Tuesday Open Thread | Dirty Dancing Soundtrack

Dirty dancing1Dirty Dancing [1] is a 1987 American romance film. Written by Eleanor Bergstein and directed by Emile Ardolino, the film stars Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the lead roles, as well as Cynthia Rhodes and Jerry Orbach. The story is a coming of age drama that documents a teenage girl’s coming of age through a relationship with a dance instructor whom she encounters during her family’s summer vacation.

Originally a low-budget film by a new studio, Great American Films Limited Partnership,and with no major stars (except Broadway legend Jerry Orbach in a supporting role), Dirty Dancing became a massive box office hit. As of 2009[update], it had earned over $214 million worldwide.

About SouthernGirl2

A Native Texan who adores baby kittens, loves horses, rodeos, pomegranates, & collect Eagles. Enjoys politics, games shows, & dancing to all types of music. Loves discussing and learning about different cultures. A Phi Theta Kappa lifetime member with a passion for Social & Civil Justice.
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109 Responses to Tuesday Open Thread | Dirty Dancing Soundtrack

  1. Ametia says:

    Amber from “GLEE” becomes first African American woman to win DWTS Mirror Ball Trophy tonight.

  2. Yahtc says:

    Texas School Throws 6th Grader’s Breakfast In The Trash Because He’s 30 Cents Short

    NOVEMBER 8, 2013

    http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/texas-school-throws-6th-graders-breakfast-in-the-trash-because-hes-30-cents-short/news/2013/11/08/78356#.UpVwCaUw3US

  3. Yahtc says:

    “Report: African-American girl faces expulsion over her natural hair style”

    http://www.ajc.com/news/news/report-african-american-girl-faces-expulsion-over-/nb5M7/

    The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
    An African-American girl may be expelled from a private school in Orlando if she doesn’t cut and shape her natural hair, according to a news report.

    Vanessa VanDyke, 12, said school officials gave her one week to decide whether to change her hair or leave Faith Christian Academy, where she has attended since third grade. Vanessa’s mother told WKMG-TV she will not change her daughter’s hair, which has been in the same style all year.

    She said school officials didn’t threaten to expel her daughter until after the family complained that children at school were bullying Vanessa about her hair.

    “It says that I’m unique,” Vanessa said. “First of all, it’s puffy and I like it that way. I know people will tease me about it because it’s not straight.”

    The honor student told the TV station that while she didn’t want to leave the school, she would do so before she would accept being forced to change her hair.

  4. rikyrah says:

    THE WAR ON OUR CHILDREN IS REAL!

    ………………..

    n African-American girl could face expulsion after school officials said her natural hairstyle was a violation of student conduct policies.

    Vanessa VanDyke, a 12-year-old who attends Faith Christian Academy in Orlando, Fla., has reportedly been asked by school officials to cut or straighten her hair or she would be forced to leave the school.

    “It says that I’m unique,” VanDyke told the local news station WKMG. “First of all, it’s puffy and I like it that way. I know people will tease me about it because it’s not straight. I don’t fit in.”

    VanDyke’s mother, Sabrina Kent said that she has been wearing her hair in its natural state since the beginning of the school year.

    However, Kent says school officials were not concerned with her daughter’s hairstyle until she complained about her being bullied at school.

    “There have been people teasing her about her hair, and it seems to me that they’re blaming her,” Kent said.

    Now, the school has ruled VanDyke’s hair as a “distraction” and have advised her to change it before subsequent actions are taken.

    “They just said you should change your hair, you should straighten it, it’s too puffy,” VanDyke said.

    The school has yet to make any official statements.

    “I’m going to fight for my daughter,” Kent said. “If she wants her hair like that, she will keep her hair like that. There are people out there who may think that natural hair is not appropriate. She is beautiful the way she is.”

    http://thegrio.com/2013/11/26/african-american-girl-faces-expulsion-after-school-claims-her-natural-hair-a-distraction/

  5. Ametia says:

    Happening now

  6. Ametia says:

    GIRL BYE

    Source: Huffington Post / Talking Points Memo

    TOM KLUDT – NOVEMBER 26, 2013, 1:44 PM EST659
    Weeks after she was forced to retract her “60 Minutes” report on the attack in Benghazi, Libya, Lara Logan and producer Max McClellan will be taking a leave of absence from the CBS News staple.

    The Huffington Post’s Michael Calderone broke the news. (SEE BELOW)

    Logan was forced to admit that the report was a “mistake” after a British security contractor’s account of the attack was discredited.

    Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/lara-logan-taking-leave-of-absence-from-60-minutes

  7. rikyrah says:

    Andy Kroll ✔ @AndrewKroll
    Follow
    Big announcement from Obama admin — New regs are here to crack down overly political dark-money nonprofits. More to come…

    12:41 PM – 26 Nov 2013

    Andy Kroll ✔ @AndrewKroll
    Follow
    From my 1st read of Obama admin’s new rules for political dark-money nonprofits, I predict one hell of a pushback – from the left & right.

