Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter and musician, known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits. He has recorded 15 studio albums, 3 Greatest Hits albums, 2 Christmas albums, 2 Gospel albums and several compilations.
Jackson has sold over 80 million records worldwide, with more than 50 of his singles having appeared on Billboard’s list of the “Top 30 Country Songs”.[1] Of Jackson’s entries, 35 were number-one hits, with 50 in the Top 10. He is the recipient of 2 Grammys, 16 CMA Awards, 17 ACM Awards and nominee of multiple other awards. He is a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2001.
All you Cowgirls and Cowboys, 3Chics is going to showcase some country music this week, so put on your boots, hats, big belt buckles and get to steppin. Sing along and let the sound haaannnng out there! :)
Watching the shooting video again and I think what really gets me is how they reduce this grown man Walter Scott to a scared, helpless, vulnerable running for his life. And for what? For a bloody trumped up traffic infraction?
How this heartless police officer casually and coldly hunts down this vulnerable man running scared – as if he were lower than an animal, and his life was without value.
The casual, cold manner he strolls to Mr. Scott’s body, and the using of another black man in uniform to try to form an alibi. And to handcuff the already dead man.
The anger and pain I feel watching this, I can’t even convey. Where is this grown man’s dignity? Is he by virtue of his black skin entitled to none? How is another man because he wears a uniform and is white, allowed to degrade and kill this man in this manner?
And is the black police officer’s job worth more than his conscience and the life of his fellow man that he would be so willing to help degrade this dead man further, and even cover up his murder at the hands of his white colleague?
I joke about “shot in the back while RESISTING ARREST was invented for Black people”, but that is to cover the bile and rage that I feel about it. If he had shot an animal that was running away from him, nobody would defend him.
Watching the Scott family press conference and my heart is just breaking for this family. The lady in the crying and praying is just breaking my heart. God bless and comfort them. Thank God for this video.
https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/585566169345720320/photo/1
https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/585575219009585153
I can’t even begin to imagine just how much further along we might be, and how much would have gotten done if we had a serious Sec. of State like John Kerry instead of Hillary who we spent 4 years indulging just so she and her husband wouldn’t blow up the party or sabotage the President. Which they and their PUMAs still did anyway.
TELL.THE.TRUTH
https://twitter.com/TheRReport/status/585538727117774850
Rand Paul is nothing but a red neck racists dressed up in a Brooks Brothers suit
https://twitter.com/postandcourier/status/585553365066723328
shot in the back resisting arrest
They shot him in the back. Cowards. Evil cowards.
LOOKS LIKE THE GUY IN THE GREEN SHIRT RUNNING AWAY IS AN ENORMOUS THREAT! FUCKING EVIL.COWRDS
One Man’s Lifelong Battle With Obesity
By David Rosenberg
Hector Garcia always felt judged for being overweight—people rarely stuck around to get to know him.
“Where else do you see people getting ridiculed and allowed to get away with it if it’s not over a fat person,” he said. “Food’s the only thing I could ever do that wouldn’t ridicule me, that wouldn’t give me a hassle, it was like my friend and it became a crutch and before you know it, it became disastrous.”
Lisa Krantz, a staff photographer at the San Antonio Express-News, met Garcia in 2010 through his sister, Rebecca Freed. Freed was trying to find a photographer to mentor her daughter in photojournalism. She was also hoping to find someone who would be able to tell her brother’s story so he could find help.
Garcia attempted to lose weight many times—including a gastric bypass surgery in 2000—but a number of factors contributed to the common roller-coaster weight loss and gain many people face. Without private insurance, Garcia was unable to pay for care including weight loss drugs or behavioral counseling.
Krantz spent four years working with Garcia and his family on what she initially thought would be a weight loss story. It turned out to be a much more in-depth story about Garcia’s struggle, his relationship with his family, bouts with depression, a desire to inspire other people to try to lose weight, and, ultimately, his death.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2015/04/02/lisa_krantz_a_life_apart_the_toll_of_obesity_photos.html
Rahm Emanuel Has Not Been Good for Chicago
The hassles and dangers of living in the new global city.
