Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) is a Christmas holiday song originally sung by Darlene Love and included on the 1963 Christmas compilation album, A Christmas Gift for You from Philles Records. The song was written by Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry along with Phil Spector, with the intentions of being sung by Ronnie Spector of The Ronettes. According to Darlene Love, Ronnie Spector was not able to put as much emotion into the song as needed. Instead, Love was brought into the studio to record the song which became a big success over time and one of Love’s signature tunes.
In December 2010, Rolling Stone magazine ranked “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” first on its list of The Greatest Rock and Roll Christmas Songs, saying that “nobody can match Love’s emotion and sheer vocal power.”
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geekgirl @ggadventures
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Only in America can a black man become the leader of the free world and still be called a poor role model for his children. #elizabethlauten
12:40 PM – 29 Nov 2014
Citizens for Ethics @CREWcrew
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Pro-Mitch McConnell Kentucky Opportunity Coalition part of larger trend toward #darkmoney in 2014, writes @mateagold: http://wapo.st/1v4vwJ4
9:55 AM – 1 Dec 2014
Dear Sistas ,It has been a while since I’ve been on your site. But I do visit to see what is happening. I wish you would add to PBO corner He has done so much since 2012. The reason I am writing today is because of the article written by Elizabeth Lauten concerning The Obama girls.She call them words that meant sluts. Please just read the article.She said she was sorry and resigned so now I guess FOX will give her a job. Pls address this.
Hello there. I’ll update the kids corner as soon as I can, Ms JJJ. Missed you around here. Happy holidays!
Taxi-app firm Uber hit by legal challenges and bans
Taxi-app firm Uber has clashed with Indian authorities over the way customers pay fares.
It criticised “antiquated” rules that demand credit-card payments use a two-step authentication process.
The row follows Uber’s suspension of its operations in Nevada after a state court banned it from operating there.
In addition, Uber has been declared illegal in Thailand, and it is fighting legal action in France that seeks to outlaw one of its services.
Legal challenge
The row in India arose after taxi drivers in the country said Uber drivers were breaking rules set by the Reserve Bank of India, which demands that any credit-card payment uses two-step authentication.
The Reserve Bank agreed that paying for a ride in an Uber cab via smartphone did break these laws and set a deadline of 30 November for it to comply.
In response, Uber set up a deal with smartphone-wallet company Paytm that meant anyone using that system no longer directly used a credit card and did not fall under the two-step requirement.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30274979
December 1, 2014 in Opinion
Leonard Pitts Jr.: ‘Black on black’ argument false
OK, fine. Let’s talk about “black on black” crime.
That, after all, is where the conversation seems to inevitably turn whenever one seeks to engage a conservative on the American habit of shooting unarmed African-American boys and men. So it was exasperating, but nowhere near surprising, to see former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani go there last week on “Meet the Press.”
Asked by host Chuck Todd, during a discussion of the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, about the fact that African-American communities like that one are often served by snow white police departments, he offered some perfunctory words about the effort to produce more representative cop shops.
But then Giuliani took a sharp turn off topic and into the brambles. “I find it very disappointing,” he told Todd, “that you’re not discussing the fact that 93 percent of blacks in America are killed by other blacks. … I would like to see the attention paid to that that you are paying to this.”
There followed a sharp exchange with another panelist, author and professor Michael Eric Dyson, which produced this parting shot from the mayor: “The white police officers wouldn’t be there if you weren’t killing each other.”
Somehow, he managed not to call Dyson “you people.” In nearly every other respect, Giuliani’s words reeked of a paternalistic white supremacy unworthy of a former mayor of America’s largest city – or even a sewer worker in its remotest Podunk. But again, this has become the go-to “reasoning” for those on the right – Sean Hannity, Lou Dobbs, Rush Limbaugh – when asked to give a damn about the killings of unarmed black boys and men.
That formulation is false for multiple reasons.
In the first place, being concerned over the shooting of unarmed black men hardly precludes being concerned over violence within the African-American community. Giuliani and others suggest a dichotomy where none exists.
In the second place, they ignore the obvious: When black people commit crimes against black people, they face prosecution, but when police officers (or certain neighborhood watchmen) commit crimes against black people, they face getting off with little if any punishment.
In the third place, what exactly is “black on black” crime?
Do black people kill one another? Sure they do. Ninety percent of black murder victims are killed by black assailants.
