America is an American folk rock band formed in London in 1970 which originally consisted of Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, and Dan Peek. The three members were barely out of their teens when they became a musical sensation in 1972, scoring No. 1 hits and winning a Grammy for best new musical artist. Their recording success stretched throughout the 1970s; some of their best known songs are “A Horse with No Name”, “Sister Golden Hair” (both of which reached No. 1), “Ventura Highway”, “Tin Man”, “Daisy Jane”, and “Lonely People”. George Martin produced seven of their albums.
Peek left the group in 1977 to pursue a solo career, but Beckley and Bunnell returned to the top 10 as a duo with “You Can Do Magic” in 1982. As late as 2009, America performed over 100 shows per year.
On January 16, 2007, America released Here & Now, the band’s first major label studio album in over twenty years.
This photo made me smile.
http://twitter.com/koralmagic/status/407963460371509248/photo/1
From DonnaDem at TOD:
Protesters in Murrieta were yelling “we don’t want you here”. Native Americans didn’t want illegal immigrants here either. See how that works?
https://twitter.com/Earlyrizah/status/484500300238032898/photo/1
June 28, 2014 at 1:00 am
50 years later, Supremes’ run atop pop chart goes largely uncelebrated
Susan Whitall
Detroit News Music Writer
1964 was a tumultuous year politically, with the nation still recovering from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy the previous November. In June, “Freedom Summer” brought hundreds of young people to Mississippi to work for civil rights.
But musically, it was a landmark year. February brought the Beatles to America, and it was also the year that Motown broke through and crossed over decisively as a pop powerhouse, never to be seen as a regional R&B label again.
It was three young girls from Detroit, the “no-hit” Supremes, who sealed the deal, racking up five consecutive No. 1 pop records, starting in June.
The Supremes recorded the song “Where Did Our Love Go,” and it was released 50 years ago on June 17, 1964. The song reached No. 1 on Billboard’s pop charts on Aug. 16, 1964.
With all the hoopla over the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ debut on the Ed Sullivan Show in February, and of the British Invasion of beat groups that swept America, it can be forgotten that it was a mere girl group that put Motown over the top, finally.
“I know the fans are into it; they love us. But in the polls, everything is about the male groups,” says Mary Wilson of the Supremes, talking from her home in Las Vegas.
“Five consecutive No. 1s, we were really huge,” Wilson, 70, adds. “but I’ll tell you what, something I’ve noticed, as a historian of the Supremes — I’ve appointed myself just like everybody has appointed themselves collectors and everything — I think it has to do with being female. The Rolling Stones had a big thing about their 50th anniversary, the Beatles, but you don’t hear about the Supremes as much.”
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140628/ENT04/306280012#ixzz36MVQk3RL
America’s ugly vile racism!
as we remember the signing of the Civil Rights Act, and remembering Freedom Summer, mine is only one story, but it’s not unique.
My mother grew up in the Police State that was Jim Crow Mississippi.
My father would have been FORTY-TWO YEARS OLD, if he had stayed in the state of his birth, before he would have been able to vote. And this is AFTER he put on the uniform for this country and put his life on the line for a country that had him – in the laws on the books- as a second-class citizen.
My maternal grandmother, a Black woman who had her Masters Degree before she married in 1910, was unable to vote in Mississippi because she couldn’t pass the ‘literacy’ test.
The GOP doesn’t understand – this Voter Suppression shyt they’re doing is PERSONAL. And folks will never forget it.
Senate Race Conference Call Spins Into Complete Disaster After Questioner Asks About ‘Harvesting Black Votes’
Brett LoGiurato
Jul. 2, 2014, 4:57 PM
A Thad Cochran campaign call Wednesday afternoon tumbled into disaster when a questioner asked why the Cochran campaign was “harvesting black people” for votes.
The call was held to push back against claims from the campaign of Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel, Cochran’s intra-party challenger who contends Cochran won last week’s Republican primary runoff election illegitimately by courting the votes of Democrats and African-Americans.
But the call was quickly hijacked by callers who later referred to themselves as supporters of McDaniel. One repeatedly interrupted Cochran campaign adviser Austin Barbour.
“Quick question,” said the caller, who did not identify himself. “Since black people harvested cotton, why is it OK to harvest their votes? Why is it OK to harvest the votes of black people?”
After Barbour largely ignored the question, the questioner asked again: “If black people were harvesting cotton, why do you think it’s OK to harvest their votes?”