By Edward McClelland
If Rahm Emanuel defeats Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia to win re-election as mayor of Chicago on Tuesday, it won’t be because he’s made the city a better place to live. He hasn’t. Sure, he lengthened the school day, spent $425 million to speed up the “L” trains, balanced four budgets, started a bike share program, and satisfied the courts that the days of “who’s your clout?” political hiring are over at City Hall.
Based on those bureaucratic metrics, Emanuel’s mayoralty may look like a success. And that may be the case if you spend most of your time in City Hall, or even downtown. But most Chicagoans never visit City Hall, and they don’t live downtown. They spend their days in Auburn Gresham, Norwood Park, Hegewisch, or Avondale—the self-contained neighborhoods that make Chicago feel more like a confederation of 50 wards than a single city. And in most of those places, life has become more of a hassle. The libraries are open only half a day on Mondays. (And that’s a compromise after the mayor initially closed them all day.) Speed cameras spit out $35 tickets for going 36 miles an hour in a 30 zone. In the poor neighborhoods where Emanuel closed 50 schools, the children walk farther every morning and afternoon, often crossing gang boundary lines. Water rates have nearly doubled.
These may sound like petty aggravations, but they eventually add up to the question Do I really want to keep putting up with this? Between July 2013 and July 2014, Illinois lost 10,000 residents, in its first population drop since the 1980s—an indication that the state and presumably the city have become less livable.
Leslie Hairston, one of the few aldermen to vote against the speed cameras, complained they were a revenue grab that would drive the middle class out of the city. “I guess this is just going to be a city for wealthy people, that’s where we’re headed,” she told the Chicago Tribune.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/04/rahm_emanuel_re_election_chicago_crime_tickets_hassle_libraries_gangster.html
Nearly 60% of Rahm Emmanuel’s donors received “contracts…business permits or some other tangible benefit.” http://t.co/d0udYIFZKF
— AlterNet (@AlterNet) April 6, 2015
S.C. police officer to be charged with murder in shooting death of unarmed black man
Charleston, S.C., authorities announced the decision at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Read more » http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/04/07/south-carolina-police-officer-will-be-charged-with-murder-after-shooting/?wpisrc=al_alert
He’s in custody. Straight up murder! Gun aimed at the guy’s back…as he runs AWAY!
https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/585464930289262592
WHAT DA PHUQ?????
https://twitter.com/abbydphillip/status/585545826015010817
Spandan chimes in
………….
#IranDeal: Sen. Schumer Steps up to Betray His Country and His President
Spandan ChakrabartiApril 7, 2015
This morning, when CNN had a moment between their breathless coverage of the Boston bomber trial (9,876,431 words to say “Jury deliberating”) and their hard-on over Rand Paul’s entry to the clown car known as the Republican presidential primary, they ran a quick headline that New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer has joined forced with Sen. John “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran” McCain to propose legislation allowing Congress to scuttle the fantastically good Iran Deal now in its final stages of being written.
Schumer actually signed on last week as a cosponsor to Tennessee Republican Bob Corker’s bill to allow Congress a “review” (read: veto) on any potential nuclear deal with Iran that would involve suspending Congressional sanctions. Corker never signed the infantile letter freshman Republican Tom Cotton and 46 other Republicans wrote to Iran, and now we know why: he was busy writing legislation to give shape to that temper tantrum. He, and apparently Schumer, weren’t content with just treason talk, they wanted treason law.
But Schumer chose today – just as the White House is beginning a push for the deal that would put even weapons grade material – let alone a nuclear weapon – out of Iran’s hands through stringent verification and monitoring requirements. Notably, Schumer’s move comes on the heels of Israeli Prime Minister and fanatical Likud party leader – as well as noted racist – Bibi Netanyahu ripping the deal and lobbying the US Congress.
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/main/2015/4/7/senatorfromlikud-sen-schumer-iran-deal
Schumer is a Zionist, what exactly did we expect?
uh huh
uh huh
………………
Tavis Smiley Ponders Whether ‘Empire’ Shows “The Worst of Every Pathology That Black People Have”
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
April 7, 2015 at 2:03PM
Tonight on “PoliticKING with Larry King,” guest Tavis Smiley weighs in on Fox’s hit TV series “Empire.”
Below is a transcript of a sneak preview of the interview, as well as a clip from the episode:
KING: But on the other hand, the hottest show on television is “Empire”.
SMILEY: That is true.
KING: Number one. “Blackish” is doing very, very well. Although someone in the New York Post called that a racist show.
