Please Come Home for Christmas” is a Christmas song, released in 1960, by the American blues singer and pianist Charles Brown. Hitting Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in December 1961, the tune Brown co-wrote with Gene Redd peaked at position #76. It appeared on the Christmas Singles chart for nine seasons, hitting #1 in 1972.[2] It includes a number of characteristics of Christmas music, such as multiple references in the lyrics to the Christmas season and Christmas traditions, and the use of a Church bell type sound, created using a piano, at the start of the song. It is sometimes referred to as Bells Will Be Ringing.
How sweet is this? :)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B5QKzHnCIAA3FvF.jpg
Very sweet. Kids are so innocent until of course the adults in their lives mess them up with their baggage.
This is so sweet. Innocence really is beautiful.
I hope the First Family has a beautiful, safe and restful Christmas and spend a well-deserved peaceful, joyous quality family time together.
I love the Donna Karan coat FLOTUS is wearing on their flight out to Hawaii. I loved that coat back in 2010 when she wore it to a fundraiser in New York, and again to break ground at Fisher House (for recuperating veterans and their families.), and I still love and want it now!!
http://www.essence.com/2010/12/06/michelle-obama-cuts-ribbon-fisher-house/
http://obamadiary.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/us_navy_120210-n-9330d-001_first_lady_michelle_obama_and_fisher_house_foundation_chairman_ken_fisher_cut_a_ribbon_during_a_dedication_ceremony.jpg?w=1179&h=783
Very smart investment!!
Awwww, catch Alex Wagner and her cheeks rosy from extra smiles this afternoon. She never stopped smiling for a second on today’s show. Today is Sam Kass’s last day at the White House, and Alex is happy that she gets to have her man full-time with her in New York now. Best wishes to them both. I suspect there’s a little bun cooking in the oven already.
love twitter
Hayes Brown ✔@HayesBrownFollow
Obama straight up IGNORES a dude’s question to call on yet another woman and good lord this is the best presser
1:35 PM – 19 Dec 2014
Hayes Brown ✔@HayesBrownFollow
“And now I’m going on vacation” is the new [mic drop]
1:44 PM – 19 Dec 2014
Hayes Brown ✔@HayesBrownFollow
“I don’t give a fuck” Obama is my favorite Obama ever
1:09 PM – 19 Dec 2014
My Apples are disappearing from the basket. Jaaaaaaaaaay.
LOL
LOL Go Jay! Is he eating the oranges too?
Yes! Jay loves apples. Haley oranges.
Bells will be ringing…
MUTHAPHUCKA, PLEASE!!
Where is that 3CHICS gif of the woman drinking and giving the side eye – you know the one
………………………………….
Rita A @ritaag
@docrocktex26 @AVD911 @PragObots Chuck Todd didnt like PBO’s tone when he announced the Cuba change policy <<<WELP!!!!!
Let me find it. That’s Ametia’s classic.
I’m still looking Rikyrah.
LOL Nothing like the THREE 3 CHICS SIDE-EYE!!!!!
Here you go LADIES!
I couldn’t find it. I looked in your draft post but didn’t see it. Good you saw Rikyrah’s comment.
LOL!
Bet not start nothing…
THANK YOU!
I’ve got the name of the gif now.
Lord I love this gif.
The big ole plastic cup just makes me LMBAO. I need me a cup like that now!
Outpouring of Kindness Continues for Grandma Caught Shoplifting to Feed Family
Tarrant, Ala., police Officer William Stacy has been called an angel for buying a carton of eggs for a woman whose family hadn’t eaten in days. What’s happened next has blown even Stacy away.
By: Stephen A. Crockett Jr.
Posted: Dec. 16 2014 8:45 AM
On Dec. 6, Tarrant, Ala., police Officer William Stacy got a shoplifting call from Dollar General. Stacy gets such calls all the time. When he got to the store, he was shocked by what he saw: Helen Johnson, 47, was short the money she needed to get a carton of eggs, so she had stuffed a few in her pocket and they had cracked as she began to walk out.
“Usually people are stealing things like makeup or phone chargers—not things they need to get by,” Stacy told Yahoo Parenting.
Johnson told Stacy what she had done and why she had done it. At home were her “two daughters, her niece and two young grandkids,” who hadn’t eaten since the Thursday before.
“When she mentioned the kids and said they were hungry, that’s when I knew I wanted to buy the eggs,” Stacy, 23, told Yahoo Parenting. “No matter what financial situation kids are in, it’s not their fault they’re hungry.”
