Saturday Open Thread

Posted on March 28, 2015 by rikyrah

I hope you’re enjoying this weekend with family and friends.

Welcome to the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that’s happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. This week, the President welcomed to the White House both student filmmakers and student scientists, hosted the Afghan president, and honored the five year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, while the First Lady championed the Let Girls Learn initiative in Japan and Cambodia. That’s March 20th to March 26th or, “The Magic Page”

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47 Responses to Saturday Open Thread

  2. Liza says:
    March 28, 2015 at 10:08 pm

    Finding Hope In #MarteseJohnson And Racist SAE Videos
    Posted at 6:30 PM on March 25, 2015 – By Bossip Staff

    I love my alma mater. I really do.

    But it was a tiny, pretty much all-white school in the south. And there were plenty of times in my four years there when I had to call on Jesus or Jameson or a nap to stop me from lashing out at some idiot racist.

    At college, I’d been accosted with “Yo homie yo” by drunk frat guys. I had cops called on my Black friends who were scaring White people at a party by simply being there. I heard White people say the N-word more times than I’d like to count. Overall, though, I loved my school. For the most part, I got along with my White schoolmates and professors. Still, it doesn’t take a lot of racism to leave an indelible, painful mark.

    But for so many of us, these moments of racism are topics shared in Black Student Unions and The Black Lunch Table. Generally, we just have to live with these feelings for our four years in college and move on. We’ll have rallies, meetings and ways to present to our White peers that some of the ways they talk to us are unacceptable and come from a place of racism. Sadly, though, there was always a plausible deniability; A “well they’re not talking about me. I’m enlightened.” So no matter how much we’d try to explain our place as minorities residing in these White institutions, we would hear how “sensitive” we are or how we’re “living in the past” or “looking for racism.”

    How many times have you come across a student who you just knew said the N-word amongst his or her friends but had no way to prove they are racist? Or how often did you just know that campus security guard hated your Black Excellence on his campus but didn’t feel like you had enough people to hear you out? I bet there were students at Oklahoma who felt that innate, denied racism when they debated SAE members in Sociology class. I bet there are students at UVA who felt that the ABC officers were following them around for no reason. And the only people they could talk to were fellow Black students.

    That’s why there’s hope in the SAE video and Martese Johnson’s videos. Now the cloud of deniability that was used to make us feel like we were just making sh*t up is gone. Now we have videos and an infrastructure of protest that makes these videos go “viral.” SAE racism (and Kappa Alpha racism and on and on) has been around for decades, but now the subjugated have support and voices to take our issues national. It’s great that there is a community to fight for Martese. There’s a nation of supporters ready to demand that SAE be removed. The same goes for racist baseball players who think insulting a high school girl is okay. For too long, our movements and protests were locally contained, making us feel alone and overwhelmed against institutions that have been around since we were only considered 3/5th of a person. Racism doesn’t have that luxury anymore. All of our movements are united and, most importantly, loud. Racist chants will go viral. Violence against our Black kids will turn into national protests. And schools will be held accountable in ways they didn’t have to address before. It’s beautiful.

    I’ve always contested that college (and the few years afterwards when you’re constantly denied jobs given to White counterparts of equal or lesser qualification) is probably the most racist four years of our lives because we’re surrounded by people who are free to be as racist as they want with little to no consequence. Well, I can only hope that this won’t be the case much longer as we keep holding these students and institutions accountable for the racism that has permeated their campuses for centuries. And for that, Martese’s scars wouldn’t have been created in vain.

    http://bossip.com/1119790/finding-hope-in-martesejohnson-and-racist-sae-videos/

    Reply
  3. rikyrah says:
    March 28, 2015 at 9:53 pm

    Makho Ndlovu @makhondlovu
    “I wasn’t bossy, I was confident. I wasn’t loud, I was a young woman with something to say” FLOTUS Michelle Obama #BlackGirlsRock

    Reply
  11. rikyrah says:
    March 28, 2015 at 8:42 pm

    Gilmore Girls Reunion at ATX TV Festival: 9 More Castmembers Joining Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel
    By Michael Ausiello / March 27 2015, 10:00 AM PDT

    Where Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel lead, their former Gilmore Girls co-stars follow.
    Organizers of the ATX Television Festival confirm to TVLine exclusively that 9 additional castmembers — including MVPs Jared Padalecki (Dean), Scott Patterson (Luke) and Kelly Bishop (Emily) — will join Graham, Bledel and series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino on the show’s reunion panel at the annual TV jamboree, which takes place June 4-7 in Austin, TX.
    PHOTOSGilmore Girls Best and Worst Episodes
    Also on board for the Gilmore event: Keiko Agena (Lane), Liza Weil (Paris), Liz Torres (Miss Patty), Sean Gunn (Kirk), Yanic Truesdale (Michel) and John Cabrera (Brian).

    http://tvline.com/2015/03/27/gilmore-girls-reunion-cast-atx-festival-jared-padalecki-scott-patterson/

    Reply
  12. rikyrah says:
    March 28, 2015 at 8:37 pm

    TURN is on Netflix, in case you missed it on AMC.

    Reply
  13. Ametia says:
    March 28, 2015 at 6:30 pm

    GENIUS!

