Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for 12 seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. Jack Lord portrayed Detective Lieutenant Steve McGarrett, the head of a special state police task force which was based on an actual unit that existed under martial law in the 1940s.[2] The theme music composed by Morton Stevens became especially popular. Many episodes would end with McGarrett instructing his subordinate to “Book ’em, Danno!“, sometimes specifying a charge such as “murder one“.
The CBS television network produced Hawaii Five-O, which aired from September 20, 1968 to April 4, 1980. The program continues to be broadcast in syndication worldwide. In the U.S., it airs on Me-TV, and via on-demand streaming media from CBS Interactive.[3] (CBS had uploaded every episode of this show via its YouTube account, but later removed them.)[4] Created by Leonard Freeman, Hawaii Five-O was shot on location in Honolulu, Hawaii, and throughout the island of Oahu as well as other Hawaiian islands with occasional filming in other locales such as Los Angeles, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Hawaii Five-O was named in honor of Hawaii’s status as the 50th State. Although the show’s name has always ended with the numeral “0,” the soundtrack album, released in the late 1960s, used the letter “O” instead of the numeral zero.[5] The letter “O” is sometimes used to differentiate the original series and the revival which premiered in 2010, and always uses the numeral zero. The show centers on a fictional state police force led by former U.S. naval officer Steve McGarrett (played by Jack Lord) a Detective Captain, who was appointed by the Governor, Paul Jameson (played by Richard Denning, though Lew Ayres played the Governor in the pilot).
Helen Kuoha Torco
The Tahitian dancer shown in the opening credits in the original Hawaii Five O series
Slang term for police
The phrase “Five-O” (or any variation, such as “5-0”, “5-o”, and “five O”, all usually pronounced “five oh”) has come to refer to the police in the United States.
Media Alert
Tonight’s Pioneers of Television are the Black, Latino and Asian trailblazers.
It’s on PBS.
Obamacare Enrollees Emboldened To Leave Jobs, Start Businesses
by Stephanie O’Neill
April 29, 2014 6:50 PM ET
Until recently, Mike Smith, 64, of Long Beach, Calif., worked 11 hours a day, Monday through Friday and then half a day on Saturday. He was a district manager for a national auto parts chain.
He dreamed of retiring early, but it wasn’t an option for him because he and his wife relied on his the health insurance tied to his job.
“At our age, with some pre-existing medical conditions, it would have been very costly to buy insurance on the open market — about $3,000 a month,” he says.
Mike and Laura Smith
But the Affordable Care Act changed that. Smith retired in January. So did his wife, Laura, also 64.
he couple now has a private health insurance policy that they bought through Covered California, the state’s insurance marketplace. It costs them $200 a month.
The coverage helped the Smiths make a major lifestyle change. Just after noon on a recent weekday, Mike is at their Long Beach home, cooking lunch.
“We’ve got organic shallots, organic Brussels sprouts and organic apple cider vinegar,” he says, stirring the ingredients with a wooden spoon. “I love the smell of the shallots, don’t you?”
Smith says he’s now also able to take care of his elderly in-laws and his 2-year-old grandchild. He gets to practice his guitar more often, too.
A study by Georgetown University and the Urban Institute predicts the ACA will enable up to 1.5 million Americans to leave their jobs and become self-employed, start new businesses or retire early. It’s a finding that runs counter to by critics of the federal health law, who contend it will cost the nation jobs and cripple America’s small-business economy.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/04/29/301839951/obamacare-enrollees-emboldened-to-leave-jobs-start-businesses?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=npr&utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews
This was the one talking point I stressed to white colleagues. Folks can start their own businesses, free of suckie bosses. Talk about being self-responsible, but yet they still didn’t want to hear it.
Congressman: Bundy Militia Has Set Up Road ‘Checkpoints’ In Nevada
Dylan Scott – April 29, 2014, 5:07 PM EDT
A Democratic congressman from Nevada said in a letter this week that his constituents have reported the armed militia supporting rancher Cliven Bundy have set up checkpoints to verify the residency of anybody passing through.
Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV), who represents the area, sent the letter Sunday to Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie, asking him to investigate.
“I am writing to bring your attention to the ongoing situation in northeastern Clark County which has caused many of my constituents to fear for their safety,” Horsford wrote. Residents in the area “have expressed concern over the continual presence of multiple out-of-state, armed militia groups that have remained in the community” since Bundy’s dispute with the Bureau of Land Management came to a boil.
