“Silent Night” (German: “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht”) is a popular Christmas carol. The original lyrics of the song “Stille Nacht” were written in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria, by the priest Father Joseph Mohr and the melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz Xaver Gruber. In 1859, John Freeman Young (second Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Florida) published the English translation that is most frequently sung today.[1] The version of the melody that is generally sung today differs slightly (particularly in the final strain) from Gruber’s original, which was a sprightly, dance-like tune in 6/8 time, as opposed to the slow, meditative lullaby version generally sung today. Today, the lyrics and melody are in the public domain.
Mariah, Nick and ‘Dem Babies’ in Aspen…
http://theybf.com/2013/12/24/spotted-mariah-carey-nick-cannon-taking-dem-babies-on-a-stroll-through-aspen-co
Steve McQueen and Henry Louis Gates Jr. Talk 12 Years a Slave
Part 1: The director of the gripping slavery narrative tells The Root how President Obama’s influence was instrumental in its very creation.
When the creators of a drama that would bring Solomon Northup’s 12 Years a Slave to the big screen needed a historical consultant, Henry Louis Gates Jr., who edited a recent edition of the memoir, was a natural choice.
Gates, a Harvard history scholar, producer of PBS’s African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross and editor-in-chief of The Root, read the script and offered notes on the accuracy of the film’s unflinching depiction of the story of a man who was sold into slavery in 1841 and forced to work on a Louisiana plantation.
Directed by Steve McQueen, with an adapted screenplay by John Ridley, the movie premiered in the U.S. in August at the Telluride Film Festival. Since opening in limited release in October and wide release in November, it has enjoyed box office success and become a consensus front-runner in the race for best picture at the Academy Awards.
Now Gates turns from consultant to interviewer, probing McQueen about his intentions, as well as his experiences and lessons learned, in making the gripping film.
In part 1 of the conversation, the two discuss Pan-African diversity among cast members and the unexpected role that President Barack Obama played in exposing the nation to Northup’s story.
Henry Louis Gates Jr: How did you discover the Solomon Northup story?
Steve McQueen: What happened was that, from the beginning, I wanted to tell a story about slavery. I just felt there was a hole in the canon of cinema. Also, I sometimes feel that slavery has disappeared from the discussion, that it’s not looked at in a way that it is deemed important. I wanted to take a look again, and I had an idea of a free man—a free African American who gets kidnapped into slavery, and that’s where I got stuck. After that, I met John Ridley and had a conversation with him about this original idea, but things weren’t going so well … That’s when my wife said to me, “Why don’t you look into firsthand accounts of slavery?”
HLG: So we have your wife to thank?
SM: Yes. With 12 Years a Slave, every page was a revelation. When I first read it, I felt so angry and upset with myself. Why didn’t I know this book? Then I realized no one I knew knew this book. I had to make this into a film. So it became my passion.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2013/12/_12_years_a_slave_henry_louis_gates_jr_interviews_director_steve_mcqueen.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content&mc_cid=1dddf2f23b&mc_eid=1e0cf17cc4
finished all my prep for tomorrow’s meal.
and, I just put out cookies and milk for Santa.
Merry Christmas, Everyone :)
Whatever you celebrate, be happy tomorrow…and may your day be peaceful.
Hey everyone at 3CHICS!!
I had to work today, but now I’m home and doing the prep work for tomorrow’s meal.
Can’t wait.
I like Josh Groban’s O Holy Night but I like Christina’s too.
Christina Aguilera – O Holy Night
Merry Christmas 3Chics,
Eat drink and be merry. Safe travels to all.
Merry Christmas to you and your family, Tyren. May it be blessed. I hope your daughter is FILLED with delight.
Children of Innocence:
May the adults of the world
Nurture you in Faith and Hope
Love and Kindness
Peace and Joy.
May you reach out to each other
In Appreciation of your Diversity
In Respect for your Cultures
In Caring for your Needs.
May you walk together
In Peace.
May your future witness
Bells that ring out in Justice and Equality
In Freedom and Charity
In lasting Peace and Friendship.
