There’s certain music where folks like me aren’t part of the ‘ target demographic’.
But, when the music from the group comes on the radio..
You know all the words!
Demographics be damned….music is universal.
Today’s group is The Beach Boys.
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961. The group’s original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Emerging at the vanguard of the “California Sound”, the band’s early music gained international popularity for their distinct vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a southern California youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance. Influenced by jazz-based vocal groups, 1950s rock and roll, and doo-wop, Brian led the band to experiment with several genres ranging from pop ballads to psychedelic and baroque while devising novel approaches to music production and arranging. While initially managed by the Wilsons’ father Murry, Brian’s creative ambitions and sophisticated songwriting abilities dominated the group’s musical direction.
Released in 1966, the Pet Sounds album and the “Good Vibrations” single featured an intricate and multi-layered sound that represented a departure from the simple surf rock of the Beach Boys’ early years. Soon after the dissolution of Smile, Brian gradually ceded control to the rest of the band, reducing his input due to mental health and substance abuse issues. Though the more democratic incarnation of the Beach Boys recorded a string of albums in various musical styles that garnered international critical success, the group struggled to reclaim their commercial momentum in America. Since the 1980s, much-publicized legal wrangling over royalties, songwriting credits and use of the band’s name transpired. Dennis drowned in 1983 and Carl died of lung cancer in 1998. After Carl’s death, many live configurations of the band fronted by Mike Love and Bruce Johnston continued to tour into the 2000s while other members pursued solo projects. For the band’s 50th anniversary, the surviving co-founders briefly reunited for a new studio album and world tour.
The Beach Boys are often touted “America’s Band”,[1] and AllMusic stated that their “unerring ability…made them America’s first, best rock band.”[2] The group had over eighty songs chart worldwide, thirty-six of them United States Top 40 hits (the most by an American rock band), four reaching number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[2] The Beach Boys have sold in excess of 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time and are listed at number 12 on Rolling Stone magazine’s 2004 list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”.[3][4] They have received one Grammy Award for The Smile Sessions (2011).[5] The core quintet of the three Wilsons, Love and Jardine were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.[1]
TURN is back on AMC tonight!!
https://twitter.com/lawbni/status/587377278117552128/photo/1
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/587766197661241346
https://twitter.com/PrettyFootWoman/status/587752091206156288
I WANT OPTIONS. Because, I will not be voting for Hillary Clinton. EVER.
GOOD!
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/587712333541158913
https://twitter.com/kashmirVIII/status/587754936747831297
Interesting how Brian Grazer turned right-winger during the Obama years, but is now back to being an open-minded maybe liberal – impressed at how Hillary Clinton ‘brilliantly’ injected a bit of what he’d said in his speech earlier on that night, into hers later on, at some award ceremony honoring both of them. Lol.
The next several months and years are going to be pretty eye-opening and extremely instructive. Let’s all resolve to pay close attention.
Did the citizens of Michigan send Debbie Stabenow to the Senate to work for Hillary for president? Does anyone remember ever hearing or seeing Debbie Stabenow these past 7 years speaking up for our President, or at the very minimum, pushing hard for the progressive agenda the President put forward?
Does anyone recall, because I don’t. I’ve seen her more these past few days as Hillary’s surrogate, than I’ve seen her in 8 years speaking up as a Democratic Senator.
Hillary ate at Chipotles today to show she’s willing to get down to the level of the common person. Must be step one in becoming the next great populist leader. Eat their food.
Lol..
She already tried to get down with the sistas. Remember this?
Ametia!!!
All sorts of no!!!!!
BWA HA HA HA Hil really did try to get down like that.
And just on the basis of this ridiculous moment, there’ll be some black folks who’ll tell you how much she likes us and has done for us. God help us.
OMG! No, I haven’t seen this before. LMAO.
Ok. I see how this is going to proceed. They’re going to keep asking and making POTUS and FLOTUS sing Hillary’s praises at every turn. (Can’t wait to hear FLOTUS after the first two times. She’s got this really neat way of cleverly packaging an answer after she’s told you the first and second time and you keep asking.)
Heck they might even strong-arm the Obamas into having Malia and Sasha praise Hillary’s potential as president, on record. Hoping that it’ll turn all of us into believers. Or reluctant supporters at least.
I love them so much and understand that they’re only doing their duty. But God knows that I won’t be supporting or voting for Hillary. Not going to happen.
Bo and Sunny will probably be forced to take pictures with her.
Wait till you hear the media sharing some really cute anecdote about that time Bo, who never trusts anyone and won’t go near anyone, fell into Hillary’s lap and favorite toy in mouth, insisted Hillary take him home with her.
I doubt it. Animals have this keen sense of judgment about people. Me thinks they would probably run in the opposite direction.
Haha, that’s funny but impossible. Bo would never leave his mom.
LOL@having Malia and Sasha praise Hillary.