This finally triggered a response from Barbour.
“Sir, I don’t know where you’re calling from, but I’m happy to address any question, no matter the lunacy of it,” Barbour said.
But the questioner continued to press, insistent on derailing the call.
“Why did you use black people? Why did you use black people to try to get Cochran elected when they’re not even Republicans? You’re treating them as if they’re just idiots, that they’ll just vote for Cochran just because they’re black. Why did you harvest black votes?”
This was when Barbour decided to end the call — or at least end his participation. He urged members of the national media to call or email him or Cochran campaign spokesman Jordan Russell. Another questioner butted in to attempt to ask a “legitimate question,” as he called it. Barbour, though, hung up in the process of him asking the question, even as a woman shouted, “Let him talk!”
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/ms-sen-press-call-harvesting-black-votes-mcdaniel-cochran-2014-7#ixzz36MQlGgbz
“Michelle Howard becomes Navy’s first female four-star admiral”
http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/01/politics/first-woman-four-star-admiral/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dPNJgPousYg
Published on Jul 1, 2014 by Forbes
The first female 4-star admiral in naval history discusses the importance of defining the mission and the inherent isolation of being in charge. From the 2nd annual Forbes’ Women’s Summit.
Dudette @Dudette9t9
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Nina Simone wrote “Mississippi Goddam” after civil rights leader Medgar Evers was murdered in 1967: http://youtu.be/fVQjGGJVSXc
12:54 PM – 2 Jul 2014
“Mr Civil Rights: Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP” will be broadcast nationwide on public television in October 2014
http://youtu.be/nXC_zuL8hTg
https://twitter.com/TheDemocrats/status/484380109584203776/photo/1
50th Anniversary of The Civil Rights Act
By Chipsticks
50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Few achievements have defined our national identity as distinctly or as powerfully as the passage of the Civil Rights Act. It transformed our understanding of justice, equality, and democracy and advanced our long journey toward a more perfect Union. It helped bring an end to the Jim Crow era, banning discrimination in public places; prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; and providing a long-awaited enforcement mechanism for the integration of schools. A half-century later, we celebrate this landmark achievement and renew our commitment to building a freer, fairer, greater society.
Through the lens of history, the progress of the past five decades may seem inevitable. We may wish to remember our triumphs while erasing the pain and doubt that came before. Yet to do so would be a disservice to the giants who led us to the mountaintop, to unsung heroes who left footprints on our National Mall, to every American who bled and died on the battlefield of justice. In the face of bigotry, fear, and unyielding opposition from entrenched interests, their courage stirred our Nation’s conscience. And their struggle helped convince a Texas Democrat who had previously voted against civil rights legislation to become its new champion. With skillful charm and ceaseless grit, President Lyndon B. Johnson shepherded the Civil Rights Act through the Congress — and on July 2, 1964, he signed it into law.
While laws alone cannot right every wrong, they possess an unmatched power to anchor lasting change. The Civil Rights Act threw open the door for legislation that strengthened voting rights and established fair housing standards for all Americans. Fifty years later, we know our country works best when we accept our obligations to one another, embrace the belief that our destiny is shared, and draw strength from the bonds that hold together the most diverse Nation on Earth.
As we reflect on the Civil Rights Act and the burst of progress that followed, we also acknowledge that our journey is not complete. Today, let us resolve to restore the promise of opportunity, defend our fellow Americans’ sacred right to vote, seek equality in our schools and workplaces, and fight injustice wherever it exists. Let us remember that victory never comes easily, but with iron wills and common purpose, those who love their country can change it.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim July 2, 2014, as the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with programs, ceremonies, and activities that celebrate this accomplishment and advance civil rights in our time.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-eighth.
BARACK OBAMA
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/07/02/50th-anniversary-of-the-civil-rights-act/
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Hobby Lobby/SCOTUS – Why?
By Tally
Where to start?
Employers don’t pay for any actual health “care” unless they direct-fund their own insurance pool. Most employers aren’t in the insurance business. Most employers, even large ones like Disney, GM, and Edison, use large health insurance companies like Anthem, Aetna, and Blue Shield. The nice thing about being a large employer (51+ employees), the more (healthy) employees you have, the better your negotiating power is to write your own coverage. Small groups (50 or less), get to choose from pre-made small group plans.