    1:25 pm ET
    Mar 27, 2015 JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
    Fashion Statement at Justice: ‘Free Eric Holder’ Wristbands

    A new fashion trend is sweeping the halls of the Justice Department for spring – “Free Eric Holder’’ wristbands, an inside joke among Attorney General Eric Holder‘s top aides and supporters about the months-long political standoff over his successor.

    The black rubber bracelets were the idea of Molly Moran, a senior Justice Department official, according to people who have received them. The wristbands, like the kind people wear to support various charities or causes, started appearing on staffers’ wrists a couple weeks ago, when it became clear there was no end in sight to the standoff over the nomination of Loretta Lynch.

    http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/03/27/fashion-statement-at-justice-department-free-eric-holder-wristbands/

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      March 28, 2015 at 5:55 pm

      It’s the media’s deliberate attempt to downplay WHITE MALE CRIMINALS, they try to HUMANIZE these wicked folks.

      Somebody tell me when a black man has ever taken down a plane with 150 passengers and afterwards shown in the newspapers doing charity work. PLEASE.

      Reply
      • eliihass says:
        March 30, 2015 at 1:54 pm

        It’s always about creating a sympathetic narrative about these adults, while demonizing to justify the cold blooded murders of young black boys.

        Reply
  17. rikyrah says:
    March 28, 2015 at 3:57 pm

    The GOP Has to Win Florida
    by BooMan
    Sat Mar 28th, 2015 at 12:02:09 PM EST

    It’s true that political analysts and pundits spend a lot of time talking about home states when thinking about the strength and weaknesses of presidential candidates and their potential running mates, despite the fact that such considerations have never proven decisive. And if these considerations have never proven decisive, then maybe we all put to much emphasis on them. The problem I have with this analysis is twofold.

    First, region is more important than state. In nominating Jimmy Carter in 1976, the Democrats helped themselves throughout the South, not just in Georgia. The same was true when JFK tapped LBJ as his running mate. Region is less important than it used to be, but it can still be a tough sell for the Democrats to get a Massachusetts politician elected president or, say, the Republicans to succeed with a Louisiana governor. In 2016, I don’t think the GOP can afford to reinforce their image as a Southern party, although Florida’s unique demographics and national image present a special case.

    The second problem with the analysis is that Florida is so vital to the Republicans’ chances of winning the Electoral College that any advantage they can get is probably worth pursuing.

    ……………………………….
    The five percent chance that picking Bush or Rubio could win the election simply because of the boost it would give the party in Florida may seem small, but find me any other single factor that can change the odds by a similar percentage.

    And these aren’t the only percentages worth considering. If Mitt Romney had won Florida in 2012, he still would have lost the Electoral College by a 303-235 margin, meaning that the 2016 candidate must not only win Florida but find an additional 35 votes in order to become the next president. To see how daunting that is, flipping Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and Virginia would only yield 33 votes. Throw in New Hampshire and the GOP prevails, but what happens if the GOP doesn’t win Florida?

    In that case, even winning the above states (including New Hampshire) plus Ohio would only get the Republican to a 261-277 defeat. Winning Wisconsin and Ohio, but not New Hampshire would get them a 267-271 defeat.

    Now, I’m throwing New Mexico into the mix here as a potential swing state, but I’m not sure it really will be in play. Obama won it by 15 points in 2008 and 10 points in 2012. Perhaps Iowa and its six Electoral Votes are a better option for the Republicans.

    Any way you slice it, however, the Republicans don’t have very many realistic scenarios where they can win the presidency without winning Florida. So, boosting their chances of winning the Sunshine State by five percentage points is something they absolutely should consider doing.

    It’s not the only consideration, obviously. Picking Ohio Governor John Kasich would boost the GOP’s chances there by 4% and have regional appeal throughout the critical Midwest.

    Ultimately, the most important thing is the candidate, not the state that the candidate comes from. But the Republicans desperately need to win Florida. Without it, the last presidential election they would have won occurred in 1988.

    http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2015/3/28/1229/02649

    Reply
  18. Kathleen says:
    March 28, 2015 at 3:13 pm

    Thank you, Ladies, for posting my requests to the playlist. I was feeling guilty because I didn’t provide the links. And I know I’m late to yesterday’s Scandal comments, but I thought that was the best episode of the new season. I felt so sorry for Michael. I think Scandal’s greatest strength is its focus on the relationships, and I’m glad Shonda and Company brought it back “home”. I was about ready to give up on it this year but that episode hit me where I live.

    Also, too, I have another music request. I’m not sure what category they would fit in, but I think The Brothers Johnson is one of the most underrated groups ever and if you featured them sometime it would be cool!

    Thanks again for all the great music, comments and rants you bring to my day (I’m a big fan of quality rants)..

    Reply
  19. SouthernGirl2 says:
    March 28, 2015 at 1:57 pm

    *blank stare*

    Reply
  20. SouthernGirl2 says:
    March 28, 2015 at 12:21 pm

    Best New Ethiopian music 2013 Bini Lali Zaleyewa Lali Habesha

    Reply
  22. Ametia says:
    March 28, 2015 at 10:25 am

    See & hear media is coddling Andreas Lubitz.

    THIS IS WHAT WHITE AMERICA DOES, HUMANIZE THE EVILNESS & DEMONIZE THE EHTICAL & THE GOODNESS!

    Reply
  25. rikyrah says:
    March 28, 2015 at 8:48 am

    Good Morning, Everyone :)

    Off to swim and run errands.

    Reply

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