They don’t want none of Malia. Remember this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOXmVDs_w88
full segment
https://twitter.com/skepticalbrotha/status/587732544386428930
A great injustice which Karma will right.
facing 4 years? FACING?
thanks for telling us this SB
Ok. Now Marco Rubio is ripping off POTUS.
He’s speech is a plagiarized mesh of FLOTUS’ and POTUS’ speeches.
Come on now.
His.
Lmao!!!!! That has to be the funniest shit I have ever seen. I love it!!
I burst out laughing seeing this unexpected gif. Ametia, you’re so naughty!
He’s never had an original thought. Don’t know why anyone would think today would be different.
Why is Marco Rubio ripping off FLOTUS’s DNC speech?
Maybe he’s dehydrated and not thinking straight. Haha!
Lol.. You might be on to something, he’s smacking his lips badly like he’s thirsty.
Taser confusion is a crock of sh!!
https://twitter.com/deray/status/587730820011548672
I’m confused too. Maybe someone can fix whats going on in my mind, cuz these thoughts dont seem rational or real.This dude really payed a fee to go safari hunting using his own gun. U think he shined it up good before his hunting trip? I really can’t with this.
The cops have told so many lies. But the charge of 2nd degree manslaughter clearly indicates that the DA over there agrees it was taser/weapon confusion and the old man didn’t mean to kill Harris, he was just negligent.
And THIS. The lawyer referred to is the Harris family lawyer. So, the first question is why did the old man think he should tase Harris. And why didn’t the other (real) cops stop him? Echoes of Oscar Grant.
https://twitter.com/deray/status/587728479908663296
More…
https://twitter.com/deray/status/587726908483309568
I CAN’T WITH THESE MOFOS
They charged him quickly to keep it out of a grand jury’s hands so they could plead him out. BS. He pulled that gun after harris was subdued. His thought process is flawed. This wasn’t an accident. He wanted to draw his weapon on the guy and shot him. The shot may have been accidental but the drawing a weapon on a man already in custody was not, it was a choice. Serving four years for pulling a gun on a man already face down in the ground is more than a mistake but a clearly made choice to pull out his gun when unnecessary. He really wanted to play cop, didn’t he. GZ with money and power. This is fucked!!
if your rent-a-cop doesn’t know the difference between a TASER and a GUN….
do they need to be in your program?
they need to be SUED INTO OBLIVION
I am already getting emails asking for $$ to counter anti-Hillary ads. GTFOH!
I just unsubscribed to DCCC. I just can’t.
The assault on my inbox is almost criminal
HA HA HA HA I unsubscribe to bullshit DAILY.
https://twitter.com/DaRiverZkind/status/587679754066599938
https://twitter.com/wvjoe911/status/587688984299622400
Lol..
LMBAO Just SHOCKING, I tell you.
https://twitter.com/ranman09/status/587678983564632064
Heard a few callers into a radio show and they spoke the truth.
Police officers serve us and ought not be placed on a pedestal. Stark difference observing the way police respectfully interact with white open-carry folks, and their hostility born out of fear that manifests even in what should be their most routine interactions with black people of every class.
Yup all of this. After 9/11 there was this worship law enforcement mentality, that to question them was almost seen as unpatriotic.
Kirk Says People Drive Faster Thru Black Neighborhoods
April 13, 2015
Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IK) told the Peoria Journal Star that his constituents try to avoid African-American neighborhoods.
Said Kirk: “I want to make sure we have elected people constantly looking at helping the African-American community. With this state and all of its resources, we could sponsor a whole new class of potential innovators like George Washington Carver and eventually have a class of African-American billionaires. That would really adjust income differentials and make the diversity and outcome of the state much better so that the black community is not the one we drive faster through.”
http://politicalwire.com/2015/04/13/kirk-says-people-drive-faster-thru-black-neighborhoods/
UH HUH
UH HUH
………………
Sheriff Compares Killing Of Black Man To Mistake ‘Made In An Operating Room’
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sheriff-stanley-glantz-eric-harris-shooting-error
What kind of mistake? Like having a surgeon who isn’t really a doctor of any kind perform the surgery because he paid to have the experience?
What in the ever living fuck is this?? You’re not holding a scalpel trying to save someone’s life, you are shooting a gun and taking someone’s life. Only in this country would people equate saving life with taking life. Seriously I have but zero fucks left to give to these false equivalency spewing, murder endorsing, fuck wits.
Naw son, you paid to play with a loaded gun and shot an unarmed man.
GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!
https://twitter.com/ShaunKing/status/587705951588843521
Tulsa reserve deputy who accidentally shot suspect charged with second degree manslaughter
Posted 3:02 pm, April 13, 2015, by Dallas Franklin & KFOR-TV
“Mr. Bates is charged with Second-Degree Manslaughter involving culpable negligence. Oklahoma law defines culpable negligence as ‘the omission to do something which a reasonably careful person would do, or the lack of the usual ordinary care and caution in the performance of an act usually and ordinarily exercised by a person under similar circumstances and conditions,” said DA Steve Kunzweiler. “The defendant is presumed to be innocent under the law but we will be prepared to present evidence at future court hearings.”
http://kfor.com/2015/04/13/tulsa-reserve-deputy-who-accidentally-shot-suspect-charged-with-second-degree-manslaughter/
Oh, another thing. Charging the old man keeps the DOJ off their a$$ for awhile at least. They probably figure some slick, scumbag lawyer will get him off. I’d still like to see their whole PD investigated for the pay-to-play program and why they are arming those clowns with guns and tasers.
There has to be PUBLIC PRESSURE to bring about any semblance of justice for our murdered boys and me.
Lighting a fire under their a$$ seems to be what gets their attention. They’ve had it their way for so long. And the Tulsa PD needs to disband that pay-to-play program which is just f**king dangerous as we have just seen.
This is why it keeps happening…
https://twitter.com/ShaunKing/status/587700456597671936
https://twitter.com/democracynow/status/587670300084596736
sigh…
sigh….
…………….
The Indispensable Hillary Clinton
Why she is more vital to the future of the Democratic Party than even Democrats realize.
By Jamelle Bouie
Everyday Americans need a champion. And I want to be that champion.” With that, at the end of a two-minute video released Sunday, Hillary Clinton announced her second campaign for the presidency. This is not a surprise. For the last three years—and arguably, since the 2008 presidential election—she’s been working toward this moment. Now, after persuading skeptics and winning new allies, she is the consensus choice of the Democratic Party. And for all the problems that come with an openly uncontested nomination fight, this is arguably the best of all present outcomes. The party is neither as favored nor as unified as it appears, and for all of her flaws, Clinton is the best chance it has for keeping the White House.
It’s worth looking back to 2007, when Republicans were fighting to hold the Oval Office. George W. Bush began the year with abysmal approval ratings, the GOP had lost both chambers of Congress, and the economy was weak, slowing down to an eventual recession.
Compared with this, Barack Obama and the Democrats look OK. Yes, they faced a second midterm wave in four years and lost the Senate—ceding control to the GOP—but as of this month, the president is more popular than he has been in a year, with an average approval rating of 46 percent. And while his legislative agenda has long since stalled, he’s made ample use of executive authority to protect his core accomplishment—the Affordable Care Act—and advance priorities in immigration, climate change, and civil rights
But none of that will stand if Democratic Party can’t win in 2016. And while Obama and the Democrats aren’t as bad off as Bush and the Republicans were in 2007, they’re not in a good place either. At 32 percent, according to a November survey from the Pew Research Center, Democratic Party identification is at its lowest point since 2008 (although Republican Party identification remains in the high 20s).
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/04/hillary_clinton_s_presidential_campaign_is_vital_for_the_future_of_the_democratic.html
I saw this earlier today. Jamelle Bouie?
It’s disgusting and disheartening.
They few who’ve not been bought with cocktails served with the much colder white man’s ice, are weak cowards terrified of losing their little place – or still holding out hope that if they’re good to Hillary, not only won’t they incur her vindictive wrath and that of her agenda-driven, media-owning corporate benefactors, they’ll get invites to the cocktail parties – and if they really go all in for Hillary, they might even get a taste of that special colder ice, and even a ride in Hillary’s Scooby Doo van.
That’s sadly all our democracy has been reduced to.
uh huh
uh huh
………………
Wealthy donors on left launch new plan to wrest back control in the states
By Matea Gold April 12 at 9:00 PM
SAN FRANCISCO — A cadre of wealthy liberal donors aims to pour tens of millions of dollars into rebuilding the left’s political might in the states, racing to catch up with a decades-old conservative effort that has reshaped statehouses across the country.
The plan embraced by the Democracy Alliance, an organization that advises some of the Democrats’ top contributors, puts an urgent new focus on financing groups that can help the party regain influence in time for the next congressional redistricting process, after the 2020 elections. The blueprint approved by the alliance board calls on donors to help expand state-level organizing and lobbying for measures addressing climate change, voting rights and economic inequality.
“People have gotten a wake-up call,” Gara LaMarche, the alliance’s president, said in an interview. “The right is focused on the state level, and even down-ballot, and has made enormous gains. We can’t have the kind of long-term progressive future we want if we don’t take power in the states.”
The five-year initiative, called 2020 Vision, will be discussed this week at a private conference being held at a San Francisco hotel for donors who participate in the Democracy Alliance. Leading California Democrats are scheduled to make appearances, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Kamala Harris. The alliance, which does not disclose its members, plans to make some of the events available to reporters via a webcast.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/wealthy-donors-on-left-launch-new-plan-to-wrest-back-control-in-the-states/2015/04/12/ccd2f5ee-dfd3-11e4-a1b8-2ed88bc190d2_story.html
WHEN was he ever genuine?
……………..