Employers don’t pay for meds; birth control, or otherwise. The insurance company does. Employers don’t get an itemized Rx bill of all their employees medications to pay every month. The insurance company pays for that, and your medical care is protected private information that your employer has no business ever seeing. The SOCTUS decision doesn’t change that.
The ACA guarantees that women have FREE access to birth control. So, even if Hobby Lobby self-funds their insurance, the SCOTUS decision doesn’t affect that. Either the government (all of us tax payers) or the insurance companies will pick up that tab, because it’s cheaper than maternity care and the birth of a live human.
This decision doesn’t allow Hobby Lobby to force their female employees to pay full price for birth control. It also doesn’t allow Hobby Lobby to block their female employees from getting access to birth control.
No matter what percentage of the premiums Hobby Lobby pays for it’s employees’ health care, it’s not going to get a discount for the females on birth control. (They’re never going to KNOW which employees are on birth control, thanks to the HIPAA laws.) In fact, what’s most likely to happen, is the insurance company will have an excuse to raise rates for everyone across the board to cover their having to paying for whatever birth control these corporations are having a tantrum over.
Combine this nonsense with the metric shit-load of SCIENCE FAIL by both the five idiot men on the SCOTUS who failed biology, and whoever runs these “religious” companies.
Sperm + Egg ≠ Conception. How many times does this need to be said? You have NOTHING without the mother’s uterus, otherwise we’d be breeding people like The Matrix.
Plan B/RU486 PREVENTS implantation into the uterine wall, thus PREVENTING conception and pregnancy. If you’re already pregnant, it does nothing, which is why there’s such a narrow window for its use. An IUD works the same, in preventing implantation. The PILL prevents ovulation, thus preventing conception and pregnancy. You can’t fertilize nor implant an egg that is still hanging out in the ovary, having brunch with its mates.
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/07/02/hobby-lobbyscotus-why/
Michael Hargrove@MichaelHargrov1Follow
@QuinnipiacPoll notice that @chucktodd never mentioned that 82% of people polled said that they voted for Romney.
10:22 AM – 2 Jul 2014
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THIS ALL DAY LONG. We’ve been saying this forever.
These racist POS are trying to discourage other black men and women for that matter to ever aspire to becoming leader of the free world, with their ATTEMPTS to tarnish PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA.
Ina @InaMaziarcz
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“Poor people arent the problem, Greedy people are the Problem.” -Republican Mayor O’NEAL,(R-NC), on Medicaid Expansion. @Lawrence
9:46 PM – 1 Jul 2014
Orlando Sentinel: In Orlando, Michelle Obama calls counselors key to school success
School counselors have one of “the most underappreciated jobs” in the country but are key to in the White House’s goal to have more students pursue education after high school, first lady Michelle Obama said Tuesday in Orlando.
“You’re the one planting the seeds about college” and creating a climate where “higher education is the expectation, not the exception,” Obama told hundreds of counselors at an annual convention.
But counselors, she said, too often struggle with an “outrageous” caseload — one counselor to 451 students is the average in Florida — and school policies that view them as an extra that can be cut during lean budget years or asked to do other duties, such as serve as proctors during testing.
“School counseling should not be an extra or a luxury,” Obama said to loud applause. “School counseling is a necessity.”
Counselors at the American School Counselor Association’s convention at a Walt Disney World resort cheered the first lady’s remarks, saying she had validated their profession and frustrations.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-michelle-obama-school-counselors-20140701,0,784196.story
ThinkProgress: Meet The People, And The Families They Care For, Whose Lives Just Got Harder Thanks To The Supreme Court
When Dorothy Glenn and Flora Johnson, two home care workers who belong to the SEIU Healthcare Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kansas, first started out in their line of work, both made just $1 an hour. By the end of this year, thanks to the collective bargaining agreement reached by their union, they’ll be making $13 an hour. They also now have health care and paid training opportunities thanks to agreements obtained by the union. Such benefits could now become harder to secure.
On Monday, the Supreme Court issued a decision in the case Harris v. Quinn that was not as wide-sweeping as some labor advocates had worried — making it so that any public employees could opt out of paying union dues even if a union is negotiating on their behalf — but still ruled that home care workers in Illinois, who are paid by the state through Medicaid, no longer have to pay union fees. That loss of money could make it harder for the union to continue its organizing work.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/07/01/3455511/harris-workers/
Obama no longer cares whether the GOP is outraged
07/01/14 05:06 PM—Updated 07/01/14 05:07 PM
By Steve Benen
It’s become clear in recent weeks that President Obama and congressional Republicans are reading from very different scripts. The notion that the two institutional forces are butting heads is plainly wrong – they are two trains on separate tracks moving in completely different directions.
