One of the unsung heroes of 1970s soul, Willie Hutch was never the big name he deserved to be. The smooth singer/composer had a few major and moderate hits, but commercially, he didn’t make it to the level of Marvin Gaye, Ronald Isley, and Curtis Mayfield (all of whom he inspires comparisons to). Released in late 1998, The Very Best of Willie Hutch spans 1972-1982 and reminds us how engaging a singer he was in his heyday. Hutch could get funky when he wanted to, and he does so with splendid results on “Get Ready for the Get Down” (a number 24 R&B hit), “Brothers Gonna Work It Out,” and the theme from the 1973 blaxploitation film Foxy Brown. But for the most part, Hutch made his mark as a romantic crooner. It is Hutch’s smooth, romantic side that prevails on “Sunshine Lady,” “I Choose You,” “What You Gonna Do After the Party,” and his inspired makeover of Barbra Streisand’s “The Way We Were.”
Which of the 11 American nations do you live in?
By Reid Wilson November 8, 2013
Red states and blue states? Flyover country and the coasts? How simplistic. Colin Woodard, a reporter at the Portland Press Herald and author of several books, says North America can be broken neatly into 11 separate nation-states, where dominant cultures explain our voting behaviors and attitudes toward everything from social issues to the role of government.
“The borders of my eleven American nations are reflected in many different types of maps — including maps showing the distribution of linguistic dialects, the spread of cultural artifacts, the prevalence of different religious denominations, and the county-by-county breakdown of voting in virtually every hotly contested presidential race in our history,” Woodard writes in the Fall 2013 issue of Tufts University’s alumni magazine. “Our continent’s famed mobility has been reinforcing, not dissolving, regional differences, as people increasingly sort themselves into like-minded communities.”
Woodard lays out his map in the new book “American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America.” Here’s how he breaks down the continent:
Yankeedom: Founded by Puritans, residents in Northeastern states and the industrial Midwest tend to be more comfortable with government regulation. They value education and the common good more than other regions.
New Netherland: The Netherlands was the most sophisticated society in the Western world when New York was founded, Woodard writes, so it’s no wonder that the region has been a hub of global commerce. It’s also the region most accepting of historically persecuted populations.
The Midlands: Stretching from Quaker territory west through Iowa and into more populated areas of the Midwest, the Midlands are “pluralistic and organized around the middle class.” Government intrusion is unwelcome, and ethnic and ideological purity isn’t a priority.
Tidewater: The coastal regions in the English colonies of Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and Delaware tend to respect authority and value tradition. Once the most powerful American nation, it began to decline during Westward expansion.
Greater Appalachia: Extending from West Virginia through the Great Smoky Mountains and into Northwest Texas, the descendants of Irish, English and Scottish settlers value individual liberty. Residents are “intensely suspicious of lowland aristocrats and Yankee social engineers.”
Deep South: Dixie still traces its roots to the caste system established by masters who tried to duplicate West Indies-style slave society, Woodard writes. The Old South values states’ rights and local control and fights the expansion of federal powers.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/11/08/which-of-the-11-american-nations-do-you-live-in/?tid=hybrid_sidebar_alt1_strip_1
Mother and father charged with abandoning toddlers in car while wine tasting in D.C.
By Peter Hermann and Mark Lieberman February 2 at 7:35 PM
A couple who left their two toddlers alone in a car on a Northwest Washington street while they attended a wine-tasting at an upscale restaurant was monitoring them with a cellphone left in the vehicle, law enforcement officials said Monday.
Police said the children — a 22-month-old boy and a slightly older girl — were strapped in car seats and wearing coats when they were found Saturday afternoon near the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, in the 1100 block of 23rd Street NW. Neither child had gloves or hats, police said, and the youngest did not have shoes or socks. The girl was “hysterically crying,” according to a police report.
The temperature was 35 degrees, and police said the doors were locked and the windows were rolled up. Police said the father and mother were at the restaurant Ris, about 400 feet away around the corner, in the 2200 block of L Street. The father, Christopher Daniel Lucas, who also goes by Christophe, told police that he left an iPhone in the car with an open connection to the children’s mother, Jennie Teresa Chang. The restaurant’s manager told police that the couple was at a wine tasting for about an hour, according to a police report.
“I left to go inside the restaurant,” Lucas said, according to the report, “but I’m watching them.” Police said the phone line had been open 58 minutes when officers arrived and got the children out of the gray Volvo station wagon and into a warm police car.