But guess what? White people kill one another, too. Eighty-three percent of white victims are killed by white assailants. See, the vast majority of violent crime is committed within – not between – racial groups. Crime is a matter of proximity and opportunity. People victimize their own rather than drive across town to victimize somebody else.
So another term for “black on black” crime is crime.
But there is crime and there is crime.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/dec/01/leonard-pitts-jr-black-on-black-argument-false/
Vlad continues to mess with their money
Euromaidan PR @EuromaidanPR
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Russian rouble shaken in biggest one-day fall against dollar since 1998 | via @Telegraph http://fw.to/W7q8H4T |EMPR #RussiainvadedUkraine
10:45 AM – 1 Dec 2014
Greg Sargent ✔ @ThePlumLineGS
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I see it is still a requirement that the basic history of immigration reform during Obama era must never be acknowledged.
how much to I LOVE THIS?!?!?!?!
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The First Lady ✔ @FLOTUS
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Congrats to @MoneDavis11 on becoming the @SIKids’ 2014 #SportsKid of the Year! You knocked it out of the park for girls everywhere. –mo
7:00 AM – 1 Dec 2014
Declan McCullagh ✔ @declanm
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WashPost investigation: Police lied about Miriam Carey ramming White House security barriers before she was shot. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/style/2014/11/26/how-miriam-careys-u-turn-at-a-white-house-checkpoint-led-to-her-death/ …
11:18 AM – 1 Dec 2014
Eric Boehlert @EricBoehlert · 5m5 minutes ago
Obama’s Gallup approv ties 16-month high today; he’s up 6 pts since midterms. i’m sure this will be w-i-d-e-l-y discussed in Punditville.
The resignation of Elizabeth Lauten
12/01/14 11:25 AM
By Steve Benen
For the most part, even President Obama’s fiercest critics have left his daughters alone. We’ve come a long way since the days when Republicans like John McCain and Rush Limbaugh would openly and publicly ridicule President Clinton’s daughter.
But the relative silence about Malia and Sasha Obama made it all the more striking when a congressional aide blasted them on social media for acting like teenagers at the annual turkey pardoning ceremony at the White House last week. Adam Howard reported:
Elizabeth Lauten, who served as a communications director for Rep. Stephen Fincher, criticized the two girls in a Facebook rant which eventually went viral. “Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar. And certainly don’t make faces during televised, public events,” wrote Lauten.
Her online lecture went on to urge the president’s daughters to “try showing a little class.”
Lauten’s rebuke quickly made the rounds, prompting the Republican aide to apologize soon after.
“I reacted to an article and quickly judged the two young ladies in a way that I would never have wanted to be judged myself as a teenager. After many hours of prayer, talking to my parents and re-reading my words online, I can see more clearly how hurtful my words were,” Lauten wrote on Friday. “Please know that these judgmental feelings truly have no pace in my heart. Furthermore, I’d like to apologize to all of those who I have hurt and offended with my words, and pledge to learn and grow (and I assure you I have) from this experience.”
That did not, in fact, make the problem go away. As of this morning, Lauten is looking for a new job.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-resignation-elizabeth-lauten
Good riddance.
Florida guts goals on energy efficiency
12/01/14 10:40 AM
By Steve Benen
Under state law, Florida regulators are required to set energy-saving goals every five years for power companies. As the Tampa Tribune reports today, the point is to reduce the state’s electricity consumption.
For the most part, the goals established in 2009 have had a positive impact: power usage in Florida has declined, while use of renewable energy has expanded.
That’s good news, right? Florida utility companies don’t seem to think so. In fact, the Tampa Bay Times reported last week that it’s time once again for the Sunshine State to renew its energy-saving goals, and this time, the state’s power giants are far happier with the results.
State regulators on Tuesday approved proposals to gut Florida’s energy-efficiency goals by more than 90 percent and to terminate solar rebate programs by the end of 2015, giving the investor-owned utilities virtually everything they wanted.
After almost two hours of debate, members of the state Public Service Commission voted 3-2 in support of staff recommendations that backed the proposals of Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric and Florida Power & Light.
In other words, when it comes to energy efficiency, Florida’s new goal is to move backwards – because that’s what the power companies want.
