En Vogue is an American female R&B[1] vocal group from Oakland, California assembled by music producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy.[2]
The group has won more MTV Video Music Awards than any other female group in MTV history, a total of seven, along with four Soul Train Awards, six American Music Awards, and seven Grammy nominations. According to Billboard Magazine they were the 18th most successful act of the 1990s, and one of the most popular and successful female groups of all time.[3] En Vogue have accumulated over 2,800 weeks on various Billboard charts.[4]
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WTH was he doing with a gun inside of a movie theater? He kills a man over texting? He was looking for trouble and felt big with that gun. WTFF is wrong down in Florida!
https://twitter.com/JohnFugelsang/status/422815810709516290/photo/1
Ashlee Simpson Engaged To Evan Ross: See The Ring
Singer confirmed she and her ‘baby love’ are ready to tie the knot.
By Emily Blake
Looks like Ashlee Simpson has found love again.
Two years after a very public divorce from ex-husband and Fall Out Boy frontman Pete Wentz, the “Pieces of Me” singer confirmed on Monday (January 13) that she and boyfriend and “baby love” Evan Ross are tying the knot.
“My baby love and I are ENGAGED!!! Hallelujah Hawaii !!!!!” Simpson wrote, sharing a photo of the two of them and what looks to be a very heavy ring on her left hand.
https://twitter.com/ashleesimpson/status/422890145121984512/photo/1
Morning Plum: Republicans all over the map on jobless benefits
By Greg Sargent
January 13 at 9:12 am
With a crucial Senate vote set for today on the Democratic plan to extend jobless benefits, Republicans continue to offer one reason after another for opposing the extension. At this point, their rationales are all over the place.
Oddly, though, it has fallen to a Republican Senator to reveal just how flimsy GOP reasoning on the issue has become. On Face the Nation yesterday, Marco Rubio declared that there is a “general consensus” that jobless benefits should be extended. If true, this is certainly welcome news. But note how Rubio said this. Asked by CBS’s Bob Schieffer if there is any way Congress might pass an extension, the Senator said:
Elsewhere in the same interview, Rubio, speaking in general about federal anti-poverty programs, said: “As far as the war on poverty is concerned, its programs have utility; they do help alleviate the consequences of poverty, but they don’t help people to emerge from that poverty.”
Taken together, these statements are useful additions to the debate. Their logical implication is that even if you think programs like UI need to be overhauled for the good of poor people themselves, that still isn’t an argument against extending UI right now. After all, programs like these “help alleviate poverty” in the short term. Those who care about helping poor Americans should support a temporary extension — to alleviate short-term economic suffering – while eying broader reforms for later.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/01/13/morning-plum-republicans-all-over-the-map-on-jobless-benefits/
https://twitter.com/metaquest/status/422860057575817217/photo/1
https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/422866883784613888/photo/1
igorvolsky @igorvolsky
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New Obamacare numbers: 2.2M in private coverage 30% ages 0-34; 24% ages 18-34 (enrollment for this group increased 8x in Dec!)
3:00 PM – 13 Jan 2014
https://twitter.com/YI_Care/status/422841981119655936/photo/1
Dems call GOP bluff on jobless benefits
By Greg Sargent
January 10 at 2:05 pm
Harry Reid is now set to allow votes on a “reasonable number” of amendments to legislation extending unemployment benefits that GOP Senators are pushing for, his office tells me.
Republicans had been furious with Reid for blocking their amendments, and he got pummeled today by tough pieces in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal over his opposition to letting them move forward.
What made these stories tough for Reid was that two amendments came from GOP Senators who supported cloture on the initial three-month unemployment extension — Kelly Ayotte and Rob Portman. As the Times piece put it today, despite their support for the initial UI legislation, their amendments were blocked by the “brutish” Senate Majority Leader.
Instead, Democrats rolled out their own new legislation — an 11 month extension paid for by continuing mandatory sequester cuts much later — but Republicans balked, citing the refusal to allow votes on amendments as the reason why.
