Happy HUMP day, Everyone! Today’s featured child prodigy is Ginger Howard.
Ginger Howard from Philadelphia, is an American professional golfer on the Symetra Tour. At 17, she was the youngest African-American to turn professional and win her first debut tournament. She is the first African-American to earn a spot in the U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team.—source: wikipedia
Meet Teen Golfer Ginger Howard, The Youngest Woman To Join The LPGA
Rikyrah, where are you? Viola Davis won “People’s Choice” Award for Bests Actress!!!
Why the Republican Congress’s First Act Was to Declare War on Math
By Jonathan Chait
The first substantive act of the new, all-Republican Congress was a telling one: House and Senate leaders, now in partisan accord and able to impose an undiluted partisan imprint upon the institution, struck a blow in their decades-long struggle on behalf of low taxes for the rich and against the bookkeeping standards that have stood in their way. In a rapid vote yesterday, the House directed the Congressional Budget Office to use “dynamic scoring” — a Washington term of art to describe imposing conservative ideology upon the once-neutral task of measuring the budgetary impact of legislation.
The Congressional Budget Office is a 40-year-old institution that has acquired enormous clout within Washington by virtue of its reputation for ideological neutrality. It furnishes Congress and the public with budgetary estimates that, if necessarily imperfect (as all predictions must be), are arrived at fairly. It is also a perfect modern expression of an old Progressive Era–ideal: that policymakers should be informed by the work of impartial experts. That the conservative majority has set out to corrupt this institution as one of its first major acts is, therefore, perfectly fitting.
The old methods CBO used to measure legislation would account for changes in behavior that a new law might create. (Say, higher cigarette taxes would lead to less smoking.) They did not attempt to measure legislation’s impact on the economy as a whole. This is because the two parties disagree completely over what policies make the economy grow faster. Democrats, for instance, believe that tax rates on the rich have little effect on economic growth, but that investing in public infrastructure or education has a lot. Republicans believe the opposite. Congress voted yesterday to require the CBO’s measurement of the budgetary cost of legislation to incorporate assumptions about how it will affect economic growth. Specifically, the GOP’s assumptions.
To understand the stakes of the disagreement, consider the following. In 2012, President Obama was threatening to block any extension of the Bush tax cuts for the highest earners, and he made this promise a key point of differentiation between himself and Mitt Romney. The Congressional Budget Office predicted that the expiration of these tax cuts would have only minor, short-term effects on the economy. Conservatives made far more dire assessments. A study commissioned by pro-business organizations predicted that ending the Bush tax cuts for the rich would cost hundreds of thousands of jobs and reduce economic productivity. “This report shows the president’s small business tax hike threatens hundreds of thousands of jobs, and will lead to even less economic growth, less investment and lower wages for American workers,” warned John Boehner. “These tax increases will have painful impacts on the economy and job creation,” insisted the Heritage Foundation. These predictions were the perfectly predictable expression of the conservative worldview, which deems tax rates on “job creators” to be the overriding factor in the success or failure of the economy.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/01/congresss-first-act-was-to-declare-war-on-math.html
At depressing times like these, we don’t give up. We mustn’t give up. We take a deep breath, regroup, and keep moving forward.
‘Selma’ does not distort history: Column
Sherrilyn Ifill 2:44 p.m. EST January 6, 2015
Film accurately portrays both MLK and LBJ – including their many flaws
The movie Selma has not yet been released nationwide and it has already stirred controversy. That is to be expected. What is surprising is the source of the controversy, which centers not on the portrayal of Martin Luther King, whose extraordinary work and words have been subjected to a nearly 50-year campaign of distortion. King has often been reduced from a complicated, brilliant, high-minded and courageous leader with real flaws into a bronze figure suitable for selling everything from hamburgers to luxury cars.