In practical terms, consumers who might receive rebates on the home installation of solar panels and/or energy-efficient appliances will suddenly see those offers disappear. And in the larger context, as the Tampa Tribune report explained, there’s a “growing perception that Florida’s government has stacked the deck in favor of old guard utilities.”
Outside of Florida, however, the emerging picture is far more encouraging.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/florida-guts-goals-energy-efficiency
Why the sudden drop in gas prices matters
12/01/14 09:16 AM—UPDATED 12/01/14 09:48 AM
By Steve Benen
It was nearly three years ago when then-presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich settled on his top campaign issue: the disgraced former House Speaker said he would push an energy policy that would lead to $2.50 gas.
Indeed, in February 2012, the Georgia Republican said we’d already be paying $2.50 per gallon if it weren’t for the Obama administration overseeing “an anti-American energy government.” Gingrich added, “If you want $10 a gallon gasoline … Barack Obama should be your candidate.”
At the time, the average price for a gallon of gas was $4.25. Yesterday, despite Americans’ outrageous willingness to reject Gingrich’s candidacy and re-elect President Obama, it was $2.77 – and falling. Several states, including Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Carolina, “could soon see sub- $2 gas, says Tom Kloza, senior analyst with the Oil Price Information Service.”
Given that this is one of the year’s biggest economic stories, it’s worth appreciating what’s going on here. As Brad Plumer explained, the latest moves from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (better known as OPEC) have played a big role.
OPEC – a cartel of oil producers that includes Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and Venezuela – had a big meeting in Vienna on November 27. Before the gathering, there was speculation that OPEC countries might cut back on their own oil production in order to prop up prices. But in the end, the cartel couldn’t agree on how to respond and did nothing.
Oil prices promptly nosedived, with the price of Brent crude now hovering around $70 per barrel.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/why-the-sudden-drop-gas-prices-matters
Senate Democratic leadership gets one more member
12/01/14 10:00 AM
By Steve Benen
A few weeks ago, Senate Democrats announced they were expanding their leadership team from four members to five, creating a new position for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). The announcement was made to significant fanfare, drawing cheers from the party’s base, and reminding the political world that Warren is a force to be reckoned with.
Over the holiday weekend, Senate Dems decided to expand the leadership team just a little more.
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia is taking on the role of policy development advisor at the Democratic Policy and Communications Center. He joins a leadership team that previously expanded in number with the addition of progressive heroine Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts.
New York’s Charles E. Schumer, the No. 3 Senate Democrat, made the announcement in a statement Friday.
Note, in this case, Friday was the day after Thanksgiving. The press statement was released late in the afternoon – usually a time for dumping news officials hope the public will miss.
As for why Dems seemed eager to keep this quiet, your guess is as good as mine. If the party were eager to appear more centrist in voters’ eyes, it seems Senate Democrats would have announced Warner’s new role today, not Friday.
What’s especially interesting about this, though, is the fact that Warner was promoted despite his votes in the recent Democratic leadership election.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/senate-democratic-leadership-gets-one-more-member
Ah. Schumer covering his own hide along with chasing the southern vote. Virginia and Florida are already in the pocket for 2016.
I see Clintonian fuckery.
Super interesting how Lisa Bloom, legal analyst, who’s normally a regular fixture on MSNBC, was used ever so sparingly and hardly invited on to discuss the Michael Brown case, once she became extremely vocal as she poked holes in the released Grand Jury documents which she’d read and dissected by the next morning. MSNBC practically ‘blacked her out’ so she wouldn’t raise the excellent points she had regarding the many inconsistencies and discrepancies with the Grand Jury process, testimonies and the D.A acting on behalf of Darren Wilson.
The word “thug” now seems to be frequently and casually interchanged for “black” by Ferguson police and right-wingers in the past 48 hours.
The blatant lies and the brazen behavior of the Ferguson Chief of Police and Police union is galling. The Rams better not bow to this brazen attempt to muzzle honest protest and solidarity with the Brown family and the mourning community of a murdered unarmed black kid. They think if they can muzzle support, this will all go away and Darren Wilson can go on to enjoy his life after taking that of an unarmed kid. While the Ferguson P.D and Missouri “justice” system goes back to their oppressive, anti-black business as usual ways.
Please permit me to rant..
