Saturday Open Thread-Luther Vandross Week

Posted on January 3, 2015 by rikyrah

Good Morning. Hope you are enjoying this weekend with family and friends.

And Luther

Luther Vandross-8


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

36 Responses to Saturday Open Thread-Luther Vandross Week

  1. rikyrah says:
    January 3, 2015 at 10:04 pm

    Gus @Gus_802
    The primary optics for Pres. Obama is that he’s black. Start there to understand the racism behind all this relatively new optics talk.

    Reply
  3. rikyrah says:
    January 3, 2015 at 8:16 pm

    Last Call For Tone Police
    Posted by Zandar
    If there’s any hard and fast truism in dealing with the Politics of The Perpetually Aggrieved in the Age Of Obama, it’s that any conversation with the Perpetually Aggrieved involving race invariably ends with “Your implication that I may be racist is far worse than any actually racist things I may have done or said.” Once the game reaches that point, it then immediately ends with “You’re the REAL racist!” and then endless outrage until the process is repeated.

    Exhibit A in this game is Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay.

    Photo Credit: Facebook

    Most likely this picture of McLay here saying that he will challenge racism at work and end white silence could cost him his job.

    The picture of the chief holding the sign set off the Pittsburgh Police union.

    FOP President Howard McQuillan told KDKA’s Marty Griffin: “The chief is calling us racists. He believes the Pittsburgh Police Department is racist. This has angered a lot of officers.”

    Police Chief Cameron McLay released the following statement about the allegations:

    “I was hired to restore the legitimacy of the police department. I did not seek these young activists out. I was stopping for coffee at First Night. Their message is not anti-anybody. It is simply a call for awareness. The photo was a great, spontaneous moment in time. Please join dialogue for community healing.”
    Sources tell Griffin that McLay has been called to a meeting at City Hall regarding the photograph.

    Police officers were so outraged by the photo, they thought it was photoshopped, but the police chief confirmed it was real.

    A source of Marty Griffin’s inside the Mayor Bill Peduto administration has called the photograph potentially very destructive, with no upside.

    However Kevin Acklin, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, tells Ralph Iannotti, the mayor continues to support Chief McLay unequivocally in his efforts to improve dialogue between police and the community at large.

    For now Chief McLay has the backing of the Mayor, but something tells me that’s not going to last very long and the Chief will have to resign. Which is a shame. America should be backing Cameron McLay 100% because he’s right.

    But the Perpetually Aggrieved will most likely collect another scalp.

    http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2015/01/last-call-for-tone-police.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ZVTS+%28Zandar+Versus+The+Stupid%29

    Reply
  4. rikyrah says:
    January 3, 2015 at 7:58 pm

    Obama statement: Brooke ‘led an extraordinary life of public service’

    President Obama released this statement Saturday following the death of Edward W. Brooke, the former senator from Massachusetts who died at 95 at his Coral Gables, Fla. home:

    Michelle and I were saddened to learn of the passing of former Senator Edward Brooke. Senator Brooke led an extraordinary life of public service, including his time in the U.S. Army. As the first African-American elected as a state’s Attorney General and first African-American U.S. Senator elected after reconstruction, Ed Brooke stood at the forefront of the battle for civil rights and economic fairness. During his time in elected office, he sought to build consensus and understanding across partisan lines, always working towards practical solutions to our nation’s challenges. We express our deepest sympathies to his wife Anne, children Remi, Edwina, Edward, stepdaughter Melanie, family, friends and the people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/01/03/obama-statement-brooke-led-an-extraordinary-life-of-public-service/

    Reply
  10. rikyrah says:
    January 3, 2015 at 4:12 pm

    uh huh

    uh huh

    ……………

    New Proposed Bill May Ban Hoodies In Public Places

    Posted: Dec 31, 2014 5:51 PM CST Updated: Dec 31, 2014 5:51 PM CST

    BY JUSTIN DOUGHERTY, NEWS

    KLAHOMA CITY –

    Just over one hundred bills have already been authored ready to be introduced in February. Of which, one focuses on articles of clothing in public places.

    Hoods may no longer be allowed.

    Surveillance cameras all across the metro catch criminals in the act, robbing gas stations, pizza shops and loan offices.