Marco Rubio Is the Most Disingenuous Republican Running for President
He’s not a reformer. He’s a fraud
By Brian Beutler @brianbeutler Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Most of the Republican Party’s primary candidates have internalized something that was blindingly obvious to everyone who watched the 2012 elections unfold. So long as traditional turnout patterns hold, Republicans can’t keep up with Democrats in presidential contests. To win, they need to alter the turnout pattern, and to alter the turnout pattern, they need to break with GOP orthodoxy in some way.
Jeb Bush is jilting the conservative movement by swearing off red meat, hoping an even temperament will appeal to uncommitted voters. Senator Rand Paul is courting young and minority voters by promising to challenge the surveillance and carceral states.
Senator Marco Rubio, who will announce his candidacy for president on Monday, was supposed to lead a GOP breakaway faction in support of comprehensive immigration reform, but was unable to persuade House Republicans to ignore the nativist right, and the whole thing blew up in his face. In regrouping, he’s determined that the key to restoring Republican viability in presidential elections is to woo middle class voters with fiscal policies that challenge conservative orthodoxy.
His new basic insight is correct. The GOP’s obsession with distributing resources up the income scale is the single biggest factor impeding it from reaching new constituencies, both because it reflects unpopular values and because it makes them unable to address emerging national needs that require spending money.
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121519/marco-rubio-2016s-most-disingenuous-presidential-candidate
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Sunday Long Read: Do Work, Hil
Posted by Zandar
Your Sunday long read this week is from NY Magazine’s Jason Zengerle, as he reminds us that Hillary is going to have to work to win in 2016, and she’s not very good at it.
Bill Clinton could run as a populist and pull it off. Hillary is utterly terrible at it and it’s how Barack Obama beat her in 2008. So unless Hillary starts running the kind of campaign that people badly want Elizabeth Warren to run, she’s in real trouble. Yes, she has better people now (having ditched the odious and racist corporate scuzzbag Mark Penn as her 2008 manager), but she has to be a better candidate too, and so far she’s nowhere near where she’s going to have to be.
“Vote for me because I’m Hillary Clinton” failed in 2008, and it definitely won’t work in the age of Snapchat.
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2015/04/sunday-long-read-do-work-hil.html
“…Clinton’s tenure as secretary of State was distinguished, if not especially consequential..”
Nope.
“…Standing in front of a tapestry replica of Picasso’s Guernica, she was testy, brittle, and, above all, unpersuasive — failing to demonstrate the most elementary political skills, much less those learned at Toastmasters or Dale Carnegie..”
Shockingly true. For all the talk of how brilliant and savvy she is, after 25 years on the political scene with access to the best everything money can buy: advisors, resources, pollsters, focus groups, speech writers, rehearsal time, she still underwhelms with her unimpressive mediocrity every single time.
“…A prominent Democratic operative is still horrified by the spectacle. Another Democratic operative says, “I’m a huge Hillary Clinton fan. I hope desperately she’s the next president of the United States, because I think she’d be a great president. But after that press conference, I do have major concerns about her ability as a campaigner and to get elected..”
Contradictory. How can one be a great president, if one after 25 years including stints as first lady, senator and sec. of state – and the best resources money can buy, can’t even pull off a convincing press conference on a good day?
https://twitter.com/ReignOfApril/status/587619185573912576
Keep it coming for Twitter, Chicas! Eliihass rocked it out yesterday. I had to fight them off but I ain’t scared. LOL!
So did Liza, and Sunshine! Don’t fuck with us! LOL
Amen! I’ma have to keep my praise gif ready for these heavy hitters. They never disappoint.
BWA HA HA HA
Phew. Thanks for indulging us SG. I was literally losing my mind. The whole thing has been too upsetting, and it didn’t help one bit that everywhere you turned, it was Hillary-praise time – albeit, some of it forced.
I don’t know if these people realize that the normal routine of announcing ones candidacy a year and a half away from actual elections, is neither a nomination nor an election win.
You had folks reminding us how they as Hillary supporters embraced then Senator Obama after he won the primaries. And you had to quickly remind them that Hillary has not won the primaries or gotten the nomination. She only just formally announced her candidacy. That’s it. Announcement of candidacy with hopefully several more candidates to come.
Heck, I’ll settle for a good Independent with progressive ideas at this point if Dems are too chicken to give Hillary a good run.
Meet Rafael’s Sugar Daddy
………………
Hedge-Fund Magnate Robert Mercer Emerges as a Generous Backer of Cruz
By ERIC LICHTBLAU and ALEXANDRA STEVENSON
APRIL 10, 2015
ASHINGTON — The two men share a passion for unbridled markets, concerns about the Internal Revenue Service and a skeptical view of climate change.
Now the two — Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, and Robert Mercer, a Wall Street hedge-fund magnate — share another bond that could link them through November 2016: Both want to see Mr. Cruz elected president.