    12:52 PM – 26 Nov 2013

  8. rikyrah says:

    Keith Boykin @keithboykin
    Follow
    He’s a 55-year-old man who takes 2 buses to work for a 4 a.m. job that pays $5.25/hour. The working poor aren’t lazy. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/among-american-workers-poll-finds-unprecedented-anxiety-about-jobs-economy/2013/11/25/fb6a5ac8-5145-11e3-a7f0-b790929232e1_story.html

    7:06 AM – 26 Nov 2013

  9. rikyrah says:

    In the heart of rural Kentucky
    11/25/13 10:47 AM
    By Steve Benen

    When we look at states where the Affordable Care Act is working best, it’s tempting to first turn attention to traditionally “blue” states like California, Washington, and Connecticut.

    But let’s not overlook Kentucky, where Gov. Steve Beshear (D) has committed himself to implementing the law – and “Obamacare” is being implemented so effectively, it’s starting to make an enormous difference in the lives of families that need the help. Stephanie McCrummen published a terrific piece over the weekend on developments in Breathitt County.
    On the campaign trail, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was still blasting the new health-care law as unsalvageable. At the White House, President Obama was still apologizing for the botched federal Web site.

    But in a state where the rollout has gone smoothly, and in a county that is one of the poorest and unhealthiest in the country, Courtney Lively has been busy signing people up: cashiers from the IGA grocery, clerks from the dollar store, workers from the lock factory, call-center agents, laid-off coal miners, KFC cooks, Chinese green-card holders in town to teach Appalachian students.
    The piece offers great details of Lively’s heroic work, connecting people with the health care benefits to which they’re entitled. Read the piece to appreciate all the anecdotes, but note that Lively, who’s been signing people up since early October, told McCrummen locals have been “pouring in” to her office, overjoyed with the prospect of receiving accessible medical care.

    As Paul Krugman noted, reading the piece, we’re reminded anew “why we need health reform.” Indeed, we’re introduced in the article to struggling rural Americans who were simply being left behind before the Affordable Care Act became law.

    But there’s also a political angle to this – Kentucky is home to none other than Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) who says he desperately wants to destroy the law that’s now helping so many of his constituents.

    It puts the Republican incumbent in an exceedingly odd position: he’s going to spend the next year telling Kentucky families, “Please vote for me so I can fight to take away your health care benefits.” And if he doesn’t say this loud enough, McConnell runs the risk of losing to his primary challenger.

    Indeed, two weeks ago, the Senate Minority Leader held a press conference and was asked more than once which parts of the law, if any, stand to help the uninsured in Kentucky and elsewhere. McConnell refused to answer, choosing instead to simply say the law “should be repealed,” over and over again.

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-heart-rural-kentucky

  10. rikyrah says:

    another positive Obamacare story from TOD:

    Bill R. November 26, 2013 at 12:32 pm

    Yesterday when I was assisting people at the Enrollment Fair in Salem, Oregon, a woman I was helping in her 60s with multiple health problems, who would qualify with her husband for expanded Medicaid, thanked me as she was leaving, and added, ” I don’t like it when people critize the President and the Governor for the problems with the website. The important thing is the service is there for people, and if I have to come down here to sign up, I don’t mind at all. I’m just grateful it’s here.”

  11. rikyrah says:

    air force one in fog
    Pete Souza: On foggy am in Seattle, Pres Obama waves as he boards Air Force One

  12. rikyrah says:

    Needless to say…..they rolled upon the WRONG ONE

    …………..
    UCLA Will Investigate Black Judge’s Complaint of Excessive Force
    by Julianne Hing, Tuesday, November 26 2013, 2:05 PM EST

    UCLA announced late Monday that it will open an internal probe into claims made by David Cunningham III, a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, who alleged that UCLA campus police used excessive force when they stopped him Saturday morning as he was exiting a gym parking lot in Westwood. It’s safe to say Cunningham, who is black, knows the definition and gravity of such claims—he’s also a former president of the Los Angeles Police Commission.

    Cunningham had just paid a parking lot fee and was leaving an L.A. Fitness gym Saturday morning when campus police pulled him over for not wearing a seat belt.

    The stop unfolded badly, according to Cunningham’s complaint, the Los Angeles Times reported:

    Officer Kevin Dodd asked to see his driver’s license. Cunningham handed them his wallet, then the officers requested registration and insurance.

    When Cunningham reached for his glove box to retrieve the documents, an officer “yelled at me not to move,” he said in the complaint. “I became irritated and told him that I need to look for the paper.”

    A prescription pill bottle rolled out of the glove compartment, prompting the officer to ask if he was carrying drugs. Douglas said the medicine was for high blood pressure.

    Cunningham couldn’t find his registration and insurance paperwork in the glove compartment and told officers he thought it was in the trunk.

    “When I got out of the car to search my trunk, Officer Dodd shoved me against my car, told me I was under arrest for resisting and locked me in the back seat,” Cunningham wrote in the complaint.

    Cunningham, 60, said the officers shoved him against his car, handcuffed him, locked him in the back of their police cruiser and told him he was being detained for resisting arrest.

    Cunningham was later released. He limited his complaints to excessive force but his attorney Carl Douglas asked the broader, and perhaps more pertinent question: “Do you think this would have happened if he was a white judge?”

    http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-black-judge-ucla-calm-20131125,0,7682662.story#ixzz2lmPEE7cd

    • Ametia says:

      From not wearing a seatbelt to handcuffs?

