A-HA, It’s Friday! Hope you’re been enjoying this week’s mixture of 80’s freestyle and pop music!
today’s featured artists are A-HA and Midnight Star.
A-Ha– Ain’t they pur-ty?!
A-ha (stylized a-ha; Norwegian pronunciation: [ɑˈhɑː]) is a Norwegian band formed in Oslo in 1982. The band was founded by Morten Harket (vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards) and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars). The group initially rose to fame during the mid-1980s after being discovered by musician and producer John Ratcliff, and had continued global success in the 1990s and 2000s.
A-ha achieved their biggest success with their debut album, Hunting High and Low, in 1985. That album peaked at number 1 in their native Norway, number 2 in the UK, and number 15 on the U.S. Billboard album chart; yielded two international number-one singles, “Take On Me” and “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.”; and earned the band a Grammy Award nomination as Best New Artist. In the UK, Hunting High and Low continued its chart success into the following year, becoming one of the best-selling albums of 1986. In 1994, after their fifth studio album, Memorial Beach, failed to achieve the commercial success of their previous albums, the band went on a hiatus.
Following a performance at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in 1998, the band returned to the studio and recorded their sixth album, 2000’s Minor Earth Major Sky, which was another number-one hit in Norway and resulted in a new tour. A seventh studio album, Lifelines, was released in 2002, and an eighth album, Analogue, in 2005, was certified Silver in the UK – their most successful album there since 1990’s East of the Sun, West of the Moon.Their ninth album, Foot of the Mountain, was first released on 19 June 2009 and returned the band to the UK Top 5 for the first time since 1988, being certified Silver there and Platinum in Germany. The album peaked at number 2 in Norway (their first release not to reach number 1 in their home territory). On 15 October 2009, the band announced they would split after a worldwide tour in 2010, the Ending on a High Note Tour. Thousands of fans from at least 40 different countries on six continents congregated to see A-ha for the last time.[7][8] On 4 December 2014 a-ha officially announced its upcoming participation on Rock In Rio 2015 which will celebrate 30 years for both the band and the event. A-ha will play in the main stage on the same night as Katy Perry.
A-HA- Take on Me
a-ha – The Sun Always Shines On TV
No Parking On The Dance Floor Official Video
An Indian journalist talks colorism in India, and how First Lady Michelle Obama sends a powerful message for dark-skinned Indian women. It’s not terribly well-written, but it confesses to what black people traveling through countries like India have complained about – but have been told that it’s all in their mind, imagined — and that they’re too quick to see to the poor treatment black people as racism. She mixes up fashion diplomacy with the First Lady just with her confident presence, just being..
“..But whatever the root cause, the fact is that colorism is now ubiquitous in India. The first thing that parents notice about newborns — after counting their fingers and toes — is their skin color. Pregnant women are routinely advised to start their mornings with white foods like milk or blanched almonds — not tea or coffee — to ensure a lighter complexioned baby. Girls are admonished to stay out of the sun because a tan makes them instantly less beautiful. “Darkie” and “blackie” are terms of derision on the playground. Matrimonial ads grade the skin color of the prospective bride and groom with “very fair” being the most desirable category, “wheatish” — the term-of-art for Halle Berry-style skin tone — being acceptable, and anything darker regarded as a major flaw. Skin-whitening creams such as “Fair and Lovely” to lighten every body part — including the vagina — represent a $500 million industry that growing at nearly 18 percent annually.
White tourists are lavished with attention while African visitors often experience borderline abuse.
The most effective antidote to colorism might be confronting Indians with alternative conceptions of beauty that stretch their conventional notions. And, without actively trying, Michelle Obama did just that.
Standing tall next to most powerful man on the planet, she exuded the quiet confidence of an intelligent, empowered, professional woman — neither trying to shrink to avoid scrutiny nor over-project to hog the limelight. She certainly didn’t treat her skin color as a liability that needed to be camouflaged or covered, which is something that dark Indian women sadly often find themselves doing. Rather, as is the first lady’s wont, she took fashion risks to showcase who she is, experimenting with bright colors and bold patterns…”
http://theweek.com/articles/536424/michelle-obamas-fashion-diplomacy-helped-erode-indias-color-prejudice
https://twitter.com/xSavasia/status/561316576449019904/photo/1
Luvvie’s Scandal Recap
Run: Scandal Episode 410 Recap
http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2015/01/run-scandal-episode-410-recap.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Luvvie+%28Awesomely+Luvvie%29
I’ma sit this right here…
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/561293911948136449
WUH?