The militia, as reported by Horsford’s constituents, “have set up checkpoints where residents are required to prove they live in the area before being allowed to pass,” the letter said.
They have also maintained a presence, sometimes armed, along highways and roads, as well as community sites like churches and schools, the letter asserted.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bundy-ranch-militia-checkpoints-horsford
Voter ID ruling could lead to special session for lawmakers
Posted: Apr 29, 2014 3:22 PM EDT
MADISON (WKOW) — A federal court ruling striking down Wisconsin’s voter ID law could lead to lawmakers returning for a special session.
Governor Scott Walker said last month he would call lawmakers into special session if the courts ruled against the law.
Walker signed the law in 2011 and was only in effect for a 2012 primary before being struck down by a Dane County judge.
Republican legislative leaders say they would support a special session to pass a law that could go into effect for the November elections.
http://www.wkow.com/story/25381229/2014/04/29/voter-id-ruling-could-lead-to-special-session-for-lawmakers
Black Mississippi Dem Rep. Called Clarence Thomas An ‘Uncle Tom’
DANIEL STRAUSS – APRIL 29, 2014, 4:02 PM EDT
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) called Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas an “Uncle Tom” and said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has made a racist statement about President Obama.
Thompson made the remarks during the New Nation of Islam radio program over the weekend.
Thompson, who is black, also said that Republicans only oppose Obamacare and are anti-government because President Barack Obama is black.
The comments by Thompson were highlighted by Buzzfeed on Tuesday.
“I’ve been in Washington. I saw three presidents now. I never saw George Bush treated like this. I never saw Bill Clinton treated like this with such disrespect,” Thompson said. “That Mitch McConnell would have the audacity to tell the president of the United States — not the chief executive but the commander-in-chief — that ‘I don’t care what you you come up with we’re going to be against it.’ Now if that’s not a racist statement I don’t know what is.”
That’s likely a reference to McConnell saying his job is to make Obama a one-term president.
Later Thompson said Mississippi’s governor, Phil Bryant (R) opposed expanding Medicaid under Obamacare “just because a black man created it.”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bennie-thompson-mitch-mcconnell-clarence-thomas-comments
https://twitter.com/theferocity/status/461252981174702081
LOL
https://twitter.com/History_Pics/status/461230456009424896/photo/1
hat’s can’t nobody wear’em like black folks, just saying….
Hey! What are you talking about??
http://i.usatoday.net/life/_photos/2009/03/04/minniepearlx.jpg
No.you.didn’t.pull.minnie.pearl.on me! LOL
LOL!
Every black woman I know, including me, and some of my white girlfriends have this book on their coffee table or bookshelf.
Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats
http://www.amazon.com/Crowns-Portraits-Black-Women-Church/dp/0385500866
My mother could WEAR those HATS! She wasn’t dressed until she put on that HAT!
Yes, I did, Ametia :) :) :)
How do you like this hat?
I will have to get that book!
http://womenchurchsuitsblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/h13702.jpg?w=150
I think the reason that this show has remained so iconic is because of the theme song.
Because every high school band in America has it in its repertoire.
Yes ma’am! Jack Lord! …with his fine self!
Five-O’s music was EVERYTHING.
Board rejects plan to remove wheelchair ramp from governor’s mansion
Madison — A foundation run by Gov. Scott Walker’s wife worked up a plan to remove the wheelchair ramp at the governor’s mansion, but a board that oversees the historic lakeside home this week unanimously rejected the idea.
The ramp was installed in the foyer of the mansion about a decade ago. Before then, a temporary ramp was carted in and out of the foyer when tours and other public events were held at the mansion in Maple Bluff, just outside Madison.
The Wisconsin Executive Residence Foundation — which is headed by first lady Tonette Walker — drafted plans to remove the permanent ramp at a cost of $5,600 to make the mansion more historically accurate. Under that proposal, a temporary ramp would have been brought in for public events.
The State Capitol and Executive Residence Board, which consists of legislators and private citizens, unanimously rejected the idea on Monday.
“We decided it’s too much work,” said Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon), who sits on the board. “She’s right it doesn’t fit, but I think it was too much bother.”
“It wasn’t a big deal. We just decided, ‘Nah, we’re not going to do that.'”
Sen. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center), another member of the board, said members were concerned the plan would create too much work and that the floor and walls of the foyer would get scratched and nicked whenever the temporary ramp was brought in or out.
