Happy Monday, Everyone! This week’s featured artist is the incomparable Ms. Cicely Tyson.
Her career and life spans for 8 decades. We’ll explore her work as an actress and her ground-breaking work in TV and film.
Cicely L. Tyson (born December 18, 1924) is an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and the Golden Globe Award for her performance as Rebecca Morgan in Sounder (1972). For this role she also won the NSFC Best Actress and NBR Best Actress Awards. She starred in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974), for which she won two Emmy Awards and was nominated for a BAFTA Award.
During her career she has been nominated for eleven Primetime Emmy Awards, winning three. In 2011, she appeared in the film The Help, for which she received awards for her ensemble work as Constantine from the BFCA and SAG Awards and she has an additional four SAG Award nominations. She starred on Broadway in The Trip to Bountiful as Carrie Watts, for which she won the Tony Award, Outer Critics Award, and Drama Desk Award for Best Actress in a Play. She previously received a Drama Desk Award in 1962 for her Off-Broadway performance in Moon on a Rainbow Shawl.
Tyson was born and raised in Harlem, the daughter of Frederica, a domestic, and William Tyson,[1] who worked as a carpenter, painter, and at any other jobs he could find. Her parents were immigrants from Nevis in the West Indies.Her father arrived in New York City at age 21 and was processed at Ellis Island on August 4, 1919.
SOUNDER
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https://twitter.com/Kennymack1971/status/574967444348907520/photo/1
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) attacked the Republican letter as a “juvenile political attack” aimed at “undermining our commander in chief.” Republicans, he said, “cannot accept the fact that this good man, Barack Obama, this man with the unusual name, was elected twice by overwhelming margins by the people of this country.”
In Senate floor remarks, he said Democrats never contemplated sending a letter to Iraq’s leaders highlighting their disagreements with President George W. Bush. “So I say to my Republican colleagues: Do you so dislike President Obama you would take this extroardinary step? Obviously so,” he said. “Why was it taken? I really don’t understand other than the dislike of the president.”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/republican-letter-iran-obama
Iranian negotiator on GOP letter:
“We believe this letter has no legal value and is indeed just a propaganda ploy,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, in a statement provided to and translated by CNN. “Whats more, while the negotiations have not yet borne fruit and there no agreement yet, pressure groups in the U.S. are so worried that they are using extraordinary measures to prove that they, just like Netanyahu oppose any kind of agreement.”
http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/09/politics/gop-senators-letter-to-iran/index.html
https://twitter.com/imfabulous13/status/574994823951880192/photo/1
https://twitter.com/theferocity/status/575059125144518657/photo/1
https://twitter.com/deray/status/574653453747752961/photo/1
Rev. Jesse Jackson, black ministers stand behind Chuy Garcia for Chicago Mayor
Standing in front of a vacant, trash-ridden lot in Engelwood, the Rev. Jesse Jackson on Monday endorsed Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.
“Our agenda is a very positive one and a very focused one: we’re about neighborhood reconstruction,” Jackson said with a crowd of African American supporters, including elected officials and some ministers.
In offering his backing, Jackson spoke of the 50 schools closings by Mayor Rahm Emanuel as well as violence, high unemployment, income disparities and racial disparities on “this side of town,” singling out the Lawndale, Austin and Englewood neighborhoods.
“He has a consistent track record of service,” Jackson said. “We trust him and believe that he will assume the burden of responsibility to work with us to reconstruct where we live.”
http://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-politics/7/71/426333/rev-jesse-jackson-black-ministers-stand-behind-chuy
Haven’t they ever seen Shahs of Sunset?
Don’t be sleeping on those Persians.
Cause they got family in exile, with MONEY, and expertise in the West, just waiting to go back.
Iran is one of the most educated populations in that region. With a highly educated Middle Class – both inside and outside of Iran.