In Ava DuVernay’s film, King finally gets the treatment he deserves. He is, as powerfully portrayed by actor David Oyelowo, fully human, which makes King’s courage, open-mindedness, compassion and pain more poignant and powerful than any wash job could do.
Instead, the controversy centers on the portrayal of President Lyndon Johnson, who some have argued, ahistorically, was the architect of the Selma march, and who others contend was made a “villain” in order to portray King more heroically.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/01/06/selma-movie-mlk-lbj-civil-rights-movie-voting-act-marches-history-distort-accurate-column/21335719/
I’m not down with making fun or insulting someone’s religion. I see absolutely nothing amusing about it.
Ditto! Folks think they can just spew that free speech garbage without catching the CONSEQUENCES, of said free speech.
Yeah, I was thinking about this. I am not going to get enraged about this right to free speech when people are being irreverant. Same holds for the vitriol that is spewed by right wingers. Personally, I would just as soon they STFU. I haven’t got a dog in this fight, whatever it is. I will only say that it is horribly wrong to open fire on human beings because you don’t like them or what they are saying and the laws against this should be equally applied to all who do such things.
The American media is reporting about terrorists on the loose in ParisShooting but nothing about the terrorist on the loose in NAACPBombing. WTFF?!
SG2, where are you? rik and I need the heater! LOL
I know you do. I heard Chicago was struggling to get to zero degrees. Is it true, Rikyrah?
yes. sitting in the car this morning, the man on the radio was like, it’s 2 degrees outside. that’s the HIGH for today. and it was 6 am when he said it.
THIS BITCH RIGHT HERE
Opinions
Al Sharpton’s ace card
Kathleen Parker
Recent events from Ferguson, Mo., to Staten Island might prompt an observer to infer that American cops are racist and that a bigoted white populace tolerates unnecessary lethal force against minorities.
One might also conclude that the United States has a hearty appetite for the carnival barker, the jester, the rabble-rouser, the race-baiter and, lest we leave anyone out, the performance-activist who pretends to be a newsman while fomenting unrest that only he can quell.
I haven’t yet said Al Sharpton, but if his name came to mind, there must be a reason.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/kathleen-parker-al-sharptons-ace-card/2015/01/06/0d48f130-95ee-11e4-aabd-d0b93ff613d5_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1
WHERE IS OUR MIDDLE FINGER GIF
SG2?
Kathleen Parker and her perpetual Daughters of the Old South posturing.
On Capitol Hill, there’s math and there’s Republican math
01/07/15 08:40 AM
By Steve Benen
Given the hyper-partisan atmosphere in Washington, it doesn’t come as too big a surprise that the first day of the new Congress would start on a contentious note. But it’s nevertheless amazing to watch lawmakers argue, not over how much things cost, but over how to determine how much things cost.
After the drama of electing a new speaker of the House and the changing of control in the Senate, the House on Tuesday approved an obscure but significant rule change requiring the economic effects of legislation to be included in a bill’s official cost to the Treasury.
The change on “dynamic scoring” – ardently sought since the 1990s by Republicans – could ease passage of major tax cuts by showing that their impact on economic growth would substantially reduce their cost to the Treasury. The move is widely seen as a way for Republican leaders to set ground rules for an ambitious overhaul of the entire United States tax code.
At this point, some of you are probably inclined to stop reading. No one has ever suggested phrases like “dynamic scoring,” “tax code,” and “Congressional Budget Office” constitute click-bait. All of this, I’ll concede seems a little dry and wonky.
But look at this way: thanks to the 2014 elections and the GOP takeover of Congress, we’re poised to see math do battle with Republican math.
As we discussed a couple of weeks ago, when the Congressional Budget Office publishes a “score,” it offers an official price tag of sorts, hoping to make clear what a proposal will cost, how it will affect the deficit, how it will affect revenues, how will it shift unemployment, etc. Sometimes the CBO is correct and sometimes it’s not – especially over the long term, we’re dealing with projections that are subject to considerable change – but the scores are at least based on verifiable data.