GOP lawmakers are now fully invested in fake “scandals” and an upcoming lawsuit/campaign stunt, the point of which they’re still trying to figure out. Obama, clearly tired of waiting for a Congress that will not govern, has become more enthusiastic about using his executive authority on everything from climate to discrimination to the minimum wage.
Clearly, the president’s willingness to keep governing without them has only enraged congressional Republicans – who were already livid. But it’s now obvious that the president simply does not care. Not even a little. The more GOP lawmaker scream, “No more executive actions!” the more Obama thinks to himself, “I wonder what other executive actions I can take.”
Consider the president’s remarks this morning in advance of a cabinet meeting.
“We’ve already seen the power of some of our executive actions in making a real difference for ordinary families…. But what I’m going to be urging all of you to do, and what I’m going to be continually pushing throughout this year and for the next couple of years is that if Congress can’t act on core issues that would actually make a difference in helping middle-class families get ahead, then we’re going to have to be creative about how we can make real progress. […]
“[I]f Congress is unable to do it, then all of our Cabinet members here – and the head of big agencies that touch people’s live in all sorts of ways – and I’m going to be continuing looking for ways in which we can show some real progress.”
Obama and his team aren’t only going to do more without Congress – on immigration, among other things – they’re going to get “creative” while doing more without Congress.
This is precisely the kind of position that congressional Republicans do not want to hear. They’re not using their power, and as a consequence, they believe the White House should be equally stagnant.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/obama-no-longer-cares-whether-the-gop-outraged
About VoteRiders
Mission
VoteRiders is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to ensure that all citizens are able to exercise their right to vote. Through resources and media exposure, VoteRiders supports on-the-ground organizations that assist citizens to secure their voter ID and inspires local volunteers and communities to sustain such programs and galvanize others to emulate these efforts.
How We Started
Knowing that millions of potential voters may be disenfranchised by the increasing number of stringent voter ID laws, Kathleen Unger decided to take action. With her extensive professional and volunteer experience in the non-profit sector, Ms. Unger decided to start her own non-profit dedicated to helping citizens to obtain their voter ID so they can exercise their fundamental right to vote. It was important to Ms. Unger that VoteRiders not duplicate what other organizations are doing to protect the right to vote. Thus, VoteRiders was founded in April 2012.
Organization Status
VoteRiders was incorporated as a non-profit organization in California on April 6, 2012. Contributions to VoteRiders, a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, are deductible for computing income and estate taxes.
http://voteriders.org/about/voteriders
https://twitter.com/MomsDemand/status/484334945763340288/photo/1
The history Rand Paul chooses to forget
07/02/14 09:22 AM
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By Steve Benen
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was enacted 50 years ago today. It’s an occasion Americans can and should celebrate, though some politicians should approach the issue with caution.
Take Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), for example, who issued a statement yesterday to mark the occasion.
“Tomorrow, July 2nd, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is simply unimaginable to think what modern America would be like if not for the brave men and women who stood up for the rights of all Americans. This legislation changed the future of our nation by enforcing the belief that all men and women are created equal. We must continue to build an America that our children-of every race, creed and color-deserve.”
On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with the sentiment. The problem, however, is the disconnect between the message and the messenger.
Paul may prefer that we forget the pesky details, but in 2010, during his first and only campaign for public office, Paul conceded publicly that he disagrees with parts of the Civil Right Act. For the Kentucky Republican, federal laws that barred private-sector discrimination were inconsistent with his ideology.
In one especially memorable exchange, Rachel asked Paul on the air, “Do you think that a private business has the right to say, ‘We don’t serve black people’?” Paul replied, “Yes.”
An America without the Civil Rights Act is “simply unimaginable”? Well, it couldn’t be that unimaginable – Rand Paul clearly imagined when he was criticizing the central tenants of the the Civil Rights Act itself.
But that’s not all the GOP senator said yesterday.
Paul went on to tell a Rotary Club audience, “[Y[ou’ll find nobody in Congress doing more for minority rights than me right now – Republican or Democrat.”
If this boast sounds familiar, there’s a good reason: the senator has made it before. Rand Paul honestly seems to believe that when it comes to championing minority rights, he is literally the very best Congress has to offer.