Lucas, 41, and Chang, 46, who live in a $1 million rowhouse near Dupont Circle, about a 10-minute walk from the restaurant, were arrested and charged with two counts of attempted second-degree cruelty to children, which carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence. They spent Saturday and Sunday night in a precinct lockup until their initial appearance in court Monday afternoon. Both identified themselves to police as the children’s parents.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/two-charged-with-abandoning-toddlers-in-car-while-at-wine-tasting-in-northwest-dc/2015/02/02/f77b5244-aafb-11e4-9c91-e9d2f9fde644_story.html?wprss=rss_crime&tid=sm_tw_pl
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/562397414221299712/photo/1
https://twitter.com/TPM/status/562389232007020544/photo/1
https://twitter.com/petesouza/status/562397649438277632/photo/1
TIME.com ✔ @TIME
Breaking: Former rap mogul Marion ‘Suge’ Knight charged with murder http://ti.me/1zNRIjp
Retweeted by PragmaticObotsUnite
D’Angelo, The Vanguard – The Charade (Live on SNL)
http://youtu.be/IRCLjK5OWjU&rel=0
Thank you! D’Angelo & Co ROCKED IT.
They really did! They delivered the message!
https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/562355731052392449/photo/1
Finally in from the last shoveling. It’s done. Yeah
Hurray!
You deserve a nice, warm, cozy evening now!
Antonio French @AntonioFrench ·
Wednesday wasn’t the first time Jeff Roorda lost his temper at a meeting of a legislative body:
http://youtu.be/ZtBBH8LXYEk&rel=0
LOL PBO: “This is even better than a veto pen. don’t want to mess with anybody that’s got one of these.”
YEAH!!
………
Oprah and Ava DuVernay to Team Up for New Drama Series on OWN
Monday, February 02, 2015
Selma co-star and producer Oprah Winfrey has teamed with the film’s director Ava DuVernay to create a new original drama series for OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. Inspired by the novel “Queen Sugar,” DuVernay is set to write, direct and executive produce the project, marking her first television drama series. Winfrey will executive produce and appear in multiple episodes in a recurring role. This marks the first time that Winfrey will act in a series for OWN. Production is scheduled to begin later this year.
Adapted from the celebrated first-time novel “Queen Sugar” by Natalie Baszile, the contemporary series will chronicle a spirited woman who leaves her upscale Los Angeles lifestyle behind to claim an inheritance from her recently departed father – an 800-acre sugar cane farm in the heart of Louisiana. Her world and identity are turned upside down as she and her teenage daughter attempt to navigate a new and very different environment while rebuilding their farm from scratch. She is met with curiosity and community, with resistance and romance. It isn’t long before a transformation begins and she realizes that she’s been living a lot farther from her Southern roots than mere miles.
http://theculture.forharriet.com/2015/02/oprah-and-ava-duvernay-to-team-up-for.html
more of his story:
Tens of thousands raised for Detroit man who walks 21 miles to work
02/02/15 12:44 PM—UPDATED 02/02/15 02:08 PM
facebook twitter 2 save share group 9
By Michele Richinick
A Detroit man’s daily 21-mile walk to work has inspired people across the country to raise more than $60,000 to buy him a car and pay for his auto insurance. And at least two car dealerships have offered to donate brand new vehicles to ease his travel.
Every weekday, James Robertson, 56, leaves his home in Detroit and travels nearly 28 miles to his factory job in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Public transportation doesn’t cover the full route of his commute, so he walks about eight miles to work and about 13 miles home. He also takes a bus ride part-way to work. He has endured the trek since his Honda Accord stopped working in 2005. But despite the challenges, Robertson reportedly has perfect attendance at his job, where he earns $10.55 per hour molding parts.
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/tens-thousands-raised-detroit-man-who-walks-21-miles-work?cid=sm_tw_msnbc
PoliticsNation @PoliticsNation
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Incredible story of a Detroit man’s 21-mile walk to work inspires more than $50,000 in donations to buy him a car: http://on.msnbc.com/1zvdXHE
3:15 PM – 2 Feb 2015
more of his story:
Tens of thousands raised for Detroit man who walks 21 miles to work
02/02/15 12:44 PM—UPDATED 02/02/15 02:08 PM
By Michele Richinick
A Detroit man’s daily 21-mile walk to work has inspired people across the country to raise more than $60,000 to buy him a car and pay for his auto insurance. And at least two car dealerships have offered to donate brand new vehicles to ease his travel.
