Tuesday Open Thread – Luther Vandross Week

Posted on December 30, 2014 by rikyrah

We continue with Luther.

Luther Vandross-3

 

Luther Vandross-4

Luther Vandross-5

This entry was posted in Culture, Music, Open Thread, Politics and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

62 Responses to Tuesday Open Thread – Luther Vandross Week

  2. Ametia says:
    December 30, 2014 at 7:31 pm

    Spittle Tweety Bird Matthews is off and who does MSNBC get to sit in for him and plug the RETHUGS as the party responsible for the ECONOMY? MICHAEL STEELE!!! WTF

    Reply
  3. Ametia says:
    December 30, 2014 at 7:00 pm

    Authorities: 2-year-old boy accidentally shoots and kills mom inside northern Idaho Wal-Mart
    Article by: NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS , Associated Press Updated: December 30, 2014 – 6:54 PM

    HAYDEN, Idaho — A 2-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his mother after he reached into her purse at a northern Idaho Wal-Mart and her concealed gun fired, authorities said Tuesday.

    The 29-year-old woman was shopping with her son and three other children, Kootenai County sheriff’s spokesman Stu Miller told The Associated Press. Her family had come to the area to visit relatives, he said.

    The woman, whose identity was not released, had a concealed weapons permit. Miller said the young boy was left in a shopping cart, reached into the victim’s purse and grabbed a small-caliber handgun, which discharged one time.

    Deputies who responded to the Wal-Mart found her dead, the sheriff’s office said.

    “It appears to be a pretty tragic accident,” Miller said.

    The woman’s husband was not in the store when the shooting happened at about 10:20 a.m. Miller said the man arrived shortly after the shooting. All the children were taken to a relative’s house.

    http://www.startribune.com/nation/287136821.html

    Reply
  10. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 6:16 pm

    found this on POU:

    Miranda
    wow, just watch the video…smh, you’ll wanna punch the tech guys for sure.
    —————————-
    ICYMI 2014: Soccer Field Standoff Highlights Gentrification Tension in San Francisco

    This year, video of an argument over who got to play on a soccer field in San Francisco went viral, sparked a community protest and highlighted tensions about gentrificationin a changing neighborhood.

    It happened in mid-August when a pickup soccer game between mostly Latino teens in San Francisco’s Mission District came to a premature end because the field had been rented out by adult tech workers. One of the pickup players recorded a video of the argument.

    In the video, a pickup player asks the guys with the permit how long they’ve been in the neighborhood.

    One says, “Over a year.” Another says, “Who gives a s – – -? Who cares about the neighborhood?” One of the teens in the background says he’s lived there all his life.

    Then one of the kids suggests they play together, and a tech worker says he would love to, but can’t. The field was reserved for a game between Airbnb and Dropbox employees, and they rented it for $27 through San Francisco’s Recreation and Parks Department. This policy was created after the field’s renovation a couple of years ago.

    One of the men shows one of the pickup players a printed document with the payment information and asks him to read it.

    “I know how to read,” the pickup player says. “I’m an educated person. I also know that this field has always been a pickup field where you play seven on seven and wait your turn. You guys think that just because you have money you can buy the field and play.”

    Gentrification in the Mission enabled by the SF Parks & Rec in collusion with the private City Fields Foundation. Without community approval, the private foundation decided to issue costly permits to a small traditional pick-up soccer field. The AirBnb vs. Dropbox players show up and try to kick the neighborhood kids off of the field at prime time without even showing their “permit.” They don’t want to wait their turn and play with everyone else. They finally agree to play all together but then the guy with the permit arrives late. “Don’t you understand? You have to leave ….. we’re part of the community, this is awkward and weird, disastrously weird” Off camera, the other guy remarks “Who cares about the neighborhood?”