      Why couldn’t the cops just phone in for further information? computers can pull up the deets in a wink. And NO WAY IN HELL would these cops ever have done this to a white man. NEVER.

  13. rikyrah says:

    Taxpayers’ $1.2 million propped up owner’s 2nd charter-school bust
    By Bill Bush

    After resigning this year as superintendent of a financially troubled Internet charter school amid allegations of nepotism, James McCord had a new plan, and it again involved a charter school employing him and his family.

    This summer, McCord opened eight Olympus charter schools, including four in Columbus. They would be managed by a for-profit corporation formed by McCord called Education Innovations International, or EII, which would get most of the state money each month, own all the schools’ property and employ all the workers.

    His wife, brother, children and an in-law all had jobs with the company, former employees said.

    And again, it all collapsed. The school’s sponsor suspended it last month.

    http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/11/19/ohios-1-2m-propped-up-owners-2nd-charter-bust.html

  14. Ametia says:

    APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
    EVANGELII GAUDIUM
    OF THE HOLY FATHER
    FRANCIS
    TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY,
    CONSECRATED PERSONS
    AND THE LAY FAITHFUL
    ON THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL
    IN TODAY’S WORLD

    http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium_en.html#SOME_CHALLENGES_OF_TODAY%92S_WORLD

    • Ametia says:

      This manifesto reads like shall we say real CHRISTIANS PRECEPTS.

      • Yahtc says:

        53. Just as the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say “thou shalt not” to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is a case of exclusion. Can we continue to stand by when food is thrown away while people are starving? This is a case of inequality. Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.

        Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a “disposable” culture which is now spreading. It is no longer simply about exploitation and oppression, but something new. Exclusion ultimately has to do with what it means to be a part of the society in which we live; those excluded are no longer society’s underside or its fringes or its disenfranchised – they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are not the “exploited” but the outcast, the “leftovers”.

      • Ametia says:

        Yathc, when I read this document, my senses tell me that it is way for the Catholic Church to pay off ITS KARMIC DEBT for all the child molestation and especially the UNCHECKED greed it has engaged in for centuries.

      • Yahtc says:

        Could well be, Ametia!

  15. rikyrah says:

    TheNewDeal @TheNewDeal
    Follow
    OBAMA:
    8 MIllion Jobs
    44 Months of Job Growth
    GDP: Up
    Dow: Up
    Deficit: Down
    Bin Laden: Dead
    Iraq War: Over
    Obamacare: Law
    #p2 #tcot

    7:54 AM – 26 Nov 2013

  16. rikyrah says:

    While Senator Clinton was beating that drum FOR WAR

    REMEMBER…she has never apologized for voting for the Iraq War

    …………………………

    Talking Points Memo ✔ @TPM Follow

    Report: Kerry began secret back-channel talks with Iran as senator: http://bit.ly/1ic3PxA

    9:41 AM – 26 Nov 2013

  17. rikyrah says:

    gn

    Just sitting here chuckling and watching people spin themselves into contortions in order to feebly try to make the case that FLO isn’t a feminist achievement (and thus naturally we need to seek that achievement in our next POTUS…).

    Everything about Barack and Michelle Obama in the WH underscores what at least have been articulated feminist goals:
    * True marriage partnership in which the wife is neither a harridan caricature nor submissive in any way
    * Wife had a great deal of success in the highest echelons of a male-dominated field: American law
    * Wife was at times the breadwinner of the household
    * Wife most CERTAINLY wields a great deal of authority over the household, and has on a consistent basis
    * Non-stepford children; girls, who are obviously encouraged to develop academic success and independent identities
    * One of husband’s first acts was to sign equal pay legislation and give a terrorist fist bump to Lily Ledbetter
    * Husband is a Nobel Prize winner who demonstrates on a world-wide stage that diplomacy is preferable and sets an example of masculinity which complements rather than dominates the feminine

    I could go on all day. IMO this White House is making hypocrites of some people who claimed to have wanted to see these ideals yet manage to trash them when they come into fruition (wonder why). I couldn’t be more proud of the First Lady; absolutely no one in this country sets a better example for girls than her, not trying to hear suggestions otherwise.

  18. Ametia says:

    Workers Hit Walmart Where It Hurts By Going On Strike Before Thanksgiving
    By: Jason Easleymore from Jason Easley

    Tuesday, November, 26th, 2013, 12:00 pm
    Workers in Washington, DC are hitting Walmart where it hurts by walking off the job in protest of illegal treatment and low wages just days before the Thanksgiving holiday.

    According to Our Walmart, “Walmart workers walked off the job at three Washington DC area stores today, calling on Walmart to end its illegal retaliation against workers calling for better wages and full-time work. Many earning less than $25,000 a year at the country’s largest employer, these workers are risking their livelihoods by striking against an employer that aggressively, and illegally, fires and disciplines workers for speaking out for better jobs.”

    Walmart worker Tiffany Beroid said, “I’m speaking out today because Walmart can afford to do better by its workers. We want to work full time, and earn above the poverty level. And we are taking action today because Walmart needs to publicly commit to ending illegal retaliation against workers and better wages.”

    http://www.politicususa.com/2013/11/26/workers-hit-walmart-hurts-strike-thanksgiving.html

  19. Yahtc says:

  20. Yahtc says:

    From my morning reading:

    >Emmett Till’s lynching represented a huge, unarticulated gulf between blacks and whites. Young whites never had to cope with the horror and shock. That terror could never touch whites the way it did blacks.”

    from
    “The Trouble Between Us: An Uneasy History of White and Black Women in the Feminist Movement”

    • Ametia says:

      The trouble has never been about Black women. We’ve always wanted the same opportunities to work, feed, cloth, educate and house our families, pursue careers,e tc. Is this any different than for any other women of color or white women?