Read more from Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/board-nixes-plan-to-remove-wheelchair-ramp-from-governors-mansion-b99258524z1-257178271.html#ixzz30JA2WZKN
Follow us: @JournalSentinel on Twitter
FEDERAL JUDGE STRIKES DOWN WISCONSIN VOTER ID LAW
Apr. 29, 2014 2:29 PM EDT
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A federal judge in Milwaukee has struck down Wisconsin’s voter Identification law, saying it unfairly burdens poor and minority voters.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman issued his long-awaited decision Tuesday. It invalidates Wisconsin’s law.
Wisconsin’s law would have required voters to show a state-issued photo ID at the polls. Supporters said it would cut down on voter fraud and boost public confidence in the integrity of the election process.
But Adelman sided with opponents, who said it disproportionately excluded poor and minority voters because they’re less likely to have photo IDs or the documents needed to get them.
Wisconsin’s law was only in effect for a 2012 primary before a Dane County judge declared it unconstitutional.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/federal-judge-strikes-down-wisconsin-voter-id-law
yeah baby!!
Stark divisions rock the Iowa GOP
04/29/14 01:01 PM—Updated 04/29/14 01:47 PM
By Steve Benen
In recent years, we’ve seen a handful of state Republican parties struggle with dramatic internal tensions. The Alaska GOP and Nevada GOP, for example, have both seen their party structures challenged, largely as the result of divisions between establishment Republicans and Ron Paul followers.
But to see a real mess, take a look at the Republican Party of Iowa.
Over the weekend, Ron Paul backers were replaced in the state party’s leadership after a series of troubles, most notably fundraising. As it turns out, Iowa Paulites made little effort to fill the campaign coffers – fundraising in the first quarter of this election year reached a decade-long low. As Derek Willis noted, 2013 fundraising for the state GOP was half of what it was in 2005 and long-time donors have given up on financing the state party.
So, Iowa GOP activists decided to make a change. After a Paulite stepped down as chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa – he’s joining Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) political action committee – party officials backed a change in direction. Did they go back to more establishment types? Not exactly.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/stark-divisions-rock-the-iowa-gop
Oklahoma governor’s daughter mocks Native American protesters with ‘war dance’
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/29/oklahoma-governors-daughter-mocks-native-american-protesters-war-dance/
Republican Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin this week apologized after her daughter mocked Native Americans with a “war dance,” and her boyfriend directed an offensive middle finger gesture at them.
Last March, the Native American community called for Christina Fallin to apologize after she posted a promotional photo for her band, Pink Pony, to the social media site Instagram of her wearing a red headdress.
Fallin removed the Instagram photo and asked the Native American community to “forgive us if we innocently adorn ourselves in your beautiful things.”
When Christina Fallin’s band performed at the Norman Music Festival last weekend, a group of Native American demonstrators also showed up to silently protest the Instagram photo.
Broadway Revival of ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ Picks Up 5 Tony Nominations
The Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play about a black family’s decision to integrate a white neighborhood has picked up five Tony nominations. The current run of the play stars Denzel Washington and LaTanya Richardson and was directed by Kenny Leon to rave reviews. The awards ceremony will air on CBS on Sunday, June 8.
http://colorlines.com/archives/2014/04/broadway_revival_of_a_raisin_in_the_sun_picks_up_6_tony_nominations.html
Super!
Monday, April 28, 2014
Looking for a few good men like Muhmmad, John, and Tommie.
It is ironic that on this day in 1967 Muhammad Ali refused to go to Vietnam because of his religious convictions. He was vilified at the time, but later hailed as an American hero and is now considered a sports icon.
Every player who straps on the red white and blue uniform of the Los Angeles Clippers should consider Ali’s courageous stance, and they should dig deep in their souls to try and understand their current place in America’s history.
We know we will never get a John Carlos and Tommie Smith moment, but we can hope for something in that spirit.
Their gesture last night while a good start did not go far enough. They should have boycotted the game altogether and refused to play for Sterling’s team until the NBA takes a strong and definitive stance against him.
http://field-negro.blogspot.com/2014/04/looking-for-few-good-men-like-muhmmad.html#.U1-_xcAo4dU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGd_gLBTvsg
How much of PBO’s explanation did Henry ABSORB? None; he didn’t ask for knowledge.
What Happened After a 16-year-old Chose FAMU Over Harvard
Ralph Jones’ unconventional story didn’t end with him choosing an HBCU over an Ivy League university.