Iran ain’t Afghanistan, which is nothing but a landmass with tribes on it.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bz7JgGtCIAEAEbL.jpg:large
File charges against the 47 U.S. Senators in violation of The Logan Act in attempting to undermine a nuclear agreement.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/file-charges-against-47-us-senators-violation-logan-act-attempting-undermine-nuclear-agreement/NKQnpJS9
On March 9th, 2015, forty-seven United States Senators committed a treasonous offense when they decided to violate the Logan Act, a 1799 law which forbids unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments. Violation of the Logan Act is a felony, punishable under federal law with imprisonment of up to three years.
At a time when the United States government is attempting to reach a potential nuclear agreement with the Iranian government, 47 Senators saw fit to instead issue a condescending letter to the Iranian government stating that any agreement brokered by our President would not be upheld once the president leaves office.
This is a clear violation of federal law. In attempting to undermine our own nation, these 47 senators have committed treason.
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https://twitter.com/splcenter/status/575008342285770754/photo/1
Ametia, we need coon graphics
…………..
How long will GOP ignore Voting Rights Act pressure?
03/09/15 11:21 AM—UPDATED 03/09/15 11:34 AM
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By Steve Benen
In his stirring address in Selma over the weekend, President Obama did more than just honor those who marched at the Edmund Pettus Bridge a half-century ago. He also used the opportunity to push for the same policy goals those civil-rights marchers sought in 1965.
“Right now, in 2015, 50 years after Selma, there are laws across this country designed to make it harder for people to vote. As we speak, more of such laws are being proposed. Meanwhile, the Voting Rights Act, the culmination of so much blood, so much sweat and tears, the product of so much sacrifice in the face of wanton violence, the Voting Rights Act stands weakened, its future subject to political rancor.
“How can that be? The Voting Rights Act was one of the crowning achievements of our democracy, the result of Republican and Democratic efforts. President Reagan signed its renewal when he was in office. President George W. Bush signed its renewal when he was in office. One hundred members of Congress have come here today to honor people who were willing to die for the right to protect it. If we want to honor this day, let that hundred go back to Washington and gather four hundred more, and together, pledge to make it their mission to restore that law this year. That’s how we honor those on this bridge.”
If you look closely at the video, at this point in Obama’s speech, the camera pans left and catches George W. Bush and Laura Bush both standing and applauding the president’s plea to Congress.
With this kind of bipartisan backing, it’s tempting to think real progress is possible. Indeed, after the events in Selma over the weekend, and given the larger context, it seems as if Congress’ Republican majority would have to be crazy to spend another two years ignoring calls to revitalize the Voting Rights Act.
But it’s apparently not as simple as it should be.
To his enormous credit, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) was in Selma and literally walked the streets “with a copy of draft Voting Rights Act legislation in his pocket, trying to win support from his GOP colleagues to restore the landmark law.”
The effort wasn’t exactly successful.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., an honorary co-chairman of the Selma trip and the only African-American Republican in the Senate, said voting rights and the commemoration of Selma should be “de-coupled.”
“The issue of voting rights legislation and the issue of Selma, we ought to have an experience that brings people together and not make it into a political conversation,” Scott said.
By any fair measure, this is plainly foolish. Why exactly does Sen. Scott think those men and women marched in Selma in 1965? Voting rights were the whole point. Trying to “de-couple” voting rights from Selma is like trying to separate water from the ocean – the two are linked inextricably.
The facts are simply not in dispute. Ari Berman has documented the extent to which voting rights have been under attack over the last several years, and in most cases, these voter-suppression campaigns are the direct result of Republican justices on the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/how-long-will-gop-ignore-voting-rights-act-pressure
https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/574390825209196544
FOUND AT POU:
goldenstar
This is a signal from the Obamas that Rahm’s on his own….
Obama library site may not be revealed until after runoff, source says
Obama library officials likely will delay an announcement about the center’s future home until after the April 7 mayoral runoff election, according to a source.
The Chicago City Council is expected to vote March 18 to allow a transfer of 20 acres of Washington Park or Jackson Park to City Hall control should the president want to place the facility in either. Only then will official word come from the Barack Obama Foundation, which is responsible for library planning, as to a timetable for announcing the winner, the source said.