    • Yahtc says:

      Precisely, Ametia.

      The book brings out the legitimate concerns that black women had with the feminist movement.

      Here is the quotation from the cover flaps of the book:

      In “The Trouble Between Us, Winifred Breines explores why a racially integrated women’s liberation movement did not develop in the United States.

      Drawing on flyers, letters, newspapers, journals, institutional records, and oral histories, Breines dissects how white and black women’s participation in the movements of the 1960’s led to the development of separate feminisms. Herself a participant in these events, Breines attempts to reconciled the explicit professions of antiracism by white feminists with the accusations of mistreatment, ignorance, and neglect by African American feminists.

      Many radical white women, unable to see beyond their own experiences and idealism, often behaved in unconsciously racist ways, despite their passionate antiracist stance and hard work to develop an interracial movement.

      As Breines argues, however, white feminists’ racism is not the only reason for the absence of an interracial feminist movement. Segregation, black women’s interest in the Black Power movement, class difference, and the development of identity politics with an emphasis on “difference” were all powerful factors that divided white and black women.

      By the late 1970s and early 1980s white feminists began to understand black feminism’s call to include race and class in gender analyses, and black feminists began to give white feminists some credit for their political work.

      Despite early setbacks, white and black radical feminists eventually developed cross-racial feminist political projects.

      Their struggle to bridge the racial divide provides a model for all Americans in a multiracial society.

  21. Ametia says:

    Here we GO

    The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider a new challenge to President Obama’s Affordable Care Act and decide whether employers with religious objections may refuse to provide their workers with mandated insurance coverage of contraceptives.

    Read more at:
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-steps-into-fight-over-employers-religious-objections-to-birth-control-coverage/2013/11/26/1601b9e2-56bb-11e3-bdbf-097ab2a3dc2b_story.html

  22. rikyrah says:

    ok 3CHICS…were are the gifs for this Kneegrow

    @VibeMagazine [today]
    Kanye West says he and Kim K are more relevant than the President and the First Lady

  23. rikyrah says:

    Folks, I remember Godfather III and the one month Pope.

    Keep Francis in your prayers.

    ………………..

    @ehcsztin
    Pope Francis attacks unfettered capitalism ‘new tyranny’ urges rich people share wealth in 84-page document http://www.breakingnews.com/it… …

  24. Heads up! If you’re BLACK & riding through Jasper Texas, make sure your cell phone is charged & DO NOT be caught walking the roads alone.

    Investigator: Missing Jasper man found dead

    http://www.ktre.com/story/24067661/missing-jasper-man-found-dead

    SABINE COUNTY, TX (KTRE) –
    A man who authorities have been searching for 18 days was found dead Monday afternoon, according to the private investigator hired by the family.

    Investigator Chuck Foreman said the body of Alfred Wright, 28, was found during a ground search conducted by the family, around 4 p.m. He was found with no clothes on, near the same location he went missing, near Coussons Road.

    “The actual last known was right here at this private property where they had hollered at him. So this was the last known. This is where the grid search procedures need to be 100 percent and that’s what we were doing–completing the 100 percent grid search,” Foreman said.

    Foreman said the investigation is now being conducted by the Texas Rangers.

    Sheriff Tom Maddox said he could not confirm if the body was that of Wright’s.

    “There’s a sadness there that has been brought in by the conclusion of this, but we still have not figured out the identity of who it is and so until we do, our investigation still continues,” Maddox said.

    Earlier Monday, Foreman said an investigation showed Wright may have been using a substance known as bath salts for an energy boost.

    Federal court documents discovered Monday night confirmed Foreman’s suspicion, as a report filed with the Sabine County Sheriff’s Office indicates Wright’s wife told deputies Wright may have been using an unknown substance causing him to be paranoid.

    The document was a petition for a warrant for Wright’s arrest, as he had violated his bond conditions.

    Wright was scheduled for a federal trial in Tennessee, on a bank embezzlement charge.

    The federal document contained a restricted narrative submitted by the sheriff’s office. It stated Wright called his wife on Nov. 7 and said he was having car problems and asked that she contact his parents to help him. She then called his parents and asked if they could pick him up from the CL&M Grocery. The narrative states his wife called Wright to confirm his parents were on the way. She said Wright was breathing heavily as if he was running.

    The narrative states Wright’s father arrived at the store and could not find Wright. He then called the sheriff’s office to report Wright as missing.

    The narrative states a clerk fro the store said he saw a man pull into the parking lot at 6 p.m. and walked around the parking lot and talking on his cell phone. He then put the phone in his sock and started down US 87 North.

    On Nov. 8, a K-9 tracking unit located a blue scrub shirt, undershirt tangled up in a barbed-wire fence, a card holder with Wright’s bank and credit cards, one black sock and a pair of blue scrub pants, according to the narrative.