But Reid’s office tells me he’s re-opened discussions with Republicans who are negotiating with Dems over UI — Senators like Ayotte, Portman, and Dean Heller — and told them he’s now willing to allow votes on a certain number of Republican amendments.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/01/10/dems-call-gop-bluff-on-jobless-benefits/
Fox Announces Spring Premiere Dates for 24: Live Another Day, Surviving Jack and More
Jack Bauer’s latest day from hell will commence this May.
Fox announced Monday that its 12-episode event series, 24: Live Another Day, will premiere with a special two-hour episode on Monday, May 5, before settling into its regular Monday-at-9/8c time period on Monday, May 12.
24: LAD will find Kiefer Sutherland’s clock-watcher attempting to thwart an unthinkable terrorist attack in London (where the series will be set)
http://tvline.com/2014/01/13/24-live-another-day-premiere-date/
An odd silence among Senate Dems on Iran
By Greg Sargent
January 13 at 12:01 pm
The White House has invited the entire Senate Democratic caucus to meet privately with the president on Wednesday evening, a Dem aide confirms, adding that Dems expect one of the topics to be Iran.
Which raises a question: Where are all the Senate Democrats on the bill to impose sanctions on Iran that is being pushed by Senators Robert Menendez and Chuck Schumer? How many of them are really prepared to support this bill, and how many oppose it? By my count, more than half the Democratic caucus have been mum on where they stand.
Will the announcement that the six month deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program is moving forward undercut the momentum of those pushing for a new sanctions bill? The White House says such a bill could derail negotiations and make war more likely, right at the moment when the process is showing preliminary signs of working.
Right now, the current count of Senators who are co-sponsoring the Iran sanctions bill is at 58, with 16 Democratic Senators supporting it. Meanwhile, 10 Democratic committee chairs have come out against the bill. Harry Reid is said to be against it, too. That leaves nearly 30 Senate Dems unaccounted for.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/01/13/an-odd-silence-among-senate-dems-on-iran/
Mitch McConnell’s grand, ingenious strategy
By Greg Sargent
January 13 at 2:18 pm
Here’s Mitch McConnell, sobbing hot tears in Politico magazine about the long lost days when legislation used to pass the Senate with bipartisan support:
Ed Kilgore has a very good response, noting that McConnell and the GOP are forever searching for ways to undermine these very social programs, and that they wouldn’t have passed under today’s GOP.
I’d add one point, though. Guess who has usefully confirmed for us that Republicans actively worked to deny Obama bipartisan support for his proposals for strategic reasons? Mitch McConnell, that’s who. Here is what McConnell said just after the 2010 elections, back when his strategy was looking fearsomely brilliant:
…………
Maintaining undiluted Republican opposition to Obama’s agenda was central to maintaining that fiction. (The ongoing assault on Tea Party dogma from Michael Gerson and Michael Strain is interesting because it directly calls out this fiction, as Jonathan Chait has argued.) We know this was the game plan because McConnell told us so himself, though he didn’t put it that way.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/01/13/mitch-mcconnells-grand-ingenious-strategy/?hpid=z2
If it was up to McConnell there would definitely be slavery. He barely contains his hatred. One cannot help but notice it oozing from him. He’s weird.
About all these Dems releasing all their emails and faxes with regards to Governor Krispy Kreme:
All the Dems who haven’t been licking Christie’s boots and have been
disgusted by watching other Dems kiss his ass….they have been waiting for this moment. They have just been sitting there, seething, waiting for the moment that they can torpedo Gov. Krispy Kreme.
And hell no, now that they have their opening, they’re going all in.
This isn’t done….no way, no how.
They’re just getting started.