“Once it passes, they’ll say they have to wait until after the election because they don’t know who they’re dealing with,” according to a source. City officials have “spent hours” with foundation leaders “every week going through fine details. They’re not going to commit unless they know who (the mayor) is.”
http://my.chicagotribune.com/#
BLESS THIS BEAUTIFUL CHILD
…………..
We All Want To Be This Little Girl Who Shut Down A Hater Who Called Her Ugly
Mar 9, 2015
By NewsOne Staff
Just in time for Women’s History Month, video footage of a 4-year-old named Siahj Chase discussing her response to a boy who called her “ugly” is all the inspiration we needed today.
Cici (as her mom Sonya calls her) told the Huffington Post that the pint-sized feminist has “always been quick on her feet,” but her reaction to the mean comment was still pretty surprising for someone who hasn’t even been on this earth for five years.
The Huffington Post reports:
“What happened in school today?” her mom, Sonya, asks in the video. “A little boy said I looked … ugly,” Cici responded.
“And what did you say?” Cici’s mom asked.
“I said, ‘I didn’t come here to make a fashion statement. I came here to learn — not look pretty,’” Cici replied, adding, “The little boy said I looked ‘bad,’ and I said, ‘Did you look in a mirror lately? Bye bye, see you later, you’re making me mad.’”
http://newsone.com/3096810/little-girl-shuts-down-hater-who-called-her-ugly-video/
didn’t we all say this last week?
they have absolutely NO COMMITMENT TO THE COMMUNITY WHERE THEY ARE DROPPED
unlike the teachers who were fired so that these jokers could be ‘dropped’ into these schools.
…………………
Most Teach For America Instructors Plan to Flee Teaching
About 87 percent of the people the program trains as educators say they plan to leave teaching
by Akane Otani11:30 AM EDT March 9, 2015
Teach for America, the mammoth nonprofit that grooms thousands of bright young college graduates to be teachers every year, is divisive. Advocates say TFA is on the front lines of fighting educational inequity; critics charge it’s little more than a two-year pit stop for Ivy League graduates eyeing careers outside of education.
A new study from a nonpartisan research organization adds ammunition to skeptics’ claims. More than 87 percent of TFA teachers say they don’t plan on remaining teachers throughout their careers, compared with 26.3 percent of non-TFA teachers working in the same subjects, grades, and schools, according to an analysis released last week by Mathematica Policy Research (PDF).
The study suggests the risk of turnover is relatively high for the recent grads that become teachers through TFA’s program. A full 25 percent of them said they would quit teaching after the current school year, compared with only 6.7 percent of non-TFA teachers. And of those who plan to quit, 42.9 percent of TFA teachers anticipated leaving education altogether, compared with 6.7 percent of non-TFA teachers
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-09/most-teach-for-america-instructors-plan-to-flee-teaching
Republicans are beginning to act as though Barack Obama isn’t even the president
By Paul Waldman March 9 at 12:16 PM
It’s safe to say that no president in modern times has had his legitimacy questioned by the opposition party as much as Barack Obama. But as his term in office enters its final phase, Republicans are embarking on an entirely new enterprise: They have decided that as long as he holds the office of the presidency, it’s no longer necessary to respect the office itself.
Is that a bit hyperbolic? Maybe. But this news is nothing short of stunning:
A group of 47 Republican senators has written an open letter to Iran’s leaders warning them that any nuclear deal they sign with President Barack Obama’s administration won’t last after Obama leaves office.
Organized by freshman Senator Tom Cotton and signed by the chamber’s entire party leadership as well as potential 2016 presidential contenders Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, the letter is meant not just to discourage the Iranian regime from signing a deal but also to pressure the White House into giving Congress some authority over the process.
“It has come to our attention while observing your nuclear negotiations with our government that you may not fully understand our constitutional system … Anything not approved by Congress is a mere executive agreement,” the senators wrote. “The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time.”