SMILEY: I don’t think that’s the case, but the “Empire” thing is fascinating, because the show is doing remarkably well and yet there are a lot of African Americans, the show had 21 million viewers I think on it’s final episode, there’s a lot of people who love the show, obviously not just African Americans. But there’s a debate in the black community that hasn’t really surfaced, hasn’t really boiled to the top yet, but I hear it in barber shops and other places, Larry, about whether or not the problem with “Empire” is that it advances the worst of every pathology that black people have. Crime, and drug dealing, and this and that, and the other, so I think a lot of people are looking for some positive characters that may come out in the second season, but the first season is everybody’s, ahh!
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/tavis-smiley-ponders-whether-empire-shows-the-worst-of-black-people-20150407
Elections have consequences
https://twitter.com/UniteBluePA/status/585119787912601600
One of my favorites. I’d vote for him for president if he ran.
glad to see these First World problems
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/585482695456772096
LOL Damn, DeBlassio, for tryna actually pay for his son’s college tuition. How dare he be that responsible for his black son.
/SNARK
YEP
https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/585488491443806209
New book by Dick Cheney takes on Barack Obama
Apr. 7, 2015 9:29 AM EDT45
NEW YORK (AP) — The next book by former Vice President Dick Cheney is aimed directly at President Barack Obama.
Cheney’s “Exceptional: Why the World Needs a Powerful America” will be published on Sept. 1 by Threshold Editions, the publisher announced Tuesday. The book, co-authored by Cheney’s daughter Liz Cheney, contends that Obama has abandoned a decades-long tradition of American global leadership. In a statement issued by Threshold, a conservative imprint of Simon & Schuster, the former vice president said Obama had “significantly diminished” U.S. power at a time of a “rapidly growing” terrorist threat.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/fee1dfbd92f44aee980001cdc9df9c07/new-book-dick-cheney-takes-barack-obama
This is truly one unhappy, bitter man!
Why won’t he go away to some jail cell?
My fervent wish is that he’s imprisoned himself in a jail hell of self hatred, bitterness and fear. As the Temptations sang, “You Make Your Heaven and Hell Right Here On Earth”.
The reason is simple—PBO’s presidency is making the GWB presidency look like the major f*ck up that is was, and Cheney will do anything to deflect from that fact. In spite of his efforts to rewrite history, his and GWB’s record of bad governance is in the historical record and will not be changed by anything he says/does. His legacy is damaged, and he knows it. Everything he says/does is intended to change the fact that he and GWB were failures in every area of policy—domestic and foreign.
Jesse Rodriguez ✔ @JesseRodriguez
AP: White House, State Dept., and Capitol all affected by reports of widespread power outages across DC and its suburbs
they voted him back in. they get what they get.
……………….
Maine Gov. LePage: Welfare applicants must apply for three jobs before getting aid
Reuters
06 Apr 2015 at 20:10 ET
Maine Governor Paul LePage on Monday revived legislation to crack down on welfare fraud, making good on a 2014 campaign promise to tighten restrictions on the state’s public assistance programs and help speed the transition from “welfare to work.”
LePage’s bill would require applicants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to apply for three jobs before receiving state aid, while prohibiting use of electronic benefit cards to purchase tobacco, liquor, tattoos, lottery tickets or to pay for bail.
The bill would also ban the use of benefit cards for purchases outside the state.
“This legislation is about a fundamental culture shift in Maine’s economy and government,” LePage, a Republican, said.
Several of the measures had been rejected by the previous legislature, but LePage, who easily won re-election last November, said the reforms deserved a second chance.
“Mainers spoke loudly in favor of welfare reform this November and the composition of the legislature has changed as a result,” LePage said.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/04/maine-gov-lepage-welfare-applicants-must-apply-for-three-jobs-before-getting-aid/
they are evil rotten people
………………..
Monday, April 6, 2015
GOP Health Plan In Tennessee Remains “Don’t Get Sick”
Posted byZandar
Once again Republicans in Tennessee’s legislature have killed GOP Gov. Bill Haslam’s plans to expand health insurance. What makes “Republicans tell thousands of voters to shut up and die” actually newsworthy is that Haslam was pushing what national Republicans say they want as far as replacing Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion: vouchers and health savings accounts. The plan didn’t even make it out of a state Senate committee.