By: Breanna Edwards
Posted: April 27 2014 6:45 AM
There has been a swarm of media reports celebrating young African-American teenagers who have been killing it in college admissions. There are the DC-area triplets deciding between Columbia and University of Pennsylvania, the North Carolina young man who got into seven Ivy League schools and the New York teen who got accepted into all eight prestigious universities.
But what happens when an Ivy League school comes calling and you take a less expected path? What happens when you choose a different school, with less prestige, over the Ivy? What happens when a black kid decides that he would rather take his talents to Florida A&M University over Harvard University?
Ralph Jones Jr., a prodigious young man, who entered college at the age of 16 can tell you a little bit about that.
Jones first drew media attention back in 2010, when he shocked those who knew his story by choosing Florida A&M University over Harvard. At that time his path seemed clear. The then-16-year-old navigated through overwhelmingly intense social media criticism for his unexpected choice.
Does he regret it?
“No. No I don’t,” Jones told The Root, with zero hesitation. “It’s funny … the same kinds of people who were sending me [hate mail], you know they still send it, but on the opposite side, the support I’ve received has been immeasurable over the past four years. The opportunities I’ve had afforded to me I don’t think they could’ve afforded to me anywhere else.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/04/what_happened_when_a_16_year_old_choose_famu_over_harvard.html
The Koch Efforts To Privatize Schools Dealt a Blow By Record High School Graduation Rate
It is likely true that everyone has, at one time or another, met someone who gets great satisfaction over another person’s failure at a task so they can gloat and boast that their approach would have been a raging success. Republicans typically seek out less than optimum outcomes of Democratic policies to tell the voters that the GOP could have achieved success if their proposals were implemented. If there is only one thing Republicans hate more than minorities, women, universal healthcare, and living wages it is government programs the people love because they work.
Yesterday Republicans, the Koch brothers, privatization advocates, religious fanatics, and the American Legislative Exchange Council received some news that a government institution they attack mercilessly as a failure requiring corporate privatization and biblical intervention as necessary solutions hit a milestone that likely caused conservative consternation nationwide.
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/04/29/koch-brothers-effort-privatize-schools-dealt-blow-record-graduation-rate.html
Nigerian Women to Stage Million Woman March for Abducted Schoolgirls
Two weeks after more than 200 schoolgirls were abducted, Nigerian women will march in red in hope of securing their release.
By: Yesha Callahan
Posted: April 29 2014 9:30 AM
Two weeks ago, more than 200 girls were abducted from a school in Chibok, Nigeria. The group suspected of being responsible for their abduction is Boko Haram, an al-Qaida-linked jihadi group. The girls were taken at gunpoint and thrown into trucks and vans, and have since disappeared without a trace. Last week, school principal Asabe Kwambura told the Associated Press that 43 students had been accounted for, but 230 were still missing.
In response to the abductions, women in Nigeria are planning to hold a million woman march in Abuja in hopes of securing the release of their girls. According to Vanguard, Professor Hauwa Abdu Biu, the march organizer, has named the march “Free Our Girls,” and women throughout the country are expected to participate and wear red to show solidarity.
“The last time, we were in black, but this time around the color for the Abuja rally is red, so we should all be prepared and mobilize ourselves for the rally” Biu added.
The march is being held amid new allegations that the girls have been taken to neighboring Cameroon and Chad and married off to Boko Haram militants. Pogu Chibok, a leader of the Chibok Elders Forum, told the Daily Trust that the girls were ferried off to the countries by the kidnappers.
Chibok said 2,000 in Nigerian naira (or about $1240 U.S.) was paid for each of the girls to the Boko Haram members who took them from their school and who had assumed “ownership” of the students.
Nigerian authorities have yet to substantiate the claim. The families of the kidnapped girls continue to call on the Nigerian government to do more to find the girls.
http://www.theroot.com/blogs/the_grapevine/2014/04/nigerian_women_to_stage_1_million_woman_march_for_abducted_schoolgirls.html
This Poll Shows Exactly Why The GOP Has To Keep Hating Obamacare
Dylan Scott – April 29, 2014, 10:10 AM EDT
Despite ample evidence that Obamacare isn’t the disaster they’ve warned about for years, Republicans just can’t quite give up the ghost. They’ve started to hedge their language a little bit more, and they aren’t beating the repeal drum as much as they used to, but get them in front of the home crowd — say, a GOP primary debate in Georgia or North Carolina — and it’s 2010 all over again.