It’s one thing to criticize the administration’s actions, or try to impede them through the legislative process. But to directly communicate with a foreign power in order to undermine ongoing negotiations? That is appalling. And just imagine what those same Republicans would have said if Democratic senators had tried such a thing when George W. Bush was president.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/03/09/republicans-are-beginning-to-act-as-though-barack-obama-isnt-even-the-president/
SeanLDurham @SeanLDurham
#SAE don’t want us in their frat and want us “hanging from trees” – meanwhile over at Kappa Alpha Psi
https://vine.co/v/MDpQan3bF66
Nate Cohn ✔ @Nate_Cohn
Hillary’s ratings had plummeted long before the email scandal http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/10/upshot/hillary-clinton-is-more-vulnerable-in-2016-than-you-think.html?hpw&rref=upshot&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&abt=0002&abg=0 … pic.twitter.com/Dq4wZ7j92T
https://twitter.com/Nate_Cohn/status/574946031189753856/photo/1
What have I been saying?
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/574944879165317121
I do this all the time in convos, and especially with white folks!
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA!
Dan Pfeiffer’s Exit Interview: On Learning to Ignore Republicans and How the White House Gave Up
By Jonathan Chait March 8, 2015 9:00PM
Dan Pfeiffer, who left his position as senior adviser at the White House last week after having worked with Barack Obama since his first presidential campaign, has been involved from the outset in navigating the central contradiction at the heart of Obama’s public persona: He ran as a figure who could overcome partisan polarization, yet he has instead presided over more of it despite accomplishing the majority of the substantive agenda he promised.
Obama and his spokespeople have spent most of their administration quietly at war with the conventional wisdom in Washington over the cause of this failure, and Pfeiffer has spent much of his time in the administration dealing with, or scolding, members of the media, mostly in off-the-record conversations. But in an interview last week, a few days before he resigned, he explained in unusually candid terms the administration’s thinking—and how the White House lost its illusions.
“I think [Obama] believes, and I certainly believe, that while we can always do better, this is a case where structural forces are the large actor here,” he told me. Pfeiffer cited three of them. The first is rising polarization—“the great sorting,” as he called it—which, over a period of decades, has driven white conservatives out of the Democratic Party and moderates out of the Republican Party, creating two ideologically homogeneous political organizations. The second is the disintegration of restrictions on campaign finance, which “gives people even more incentive to play to the far right or to a set of special-interests donors, so that one individual can basically, especially in these House races, do a $1 million expenditure and completely tip the balance.” And, finally, the news media has changed so that people select only sources that will confirm their preexisting beliefs.
All of this combined makes communication with Republicans mostly hopeless. “There’s very little we can do to change the Republicans’ political situation because they are worried about a cohort of voters who disagree with most of what the president says,” Pfeiffer said. “We don’t have the ability to communicate with them—we can’t even break into the tight communication circles to convince them that climate change is real. They are talking to people who agree with them, they are listening to news outlets that reinforce that point of view, and the president is probably the person with the least ability to break into that because of the partisan bias there.”
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/03/dan-pfeiffer-exit-interview.html
#Selma50: Why the Left Cannot Escape Accountability in the Assault on Voting
Spandan Chakrabarti | March 8, 2015
This weekend, at the site where police beatings and brutality designed to preserve white supremacy clashed with Americans of all colors and creeds marching peacefully to demand the most basic of the rights of a citizen – the right to vote – for African Americans, spoke the first African American President of the United States. 50 years after Selma, in Selma stood Barack Obama, humbled and inspired by a man he described as his personal hero, John Lewis.
There could have been no more powerful symbol of the American capacity to change and progress, no more stunning an image captivating the American yearning for a more perfect union than the nation’s first African American president addressing the 50-year commemoration of an event with the humble (yet seemingly insurmountable) goal simply to achieve the vote.