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2015/04/gop-health-plan-in-tennessee-remains.html
https://twitter.com/NHLABOR_NEWS/status/585471684620214272
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/585468666277277696
Beautiful…
https://twitter.com/metaquest/status/585458433014374400
Jeb Bush ‘has the Electoral College’?
04/07/15 11:31 AM
By Steve Benen
It’s awfully early to start thinking about which presidential candidate is likely to win which state – we have no real idea why the Republican nominee will even be – but electability is clearly an important consideration during this phase of the campaign. And the more primary/caucus voters weigh a candidate’s chances, the more various players will try to convince the public that they’re the one with the best odds.
With this in mind, The Hill ran a piece the other day from Eric Ham saying Hillary Clinton may have “inevitability” on her side, but it’s Jeb Bush who “has the Electoral College” on his side.
[The former Secretary of State’s] inevitability – should she decide to run – is real. Based on early polling numbers, Clinton has the path of least resistance to the Democratic nomination. Yet a head-to-head battle with Bush could spell doom, as his advantage in the all-important Electoral College is unquestioned.
Actually, it’s easily questioned.
According to the piece in The Hill, Nevada and Ohio, both of which backed President Obama in 2008 and 2012, “stand solidly in Bush’s corner.” The column also argued, “Bush still enjoys enormous popularity in his home state of Florida, a key battleground state. That enduring popularity, along with the infrastructure of recently reelected Republican Gov. Rick Scott, will give Bush a decided edge over Clinton.”
Florida, it’s worth noting for context, also backed President Obama twice.
http://www.msnbc.com/maddowblog
Good Morning 3Chics,
Tho I love the 3Chics…and the blog too, I can’t do country music. I know it’s ours, but you can have it. All the Charley Pride in my childhood… I can’t. That said, keep on keeping on.
Hi Tyren! 3Chics loves you. We’re diverse in our music. We try to serve all of our commenters, readers, lurkers from the old to the new in our music.
And you are magnificent in that service! I love your blog.Very OT, but I watched the HBO documentary on Frank Sinatra. I would say it’s about us – our country, our culture – as it was about him. While I always admired his singing, I came to a much greater appreciation of his artistry. What a voice!
Hi Tyren. Thanks for stopping in.
Do check out the playlist too.
Lots of choices.
Diversity and options, that’s 3 Chics’ motto!
LOL, yes, and that’s what folks said about BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA TOO!
Rand Paul Joins Crowded Field of People Who Will Never Be President
LOUISVILLE (The Borowitz Report)—With an official announcement on his campaign Web site, Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) has joined a crowded field of people who will never be elected President in their lifetimes.
http://links.newyorker.mkt4334.com/ctt?kn=11&ms=NzY0Mzg1MgS2&r=MjczNzc1MzAwMzUS1&b=0&j=NjYwNjM5NDc2S0&mt=1&rt=0
I never underestimate anything or anyone. Anything can happen in this country as we saw with the returns this past November when normally blue States turned blood red. Never underestimate the power of fear, racism, entitlement. Even formerly liberal-minded folks have had no problem aligning with right-wingers these days, if only to keep power in the hands of those who look more like them.
https://twitter.com/USPS/status/585441725696598016
Yippee! Going to get me a Commemorative book of these.
Me too! Me too! :)
Can we sidebar this EPIC photo, please?
check the pics for sidebar post. it’s the first one.
COOL! SG2 gonna pop it in. LOL
Which was the ENTIRE POINT
…………..
After Bush order, Florida universities cope with shrinking black enrollment
By Robert Samuels April 6 at 4:02 PM GAINESVILLE, Fla. — As he courts Republicans across the country, Jeb Bush boasts that an executive order he signed that ended race-based college admissions in Florida upheld conservative principles while helping minorities.
“We ended up having a system where there were more African American and Hispanic kids attending our university system than prior to the system that was discriminatory,” the former governor and likely presidential contender said recently at a conference of conservative activists.
But at Florida’s two premier universities, black enrollment is shrinking. At the University of Florida in Gainesville and at Florida State University in Tallahassee, administrators say they worry that the trend risks diminishing their standing as world-class universities and hurts the college experience.
