Happy Monday, Everyone. This week’s featured artists THE EAGLES. Being one of 8 girls in my family, I gravitated to my brothers for some variety in music. And my brother Russell didn’t disappoint. He turned me on to the Eagles. Thanks Bro.
The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971 by Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner. With five number-one singles, six Grammy Awards, five American Music Awards and six number one albums, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s. At the end of the 20th century, two of their albums, Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) and Hotel California, were ranked among the 20 best-selling albums in the U.S. according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Hotel California is ranked 37th in Rolling Stone’s list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” and the band was ranked number 75 on the magazine’s 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
They are one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time, having sold over 150 million records—100 million in the U.S. alone—including 42 million copies of Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) and 32 million copies of Hotel California. They are the fifth-highest-selling music act and highest-selling American band in US history. No American band sold more records than the Eagles during the 1970s.
The Eagles released their self-titled debut album in 1972, which spawned three top 40 singles: “Take It Easy”, “Witchy Woman” and “Peaceful Easy Feeling”. Their next album, Desperado (1973), was less successful than the first, reaching only number 41 on the charts; neither of its singles reached the top 40. However, the album contained two of the band’s most popular tracks: “Desperado” and “Tequila Sunrise”. They released On the Border in 1974, adding guitarist Don Felder midway through the recording of the album. The album generated two top 40 singles: “Already Gone” and their first number one, “Best of My Love”.
Hotel California
It was not until 1975’s One of These Nights that the Eagles became arguably America’s biggest band. The album included three top 10 singles: “One of These Nights”, “Lyin’ Eyes” and “Take It to the Limit”, the first hitting the top of the charts. They continued that success and hit their commercial peak in late 1976 with the release of Hotel California, which would go on to sell over 16 million copies in the U.S. alone and over 32 million copies worldwide. The album yielded two number-one singles, “New Kid in Town” and “Hotel California”. They released their last studio album for nearly 28 years in 1979 with The Long Run, which spawned three top 10 singles: “Heartache Tonight”, “The Long Run” and “I Can’t Tell You Why”, the lead single being another chart-topping hit.
One of These Nights
So the Game Change dudes Halperin and Heilemann got their own show called “With all Due Respect.”
True to the title of their bestselling books “Game Change,” Mark Halperin and John Heilemann aim to alter the political debate on TV.
“With All Due Respect,” hosted by the duo, will premiere on Bloomberg TV October 6 at 5pmET. “He’s got a chance to win,” Halperin says sitting across from Heilemann at a diner table in a promo video.
“He makes Joe Biden look like a guy in control of his mouth,” Heilemann responds, with the two then agreeing their diner-style conversation can be a political talk show. Another promo video rolls out a montage of politicians, pundits, and celebrities saying “with all due respect.”
“In a world where people say with all due respect when that is not at all what they mean comes a new show that fuses popular culture, the political world, and TV…and translates what people are actually saying,” the promo says. The half-hour show will air on Bloomberg TV and BloombergPolitics.com
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/mark-halperin-and-john-heilemanns-bloomberg-tv-show-gets-debut-date_b238172#more-238172
Just what the country needs. Two more gasbags on TV.
Asia Chloe Brown @AsiaChloeBrown
White people MURDER us for being “thugs” and then go write whole cookbooks using that identity. I swear to God they are parasites.
https://twitter.com/ABCNewsTravel/status/516651791388131328/photo/1
Did anyone else see the piece on the Chinese guy who founded Alibaba?
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/516649996007919616/photo/1
Rick Hasen @rickhasen
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Holy cow. In #KSSEN lawsuit to force Dems to choose candidate, plaintiff is a no-show: http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66054
4:43 PM – 29 Sep 2014
Jonathan Capehart ✔ @CapehartJ
BEARS REPEATING —> The Obamas must feel and be safe at the White House. http://wapo.st/1mqMx2p
Bobfr @Our4thEstate
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@CapehartJ People should lose their jobs. Dude could’ve been a suicide bomber. cc @VP @vj44 @FLOTUS @SenatorReid @NancyPelosi @SecretService
4:57 PM – 29 Sep 2014
Ari Berman @AriBerman
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Roberts court rules against early voting in Ohio SIXTEEN HOURS before early voting set to begin http://www.scotusblog.com/2014/09/early-voting-in-ohio-blocked/ …
3:27 PM – 29 Sep 2014
The Koch court is going to burn in HELL.
Bobfr @Our4thEstate
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@VP @RepJohnLewis #SCOTUS WAR ON VOTERS is beyond doubt. 5 men, OWNED by #KochBro & other US oligarchs, are a grave threat to our Democracy.
6:19 PM – 29 Sep 2014
Kurt Eichenwald @kurteichenwald
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Until now, SCOTUS has always avoided messing with an ongoing election. By suspending early OH voting w/o hearing the case yet, thats over.