Folks like Mary Cheney still thinks WHITE, and because of her WHITENESS, her gayness still allows her to maintain her bigoted, racist attitudes about BLACKNESS.
You’d be surprised the racism that abounds in the gay community in general. You’d be even more shocked at how bad it is in liberal California and how much worse it gets in even more liberal San Francisco.
Racism and white entitlement are so intertwined, and we’ve got a long way to go.
Ha ha. Good one.
Hi Liza. the stupid, it truly BURNS.
They truly long for the time when they could do anything to us WITHOUT IMPUNITY.
That’s what they long for.
And, NOBODY is playing with them.
There’s such a weird evil gene that runs through the Cheney/Vincent (Lynn’s maiden name) DNA.
And did you know that Liz Cheney has 5 children!! That’s a whole lot of kids.
GOP struggles with phony deficit pretense
01/30/15 10:08 AM—UPDATED 01/30/15 11:07 AM
By Steve Benen
The perception of the Republican Party as the anti-deficit party used to be 100% true. A couple of generations ago, the GOP actually saw the deficit as a legitimate concern, and shaped their policy agenda accordingly. During the Eisenhower era, Republicans kept very high tax rates in place, first approved to pay for WWII, in the name of fiscal conservativism. Many Republicans balked at JFK’s tax breaks out of fear of higher deficits.
Obviously, those eras are long gone. The GOP’s shift began in earnest under Reagan, but became almost ridiculous under George W. Bush – an era in which Republicans put the cost of two wars, a Wall Street bailout, massive tax cuts, and Medicare expansion on the national charge card for some future generation to worry about.
But once the Obama era began, GOP leaders decided they cared about the deficit again. It was impossible to take seriously – we’re talking about literally the same people who ignored the deficit in the previous decade – but Republicans actively pretended they had both credibility and genuine concerns about budget shortfalls.
It’s hard not to notice, however, that much of the new congressional Republican agenda has a common thread. See if you notice what these measures have in common. On health care:
A Republican bill to change how Obamacare defines a full work-week would raise the deficit by $53.2 billion over the next decade.
And abortion:
The official budget scorekeeper of Congress says the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would ban abortions after 20 weeks, would increase Medicaid costs by as much as $400 million…. CBO officially estimates that the bill increases federal deficits by $75 million between 2014 and 2018, and $225 million between 2014 and 2023.
And immigration:
Senate Democrats threatened Thursday to block action on legislation funding the Homeland Security Department until Republicans jettison House-passed provisions that reverse President Barack Obama’s key immigration policies…. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the measure would increase the federal deficit by $7.5 billion over a decade.
How would Republicans offset these additions to the deficit? That’s the point: they wouldn’t.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/gop-struggles-phony-deficit-pretense
deray mckesson
@deray
Mo. Man Arrested After Telling Black Waitress He Wanted to Show Her Where He Hung Her Grandpa http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2015/01/mo_man_arrested_after_telling_black_waitress_he_wanted_to_show_her_where.html …
uh uh uh
News/
Empire Is Making TV History: 15 Epic Facts You Need to Know
by Tierney Bricker
Long live the Empire!
Lee Daniels and Danny Strong’s breakout hip hop drama is changing the TV game, people. Wednesday night’s episode managed to actually go up in the ratings, meaning Empire has improved in each of its first four original broadcasts, making it the first primetime series to do that in the last decade. The premiere brought in 9.8 million viewers, with episodes two and three attracting 10.3 million and 10.9 million, respectively, before the most recent episode was watched by 11.3 million people.
As Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) so eloquently said, the Cookie strikes back!
But Empire’s seemingly unstoppable ratings domination is just one of many epic things you need to know about the show, which is why we’ve rounded up 15 facts that might just blow your mind. Like which A-list actor was almost cast as Lucious instead of Terrence Howard and who was the inspiration for Henson’s breakout character Cookie!
http://www.eonline.com/news/619776/empire-is-making-tv-history-15-epic-facts-you-need-to-know
Sounds interesting Rikyrah. I’m going to start watching this weekend – try to catch up on what I’ve missed so far.
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/561230584018518016
No Jim Webb. YOU need white working people to WIN.
PBO’s a DEM and….
Did you hear the dog whistle ALL UP IN THIS BITCH?!
We got your white working class folks, Webb!
why?
we didn’t need them in 2008 or 2012
Thank you! Have a seat, Jim.
LOL Jim knows the “BLAH” folks ain’t voting for him.
https://twitter.com/keithboykin/status/561177156160880640/photo/1
And I’m tired of your racist ass, Cynthia Whitlatch.