So Stacy paid the $1.75 plus tax for the eggs and gave them to Johnson with a promise that she never try to steal again.\
Stacy’s kind act was caught on video and quickly went viral. According to Yahoo Parenting, the video has been “viewed more than 966,000 times and has received more than 22,000 likes. It has been shared nearly 13,000 times.”
The kindness didn’t end there: People across the country who saw the video sent donations for Johnson to the Tarrant Police Department.
“It took an entire shift to take all the stuff to her house and unload it,” Stacy told Yahoo Parenting. “I’ve taken three Tahoe-loads of food to her house, and I know a food bank came to bring her food, and they also got a Christmas tree donated.”
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/12/outpouring_of_kindness_continues_for_mom_caught_shoplifting_to_feed_family.html
now, if they don’t wanna cast DENZEL..
then what does that say about lesser known Black actors?
……………
Sony Execs Were Warned Not to Cast Denzel Washington Because Black Leads Flop Overseas
In a leaked email, an unnamed producer warns a Sony executive about casting Washington as a lead because of racism.
By: Yesha Callahan
Posted: Dec. 18 2014 4:33 AM
For the last two weeks, Sony has been dealing with the backlash that’s occurred since the emails of high-level executives were hacked and released. From emails calling Kevin Hart a whore to racist comments regarding President Barack Obama’s movie tastes, it’s safe to say that some of these executives are having the worst month ever.
But it’s not over, not by a long shot.
In recently released emails discovered by Radar Online, a Sony executive was on the receiving end of emails from a producer who warned the studio about casting Denzel Washington, stating that Washington should not be cast in films that will be played overseas because he’s black, so they’ll flop.
According to Radar, a producer, whose name was removed from the emails, sent the concerns to Sony Chairman and CEO Michael Lynton. In the emails, the producer suggested that Sony not cast black actors in films with an international market. “No, I am not saying The Equalizer should not have been made or that African-American actors should not have been used (I personally think Denzel is the best actor of his generation),” the producer stated in the email
http://www.theroot.com/blogs/the_grapevine/2014/12/sony_execs_were_warned_not_to_cast_denzel_washington_because_black_leads.html?wpisrc=mostpopular
We Need Black Programming That Reflects Our True Diversity
Your Take: The National Black Programming Consortium promotes the telling of stories that reflect the richness and diversity of the African-American experience.
By: Leslie Fields-Cruz
Posted: Dec. 18 2014 3:00 AM
Any cursory check of one’s Facebook or Twitter feeds—or the local newspaper—would reveal an onslaught of images of black men and women either cut down in their prime or engaged in all manner of foolishness. What’s missing is a stream of rich, varied images depicting our true diversity. When there’s a lack of such imagery, a monolithic view sometimes results in real-life consequences.
Black stories matter—maybe as never before. They help create an informed electorate, part of the mission of public television. But the need is urgent; we cannot wait for the next generation. Today’s filmmakers must act now to tell our stories—and with increasing speed. They may be, literally, waging a battle of life and death.
Too often, those controlling our images are feeding into a certain narrative, one that can create an environment of fear, in which people of color can be cut down even as they are playing, shopping, asking for help, coming from the store or listening to music with friends. And recent headlines would indicate that even the handful of black films that are greenlit by the studios are not truly appreciated for their richness of humanity or honestly respected by the powers that be. And when we are included, too often our storylines, like the black character in a horror film, are seen as expendable.
Just as William D. Foster, the Johnson Brothers and, later, Gordon Parks, Ellis Haizlip, Julie Dash, Marlon Riggs and many others wielded their cameras as cudgels in the fight to define black people, so must today’s producers. Certainly we need to laugh and to be entertained; but the current climate must push storytellers to challenge the lingering negative imagery. The stakes are too high.
At the same time, when tragedy strikes we must have at the ready a repository of films and series that address the root causes and history of these incidents, to give context to the discussion at hand or inspiration in the struggle. Too often, great stories (whether they are documentaries or narratives) are faltering at the funding stage. Sharon La Cruise’s doc about newspaper publisher Daisy Bates, a key adviser to the Little Rock Nine, took about seven years to fund. It was eight years for a film by Thomas Allen Harris on the contributions black photographers have made to shaping the public image of African Americans.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/12/supporting_diverse_black_programming.html
Arrest Made in #IAmJada Rape Case of Texas Teen Whose Photos Went Viral
“I would like to see justice. Justice in full effect and that’s it,” Jada told MSNBC.
By: Diamond Sharp
Posted: Dec. 17 2014 1:17 PM
Two men have been arrested in the case of Jada, a Texas teen who experienced having pictures of herself after reportedly being sexually assaulted go viral on social media.
In July, 16-year-old Jada was reportedly raped at a party, and pictures of her unconscious, naked body were posted to social media using the tag #jadapose. Supporters of Jada countered with the hashtag #IAmJada.