Three findings from a poll released Tuesday by the Washington Post and ABC News help explain why: Republican voters still believe that the law’s rollout was completely botched, they are going to vote for Republican candidates and they say they are definitely going to vote.
It fits with previous public polling as well as the perception of the national landscape from Democratic strategists: Republicans can’t abandon Obamacare entirely because it motivates the base unlike any other issue. And it appears that the conservative echo chamber remains convinced of the law’s failure — despite the indications to the contrary.
And if the law’s best month of news since its passage isn’t going to change Republican minds, it seems nothing will before November 2014. So the GOP will likely keep singing the same song.
The new WashPost-ABC News poll found that 68 percent of Republicans said that Obamacare’s rollout has gone worse than they expected — suggesting that, at least for now, the facts on the ground aren’t going to change their view of the law.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/poll-republican-voters-registered-certain
Cliven Bundy Wants to Tell You All About ‘the Negro’
This won’t end well.
Politics / Apr 24, 2014 451
A couple days ago Jonathan Chait asserted that modern conservatism is “doomed” because it is “rooted in white supremacy.” The first claim may or may not be true, but there’s little doubt about the second. Whether it’s the Senate minority leader claiming that America should have remained legally segregated, a beloved cultural figure fondly recalling how happy black people were living under lynch law, a presidential candidate calling Barack Obama a “food-stamp president,” or a campaign surrogate calling Barack Obama “a subhuman mongrel,” the preponderance of evidence shows that modern conservatism just can’t quit white supremacy.
This is unsurprising. White supremacy is one of the most dominant forces in the history of American politics. In a democracy, it would be silly to expect it to go unexpressed. Thus anyone with a sense of American history should be equally unsurprised to discover that rugged individualist Cliven Bundy is the bearer of some very interesting theories:
Prick a movement built on white supremacy and it bleeds … white supremacy. That said, I think it’s always worth clarifying what we mean when we use words like “slavery” and “freedom” in an American context.
I took a flight to L.A. last night and brought with me Thavolia Glymph’s bruising monograph Out of the House of Bondage. Glymph is mostly concerned with the plantation house as a workspace during enslavement, and thus the scene of horrendous violence primarily dished out by “ladies of the house.”
In general, a silence surrounds white women’s contributions to the basic nature of slavery, its maintenance, and, especially, one of its central tendencies, the maiming and destruction of black life.
The maiming and destruction of black life. This is key. What Glymph is discussing is not merely the theft of labor but the total plunder of the human body. Slavery is torture as a system of governance, corporal destruction taken as the mere cost of doing business.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/04/cliven-bundy-wants-to-tell-you-all-about-the-negro/361152/
Rachel Maddow 04/28/14
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on racism and vigilance
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, former basketball player and coach, talks with Rachel Maddow about the fight against racism in professional basketball and the particularities of Donald Sterling’s case given his history
http://on.msnbc.com/1pIyAhm
Poll Shows Problems for Obama, Peril for Senate Democrats
………………………..
Obama’s national standing remains tenuous in the new Heartland Monitor Poll with the groups that are key in those states. Among whites overall, just 35 percent said they approve of his performance, while 59 percent disapprove. That’s a slight improvement from the previous two Heartland Monitor Polls last fall, but still at the lower end of his range among whites since taking office. Obama faces an even larger 62 percent disapproval from both non-college whites and whites older than 50; only about one-third of each group approve of his performance.
His numbers look no better on a Heartland Monitor trend question that asks Americans how Obama’s actions will affect their economic prospects. Just 25 percent of all respondents said they believed his agenda would increase opportunities for people like them. That’s the smallest positive response the poll has recorded except for the two surveys last fall. In the new poll, a full 46 percent said they believed his actions would diminish their opportunities-essentially tying the 47 percent in each of last fall’s polls as his worst showing on that measure. The remaining 23 percent said they did not think his actions would affect their opportunities.
Even these slim results are boosted by enduring confidence among minorities: 40 percent of non-white respondents said Obama’s agenda would increase their opportunities, compared to 24 percent who believe it will reduce them. But among whites, just 19 percent say he is increasing their chances, while a resounding 55 percent say he is diminishing them.