Mr. Mercer, a reclusive Long Islander who started at I.B.M. and made his fortune using computer patterns to outsmart the stock market, emerged this week as a key early bankroller of Mr. Cruz’s surprisingly fast campaign start. He is believed to be the main donor behind a network of four “super PACs” supporting Mr. Cruz that reported raising $31 million just a few weeks into his campaign.
The emergence of rich and relatively low-profile donors like Mr. Mercer could single-handedly jump-start a presidential campaign, said Trevor Potter, a campaign finance lawyer who served as a Republican member of the Federal Election Commission.
It just takes a random billionaire to change a race and maybe change the country,” Mr. Potter said. “That’s what’s so radically different now.”
Mr. Mercer does not have the name recognition of fellow Republican financiers like the Koch brothers or Sheldon Adelson, but he has spent more than $15 million since 2012 in support of conservative political campaigns and causes, donating to a number of candidates who had never even met him. Both moderate Republican candidates and Democrats in states like Iowa, New York and Oregon have found themselves in the cross hairs of expensive attack ads that he financed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/11/us/politics/hedge-fund-magnaterobert-mercer-emerges-as-a-generous-backer-of-ted-cruz.html?_r=2
Sunday, April 12, 2015
And It Happens Yet Again
Posted by Zandar
Another black man running from the cops.
Another white cop shooting and killing him.
Another murder caught on tape.
Deputies wanted evidence on camera.
But when they recorded a sting against an alleged illegal weapons dealer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, earlier this month, cameras also rolled as Eric Courtney Harris ran, and when he was fatally shot.
The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office released the video on Friday. The shooting was an apparent accident, it has said.
The reserve deputy thought he had his Taser in hand, not his firearm, and shot Harris “inadvertently,” according to the sheriff’s office.
In the last minutes of the video, Harris, a convicted felon, lies on the pavement with police on top of him. An officer calls for a Taser. But in place of an electric clicking sound, a gunshot rings out.
Then a voice can be heard saying, “Oh! I shot him! I’m sorry!” Another officer screams out, “He shot him! He shot him!”
Harris, who is bleeding, calls out, too. He’s losing his breath, he says. An officer yells back at him. “You f—ing ran! Shut the f— up!” he yells. “F— your breath.”
The group of officers begin tugging Harris’ hands behind his back as the video ends.
Another name on the list of the dead, Eric Harris.
Another time where a black suspect ends up dead, without due process, without a court of law, but executed by police.
Another raft of excuses as why next time it won’t happen.
Another time where the black community won’t believe it.
And it will happen again, and again, and again.
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2015/04/and-it-happens-yet-again.html
I keep thinking about this. I’m trying to imagine being shot by a total stranger, surrounded by cops, bleeding out on the pavement, calling out, being told to STFU, then it all goes black and I’m dead. That’s a horrible, brutal death, murder in cold blood, devoid of dignity.
It’s heartless & just plain EVIL
Good Morning 3Chics,
Tho I’m not on Twitter, I’ve seen your work yesterday re: Hillary. Please keep it up! Have a good day all.
Signed,
Not (Ever gonna be) Ready for Hillary.
Hi Tyren. Thank you. SG2 rocks it on Twitter.
Honestly, I’m at a loss to even throw out a prediction as to how this might go for Hillary. Right now it seems like she’s going to hawk herself as some great feminist and hope that the “wimmens” (to use Ametia’s word) flock to the polls in droves of thousands upon thousands to vote for her, the greatest feminist of our times. Yeah, right. Hillary breaking through that last “glass ceiling” is what we all are living for, don’t you agree?
This is why these elderly politicians should pass the torch, one of many reasons. They don’t even live in the real world. They are absolutely clueless as to what people are going through in this country. Hillary seems to think she’s going to be some kind of populist candidate which is such a colossal joke that it’s hard to believe that she thinks she can pull it off.
How you ask? Biting Warren (who if not for President Obama, nobody would have heard of) when convenient. Claiming Obama victories as her own (see Iran. Wait for ACA. It’s coming) and her noisemakers in the media (Stephanopoulos, LOD etc) singing that song like they wrote it.
Thank God for the internet and yes the twitteratti to fact check and correct bs.
Yeah, didn’t she already try to take credit for PBO starting to normalize US relations with Cuba? I seem to remember her saying she suggested this to him. Oh, what fun the fact checkers will have.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Last Call For Yes, It’s About Race
Posted by Zandar
The NY Times editorial board drops a brutal piece on the GOP’s effort to try to bury President Obama’s legacy under racist demonization.
It is a peculiar, but unmistakable, phenomenon: As Barack Obama’s presidency heads into its twilight, the rage of the Republican establishment toward him is growing louder, angrier and more destructive.
Republican lawmakers in Washington and around the country have been focused on blocking Mr. Obama’s agenda and denigrating him personally since the day he took office in 2009. But even against that backdrop, and even by the dismal standards of political discourse today, the tone of the current attacks is disturbing. So is their evident intent — to undermine not just Mr. Obama’s policies, but his very legitimacy as president.