It’s worth noting that Paul, unlike many in his party, has shown leadership on issues like sentencing reforms. It’s an admirable position, worthy of praise, though plenty of Democratic lawmakers have adopted the exact same position.
But it’s the larger context where the senator runs into trouble. Rand Paul has criticized the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the Fair Housing Act. When lawmakers crafted a Voting Rights Amendment Act to address Supreme Court concerns and protect minority rights, Paul took a pass, refusing to sign on as a co-sponsor.
The senator also opposes equal marriage rights for all. He also found a neo-Confederate who celebrates the birthday of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, wrote a book with the guy, and then hired him to work on his Senate staff.
He’s also on board with his party’s voter-suppression agenda, which disproportionately affects minority voters.
“[Y[ou’ll find nobody in Congress doing more for minority rights than me right now – Republican or Democrat”? Seriously?
Paul really needs to pick a different topic to brag about. This one isn’t working well at all.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-history-rand-paul-chooses-forget
House tweaks the rules on all-expenses-paid trips
07/02/14 10:42 AM—Updated 07/02/14 10:51 AM
By Steve Benen
It’s a very familiar sight: members of Congress, jetting off for an all-expenses-paid trip, financed by interest groups that hope to have some influence on public policy. Such trips are legal, of course, and sometimes have an entirely legitimate and defensible governmental purpose.
Other times, well, they’re a little tougher to defend.
But at a minimum, at least these excursions have an element of transparency intended to discourage corruption: federal lawmakers who take the trips have to fill out financial disclosure forms that are subject to public scrutiny.
At least, that was how the system worked. Shane Goldmacher reports this week on a recent rules change that’s raising eyebrows.
It’s going to be a little more difficult to ferret out which members of Congress are lavished with all-expenses-paid trips around the world after the House has quietly stripped away the requirement that such privately sponsored travel be included on lawmakers’ annual financial-disclosure forms.
The move, made behind closed doors and without a public announcement by the House Ethics Committee, reverses more than three decades of precedent. Gifts of free travel to lawmakers have appeared on the yearly financial form dating back its creation in the late 1970s, after the Watergate scandal. National Journal uncovered the deleted disclosure requirement when analyzing the most recent batch of yearly filings.
The disclosure requirement hasn’t been eliminated altogether – all-expenses-paid trips will still have to be reported to the Office of the Clerk – but as Goldmacher’s report added, “they will now be absent from the chief document that reporters, watchdogs, and members of the public have used for decades to scrutinize lawmakers’ finances.”
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/house-tweaks-the-rules-all-expenses-paid-trips
Hello everyone!
HEY SG2!!!
Hey, I’ve got a lot of things going on. Trying to work them out.
The best and worst of modern presidents
07/02/14 11:28 AM—Updated 07/02/14 11:31 AM
By Steve Benen
Quinnipiac has a poll that seems custom-made to generate chatter in the political world, but the closer one looks, the more it seems the results offer more heat than light.
A plurality of voters think Barack Obama is the worst president since World War II, a new poll says. According to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday, 33 percent of voters think the current president is the worst since 1945.
Obama’s predecessor, former President George W. Bush, came in at second-worst with 28 percent, and Richard Nixon was in third place with 13 percent of the vote. After Jimmy Carter, who 8 percent of voters said was the worst president in the time period, no other president received more than 3 percent.
I haven’t monitored broadcast media too closely this morning, so I can’t say for sure how much attention this has received, but it’s already getting quite a bit of attention online and in conservative media.
And at first blush, it’s easy to see why. Twelve people have served as president in the post-WWII era and here we have a national survey from a credible pollster suggesting that a plurality of Americans see Barack Obama as the very worst of the bunch.
And given that this bunch includes George W. Bush and Richard Nixon, ranking dead last isn’t easy.
But before folks get too excited about the poll, it’s worth taking a closer look at the results. Indeed, it’s worth making some charts.
In this new poll, respondents were given the list of the 12 modern presidents and then asked to choose the best one. Not surprisingly, Democrats and Republicans answered the question very differently.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-best-and-worst-modern-presidents#break
Creationist Neurosurgeon Ben Carson: Legal Abortions Are Exactly Like Human Sacrifice
Crazy talk like this leads to women’s health clinics being bombed
By Charles Johnson
Young Earth creationist neurosurgeon (a phrase that gives me chills to write) Dr. Ben Carson keeps getting farther and farther out. Here he is on a fanatical religious right webcast, comparing legal abortion to human sacrifice. Carson thinks we have no right to criticize ancient civilizations like the Aztecs, when we’re doing the exact same thing.