    On Nov. 9, the search resumed with help from the local fire department and volunteers and the search yielded a belt and a piece of Wright’s undershirt near a barbed-wire fence. Wright’s wife confirmed the belt as Wright’s, which he used for his job as a physical therapist, Wright said.

  25. Ametia says:

    Feel better, SG2. <3

    soup-images

  26. Ametia says:

    Here Are All the Weapons Police Found in George Zimmerman’s Florida Residence

    PHOTOS of WEAPONS AND AMMO

    http://www.gennmedia.com/index.php/item/2518-here-are-all-the-weapons-police-found-in-george-zimmerman-s-florida-residence

  27. Ametia says:

    Thought this murdering MOFO was not to have guns in his possession

    Search in George Zimmerman case turns up weapons, ammunitionFrom John Couwels, CNN
    November 25, 2013 — Updated 2342 GMT (0742 HKT)

    CNN) — A recent search of the home of George Zimmerman’s girlfriend uncovered five weapons, including an AR-15, and more than 100 rounds of ammunition, court documents filed Monday show.

    Zimmerman, acquitted in the death of Trayvon Martin this year, was arrested last week at the home, which he shares with his girlfriend, on suspicion of his having pointed a shotgun at her.

    He was released on bail and has entered a plea of not guilty.

    A search of the home turned up three handguns, a 12-gauge shotgun, a rifle and 106 rounds of ammunition, including two AR-15 magazines, according to a search warrant.

    Three handgun holsters, a pack of gum, a religious pendant, a flashlight, a pocket knife, sanitizing wipe, a soft-sided gun case and a combination lock were also recovered during the search.

    At the time of his arrest, Zimmerman had two cell phones. An affidavit, filed Monday, says he told authorities he recorded the altercation with his girlfriend on his cell phone.

    The Florida judge that set his bail put numerous conditions on it:

    — Zimmerman cannot go to two Florida addresses.
    — He cannot have contact with the accuser, Samantha Scheibe.
    — He cannot possess weapons.
    — He must wear a monitoring device.
    — He cannot travel outside Florida.

    http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/25/us/florida-george-zimmerman-evidence/index.html

  28. Ametia says:

    10 Questions Every Liberal Should Ask Every Republican

    When it comes to politics, I think most people have a love/hate relationship. When people ask me what I do, one of the followup questions I get asked quite often is, “Isn’t that incredibly frustrating?” And the answer is yes, it is.

    Politics might be one of the few areas I know of where facts, reality and history can suddenly be subjective. I honestly never thought I’d live in a day and age where climate change would be something millions of people suddenly doubted. All because a few rich tycoons decided to lobby a political party in the United States to perpetuate the idea that the science behind climate change was some big liberal conspiracy.

    SNIP

    So here are 10 questions (though there are many more) I like to ask Republicans that they often seem unable to answer.

    http://www.forwardprogressives.com/10-questions-every-liberal-should-ask-every-republican/

  29. Ametia says:

    Ava DuVernay’s Episode Of “Scandal” Starts Off With A Scream

    The award-winning filmmaker on executing Shonda Rhimes’ vision, becoming the next Mark Wahlberg, and all the black women filmmakers you’re not paying attention to.posted on November 21, 2013 at 9:59am EST

    Ava DuVernay is tucked in her car, having pulled over to answer my questions safely. She has just returned to Los Angeles from Oakland, where she moderated a panel with Alice Walker and filmmaker Pratibha Parmar.

    She briefly took a call from her editor during our interview — and that conversation reminded her of her own writing process, which she admitted she hates.

    “When you’re doing something that you really don’t want to do, you find any excuse to do something else,” she said. “Yesterday, I was in the middle of writing, and I looked up, and I was like, Oh, I need to clean that vent. And I actually got up, got a step ladder, and cleaned the vent as opposed to write in that moment.”

    Still, DuVernay hadn’t made it home from the airport yet, and was already working — a testament to the ethic that drove her to write and direct two critically acclaimed independent films in two years.

    In 2011, her first feature film, I Will Follow, drew praise, including that of legendary film critic Roger Ebert. In 2012, she became the first African-American to win the Directing Award at Sundance Film Festival for her second feature, Middle of Nowhere.

    http://www.buzzfeed.com/tnwhiskeywoman/ava-duvernay-is-used-to-being-her-own-shonda-rhimes

  30. rikyrah says:

    NYT: In the Health Law, an Open Door for Entrepreneurs

    In the weeks since the health insurance marketplaces of the Affordable Care Act went online, a well-publicized ripple of alarm and confusion has permeated the ranks of small-business owners. But less well known is the response of another contingent: newcomers to entrepreneurship who see the legislation as a solution to the often insurmountable expense of getting health insurance. Some even view the Affordable Care Act itself as a business opportunity.

    The hopeful include founders of start-ups who otherwise wouldn’t have access to affordable health insurance — people like Rajeev Jeyakumar, a co-founder of Skillbridge, a Manhattan-based online job marketplace for business consultants.