How do these evil, warped minds with a straight face, rationalize their defense of the rights of a cold-blooded murderer of an unarmed black kid to continue to fully live his life, while insisting that Ray Rice, a footballer whose victim in a domestic matter – his wife – obviously supports and chooses to stay with him, be deprived of his ability to fully live and provide for his family?? And the fight against Ray Rice is not because Scarborough et al care anything about Ray Rice’s black wife!!! And insisting that the NFL discipline the Rams for “lying” against the police for showing up with their hands-up don’t shoot gesture?? C-R-A-Z-Y. And according to the ultimate disingenuous, multi-pronged tongue, arrogant racist asshole Scarborough, the police are now the victims of black “thugs” and the stupid black people who insist on fighting for them!! You can’t make this crap up!! After spewing his racist crap, Joe Scarborough tries to patronize black folks – schooling us on just how great a hero Rosa Parks was, and how he and Ron Fournier have their preferred shortlist of ‘acceptable’ heroes for black people.
And God, how I despise this swine Donny Deutsch. What a racist pig!! This is supposedly a “Democrat”?? Another Clintonite whose racism is as palpable as that of any right-winger out there. He’s one of those “Democrats” who has spent the past 6 years denigrating The Obamas every chance he gets, on CNN, MSNBC, everywhere. I always thought his disdain and spite was tied to his close ties to the Clintons, and his disappointment that he never got to cash in his Clinton pay to play voucher. Who knew the guy was a dyed in the wool New York racist of the Giuliani extraction?! What a pity the only black person they had on this morning to rebut the rubbish spewed by Deutsch and Scarborough was Wes Moore who’s so desperate to keep a t.v gig, he sits there agreeing and mealy-mouthing as Donny Deutsch insults his intelligence while treating him with utter condescension. That I haven’t burst a blood vessel this morning is a miracle. Deutsch insists that there wasn’t much for a grand jury to begin with, but that D.A stretched to find something to send to the Grand Jury to appease blacks!!!
We’ll just have to devise OUR way of forcing an end to racism and discrimination in this country, and on our terms. Because from what I’m seeing and hearing, there’s too much evil, privilege and denial going on in much of white America that we’re never going to get anywhere with the often prescribed ‘having conversations’ or ‘hugging it out’. For if what I saw and heard from “Democrat” Donny Deutsch who’s mad as hell that “blacks” are turning undeserved “criminal” Michael Brown into a hero, after he “robbed” a store and “terrorized”, “assaulted”, and tried to “aggressively disarm” a “wonderful, law-abiding” policeman – Yes, he and Koch-owned Scarborough asserted all of these lies with a straight face!!! If the crap from Deutsch and Scarborough and that awful a-hole Rich Lowry of the National Review among others, is a preview of that recommended ‘conversation on race with white America’, we better forget it. These people are too far gone. So steeped are they in their racist attitudes, biases and privilege, they’re not even willing to allow even the slightest bit of humanity and empathy seep through – not even for an unarmed black kid murdered in cold-blood – for fear they might cede an ever slight bit of their imagined superiority and stranglehold on our shared Union. I long ago severed ties with quite a few such relatives on my white side of the family – and those who remain, know not to utter a false word around me.
p.s:
Caught a bit of Meet The Press for the first time in ages, and God help us all. Money and the lure and promise of power and relevance are such powerful control weapons. That’s the only explanation one can offer for grown men with “brains” like Eugene Robinson and Dr. Ben Carson (a man who but for the grace of God could have easily been Mike Brown), acting like dumb kids for fear they’ll lose their well-paying gigs if they dared to speak up about their lived experiences or the truth they know well, but keep in their hearts. I weep that these otherwise bright men have not only sold their souls and forfeited their voices, but have voluntarily participated in their own emasculation for cash. And Helene Cooper of the New York Times?? Embarrassing!! The woman should stick to her undeserved writing gig. She’s so superficial, glib and unimpressive, she made her colleague David Brooks look like a brilliant empathetic civil rights scholar. Thank God for Sherrilyn Ifill of the NAACP who easily outshone everyone on that panel. She impressed with her data-supported, fact-based and well-articulated comments.
you can rant anytime you want to and it was on point!!!
Thanks Rikyrah. I get so furious from their shenanigans and then I start typing my rambling thoughts which I hope at least makes sense.
I bet you Donnie Deutsch and Joe Scarborough and their offspring have all shoplifted – at least once. But when they do it, it’s a silly, harmless, right of passage prank; Yet a black kid swipes a couple of cigarillos, and it’s considered robbery and his murder is advocated, justified and fiercely defended.