    Each time, the robber’s face is covered with a hood or mask.

    “Those things are scary to us,” said Mayfair Liquor Manager, Shelly Cruze.

    Shelly Cruze’s store, Mayfair Liquor, was once a target of a robbery and once was enough.

    “Of course the hood was up and it was drawn,” said Cruze.

    So now, Shelly has a clear message to customers even before they walk in. No hoodies, hoods or masks.

    “When you go into a place they need to see your face. That’s just human contact, that’s communication is to see your face,” said Cruze.

    Shelly’s rule could eventually be law.

    After consulting with the Department of Public Safety, Senator Don Barrington has authored a bill that would make it unlawful to wear a mask, hood or covering during the commission of a crime or to intentionally conceal his or her identity in a public place.

    There are provisions. Such as, pranks of children on Halloween religious beliefs and special events like a parade, masquerade party or weather.

    http://www.newson6.com/story/27740198/new-proposed-bill-may-ban-hoodies-in-public-places

    Reply
  11. rikyrah says:
    January 3, 2015 at 3:56 pm

    FYI Netflix folks…

    The Bletchley Circle can now be streamed at Netflix. If you don’t know, it’s about a quartet of women who were codebreakers during WWII. They happen to be the only ones noticing that there is a serial killer in England, and they set about trying to catch him- this is Season 1. I loved it.

    Reply
  12. rikyrah says:
    January 3, 2015 at 3:34 pm

    @ArrogantDemon: Former US Senator Edward W. Brooke is dead at 95 http://t.co/a8RSyT9U2v via @BostonGlobe

    Reply
  13. Ametia says:
    January 3, 2015 at 2:58 pm

    Georgia Police Chief’s Wife Heard Moaning on 911 Call After He Shot Her
    Jan 2, 2015, 1:59 PM ET

    The dramatic 911 call made by a Georgia police chief after he shot his wife has been released — and she can be heard moaning in the background as he calmly explains what happened.

    “Gunshot wound, accidental,” the man says, who is later identified as Peachtree City police chief William McCollom.

    The 4:17 a.m. emergency call, which took place Thursday and was released today, has McCollom on the phone saying how “the gun was in the bed, I went to move it to put it to the side and it went off.”

    http://abcnews.go.com/US/georgia-police-chiefs-wife-heard-moaning-911-call/story?id=27965504

    Reply
  14. rikyrah says:
    January 3, 2015 at 2:55 pm

    Has GOP Disrupted Democrats’ Demographic Edge?

    January 3, 2015
    By Taegan Goddard70 Comments
    Politico: “The 2014 Republican landslide has both parties poring over the data, hoping to glean insights about the current state of the electorate before the 2016 elections. But it might take until the next presidential cycle to answer the most pressing question: Is Republicans’ 2014 success the result of significant changes in how voters view the two parties, or is the structural difference between the electorates in presidential and midterm years so great that Democrats still maintain a strong demographic advantage going into 2016?”

    http://politicalwire.com/2015/01/03/have-republicans-disrupted-democrats-demographic-edge/

    Reply
  16. rikyrah says:
    January 3, 2015 at 2:49 pm

    The Senate’s 46 Democrats got 20 million more votes than its 54 Republicans
    Updated by Dylan Matthews on January 3, 2015, 10:00 a.m. ET

    On Tuesday, 33 US senators elected in November will be sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden — including 12 who are new to the chamber. The class includes 22 Republicans and 11 Democrats, a big reason why the GOP has a 54-46 majority in the Senate overall.

    But here’s a crazy fact: those 46 Democrats got more votes than the 54 Republicans across the 2010, 2012, and 2014 elections. According to Nathan Nicholson, a researcher at the voting reform advocacy group FairVote, “the 46 Democratic caucus members in the 114th Congress received a total of 67.8 million votes in winning their seats, while the 54 Republican caucus members received 47.1 million votes.”

    http://www.vox.com/2015/1/3/7482635/senate-small-states

    Reply
  17. Ametia says:
    January 3, 2015 at 2:44 pm

    SG2, is Twitter still beating Revlon’s AZZ? Give us the latest scoop, please. LOL

    Reply
  18. rikyrah says:
    January 3, 2015 at 2:42 pm

    From POU:

    Sepia
    About the whole Oprah vs. the Twitter Kewl Kids….yesterday Rodimus Prime asked one simple question: Where could Oprah go to find information about the work Ferguson leadership is doing? The majority of responses he got were “Twitter”.