America is still a deeply racist country
[….] We as a nation applaud ourselves for having moved beyond race. We find one or two self-made blacks or Hispanics who succeeded against terrible odds, and we elevate their stories to a higher position, and then we tell them over and over, so we can say, “See, we really are a color blind nation.” We tell their stories so we can forget about the others, the ones who couldn’t overcome the long odds, the ones born into neighborhoods locked down by the absurd war on drugs, the ones born with almost even odds that their fathers will at some point be in jail, the ones born into neighborhoods that few want to teach in, neighborhoods scarce of
resources.
We tell the stories of success and say: see anyone can pull
themselves up by their bootstraps, further denigrating those who can’t escape poverty. It plays into the false and pernicious narrative that poverty is somehow a fault of desire, a fault of intelligence, a fault of skills. No, poverty is not a failing of the residents of Hunts Point who are just as decent and talented as anyone else. Rather it is a failing our broader society.[….]
The barriers between Hunts Point and the rest of New York are not as high as they were between the white and black section of my hometown in the 1960s. People can freely pass over them. Practically, however, they are almost insurmountable. Gone is the overt, violent, and legal racism of my childhood. It has been replaced by a subtler version. It is a racism that is easier to ignore, easier to deny, and consequently almost as dangerous.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/12/america-is-still-a-deeply-racist-country/
Lawmaker Sent Early Letter To Christie Alerting Him On Closures (READ)
HUNTER WALKER – JANUARY 13, 2014, 1:11 PM EST
New Jersey Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D) provided a letter to TPM on Monday showing that she attempted to alert Gov. Chris Christie (R) about lane closures on the George Washington Bridge in September, just six days after the lanes reopened.
The letter gets to the heart of one of the major unanswered questions in a scandal that has erupted from the closures: what did Christie know and when did he know it?
The lanes were closed on Sept. 9 and re-opened again on early on the morning of Sept. 13. Weinberg, whose district includes part of Fort Lee, N.J., which saw days of traffic gridlock because of the closures, wrote the letter on Sept. 19.
The letter was addressed to William Pat Schuber, a commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the bridge, expressing her dismay about the lane closures. She also copied Christie on it.
“I am at a loss for words regarding the Authority’s sudden change in the traffic flow pattern to the George Washington Bridge from Fort Lee. Reducing the number of lanes during peak traffic times has caused a significant hardship for many in the area. This decision, made with no public comment, has created significant congestion in Bergen County,” Weinberg wrote.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/weinberg-letter-christie-bridge
When federalism meets Cantor’s voucher push
01/13/14 11:13 AM
By Steve Benen
Last year, the Republican National Committee’s “autopsy” was light on policy prescriptions, but one measure was mentioned repeatedly: “school choice.”
In reality, Americans can already choose to send their kids to private schools if they want to, but that’s not what Republicans are referring to. Rather, “school choice” is a poll-tested euphemism for private school vouchers. It’s an idea that dates back to the days of Brown v. Board of Education – after the ruling, vouchers were touted as a way to help white kids flee segregated schools – but in recent years, Republicans have touted vouchers as a way to privatize education, undermine teachers’ unions, and give the appearance of compassion towards low-income families.
But now that some GOP leaders are talking up their approach to combatting poverty, using public funds to pay private-school tuition is generating a new round of attention. This was especially true last week when many prominent Republicans presented a war on the war on poverty.
There are quite a few problems with this. For one thing, “school choice” is a misleading label for vouchers. For another, there’s very little evidence to suggest vouchers are helping children in a measurable way. And finally, if vouchers are “under attack,” it’s probably because they’re not popular and struggle to withstand court scrutiny
But of particular interest was Cantor’s criticism of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), who intends to charge wealthiest charter schools, many of which receive public education funds on top of private donations.
As Laura Clawson noted, the House Majority Leader wants Congress to intervene.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/when-federalism-meets-cantors-voucher-push
Chris Christie’ other lingering controversy
01/13/14 10:40 AM
By Steve Benen
New Jersey’s state Assembly is already investigating Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) bridge scandal. Making matters slightly worse for the Republican governor, the U.S. Attorney’s office in New Jersey is prepared to open an inquiry to see whether any federal laws were broken. What else can go wrong for Christie?