I sent Joe a big FUCK YOU!
https://twitter.com/atotalmonet/status/539277744102981633/photo/1
In Conversation ChrisRock
What’s killing comedy.
What’s saving America.
By Frank Rich
The last time Frank Rich had a conversation with Chris Rock was in early 1996, when they and the 1950s teen heartthrob Pat Boone were thrown together in a New York television studio as panelists on Bill Maher’s old show Politically Incorrect. This time they had two conversations in a New York hotel lounge as Rock prepared for the release of Top Five, a bittersweet film comedy in which he does triple duty as director, screenwriter, and star.
We’ve just come through an election that was a triumph for Fox News and a fiasco for Obama. What do you make of it?
Jon Stewart has said the reason Fox News works better than CNN is because the people at Fox News figured out how to make themselves into victims.
So will it now be harder for Republicans to play victims?
They have no problem playing victims.
Even in victory?
Even in victory. America—not black America, but America as a whole—started in England and was ruled by kings and queens and had a class system. I’m almost of the mind that that’s what America wants at the end of the day. Maybe America wants monopolies.
http://www.vulture.com/2014/11/chris-rock-frank-rich-in-conversation.html?mid=twitter_nymag
The Black Report ® @blackreport
‘Suicide’ ruling in North Carolina teen’s death challenged in new review of case http://www.blackreport.com/archives/2014/12/01/suicide-ruling-north-carolina-teens-death-challenged-new-review-case/?utm_campaign=civil-rights&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitter … #blacknews #blacktwitter
A ‘solid’ start for ACA open enrollment
12/01/14 08:35 AM
By Steve Benen
A week after the Affordable Care Act’s open-enrollment period last year, it was painfully obvious that something was horribly wrong. Fast forward a year, and Emma Margolin reported, it’s a very different story.
The first week of 2015’s open enrollment period, in which individuals can select a health insurance plan under the Affordable Care Act, got off to a “solid” start, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said on Wednesday.
Between Nov. 15 and Nov. 21, 462,000 people signed up for health insurance plans through HealthCare.gov, the federally run insurance marketplace. Additionally, millions more visited Healthcare.gov to learn about their plan options, according to HHS. Those numbers do not include the consumers who selected health insurance plans through a state-based marketplace.
The closer one looks at the data, the more encouraging the figures appear – not just as compared to the disaster last fall, but as statistics on their own.
Sarah Kliff, for example, emphasized that 48% of the consumers who selected “Obamacare” plans during the first week of open enrollment are new customers. That number will obviously change as the process continues, but it’s a positive, early indication “suggesting that the law could widen its reach to more uninsured Americans in year two of coverage expansion.”
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/solid-start-aca-open-enrollment
Christie sees Obama as partly to blame for Ferguson crisis
12/01/14 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen
For the most part, recent developments in Ferguson, Missouri, have not led to the usual political food fight. Perhaps it’s because Congress has been on another break, perhaps it’s because there’s nothing overtly partisan about Michael Brown’s death, but whatever the reason, the national debate hasn’t led to the predictable finger-pointing.
There are, however, exceptions.
Asked about the violent protests in Ferguson, Missouri, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says that people across the country are deeply anxious because of a lack of leadership and that President Barack Obama is at least partly to blame.
Christie made the remarks as he talked to reporters about the aftermath of the grand jury decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
The Associated Press report was thin on exact quotes, but according to local reports, the New Jersey governor was helping out at a soup kitchen when a reporter asked Christie for his thoughts on Ferguson against the backdrop of Thanksgiving.
“The country has anxiety over a lot of things,” he replied, “and the only thing that clears up anxiety is leadership and direction. And so as everyone figures out what they’re thankful for, hopefully they can also pray for some leadership that will be strong and help bring us together.”
Asked specifically if we was blaming President Obama for developments in Ferguson, the governor said, “I’m suggesting lots of people have responsibility for that … not just the president. He’s just one of them.”
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/christie-sees-obama-partly-blame-ferguson-crisis
Christie can go back to stuffing that pie hole with pie, twinkies and donuts and chew on them and shut up. He obviously doesn’t think before he speaks so he needs to stuff his fat mouth!
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Good morning!!! Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!!
Good Morning, eliihass & Everyone! :-)Thank you.
Looks like we survived the TG holiday, eliihass.