Republicans, however, don’t like the way the CBO comes up with its scores because, as the right sees it, non-partisan economists don’t realize the magical, macroeconomic benefits of tax cuts. The CBO looks at a tax cut and determines its cost, but Republicans insist that those price tags are misleading – conservatives want the CBO to assume that tax cuts necessarily produce greater economic growth, which in turn generates more revenue, which in return reduces the real-world cost of the tax cut, possibly even to $0.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/capitol-hill-theres-math-and-theres-republican-math
Anti-Boehner Republicans pay a price for betrayal
01/07/15 08:01 AM
By Steve Benen
Two dozen House Republicans yesterday broke ranks and withheld support from House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), creating the most divided leadership election in generations. The mutineers must have known they were taking a risk, just as they realized they would pay a price.
Well, at least some of them knew this. Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.), who ran for Speaker and received two votes – including one from himself – said retribution from the GOP leadership is “something I would assume Vladimir Putin would do.”
That’s one way to look at it. The other way recognizes that in every democratic legislature in the world, there’s an expectation that a party’s members will, at a minimum, elect the party’s leaders. In most parliaments, failure to do so puts a member’s career in jeopardy.
In the Republican-led Congress, the rebukes aren’t quite so severe, but as we saw last night, they are real.
[Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas] who backed the long-shot speakership bid of fellow Texan Rep. Louie Gohmert over Boehner, has been removed as the lead sponsor of a nuclear energy bill expected to brought to the floor in the 114th.
During a small meeting Tuesday of about 10 members of the Texas delegation to discuss the speaker’s race, Science, Space and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, told Weber the speaker’s office had called and said Weber could not be the sponsor of that legislation, Weber told CQ Roll Call before the speaker vote this afternoon.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/anti-boehner-republicans-pay-price-betrayal
Zandar @ZandarVTS
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Shoot a cop, all black people in America are suspect. Bomb an NAACP office, probably just a lone nutcase. http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-explosion-rocks-naacp-building-in-colorado-20150106-story.html …
6:16 PM – 6 Jan 2015
can’t wait to see this
…………
3 Years Since Its Award-Winning Sundance Premiere, Ava DuVernay’s ‘Middle of Nowhere’ Will FINALLY Be Widely Available
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
January 6, 2015 at 6:11PM
After its BET broadcast premiere last year, it was made available on Netflix as a streaming title, but was almost immediately yanked from the service, to the consternation of many of you who didn’t see it when it was in theaters (a limited release), and who, for one reason or another, missed it when it premiered on BET. I recall that news of its availability, was met with much gratification, and an equal amount of distress, when it suddenly disappeared.
Over the months, I received numerous emails from readers, asking me if I could share any info on the film’s home video release, so if you’re one of those who still has yet to see the film, and has wanted to, this news should make you happy!
Ava DuVernay’s “Middle of Nowhere” will FINALLY arrive on DVD, Digital HD and On Demand, exactly 1 week from today – January 13th, 2015 – courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment and Code black Films.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/3-years-since-its-award-winning-sundance-debut-ava-duvernays-middle-of-nowhere-will-finally-be-widely-available-20150106
If they stay true to Black Dynamite…this should be OFF THE CHAIN!!!
………………..
Hour-Long ‘Black Dynamite’ Musical Episode on Police Brutality Will Probably Hurt Some Feelings… Of Course
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
January 6, 2015 at 4:50PM
And if it didn’t, it just wouldn’t be “Black Dynamite” would it? Especially on such a sensitive, and very topical matter. If it didn’t offend anyone, the series just won’t be doing its job!
The “Black Dynamite” musical special that will tackle a topic of the day – police brutality – airs this Saturday, January 10, at 10:30 PM.