5:36 PM – 29 Sep 2014
So true.
So true.
Matt Murphy @MattMurph24
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SCOTUS stripped the VRA, upheld Citizens United and banned early voting in Ohio. They don’t give a damn about freedom and democracy.
5:36 PM – 29 Sep 2014
https://twitter.com/dougmillsnyt/status/516695816514584577/photo/1
Koch Wing of SCOTUS Grants OHIO GOP Its Wish To Restrict Early Voting
By: Adalia Woodbury more from Adalia Woodbury
Monday, September, 29th, 2014, 8:04 pm
The Koch brothers controlled branch of the Supreme Court of the United States, granted Jon Husted’s wish to uphold the Republicans restrictions on early voting in Ohio.
From a legal perspective, there is room to suggest that since Husted “only” rolled back early voting by a week, it isn’t a big deal. In fact, there is room to argue that doesn’t really hinder people’s voting rights since other states have shorter early voting periods or no early voting at all. However, if one looks at the developments in election law over the past several years, there is no doubt that restrictions on the vote are definitely occurring, even if it is on an incremental basis.
Technically, this is a temporary order. An order like this one isn’t supposed to be an indicator of how the court would rule on the issues in this case. Also, it is worth noting again that this reduces early voting by a week, but doesn’t eliminate it all together.
Still, we know the “conservative” wing of the Supreme Court grants unfettered civil rights to corporations while choosing to look upon the rights of human beings in the narrowest possible way. Examples include the rulings on Citizens United, Hobby Lobby and Shelby v. Holder.
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/09/29/koch-wing-scotus-grants-ohio-gop-restrict-early-voting.html
https://twitter.com/Anti_Intellect/status/516725856144990208
County police chief admits officers broke Ferguson 5-second protest rule
POSTED 6:43 PM, SEPTEMBER 29, 2014, BY PAUL SCHANKMAN
ST. LOUIS (KTVI) – It is now up to a federal judge to decide whether the so-called ‘five-second rule,’ which police have been using as justification to force protesters in Ferguson to keep moving or face arrest, is legal.
U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry heard testimony Monday in St. Louis in a case brought by the ACLU, claiming police have no legal right to arrest protesters for “refusal to disperse” just for standing still.
“We have very serious concerns about the lack of due process that is happening in Ferguson,” said ACLU of Missouri Legal Director Tony Rothert.
“It does seem to be an intimidation tactic in many ways and that just makes people feel picked on and agitated and leads to the kinds of feelings that cause the unrest that we have seen,” he said.
http://fox2now.com/2014/09/29/county-police-chief-admits-officers-broke-ferguson-5-second-protest-rule/
Monday, September 29, 2014
Bust a meme: President Obama’s approval ratings
I can understand why Republicans want to spread a false meme that President Obama’s approval numbers are tanking. Their whole goal in the midterms is to nationalize the election and ramp up the Obama derangement syndrome with their base.
But one has to wonder why some liberals are so intent on doing the same thing. Case in point: Elias Isquith at Salon. He sites polls taken recently in California and New York showing that the President’s approval ratings have dropped in those blue states and then opines:
Put simply, my guess is that a growing number of liberals have decided that after nearly six years, and with no reason to believe a Democratic congress is on the horizon, Obama’s done nearly all he’ll ever do and the verdict is in. And although Obamacare seems to be a policy success, and Dodd-Frank is reportedly working better than many expected, many liberals have concluded that these balms are not enough to soothe the lingering pain of their unmet expectations.
Ahhh…the old “disappointed liberal” meme. Its interesting how that one tends to always come up right before an election. These folks are always sure that THIS TIME President Obama has finally crossed the rubicon and lost the support of his liberal “base.” Isquith lays the blame this time on his decision to delay action on immigration and the fact that he’s “acquiesced in the face of the U.S.war machine.” Surely these polls are proof that the President has finally lost liberals.
But are they? I thought I’d take a look. The first thing I noticed is that both polls he referenced are state polls that also serve the function of polling local elections. As such, the results they report about the drop in presidential approval rating come at the same time that polling firms tend to switch from polling “registered voters” to “likely voters.” Could this explain the results he’s focusing on?
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2014/09/bust-meme-president-obamas-approval.html
Jeff Gauvin @JeffersonObama
Only in America, where a small whites only party, half the size of Dems can win the Senate because progressives oppose bombing terrorists
https://twitter.com/yahoofood/status/516635393798979584
Awesomely Luvvie @Luvvie
I’m not surprised that the folks behind Thug Kitchen are white. It’s hilarious that this is another “WE NEVER PROMOTED THIS” success story
Awesomely Luvvie @Luvvie
Couple of things I’ve peeped. Most (if not all) of these Tumblrs that have become books haven’t been by people of color.