The black share of the UF freshman class, for instance, plunged to 6 percent in 2013, the most recent year for which data is available. That is down from 9 percent in 2011.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/after-bush-order-florida-universities-cope-with-shrinking-black-enrollment/2015/04/06/82d1e574-bcfe-11e4-bdfa-b8e8f594e6ee_story.html?hpid=z1
Netanyahu slips, Reveals reason for Opposition to Iran Deal
By Juan Cole | Apr. 7, 2015 |
US television news isn’t very good and it has clearly gotten worse over the past 20 years. In the aftermath of the Kerry-Zarif initial framework deal on nuclear energy in Iran, it seems obvious that an interview with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif would be newsworthy. But to my knowledge none of the networks or major cable news shows had him on.
Or you could have talked to the British, French, German, Russian or Chinese foreign ministers, all of whom were principals and all of whom would have had interesting insights.
Instead, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was given repeated access to millions of Americans to talk trash about the deal over the weekend and to make mostly false allegations about its contours. Israel is a small country of 8 million with a gross domestic product in the range of Portugal. Netanyahu isn’t a party to the deal. He doesn’t have more riding on it than Britain or France. Israel isn’t even threatened by Iran, since Israel has several hundred nuclear weapons and submarines to deliver them. Iran has only old, conventional weapons. Even if it someday had a nuclear weapon, which its leaders say would be un-Islamic and that they don’t want it, Israel has a powerful deterrent.
So what is really going on? Netanyahu let it slip in an interview on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday:
“Secondly, Iran is going to have sanctions lifted, including crippling sanctions, pretty much up front. And that’s going to have billions and billions of dollars flow into the Iranian coffers, not for schools or hospitals or roads, but to pump up Iran’s terror machine throughout the world.
And it’s a military machine that’s now engaged in conquest throughout the world in Iraq and Syria and Yemen, around the borders of Israel elsewhere.”
In other words, Netanyahu wants to keep Iran poor and undeveloped. He wants to make sure that “crippling” sanctions aren’t lifted. He wants to keep Iranians in grinding poverty.
http://www.juancole.com/2015/04/netanyahu-reveals-opposition.html
Lol. Netanyahu ‘slips’.
He wasn’t fooling anyone previously. We’ve always had his number.
NC lawmakers push sweeping anti-abortion bill
Rachel Maddow reports on how lawmakers in North Carolina are pushing a bill that could prevent doctors from receiving hands-on abortion training as part of their education.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/nc-lawmakers-push-sweeping-anti-abortion-bill-423920195934
Party politics: Two small tents, with most Americans on the outside
By Bill Schneider
April 5, 2015
The big tents are shrinking. Republicans and Democrats used to take pride in calling their respective parties “big tents” with room for a diversity of views. That tradition has ended for Republicans. It may be on its way out for Democrats as well.
Some liberals are celebrating the fact that retiring Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada will soon be replaced by Senator Charles Schumer of New York. That’s because Nevada is a swing state. “By choosing leaders outside the party’s home turf,” Ari Melber wrote for Politico in 2010, “Senate Democrats up the odds that their standard-bearers will be distracted by close races — caught between the politics of their constituents and the national party.” Reid squeaked by in his 2010 reelection race with 50.3 percent of the vote.
That’s not likely to be a problem for Schumer. New York is a deep-blue state. Schumer won with 67 percent of the vote in 2010.
The main reason the tents are shrinking is that the number of swing states is diminishing. Congressional Republicans increasingly represent red states and congressional Democrats blue states. Thirty percent of Democrats in the House of Representatives now come from just two states — New York and California.
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/04/05/party-politics-two-small-tents-with-most-americans-on-the-outside/
I don’t know that this article even begins to get it. It doesn’t represent my perspective or that of any Democrat I know.
For one thing, I don’t know any Democrat who’s happy that Schumer will be replacing Harry Reid. And it’s got absolutely nothing to do with swing states. New York has had GOP Mayors and governors (and GOP lite governors like the incumbent), and even now has strong GOP representation in their state legislature.
And our irritation stems from several things, of which the media is part responsible for driving. And we sure as hell won’t let that same media tell us now or ever, how we’re feeling or why we’re feeling how we’re feeling.