May adults prepare your world
By laying down weapons
And reaching out in Trust and Love
In Harmony and Reconciliation.
I’m taking a break from cooking…
The greens aren’t even on yet.
Hello!
Anyone home? Where is everyone?
Rikyrah, did you and Peanut go eat Chicken Pot Pie today?
Hello, SG2,
Are you ready for Christmas? What’s on the menu?
Hi Liza!
I’m getting there. Just cooking away. I am about to put my Turkey in the oven in a bit. I want things ready tonight. I have guests coming in from Dallas.
We’re having Turkey and Dressing, Honey baked ham, mashed potatoes, potato salad, broccoli and rice casserole, mustard greens, candied yams, pasta salad, mac and cheese, rolls with Dr Pepper! :)
I don’t bake sweets. I buy them. I bough a sweet potato pie and peach pie. My daughter is bringing a pecan pie and my husband just left to go buy some cakes, crown royal and tequila. We’re gonna make some margaritas. LOL! It’s for my guests. I’ll make banana pudding a little later on. I’m going to have a house full. My kids are spending the night. I’m loving it.
That menu sounds soooo good. You really enjoy Christmas and I think that people have caught the Christmas spirit from you.
I hope that ya’ll have a wonderful day, I know you will. Feliz Navidad!
Feliz Navidad, Liza! May your Christmas be delightful for you and your family. Enjoy and stay safe!
TY :)
Good Morning, Everyone! Christmas Eve. I’m heading to IA this morning. It’s a sunny morn. We’re trying to get a head start before the snow come this afternoon.
Enjoy your day. :-)
They want into the grift. Saw Rove con folks outta $300 million AND have no results..
AND still getting checks?
Folks are like, shiiiiiittttt, I want some of THAT grift.
………………………….
Upstart Groups Challenge Rove for G.O.P. Cash
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE
Published: December 23, 2013
A quiet but intense struggle over money and influence is roiling the Republican Party just as the 2014 election season is getting underway.
At least a dozen “super PACs” are setting up to back individual Republican candidates for the United States Senate, challenging the strategic and financial dominance that Karl Rove and the group he co-founded, American Crossroads, have enjoyed ever since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010 cleared the way for unlimited independent spending.
In wooing donors, the new groups — in states like Texas, Iowa, West Virginia and Louisiana — are exploiting Crossroads’ poor showing in 2012, when $300 million spent by the super PAC and a sister nonprofit group yielded few victories. Some are suggesting that Crossroads’ deep ties to the Republican establishment and recent clashes with conservative activists are a potential liability for Republican incumbents facing Tea Party challengers.
“Certainly I think there’s a level of frustration with the state of things in D.C.,” said Randy Cubriel, an Austin lobbyist who formed Texans for a Conservative Majority, a new super PAC, to back Senator John Cornyn. Earlier this year, the group reported raising $2 million from the Texas homebuilder Bob J. Perry, one of Crossroads’ top donors during the 2012 cycle, who died in April.
“I think a group like ours, coming from the state, is probably a little more effective than some of the national groups,” Mr. Cubriel said. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all thing.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/24/us/politics/upstart-groups-challenge-rove-for-gop-cash.html?_r=0
Cracker Barrel Caves to Duck Dynasty Conservative Racism and Bigotry
By: Sarah Jones
Monday, December, 23rd, 2013, 7:48 pm
Cracker Barrel is going the route of Chick-fil-a, specializing in serving bigots and/or racists – aka, the “conservative” crowd.
Cracker Barrel took back their distancing from Phil Robertson already. The company announced 2 days ago that they would pull Duck Dynasty items off of their shelves after Phil Robertson shared his conservative bigotry and racism with the world.