Awesomely Luvvie @Luvvie
Most of these hella successful Tumblrs end up w/ folks who say “Oh we never even tried to make this a THING. It just happened.”
Awesomely Luvvie @Luvvie
It’s like the Tumblr white folks trip and fall on success and book deals and book tours and wealth. Interesting. Inner-resting…
Awesomely Luvvie @Luvvie
I’ve always thought that the BlackFashion Tumblr would be RIPE to be a coffee table book. But yeah…
Christina Behnke @brackishthenine
@jbouie @JedBread “We started the site just for fun, to make each other laugh,” recalls Davis. *cringe*
https://twitter.com/ReggieMillerTNT/status/516733465728126976/photo/1
Lord, I hope she is found alive.
The Supreme Court’s First Decision In Its New Term Is A Decision Making It Harder To Vote
by Ian Millhiser Posted on September 29, 2014 at 4:20 pm
On Monday, the Supreme Court returned from its summer vacation for the “Long Conference,” the day when the justices consider the backlog of petitions asking them to hear cases that built up while they were away for the summer. Yet, despite the fact that the justices typically face hundreds of petitions that they must consider during this conference, five of them still found time on Monday to make it harder for Ohio residents to cast a vote. In a 5-4 decision that divided entirely along partisan lines, the Court allowed cuts to Ohio’s early voting days to go into effect. Notably, this decision came down just 16 hours before polling places were set to open in that state.
Monday’s decision is not particularly surprising. Earlier this month, a federal trial judge halted changes to Ohio’s early voting procedures that cut the number of early voting days by a week, including one Sunday before election day. This decision was upheld by an unusually liberal panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. All four of the judges who previously considered this case are well to the left of the Supreme Court’s five Republican members.
As Judge Peter Economus, the judge who initially suspended the voting changes, explained in his opinion, the reduction in early voting days were likely to disproportionately impact African American voters. Many black churches conduct “Souls to the Polls” events that encouraging churchgoers to vote after attending Sunday services, and removing an early voting day on a Sunday reduces the opportunities to conduct these events. Additionally Judge Economus discussed empirical evidence demonstrating that “a greater proportion of blacks not only cast [early] ballots than whites but do so on early voting days that have been eliminated by” the new voting schedule.
This impact on African American voters matters because the Voting Rights Act provides that “[n]o voting qualification or prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision in a manner which results in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.” Although the Supreme Court did not explain why it was reinstating the cuts to early voting in its order on Monday, the Court’s Republican members struck down another provision of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, so they do not have a record which suggests particular sympathy to this law’s goals.
As SCOTUSBlog’s Lyle Denniston points out, “[t]he practical effect of the [Court’s recent] order will mean at least early voting will not be allowed this week — a period that supporters of early balloting have called ‘Golden Week.’ That permits voters to register and cast their ballots on the same day.” It is possible, albeit unlikely, that the Court could issue a subsequent order that would have the effect of restoring some voting days closer to election day.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/09/29/3573557/the-supreme-courts-first-decision-in-its-new-term-is-a-decision-making-it-harder-to-vote/
The anger behind the Hong Kong uprising, in one chart
Updated by Zack Beauchamp on September 29, 2014, 4:10 p.m.
The huge protests in Hong Kong are about a number of things, but the most central is the question of whether or not Hong Kongers trust Beijing to stick to its promises to respect Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms. According to a long-running poll from the University of Hong Kong, trust in Hong Kong’s political arrangement with China has fallen to an all-time low. That helps explain why these protests are erupting now, and why they’re so huge.
The poll asks Hong Kongers about their confidence in the “One Country, Two Systems” policy, which has granted Hong Kong its unusual autonomy and nominal democracy ever since it left British control for China in 1997. The more confident Hong Kongers are in this system, the more faith they have in its ability to secure their rights. And today, confidence in the system — and in Beijing’s adherence to it — is plunging:
http://www.vox.com/2014/9/29/6865681/one-chart-that-explains-the-protests-in-hong-kong
Sunday, September 28, 2014
The top ten House Negroes in America today.
I am bringing you my top ten list of house Negroes in America for 2014.
This list is not necessarily in an order of importance, and it reflects the top ten house Negroes in America at this particular point in time.
1. Jason Riley-This Negro is dangerous because a major newspaper gives him a platform to spew his nonsense.
2. Don Lemon-This was a close one, because this Negro actually makes some good points at times. But his body of tomming work is too large to ignore.
3. Sheryl Underwood-“Why would you save Afro hair?” She went on to imply that no one wants to save black people’s hair, adding that you never hear of a woman in a beauty shop asking for that “curly, nappy, beady” hair.
In contrast, Underwood praised her white co-host for saving her child’s hair because it was probably “some beautiful, long silky stuff.” I am sure there is lots of perm in the house.
4. Stacey Dash- Nothing wrong with supporting Mitt Romney if you really think he would make a better president. But supporting him because you think that the white man’s milk is cleaner is house Negro behavior.