Cruz touts radical court-stripping scheme
04/07/15 09:21 AM
By Steve Benen
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was in Iowa yesterday, where the presidential hopeful reflected on the possibility of a Supreme Court ruling endorsing marriage equality. The far-right senator told his audience, “The first thing and I think the most important thing every one of us can do, is pray. Lift up in prayer.”
But as the Dallas Morning News noted, that’s not all Cruz said.
He reiterated his vow to press for a constitutional amendment that would clarify the power of state legislatures to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. If the high court does legalize gay marriage nationwide, he added, he would prod Congress to strip federal courts of jurisdiction over the issue, a rarely invoked legislative tool.
The prospect of changing the U.S. Constitution to block marriages seems a little silly, especially since most Americans actually support equal marriage rights.
But it’s that other part that stood out for me.
“Court-stripping” – or “jurisdiction-stripping,” as some call it – is a fringe idea that doesn’t come up often, largely because it’s just too bizarre for most policymakers to even consider. The idea isn’t complicated: under this scheme, Congress would pass a federal law effectively telling the courts, “We’ve identified a part of the law that judges are no longer allowed to consider.”
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/cruz-touts-radical-court-stripping-scheme
Florida governor’s ‘conscience’ takes a costly turn
04/07/15 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen
It was just two years ago that Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) made a surprise announcement. In a policy breakthrough, the far-right governor said he’d changed his mind about Medicaid expansion through the Affordable Care Act, and Scott wanted to embrace the policy he’d once rejected.
“I cannot, in good conscience, deny the uninsured access to care,” the Republican said in February 2013. Scott added at the time that Medicaid expansion is “a compassionate, common sense step forward.”
The governor’s “conscience” has apparently shifted. The Miami Herald reported yesterday:
Republican Gov. Rick Scott backed off his support of Medicaid expansion Monday, triggering a political backlash and giving the Florida House ammunition in its ongoing budget battle with the Senate.
Scott, who had thrown his support behind expanding Medicaid two years ago, expressed strong doubts about a government proposal to extend federally subsidized health insurance to nearly 800,000 poor Floridians.
For the record, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it has no idea why the governor suddenly doubts the federal funding commitment to the Medicaid program. Nothing has changed since Scott’s 2013 breakthrough decision.
I’ve seen some reports that this represents a “flip-flop” for the far-right Floridian, but that’s not quite right.
As a rule, “flip-flop” refers to politicians who take one position, then take the opposite position, usually for the sake of political convenience or expedience. What’s far less common is the “flip-flop-flip” – politicians who take one position, then take the opposite position, then reverse course again, re-embracing the first position.
Consider Rick Scott’s trajectory
* 2012: The far-right governor, taking advantage of a Supreme Court ruling, announced he would not accept Medicaid expansion. To justify the position, Scott’s office was even caught fudging the truth.
* 2013: The Florida Republican reversed course, accepted basic arithmetic, and concluded that Medicaid expansion was the smart move.
* 2015: Scott reversed course again, ending up where he started.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/florida-governors-conscience-takes-costly-turn
Black Girls Rock 2015 Was Everything: Recap with (Mostly) Full Quotes
Luvvie —April 6, 2015
Black Girls Rock is awesome for the mere fact that it creates space for the celebration of Black womanhood, Black girlhood, Black femininity and Black girl magic. The organization (and show), created by Beverly Bond, takes time to honor us on a grand scale and that by itself is incredible. Why? Because we do not get praised enough, and we’re chastised far too often. Beverly’s work is necessary, significant and powerful.
Last night’s Black Girls Rock show on BET had me throwing my handkerchief at the TV in inspiration. The 2013 Black Girls Rock show was amazing but this one stepped it up a notch. Regina King and Tracee Ellis Ross hosted once again and they came out looking like HELL YES. Just unable to flaw.
This show was extra special because the First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama got on that stage and loudly affirmed to Black girls everywhere that they matter, and they rock.
She took the stage and the first things she said is “Black Girls Rock. Let me say that again. BLACK. GIRLS. ROCK.”
She did that for the upper decks, the nosebleed seats, the haters and the naysayers. Like in case y’all weren’t sure who she is and what she is and how proud she is to be that. And I got my entire life. Because when is the next time we will have the wife of the leader of the free world boldly declare and affirm the value of Black girlhood? WHEN??? The fact that it might not happen again for a long time made me a little bit sad because I loved that moment so much and so hard.
http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2015/04/black-girls-rock-2015-recap.html
BLACK GIRLS ROCK GAVE ME & MY DAUGHTERS SO MUCH LIFE.
