“Silent Night” (German: “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht”) is a popular Christmas carol. The original lyrics of the song “Stille Nacht” were written in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria, by the priest Father Joseph Mohr and the melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz Xaver Gruber. In 1859, John Freeman Young (second Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Florida) published the English translation that is most frequently sung today.[1] The version of the melody that is generally sung today differs slightly (particularly in the final strain) from Gruber’s original, which was a sprightly, dance-like tune in 6/8 time, as opposed to the slow, meditative lullaby version generally sung today. Today, the lyrics and melody are in the public domain.
http://youtu.be/JQeKdvXliIU
I might be crazy, but there are a lot of dances that came out of this Peanuts scene. Just look…and I don’t mean from the 60’s either.
http://youtu.be/s1LUXQWzCno
I love it!
https://twitter.com/TheBrandonMorse/status/547761667354804224/photo/1
https://twitter.com/gary_card/status/431550695536226304/photo/1
https://twitter.com/maximosis/status/547924024651939840/photo/1
Rob D. @stray
If the idea of a non-white James Bond makes you angry, I have some terrible news for you about Jesus.
twitter….ummmmm
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Merry merry Christmas, Ladies!
Merry Christmas, Vitamin!
Merry Christmas, Vitaminlover!
https://twitter.com/thereval/status/547905008105041920
https://twitter.com/MoBetter_B/status/547747204094787584/photo/1
Some of these cops apparently think they are going to kill their way out of this. Seriously. They must believe that at some point everyone will be too afraid to come out and things will go back to the way they were, maybe worse.
https://twitter.com/deray/status/547898972073762817
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/547801409174134784/photo/1
But Judge Dawson’s critics, who include defense lawyers, delinquency workers and some parents of young offenders, say that in his zeal to reform wayward youths he goes too far — acting not just as judge but also as prosecutor, probation officer and social worker.
He relies too heavily on locking juveniles up, these critics say, contributing to incarceration rates that are among the highest in the state. His courtroom practices sometimes violate young offenders’ due process rights. And in several instances Judge Dawson has overstepped the law in an effort to keep juveniles locked up for longer periods — in October, a state appeals court ordered him to reconsider his disposition in four cases in which he had set minimum periods of confinement for juveniles, saying that the orders appeared to violate state law.
“These child-saving judges, they think they’re doing something right-minded,” said Mary Ann Scali, deputy director of the National Juvenile Defender Center, “but in fact it’s very wrong-mind
………………
To that end, he engages juveniles in a wide-ranging public catechism, peppering them with questions about school performance (“How many times were you suspended last year?”), attire (“You can walk around in a fancy hillbilly shirt but you can’t get an education?”) and behavior (“Why do you do all these dumb things?”).
Continue reading the main story
He routinely assigns dozens or even hundreds of hours of community service and requires that they be completed through the county’s work program, which charges a fee of $50 per case. He is adamant about restitution, bringing offenders back to court repeatedly until victims have been paid. And while most other judges waive court fees for juveniles, he insists on collecting them, even when parents protest that they cannot afford to pay.
“You are so lucky Judge Dawson is not here today, lucky, lucky, lucky,” a public defender told one boy whose parents had not paid the fee, usually $155.
……………
But it is Judge Dawson’s use of incarceration that has stirred the most controversy.
In Maryland, as in other states, the number of juveniles held in locked facilities has declined over the past decade, a result of dropping juvenile crime rates and increasing efforts to keep juveniles at home when possible. A project in Baltimore led by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which is financing efforts in 39 states to develop alternatives to locking up juveniles while protecting public safety, has helped decrease the use of detention there by about 40 percent, according to state statistics.
But in Prince George’s County, the rates of detention and longer-term incarceration have remained high and have risen in the more than five years Judge Dawson has presided as the primary juvenile court judge, according to an analysis by the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services.
Commitments to institutional settings increased 55 percent from 2009 to 2014, while, statewide, commitments dropped an average of 5 percent over the same period and complaints filed with the Juvenile Services Department — an indicator of juvenile crime — decreased 63 percent.