Titled “The Wizard of Watts,” the episode will follow Black Dynamite as he attempts to take a vacation, when the police start patrolling the streets, and a riot breaks out. Black Dynamite is then hit in the head with a brick, which causes him to hallucinate, taking him into the “Magical Land of Oz-Watts,” where he is called on to defend the community, against the police.
It’ll be an hour long (episodes are typically 30 minutes), and will feature guest appearances by Erykah Badu, Tyler, The Creator, Tim Blake Nelson and J.B. Smoove.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/hour-long-black-dynamite-musical-episode-on-police-brutality-will-probably-hurt-some-feelings-20150106
If you need a laugh, here’s Luvvie
The picture is HILARIOUS!!!
……………
Whose Uncle is This, Shining Bright Like a Diamond?
Luvvie — January 6, 2015 7 25
I love African people because our prayers be on a different level. You just cannot out-pray an African. We use all types of metaphors and what nots.
My year was MADE when I saw this tweet because the shiny suit was everything I needed in my life!
Whew! He is shining BRIGHT and this is how you will shine in the year 2015 indeed. You know that suit is HOT. Literally. It might burn your hand if you touch it. Play around and get third degree burns if you accidentally pass by him and graze his arm.
http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2015/01/whose-uncle-shine-bright.html
justified agitator @Awkward_Duck
When a domestic terrorist attack happens against the NAACP & goes unreported this is why we need to specifically exclaim #BlackLivesMatter
Exclusive: Bill Cosby Co-Star Tony Winner Phylicia Rashad Speaks Out for First Time, Defends Her Friend
by Roger Friedman – January 6, 2015 11:25 pm
…Now, as the extraordinary “Selma” lunch– which featured a brilliant performance by Common and John Legend of their theme song, “Glory”– Rashad and I had a talk about Cosby. No less than Harry Belafonte and Ruben Santiago Hudson were hovering above us as we chatted. Let’s make something clear. Rashad, who is one of our greatest stage actresses, has kept quiet, didn’t seek me out, and even said “I don’t want to become part of the public debate.”
But knowing this she did say to me “I love him” about Bill Cosby. She stands defiantly behind him. She told me that in the years she’s known him, she has never seen the behavior alleged by the women who say they were drugged and raped, or sexually harassed.
“Forget these women,” Rashad said. “What you’re seeing is the destruction of a legacy. And I think it’s orchestrated. I don’t know why or who’s doing it, but it’s the legacy. And it’s a legacy that is so important to the culture.”
Rashad dismisses claims from both Beverly Johnson and Janice
Dickinson. “Oh, please,” she said when their names came up. She also is quick to defend Camille Cosby. “This is a tough woman, a smart woman,” she told me. “She’s no pushover.” There is no question, Rashad said, that Camille Cosby has not been complicit or looked the other way as her husband terrorized women for the last 50 years.
She said, “Someone is determined to keep Bill Cosby off TV,” alluding to people other than the women. “And it’s worked. All his contracts have been cancelled.”
We talked more about the legacy of The Cosby Show. “This show
represented America to the outside world. This was the American family. And now you’re seeing it being destroyed. Why?”
http://www.showbiz411.com/2015/01/06/exclusive-bill-cosby-co-star-tony-winner-phylicia-rashad-speaks-out-for-first-time-defends-her-friend
Premiere of New Doc ‘They Don’t Give a Damn: Story of Failed Chicago Projects’ in Chicago, Feb. 20
By Sergio | Shadow and Act
January 6, 2015 at 1:04PM
Anyone who’s lived in Chicago, even for a very short period of time, will remember when the city was pretty much overrun with housing projects in every part.
Even people who have never stepped foot in Chicago their entire lives, will be familiar with their names: The Ida B Wells projects, The Robert Taylor Homes and Cabrini-Green projects, just to name a few.
They’reall gone now. Starting back in the late 90’s, they were bulldozed in a massive gentrification plan, and replaced by condos, or, in some cases, as the Robert Taylor Homes, replaced with nothing at all.