    Mr. Jeyakumar is uninsured. But unlike many people who were thwarted by the government’s faulty health care website, he was able to sign up for individual coverage three weeks ago. He will pay just $74 a month, after tax credits, for his new plan through the New York State exchange.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/business/in-the-health-law-an-open-door-for-entrepreneurs.html?_r=2&amp;

  31. rikyrah says:

    John Boehner’s Socialism: Taxpayers Pay 75% of His Premiums and His Wife is On Medicare
    By: Sarah Jones more from Sarah Jones
    Monday, November, 25th, 2013, 2:58 pm

    “Next year Mrs. Boehner will be on Medicare.” This news was brought to you by Michael Hiltzik at the LA Times, in the midst of his fact-checking of John Boehner’s claims to be paying tons more money post-ObamaCare (shockingly a lie).

    Also, “Boehner’s premiums are partially covered by his employer, the federal government, which pays up to 75% of employee premiums, up to a cap of $426.14 a month (for 2014).” This is confirmed by Factcheck.Org, which finds that the government pays on average 72% and up to 75%.

    Not only do we, the taxpayers, fund 75% of Boehner’s premiums, but his wife is going on Medicare.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2013/11/25/tax-payers-fund-75-john-boehners-premiums-wife-medicare.html

  32. Yahtc says:

    Allentown confirms first minority police chief
    Joel F. Fitzgerald Sr., Mayor Pawlowski’s nominee, is unanimous choice of City Council.

    http://articles.mcall.com/2013-11-20/news/mc-allentown-police-chief-vote-20131120_1_strategic-policy-partnership-police-chief-vice-president-ray-o-connell

  33. rikyrah says:

    Carl Bidleman @carlbidleman
    Follow
    @jonfavs Got your distraction right here, GOP! ACA saving me $8,232 in ’14 for a better plan than I have now. Same company. No subsidy.

    5:21 PM – 25 Nov 2013

  34. rikyrah says:

    Charles Pierce:

    http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/iran-nuclear-programs-deal-112513

    I am a simple man. Years ago, I made it a policy of mine that I would approve of any deal with Iran so long as it didn’t involve selling missiles to the mullahs. I developed this policy in January of 1981, when I was in Washington covering the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan, and the Iranians, in one last attempt to stick it to Jimmy Carter, refused to release the remaining American hostages until Reagan had taken office Almost immediately, the propagandists in the employ of the new president
    started floating to a credulous media that the Iranians had done so
    because they were terrified of the awesome awesomeness of Ronald Reagan.
    Turns out, of course, that they did it in exchange for Reagan’s
    unfreezing their American assets and also because Reagan’s people opened
    up a yard sale at the Pentagon where the Iranians could get good deals
    on TOW missiles. Ronald Reagan, as we all know, would never negotiate
    with — let alone sell weapons to — nations that sponsored terrorism.
    That is why Ronald Reagan was a great man who has many large and ugly
    buildings named after him…

    …………..

    Consequently, I am very happy with the deal struck over the weekend between certain western powers and Iran as regards the latter’s nuclear programs. Nobody is selling weapons to a country that sponsored the killing of our Marines. (Also, nobody is flying around the world acting like a jackass carrying a Bible and a cake shaped like a key. Bonus!) To me, this makes this a good deal, but the bar is obviously set pretty low. Call it the Ollie North Meridian. Also, consequently, I am less than saddened by the howling of the Republicans, especially those who were old enough to have been around when Reagan and his people sold those missiles and who never have purged their party’s foreign-policy establishment of the people who thought it was a swell idea. (The Bush State Department, especially the parts of it that dealt with Central America and the Middle East, was like an Iran-Contra Old-Timers Game. Recall especially that the egregious “minority report” of the congressional Iran-Contra investigation — the report that pretty much argued that Reagan could’ve sold the missiles to Khomeini personally — was written by a rising young authoritarian lycanthrope named Richard Cheney.) Nor am I particularly saddened by the various Democrats — Chuck Schumer, come on down! — who are posturing for the cameras. Suffice it to say I never really cared what Bibi Netanyahu’s opinion was on anything.

    • Ametia says:

      At least Maya’s honest about her support of Hillary and how she backed down and supported PBO’ once Hillary backed out of the 2008 presidential race.

  35. rikyrah says:

    Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
    Follow
    These Californians are ecstatic their crappy insurance is canceled because under #ObamaCare they get better coverage. http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/11/26/246798207/these-californians-greeted-canceled-health-plans-with-smiles

    8:02 AM – 26 Nov 2013

  36. rikyrah says:

    Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
    Follow
    The pundits won’t tell you, but these #ObamaCare success stories are why Pres. Obama fought hard for the law. http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-obamacare-success-20131125,0,1801769.story#axzz2lfQJeiCY

    8:09 AM – 26 Nov 2013

  37. rikyrah says:

    Obama Brilliantly Turns an Immigration Heckler Into a Triumph of Free Speech
    By: Jason Easley
    Monday, November, 25th, 2013, 5:49 pm

    President Obama demonstrated what free speech is all about today by refusing to throw a heckler out, and discussing the issue of deportations with him during his speech in San Francisco.

    The president didn’t have the heckler removed. He didn’t insult or try to humiliate the heckler. Instead, he listened and had a dialogue about his concerns. The president also made an important point during the conversation.

    He can’t wave a magic wand and stop the deportations. It will take comprehensive immigration reform to change our system. Even if Obama could magically stop the deportations, is that the way we want our country to be governed?