Every weekday, James Robertson, 56, leaves his home in Detroit and travels nearly 28 miles to his factory job in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Public transportation doesn’t cover the full route of his commute, so he walks about eight miles to work and about 13 miles home. He also takes a bus ride part-way to work. He has endured the trek since his Honda Accord stopped working in 2005. But despite the challenges, Robertson reportedly has perfect attendance at his job, where he earns $10.55 per hour molding parts.
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/tens-thousands-raised-detroit-man-who-walks-21-miles-work?cid=sm_tw_msnbc
this is my favorite Budweiser commercial
http://youtu.be/xAsjRRMMg_Q?list=PLw2iCedVvyRs6dpiLSj-ek016wNL7ayyh
Back from my second shoveling. Just one more and I’ll be done.
Good going, Rik. Pace yourself. You deserve a treat for all that shoveling!
Neighbors furious as Florida man sets up front-yard shooting range, but police say it’s legal
Florida man set up a gun range in his front yard, but police said there’s not much they can do but keep an eye on him.
Other residents are livid that 21-year-old Joseph Carannate set up targets and plans to fire his 9mm handgun in his residential Saint Petersburg neighborhood, reported WFLA-TV.
“I don’t know if this idiot is going to start popping off rounds,” said resident Patrick Leary. “I’m furious.”
But Carannate said he has all the proper paperwork for his weapon and promised to notify his neighbors in Lakewood Estates before taking some target practice in the front yard, which he plans to do every other weekend.
“What, do we gather our children and hide?” Leary said. “Ridiculous — come on.”
Carannate said he was surprised by the strongly negative reaction, but he doesn’t intend to change his plans.
“I don’t want to hurt myself or any neighbors,” he said. “I don’t want to hurt anybody. I just want to use this as my enjoyment. I don’t want to have to go to a gun range, when I can just go outside my door.”
Residents have asked a Pinellas County commissioner to help stop their neighbor, but police have said he doesn’t appear to be breaking any laws.
“Even to the most pro-gun person, to have a gun range in the middle of a residential neighborhood doesn’t make any sense at all,” said County Commissioner Ken Welch. “I’m hoping we can get to some common ground and common sense.”
Florida law prohibits local governments from restricting gun rights in any way, but Broward and Palm Beach counties have sued to overturn the law.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/02/neighbors-furious-as-florida-man-sets-up-front-yard-shooting-range-but-police-say-its-legal/
https://twitter.com/BestEarthPix/status/502851699246366721/photo/1
Magical!
http://youtu.be/XoGySD6_MCc
Love this!!
https://twitter.com/itsmituworld/status/561604894004486145/photo/1
tee hee hee Yes, Mirren’s got that don’t start none, won’t be none flair about her.
Ametia,
looks like Ms. Mirren subscribes to the ‘I WISH’ theory of life…
” I WISH someone would mess with me on this train.”
BWA HA HA And God only knows besides her what’s in that purse.
LOL now you got me going with the gifs, Rikyrah
‘Jane Doe No. 3’ Details Her Alleged Sex Acts With Dershowitz And Prince Andrew
News Release: Associated Press
February 2, 2015
MIAMI (AP) – First came the allegations late last year that Britain’s Prince Andrew and a prominent American lawyer took part in a wealthy sex offender’s abuse of teenage girls aboard private jets, in luxury homes and on the financier’s Caribbean island.
The story, part of a long-running U.S. legal fight focused on the rights of the women, gained steam when Buckingham Palace took the unusual step of issuing a carefully worded denial of the kind of salacious claims that royal officials rarely acknowledge. Defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, who represented the highly connected Jeffrey Epstein and was himself named in the latest court filings, then called the most outspoken of the four women a serial liar and practically dared her to prove her accounts.
Instead of letting the case play out from there, the woman known as Jane Doe No. 3 hit back with a 23-page affidavit detailing dates, locations and more about the powerful men she says Epstein forced her and the others to satisfy.
More than six years after Epstein pleaded guilty to Florida charges involving sex with underage girls, the case has erupted anew. Even Bill Clinton’s name has resurfaced as a guest of Epstein’s, although no one has accused the former president of impropriety. A Clinton spokesman declined to comment Friday.
