We end this week with Bon Jovi.
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi (born John Francis Bongiovi, Jr.), pianist and keyboard player David Bryan, and drummer Tico Torres.[1] The band’s lineup has remained mostly static during its history, with the only exceptions being the 1994 dismissal of bass player Alec John Such, who was unofficially replaced by Hugh McDonald, and the departure of longtime guitarist and co-songwriter Richie Sambora in 2013.[2] In 1986, Bon Jovi achieved widespread global recognition with their third album, Slippery When Wet.[3] The band’s fourth album, New Jersey was equally successful in 1988. After touring and recording non-stop during the late 1980s, the band went on hiatus following the New Jersey Tour in 1990, during which time Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora both released successful solo albums. In 1992, the band returned with the album Keep the Faith. Their 2000 single “It’s My Life”, which followed a second hiatus, successfully introduced the band to a younger audience. Bon Jovi have been known to use different styles in their music, which has included country for their 2007 album Lost Highway. On March 12, 2013, Bon Jovi released their 12th studio album, What About Now.[4]
Thus far, Bon Jovi has released 12 studio albums, plus two compilations and two live albums. They are one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide and performed more than 2,700 concerts in over 50 countries for more than 34 million fans.[5][6] Bon Jovi was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006.[7] The band was also honored with the Award of Merit at the American Music Awards in 2004,[8] and as songwriters and collaborators, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora were inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2009.[9][10]
Johnny Kemp, Y’all!
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/589265571818045442
so sweet
………………….
News Reporter Is Surprised With an On-Air Marriage Proposal
The Minneapolis news reporter received the surprise of a lifetime during a live broadcast.
BY: YESHA CALLAHAN
Posted: April 17 2015 7:28 A
A Minneapolis news reporter thought she was just covering a lifestyle segment on weddings and engagement rings with her colleagues, but it turned out to be much more. Ashley Roberts of WCCO-TV in Minneapolis received the shock of her life when a fellow reporter introduced a fashion expert into the segment, but out walked her boyfriend, Justin McCray.
McCray expressed sentiments of love to Roberts and said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Roberts was moved to tears and even did a “happy dance” before he got down on one knee.
http://www.theroot.com/blogs/the_grapevine/2015/04/news_reporter_is_surprised_with_an_on_air_marriage_proposal.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr%3Acontent%26
uh huh
uh huh
…………………….
April 17, 2015, 06:00 am
Saban hints: Clinton opposes the Iran deal
By Naomi Friedman
Just minutes before Hillary Clinton announced her candidacy for the 2016 presidential election, Israeli Channel One News interviewed Haim Saban, an American-Israeli media magnate and long-time Clinton supporter. Noticeably excited, he explained that she had waited to make the announcement until she had carefully prepared the ground for her campaign.
Then came the big question: What is her position on the Iran deal?
Saban responded carefully, “She will have to, at some stage, express her opinion. But we know that in essence and in every important matter, she is committed to the security of Israel. She is a friend of the State of Israel. And we’ve seen this over the past 25 to 30 years. So, there won’t be any problems with relations between the United States and Israel when Hillary Clinton is president. No problem. On the contrary.”
But Ya’akov Ayalon, the host of the nightly Channel One news pressed on: And where does Hillary Clinton stand on this issue?
“I know where she stands but I can’t talk about it,” Saban admitted.
“Give me a hint,” Ayalon had to ask.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/239091-saban-hints-clinton-opposes-the-iran-deal
Yup. And it’s just day 4.
These pay-to-play Zionist/PUMA billionaire friends bankrolling her campaign will help unravel this desperately choreographed and rehearsed campaign outing.
At some point, releasing carefully worded, poll and focus group tested statements regarding matters long resolved by the rest of the country, will no longer suffice as ‘Hillary’s stance on the matter’.
People will want details. And not just carefully memorized and over-rehearsed generic packaged statements and answers with buzz words and phrases thrown in for good measure before a carefully selected handful of plants.
https://twitter.com/nytopinion/status/589104852887822337
https://twitter.com/UniteBlueNJ/status/589125653590597632
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/589110531312787456
https://twitter.com/VickiMcKenna/status/587617200300761088
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Obama on Racism circa 1995
It is always fascinating to find articles and video about Barack Obama from the past. Recently a group called 22-CityView in Cambridge released the video of a reading and book discussion on Dreams From My Father by Obama back in 1995. At the time he had graduated from Harvard Law School, moved back to Chicago, was working as a civil rights lawyer and had recently married Michelle.