Detentions of juveniles from Prince George’s County in secure facilities have risen 115 percent since 2005 — despite a slight decline since 2012 — though they have dropped 29 percent statewide. Only 12 percent of the juveniles were detained for committing new crimes. The rest were locked up for violations stemming from old offenses.
Prosecutors in the county find in Judge Dawson a willing partner.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/20/us/judge-in-maryland-locks-up-youths-and-rules-their-lives.html?smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0
http://www.allgraphics123.com/graphics/happy-holidays/happy-holidays01.gif
Peace, Love, and Joy to all :)
Peace, love, and joy to you as well, Yahtzee.
Thank you, Yahtzee! Merry Christmas!
https://twitter.com/stereowilliams/status/547773204165840898/photo/1
Denzel Washington Is One of Hollywood’s Most Overpaid Stars, According to Forbes
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
December 24, 2014 at 11:23AM
I’m not sure just how useful these Forbes lists really are (and there are many of them every year), but we certainly are entertained by them – at least, I am.
This time around, we’re presented with a list of the 10 most overpaid Hollywood stars. To create the list, Forbes says that it looked at the 100 biggest stars in Hollywood. To qualify, each actor had to have starred in at least three movies that opened in more than 500 theaters, over the last five years.
They then calculated a return-on-investment number for each star by dividing total income on the three films by the star’s total compensation, including up-front salaries and earnings from DVD and TV sales. I’m no accountant, but, as I understand it, essentially, it comes down to how much the film grossed minus how much it cost, divided by how much each star got paid.
Suffice it to say that, this is one list that you won’t find a lot of black actors on. Why? Well, if only due to the fact that there aren’t exactly a lot of black actors carrying Hollywood studio-backed movies, earning huge paychecks. You could probably count them all on one hand.
Black actors aren’t given much by way of opportunities to be “underpaid,” much less “overpaid.” And when studios do back films starring black actors (unless it’s an A-lister like Denzel Washington or Will Smith), their budgets are minuscule (relative to average Hollywood movie budgets), which means the stars of those films aren’t receiving huge upfront checks, and definitely not back-end participation. And those movies typically do, not only earn back their costs, but, in many cases, return a decent profit. For example, the average Tyler Perry movie cost less than $20 million, but the average domestic box office gross of a Tyler Perry movie is around $55 million. And that doesn’t include ancillary returns – DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, digital rentals and sales.
All that said, this year’s list does include one black actor: Denzel Washington. Although he’s listed in the 8th position, ahead of only Sandra Bullock and Ben Affleck. According to Forbes, Mr Washington: “Returns $6.90 for every $1 paid. Washington can demand a huge salary so his films have to hit it out of the ballpark for him to offer a good return. Lately, his films have done fine but not outstanding.”
Justification, maybe, for the producer, whose email to Sony was leaked, arguing that Denzel’s tepid box office overseas suggests he should not be cast in big-budget movies – or, at least, be paid less.
However, the same could be said for the rest of the actors on this list, especially those who are returning even less for every dollar paid, compared to Denzel’s $6.90. Yet, there doesn’t seem to be any conversation about the prospects (domestic or international) for those actors.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/denzel-washington-is-one-of-hollywoods-most-overpaid-stars-according-to-forbes-20141224
Beautiful reunion story! *tears of joy*
The Associated Press @AP · 7h 7 hours ago
10 years after tsunami swept kids away, Indonesian mom reassembles a family
http://apne.ws/1CAf6kJ
Excerpt:
MEULABOH, Indonesia (AP) — It all started with a dream that led to a chance meeting: A girl who had been swept away by the Indian Ocean tsunami a decade ago.
For three nights, the child’s uncle said she visited him in his sleep. When he told the girl’s mother, Jamaliah, it was hard to believe at first. The daughter was only 4 when a towering wave ripped her away with her 7-year-old brother, clinging to a board.