    UPDATE: After public uproar, SF Rec & Park removed the policy that allowed this encounter to happen. The City – without posting the availability of the park rental on their public website – had been marketing the Tuesday and Thursday slots initially only through an app so that the demographic portrayed in the video – a tech league – was taking the space from neighborhood kids twice a week.

    here’s the video:

    http://youtu.be/awPVY1DcupE

    Reply
  11. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 6:09 pm

    Threats seem to expose a political plot against the NYC mayor and the BlackLivesMatter movement.
    December 29, 2014

    When hundreds of cops from around the country and as far away as Canada turned their backs on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio during the funeral of Officer Rafael Ramos, the NYPD officer shot to death alongside his partner Wenjian Liu by a deranged gunman, they fired the first salvo in a carefully coordinated political operation aimed at discrediting the liberal mayor and shattering the ongoing anti-police brutality protest movement.

    AlterNet has obtained emails revealing plans to organize a series of anti-de Blasio protests around the city until the summer of 2015. Billed as a non-partisan movement in support of “the men and women of the NYPD,” the protests are being orchestrated by a cast of NYPD union bosses and local Republican activists allied with Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor who recentlycalled on de Blasio to “say you’re sorry to [NYPD officers] for having created a false impression of them.” The first rally is planned to take place at Queens Borough Hall at noon on January 13.

    Joe Concannon, a failed Republican State Senate candidate and current president of the Tea Party-aligned Queens Village Republican Club, is the main organizer of the burgeoning anti-de Blasio protest effort. The retired NYPD captain and former Giuliani advisor is a close ally of Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch. Lynch generated national headlines — and cheers from rank and file cops — when he claimed that de Blasio “has blood on [his] hands” just hours after Ismaaiyl Brinsley murdered Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu.

    In an email exchange with a supporter, Concannon said he and his allies had filed papers to found a non-profit to fund the anti-de Blasio campaign. The January 13 Queens demonstration would be among the largest, according to Concannon. Major rallies in March in Breezy Point, Queens and at City Hall were also in the works, he said.

    http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/emails-and-racist-chats-show-how-cops-and-gop-are-teaming-undermine-de-blasio

    Reply
  12. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 6:06 pm

    Pete Souza has listed his favorite pics from 2014

    2014 in Photos

    “For the sixth consecutive year, I’m thrilled to share my annual Year in Photographs. Each photograph, taken either by me or a photographer on my staff, is accompanied by my personal observations about the image. In some instances, there is an interesting backstory to the photograph, which I’ve included. Most of the moments captured can best be described as behind-the-scenes — that is, photographs taken away from the spotlight of public events. Some of the photographs are historic because of what is taking place, but others hopefully give people a more personal sense of who the President and First Lady are. Editing is a highly subjective — and for me — personal endeavor. I’ve included a mix of ‘moments,’ but also some photographs that rely more on graphics, lighting and composition. Some are serious and some are humorous. And of course, some are with babies (since the President loves babies). I hope you enjoy this year’s album of photographs.”

    Pete Souza, Director and Chief Official White House Photographer

    http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/2014-photos#

    Reply
  13. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 4:23 pm

    Boehner absolves Scalise over white-supremacist controversy
    12/30/14 04:23 PM
    facebook twitter 0 save share group 4
    By Steve Benen
    House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) has spent the last 24 hours scrambling to prevent a political disaster. At this point, it appears the Louisiana Republican’s efforts are working in his favor.

    The day after the public learned that he spoke at a white-supremacist event in 2002, Scalise issued another written statement this afternoon. And though he still hasn’t apologized, the GOP leader talked about his state legislative efforts at the time and argued, “One of the many groups that I spoke to regarding this critical legislation was a group whose views I wholeheartedly condemn. It was a mistake I regret, and I emphatically oppose the divisive racial and religious views groups like these hold.”

    Of course, the question was never whether or not Scalise would express contrition and distance himself from white nationalists. Rather, the question was whether his Republican colleagues would give him a pass.

    And now we appear to have an answer.
    House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement in support of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA):

    “More than a decade ago, Representative Scalise made an error in judgment, and he was right to acknowledge it was wrong and inappropriate. Like many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I know Steve to be a man of high integrity and good character. He has my full confidence as our Whip, and he will continue to do great and important work for all Americans.”
    House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) also expressed public support for Scalise this afternoon, saying in a press release, “I’ve known him as a friend for many years and I know that he does not share the beliefs of that organization.”