MSNBC’s Ronan Farrow is now reporting that two people—one adult and one minor—have been arrested in the case. In an interview with Farrow, Jada said, “I would like to see justice. Justice in full effect and that’s it.”
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/12/arrest_made_in_iamjada_rape_case_of_texas_teen_whose_photos_went_viral.html
NJ Authorities Want Assata Shakur Back From Cuba to Finish Life Sentence
Now that President Obama has cooled the tension between the U.S. and Cuba, the New Jersey FBI sees this as an opportunity to bring back Shakur—formerly Joanne Chesimard—to finish serving her life sentence for the murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster.
By: Stephen A. Crockett Jr.
Posted: Dec. 18 2014 11:36 AM
On Wednesday President Obama announced that he was easing some of the United States’ 50-year restrictions against Cuba, and shortly after that announcement, the focus for some people shifted to what a new Cuba-U.S. relationship might mean for Assata Shakur. Shakur, who has become a kind of vigilante folk hero in the black community, was set to serve a life sentence for the killing of a New Jersey state trooper in 1973. After being sentenced in 1977, she escaped prison and has reportedly been living in Cuba.
“We view any changes in relations with Cuba as an opportunity to bring her back to the United States to finish her sentence for the murder of a New Jersey state trooper,” state Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes said in a statement, viewed by The Star-Ledger.
Shakur—then named Joanne Chesimard—was a member of the Black Liberation Army in 1973 when she and several other BLA members were involved in a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike. When the gun battle ended, BLA member Zayd Malik Shakur and Trooper Werner Foerster were dead. Assata Shakur, who was shot and wounded, was convicted in 1977 of first-degree murder for Foerster’s death. She was given a life sentence, but two years later, with the help of several BLA members, she escaped. She was granted political asylum in 1984 by then-Cuban President Fidel Castro and has reportedly been living in the communist nation ever since.
According to The Star-Ledger, “State authorities have made numerous efforts to extradite her, including an appeal to Pope John Paul II, who made a historic trip to Cuba in 1998. In 2013, she was the first woman named to the FBI’s most wanted terrorist list, indicating state and U.S. law enforcement consider her one of the greatest threats to the American government. The FBI and the State Police are offering $2 million for information leading to her capture.”
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/12/nj_authorities_want_assata_shakur_back_from_cuba_to_finish_life_sentence.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr%3Acontent%26
Bruce and Kris Jenner finalize divorce
AP
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Court records show Kris and Bruce Jenner have finalized their divorce, but they won’t be officially single until March.
A Los Angeles judge on Tuesday signed off on the couple’s divorce judgment that ends the pair’s 23-year marriage.
The Jenners filed divorce petitions in September, citing irreconcilable differences. California law requires couples to wait six months to become officially divorced.
Bruce Jenner won a gold medal in the men’s decathlon in the 1976 Olympics, although he is best known to a younger generation as Kim Kardashian’s stepfather. He and ex-wife Kris frequently appeared on the reality series “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” along with their children.
The divorce judgment calls for Kris Jenner to pay her estranged husband $2.5 million.
Kris and Bruce Jenner married in April 1991 and have two daughters together.
http://www.aol.com/article/2014/12/18/bruce-and-kris-jenner-finalize-divorce/21118536/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl13%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D585151
Jeb Bush caught in conflict over Cuba embargo
Rachel Maddow reports on how Jeb Bush, fresh off the starting line of a presidential bid, suffered embarrassment after grandstanding in support of the embargo of Cuba when it was revealed that he was being paid by a bank that violated that embargo.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/jeb-bush-caught-in-conflict-over-cuba-embargo-374876739877
PragmaticObotsUnite @PragObots
Over 60% of the population in Cuba is Afro-Cuban, yet none of the MSM has gotten their perspective on the new #CubaPolicy. #BlackTwitter
Why Selma Matters Today
The film offers a vital lesson for those who want to confront police violence today.
By Jamelle Bouie
To win reform, you can’t just protest. You need a strategy. And specifically, you need to give your opponents—and your reluctant allies—a way to say “yes”.
In Selma, an evocative look at Martin Luther King Jr. and his fight for a voting rights bill, director Ava DuVernay shows just how this looks. King has an agenda. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended the formal structures of Jim Crow, but its institutional support remained. In much of the South, blacks were still disenfranchised, blocked from voter registration with poll taxes, grandfather clauses, and elaborate registration tests. (Here’s an example from Louisiana.) Despite contempt from elected political officials and violence from elected sheriffs, blacks couldn’t hold them accountable.