But the mother had always been convinced both children were still out there and that the family would be reunited. Like most Muslims in this part of Indonesia, she also believed that sometimes God whispers answers to prayers at night.
Soon after the dream, the uncle ran into a 14-year-old orphan girl who had survived the disaster and washed up on a remote island with her older brother. She said they had stayed alive by riding a slab of wood.
The odds were impossible, Jamaliah reminded herself. Too much time had passed. The island was so far away.
But after the uncle sent a photo of girl, the mother became convinced God was giving their family the second chance longed for by so many parents who had lost children in the disaster.
“I said, ‘I’m sure that’s my daughter,'” she recalled. “I felt the connection in my womb.”
A month later, Jamaliah had the same feeling. This time, after hearing that a 17-year-old homeless boy calling her “mom” had also been found.
But was it real, or all just a dream?
I’ve started my cooking..
Pace yourself, SG2.
Yes, take it easy, SG2. Rest your back, don’t stand too long.
Thank you. I’m taking a quick break. I have one Turkey in the oven. I’ll bake the other in the morning. Whew!
Watch Trailer for Romcom ‘With This Ring’ (Regina Hall, Jill Scott, Eve Star – Coming January 2015)
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and ActDecember 22, 2014 at 7:42PM
Regina Hall, Jill Scott, and Eve Jeffers Cooper star as 3 single friends who vow to get married within a year after attending their best friend’s wedding, in the Lifetime Original Movie “With This Ring,” which the network has now set a premiere for on Saturday, January 24, 2015, at 8pm ET/PT.
Brooklyn Sudano, Deion Sanders, Stephen Bishop, Jason George and Brian White round out the key cast.
The romantic comedy is based on the best seller, “The Vow,” by Denene Millner, Angela Burt-Murray and Mitzi Miller, which tells the story of Trista (Hall), a career-driven talent agent, Viviane (Scott), a successful gossip columnist, and Amaya (Cooper), a struggling actress, who make a pact to get married within the year to either a new love or a man waiting in the wings, after attending their friend Elise’s (Sudano) wedding to Nate (Bishop) on New Year’s Eve. But the close friends face their own set of challenges – Trista has not gotten over her commitment-phobic ex-boyfriend Damon (White), Viviane is secretly in love with Sean (George), the father of her son, and Amaya is desperate to break up her boyfriend Keith’s (Sanders) unhappy marriage so they can live happily ever after. But will they all make it to the altar?
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/watch-first-trailer-for-romcom-with-this-ring-regina-hall-jill-scott-eve-star-coming-january-2015-20141222
Published on Dec 22, 2014
Sag Harbor takes an unprecedented look inside one of America’s most exclusive and historically important African American beach communities. Once a refuge from racism, it’s now home to a tight-knit group of homeowners fighting to hold on to its identity.
http://youtu.be/YypfNs87u4A
Bill Duke’s ‘Dark Girls’ Follow-up, ‘Light Girls,’ Gets a First Trailer & Release date (Heading to OWN)
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and ActDecember 22, 2014 at 10:24PM
Making its world premier as part of OWN Network’s month-long celebration in January honoring civil rights legends who paved the way, will be “Light Girls,” Bill Duke’s follow-up to his acclaimed documentary “Dark Girls,” which will air on Monday, January 19 at 9 pm ET/PT, featuring an in-depth look into colorism and the untold stories of lighter-skinned women around the globe, in contrast to “Dark Girls” and its focus on the stories of darker-skinned women.
Duke describes “Light Girls” as a study of the advantages and disadvantages of being a light-skinned woman, tackling the question: Does light skin make for an easier life?
The documentary explores skin color from historical, sociological, psychological and scientific perspectives, providing a global analysis, addressing contemporary issues like bullying, skin bleaching, and the popular “#teamlightskin versus #teamdarkskin” that was born on social media.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/bill-dukes-dark-girls-follow-up-light-girls-gets-a-first-trailer-release-date-heading-to-own-20141222
http://youtu.be/U9bWB66Ulk8
Cosby’s criticisms of poor blacks come back to haunt him
by Jesse J. Holland, Associated Press | December 23, 2014 at 3:05 PM
— Bill Cosby hasn’t been “America’s dad” for years. For some blacks, he is the cranky uncle complaining about young African Americans who, in his view, dress and behave in a way that drags down their race.