    To date, the grand total of congressional Republicans publicly criticizing Scalise for attending the white-supremacist gathering is … zero. The far-right Louisianan, at least publicly, hasn’t faced any intra-party rebukes at all. One imagines he and Boehner had a chat, and the Speaker asked whether there were any other potential revelations the party should worry about.

    If such a conversation took place, Scalise must have given an answer Boehner & Co. found satisfying.

    And as striking as this may sound, it’s starting to appear as if this controversy will soon fade barring additional revelations.

    I’ll confess that my instincts and expectations on this were apparently off-base – 24 hours ago, I assumed Scalise’s career as a Republican leader was likely to end fairly quickly. With the Trent Lott controversy in mind, it seemed implausible that a member of the GOP leadership would attend a white-nationalist event, at the invitation of a group led by a neo-Nazi, and that Republicans just wouldn’t care.

    This morning, the details seemed even worse. Between Scalise’s comments about David Duke in 1999 and the fact that he was invited to white-supremacist gathering by a top Duke aide, it seemed like a toxic combination for any American politician in the 21st century.

    And yet, here we are.

    Looking ahead, the image foremost on my mind is of RNC Chairman Reince Priebus who, to his credit, visited quite a few predominantly African-American churches and communities after the 2012 election, trying to convey sincerity about Republican outreach to minority voters.

    The next time Priebus makes such an appearance, I’m honestly not sure what he’ll say when a local leader asks, “Why did your party not care about a Republican leader speaking at a white-nationalist event, organized by a neo-Nazi’s organization?”

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/boehner-absolves-scalise-over-white-supremacist-controversy

    Reply
  14. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 4:22 pm

    If the NYPD treats the mayor this bad in public, imagine what they do to black men when no one is looking
    Opinion
    by David A. Love | December 30, 2014 at 7:39 AM

    Let’s talk about the police, specifically the NYPD. New York’s finest have not been acting so fine in recent days, disrespecting Mayor Bill de Blasio and residents of the Big Apple in the process.

    Now, if the police will openly defy and disrespect their boss and commander in public, can you imagine what they do to black men when the cameras are nowhere in sight?

    One of the more conspicuous voices of defiance and disrespect emanating from the NYPD is Patrick Lynch, the leader of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. Following the December 20 execution of police officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos by crazed gunman Ismaaiyl Brinsley in Brooklyn, Lynch placed the blame for the murders on Mayor de Blasio. Lynch said “There’s blood on many hands tonight,” adding, “That blood on the hands starts at City Hall in the Office of the Mayor.” The PBA head also talked of the NYPD becoming a “wartime police department,” as if he is planning a coup, and declaring war against the citizens of New York City, particularly its black residents.

    The ultimate humiliation for the mayor came when hundreds of officers turned their backs on him while he spoke at the funeral of Officer Ramos. Meanwhile, the same police who have opposed the anti-police brutality demonstrations chose the funeral of a fallen cop to protest the mayor and call for his ouster, all while drinking in uniform. And on Monday, de Blasio was greeted with boos and jeers as he spoke at the police academy graduation ceremony.

    What’s going on here? We must remember why a certain segment of the force is angry at Mayor de Blasio. He has supported the #BlackLivesMatter protests and spoken out on the need for reform in the police department, and made this one of his campaign themes. Moreover, as a father of a young black man, he did what any parent would do, which is instruct his son on how to conduct himself when in the presence of the police.

    “Chirlane and I have had to talk to Dante for years about the dangers that he may face. A good young man, law-abiding young man who would never think to do anything wrong,” de Blasio said. “And yet, because of a history that still hangs over us, the dangers he may face, we’ve had to literally train him—as families have all over this city for decades—in how to take special care in any encounter he has with the police officers who are there to protect him.”