As it turns out, an entirely different controversy can draw the scrutiny of federal investigators.
After the storm devastated parts of New Jersey in 2012, the state launched a public-relations campaign to encourage tourism, using taxpayer-financed, post-Sandy emergency funds. In all, the Christie administration spent $25 million on the ads.
But several agencies competed for the p.r. contract, and the Christie administration chose the firm that wanted to put the governor and his family in the commercials, which aired during Christie’s re-election campaign. Indeed, there were other firms that submitted significantly lower bids, which were passed over. Those firms did not intend to include the governor’s family in the televised commercials.
“This time, he’s outdone himself,” the Star-Ledger editorialized in August when the ads began airing. “This time, he siphoned off money that was intended for victims of Sandy to promote himself in a series of TV ads. That is a new low, one that should play prominently in his campaign for re-election.”
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/chris-christie-other-lingering-controversy
Christie scandal and a ‘feminized atmosphere’
01/13/14 09:22 AM
By Steve Benen
It stands to reason that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) admirers are going to defend him as the bridge scandal unfolds. There’s even a predictable defense: the governor wasn’t responsible since he wasn’t aware of his aides’ alleged misconduct.
But some of the arguments Christie’s allies have come up with are more striking than others. Fox News’ Brit Hume, for example, was asked yesterday about the governor’s reputation for bullying those who disagree with him. Hume responded:
Perhaps this is the best Republican media can do given the revelations?
I’ll confess I didn’t see that one coming. The Christie administration is accused of abusing its power, seeking petty political retribution against perceived enemies, using public resources as a weapon that endangered the public, and then lying about it.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/christie-scandal-and-feminized-atmosphere
High court tackles recess appointments
01/13/14 10:12 AM
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By Steve Benen
People wait outside the Supreme Court in anticipation of key decisions being announced, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, June 17, 2013. (Photo by J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Photo by J. Scott Applewhite/AP
People wait outside the Supreme Court in anticipation of key decisions being announced, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, June 17, 2013.
The big case before the U.S. Supreme Court may seem a little dry for anyone who isn’t a political science major, but it’s an important one when it comes to separation of powers and the ruling will have a significant impact.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on Monday in a case with potentially dramatic long-term implications for the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches.
The legal question is whether the president may temporarily appoint people to staff executive branch agencies when Congress is not conducting business but also not technically in recess – known as pro forma sessions.
For those who’ve forgotten about the case, let’s revisit our coverage from May.
The Constitution extends some fairly specific powers to the nation’s president, including the ability to make recess appointments. In practice, however, using this power is rather tricky.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/high-court-tackles-recess-appointments
Taking ‘worship of self to a whole new level’
01/13/14 12:49 PM—Updated 01/13/14 01:15 PM
By Steve Benen
There are meaningful, substantive questions about Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) bridge scandal that will offer the public salient information about alleged corruption and abuses of power. But if you’ll indulge a brief departure from what actually matters in this story, there’s another angle that’s generating some attention: what we’re learning about Christie himself.
At last week’s lengthy press conference, there was a moment that stood out for offering a peek into the governor’s personality. Christie was knocking down reports that his friendship with David Wildstein dates back to their high school days. The governor said he and Wildstein had different pursuits at the time, but note how he said it:
“We didn’t travel in the same circles in high school. You know, I was the class president and athlete. I don’t know what David was doing during that period of time.”
For Christie, it wasn’t enough to distance himself from the man who served as his eyes and ears at the Port Authority; the governor also felt the need to mention his high-school stardom.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/taking-worship-self-whole-new-level
Wealthy divorced donor helped write controversial child-support bill
January 11, 2014 10:30 am
Wisconsin State Journal
A controversial bill that would allow high-income parents to avoid paying tens of thousands of dollars a year in child support was written with the help of a wealthy donor to the bill’s author, Rep. Joel Kleefisch.