The shift in perceptions of Cosby, from revered comedian to more of a public scold, may be costing him support in the black community as he battles decades-old accusations of drugging and sexually assaulting women.
Few people outside Cosby’s circle of family and friends are rallying around him. Besides the gravity of the accusations, Cosby’s own words may help explain why.
“He’s asking people to pull up their pants and act right,” said Fredrick Harris, director of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University. “People are questioning, ‘Why were you unzipping yours and pulling yours down?’”
More than 15 women have come forward since November claiming to have been drugged, sexually assaulted or both by Cosby, who has never been charged in connection with any of the allegations.
http://thegrio.com/2014/12/23/bill-cosby-black-community/
Review: ‘Selma’ Is a Definitive Portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a Movement
By Mumin | Shadow and ActDecember 23, 2014 at 5:40PM
In any historical record, there’s an official narrative and a human narrative. The human narrative in Ava DuVernay’s epic film “Selma,” shows us four little girls dressed in their Sunday best, talking about hairstyles when their bodies are blown away in an explosion of fire and hate. This scene establishes the severity of white supremacist violence in America at this time, just a year before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would win the Nobel Peace Prize. The official narrative, available in many schools and media, gives us a sanitized chronology of events that are replayed every black history month. The official narrative gives us a holiday to celebrate a speech. This film gives a thorough treatment centered on a man and a movement.
“Selma” is the definitive human portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. and a group of activists fighting for unrestricted voting rights for black people, which culminated in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson and a successful march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. But it took lives, pain, and community to get there. This film is about those moments in between the back-room deals where the fates of lives were brokered. It documents the human struggles, doubts, tactful strategies, and persistence that rendered change.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/review-selma-is-a-definitive-portrait-of-dr-martin-luther-king-jr-and-a-movement-20141223
Garage sale?
Oy.
…………..
Mathew Knowles sells Beyoncé and Solange stuff at garage sale
by Chris Witherspoon | December 23, 2014 at 12:15 PM
eyoncé‘s estranged father Mathew Knowles is having a garage sale, and unloading a slew of Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child memorabilia.
According to TMZ the 63-year-old former music exec “is trying to make ends meet by unloading tons of her souvenirs from her career in a massive garage sale — which also features Solange stuff.”
The garage sale is taking place outside of Knowles’ Houston office and features items including a giant Beyoncé poster priced at $200, A Solange CD for $1.96, and various pieces of House of Deréon clothing.
Knowles is also selling some his office furniture
http://thegrio.com/2014/12/23/mathew-knowles-garage-sale-beyonce/
Azealia Banks calls T.I. a ‘shoe shining coon’ in radio interview
by Chris Witherspoon | December 19, 2014 at 1:20 PM
Rapper Azealia Banks completely let loose in a recent interview on Hot 97’s Ebro in the Morning.
The 23-year-old Harlem native sat down for a 45-minute interview covering everything from her feud with Iggy Azalea to news events like the shooting deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.
Banks expressed her feelings on white rappers making gains in the hip-hop industry.
“I feel like, in this country, whenever it comes to our things, like black issues or black politics or black music or whatever, there’s always this undercurrent of kinda like a ‘F*** you,’” Banks said. “There’s always a ‘F*** y’all n***as. Y’all don’t really own shit. Y’all don’t have shit.’ That Macklemore album wasn’t better than the Drake record. That Iggy Azalea shit isn’t better than any f***ing black girl that’s rapping today.”