    And why would anyone—in this case police officers—object to the mayor’s heartfelt words, his truth telling, unless they truly lack sensitivity to the challenges facing the black community? Why would they take offense to the mayor unless they carry around a sense of entitlement, a belief they can do whatever they want to whomever they please, and no one should tell them what to do?

    http://thegrio.com/2014/12/30/nypd-disrepect-mayor-de-blasio/

    Reply
  15. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 4:21 pm

    if you are this stupid…

    ……………..

    The substance and politics of Obamacare, in one citizen

    By Paul Waldman December 30 at 1:24 PM
    There’s a journalistic trope that has become so common over the past couple of decades that you probably don’t notice it anymore, or just assume that it’s how news stories have always been written. It’s what media scholars call the “exemplar” — an individual person whose story is used as a vehicle to explain the effects of a policy or an event. There’s always a danger that this narrative technique can oversimplify things. On the other hand, the use of an exemplar is a good way to connect large issues to the lives of the people affected by them.

    And every once in a while, a good reporter can find an exemplar whose story so perfectly captures an issue that it does more than just spice up an article, but actually leads us to a deeper understanding.

    So it is with this story in today’s New York Times by Abby Goodnough, who reports on the successes and hurdles of the Affordable Care Act in Kentucky, which accepted the expansion of Medicaid and set up its own exchange. Here’s the beginning of the story of one of the exemplars Goodnough found, which tells us a tremendous amount about where the ACA has come, substantively and politically, and what its future holds:

    Amanda Mayhew is one of the beneficiaries. She earns little enough to qualify for Medicaid under the new guidelines, and she enrolled in August. She has been to the dentist five times to begin salvaging her neglected teeth, has had a dermatologist remove a mole and has gotten medication for her depression, all free.

    “I am very, very thankful that Medicaid does cover what I need done right now,” said Ms. Mayhew, 38. “They ended up having to pull three teeth in the last three weeks, and I would have been in a lot of pain without it.”

    Then a bit later in the article, we learn more:

    A nurse practitioner at Family Health Centers had prescribed anti-depressants after Ms. Mayhew had her last baby in 2013 — at the time, she had temporary Medicaid for her pregnancy — but she stopped taking them when the coverage ended. Now she is back on them, and feeling good.

    “That’s been a big thing for me,” she said.

    And yet.

    “I don’t love Obamacare,” she said. “There are things in it that scare me and that I don’t agree with.”

    For example, she said, she heard from news programs that the Affordable Care Act prohibited lifesaving care for elderly people with cancer.

    There is no such provision, although a proposal to pay doctors to engage patients in end-of-life planning — such as whether they would want life-sustaining treatment if they were terminally ill — was removed from the law after it sparked a political firestorm over “death panels.” The misperception remains widespread: A poll this month by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 41 percent of Americans still believe the law created “a government panel to make decisions about end-of-life care for people on Medicare.” An equal number found the law did not.

    “If we have Obamacare and the insurance is available to me, I will use it and be thankful for it,” Ms. Mayhew said. “But would I gladly give up my insurance today if it meant that some of the things that are in the law were not in place? Yes, I would.”

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/12/30/the-substance-and-politics-of-obamacare-in-one-citizen/

    Reply
  16. eliihass says:
    December 30, 2014 at 3:32 pm

    Yeah. Self-loathing Mia Love puts out a statement to say that Scalise has been good to her, and now all is well and Scalise and David Duke’s deep racist leanings are no longer an issue.

    And that my friends is the purpose Mia Love’s sorry black face is supposed to serve.

    Reply
  17. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 1:26 pm

    Scalise’s vote against MLK Day gains new relevance
    12/30/14 10:34 AM
    facebook twitter 0 save share group 11
    By Steve Benen
    The totality of an official’s record always matters. This week, for example, it would be easier for House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) to overcome the controversy surrounding his appearance at a white-supremacist event in 2002 if he had an otherwise sterling record on issues related to civil rights.