Oh Ametia, it was extremely well done and really inspired and made us all walk taller. It made me so proud..
https://twitter.com/HBCUBuzz/status/585175801143894017/photo/1
Awesomely Luvvie @Luvvie
I am CACKLING! First Lady Michelle said Malia and Sasha ain’t influential. “They have done nothing. They just live here.” I LOVE HER.
LOL
This sends a powerful message to our girls that you don’t get by just because of family ties or who you know.
NO CRONYISM- NEPOTISM
YOU GET BY FOR EARNING YOUR WAY & TAKING RESPONSIBILITY.
That’s a real mother in the best sense of that word. She’s no joke.
I know this show has quite a few fans here:
New Trailer for ‘Power’ Season 2
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/new-trailer-for-power-season-2-teasers-for-survivors-remorse-season-2-and-ash-vs-evil-dead-20150403
I can’t wait to see this
……………….
Here’s the Full Trailer for HBO’s Bessie Smith Biopic
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
April 3, 2015 at 3:16PM
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/heres-the-full-trailer-for-hbos-bessie-smith-biopic-20150403
Thanks for this.
Yes! My dad had her records in his 78 collection when I was a kid. I think I must have been 8 or 9 when he told me that Bessie Smith died because the closest hospital wouldn’t admit her. That story made a huge impression on me.
Bill Duke Attached to Direct Mahalia Jackson Biopic
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
April 6, 2015 at 10:12AM
I actually first learned of this a few weeks ago, but I was waiting for some official confirmation, as well as other details on the project (like casting) before mentioning it here. However, checking Bill Duke’s Twitter page, he’s been retweeting articles written about it, which suggests that it’s valid. I did ask him (via Twitter) about it previously, pressing for more details, but he hasn’t replied. So this is all we’ve got so far…
Duke is attached to direct and executive produce a feature film on the life of Mahalia Jackson, which will be based on the biography “Just Mahalia, Baby,” written by Laurraine Goreau, which chronicles the life of the woman who rose from poverty and obscurity to become the world’s greatest gospel singer, and a legend.
The project, which has apparently been a “passion project” for Duke for years, will include many of Jackson’s original music, suggesting that rights have been secured – something that’s often been a hurdle for films on the lives of musicians.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/bill-duke-attached-to-direct-mahalia-jackson-biopic-20150406
https://twitter.com/TuxcedoCat/status/585237034970685440
Rare Screening of Oscar Micheaux’s Groundbreaking Silent Film ‘Body and Soul’ w/ New Music Score
By Sergio | Shadow and Act
April 6, 2015 at 12:33PM
Oscar Micheaux’s 1925 film “Body and Soul” was one the first 12 films that he made, from his start as a director, in 1919 though it’s only one of three from that period for which a print still exists. It is the film that firmly established what could be called the “Micheaux style,” and a seminal film in the history and advancement of black cinema.
Starring a young Paul Robeson is his very first film role, the “Body & Soul” is an odd mix, with melodrama and soap opera, while also being a scathing indictment of the hypocrisy of the black church. In the film, Robeson plays an escaped prisoner who passes himself off as a preacher to swindle the population, until a woman, who he previously sexually assaulted, reveals him for the fraud that he is, in front of the entire congregation.
Actually, that’s one version of the film. In the original version, Robeson’s con man preacher has a twin brother who is in love with one of his brother’s victims. Micheaux was forced to re-edit the film when the New York film censorship board refused to approve it for theatrical showings, claiming that the film would “tend to incite to crime” and was “immoral” and “sacrilegious”.
However, the film has survived; and a rare screening of a newly restored print of it, will take place in Chicago at the Museum of Contemporary Art, on Sunday April 26th.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/rare-screening-of-oscar-michaeuxs-groundbreaking-silent-film-body-and-soul-with-new-original-music-score-in-chicago-this-month-20150406
New Original Series ‘Mann & Wife’ Premieres Tues. April 7 @ 9PM (ET) on Bounce TV (Watch Teaser)
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
April 6, 2015 at 12:43PM
Real-life husband and wife team (“House of Payne,” “Meet The Browns”) and David MannTamela MannTuesday, April 7 at 9pm ET/8 CT.