    If President Obama stopped the deportations, there would be nothing to stop the next president from reversing his policy and adopting a harsher policy. The way to get lasting change is to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill through Congress.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2013/11/25/obama-brilliantly-turns-immigration-heckler-triumph-free-speech.html

    • Ametia says:

      “The way to get lasting change is to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill through Congress.”

      WOW! Sounds like a job for CONGRESS, huh?

  38. rikyrah says:

    Militia Uses Jesus and The 2nd Amendment to Justify Threatening President Obama’s Life
    By: Rmuse
    Monday, November, 25th, 2013, 7:29 pm

    Reading comprehension is defined as the level of understanding of a text that comes from the interaction between the words that are written and how they trigger knowledge outside the text. There are two specific groups in America that are woefully deficient at reading comprehension, and it does not relate to academia or the nation’s education system. It is likely that the two groups, entirely made up of adults, are literate enough to read and understand simple text, but their dysfunctional ideology, inherent ignorance of American history, and twisted interpretation of their religion puts them in a class of human beings suffering “pathologic psychopathy.”

    Psychopathy is defined as a mental disorder characterized by enduring antisocial behavior, a diminished capacity for empathy or remorse, and poor behavioral controls or fearless dominance. It is safe to say extremists adhering to fundamentalism, at extreme levels, are inherently psychopathic, but particularly when their fundamentalism leads them to violent tendencies that threaten society. Christian fundamentalists and firearm fanatics are each a threat to society in their own right, but when combined into one group they pose a serious threat to America.

    A week ago on the day seditionist Larry Klayman launched a treasonous plot to overthrow President Obama, declare independence from America, and demanded President Obama “get off his knees, put down the Quran, and come out with hands raised” to be taken to prison, a Christian teabagger summoned fellow “Christians” to kill President Obama. Klayman predicted his rally would garner millions of “like-minded Christian patriots” to demand the President surrender and leave Washington, but only about 100 Christian patriots attended. However, he did accomplish one of his seditious goals and incited the call to Christian teabaggers to kill the President.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2013/11/25/militia-threatens-presidents-life-justify-murdering-obama.html

  39. rikyrah says:

    SCOTUS to Decide in 2014 If It Will Continue to Confer Personhood Rights on Corporations
    By: Becky Sarwate more from Becky Sarwate
    Monday, November, 25th, 2013, 9:17 pm

    In September 2009, the right-leaning Supreme Court of the United States rendered the controversial Citizens United decision. In its judgment, the SCOTUS determined that “Political spending is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment, and the government may not keep corporations or unions from spending money to support or denounce individual candidates in elections.” In other words, business entities were conferred the same First Amendment rights that you or I would have with regard to promoting or disparaging our chosen candidates. With its decision, the Supreme Court willfully opted to ignore two essential differences:
    1.Corporations lack two feet and a heartbeat.
    2.Regular folks typically do not have access to the same millions (or billions) that a company desiring to wade into politics can leverage, rendering the playing field inherently unequal.

    Legitimate fears that the nation was on a slippery legal slope that would eventually confer full personhood on corporate entities commenced. Independent Bloomberg editors ran a piece in June of 2012 entitled, The Supreme Court’s Cowardice. The writers pointedly concluded: “The First Amendment ain’t beanbag. What undermines the ruling’s legitimacy is its flights of fancy about the world of political finance. In an assertion of shocking naivete, Kennedy, writing for the court’s 5-4 majority, said corporate independent campaign expenditures ‘do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.’”

    Well said. But as we approach the end of 2013, it seems that Court may decide to undertake another key case in the New Year that will provide it with an opportunity to reverse its gradual and unconscionable determination that the Bill of Rights extends to DBAs. Alternatively, as many liberals and independents justifiably fret, SCOTUS may instead cement corporate claims to privileges and rights historically reserved for people by taking another look at the First Amendment. Only this time, the Supreme Court may weigh-in on a company’s freedom of religious practice.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2013/11/25/scotus-decide-2014-continue-confer-personhood-rights-corporations.html

  40. rikyrah says:

    The Religious Right With Their Weaponized Jesus Are Not Christians
    By: Hrafnkell Haraldsson more from Hrafnkell Haraldsson
    Tuesday, November, 26th, 2013, 7:28 am

    It is instructive that Lieutenant General William G. “Jerry” Boykin (retired), who now works as the Family Research Council’s executive vice president, cares more about what Jesus looked like than what Jesus taught.

    Boykin, another one of those who says Islam is not entitled to First Amendment protections, and thinks God, not the American people, chooses our presidents, told the audience of a Men’s Prayer Breakfast at William Jessup University, that,

    [Jesus] was a man. He was a man’s man, but we feminized him in the church…he was a tough guy and that’s the Jesus that I want to be like. That’s the side that I want to be like. But we’ve feminized Jesus in the church and the men can’t identify with him anymore; not the kind of men that I want to hang out with, they can’t identify with this effeminate Jesus that we’ve tried to portray. He was a tough guy. He was a man’s man.

    For Boykin it was bromance at first sight and perhaps a wee bit of latent homosexuality as he waxed over Jesus’ “big, bulging biceps…thin waist” and “strong shoulders” (Who knew Jesus was the Marlboro man?).