Let no one tell you that America hasn’t progressed, that America hasn’t changed, that America isn’t a better place today, reminded this president to the crowd. To do so is to insult the memory of those who marched so that we can run – and win the highest office in the land, said the president. To do so is to insult all we have achieved together. “What happened in Ferguson may not be unique, but it’s no longer endemic. It’s no longer sanctioned by law or by custom. And before the Civil Rights Movement, it most surely was,” the president said.
Still, no one is more aware of the fact that although we have come a long way, our journey isn’t yet complete than this president. The Voting Rights Act that the marchers in Selma fought for is under attack by the Supreme Court, and politicians in many states are engaged in a shameful attempt to make it harder for people to vote – this too the president reminded us as he called on the 100 members of Congress who gathered there to return to Washington determined to fix and renew the protections of the Voting Rights Act this year.
But in the end, no amount of legislation is going to be enough if Americans continue to regard voting as a chore to be put off.
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/main/2015/3/7/selma50-why-the-left-cannot-escape-accountability-on-the-assault-on-voting
Y’all
Y’all…
they are absolutely ridiculous!!
PHUCKING TRAITORS TO THIS COUNTRY!!
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Republicans Warn Iran Against Nuclear Deal With Obama
Reuters
Posted: 03/09/2015 8:43 am EDT
WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) – Republican senators warned Iran on Monday that any nuclear deal made with U.S. President Barack Obama could last only as long as he remains in office, in an unusual intervention into U.S. foreign policy-making.
The letter, signed by 47 U.S. senators, says Congress plays a role in ratifying international agreements and points out that Obama will leave office in January 2017, while many in Congress will remain in Washington long after that.
“We will consider any agreement regarding your nuclear-weapons program that is not approved by the Congress as nothing more than an executive agreement between President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei,” the letter read.
“The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms of an agreement at any time,” it read.
The letter, first reported by Bloomberg News, followed a speech to a joint meeting of Congress last week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who warned that the United States was negotiating a “bad deal” with Tehran.
It comes as world powers have been negotiating with Iran to try to reach some form of understanding by the end of March before a final deal in June that could ease crippling sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.
The U.S. Constitution divides foreign policy powers between the president and Congress. The executive branch is responsible for negotiating international agreements and lawmakers rarely intervene directly with the leaders of another nation while the president’s administration is negotiating a pact.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/09/iran-nuclear-deal_n_6830308.html
https://twitter.com/MichaelSkolnik/status/574953737531207680
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https://twitter.com/MichaelSkolnik/status/574956037083557888
UH UH UH. There is no way they can hide their racism and hate. That lid came off in 2009.
Florida officials barred from mentioning climate change
03/09/15 08:40 AM—UPDATED 03/09/15 08:42 AM
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By Steve Benen
Soon after getting elected, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) made clear he had no use for climate science, insisting he’d seen no evidence that global warming is real. By last year, perhaps fearing a public backlash, the far-right Republican shifted his posture a bit, saying, “I’m not a scientist” when asked about the climate crisis.
Behind the scenes, however, Scott’s administration hasn’t just rejected science; it’s also also accused of muzzling state officials.
[Officials at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection] have been ordered not to use the term “climate change” or “global warming” in any official communications, emails, or reports, according to former DEP employees, consultants, volunteers and records obtained by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting.
The policy goes beyond semantics and has affected reports, educational efforts and public policy in a department with about 3,200 employees and $1.4 billion budget.
Christopher Byrd, an attorney with the DEP’s Office of General Counsel from 2008 to 2013, told the Miami Herald, “We were told not to use the terms ‘climate change,’ ‘global warming’ or ‘sustainability.’ That message was communicated to me and my colleagues by our superiors in the Office of General Counsel.”
The Scott administration insists there is no formal policy prohibiting the use of these phrases, and by all appearances, the policy is unwritten. It’s not as if state officials received an email saying, “Here are the words the Scott administration no longer wants you to say….”
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/florida-officials-barred-mentioning-climate-change
Florida’s Fuhrer is an idiot. But that’s what the majority of voters want, apparently.
https://twitter.com/GuerinEmig/status/574927685098414081/photo/1
What’s going on @ OU?