The female MC later called out T.I. for promoting his protege Iggy Azalea and slammed his wife Tiny. “You out here trying to promote this white bitch. They got your wife on VH1 and that bitch can’t fu**in’ read. You’re a fu**in’ shoe shinin’ coon. How dare you
http://thegrio.com/2014/12/19/azealia-banks-ti-iggy-azalea/
BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Study proves Southern white people have more black DNA than those in the rest of the U.S
by Blue Telusma | December 22, 2014 at 6:56 PM
Many people who consider themselves “white” would be surprised to discover they have African ancestry – especially those in the south.
In an ironic twist, a new study has found that some of the states with the most racial tension are also the ones where the most white people have black ancestors. The findings published this month in the American Journal of Human Genetics found that whites in the South were far more likely to have black ancestry than any other part of the country
http://thegrio.com/2014/12/22/study-southern-white-people-more-black-dna/
No, Mayor de Blasio, There Is Never a Wrong Time to Say That Black Lives Matter
Calls to protect the sanctity of black life shouldn’t be treated as if they’re disrespectful to grieving families or to blame for frayed race relations in our society.
By: Kirsten West Savali
Posted: Dec. 23 2014 3:08 PM
During his remarks Monday at the Police Athletic League, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called for a moratorium on protests demanding justice for the scores of black people who have fallen victim to police brutality while the city mourns the deaths of two police officers—Wenjian Liu, 28, and Rafael Ramos, 40—killed in Brooklyn on Saturday.
“I think it’s important that regardless of people’s viewpoints that everyone step back,” de Blasio said. “I think it’s a time for everyone to put aside political debates, put aside protests, put aside all of the things that we will talk about in all due time.
“Let’s comfort these families, let’s see them through these funerals,” he continued. “Then debate can begin again.”
Not surprisingly, there has been scarce mention of the fact that the alleged killer, 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley, shot his girlfriend, Shaneka Nicole Thompson, and left her for dead in her home in Baltimore prior to traveling to New York. The deaths of two police officers—one Asian and the other Hispanic—has vastly overshadowed a black woman fighting for her life.
It’s the audacity of blue privilege.
De Blasio, President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have spent the last several months throwing us bones of political concern, but what this week has made clear is that the senseless death of a police officer “tears at the fabric of society” in a way that the modern-day lynchings of unarmed black people do not.
We are expected to stop and mourn the “execution” of Ramos and Liu while simultaneously waiting to hear if a Cleveland grand jury will even indict police officers in the “shooting death” of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was gunned down within 1.5 seconds of officers’ arrival at the playground where he was playing. We are being asked to set aside the fact that John Crawford III was killed by police inside a Wal-Mart and his family was told that it was “justifiable.”
We are expected to be silent in the face of continued injustice; we are expected to accept a racist logic that claims our “unrest” is harming the nation while showing deference to a law-enforcement community that has yet to reckon with its systemic role in victimizing black and brown people.
And we are expected to do that emotional labor while being treated as enemy combatants on urban battlefields around the country.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/12/there_s_no_wrong_time_to_say_blacklivesmatter.html
Conor Friedersdorf ✔ @conor64
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Reuters interviews 25 black NYPD cops. “All but one said that, when off duty & out of uniform, they had been victims of racial profiling.”
6:23 PM – 23 Dec 2014
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Dwayne Rodgers @DiggsWayne
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Black rage scares those in power bc they know it’s justified and -if it’s focussed- could tear the already tattered fabric of this nation.
4:40 PM – 21 Dec 2014
https://twitter.com/DanielBeerthuis/status/545401758550618113/photo/1
11 Signs Your Hood Is Being Gentrified
A Washington, D.C., resident describes the changes and privilege that have moved into her longtime neighborhood.
By: Janelle Harris
Posted: Dec. 23 2014 3:00 AM
In Washington, D.C., as in many cities undergoing extreme urban makeovers, if you miss a week of moving about in certain neighborhoods, you’ll miss a whole heck of a lot. Sad times for you if you’re a landmark driver like I am, when even a short trip on familiar streets can induce a fog of confusion. Buildings go down and buildings go up on blocks so quickly, you can be a whole mile out of your way before you realize you’ve been waiting to hook a left at a corner store that is no more.