It is a line of attack that echoes Republicans’ earlier questioning of Mr. Obama’s American citizenship. Those attacks were blatantly racist in their message — reminding people that Mr. Obama was black, suggesting he was African, and planting the equally false idea that he was secretly Muslim. The current offensive is slightly more subtle, but it is impossible to dismiss the notion that race plays a role in it.
And Republicans, those bastions of liberty and freedom, will certainly call for the destruction of the NY Times and the arrest or worse of its editorial board.
But it’s about damned time that somebody with a press megaphone called Republicans out for their actions in 2015. The country needs to be constantly reminded of this. And until voters choose to punish the GOP for this behavior, they will keep doing it with every Democrat they can find.
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2015/04/last-call-for-yes-its-about-race.html
SG2,
More for the twitter feed.
If Hillary-stans believe that they are going to get a gender gap with White Women, they will be sorely disappointed. Don’t get it twisted. The GENDER GAPS of 2008 and 2012 were caused by NON-White women.
Ask Wendy Davis how depending upon White Women goes for you.
Ask these wimmens about their support of AG nominee Loreta Lynch, ALSO TOO!
*CRICKETS* We SEE’em!
Good point. No support whatsoever that I’m aware of.
Omg for real. At the end of the day these women are about keeping their status quo. For anyone to think hrc isn’t calculating at every step how she can use her gender and race to get something she feels entitled to, are simply blind to reality. She has people who she owes, and it ain’t us, believe that. And those are the people she’s aligned with. Optics aren’t reality.
Those women are SELFISH. It’s all about them, always has been. They’re no more credible about where their alliances lie than the GOP/racist tea baggers and right wingers.
Elizabeth Warren, also, too. Folks just love how these women run around jabbering about issues, yet what ACTIONS will they have the courage to take, once elected?
BBC Mini-Series ‘Dancing On The Edge’ Coming out on Blu-ray DVD Next Month
By Sergio | Shadow and Act
April 8, 2015 at 9:41PM
I don’t know about you, but I was all excited to see the BBC mini-series “Dancing on the Edge” with Chiwetel Ejiofor. Tambay was all excited too about and wrote about it a few times HERE and HERE and Jana Sante wrote an extensive review of it for us HERE
It sure sounded very interesting. The period drama was set in the 1930’s in the U.K. was written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff, and starred Ejiofor, Matthew Goode, Wunmi Mosaku, Angel Coulby, John Goodman and Jacqueline Bisset.
And according to the official description of the show, the series “illustrated the journey of a group of Black jazz musicians – the Louis Lester Band – as they steadily rise to stardom, a result of performing at various elite social gatherings hosted by London’s aristocrats. Although Britain’s climate was flourishing with extraordinary social change, much of the upper-class loathed the idea of Black musicians performing in polite society. Still, the city’s more progressive socialites (including members of the Royal Household) befriend the ensemble and introduce them to posh life. The blissful eminence surrounding the band abruptly changes when the band members are entangled in a murder conspiracy”.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/bbc-mini-series-dancing-on-the-edge-coming-out-on-blu-ray-dvd-next-month-20150408
TV Shows are Becoming the New Film Franchise, and That’s a Very, Very Bad Thing
By Ben Travers | IndiewireApril 11, 2015 at 9:00AM
Reboots, sequels and spinoffs are dominating the entertainment landscape — proving franchises aren’t just for the film world anymore.
Last weekend, the seventh entry in the “Fast & Furious” franchise earned a record-breaking $143 million in three days. Not only is this a heaping ton of cash, but most franchises lucky enough to reach six or more entries start to see a downward trend in dollars soon after, if not even earlier. They don’t typically surpass past entries by leaps and bounds — or, to speak in the language of Vin Diesel’s movies — by so many cars falling out of so many planes and jumping through so many buildings.
In fact, only 19 popular film series have made it to seven or more films — discounting “franchises” like Marvel movies (which is a studio backing many franchises) or all-encompassing labels like “National Lampoon.” And only 10 of those don’t fall into the bountifully repetitive horror genre. Of those 10, only four were still earning more with their seventh film than the films preceding it. The point being, most fans grow tired of film franchises rather quickly. It’s a downright miracle if a film series lasts for a total of 14 hours, and yet that’s barely a season of your typical cable television show.
You may be asking, “What does ‘Furious 7’ have to do with the very best shows on television?” Two years ago, the answer might have been “nothing,” but now it’s much closer to “everything.” What’s the connection? The same thing audiences always claim to hate about Hollywood: Too many sequels.
http://www.indiewire.com/article/tv-shows-are-becoming-the-new-film-franchise-and-thats-a-very-very-bad-thing-20150411
Check Out the First Trailer for HBO’s New Dramedy Series ‘Ballers’ Starring Dwayne Johnson
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
April 10, 2015 at 4:57PM
HBO’s new comedy series “Ballers” will kick off a 10-episode season starting on Sunday, June 21, at 10pm (it’s a 30-minute show).