GIRL BYE!
*BOOM*!
https://twitter.com/DanteB4u/status/561031644006449152
LOL
Claire sold her SOUL a long time ago, for 2 piece meal with biscuits and gray on the side
She never did have any. She was always calculating and quite the opportunist. She always thought she was slick, but it’s all caught up with her these days. She has to take a stand and she’s as racist, deceptive as hell, but still trying to hide her racist butt behind her wishy-washy act.
I never liked or trusted her. Rachel Maddow was singing her praises last night, telling her how she’d be the next in line if Hillary decides not to run.
I laughed. At Hillary, Claire McCaskill and Rachel.
LOL
Rachel was a pure joke. I thought she was about to bring out Joe Biden but Claire McCaskill? GTFOOH Rachel.
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/561208444737175552
Looking at Michelle’s photo reminds me of Haley. She loves doing flips, cartwheels & hand stands. LOL!
Loving these pics! POTUS & FLOTUS. Ya’ll just ROCK
Too cute both of them!
Black Dem faces blowback over support for House GOP Whip Scalise
…………………….
Earlier this week, Richmond spoke with Scalise about his meeting next Tuesday with two black leaders in the House: Assistant Minority Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and new Congressional Black Caucus Chairman G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.). They also discussed a future meeting between Scalise and two black civil rights leaders — Marc Morial and Wade Henderson — who have publicly questioned whether Scalise should step down from the No. 3 job in GOP leadership.
Scalise has personally thanked Richmond for coming to his defense.
But in the African American community, not all are thrilled about the actions of the last black lawmaker in Louisiana’s congressional delegation, who remarked when the scandal broke that Scalise doesn’t have “a racist bone in his body.”
Richmond has acknowledged receiving some “blowback” from constituents back home in Louisiana’s majority-black, 2nd congressional district. A blogger suggested Richmond is playing the role of D.C. fixer “Olivia Pope” in the Scalise scandal.
And at least one fellow Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) member suggested Richmond might be defending Scalise for political expediency.
\
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/231214-black-lawmaker-faces-blowback-over-defense-of-scalise
Always NEGORES from the (CC) Coontastic Club
That is funny!
Bibi’s Bailout Bonanza
Posted by Zandar at 8:29 am Jan 302015
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is hoping that congressional Dems can get him out of the gaping chasm he put himself in over his plan to visit Congress, and so far his pleas are falling on deaf ears.
Gosh, it’s almost like this too-clever-by half plan to “put Obama in his place” was such an overt insult that it blew up in Bibi’s face. Doubly so since John Boehner is running as quickly as he can away from this so that Netanyahu and his ambassador to the US are the ones left holding the bag here, as Jeffrey Goldberg points out talking to Ambassador Dermer:
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2015/01/30/bibis-bailout-bonanza/
LMBAO
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will not make a third run for president, his aides tell CNN.
http://www.cnn.com/
Bye now!
Ametia, you’re just so naughty.
Why, I just don’t know what to say. No Mittens. That leaves us with Bush, Walker, Christie and countless others who are standing in line to destroy this country completely, to finish the job they left undone when Bush II left office. Obliterating democracy in the USA will continue until finished – that should be their mantra.
I don’t think it matters which one of them runs.
The clown car has definitely left the station.
Anyone going to see this movie?
I’ll probably see it when it’s released to DVD. I suspect it has a happy ending?? That little girl is just too precious for this whole family dilemma not to work out.
I plan to. It’s sort of an inverse tale of my life, but it looks like a decent movie. And I love Octavia Spencer!! What a terrific actress.
South Africa grants parole to ‘Prime Evil’ apartheid killer
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/south-africa-grants-parole-to-prime-evil-apartheid-killer/ar-AA8KEdH?ocid=u219dhp
PRETORIA (Reuters) – Apartheid death-squad leader Eugene de Kock, dubbed ‘Prime Evil’ for his role in the torture and murder of scores of black South African activists in the 1980s and early 1990s, was granted parole on Friday after more than 20 years in prison.
Justice Minister Michael Masutha told a news conference de Kock would be released “in the interests of nation-building and reconciliation” and because he had expressed remorse at his crimes and helped authorities recover the remains of some of his victims.
The decision, which had been deferred several times over the last year, remains contentious in a country still dealing with the legacy of repression and brutality meted out by the white-minority regime that prevailed from 1948 to 1994.
Masutha stressed that his decision was guided only by the law, an attempt to deflect criticism from the many South Africans – black and white – who regard de Kock’s crimes as so extreme he should die behind bars.