5. Allen West- This Negro almost didn’t make the list because he is a borderline cartoon character and this list is for real people.
http://field-negro.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-top-ten-house-negroes-in-america.html
Breaking News: WH fence jumper dashed past the stairway leading a half flight up to the First Family’s living quarters.
******************
How in the hell did the WH fence jumper make it a half flight up to the First Family’s living quarters?How’d he get that DAMN far? The alarm system was muted.
SET-UP!
Of course it’s a SET UP. POTUS & FLOTUS can’t be ok with this lates fuckup by the secret service. NO WAY.
how come none of these muthaphuckas was SHOT?
That’s my big thing. Nobody unloaded on these mofos?
if ever there is a time for shoot and ask questions if they live afterward, it is someone attacking the White House.
Mofo should have been SHOT ON THE SPOT.
This is a MAJOR FAIL and CRIMINALLY NEGILENCE by the secret service. Not so secret any more now are they?
https://twitter.com/KellyO/status/516689888817987585/photo/1
Someone let that man in the WH. Someone who knows the ins & outs.
I can’t stand Dunham because she reeks of White Privilege.
Nobody Black who is as talentless AND looks like her would remotely be taken seriously.
Today In the New Gilded Age
September 29, 2014 | Scott Lemieux
Let me preface this my saying that the tendency for reviews of Lena Dunham’s work to take the form of reviews of Lena Dunham the person is both irritating and sexist. Nonetheless, when Lena Dunham the person does something bad she should be called out for it, and this is really bad:
As Nolan says, what’s really bad about this is not only did Dunham get a nearly $4 million advance for the book — an advance I have a very hard time believing is justified by the book’s commercial prospects — she’s charging 38 bucks a throw for admission to the talks. If you’re doing that, you really have no possible excuse for not paying the people you hire. Pay them, or do the tour solo. This kind of exploitation is just wrong, and please don’t tell me that you’re paying them in exposure.
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2014/09/today-new-gilded-age
SLAVE LABOR? This bitch right here.
The Return of Terror Politics
ByJosh MarshallPublishedSeptember 29, 2014, 12:53 PM EDT 1930 views
Even setting aside the mania about different electoral prediction models, it seems clear something significant has happened in the last ten days or so, perhaps ephemeral but significant nonetheless. And that something is a clear shift of Senate fortunes in favor of Republicans. The main drivers are the races in Alaska, Iowa and Colorado.
In each case, there are internal reasons put forward to explain the change … a debate, a major gaffe, previously thin poll data. But there’s a separate factor; and I wonder whether it’s playing a roll buoying Republican candidates. That is, the return of terror politics.
Something very big happened in June when ISIL burst out of Syria and overran a huge chunk of Sunni Iraq. But in the field of US domestic opinion something much bigger and graver happened in September when ISIL beheaded US reporter James Foley and again when they behead fellow journalist and captive Steven Sotloff. (The filmed executions of other foreign nationals followed.) Public opinion data seems to show that these two incidents had a massive and galvanizing effect on US public opinion – driving a public extremely unsupportive of further foreign military operations toward overwhelming support for attacking ISIL.
To make the point clear, what happened in June was a very big deal in terms of the already fractured and fragmented state system in the Arab Middle East. But the executions changed the equation for the US public. It goes without saying that the executions were grisly and brutal, deeply disturbing and revealing about the character of this group. So June and September have an obvious connection. But hundreds of thousands of Syrians and Iraqis have been killed in recent years. Thousand of US military personnel have been killed. And even many US civilians and captives have been killed.
But these executions were packaged – there’s no other way to put – as brilliantly evil propaganda. That made all the difference in the world in terms of the shifting sands of US public opinion which soon bore fruit in shifting US policy.
And that change has spread beyond attitudes toward fighting abroad. It’s brought terror politics back to the forefront back home – or at least given them more salience than they’ve had for years, at least for the moment.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-return-of-terror-politics
https://twitter.com/galli_wkow/status/516654388862283777/photo/1
Sam Wang @SamWangPhD
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National Senate Conditions: A Change In The Air? new at PEC: http://election.princeton.edu/2014/09/29/a-change-in-the-air/ …
12:27 PM – 29 Sep 2014
Why a compromise on contraception remains so elusive
09/29/14 01:02 PM
By Steve Benen
Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) has put himself in a very awkward spot. After flip-flopping on Colorado’s proposal on personhood, which would ban abortions and many common forms of birth control, the conservative Republican continues to support federal personhood legislation.
Asked to explain himself, Gardner has been reduced to arguing, over and over again, “There is no federal personhood bill.” This plainly isn’t true – the congressman is a co-sponsor of the “Life Begins at Conception Act,” which his fellow co-sponsors agree is a personhood bill.