Those numbers don’t differ much among whites older and younger than 50 but they are especially bad among the blue-collar whites who matter so much in the red-leaning states where Democrats must defend Senate seats this year. Whites without a college degree were nearly four times as likely to say Obama’s action are decreasing, rather than increasing, their opportunities to get ahead.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/next-economy/poll-shows-problems-for-obama-peril-for-senate-democrats-20140428
The National Journal and the rest of the reported polls can have a seat with this bullshit. It’s a diversion from the GOP’s racist connections, behaviors, and DO NOTHING work habits.
From Zero To 3.3 Million Sign-Ups: How California ‘Won’ The Obamacare Race
By Dan Diamond, California Healthline
Apr 28, 2014
Joel Ario says he meant it as a compliment.
It was January 2011, and Ario — the White House’s point man on exchanges at the time — was having dinner with Diana Dooley, California’s newly installed HHS secretary. And seeking to praise California, Ario told Dooley that her state had emerged as one of the nation’s “pace cars” when it came to implementing the Affordable Care Act.
Dooley quickly corrected him, Ario recalled in an interview with California Healthline last week.
“[Dooley] told me, ‘Pace cars don’t actually win the race,'” Ario said. “‘We want to be the lead car.'”
Forty months later, California’s clearly pulled ahead of the pack.
No state signed up more residents during Obamacare’s first open enrollment period, or grew its Medicaid rolls by a larger amount.
But not all glitters in the Golden State. While Covered California drove national enrollment — nearly one in five of all 8 million national ACA sign-ups went through the state’s insurance exchange — its faltering website and sometimes spotty service made for an occasionally bumpy ride.
“Road to Reform” interviewed Ario and more than 10 other ex-officials and experts — many of whom also spoke with California Healthline last fall on the eve of open enrollment — to assess the state of the state’s Obamacare implementation, and what roadblocks loom ahead.
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2014/April/28/California-Healthline-Exchange-leads-victories.aspx
‘The ACA is … better than it’s made out to be’
04/29/14 08:42 AM—Updated 04/29/14 08:42 AM
By Steve Benen
At first blush, Dean Angstadt sounds like the kind of guy the right loves to hear about. He’s a self-employed logger who lives in a small town north of Philadelphia and he knew with certainty he wanted nothing to do with the Affordable Care Act. When his friend Bob Leinhauser urged Angstadt, who had no insurance, to sign up for coverage, he replied, “I don’t read what the Democrats have to say about it because I think they’re full of it.”
But Angstadt also had a faulty aortic valve. And as the Philadelphia Inquirer reported yesterday, that left him with a choice: “Buy a health plan, through a law he despised, that would pay the lion’s share of the cost of the life-saving surgery – or die.”
Angstadt hoped to work long enough to save the money he needed for surgery, but because he needed surgery, he couldn’t work. What he needed was affordable health insurance – which wouldn’t penalize him for a pre-existing condition – but Angstadt was convinced he “didn’t trust this Obamacare.”
Eventually, his buddy convinced him to do the smart thing. Angstadt filled out the application, signed up for the Highmark Blue Cross silver PPO plan, and paid his premium of $26.11.
And it may have very well saved his life.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-aca-better-its-made-out
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Lost Little Lamb Named Paul
BuzzFeed’s McKay Coppins gives us this long read on Rep. Paul Ryan’s trips into the inner city to learn about poverty. At best it’s black comedy, at worst it’s self-serving tripe. About a third of the way in he talks about his “unfortunate” use of “inner-city” to suggest that black families were doing badly because black men were lazy and bad fathers. It’s about this point of the article that I call bull:
Ryan’s only problem is political correctness, you see. It’s not like his processions of budget cuts would obliterate programs that serve the very impoverished Americans he’s trying to help, right?
Oops. But Ryan ambles out there among the people, trying desperately to understand poverty in America, and he’s confused most of all as to why people “choose” to remain poor.
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2014/04/lost-little-lamb-named-paul.html
Minimum wage reclaiming center stage
04/29/14 09:36 AM
By Steve Benen
The Democratic push to raise the minimum wage was put on hold in Congress when lawmakers took a two-week break, but the recess is over and so is the delay on this major 2014 policy fight.
At the state level, Connecticut, Maryland, and Minnesota have each acted on their own to raise the state minimum wages, and policymakers in Hawaii have now reached an agreement to raise their state’s minimum to $10.10 over the next four years.
On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) yesterday moved to bring the federal measure on the minimum wage to the floor this week.