Besides creating in me a deep regret for not going to college to enjoy what seems like an inevitably profitable career in real estate development, gentrification has impressed me with its swiftness. I don’t pretend or profess to understand the complete politics of it—I’m certain that money is the bottom line and power is the impetus—but I know the bastions of urban-conquer waste no time claiming an area as “up and coming” and then following that up with epic levels of condo-and-coffeehouse building.
What that essentially means: The people already living there are fittin’ to be economically priced out and residentially pushed out. That I’ve learned. In the meantime, there’s a shift to accommodate the newcomers, rarely an effort by the newcomers to adjust to the existing dynamic of a community. The boundless, ceaseless imagination of privilege does it again and again.
Georgia Avenue, the stretch of street that hugs the campus of Howard University, used to be quintessential D.C., full of contagious energy and all-black everything: barbershops and beauty salons, mom-and-pop stores, insurance agencies, restaurants. But you know how it goes: Powers discover that an area is gold, see its potential, put it in their construction crosshairs and start plucking off anything, one by one, that doesn’t fit into the blueprint for their new, improved iteration.
Anyone resilient or fortunate enough to remain needs to adjust in order to survive. Such is the case of Fish in the ’Hood, a beloved institution for college students and local lovers of soulful dining that, in 2012, was christened with a new storefront sign indicative of the changing surroundings: Fish in the Neighborhood. A new name on a 15-year-old restaurant is telltale, but there are more indicators that change is gonna come:
1. Neighborhood boundary lines will be strategically reconfigured, and your new redistricted area will be outfitted with catchy, cutesy names.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/12/_11_signs_your_hood_is_being_gentrified.html
Bruce P. Knight @brucepknight
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Enrollment For #Obamacare Jumps With Two Million New Sign-Ups http://www.nationalmemo.com/enrollment-obamacare-jumps-two-million-new-sign-ups/ … #p2 #ACA
7:51 AM – 24 Dec 2014
President Obama’s Best 2014 Moments
If the end of 2014 was any indication, we may be finding out that this supposedly lame-duck president has no intention of going gently into that good night.
By: Diana Ozemebhoya Eromosele
Posted: Dec. 20 2014 11:13 AM
This is by no means an exhaustive list. And I’m not suggesting that there’s consensus about the positives and negatives of President Barack Obama’s various initiatives—although I’m guessing that folks on both sides of the aisle were tickled by his exchange in October with that overzealous boyfriend in the Chicago voting station—but here are a few notable moments from the president’s past year that pleased a lot of people.
1. The Reconciliation With Cuba
On Wednesday Obama announced restoration of “full diplomatic relations” with Cuba, a plan that includes opening a U.S. Embassy in Havana, easing restrictions on financial transactions such as remittances and banking, and encouraging Congress to start a legitimate conversation about lifting the embargo against Cuba, since that would require congressional action.
When asked to explain his decision, the president stressed that the status quo had not worked over the past 50 years, and it was that realization that inspired him to seek a change. That approach—when something isn’t working, try something else—made sense even to some of the president’s political adversaries.
2. Support for #BringBackOurGirls and Fighting the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa
Obama understood that a crisis for one country could reach the doorstep of the United States in no time. In May he sent about 80 military personnel to West Africa to help Nigerian officials in the search for the nearly 300 schoolgirls who were abducted by the Islamist group Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria.
And in September the United States spent more than $100 million to help curb the spread of Ebola in three West African countries.
3. Addressing African Americans’ Distrust of Law Enforcement
When the nation learned that a Ferguson, Mo., grand jury would not indict Police Officer Darren Wilson for fatally shooting unarmed teenager Michael Brown, Obama spoke from the White House minutes later to reassure Americans who were angered by the outcome.