It’s a problem that Gardner supports a radical proposal that would ban popular forms of contraception. It’s arguably a bigger problem that Gardner has been caught trying to deceive the public.
But making matters slightly worse, social conservatives have decided Gardner’s new position – make birth control available over the counter, without a prescription – isn’t good enough, either. Sophie Novack reported the other day:
Some [in] the Religious Right see the plan as backtracking on conservative ideals, and they worry the ambiguity of the proposal would make pills too easy to access.
Eliminating the doctor as a middleman and making birth control easy to obtain could result in its misuse, the critics say. Over-the-counter access to pills that could cause abortions – intentionally or accidentally – would be their worst nightmare.
“There are several serious health complications with birth control pills,” said Jennifer Mason, communications director for Personhood USA. “Some pills could cause abortions; even aside from the moral implications, it’s reckless to make abortion and contraception pills available over the counter.”
Remember, for Gardner and others in the GOP, this was supposed to be the silver-bullet solution. The idea is, they can overcome all of their proposed restrictions on contraception access by simply pushing for over-the-counter sales. Voila, political crisis resolved.
What these Republicans may not have realized is that they’re inviting scorn from the right by pretending to move to the left.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/why-compromise-contraception-remains-so-elusive
Bill Scher @billscher
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Presidential interview tally, though 19th month of 2nd term
Obama: 818
Reagan: 392
Bush: 297
Clinton: 230
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2014/09/29/?entry=980 …
8:12 AM – 29 Sep 2014
2 of my favorite Eagles songs.
One of these nights
One of these crazy old nights
We’re gonna find out
Pretty mama
What turns on your lights …
;)
I’m watching you, young lady. LOL
Texas and Florida Expand Medicaid – For Kids
By Phil Galewitz
KHN Staff Writer
Sep 29, 2014
This KHN story also ran in . It can be republished for free. (details)
Republican lawmakers in Florida and Texas snubbed the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion for adults, but their states did broaden the program this year — for school-age children.
Those states were among 21 – including some big Democratic-led states, such as California — that were required to widen Medicaid eligibility for children between the ages of 6 and 18 by 2014. That little-known provision of the health law is a key reason hundreds of thousands of kids gained coverage in the state-federal health insurance program for the poor, according to a Kaiser Health News survey of a dozen states.
While many of those kids were previously enrolled in another government insurance program, children are typically better off in Medicaid because it offers broader health benefits at lower cost to their families. The higher eligibility level was already in effect for children younger than 6.
California led the way, increasing Medicaid enrollment by 715,000 children age 6 to 18. Five other states — Texas, New York, Florida, Georgia and Colorado — accounted for about 750,000 additional enrollees, according to data measuring growth through this summer.
Several other factors helped drive the increases: Some of those kids might have been eligible under the old rule, but enrolled this year because of the focus on the health law’s open enrollment. California, meanwhile, shifted into Medicaid all kids previously covered by the Children’s Insurance Program (CHIP), the federal-state program that helps children from families with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid but too low to afford insurance on their own.
More Kids Might Have Enrolled
Consumer advocates say they welcome the expansion of eligibility to children in families making 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or $32,913 for a family of four— raised from the poverty level, or $23,850 for a family of four.
But they say more children would be enrolled had more states expanded the program for adults. That’s because parents who sign up themselves are more likely to sign up their kids.
“It’s a lost opportunity for Texas to cover the kids and teens, but not their parents.” said Anne Dunkelberg, associate director of the left-leaning Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin, Texas.
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2014/September/29/Texas-Florida-Expand-Kids-Medicaid.aspx
McConnell’s muddled message on minimum wage
09/29/14 11:31 AM
By Steve Benen
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) sat down late last week with “a room full of advertising and cable television types” in Lexington, and he had plenty to say about how great American politics would be if only he led the Senate. The Daily Independent in Ashland, Kentucky, reported Friday on one striking detail in particular.
He promised to restore order to the U.S. Senate, allow votes on legislation he might not support, force President Barack Obama to sign or veto legislation for “a growth agenda,” and joked about the expense of running a U.S. Senate campaign. […]
[D]oes that mean he’d allow votes on such things as the minimum wage which Democrats generally support (including Grimes) and which Republicans generally oppose?
“Yes,” McConnell said.
Well, that’s different. Indeed, it’s more than different – it’s the exact opposite of what McConnell recently told the Koch brothers and their allies.
The Kentucky Republican appeared earlier this summer at a private summit organized by the Kochs, and at the time, McConnell told the crowd that if he’s put in charge of the Senate, “we’re not going to be debating all these gosh darn proposals. That’s all we do in the Senate is vote on things like raising the minimum wage.”
So, which is it? Was McConnell telling the truth to the Koch brothers, when he said the Senate wouldn’t vote on raising the minimum wage, or was he telling the truth to the media professionals last week, when he said he would allow the Senate vote on a minimum-wage increase?