Reid filed cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 2223, a bill from Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) that would increase the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour. The vote could come as early as Wednesday.
The vote will be a major test of unity for Senate Democrats, who have made the wage hike central to their populist agenda for the midterm elections.
This shouldn’t be too tough for Democrats – it’s an election year and roughly three-fourths of the country supports a minimum-wage increase. Keeping Dems united seems like a straightforward task.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/minimum-wage-reclaiming-center-stage
KSK(africa) @lawalazu
Follow
Be ware of MSM changing the plot of this story. It is about a man who behaved the way he has, because the system allowed him to. Period.
8:17 AM – 29 Apr 2014
aspirational12 @aspirational12
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Folks, between now and Nov 2014, expect to see a lot of crap polling about Pres Obama’s approval ratings “hitting all time low.” It’s B.S.!
8:10 AM – 29 Apr 2014
TOTAL BULLSHIT…. This poll reflects the folks who did not vote for PBO in 2008 and 2012- LOSERS
Pa. judge won’t reconsider voter ID ruling
Amy Worden, Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau
Last updated: Tuesday, April 29, 2014, 1:08 AM
Posted: Monday, April 28, 2014, 6:03 PM
A Commonwealth Court judge on Monday denied the Corbett administration’s request to reconsider his ruling overturning the state’s two-year-old voter identification law.
In a 29-page decision, Judge Bernard L. McGinley said the law requiring Pennsylvania voters to produce photo ID at the polls failed “to provide liberal access to compliant photo ID” and, as a result, disenfranchised voters.
“The evidence showed the voter ID provisions at issue deprive numerous electors of their fundamental right to vote, so vital to our democracy,” wrote McGinley, who struck down the law in January.
The Corbett administration has 30 days to file an appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Joshua Maus, spokesman for the Office of General Counsel, said the office was reviewing the ruling.
Lawyers representing plaintiffs in the case praised the ruling.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/257062371.html#b13HHoXY1k3FmjtU.99
KSK(africa) @lawalazu
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HEY: Don’t allow the MSM to make this about Sterling and the NAACP. NO. Do. Not. Sterling represents everything Institutional Racism is.
8:12 AM – 29 Apr 2014
https://twitter.com/petesouza/status/461124712492314625/photo/1
Too sweet!
Mr. Boehner comes clean on immigration reform
By Editorial Board,
IN WASHINGTON, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) peddles one line on immigration reform that is transparently false. In his district in Ohio, he becomes a truth-teller.
For months, Mr. Boehner has tried to justify the intransigence of his fellow House Republicans, who have refused to consider a Senate measure to overhaul the broken immigration system. His stated reason was that they could not trust President Obama to enforce any law passed by Congress.
“There’s widespread doubt about whether this administration can be trusted to enforce our laws,” Mr. Boehner said in February. “And it’s going to be difficult to move any immigration legislation until that changes.”
But on Thursday, at a meeting at a rotary club lunch in southwestern Ohio, an area Mr. Boehner has represented for more than two decades, he gave it to ’em straight. Asked about immigration reform, the speaker squarely blamed his GOP caucus, with more than a hint of derision. “Here’s the attitude,” he said, scrunching up his face and delivering the real Republican excuse in a toddler’s whine: “ ‘Ohhhh, don’t make me do this! Ohhhh, this is too hard!’ ”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mr-boehner-comes-clean-on-immigration-reform/2014/04/26/6ba72bf6-ccbe-11e3-95f7-7ecdde72d2ea_story.html
BOMANI JONES BREAKS DOWN (AND NAILS) THE DONALD STERLING SITUATION
The Dan Le Batard Show
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Bomani Jones joins The Dan Le Batard Show to discuss which parts of the Donald Sterling situation is funny, why his comments are the least of the issues with Sterling & more.
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http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=10855753
ALL.OFT.THIS. Nobody gives a fuck about his mistress. It’s all about his racism that affects people’s LIVES.
WOKV News @WOKVNews
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Breaking News Update: Up to 6 patients taken to hospital after shooting at #FedEx facility near Atlanta. http://bit.ly/1iBydAt
6:56 AM – 29 Apr 2014
https://twitter.com/Earth_Pics/status/461075250860806144/photo/1
One Drag, One Drunk and One Dusty Wig: RHOA Reunion Parts 1 and 2 Recap
April 27, 2014 | Luvvie
Last week, the Real Housewives of Atlanta (RHOA) reunion kicked off but since I didn’t recap the first part, I’ll just make this a 2-in-1 special.