But Cracker Barrel posted to their Facebook Page that they were reversing their decision, because they support everyone’s right to express their beliefs:
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/12/23/cracker-barrel-caves-duck-dynasty-conservative-racism-bigotry.html
https://twitter.com/BjaminWood/status/415201679705767936/photo/1
Rev. AL:Why we need to ‘chase solutions’
http://www.msnbc.com/politicsnation/watch/why-we-need-to-chase-solutions-97550915734
Positive Black Male News: Detroit mailman saves family’s burning home, continues on delivery route
By Randy Wimbley, Fox 2 News
He won’t admit it but one Detroit neighborhood mailman is a hero now. “I wouldn’t say a hero,” Darrian Crutcher says, hoping to set the record straight. But others see it differently.
Tuesday morning Detroit firefighters responded to a house fire on Stansbury Street. When they arrived they found Crutcher upstairs putting the fire out with the home’s garden hose.
The homeowner, Carolyn Patterson, lit incense and that’s believed to have started the fire.
“It was a blessing for me to be at that spot at that particular time,” Crutcher says. His quick thinking saved Patterson’s home and, possibly, her life.
“It really was burning,” Patterson tells Fox 2′s Randy Wimbley.
Crutcher tells us he got the hose from the side of the house, took it inside and hooked it up there and began to fight the fire.
“He was spraying [the fire] down and everything and knocked [the fire] down quite a bit,” Patterson says. “I think this room probably would’ve burned up. I really do,” she continues.
Firefighters applaud Crutcher’s job. “He did great! I asked him after it was over, I said, ‘Hey man, you should come join us! We’re hiring right now!’” David Weems of the Detroit Fire Department tells us.
Crutcher stayed on the job until firefighters arrived. When they did he just went back about his business, not even pausing to take a break or get a drink of water.
“I said, ‘Ok, they there. The real firemen is here now so I can go ahead and do my job,’” Crutcher says.
“It’s great just to see citizens just stopping to do the good – the good of man,” Weems says.
Wimbley asked Crutcher if, at any point, he thought, ‘Why am I doing this? This isn’t my job.’
Crutcher responded: “No I didn’t think that. I just seen a lady in the house and a young kid outside. I just go in and do it. I know if I … if somebody seen me like that I wish they would do me like that, too.”
http://theblackmancan.org/2013/11/06/positive-black-male-news-detroit-mailman-saves-familys-burning-home-continues-on-delivery-route/
Recent UMass Boston study confirms every bad thing you ever suspected about Voter ID Laws.
States which passed the legislation in 2011 were likely to have:
– Republicans in control of both the state legislature and the governorship
– Strong probabilities of being a swing state in 2012
– Minority turnout which was higher in 2008, with high proportions of African American voters
– Larger numbers of allegations of fraud in 2004, though these had “much smaller substantive impact, relative to partisan and racial factors
http://www.salon.com/2013/12/21/study_confirms_every_bad_thing_you_suspected_about_voter_id_laws_partner/
Papers show Koch money behind economic study
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/papers-show-koch-money-behind-economic-study-99094595763
Rev. Al featured the story of Mr. and Mrs. Gantt. She is the 95 y.o. widow who accepted the remains of her beloved 63 years after he was MIA in Korea. What a story.
Here is the video :
http://www.msnbc.com/politicsnation/watch/war-widow-finally-gets-her-closure-99005507724
Alan Turing, father of computer science, gets posthumous royal pardon 59 years after his suicide by poisoning.
His crime? Being gay. His punishment? Chemical castration in lieu of imprisonment.
His service to his country? Cracked the German naval Enigma code during WWII.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/10536246/Alan-Turing-granted-Royal-pardon-by-the-Queen.html
NYPD Officer Pleads Guilty To Wrongful Stop-And-Frisk
Jasper Boyd was on his way to pick up his seven-year-old son from school when New York Police Department Officer Wilson Gonzalez stopped him for walking quickly in and out of a building. When questioned by Gonzalez, Boyd said he had just gone inside to get his umbrella because it was raining.That was enough to prompt Gonzalez to ask Boyd for his identification, saying he wanted to see if there were any outstanding warrants for his arrest.