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/mcconnells-muddled-message-minimum-wage
Good Morning 3Chics,
The Eagles have a great discography to choose from. This week should be fun. I Can’t Tell You Why is my cut. Have a good day all.
Hi Tyren! Loving the Eagles too.
Hi Tyren, It’s coming up. And there will be NO CHARGE.
I love “Heart of the Matter.” I love Don Henley’s voice.
Nunn pushes back against Perdue’s low blow
09/29/14 10:40 AM—UPDATED 09/29/14 11:12 AM
By Steve Benen
Nearly every major campaign at some point faces a classic public-relations dilemma: what do you do when a rival launches a scurrilous and untrue attack? You can respond forcefully, running the risk that you’ll bring more attention to the lies, or you can ignore it, running the risk that the lies will go unchallenged and voters might deem them true.
In Georgia’s competitive U.S. Senate race, Michelle Nunn (D) found herself in this exact situation. Republican David Perdue recently approved a National Republican Senatorial Committee attack ad that accused Nunn of funneling money to terrorists while leading former President George H.W. Bush’s Points of Light Foundation. Neil Bush, the former president’s son, called the attack “ridiculous” and “shameful,” adding that the allegations make his “blood boil.”
As Benjy Sarlin reported, Nunn is trying to turn Perdue’s attack against him, making his dishonesty a campaign issue.
Georgia Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Michelle Nunn is out with a new TV ad in which she directly rebuts her Republican rival David Perdue’s claim that she “funded organizations linked to terrorists” while running former President George H.W. Bush’s Points of Light Foundation.
“That’s a terrible lie and an insult to the millions of volunteers I worked with to make a difference,” Nunn says in the new ad. “David Perdue’s ad has been called the worst in America and President Bush’s son called it ‘shameful.’”
Nunn’s pushback has the benefit of being true. Bush’s Points of Light Foundation directed grants to a problematic entity called Islamic Relief Worldwide, but additional research helped show that “the grants referred to funds that eBay sellers donated, not the foundation itself.”
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/nunn-pushes-back-against-perdues-low-blow
2011 WH shooting probe botched: Investigative reporter Ronald Kessler says the SS agents he talked w said it’s a miracle there hasn’t been an assassination so far.
When Senate candidates struggle with the basics
09/29/14 09:23 AM
By Steve Benen
The political world spends a fair amount of time considering the role of low-information voters in an election. But what happens when the line between low-information voters and candidates is blurred?
Iowa is home to one of the nation’s most competitive U.S. Senate races, and last night, the major party candidates – Rep. Bruce Braley (D) and state Sen. Joni Ernst (R) – faced off in a lively televised debate. The Des Moines Register reported on some of the highlights.
[Ernst’s] low point was “stubbornly pushing the claim that Obamacare cut Medicare benefits, an argument repeatedly debunked by nonpartisan fact checkers, and her confusion on a question about current ‘job-killing’ regulations, where she cited cap-and-trade, which is not law,” [Kedron Bardwell, an associate professor of political science at Simpson College in Indianola] said.
[Dennis Goldford, a Drake University political scientist] said Ernst is “an excellent performer.” “She looks right at the camera. She seems to radiate a certain kind of confidence,” he said.
But Ernst didn’t often say anything of substance, Goldford said.
It ultimately comes down to whether or not it matters when candidates for statewide office have no idea what they’re talking about.
On climate change, for example, the far-right Iowan said, “I don’t know the science behind climate change. I can’t say one way or another what is the direct impact, whether it’s man-made or not.”
On Social Security, which Ernst wants to privatize out of existence, the Republican said, “Within 20 years, the system will be broke,” which isn’t even close to resembling reality.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/when-senate-candidates-struggle-the-basics
why Jim Webb is a NON-STARTER
……………..
Diversity and the Myth of White Privilege
America still owes a debt to its black citizens, but government programs to help all ‘people of color’ are unfair. They should end.
By
James Webb
Updated July 22, 2010 12:01 a.m. ET
The NAACP believes the tea party is racist. The tea party believes the NAACP is racist. And Pat Buchanan got into trouble recently by pointing out that if Elena Kagan is confirmed to the Supreme Court, there will not be a single Protestant Justice, although Protestants make up half the U.S. population and dominated the court for generations.
Forty years ago, as the United States experienced the civil rights movement, the supposed monolith of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant dominance served as the whipping post for almost every debate about power and status in America. After a full generation of such debate, WASP elites have fallen by the wayside and a plethora of government-enforced diversity policies have marginalized many white workers. The time has come to cease the false arguments and allow every American the benefit of a fair chance at the future.
I have dedicated my political career to bringing fairness to America’s economic system and to our work force, regardless of what people look like or where they may worship. Unfortunately, present-day diversity programs work against that notion, having expanded so far beyond their original purpose that they now favor anyone who does not happen to be white.