Carson is a shoo-in for the GOP presidential nomination. This is where the Republican Party has ended up.
Read more at http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/43555_Creationist_Neurosurgeon_Ben_Carson-_Legal_Abortions_Are_Exactly_Like_Human_Sacrifice#CmJ78Y1AYmmDWWq7.99
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meta @metaquest
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Gosh, weight a poll with 73% white people, 53% over 50 years old, 35% “Independent” voters and PRESTO! Nixon was the greatest! #jernalizm
8:30 AM – 2 Jul 2014
Pretty Foot @PrettyFootWoman
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In Case you forgot what it took to get the Right to Vote! Fannie Lou Hamer’s Testimony: http://youtu.be/ML3WaEsCB98 via @YouTube
6:15 AM – 2 Jul 2014
Sarah Reese Jones @srjones66
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It never gets old// Obama’s Culture of Life: The Abortion Rate Has Fallen 13% Under This President http://www.politicususa.com/2014/02/03/newsflash-republicans-abortion-rate-fell-13-president-obama.html … #p2 #P2b
3:02 PM – 1 Jul 2014
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JORGE RAMOS ✔ @jorgeramosnews
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Think 2016. @SpeakerBoehner openly saying they blocked immigration reform. Latinos voters will remember. Republican candidate will struggle
2:43 PM – 30 Jun 2014
Fox Host: Hobby Lobby Decision Sends ‘Shrieking’ Feminists Into ‘Hysterics’ (VIDEO)
Catherine Thompson – July 2, 2014, 8:17 AM EDT
Fox News host Greg Gutfeld had some choice words Tuesday for women who opposed the Supreme Court’s ruling against the Obamacare contraception mandate.
During a discussion of the Hobby Lobby decision on “The Five,” Gutfeld argued that the Supreme Court did not violate women’s rights when it ruled that closely held corporations could refuse to cover certain contraceptives because of their religious beliefs. He attempted to draw a comparison to First Amendment rights, arguing that Fox News doesn’t infringe on his free speech by forbidding him to swear on air.
Gutfeld then launched a condescending attack on “feminist bloggers” in particular, accusing them of overblowing the ruling and spreading misinformation about the decision.
“No grace involved in this, just shrieking,” he said. “And it’s because for a lot of these women who are activists, screaming is what they majored in. Campuses provide degrees in grievance.”
“Women have fought the stigma of fragile, emotional behavior for decades. For being accused of not being able to handle things,” he added. “This hysteria by feminists has set back their cause by decades. They are truly resembling hysterics over a lot of this stuff, and they’re being dishonest to other women.”
“It’s gone from ‘I am woman, hear me roar,’ to ‘I am woman, hear me beg for Plan B,'” co-host Andrea Tantaros chimed in. “Doesn’t it come down to just that conservative women, or women who agree with this court decision, are just stronger women than liberal women? I don’t need a government or a boss or anyone to pay for my birth control.”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/greg-gutfeld-hobby-lobby-feminists
John Boehner Thanks Bill Clinton For Birth Control Ruling
Sahil Kapur – July 1, 2014, 3:57 PM EDT
Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) would like to thank President Bill Clinton for making the Supreme Court’s ruling against the birth control mandate possible.
@SpeakerBoehner
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Retweet to thank Pres Bill Clinton for signing into law the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, upheld by #SupremeCourt. #HobbyLobby
11:28 AM – 1 Jul 2014
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, was passed by a Democratic Congress and signed into law by Clinton, in response to a 1990 Supreme Court ruling which said the First Amendment does not allow for religious exemptions to generally applicable laws. RFRA imposes strict scrutiny standards for laws that burden a person’s exercise of religion.
The Supreme Court relied on RFRA to rule against the contraception requirement on Monday. Numerous Democrats who support the birth control rule and voted for RFRA have said they didn’t intend for the law to apply to for-profit corporations.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/john-boehner-trolls-bill-clinton
SCOTUS: Ruling Applies Broadly To Contraception Coverage
AP – July 1, 2014, 12:03 PM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday confirmed that its decision a day earlier extending religious rights to closely held corporations applies broadly to the contraceptive coverage requirement in the new health care law, not just the handful of methods the justices considered in their ruling.
The justices did not comment in leaving in place lower court rulings in favor of businesses that object to covering all 20 methods of government-approved contraception.
Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby Inc. and a Pennsylvania furniture maker won their court challenges Monday in which they refused to pay for two emergency contraceptive pills and two intrauterine devices.
Tuesday’s orders apply to companies owned by Catholics who oppose all contraception. Cases involving Colorado-based Hercules Industries Inc., Illinois-based Korte & Luitjohan Contractors Inc. and Indiana-based Grote Industries Inc. were awaiting action pending resolution of the Hobby Lobby case.
They are among roughly 50 lawsuits from profit-seeking corporations that object to the contraceptive coverage requirement in their health plans for employees. Contraception is among a range of preventive services that must be included in the health plans, at no extra cost to workers.
The justices also ordered lower courts that ruled in favor of the Obama administration to reconsider thosedecisions in light of Monday’s 5-4 decision.
Two Michigan-based companies, Autocam Corp. and Eden Foods Inc., both lost their cases in the lower courts. The justices ordered the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its decisions against the companies.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/scotus-says-hobby-lobby-ruling-applies-broadly?utm_content=buffer3c4f1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
https://twitter.com/txstarkeeper/status/484026289217490944/photo/1
umair haque ✔ @umairh
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Really enjoying person after person with a penis telling everyone that Hobby Lobby isn’t really that big a deal.
11:59 AM – 1 Jul 2014
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
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#SCOTUS clarifies that its #HobbyLobby ruling applies to ALL forms of birth control. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/scotus-says-hobby-lobby-ruling-applies-broadly?utm_content=buffer3c4f1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer …
The nightmare has begun.
11:56 AM – 1 Jul 2014
10 cities with the most millionaires per household
By Stacy Rapacon of Kiplinger
That New York City is home to the most millionaires in the U.S. probably doesn’t come as a shock. More surprising is the fact that the place with the highest concentration of millionaires as a percentage of households is not the Big Apple but rather a tiny town in New Mexico.
Only about 5 percent of the country, or 6.1 million households, qualify as true millionaires. That is, they boast liquid, investable assets of $1 million or more, excluding real estate, employer-sponsored retirement plans and business partnerships. Research firm Phoenix Marketing International identifies where these millionaires live in an annual survey of wealthy residents in 942 urban areas. We’ve also researched the typical incomes and home values in the top ten cities, in case you’re interested in living next door to one of these millionaires.
http://realestate.msn.com/10-cities-with-the-most-millionaires-per-household
https://twitter.com/LibbyReale/status/484289439246462976/photo/1
Newest Pa. gubernatorial poll shows Tom Wolf gaining steam in Tom Corbett’s deficit
By Christina Kauffman | ckauffman@pennlive.com
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on July 02, 2014 at 5:00 AM, updated July 02, 2014 at 5:01 AM
The campaign to re-elect Gov. Tom Corbett has another ugly picture to hang on the wall, after a poll released Wednesday painted the latest dismal portrait of voter sentiment for the incumbent Republican.
This Franklin & Marshall College survey of registered voters is the most recent in a series of post-primary polls, showing the governor with low job approval and lagging behind his Democratic challenger, York County businessman Tom Wolf
Only 26 percent of voters polled said Corbett deserves a second term. And if the general election had been held the day pollsters interviewed the 502 respondents, Corbett would’ve lost the election with 25 percent of the vote to Wolf’s 47 percent. The group of undecided voters — 27 percent — exceeded Corbett’s take of the crowd.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/07/poll_tom_wolf_governor_tom_cor.html
On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. received one of the pens.
http://youtu.be/Bygv9u1G6Xo
CNBC ✔ @CNBC
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U.S. private sector creates 281,000 new jobs in June, vs. estimate of 200,000: http://cnb.cx/1z7ookL
7:16 AM – 2 Jul 2014
Happy HUMP day, Everyone! :-))
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Good Morning, Everyone!
Thurgood Marshall was born on this day in 1908. From Wikipedia:
Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991. Marshall was the Court’s 96th justice and its first African American justice.
Before becoming a judge, Marshall was a lawyer who was best known for his high success rate in arguing before the Supreme Court and for the victory in Brown v. Board of Education, a decision that desegregated public schools. He served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit after being appointed by President John F. Kennedy and then served as the Solicitor General after being appointed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. President Johnson nominated him to the United States Supreme Court in 1967.
Thanks for this. Justice Marshall’s turning over in his grave, witnessing what this SCOTUS is doing to turn back the clock on all he helped accomplished.