonprofit organization that wants to improve digital access in schools.
“Wiring schools has brought the Internet to the principal’s office or maybe a teacher’s desk,” said Evan Marwell, the chief executive of the group. “That’s five million administrators and teachers. But we need to move this technology into the learning process, and that means 55 million students.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/most-us-schools-not-up-to-broadband-speed/2013/11/12/5941b504-4658-11e3-a196-3544a03c2351_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines
Happy Hump day, Everyone! Rikyrah, you’re bringing it with the ladies of country this week. Thank you.
I will always love DOLLY P!
Ametia,
I hope you, SG2 and Everyone here at 3CHICS enjoys this week with the Ladies of Country Music.
As a child downstate (Macomb,) 1 had no choice but to be up on country. There was Mom’s record collection…and the radio. Other than Wolfman Jack lol, radio was Manilow, and country. Dolly’s had a full career. Money move keeping “I Will Always Love You.”
Yes, I am thoroughly enjoying the ladies of Country Music this week. I come from tobaco country, lady and a family of 13 kids. We listened to an eclectic mix of music in our homested.
@Tyren. LOL @ Manilow. My ex used to take any record I owned of white artists and hide them.
Morning, everyone! I’m loving Ladies of Country Music. I grew up listening to country music and dancing with the cowboys.
Big hats, big buckles and tight jeans! Bow Chicka Bow Wow! ;)