    That’s not quite the case. Andrew Prokop noted last night:
    …Scalise does not have a record of friendliness to African-American causes. When the Louisiana House voted on making Martin Luther King Day a holiday in 2004, 90 members were in favor and Scalise was one of the six against.
    Note, as a Republican state lawmaker, Scalise clearly knew the King holiday was going to be approved, but he made a point of voting against it anyway.

    To be sure, there are other notable Republicans who rose to national prominence after voting against a day honoring MLK. Former Vice President Dick Cheney (R), for example, voted against the King holiday as a member of Congress in 1978. Five years later, Cheney changed his mind.

    Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) also voted against it in 1983, though in 1999, he said on “Meet the Press,” “We all learn, OK? We all learn. I will admit to learning, and I hope that the people that I represent appreciate that, too. I voted in 1983 against the recognition of Martin Luther King…. I regret that vote.”

    Scalise, however, voted against the holiday in 2004.

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/scalises-vote-against-mlk-day-gains-new-relevance

    Reply
  18. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 1:25 pm

    Police Respect Squandered in Attacks on de Blasio
    By THE EDITORIAL BOARD DEC. 29, 2014

    Mayor Bill de Blasio has spent weeks expressing his respect and admiration for the New York Police Department, while calling for unity in these difficult days, but the message doesn’t seem to be sinking in.

    When he spoke at a police graduation ceremonyat Madison Square Garden on Monday, some in the crowd booed and heckled him. This followed the mass back-turning by scores of officers when the mayor spoke on Saturday at the funeral of Officer Rafael Ramos; the virtual back-turning the day before by an airplane-towed banner (“Our backs have turned to you”), and the original spiteful gesture by officers on the night Mr. de Blasio visited the hospital where Officer Ramos and his partner, Wenjian Liu, lay dead.

    Mr. de Blasio isn’t going to say it, but somebody has to: With these acts of passive-aggressive contempt and self-pity, many New York police officers, led by their union, are squandering the department’s credibility, defacing its reputation, shredding its hard-earned respect. They have taken the most grave and solemn of civic moments — a funeral of a fallen colleague — and hijacked it for their own petty look-at-us gesture. In doing so, they also turned their backs on Mr. Ramos’s widow and her two young sons, and others in that grief-struck family.

    These are disgraceful acts, which will be compounded if anyone repeats the stunt at Officer Liu’s funeral on Sunday.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/30/opinion/police-respect-squandered-in-attacks-on-de-blasio.html?_r=1

    Reply
  19. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 1:24 pm

    NYPD Reportedly in ‘Virtual Work Stoppage’ Over de Blasio Rift
    By Margaret Hartmann
    December 30, 201411:28 a.m.

    On the day two NYPD officers were fatally shot, a widely circulated memo purporting to be from the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association told officers that “Absolutely NO enforcement action in the form of arrests and or summonses is to be taken unless absolutely necessary.”

    The group denied that it issued the memo, though its president, Pat Lynch, used language similar to what was in the document when he said there’s “blood on the hands” of Mayor de Blasio. Regardless of who wrote the memo, it appears officers took the message to heart. The New York Post reportsthat NYPD officers are engaged in a “virtual work stoppage,” citing statistics that show arrests in the city are down 66 percent for the week starting December 22, compared to the same period last year.

    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/12/nypd-in-work-stoppage-over-de-blasio-rift.html

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      December 30, 2014 at 2:29 pm

      The NYPD is going to self-destruct at this rate.
      If they’ll do this to the white Mayor – the Chief Executive – and in plain view of the world, can you imagine what they get up to when they deal with powerless people of color when nobody is watching?

      They’re dirty and evil. Outright scum and without honor. They do not deserve the respect and deference they get and think they’re entitled to.

      Reply
  20. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 1:18 pm

    Steve Scalise Falls Prey to Scandal Politics He Once Practiced
    Michael Scherer @michaelscherer 7:38 AM ET

    Long before he admitted on Monday to accidentally speaking before a 2002 conference organized by white supremacists, the Louisiana Congressman was playing offense and winning. His target was Van Jones, a former Obama Administration official who had worked on clean energy initiatives. “The last green jobs czar we had left in disgrace because he expressed comments embracing communism and actually tried to blame the government, the American government, for September 11th attacks,” Scalise said in 2011.