In “Mann & Wife,” the devoted couple draws inspiration from their real lives to play newlyweds Daniel and Toni Mann. The series follows the couple through the ups and downs of life as a blended family, each with two children from previous marriages.
Life as they know it is turned inside out when Daniel, a police officer from Atlanta, and Toni, a school teacher from Dallas, meet on a dating site and fall in love. When they decide to marry and Toni moves into Daniel’s house in the Atlanta suburbs, the honeymooners – along with their kids – all have to adjust to their new lives together. They also have to deal with David’s overbearing live-in mother and his jet-setting ex-wife.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/new-original-series-mann-wife-premieres-tues-april-7-9pm-et-on-bounce-tv-watch-teasser-20150406
https://twitter.com/JarettSays/status/585188826328367104
Now I know we are in the 21ST CENTURY! LOVE FLOTUS
Yup! And the more the haters tsk, tsk, the more ways and venues FLOTUS finds to “Let’s Move”…
Lol!
I hope the web series An African City can make it to tv
………………….
A Web Series Becomes a TV Dramedy for Leading UK Network Sky, Making History
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
April 6, 2015 at 2:54PM
On the heels of my April 1st post on UK TV broadcasters (BBC and Sky) announcing diversity agendas to improve *minority* representation…
A British web series we featured in late 2012, has been picked up as a TV series by the Sky network, the creator of the series informs me.
Titled “Venus vs Mars,” the series follows “dynamic single girl Venus in her catastrophic quest to find true love,” in a comedy drama from critically acclaimed playwright Baby Isako.
The London-set web series has now become a 10-episode TV dramedy starring relative newcomer, Letitia Hector, and is set to premiere on the Sky Living channel, this Thursday, April 9, at 11pm, with 2 episodes screening each night, airing just after “Scandal,” the Shonda Rhimes ABC drama, which is also broadcast in the UK.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/a-web-series-becomes-a-tv-dramedy-for-leading-british-network-sky-making-history-20150406
Am I the only one who thinks this could go very very wrong?
……………………………….
Sean “Diddy” Combs and FX Networks Team Up for “‘South Park’ Set in Inner City Detroit”
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
April 2, 2015 at 4:31PM
Sean “Diddy” Combs has sold an animated comedy series to FX networks, titled “Brightmore Elementary,” which has been put into development.
Described as, according to Deadline, the series will follow black students of Brightmore Elementary school.
It will be written by Chip Hall (“King of the Hill”) and Detroit comedian Chris Powell, aka Comedian CP.
Combs will executive produce alongside Trevor Engelson of Underground, and Five All In The Fifth’s Doug Banker executive produce.
If ordered to series, “Brightmore Elementary” will join “Archer” on the FX network – the hit adult animated spy spoof series created by Adam Reed, known for its witty raunch.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/sean-diddy-combs-and-fx-networks-team-up-for-south-park-set-in-inner-city-detroit-20150402
LOL
OMG, the possibilities of a train wreck grow exponentially with the likes of Diddy’s involvement!
Congratulations to the Duke BlueDevils!!
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Why Won’t “Becky” Let Black Girls Rock?
http://www.damemagazine.com/2015/04/06/why-wont-becky-let-black-girls-rock
I need to know why White America has such a problem with Black women and girls who dare to love and think highly of themselves.
Why is a celebration of the Black self such an affront to White America’s very existence?
Why does White America continually go out of its way to try to usurp Black beauty with its own?
Why does White America always have to be the star and the only winner?
Why do White people always have to be the point?
Wait, don’t answer. We know the answer to these rhetorical questions: White supremacy and patriarchy apparently won’t enable you to fully like yourselves without hating on us first. BOOM!
uh huh
uh huh
I WISH I COULD LIKE THIS A GAZILLION TIMES!
Bottom line, they can’t be us, so they HATE ON US. Get over it.
And the same people who say they don’t want FLOTUS talking to them or their kids, now get mad that FLOTUS is embracing, inspiring and rooting on young black girls at events like Black Girls Rock!
They’ve got to make up their minds. Really.
Good morning, 3Chics!
Heel toe dosey doe
Scootin’ our boots, swingin’ doors
B & D Kix and Dunn
Honkin’ tonk heaven, Double shotgun
Good time…