Everyone was looking the same, except for Nene with her hair that looked even more like a plastic helmet than what we’re used to. She seemed to have taken inspiration from America’s forefathers with that wig of hers. Looking a Constitutional mess. Also, Porsha went and purchased her some new boobs. They looked super uncomfortable, though, so I wanted to milk her to help with the engorgement. I bet you could knock on her chest.
Anywho, Kenya Moore came to the reunion with a scepter because in her head, she’s a queen. And then she was using it to point at folks, especially Porsha. So the moment where Porsha snatched that thing out her hand, joy rose up in my spirit.
And Kenya came prepared with more props so she broke out a megaphone and started using it to get her point across. It was even more annoying than it sounds to watch it.
Finally, she kept goading her and then started talking about the girl’s marriage and fresh divorce. So when Porsha stood up in her face and told her she got one more time to mess with her and Kenya couldn’t find her a bowl of STFU, she got dragged by her hair unto the floor like a Swiffer Wet Jet and all hell broke loose. Let’s watch it on loop courtesy of Vine, please:
http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2014/04/rhoa-reunion-recap.html
My prayers and condolences to the loved ones of John Servati.
https://twitter.com/iharpjunior/status/461124194093502464/photo/1/large
Prayers to the family.
https://twitter.com/MadieBear7/status/461104900622282752/photo/1/large
Prayers to the Servati family and all the victims of the storm.
Police investigating Cliven Bundy-related threats to Harry Reid
Democrats are raising security concerns over the Bundy episode.
By MANU RAJU | 4/28/14 4:29 PM EDT
Federal law enforcement officials are investigating threats made against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the aftermath of his sharp-edged attacks against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, sources said Monday.
Reid has not minced words about Bundy’s battle with the Bureau of Land Management, referring to Bundy’s supporters as “domestic terrorists” and the rancher himself as a “hateful racist.” As he’s stepped up his criticism, Reid has been the subject of threats himself, prompting an increase in his own security detail in recent days, people familiar with the matter said Monday.
Shennell Antrobus, a spokesman for the U.S. Capitol Police, declined to comment on the number of security personnel assigned to Reid or the nature of the threats against the Democratic leader. But he confirmed that the police are investigating “threatening statements” made against the majority leader.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/cliven-bundy-harry-reid-threat-106106.html#ixzz30DvLhoTB
Live streaming on Weather Channel:
http://www.weather.com/tv/tvshows/live-stream
I am saying prayers for all of those people affected by the tornadoes.
“Tornado Outbreak Kills at Least 28 as Threat Continues For South on Tuesday: State-by-State Updates”
http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-central/severe-weather-tornado-outbreak-late-april-impacts-20140427
(many video reports one after another)
http://twitter.com/abc3340/status/460995314250289152/photo/1
Now y’all KNOW this is some BULLSHIT right here:
Poll: Democrats at risk in fall elections
Dan Balz and Peyton M. Craighill
As the president’s approval rating hits a low, majority of voters say they prefer a Congress in GOP hands
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/post-abc-news-poll-shows-democrats-at-risk-in-november-as-obamas-approval-rating-falls/2014/04/28/2a448b04-cf07-11e3-b812-0c92213941f4_story.html?wpisrc=nl_politics
h
Ametia, you know this some REAL bullshit! Who in the hell would prefer a do nothing Congress? What the hell have they done in the past five years except obstruct anything good for the country? It’s a damn LIE!
It’s an insult to our intelligence. Of course the media has no INTELLIGENCE, so they need us to remind them of this fact.
Duke Ellington was born on this day in 1899. From Wikipedia:
Yeah BABY, SIR DUKE! Thanks Yahtc.
Ametia & Rikyrah
Can y’all shake it up like Helen? I can do it! ;)
I can’t shake it like Helen, but I can SHAKE ir. LOL
Five-O BOOK’EM DAN-O!
I can’t shake it up like Helen….LOL
Good Morning, everyone!
I loved Jack Lord’s sexy self! I couldn’t wait to watch the show just to see that good looking man!
Bow Chicka Bow Wow!
Good Morning, SG2 and Everyone :)
Thanks, SG2, for bringing us Hawaii Five-O.
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Ooooo!
My husband just came back with Chinese take-out from where he had a business lunch.
chickenLo mein + veggie bean curd.
Get in my belly! Yum Yum!