SAE Frat caught on video making racist chants.
Flashback: Watch Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson Talk “Playing the Oscar Game” & More w/ Mo’Nique
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
March 6, 2015 at 8:27PM
In light of all the fuss over the very public back-and-forth between Mo’Nique and Lee Daniels, regarding the former’s alleged industry blacklisting for what Daniels said was her unwillingness to “play the game” when it came to promoting “Precious” in 2009, as well as campaigning for the Oscar she would eventually win…
I dug up this November 2009 clip from Mo’Nique’s then late-night talk show on BET, in which the host chats with Terrence Howard and Taraji P Henson about her Oscar chances, and the campaign that lay ahead of her.
During the conversation, Mo’Nique made a salient point – essentially, that, from an actor’s POV, the Oscar campaign is on the screen, in the work that she had already done, via her performance in the film (“Precious”), and that she shouldn’t have had to pound pavement, and put on a variety of false faces in order to woo Academy voters.
However, Henson and Howard (2 previous Oscar nominees, familiar with the song and dance that comes with being nominated) instructed Mo’Nique on “the game” that those in contention have to play, as Daniels also told her privately back then, to increase one’s chances of being nominated and, eventually, winning.
The nominees for that year had yet to be announced at the time of the recording of this episode of her show, and you can see Terrence and Taraji doing their best to convince her of what is necessary in order to, at least, secure a spot on the list of nominees. But, Mo’Nique, as you will watch below, obviously wasn’t entirely sold on their arguments.
I’d say that it was actually quite bold of Mo’Nique to have this conversation publicly, when she did, ahead of the Academy’s eventual nominees announcement. Most go out their way to be non-controversial in “playing the game,” but she, outright, questions the entire process, defiant, expressing her lack of interest in it, and seemingly not at all concerned with whether or not she would be nominated.
But she would, not only receive a nomination; she also won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, despite not “playing the game.” Although, as we are all now learning, it apparently, eventually cost her.
They also discussed what an Oscar nomination means in terms of career, as Mo’Nique asked Henson and Howard how their job prospects had improved since each of their nominations.
All that said, it’s actually a worth-watching 20-minute conversation between the 3 of them. The all appear so comfortable with each other, like family. It’s a video time capsule, featuring a younger Henson and Howard, sharing stories of career trials, triumphs and overall progress, in a very challenging industry. Who knew that they would reunite 5 years later, to star in what has now become the Fox TV ratings smash, “Empire,” seemingly so far away from the lives they were living when they sat on Mo’Nique’s couch in November 2009 – especially for Henson, who wasn’t doing as well as Howard was at the time (not long before that, he’d cashed in a hefty payday for the first “Iron Man” movie; although we all now know the story on why he didn’t return for the 2nd one).
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/flashback-watch-terrence-howard-taraji-p-henson-monique-talk-campaigning-for-oscar-life-after-etc-20150306
https://twitter.com/BAM_FI/status/574546398818992128/photo/1
USA TreNds @US_trendz
Democratic Rep. Donna Edwards to seek Maryland U.S. Senate seat: WPost: WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Democratic… http://bit.ly/1HjKyTQ
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Sunday Long Read: Reverberating Throughout The Ages
Posted by Zandar
President Obama’s speech on yesterday’s 50th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” march in Selma was amazing, and may have been one of his best speeches to date as he spoke of Selma in the context of that day being a pivotal moment in American history, along with such seminal locations as Appomattox Court House, Cape Canaveral, and Seneca Falls.
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2015/03/sunday-long-read-reverberating.html
You don’t think Chuy has Rahm scared?
Oh Yes.
Background on this. The Chicago Equivalent of the Ferguson Police Tickets is the Red Light Camera. They are a scam. They are a fraud. They are $100 DOLLAR TICKETS. And, if you get 2 of them, the City can BOOT YOUR CAR.