    The facts surrounding Jones’ views on the Sept. 11 attacks were far less cut and dry. Jones’ name had been added to a 2004 online petition that suggested President George W. Bush “may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war.” When the petition surfaced, Jones said the document “does not reflect my views now or ever.” He said his name had been added by mistake, and he had never read the document. But as the game is played, Jones lost the round. He was tagged as the Obama Administration official who had signed a truther petition, and resigned his job.

    More than five years later, Scalise finds himself in the same uncomfortable position. He attended a 2002 event organized by a group called the European-American Unity and Rights Organization, or EURO, which was founded by David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan. Around the time of his speech, EURO’s website had pictures of the Confederate flag, promised to “protect American and Southern heritage,” and included a link called “Understanding Jewish Supremacism.”

    http://time.com/3649354/steve-scalise-david-duke-euro/

    Reply
  21. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    December 30, 2014 at 10:37 am

    “A photo of a young white woman screaming in an NYPD officer’s face makes me wonder what he’d do if I did that. I think I’d better not.”

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/30/what-would-happen-if-i-got-in-white-cop-s-face.html?via=desktop&source=twitter

    Reply
  22. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    December 30, 2014 at 10:32 am

    “Sheriff Launches Search for Two “Persons of Interest” Because They Hung “Black Lives Matter” Signs on Light Posts”

    http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2014/12/sheriff_goes_after_two_people_who_hung_black_lives_matter_signs.php

    Reply
  23. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    December 30, 2014 at 10:22 am

    deray mckesson @deray 3hours ago

    I’m still processing how to talk about the weight of oppression, its pain, and the presence of hope. I’ll admit, I’m struggling.

    What does it say about a country that structurally deprives a set of people of the conditions for hope and then blames them?

    Hope has to rest on something. Something like the idea of freedom, the idea of liberation. What happens when the idea wanes?

    Y’all know that I firmly believe that love is the why. That love is what allows us to fight each day and that keeps the movement alive.

    But this morning I just need to think through hope a little more. Hope in the presence of such intense evil.

    See, evil tries to use our love against us. Evil wants us to believe that love is weakness. But love is not surrender. In love, we overcome.

    The bonds of love will always be stronger than the bonds of evil.

    See, love reaches more people than evil. Love is the essence of us all.

    The effects of evil are immediate. The effects of love felt over time. The immediacy of evil makes it appear to be stronger than love.

    We protest not to affirm the worth of our lives, but to expose the depth of the evil we face.

    See, love holds us accountable. Evil, by its nature, is not accountability. And accountability is, at its core, is justice.

    And hope is rooted in honesty. To confront the trauma of our todays frees us to fight for the freedom in our tomorrows.

    Hopelessness is to admit defeat. And that has never been the story of our struggle, that has never been the story of our people.

    In hope, we do not deny the trauma of the past that we have lived. But we refuse to be trapped in trauma. Hope is the belief in life itself.

    Reply
  25. Liza says:
    December 30, 2014 at 8:47 am

    OMG, Luther Vandross was such a gorgeous young man.

    Reply
  26. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 8:11 am

    uh huh

    uh huh

    Taegan Goddard @politicalwire
    Follow
    Jim Webb PAC Funneled Money to Family Members http://politicalwire.com/2014/12/29/webb-pac-funneled-money-to-family-members/ … via @politicalwire
    9:40 PM – 29 Dec 2014

    Reply
  27. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 8:10 am

    Arapaho415 @arapaho415
    Follow
    2016 GOP strategists will have a tougher time tying any Democratic nominee to the booming “Obama economy.”
    http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/economic-boom-obama-113769.html#ixzz3MxpR9tYF …
    7:20 AM – 26 Dec 2014

    Reply
  28. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 8:08 am

    Pope Francis ✔ @Pontifex
    Follow
    Today people are suffering from poverty, but also from lack of love.
    5:00 AM – 30 Dec 2014