Dershowitz has accused Jane Doe No. 3 of making up most or all of her claims, including a story about seeing Clinton on Epstein’s island years ago.
http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/Womans-Claims-about-Prince-Andrew-Other-Reignite-Sex-Case-290532211.html
Wow, I see they’ve moved on from the Black Cosby, to the Jew Dershowitz., to the Prince….
Published on Feb 1, 2015
Estella Pyfrom’s Brilliant Bus brings technology to children in low income communities, reaching many who do not have access computers at home. With the help of Microsoft technology, Estella hopes to educate 1 million kids on her Brilliant Bus by the end of 2016.
http://youtu.be/MwnqVPcsFAE
God Bless, Estella Pyfrom.
Now that is one great, giving lady!
Bless you Ms. Pyfrom!
JIM WEBB AND THE MERITS OF BEING HALF-RIGHT
By Charles P. Pierce on January 30, 2015
Prospective presidential candidate Jim Webb has said something that has made some people very angry, some other people a little angry, and some people simply disturbed at the way he said something that’s more than half-true, but not a lot more than half-true
“I think they could do better with white, working people and I think this last election showed that,” Webb said, referencing the 2014 midterms where Republicans took control of the Senate and added more power in the House. “The Democratic Party could do very well to return to its Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Andrew Jackson roots where the focus of the party was making sure that all people who lack a voice in the corridors of power could have one through the elected represented…You are not going to have a situation again where you have 96% of the African American vote turning out for one presidential candidate. … We need to get back to the principles of the Democratic Party that we are going to give everyone who needs access to the corridors of power that access regardless of any of your antecedents. I think that is a fair concept.”
Let us stipulate for a moment that Andrew Jackson also was a slaveholder and a genocidal madman, no matter how much the buckskin-shirt crowd loved him. Let us not return to his principles, thank you. And while FDR and Truman were fine presidents, who did some of all that they could have done, they still presided over a Democratic party that was the political and constitutional bulwark of the Jim Crow South. Neither one of them could break that dark alliance until the Civil Rights Movement shook the political order to the point where Lyndon Johnson could blow up the alliance entirely. Webb can’t have this argument until he acknowledges: a) that the “principles of the Democratic party” to which he appeals also had a Whites Only sign on them, b) that the commitment of the Democratic Party to equal rights was a titanic moral victory for the entire nation, and c) that a lot of the voters to whom he suggests reaching out remain sorry that the sign ever came down. In the days to which Webb has suggested returning, the Democratic party did not remotely stand for “everybody” who needed it getting access to the corridors of power. The Democratic party only started standing for that at its 1948 national convention, and didn’t fully stand for it until 1965. And, from about 1980 until about 2007, there was a powerful element within the Democratic party that thought the way back to power was to distance the party from the moral victory of the civil-rights movement in order to win back “Reagan Democrats,” of whom Webb was one at the time.
………………………………..
Sooner or later, it’s up to the voters to decide to stop being stupid about their own self-interest, and to stop falling for scams about how the Poors and Browns are the ones stealing all their money.
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/Jim_Webb_Is_Almost_Making_Sense
Webb is as tone deaf as they come. He sincerely believes the that America should get back to the good ole days, where nothing but white men ran for POTUS, and black folks voted for only white men.
That train left the station in 2008, and it ain’t turning back.
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
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POTUS: The science is indisputable. Vaccinate your kids
Christie: My kids are vaccinated. Other people’s kids? Who cares
This is the GOP
9:00 AM – 2 Feb 2015
https://twitter.com/BAM_FI/status/562209358671798272/photo/1
https://twitter.com/seungminkim/status/562271412074065921/photo/1
Only America and its media would issue fear-mongering reports on the Ebola virus, quarantines, and canceled flights from western Africa.
Yet, we don’t hear about the recent OUTBREAK OF MEASLES in America, and other countries issuing statements and quarantines on Americans traveling abroad.
Nerdy Wonka @NerdyWonka
Christie’s kids are vaccinated. He forcibly quarantined a nurse who didn’t have Ebola, to gin up fear; but the safety of NJ kids? Screw that
Retweeted by PragmaticObotsUnite
Have a stadium full of seats, Krispy Kreme!