The Oconomowoc Republican acknowledged Friday that Michael Eisenga, a multimillionaire business owner, and his attorney helped write the bill, which could pave the way for Eisenga to force the court to reopen his divorce settlement.
The lawmaker insisted in an interview that the measure, Assembly Bill 540, would not affect Eisenga’s case.
“I’m certain the bill would not affect Mr. Eisenga in any way because it’s not retroactive,” Kleefisch said. “He wanted it retroactive. It’s not retroactive.”
http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/wealthy-divorced-donor-helped-write-controversial-child-support-bill/article_b3e3ed40-738a-52ea-bbf9-04d03cfa0e18.html#ixzz2qJ37vEr8
Codeblack Life January 11th.
https://www.facebook.com/Codeblacklife
This is not a scene from the movie “The Day After Tomorrow” Its Chicago frozen over as a result of the Polar Vortex that hit the US last week.
WTF is this with Scalia’s “self interested” and “racial entitlement” bullsh*t? He has no business sitting on the Supreme Court.
Heads up!
Must Reads: Hillary Clinton’s Post-2008 Political Hit List.
http://www.mediaite.com/online/must-reads-hillary-clintons-post-2008-political-hit-list/
Every a.m., Mediaite publishes a primer of what the interweb machine is writing, talking, tweeting, and blogging about, so that you may fool friends and family into thinking you are a trove of information and insight. Today: the Clinton hit list everybody’s pretending to be shocked about, recess appointments reach the Supreme Court, Maryland really, really blew its state Obamacare exchange, and more.
“Hillary’s Hit List” (Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen, The Hill)
In an excerpt from their forthcoming book HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton, The Hill’s Amie Parnes and POLITICO’s Jonathan Allen take the reader to Hillary Clinton’s post-2008 score-settling session, where Clinton—or, more accurately, aides who were so loyal to her that they had internalized her desires—drew up lists of figures who had crossed the candidate by endorsing Obama. Full of tidbits like this:
Almost six years later most Clinton aides can still rattle off the names of traitors and the favors that had been done for them, then provide details of just how each of the guilty had gone on to betray the Clintons—as if it all had happened just a few hours before. The data project ensured that the acts of the sinners and saints would never be forgotten.
There was a special circle of Clinton hell reserved for people who had endorsed Obama or stayed on the fence after Bill and Hillary had raised money for them, appointed them to a political post, or written a recommendation to ice their kid’s application to an elite school.
Good reading, though all would be wise to learn the lesson of last week’s Robert Gates brouhaha: Thou Shalt Be Careful Drawing Conclusions From Thy Excerpts.
“Defining the Scope of the President’s Recess Appointment Powers: In Plain English” (Amy Howe, SCOTUSBlog) / “Forget the Framers” (Eric Posner, Slate)
The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments this morning on President Barack Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Review Board. The invaluable SCOTUSBlog has everything you need to know on the case, the issues, the NLRB, and more. Meanwhile, Eric Posner at Slate gets into the confusing minutia of originalist arguments about James Madison and recess appointments.
“Maryland Officials Were Warned for a Year of Problems With Online Health-insurance Site” (Aaron C. Davis and Mary Pat Flaherty, Washington Post)
Pretty much what the headline says. The killer detail:
Instead, by the next morning only four people had signed up using the Web site — and amazed that anyone had gotten through the system successfully, state officials contacted each of them to make sure they were real.
Since everything relates back to 2016, this can’t be good news for Maryland Governor and Democratic up-and-comer Martin O’Malley.
see, it’s this kind of shyt that brings me to the point once again of WANTING SOMEONE ELSE TO RUN.
It’s part of that entire HILLARY IS ENTITLED mindset that irks me to no end.
New DNC Ad Slams Chris Christie’s ‘Leadership’ in Bridge Scandal
http://bit.ly/JVivSE
The Democratic National Committee launched a new ad this morning slamming New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s “leadership,” as the fallout from his administration’s bridge scandal enters its second week.