The date of the 66-year-old’s release from Pretoria ‘C-Max’ High Security prison would be kept secret, Masutha added.
As head of an apartheid counter-insurgency unit at Vlakplaas, a farm 20 km (15 miles) west of Pretoria, de Kock is believed to have been responsible for more atrocities than any other man in the efforts to preserve white rule.
Arrested in 1994, the year Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) came to power, he was sentenced two years later to 212 years in prison on charges ranging from murder and attempted murder to kidnapping and fraud.
How can this be, folks? He served only 20yrs for murdering untold black South Africans activists because he wanted to preserve white rule.
This seems like an attempt to match the 27 years Nelson Mandela served in Robben Island, for speaking out against Apartheid.
The difference is not even comparable.
This evil man Eugene de Kock MURDERED and hated Black South Africans, Nelson Mandela spoke out against murder and apartheid.
Now if those code pinksters would have protested McCain too for picking Sarah Palin….
Can you imagine being on a Tour of the White House, the Tour Guide says, this is the Oval Office, and suddenly the door opens and it’s THE PRESIDENT!!
Yep, sure could imagine it. NOW.
Love his sweater!
RNC has a decision to make about Israel trip
01/30/15 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen
This week’s drama involving the American Family Association and Bryan Fischer was not, surprisingly enough, the result of some outrageous comment from the right-wing activist, at least not directly. Instead, the story began with an announced trip to Israel.
The AFA announced that the organization was taking Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and dozens of RNC members on an all-expenses-paid trip to Israel. The nine-day excursion is scheduled to begin tomorrow, and at first blush, it may not seem especially controversial. After all, Americans travel to Israel all the time.
The problem, as noted by Israeli and American media alike, is the Republican National Committee’s willingness to associate itself with the American Family Association and its notorious, hateful spokesperson, Bryan Fischer. Especially in light of Fischer’s record – he’s characterized all non-Christian faiths as “false religions”; he’s said minority faiths do not have the right to exercise their religious beliefs in the United States; he’s said all immigrants to America should expect to convert to Christianity – shouldn’t the RNC keep its distance?
It was questions like these that led the American Family Association to announce this week that Fischer is no longer the group’s official spokesperson. Indeed, the Republican National Committee, after days of silence on its controversial partnership with AFA, told “The Rachel Maddow Show” yesterday:
“We don’t agree with Bryan Fischer’s comments and are glad the AFA has severed ties with him.”
That’s the whole statement in its entirety. The problem, of course, is that we also learned yesterday that the Republican National Committee’s statement isn’t true.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/rnc-has-decision-make-about-israel-trip
I watched that last night and had only 1 thought (after Rikyrah’s “uh huh”) Can somebody introduce Dr. Maddow to Dr. Angelou: When somebody tells you who they are, believe them.
Black Principal Fires Teachers For Teaching Black History
POSTED ON JANUARY 29, 2015 BY PATRICE
Parents are furious after a black middle school principal has fired teachers for teaching Black History in her school.
Howard University Middle School is a school that I guess you wouldn’t expect this type of thing to happen. This is especially true given that the school has an African American principal.
Parents were asking questions regarding why there were so many teachers being fired or quitting in the middle of the school year.
“As parents we just want to get some answers,” said Dorothy Lowery. “We deserve to know what’s going on.”
In the past week, there have been three Social Studies teachers that handed in their two week notices. Parents say that the new principal, Angelique Blackmon, confronted the teachers a day prior with pink slips. According to parents, the pink slips were handed to the teachers right in front of the students.
“While students are still present in the classroom? How unprofessional,” said parent Delrica Battle. “These children are crying. They said they couldn’t say goodbye. The teachers are upset, the students are upset.”
Another parent, Michelle Payne said, “They were given to them in front of our children and I think that our children do not deserve to see that type of behavior.”
This middle school is a public charter school on the campus of Howard University. Some parents described the new Principal as an abrasive woman from Atlanta, GA.
Parents found it strange that the new principal would want the teachers to stop teaching African American History, given that they are on the campus of an HBCU. Many also stated that the students needed to know their culture, with the school being 90% African American.
http://iloveblackpeople.net/2015/01/black-principal-fires-teachers-for-teaching-black-history/
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Good Morning, Rikyrah & Everyone!
Watched Grey’s & HTGAWM. Scandal? I couldn’t get into it last night.
We had to see the breakdown of Olivia. To see how real it was for Olivia. Now, next week, everyone else will be back in the picture.
Uh huh. Papa Pope’s prolly in on the kidnapping too.