Looking at the lives of former and current football players, “Ballers” follows former superstar Spencer Strasmore (played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) as he gets his life on track in retirement, while mentoring other current and former players through the daily grind of the business of football.
Omar Benson Miller, John David Washington (Denzel Washington’s son, in his first major acting role), Donovan Carter, Troy Garity, Rob Corrdry, Jazmyn Simon, and Arielle Kebble also star in the series, which is set in Miami, FL, and is created and executive produced by Steve Levinson, with executive producing duties by Mark Wahlberg, Peter Berg, Dany Garcia, Julian Farino, Evan Reilly and Rob Weiss.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/check-out-the-first-trailer-for-hbos-new-dramedy-series-ballers-starring-dwayne-johnson-20150410
https://youtu.be/15lfITfxMDI
Girlhood’ Coming Out on Blu-Ray DVD Next Month
Without question one of the best films of 2015, Celine Sciamma’s film “Girlhood” is genuinely worthy of all the praise that it has gotten. Just read Wendy Okoi-Obuli’s review for the film back in January HERE
And as I said before about the film, when you think about it, there have been, pathetically, few serious films that deal with young black women, which makes “Girlhood” even more important.
Now after its limited theatrical run earlier this year Strand Releasing has announced that it will be releasing the film on blu-ray DVD on May 19th.
Unfortunately the DVD will offer few in the form of extras with just the theatrical trailer (which you can watch below) and an interview with lead actress Karidja Touré. But, nevertheless, here’s your opportunity to see finally a superb film that will resonate long after the emtionally powerful final scene
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/girlhood-coming-out-on-blu-ray-dvd-next-month-20150408
https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/587599374525534208
LOL this is why Hillary and CO better come correct. Trying to erase, co-opt, and water down PBO’s accomplishments instead of championing them and going after the Republicans,….. We’re watching ya’ll!
That’s why they’re already pushing the ‘she’s the only one who will ensure that 16 million people keep their health insurance’ angle now.
Of course they conveniently fail to mention who made it possible for those people to have health insurance in the first place. It’s all co-opting all the time. First they co-opt, then they outrightly hijack, steal, then lay claim.
Obama reminds McCain how foreign policy works
04/13/15 08:40 AM
By Steve Benen
Late last week, Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei took issue with the United States’ characterization of the recently negotiated nuclear framework, though the White House was dismissive of the Iranian leader’s posturing.
“The test of whether or not that framework can be memorialized in a deal is not going to be a comment on any given day by a particular Iranian leader,” deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters Friday.
But in a bizarre twist, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) seemed to endorse the Ayatollah’s credibility over the U.S. Secretary of State’s. “I think you’re going to find out that they had never agreed to the things that John Kerry claimed that they had,” McCain said Friday. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) made similar remarks.
To put it mildly, it was an unexpected development. For months, Republicans insisted, “We can’t trust Iranian leaders.” And yet, on Friday, McCain and Graham suggested rhetoric from Ayatollah Khamenei should be accepted at face value – while arguments from the American White House should not.
During a press conference at the Summit of the Americas, President Obama seemed visibly frustrated by the GOP’s increasingly unhinged approach to international affairs.
“When I hear some, like Senator McCain recently, suggest that our Secretary of State, John Kerry, who served in the United States Senate, a Vietnam veteran, who’s provided exemplary service to this nation, is somehow less trustworthy in the interpretation of what’s in a political agreement than the Supreme Leader of Iran – that’s an indication of the degree to which partisanship has crossed all boundaries. And we’re seeing this again and again. We saw it with the letter by the 47 senators who communicated directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran – the person that they say can’t be trusted at all – warning him not to trust the United States government.
“We have Mitch McConnell trying to tell the world, ‘Oh, don’t have confidence in the U.S. government’s abilities to fulfill any climate change pledge that we might make.’ And now we have a senator suggesting that our Secretary of State is purposely misinterpreting the deal and giving the Supreme Leader of Iran the benefit of the doubt in the interpretations.”
Obama added this isn’t how the United States is “supposed to run foreign policy, regardless of who’s president or secretary of state.” The president concluded that this is “a problem” that “needs to stop.”
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/obama-reminds-mccain-how-foreign-policy-works
Medicaid expansion moves forward in Montana
04/10/15 03:46 PM
By Steve Benen
At this point a year ago, Medicaid expansion in Montana looked like a lost cause, but in early May 2014, Gov. Steve Bullock (D) started arranging some “non-publicized” meetings on the issue. The Democratic governor saw a possible opportunity to advance the policy, so he started quiet negotiations with state Republicans and private-sector stakeholders.
“I think there are a lot of folks trying to come up with a solution,” state Sen. Ed Buttrey (R) said at the time.