The web video, shared exclusively with ABC News, is a brutal mash-up of some of Christie’s least forgiving media coverage this weekend, starting with comments from fellow Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
“He points out that he has 45,000, I think, employees although, obviously, these weren’t average employees,” McCain noted on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday in an excerpt clipped for the ad.
Adds Republican strategist Kevin Madden: “One of the legitimate criticisms here is that every single organization is a reflection of its principle.”
Records show Christie administration canceled meetings with Jersey City mayor after failure to endorse.
http://bit.ly/1hPHfKm
Documents released Monday indicate that meetings arranged between top commissioners to Gov. Chris Christie and Jersey City mayor Steve Fulop were abruptly canceled without reason last year—providing evidence of Mr. Fulop’s claim that he was cut off after he decided not to endorse the governor.
The documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal through a public records request showed communications between Mr. Fulop and Christie administration staff members arranging the meetings in June and July, until the commissioners all canceled one meeting after another.
The documents don’t indicate why the meetings were scrapped, but Mr. Fulop has said that he was punished for declining to endorse the governor. Mr. Christie attended the Democrat’s inauguration in Jersey City in July, and Mr. Fulop’s advisers had considered endorsing Mr. Christie, a Republican, but ultimately didn’t.
Christie Allegedly Diverted Millions In Hurricane Sandy Relief Funds To Pay For TV Ads Starring Himself.
http://thinkprogress.org/home/2014/01/13/3152271/6-need-know-federal-investigation-chris-christies-sandy-relief-funds/
The Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has opened a federal investigation into whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) improperly used Hurricane Sandy relief funds to produce commercials starring himself and his family ahead of his re-election campaign. Auditors will examine how the Christie administration used $25 million set aside for “a marketing campaign to promote the Jersey Shore and encourage tourism,” focusing on the bidding process to award a $4.7 million to a politically connected firm that cast Christie and his family in the Sandy ads, while “a comparable firm proposed billing the state $2.5 million for similar work” but did not include Christie in the commercials.
The ads produced by the company, MWW, attracted significant criticism. The New Jersey Star Ledger accused Christie of siphoning off “money that was intended for victims of Sandy to promote himself in a series of TV ads,” and described the move as “offensive” and a ” new low.”
SMGDH of course that photo op with POTUS after Sandy would benefit Mr. Krispy Kreame.
Chris Christie was straight up mafia style politics in New Jersey. This mofo was off the hook.
I just love me some En Vogue!! There was, nor will there ever be another group like them!!!! When “Hold on to Your Love” came out, my boyfriend at that time just would go nuts over them. He ended up being a jerk anyway, HA!! Later
I’m glad you’re enjoying En Vogue! They don’t make music like this anymore. These ladies were the bombdiggity!
Hi Treekiewife. LOL Sounds like he didn’t want to hold on to your love. His LOSS. Envogue were groundbreaking.
NYTimes media critic David Carr reviews a new bio and delicately shivs its subject:
… The most devastating takeaway in Mr. Sherman’s book is the idea that Mr. Ailes, a man who carried more bananas for the elephant than almost anyone, did significant damage to the Republican Party.
Mr. Ailes is, in essence, a fairly moderate Republican, a fan of both Bushes, a promoter of Mr. Christie and the former military leader David Petraeus. Those versions of middle-of-the-road Republicans would have an awfully hard time running the Tea Party gantlet Mr. Ailes all but invented in his push for ratings…
…[I]n the last election, Mr. Ailes conflated his two passions to damaging effect. He gave jobs to many Republican candidates, offered oodles of advice to them, and provided hundreds of hours of airtime for the cooking and serving of conservative red meat.
In Mr. Sherman’s book, Mr. Ailes is quoted by fellow Fox News executives as saying, “I want to elect the next U.S. president.” It could be argued that he succeeded, although it wasn’t the candidate he wanted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/13/business/media/roger-ailes-permanent-pushback-campaign.html?hpw&rref=business&_r=0
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Morning, everyone!
Good Morning, Ladies & Everyone.