Not everyone agreed with Obama’s approach. There will always be a school of thought that he should be more demonstrative when expressing his frustration about the racial biases that exist in many U.S. institutions, including law enforcement. But as the Rev. Al Sharpton said a few months ago, President Bill Clinton didn’t say a word about the police killing of Amadou Diallo or the brutal sexual assault of Abner Louima by police, both of which happened on his watch.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2014/12/obama_s_best_moments_in_2014.html
Our President is just too cool
The President on Air Force One on his way to Hawaii
Cuba Won’t Hand Over Assata Shakur
On Monday, Cuba’s head of North American affairs expressed the country’s sovereign right to grant political asylum.
New Jersey officials might have been hoping that with warming relations between the U.S. and Cuba, one of its most wanted criminals, Assata Shakur, would be extradited to face judgment after fleeing the country.
However, according to the Associated Press, Cuba’s head of North American affairs, Josefina Vidal, has reiterated her country’s sovereign right to grant and maintain political asylum.
“Every nation has sovereign and legitimate rights to grant political asylum to people it considers to have been persecuted. … That’s a legitimate right,” Vidal told the AP when asked if extradition was a possibility. “We’ve explained to the U.S. government in the past that there are some people living in Cuba to whom Cuba has legitimately granted political asylum.”
“There’s no extradition treaty in effect between Cuba and the U.S.,” she added.
Former Cuban President Fidel Castro granted Shakur asylum after she escaped from prison after being convicted of killing a New Jersey state trooper in 1973, the AP notes.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie wrote a letter to the White House that was made public over the weekend, calling Shakur’s asylum “an affront to every resident of our state, our country, and in particular, the men and women of the New Jersey State Police, who have tirelessly tried to bring this killer back to justice.”
“So Joanne Chesimard [Shakur’s former name], a cold-blooded cop killer, convicted by a jury of her peers, in what is, without question, the fairest and most just criminal-justice system in the world—certainly much more just than anything that’s happened in Cuba under the Castro brothers. She is now, according to an official of the Cuban government, persecuted,” the governor added in a live interview Monday on local TV in response to Vidal’s statement, according to the AP. “These thugs in Cuba have given her political asylum for 30 years. It’s unacceptable.”
Vidal pointed out that the States has also sheltered wanted Cuban citizens.
“We’ve reminded the U.S. government that in its country they’ve given shelter to dozens and dozens of Cuban citizens,” she said. “Some of them accused of horrible crimes, some accused of terrorism, murder and kidnapping, and in every case, the U.S. government has decided to welcome them.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2014/12/cuba_won_t_hand_over_assata_shakur.html
Reuters Business ✔ @ReutersBiz
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U.S. jobless claims fall for fourth straight week http://reut.rs/1AIwl12
A new gif.
The side eye from Africa
BWA HA HA HA We have this one, just haven’t used it in a while.
House GOP fails to uncover IRS, White House coordination
12/23/14 04:53 PM—UPDATED 12/23/14 10:00 PM
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By Steve Benen
About a year-and-a-half ago, the “scandal” involving the Internal Revenue Service looked like it might be a real story. It wasn’t, and the whole thing evaporated into nothing soon after, but for Republicans, the prospect of the IRS coordinating with the White House to punish conservatives was so enticing, they believed it – reality be damned.
And so, in the summer of 2013, some prominent GOP lawmakers got a little hysterical. The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee said the controversy “started with the White House.” The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee insisted the IRS was guided by “the enemies list out of the White House.” The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee alleged, without proof, that the IRS engaged in “criminal behavior” that can be traced back to “1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”
All of this was completely wrong.
An 18-month congressional investigation into the Internal Revenue Service’s mistreatment of conservative political groups seeking tax exemptions has failed to show coordination between agency officials and political operatives in the White House, according to a report released on Tuesday.
Imagine that. House Republicans spent a year and a half investigating a controversy, making all kinds of wild-eyed allegations publicly, they carefully scrutinized 1.3 million documents, and they conducted lengthy interviews with literally dozens of IRS officials under oath.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/house-gop-fails-uncover-irs-white-house-coordination
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I’m still cooking….