    *blinking*

    All that bitching about Oprah and how she’s not paying attention, but when someone asks for info on Ferguson leadership’s work, your response is “search Twitter”??? YOU can’t even point to a specific place for info??? That’s like going to a job interview, and when the interviewer asks for examples of your work and you say, “Google me”.

    So if the Ferguson defenders can’t even give specific examples of these activists’ work, how the hell can they criticize Oprah?

    Reply
  19. rikyrah says:
    January 3, 2015 at 1:39 pm

    Back in from the swim and errands.

    Brrrrrrrr!!!

    It’s bone chilling cold. It’s that wet cold……

    You know, even when the windchill gets below zero, and it’s cold,but it’s not that wet, bone chilling cold.

    Gonna actually have me a hot cup of coffee right now.

    Reply
  22. Ametia says:
    January 3, 2015 at 11:30 am

    Seson 5 Downton Abbey tomorrow!

    Reply
  24. rikyrah says:
    January 3, 2015 at 9:21 am

    #BoycottKoch @GoodbyeKoch
    Mediaite Reporter Incensed Over ‘Uppity’ Obama’s Expensive New Year’s Dinner http://bit.ly/1AnkPXC

    Reply
  25. rikyrah says:
    January 3, 2015 at 9:18 am

    A Calligrapher Brings an Elegant Touch to an Officer’s Funeral
    By JEFFREY E. SINGER and KIRK SEMPLE
    JAN. 2, 2015

    The man placed a hand on the paper as gently as a doctor feeling for a pulse. With his other hand he dipped a bamboo brush into a bowl of ink, turning the thirsty bristles black, then brought its tip to the paper’s surface.

    The bristles whispered, leaving their trace.

    “It’s important that this be done right,” said the man, Zhao Ru.

    In the complex choreography of Chinese funerals, an important element is the funeral scroll, made from cloth or paper and adorned with messages rendered in calligraphy to express condolences or to praise the life of the deceased.

    Mr. Zhao, 73, a Chinese calligrapher who lives in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, has been making ceremonial scrolls for much of his life. On Friday, he undertook one of his most high-profile jobs, creating a pair of scrolls for the wake and funeral of Wenjian Liu, one of the two police officers killed last month by a gunman in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

    ………………….

    In his home city of Toishan, in southern China, Mr. Zhao was a schoolteacher and well-known calligrapher. He immigrated to the United States in 1989 with several family members, and he worked in Chinese restaurants and garment factories in New York.

    But his fame as a calligrapher had migrated with him, and over the years he has frequently been commissioned to provide calligraphy for funerals and other occasions.

    In the case of Officer Liu’s funeral, Mr. Zhao said, he was acting on his own accord and was not getting paid: He had been planning to do the scrolls since hearing of the officers’ murders.

    “I could use my calligraphy to memorialize the officer,” he said in Mandarin. “What a pity it is. He was such a good police officer. He was an only son.”

    ………………

    On a predominantly Chinese stretch of Eighth Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, he stopped at Xinhua Bookshop and Stationery Supply.

    A shop clerk, Jerry Lin, brought out three different Chinese-made inks and then pointed to each in turn: “This is like the iPhone 1. This is like iPhone 2. This is like iPhone 6.” Mr. Zhao went for the most expensive.

    But he balked when the clerk said that the calligraphy paper was available only in reams of 100; he was looking for only 10 pieces.

    “This is for Wenjian Liu,” Mr. Zhao clarified.

    Mr. Lin’s eyes widened. “Oh, why didn’t you say so?” he exclaimed. “This is on the house!”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/03/nyregion/a-calligrapher-brings-an-elegant-touch-to-an-officers-funeral.html?_r=0

    Reply
  26. rikyrah says:
    January 3, 2015 at 9:14 am

    Good Morning, Everyone .

    Off to swim and run errands.

    Reply

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