    Reply
  30. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 8:06 am

    GoaT FacE XmaS @EndhooS
    Follow
    *Bursts into daughters room*
    “WTF is going on here?”
    *Hears noise in wardrobe*
    *Cocks gun*
    “There better be a lion or a witch in there Sara”
    5:12 AM – 24 Nov 2014

    Reply
  32. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 8:03 am

    @Jordanfabian 7m7 minutes ago
    Duke threatens to out lawmakers he’s connected with if GOP dumps Scalise
    http://fusion.net/story/36233/steve-scalise-david-duke-euro/ … via @BrettLoGiurato

    Reply
  33. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 8:02 am

    Michael Grimm reverses course, will resign from Congress
    12/30/14 08:00 AM—UPDATED 12/30/14 08:31 AM
    By Steve Benen

    Rep. Michael Grimm’s (R-N.Y.) first major reversal came last week. After months in which the Republican congressman vowed to fight his 20-count criminal indictment, insisting throughout that he was the victim of a “political witch hunt,” Grimm changed his posture a week ago, pleading guilty to one felony count of tax fraud.

    Asked whether he would resign, the New York lawmaker said last week, “Absolutely not.” Grimm argued that since his crime “happened before” he was elected to Congress, he didn’t see the need to step down.

    All of which led to his second major reversal.
    Embattled New York Rep. Michael Grimm will resign his seat in Congress following his guilty plea for felony tax evasion, a House leadership aide confirmed to NBC News on Monday. […]

    In a statement late Monday night, Grimm said, “The events which led to this day did not break my spirit, nor the will of the voters. However, I do not believe that I can continue to be 100 percent effective in the next Congress.”
    The details of the upcoming process have not yet been announced, but there will have to be a special election in Grimm’s competitive New York district. Look for both parties to take the race seriously.

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/michael-grimm-reverses-course-will-resign-congress

    Reply
  34. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 7:50 am

    Reggie Ossé @Combat_Jack

    This weekend, during our Kwaanza celebration, I watched a grown man, corporate guy, break down & cry bc he was stopped by cops 22x this yr.”

    Reggie Ossé @Combat_Jack

    He drives daily to and from Pa. to NYC. And he’s frustrated by his treatment. That’s what systematic racism does. Breaks Black people down.

    Reply
    • SouthernGirl2 says:
      December 30, 2014 at 10:08 am

      Whistleblowing officer makes tape of top cop ordering stop-and-frisks of black males

      http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/12/29/1354616/-Whistleblowing-officer-makes-tape-of-top-cop-ordering-stop-and-frisks-of-black-males#

      Officer Pedro Serrano began taping his superior officer Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormack after he was given a poor performance review. Serrano alleges it was the result of him not meeting his summonses quotas and he wanted evidence to show he was being unfairly treated.

      Stop “the right people, the right time, the right location,” Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormack is heard saying on the recording.
      […]

      “So what am I supposed to do: Stop every black and Hispanic?” Serrano was heard saying on the tape, which was recorded last month at the 40th Precinct in the Bronx.
      […]

      “I have no problem telling you this,” the inspector said on the tape. “Male blacks. And I told you at roll call, and I have no problem [to] tell you this, male blacks 14 to 21.”
      The tape and testimony are a part of a class-action lawsuit against the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy. The NYPD’s defense was able to get Serrano to admit that McCormack didn’t say “all blacks and latinos.” So there’s a victory for people who still want to believe that the policy wasn’t out and out racist.

      For his part, Officer Serrano says he’s been ostracized and called a “rat” by fellow officers. There are good cops and there are bad cops and there are cops that have been corrupted by an unjust and unsupportive system. You may feel it is unfair to demonize all law enforcement but you can at least champion those who step out of the blue shadow to point out injustice.

      Reply
  35. rikyrah says:
    December 30, 2014 at 7:28 am

    Good Morning, Everyone :)

    The windchill is -2 this morning :(

    Reply

Leave a Reply to yahtzeebutterflyCancel reply