When Boyd objected, Gonzales began to frisk him, and issued a summons for disorderly conduct, the catch-all that is often used to criminalize uncooperative behavior.[….] Under new stop-and-frisk reforms that enable the city’s Civilian Complaint Review Board to prosecute stop-and-frisk claims, Gonzalez pleaded guilty both to a wrongful stop-and-frisk, and to writing the summons without sufficient legal authority, according to the New York Daily News. The punishment is 15 days without pay.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/12/23/3102131/nypd-officer-pleads-guilty-wrongful-stop-frisk/
Program Allows Cabbies To Drive Home Your Car
The New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers on Sunday announced a program in which taxi drivers will make sure both you and your car get home safely if you’ve had too many drinks. Under the program, two taxi drivers are dispatched to the passenger’s location after a night of drinking. One of the drivers will drive the passenger’s car home, while the other will follow in a taxi.[….]
The price is double whatever the normal cab fare would be, he said.
“If your cab ride would cost, let’s say, $30, now it’s going to cost you $60. If your cab ride would normally cost you $50, now it’s going to cost you $100,” Mateo said. “But it’s certainly a lot less than a $165 parking ticket that you would get in the city.”
The pilot program, called “Operation Red Nose,” began on Sunday and will run until New Year’s Day. It could continue permanently if the program is successful. Those who wish to participate should call (212) 926-1111 and tell the operator they want to do “Operation Red Nose,” Mateo said.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/12/22/program-allows-cabbies-to-drive-revelers-home-in-own-cars/
http://youtu.be/OFiMaqHKzMA
LOKI! I love it.
Walmart Gets Busted Forcing Employees to Make Political Contributions to Republicans
By: Jason Easley
Monday, December, 23rd, 2013, 5:01 pm
If underpaying their employees wasn’t bad enough, Walmart has now been caught forcing employees to make political contributions in exchange for their matching contributions to the employee hardship fund.
The problem is that since 2000, 69% of Walmart PAC’s and the Walton family’s political donations have gone to anti-gay, anti-environment, pro-gun, pro-business conservatives like Cruz and Boehner.
In response, the group Our Walmart released a statement from Walmart employee Barbara Gertz,”What Walmart workers really want is for the company to publicly commit to pay better wages and provide steady hours that let us support our families. Many of us can’t pay for groceries or afford rent. Today’s news is further proof that Walmart is determined to spend millions to support politicians who vote to cut food stamps and who oppose increasing the minimum wage, instead of focusing on creating good jobs in our communities. It’s upsetting to hear that Walmart not only exploited the associates in critical need fund to push a political agenda that hurts ordinary Americans, but it also may have done so in violation of federal election laws. This is just the latest example of Walmart acting as though it’s above the law.”
FEC commissioners are deadlocked on whether the practice is illegal or not, but Walmart’s practice of offering 2 to 1 charity donations in exchange for employee donations has caused current and former FEC commissioners to call the practice illegal and over the line.
Walmart is essentially forcing employees to make a political contribution in order to get hardship assistance for their fellow workers who are destitute because of the company’s practice of paying starvation wages. These employees aren’t just making political contributions, but most of the donations are being given to candidates who are opposed to policies like increasing the minimum wage, unionization, and better working conditions.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/12/23/walmart-busted-forcing-employees-political-contributions-republicans.html
Federal civilian workers are about to get a 1 percent pay increase — their first since 2010.
President Barack Obama issued an executive order granting the wage increases, effective January 1. Congress last week approved a one percent hike for the military. And the president’s executive order implements that increase, as well.
For 2013, the president had called for a 0.5 percent pay raise for federal workers, but Congress rejected it. This time, Congress
took no action to block the president’s proposed 1 percent pay
increase, allowing the president to grant it for the New Year.[….]
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/12/fed_civilian_workers_about_to.html#incart_river_default
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Morning, all!
I’m getting a late start in everything. It’s going to be a long day. Lots of cooking to do.
Deniece Williams singing in this video:
Timestamp 3:46 – “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”
Timestamp 5:51 – “What Child is This”
Timestamp 8:00 – “Noel”
Wishing all of you joy, love, and peace!