It also meant they couldn’t sit on juries, not only denying a chance at community participation, but also precluding fair trials for black defendants and protecting white offenders who targeted blacks from the judgments of black citizens. Consider, for instance, that both the Scottsboro Boys and the killers of Emmett Till faced all-white juries. For the former, it was a literal death sentence. For the latter, it was acquittal.
In real life, activists from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC, began organizing with local civil rights leaders in early 1963. For more than a year, facing arrests, beatings, and intimidation from Alabama Sheriff Jim Clark and other police officers, they worked to desegregate public places and register blacks to vote. Unfortunately, these efforts ended after an injunction from a local judge barred group gatherings under the sponsorship of SNCC and other civil rights groups.
The film begins after this, in early 1965, with King prepping his campaign for voting rights. He appeals to President Lyndon Johnson, who declines to move with legislation, prompting the turn to Selma, Alabama, and the start of the registration campaign, which provokes the racist rage of local authorities, all aided by Gov. George Wallace. King and allies know that white leaders in Selma will respond to their campaign with violence. It’s, as they discuss, one reason they chose the location. But their goal isn’t to convince them, or to appeal to any other white leaders in Alabama.
No, the point of the marches—including the one that would enter historical memory as “Bloody Sunday”—was to galvanize public opinion and bring to it to bear on President Johnson, with a message. As long as you don’t work toward a solution—as long as you don’t bring voting rights legislation to Congress—we will march, and you will deal with the political fallout of brutal state violence against American citizens.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/12/why_selma_matters_today_what_the_film_can_teach_activists_against_police.html
Gas prices drop below key threshold
12/18/14 04:01 PM—UPDATED 12/18/14 06:19 PM
By Steve Benen
Remember the 2012 presidential campaign? It was just two years ago that Mitt Romney boasted that if he were elected president, he’d “get the unemployment rate down to 6 percent, perhaps a little lower” by the end of his first term in 2016.
Americans decided to re-elect President Obama instead. The unemployment dropped below 6 percent in September 2014, about two years ahead of Romney’s timeline.
It was around this time when Newt Gingrich vowed that if he were the president, he’d lower the price of gas to $2.50 a gallon. That was the threshold for success.
Which brings us to this morning’s latest news from the energy sector.
This week’s national average is $2.47 per gallon, also down by more than 14 cents from last week.
Triple-A analysts say prices could fall even further in the coming weeks, barring unforeseen circumstances.
You know, by the standards set by Republicans two years ago, Obama sure is looking like a great success, isn’t he?
For those who didn’t follow the 2012 race too closely – or perhaps, for those who tended to ignore the disgraced former House Speaker – Gingrich didn’t just focus on gas prices, he made this the centerpiece of his entire campaign. He even started making campaign appearances with $2.50 on a gas pump as his unofficial logo, as seen in the above photo.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/gas-prices-drop-below-key-threshold
Obama wins raves in Latin America over Cuba shift
12/19/14 08:40 AM
By Steve Benen
Many of President Obama’s critics on the right routinely focus on the global stage as a basis of their rebukes. Obama’s foreign policy, they argue, has rattled international confidence in the United States and weakened respect for us abroad. It’s hard to lead the free world, the Republican argument goes, if we’re not as respected or as admired as we once were.
The argument, in general, is nonsense. America’s stature quantifiably slipped during the Bush/Cheney era, but there’s ample evidence that Obama has helped repair our standing in recent years.
That said, even if we take the right’s rhetoric at face value, conservatives should be absolutely thrilled with the White House this week – with one big announcement, the president has apparently boosted the United States’ reputation throughout an important part of the world. The New York Times had a fascinating report on this:
President Obama has been lambasted for spying in Brazil, accused of being a warmonger by Bolivia, dismissed as a “lost opportunity” by Argentina, and taunted in Nicaragua by calls for Latin America to draw up its own list of state sponsors of terrorism – with the United States in the No. 1 spot.
But now Latin American leaders have a new kind of vocabulary to describe him: They are calling him “brave,” “extraordinary” and “intelligent.”
After years of watching his influence in Latin America slip away, Mr. Obama suddenly turned the tables this week by declaring a sweeping détente with Cuba, opening the way for a major repositioning of the United States in the region.
This is no small development. As Latin America has soured on the United States, China has sought to take advantage, expanding Chinese ties and influence in the region, and positioning itself as a long-term partner for countries throughout Central and South America.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/obama-wins-raves-latin-america-over-cuba-shift
Haqppy Friday, Everyone!
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Hi ya Rikyrah. It’s 1:23 p.m. in Paris! :-)))
Ametia!!
Bonjour!!
Hey Ametia!
Bonjour!