In an odd historical twist that all Americans see but few can understand, many programs allow recently arrived immigrants to move ahead of similarly situated whites whose families have been in the country for generations. These programs have damaged racial harmony. And the more they have grown, the less they have actually helped African-Americans, the intended beneficiaries of affirmative action as it was originally conceived.
How so?
http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703724104575379630952309408
FUCK Jim Webb, and the horse he rode in on.
Jim Webb better go to hell. I’d like to know how he’s going to get in the WH slamming President Obama on his foreign policy?
Fans of Misty Copeland:
TOD did a diary full of her videos last night:
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/09/28/night-owl-chat-misty-copeland/
Washington Post ✔ @washingtonpost
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One night of tear gas in Hong Kong just shut down all of Instagram in China http://wapo.st/1rxFmGb
8:52 AM – 29 Sep 2014
CNNMoney ✔ @CNNMoney
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US markets follow Europe and Asia into red after Hong Kong unrest. Dow drops 150 points. Nasdaq already down 1%. http://cnnmon.ie/bkgnews
8:32 AM – 29 Sep 2014
https://twitter.com/NatureNews/status/516531739960025088/photo/1
http://usnatarchives.tumblr.com/post/98157853116/style-and-influence-first-ladies-fashions-from
https://twitter.com/zaibatsu/status/516554339285221376/photo/1
Ferguson Demands High Fees To Turn Over City Files
Sep. 29, 2014 10:10 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bureaucrats in Ferguson, Missouri, responding to requests under the state’s Sunshine Act to turn over government files about the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, are charging nearly 10 times the cost of some of their own employees’ salaries before they will agree to release any records.
The move discourages journalists and civil rights groups from investigating the shooting and its aftermath.
The city has demanded high fees to produce copies of records that, under Missouri law, it could give away free if it determined the material was in the public’s interest to see. Instead, in some cases, the city has demanded high fees with little explanation or cost breakdown. It billed The Associated Press $135 an hour — for nearly a day’s work — merely to retrieve a handful of email accounts since the shooting.
That fee compares with an entry-level, hourly salary of $13.90 in the city clerk’s office, and it didn’t include costs to review the emails or release them. The AP has not paid for the search.
Price-gouging for government files is one way that local, state and federal agencies have responded to requests for potentially embarrassing information they may not want released. Open records laws are designed to give the public access to government records at little or no cost, and have historically exposed waste, wrongdoing and corruption.
“The first line of defense is to make the requester go away,” said Rick Blum, who coordinates the Sunshine in Government Initiative, a coalition of media groups that advocates for open government. “Charging exorbitant fees to simply cut and paste is a popular tactic.”
Since Brown’s death and ensuing protests, news organizations, nonprofit groups and everyday citizens have submitted records requests to Ferguson officials, asking for police reports, records about Brown and the personnel files of Officer Darren Wilson, who shot Brown Aug. 9.
Organizations like the website Buzzfeed were told they’d have to pay unspecified thousands of dollars for emails and memos about Ferguson’s traffic-citation policies and changes to local elections.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ea801dccbeca4d42a06d4477fdb982a0/ferguson-demands-high-fees-turn-over-city-files
Mostly Black Cities, Mostly White City Halls
By RICHARD FAUSSET
SEPT. 28, 2014
CONYERS, Ga. — Since moving to this small city on the eastern flank of Atlanta’s suburban sprawl, Lorna Francis, a hairdresser and a single mother, has found a handsome brick house to rent on a well-groomed cul-de-sac. She has found a good public school for her teenage daughter.
Something Ms. Francis, who is black, has not found is time to register and vote. She was unaware that the most recent mayoral election was held last November.
“Life’s been busy — I’ve been trying to make that money,” Ms. Francis said one morning this month from her two-car garage, where she was micromanaging a particularly complex hairdo for a regular client. “And honestly, I only vote in major elections.”
That kind of disengagement is one of the many reasons that only one of the six elected positions in this municipality of 15,000 is held by an African-American, even as a wave of new black residents has radiated out from nearby Atlanta, creating a black majority here for the first time in the city’s 160-year history.
Disparities between the percentage of black residents and the number of black elected officials are facts of life in scores of American cities, particularly in the South. The unrest that followed the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., has emphasized how much local elections can matter, and prompted a push there for increased black voter participation.
The disparities result from many factors: voter apathy, especially in low-visibility local elections; the civic disconnect of a transient population; the low financial rewards and long hours demanded of local officeholders; and voting systems, including odd-year elections, that are often structured in a way that discourages broad interest in local races.