A year later, that solution appears to be within reach. The Missoulian reported yesterday on striking progress among state lawmakers (thanks to my colleague Laura Conaway for the heads-up).
One day after a lengthy floor battle to free a Medicaid expansion bill from committee, the Montana House on Thursday endorsed the measure, voting 54-46 to accept millions of federal dollars to extend subsidized health coverage to thousands of low-income Montanans.
“I think this is the right thing to do, it’s the right time to do it,” said Rep. Rob Cook, R-Conrad, who carried Senate Bill 405 on the floor. “Let’s pass this bill.”
Note, the Montana state House is run by a Republican majority, but on this issue, it was 41 members of the Democratic minority, joined by 13 GOP lawmakers, who prevailed.
The local report added, “If the state Senate accepts the one amendment attached Thursday by the House – a likely prospect – the bill goes to Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock for his signature.”
And there is no real doubt the Montana Democrat would sign the bill into law.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/medicaid-expansion-moves-forward-montana
got through 3 episodes of Daredevil in Netflix.
IT’S WONDERFUL!!!!
What’s this series all about? Sounds thrilling!
based upon a Marvel Comic book series – a Blind Superhero.
previously a bad movie with Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner.
Finished it this weekend. Really good show.
The uninsured rate fell to 11.9 percent during the first quarter of this year, 1 percentage point below the rate at the close of 2014, according to the findings of a Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index poll published Monday. The decline coincides with the start of benefits for new Obamacare enrollees at the beginning of 2015
SG2,
for the 3CHICS twitter feed:
Planned Parenthood should come correct. Without President Obama, it would have gone the way of ACORN.
No, we will NOT allow Hillary-stans to attempt to erase the accomplishments of President Barack Obama.
THIS IS SOME STRAIGHT UP BULL-SHIDIGGETY RIGHT HERE:
WASHINGTON, DC — Planned Parenthood Action Fund today hailed Hillary Clinton’s announcement that she is running for the Democratic nomination for president, noting her strong record of support for women’s health and rights. The Action Fund is the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Statement from Cecile Richards, President, Planned Parenthood Action Fund:
“This is a historic moment. Hillary Clinton is a strong and steadfast advocate for women’s health and rights. In our nation’s history, there has not been a candidate for president with a stronger commitment to women or a clearer record on behalf of women’s health and rights.
http://plannedparenthoodaction.org/elections-politics/newsroom/press-releases/planned-parenthood-action-fund-welcomes-hillary-rodham-clinton-presidential-field/
Good Morning, Everyone :)
I finished watching the first season of ‘Mad Men” last night.
I have the first 3 seasons on DVD. I got them for $1.99 each at Goodwill!
Ametia,
so cool!
Watching them like that,…I just think the first 3 seasons of Mad Men are some of the best tv out there.
This series is so retro and really showcases the mindset of the late 50s & 60s where the white men thought they were the KINGS OF THE WORLD!
I think that one of the reasons that I like Mad Men so much is that they never got crazy with the stories. It’s like everything is within the realm of possibility. And their mostly 60’s context is pretty damn good. They cover the major events fairly realistically, the way those kind of folks might have reacted to the times. Other than that, the main actors really bring those characters to life, and I love the sets, the fashion, etc.. And every once in awhile, there is a scene that is just totally unforgettable. Okay, I’ll stop now…but I really do like this show.
I’m enjoying the series, so far. Season 2 tonight! The fashions are great and I love the characters, especially Peggy & Joan.
I think the honesty of what the world was like back then is why I like Mad Men. People today pretending that the ‘ good old days’ were such a meritocracy, when we know it was the delusional world of Mad Men. Not hard to be a big fish if 90% of the rest of the fish were shoved into sardine cans, unable to swim. I’m sure that there was a Black or Latino or Asian guy who was as brilliant as Don Draper…but, they were relegated to being the elevator operator, the janitor, or the delivery man from the local Chinese restaurant.
That’s true, I’ve thought about that. Don Draper came from dire poverty, but saw a way out by stealing someone’s identity which was much easier to get away with in those days. Then in New York, he could pursue a career in an occupation where he had a natural talent ONLY because he was a white man competing with other white men. When he extends that same opportunity to Peggy, more or less, it is without the respect, financial compensation, recognition, and upward mobility that was just handed to him. And she was better off than most because she did make it out of the secretarial pool that Joan ruled like a fascist dictator, totally complicit in the “It’s a White Man’s World” business culture. I think it’s interesting that in the most recent show, Betty Draper Francis tells Don that she’s going back to school to get a master’s degree in Psychology and Don basically laughs at her. Those old boys just never changed, Don, Roger, Bert, Pete, Harry, the whole lot of them. The writers really have done a great job of letting those characters be who they are and keeping their values and beliefs intact. Those folks didn’t embrace change, especially when they were not the beneficiaries.
Good, good, good, Good VIBRATIONS! LOL Ya’ll know these tunes too. Part of our soundtrack of life.