So, while they proliferated on the South and West Sides (where the Black and Brown people live), they were rare to be found on the North side (where the White people live). And, when they WERE found on the North side, guess what…those stoplight, has COUNTDOWN CLOCKS with them, so the driver knew how much or little time they had until the light changed. When the South and West sides asked…’where are OUR countdown clocks’, we were told there wasn’t enough money to outfit all the stoplights with countdown clocks.
Then there was the little matter of the CRIMINAL BRIBERY CASE brought up on the company who initially got the contract for the red lights by PAYING A TWO MILLION DOLLAR BRIBE FOR THE CONTRACT.
STILL, no slowdown in rolling out the red lights. No consideration for those of us out here questioning it.
There has been a radio talk show host on WVON (the Black talk radio station), who has made it his mission to get rid of these things. He started a group, began collecting signatures. Got over 100,000 signatures to put red lights on the ballot as a referendum, but, of course, they found a way not to put it on the ballot. He’s gone around the country, getting all sorts of experts to come in and take up this legal battle. It’s now at the Illinois Supreme Court. LIke others, I never thought he’d get anywhere with it, but I supported him all the way.
Then, there was the matter of the Chicago Tribune expose about 3-4 months ago. At all sorts of intersections, there were spikes in the volume of tickets being given at redlight cameras. Like, 25-50 times their usual rates. When brought to the attention of the Mayor’s Office, they had nothing to say, and of course, they were of the mind that nobody was going to get their money back for the fraudulent tickets.
The radio host has gone around this time, getting actual pledges from Alermanic Candidates to vote out the red light cameras. And, current Aldermen that won’t, are being called on the carpet by vocal constituents.
Finally, last week, Mr. Chuy Garcia said that he would get rid of the program altogether.
So, that brings us to this story.
……………..
Mayor Announces Removal of 50 Red Light Cameras Amid New Reforms
The announcement comes after mayoral candidate Jesus “Chuy” Garcia promised last week to remove all of the red-light cameras in Chicago
Today, the countdown clock officially began on the red light program in Chicago,” Garcia said in a statement. “In less than a month, voters will have the chance to end Rahm Emanuel’s red light rip-off.”
The 50 cameras in question had not yet been taken down as of Sunday, but they stopped giving tickets at 12:01 a.m. Friday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. After the removal of these red light cameras, 302 of them will remain at nearly 150 intersections.
In addition to removing several cameras, Emanuel announced new reforms for the program. These included required public community meetings before a camera is removed, moved or installed; outlining a plan to install pedestrian countdown timers at all cameras without timers; and providing first-time offenders the opportunity to enroll in online safety traffic classes instead of paying the $100 fine.
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/City-Officials-to-Announce-Removal-of-50-Red-Light-Cameras-295534061.html#ixzz3TtZ9ku5z
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Imo, it’s too late for Rahm Emanuel to do this now. It shows his lack of concern for everyone except himself. He knew citizens on Chicago’s West and South sides didn’t like the cameras, and he did nothing—until he got the message in the election that citizens in those areas weren’t as much in love with him as he thought they were, so now, he’s trying to save his political career by doing what he should have done in the first place—listen to his constituents. If there’s anyway possible, rikyrah, ya’ll need to give him the boot next month.
Congressman Danny Davis Endorses Jesus “Chuy” Garcia
A vote from Davis could be key in earning the African-American vote that both candidates need
U..S. Rep. Danny Davis announced his endorsement for mayoral candidate Jesus “Chuy” Garcia Sunday.
Before the Feb. 24 election, Davis endorsed mayoral candidate Willie Wilson. The congressman’s support in the runoff could be key to earning the African-American vote that both Garcia and Mayor Rahm Emanuel have been actively courting.
Both candidates are fighting for the 11 percent of the vote Wilson earned in the Feb. 24 race. A vote from Davis, who represents much of the predominantly African-American South Side, could help gain Garcia the votes he needs to beat Emanuel in the runoff election in April.
Davis announced his endorsement at noon at the Greater St. John Bible Church on the city’s West Side. Following the announcement, Garcia hosted a meet-and-greet with West Siders at MacArthur’s Restaurant.
Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Congressman-Danny-Davis-to-Endorse-Jesus-Chuy-Garcia-295532841.html#ixzz3TtVkmgp0
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Colin Powell Still Sees ‘Dark Vein’ of Intolerance in GOP
Mar 8, 2015, 12:33 PM ET
By BEN BELL via This Week
Speaking on the day following the 50-year anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama, the first African-American Secretary of State Colin Powell said he still sees a “dark vein” of intolerance in the Republican Party, echoing comments that he made in 2013.
“I still see it. I still see it in the Republican Party and I still see it in other parts of our country. You don’t have to be a Republican to be touched by this dark vein,” Powell told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos Sunday on “This Week.”
“We’ve come a long way, but there’s a long way to go. And we have to change the hearts and minds of Americans. And I see progress, especially in the younger generation,” Powell added.
President Obama, along with former President George W. Bush, was in Selma Saturday to mark the anniversary of the seminal moment in the civil rights movement. They were joined by Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, who was brutally beaten during the march out of Selma that day in 1965.
“What that bloody Sunday event did for the nation was to hold up a mirror in front of all Americans and said, ‘Look, this is what’s going on in this country. This cannot continue,'” Powell said.
Powell also echoed one of the theme’s of Obama’s speech in Selma, noting that while progress has been made on race relations, the “march is not yet over.”
“We’ve made enormous progress. If we hadn’t made progress, [President Obama] wouldn’t have been standing there, Eric Holder wouldn’t have been with him and I wouldn’t be here right now,” Powell said.
“But we still now have hurdles that we have to get over,” Powell added, noting the battle in some states over voter identification laws.
The former secretary of state also weighed in on the Justice Department report released this week that found systemic discrimination against African-Americans by the police department in Ferguson, Missouri.
Powell said he was “shocked” by the report, but was not taken completely off guard
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/colin-powell-sees-dark-vein-intolerance-gop/story?id=29482208
That’s what it means to love America’
03/09/15 08:00 AM—UPDATED 03/09/15 08:14 AM
By Steve Benen
President Obama’s remarks in Selma over the weekend were some of the most powerful of his presidency, and not just because of the weight of the events that unfolded at the Edmund Pettus Bridge 50 years ago. It was also a rare opportunity to hear Obama define and celebrate the very idea of American patriotism – in ways in which the public is rarely confronted.
A video of the entire speech is below – and I’d encourage readers to take the time to watch it – though I suspect conservatives, many of whom have invested considerable energy in questioning the president’s love of country, won’t be impressed. Too often, our discourse evaluates patriotism in shallow and superficial ways – who wears the biggest flag pin; who sings the national anthem the loudest; who’s quick to dismiss America’s missteps.
A half-century after the bloody violence in Selma, the president presented a very different kind of vision.
“[W]hat could be more American than what happened in this place? What could more profoundly vindicate the idea of America than plain and humble people – unsung, the downtrodden, the dreamers not of high station, not born to wealth or privilege, not of one religious tradition but many, coming together to shape their country’s course?
“What greater expression of faith in the American experiment than this, what greater form of patriotism is there than the belief that America is not yet finished, that we are strong enough to be self-critical, that each successive generation can look upon our imperfections and decide that it is in our power to remake this nation to more closely align with our highest ideals?”
For Obama’s Republican critics, the tired, often ugly, accusation is that the president denigrates the country by acknowledging times in which America has fallen short. To love one’s country, they argue, is to focus exclusively on our triumphs.
Obama knows better. Genuine love of country – patriotism with depth and purpose – involves wanting to make the nation better. It’s about putting one’s citizenship to use. It’s about acknowledging the instances in which we’ve fallen and cheering those who picked us back up.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/thats-what-it-means-love-america
LOVE Ms. Tyson. She is a national treasure.
Check email please. thanks!
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Good morning, all.
Ms. Cicely Tyson. A jewel!
Good Morning, Everyone! :-)