But Ferguson has become a vivid example of the way a history of political disengagement and underrepresentation can finally turn toxic.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/us/mostly-black-cities-mostly-white-city-halls.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0
https://twitter.com/TheStalwart/status/516554433921286144/photo/1
http://twitter.com/Fascinatingpics/status/516474469423284224/photo/1
In Harlem, Tenants See a Campaign to Oust Them
By CHARLES V. BAGLI SEPT. 14, 2014
Keith L. T. Wright, 59, has lived in the Riverton complex, a middle-class
bastion in Harlem between 135th and 138th Streets, east of Fifth Avenue, for his whole life.
On Sunday, Mr. Wright, a state assemblyman, stood at the Riverton gates waving his rent receipt as he announced the filing of a $10 million
lawsuit against the property’s managers.
The lawsuit, which was filed on Friday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, claims that CWCapital Asset Management and an affiliate, Compass Rock Real Estate, have been systemically overcharging tenants as part of an effort to oust longtime residents and charge more for Riverton apartments.
“It’s all economic,” said Mr. Wright, who was joined by Representative
Charles B. Rangel, Councilwoman Inez E. Dickens and two dozen tenants. “It’s a campaign to get higher-paying tenants, never mind the original intent of what Riverton was about, or the fabric of the community.”
Randreta Ward-Evans, the president of the Riverton tenants’ association, said she had been inundated with complaints from tenants, especially older ones, who said they had received eviction notices for nonpayment of rent, despite mailing checks to the management office that, the tenants say, have gone uncashed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/15/nyregion/in-harlem-tenants-see-a-campaign-to-oust-them.html?_r=0
https://twitter.com/mrmedina/status/516345893139001346/photo/1
Donna Dem’s grandbabies
https://twitter.com/NoShock/status/516548547538608128/photo/1
These little darlings are the cutest! Thanks for sharing the joy of grandbabies. :-)
Secret Service faces renewed scrutiny following shooting incident
09/29/14 08:40 AM—UPDATED 09/29/14 08:53 AM
By Steve Benen
The Secret Service has experienced a series of unfortunate setbacks recently, including an incident this month in which a man with a knife was able to jump the White House fence and enter the building before he was apprehended.
Carol Leonnig, however, reported over the weekend on an even more serious incident that the public previously knew nothing about.
The gunman parked his black Honda directly south of the White House, in the dark of a November night, in a closed lane of Constitution Avenue. He pointed his semiautomatic rifle out of the passenger window, aimed directly at the home of the president of the United States, and pulled the trigger.
A bullet smashed a window on the second floor, just steps from the first family’s formal living room. Another lodged in a window frame, and more pinged off the roof, sending bits of wood and concrete to the ground. At least seven bullets struck the upstairs residence of the White House, flying some 700 yards across the South Lawn.
President Obama and his wife were out of town on that evening of Nov. 11, 2011, but their younger daughter, Sasha, and Michelle Obama’s mother, Marian Robinson, were inside, while older daughter Malia was expected back any moment from an outing with friends.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/secret-service-faces-renewed-scrutiny-following-shooting-incident
‘Umbrella Revolution’ protests spread in Hong Kong
4 hr ago | By KELVIN CHAN of Associated Press
HONG KONG (AP) — Pro-democracy protesters wearing masks and wielding umbrellas to protect against pepper spray and tear gas expanded their rallies throughout Hong Kong on Monday, defying calls to disperse in a major pushback against Beijing’s decision to limit democratic reforms in the Asian financial hub.
Riot police withdrew from the extraordinary scene of chaotic tear gas-fueled clashes that erupted the evening before and the government asked the student-led protesters to disperse peacefully.
But the demonstrators, whose use of umbrellas, plastic wrap and other improvised defenses has led some to dub their movement the “Umbrella Revolution,” remained camped out on a normally busy highway near the Hong Kong government headquarters. Supporters were using the phrase on social media.
http://news.msn.com/world/umbrella-revolution-protests-spread-in-hong-kong
Boehner waits for Obama’s orders on war authorization
09/29/14 08:00 AM—UPDATED 09/29/14 08:13 AM
By Steve Benen
For weeks, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has been confronted with an awkward dynamic. He’s repeatedly expressed public support for U.S. military intervention against Islamic State militants, but he’s been lost as to how, or whether, Congress should meet its constitutional obligations in authorizing strikes on ISIS targets.
Would Congress act before giving itself another 54 days off? Boehner said no. Would Congress interrupt its pre-election break to do its duty? From Boehner, another no. Would Congress tackle the national-security crisis after the elections, during the lame-duck session? Last week, Boehner gave that a thumbs-down, too.
Yesterday, however, the beleaguered Speaker sat down with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos and took a slightly different posture. The host asked why Boehner doesn’t simply vote on a war resolution now, and the Speaker replied he’d be “happy to” to just that.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/boehner-waits-obamas-orders-war-authorization
I LOVE THE EAGLES!!
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Good Morning, Everyone! Gonna fly HIGH with the Eagles this week, folks.