    Boykin’s accidental outing of himself aside, we don’t know what Jesus actually looked like. But we do know that he was not the strangely Germanic blond guy of popular imagination. He was a dark-skinned Semite:

    http://www.politicususa.com/2013/11/26/religious-weaponized-jesus-christians.html

  41. rikyrah says:

    The President of Peace
    Monday, November 25, 2013 | Posted by Spandan C at 5:20 PM

    I know I have been absent from the blogging scene, but today is a fantastic day to return. It’s a good day because of what happened over the weekend – President Obama, one more time, has proven to be the anti-Reagan. From the moment he took office, this president has been enamored with accusations of weakness from the Right and warmongering from the Left when it came to international affairs. From the media, the accusations have been alternating between the two, with seemingly no hint of irony.

    But it has been this president who has been the most effective advocate of peace on the world stage of any American president since John F. Kennedy. President Obama has ended two wars started by his predecessors, disarmed Syria of its chemical weapons without firing a single shot (even if no one in the media noticed, it did happen), and now is poised to permanently keep Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon. In the agreement unveiled over the weekend, it seems that President Obama, Secretary Kerry and their team has had yet another major Middle-East breakthrough:

    •Iran will stop enriching uranium beyond 5%, and “neutralise” its stockpile of uranium enriched beyond this point
    •Iran will give greater access to inspectors including daily access at Natanz and Fordo nuclear sites
    •There will be no further development of the Arak plant which it is believed could produce plutonium
    •In return, there will be no new nuclear-related sanctions for six months if Iran sticks by the accord
    •Iran will also receive sanctions relief worth about $7bn (£4.3bn) on sectors including precious metals

    Not only has Iran agreed to give international inspectors access to ensure that they are complying with this agreement, according to the White House, Iran has also agreed to nutralize all of its weapons grade uranium.

    For the longest time, American presidents and politcians postured and positioned about Iran and the threat a potentially nuclear Iran would pose to Israel, the United States, and our allies in the region, as well as how it would alter the balance of power. Barack Obama’s first presidential opponent, Senator McCain personified the neo-con crowd by singing about bombing Iran in his faltering presidential campaign, and then-Senator Obama’s Democratic opponents in the primary mocked him for being willing to talk to Iran without preconditions. War without preconditions, they did not seem to have a problem with.

    http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2013/11/the-president-of-peace.html

  42. Yahtc says:

    CRM-unnamed

    CRM-2-unnamed

    On this day, November 26, in 1962…….from wire photo:

    Newpaper article attached to back of photo:

    Robert Talbert, 21, of Jackson, ducks away from the fist of Jerry Wayne Fitzgerald, 18, of Nashville, during a sit-in demonstration at a Nashville drug store.

    Both were arrested by police on disorderly conduct charges and released on $25 bonds.

    Demonstrations were held at seven downtown eating places and drew hundreds of spectators. (AP)

    • Yahtc says:

      Of course, you can see from the photo that Robert Talbert should NOT have been arrested for disorderly conduct.

      Jerry Wayne Fitzgerald should have been arrested for assault!

      UNequal justice!

  43. rikyrah says:

    Eric Boehlert @EricBoehlert

    Michelle Obama, “Feminist Nightmare”? How Lazy @Politico Journalism Hurts Feminism; http://bit.ly/184LFnI

    KSK(africa) @lawalazu
    Follow
    @EricBoehlert @politico When blah women put motherhood first, it is a sin. Kills feminism.

    7:46 AM – 26 Nov 2013

  44. rikyrah says:

    In case you missed it…

    Hope that it gets posted:

    Michelle Obama, ‘feminist nightmare’?

    Lawrence O’Donnell, Nia-Malika Henderson and Zerlina Maxwell discuss Michelle Cottle’s controversial Politico magazine piece on the first lady.

    http://on.msnbc.com/1cM4grx

  45. rikyrah says:

    This week’s choice takes me back….

    I was that young girl who saw Dirty Dancing at least a half dozen times when it was in the movie theater.

    LOVED LOVED LOVED Dirty Dancing

    • Yahtc says:

      Beautiful music!

    • Ametia says:

      Me too, Rikyrah. And I passed on the torch to my two daughters. They can recite the script verbatim. LOL If it’s one thing I wanted them to learn from that movie, besides the dancing, because they both took dance lessons is NOT to let anyone…

      PUT THEM IN A CORNER….

  46. Ametia says:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A8TiUpKDVg

    I’m wondering if the hecklers have talked down his/her local representatives to get the job of immigration reform done.

  47. Yahtc says:

    Lillie Mae Carstarphen
    Date: Nov. 14, 2008
    Interviewers: Rebecca, Phylicia, Sarah and Byron, with Ty and Keveyotta, Vickie Malone and Howard Levin
    Location: At her home in McComb, Mississippi

    Ms. Carstarphen directly participated in civil rights actions in McComb, Mississippi in the early 1960’s voting rights drive. A more comprehensive summary of Mrs. Carstarphen’s story will be written by McComb students in the near future.

    You can go to the following link and listen to her 4 part interview:

    http://www.tellingstories.org/mccomb/fullmovies/lillie-mae-carstaphen/index.html

  48. Ametia says:

    Good Morning, Dirty Dancers! :-))

    Hungry EYES, one look at you and I can’t diguise my hungry eyes.

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