‘Selma’ Star David Oyelowo Accuses Academy of Favoring “Subservient” Black Roles (Video)
12:58 AM PST 2/2/2015 by Scott Feinberg
The actor, who was snubbed for his portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr., said: “We, as black people, have been celebrated more for when we are subservient, when we are not being leaders or kings or being at the center of our own narrative.
Black performers have been singled out for awards “more for when we are subservient, when we are not being leaders or kings or being at the center of our own narrative,” David Oyelowo, who stars as Martin Luther King, Jr. in Selma, said Sunday during an appearance at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. (See video at the bottom of this post.)
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/selma-star-david-oyelowo-accuses-769032?utm_source=pulsenews&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thr%2Fnews+%28The+Hollywood+Reporter+-+Top+Stories%29
We, as black people, have been celebrated more for when we are subservient, when we are not being leaders or kings or being at the center of our own narrative.
.
Christie Says Parents Should Have ‘Choice’ on Vaccinations
CAMBRIDGE, England — Amid an outbreak of measles that has spread across 14 states, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey on Monday said that parents “need to have some measure of choice” about vaccinating their children against the virus, breaking with President Obama and much of the medical profession.
In remarks here, Mr. Christie at first stopped short of recommending that parents immunize their children against measles, or any other illness, calling for “balance” and “choice.” But his remarks quickly sparked an outcry, prompting the governor to modify his position about an hour later and declare, through a spokesman, that “there is no question kids should be vaccinated.”
Mr. Christie, when asked about the connection between the new measles cases and parents who object to the long-recommended vaccine against it, said that he and his wife had vaccinated their four children. He called that “the best expression I can give you of my opinion.”
But he added: “It’s more important what you think as a parent than what you think as a public official. I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well. So that’s the balance that the government has to decide.”
Mr. Christie said that “not every vaccine is created equal, and not every disease type is as great a public health threat as others.”
Mr. Obama on Sunday night issued an unambiguous call for parents to have their children vaccinated. He called the scientific rationale for using the vaccines “pretty indisputable.”
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/02/02/christie-says-parents-should-have-choice-on-vaccinations/
Posted: 8:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 30, 2015
Groveland officers accused of using excessive force on 11-year-old girl
.
The girl’s family told Channel 9 the officers went in through the garage door and let themselves inside the house, reportedly with guns drawn, responding to a burglary alarm.
The young girl was on her bed watching television when she said she was forced to the ground at gunpoint.
“One of the officers was pushing me down and when he was pushing me down, (he) put his knee on me and the other officer had his gun pointed at me,” she told Channel 9.
The officers’ response was prompted by the family’s burglary alarm, which had accidentally been tripped.
Jean Guirand wants to know how anyone could think his little girl was a threat.
“Someone should get fired for doing something like,” he said.
After relaying his concerns to the chief and after Channel 9 began asking questions, Groveland police launched an internal affairs probe into possible use of excessive force.
http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/groveland-officers-accused-using-excessive-force-1/nj2Cp/
Why do the AMERICAN POLICE think an 11 year old black girl in her own home, in bed, watching tv is a threat, and deserves to be pushed down and held at gunpoint?
PELASE, SOMEONE, TELL ME. I NEED ANSWERS.
Bobby Brown Issues Statement on Daughter’s Hospitalization
The singer and father of Whitney Houston’s only child asks for privacy as his daughter Bobbi Kristina fights for her life
By Daniel Kreps | February 2, 2015
“Privacy is requested in this matter,” Brown said. “Please allow for my family to deal with this matter and give my daughter the love and support she needs at this time.” A lawyer for the family added, “The report that Bobbi Kristina Brown has been taken to the hospital in Atlanta, Georgia is accurate. No additional information will be forthcoming.”
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bobby-brown-issues-statement-on-daughters-hospitalization-20150202#ixzz3Qbe1ihye
Good Morning Everyone.
I had no intentions of going to work today.
Final total snowfall at Midway Airport -18.4 inches.
I just looked outside to take the lay of the land. I think that I am going to break it down to three different shovelings
Damn, 18 inches! stay safe and warm with the shoveling.
Rikyrah, CNN was reporting on the record snow there.
Please be safe shoveling. Be cautious. Don’t stay out there for long periods.
Good morning, everyone
Ametia & Rikyrah…We’re going to start the week off with some grown folks music. ;)
LOL Cool, SG2! When I grow up, I wanna be like you and Mr. Hutch.:-)))