Now there are just flat, empty blocks in the heart of the South side of Chicago, as far as the eye can see.
Now actor/screenwriter/director Kenny Young, a Chicago native, now based in Los Angeles, along with his cinematographer Jeffrey Brown, will premiere their latest film, the documentary “They Don’t Give a Damn: The Story of the Failed Chicago Projects,” in Chicago, next month.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/premiere-screening-of-new-documentary-they-dont-give-a-damn-the-story-of-the-failed-chicago-projects-in-chicago-feb-20-20150106
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
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Americans woke up to network and cable coverage of #ParisShooting but zip on #NAACPBombing.
Now we know whose lives they consider valuable.
7:36 AM – 7 Jan 2015
we need a thread about this bullshit!
Most definitely. It’s outrageous.
Jordan Peele Says He’s Working on a Horror Movie Exploring Fears of Being a Black Man Today
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
January 6, 2015 at 12:25PM
…………..
All that said, I’m definitely curious about this upcoming feature film project that one-half of “Key & Peele” – Jordan Peele – told Playboy he’s working on, in an interview with the magazine.
Here’s what Peele shared about the project: “I’ve been spending the first half of my career focusing on comedy but my goal, in all honesty, is to write and direct horror movies. I have one that I’m working on with Darko Entertainment called Get Out – I don’t want to say too much about it, but it is one of the very, very few horror movies that does jump off of racial fears. That to me is a world that hasn’t been explored. Specifically, the fears of being a black man today. The fears of being any person who feels like they’re a stranger in any environment that is foreign to them. It deals with a protagonist that I don’t see in horror movies.”
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/jordan-peele-says-hes-working-on-a-horror-movie-exploring-fears-of-being-a-black-man-today-20150106
MEDIA ALERT REMINDER.
EMPIRE BEGINS TONIGHT AT 9PM EST
http://youtu.be/a96Cjx0vfFo
@CBSThisMorning thanks for info on #ParisTerrorAttacks; now how about some info on domestic #NAACPBombing? #TerrorAttackInUSA #WeSeeYou
6:25 AM – 7 Jan 2015
WTF? The MSM is completely MUTE about this today. not one word. But killings in Paris is all over the place. I don’t condone killings in Paris, but bombing NAACP buliding in AMERICA?
FUCK THE MSM!
Another shooting in America, #NAACP bombing and #3 Republican in the House is a Grand KKK member. All is well.
5:31 PM – 6 Jan 2015
Boehner survives leadership challenge from conservative members
Boehner survives largest revolt by a party against its speaker in 150 years
Robert Costa, David A. Fahrenthold and Sean Sullivan
As the GOP took control of Congress, hard-right conservatives rallied against Boehner.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/boehner-faces-leadership-challenge-from-conservative-members/2015/01/06/1c047668-95c1-11e4-aabd-d0b93ff613d5_story.html?wpisrc=nl_politics&wpmm=1
We got out of dodge just in time.
Europe
Gunmen storm Paris satirical newspaper, killing at least 12
By Brian Murphy January 7 at 8:31 AM
At least 11 dead in shooting at French satirical newspaper, police official says
Gunmen opened fire in the Paris offices of the Charlie Hebdo newspaper on Wednesday. The attack raised suspicions of possible reprisals for caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed and other sketches and articles on Muslim figures.
Read more » http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/gunmen-storm-paris-satirical-newspaper-killing-at-least-11/2015/01/07/f358b17a-9660-11e4-aabd-d0b93ff613d5_story.html?wpisrc=al_alert
so sad
AMETIA, I thought about you were just there. Wow.
I was in Paris two weeks ago.
Good Morning Everyone.
Sitting in my car, warming it up.
Windchill currently -23.
Good Morning, Rikyrah & Everyone. Stay warm and bundle up, Lady!
-34 here in the Mini-apple.
Wayment. -34 degrees? Sweet Jesus!