The reading is from what I remember as the most racially poignant part of the book. It takes place when he was 16 and includes the incident when his maternal grandmother was frightened by a black man at her bus stop as well as an interchange Barack had about that with Frank Marshall Davis.
In the discussion after the reading, Obama talks about how he has reconciled the anger he experienced as a teenager and how his faith gave him an optimism about our ability as Americans to deal with the racial divide.
If you can find the time to watch this video (introduction and reading until 25:10, then Q&A), you will be reminded that we have a President who has had his own unique experience of racism and taken a deep personal journey to not only understand himself, but how his life is part of the greater American story.
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2015/04/obama-and-racism-circa-1995.html?spref=tw
https://twitter.com/Mediaite/status/589122013878444033
https://twitter.com/WNTonight/status/589181570801651712
https://twitter.com/Utech44/status/589140095262941184
Sneak Attack on Faculty Collective Bargaining Rights in Ohio!!!
Earlier today, Tuesday, April 14, House Republicans unveiled Substitute House Bill 64, which contained their revisions to the governor’s budget.
Most alarming about the substitute bill were new provisions that would reclassify faculty as managers if they participate in any sort of decision-making at their institutions.
If faculty are managers, then they are not employees, which means they are ineligible to participate in collective bargaining.
The Legislative Service Commission’s comparison document of the executive budget versus the current version explains how the current version would change Ohio Revised Code Section 4117:
–Specifies, for the purposes of Ohio’s Public Employees’ Collective Bargaining Law, that faculty members of state institutions of higher education are considered supervisors or management level employees if they participate in decisions with respect to courses, curriculum, personnel, or other matters of academic or institutional policy.
–Specifies further that faculty members are considered management level employees if they participate in the governance of the institution (either individually or through a faculty senate or like organization), or are involved in personnel decisions, the selection or review of administrators, planning and use of physical resources, budget preparation, and determination of educational polices related to admissions, curriculum, subject matter, and methods of instruction and research.
–Results in either type of faculty members not being eligible to engage in collective bargaining unless the employer elects to do so. (Currently the employer must collectively bargain if the faculty members elect to do so.)
Plain and simple, this is an attempt to eliminate faculty unions at Ohio’s public colleges and universities.
http://academeblog.org/2015/04/14/sneak-attack-on-faculty-collective-bargaining-rights-in-ohio/
MEDIA ALERT:
ORPHAN BLACK returns tomorrow!!
BBCAmerica. 9pm EST!!
https://twitter.com/VailDance/status/588823026235506688
https://twitter.com/EBONYMag/status/589155102952267776/photo/1
Wishing you a speedy recovery, Kareem!
APRIL 17, 2015 8:01 PM • LOG IN • REGISTER
Director Nelson George Brings African American Ballerina Movie to Tribeca Film Festival
Director talks discovering the story of African American ballet soloist Misty Copeland
by Kandia Johnson Posted: April 17, 2015
“A Ballerina’s Tale,” a documentary about African American ballet soloist Misty Copeland, will make its debut on Sunday, April 19, 2015 at the Tribeca Film Festival. Recently named one of “Time Magazine’s Most Influential People,” Copeland, a rarity in the ballet world, is simply unstoppable.
http://www.blackenterprise.com/lifestyle/director-nelson-george-brings-african-american-ballerina-movie-tribeca-film-festival/
https://twitter.com/vj44/status/589193677513318400/photo/1
https://twitter.com/WLBT/status/589113131361771522/photo/1
DALAYYYY @TheToast2015
When white people protest, they are patriots. When black people protest, they are enemy forces. #ferguson
https://twitter.com/CBSPhilly/status/589205508344520704
https://twitter.com/michele_norris/status/589196507389132801
uh huh
uh huh
get DA PHUQ OUTTA HERE
……………………………..
White Texas girls blame society for their racist rap about lynching black boys
TRAVIS GETTYS
16 APR 2015 AT 12:38 ET
Two white girls sent letters of apology after classmates shared a racist rap song they recorded about lynching black boys who found them sexually attractive.
The girls, whose names were not released, said they recorded the improvised rap two years ago as freshmen at Grapevine High School and did not fully understand the implications of their actions, reported Daily Kos.
……………………
The girls repeatedly threaten to kill black boys who look at them sexually and make stereotypical references to black penis size, in addition to homophobic comments and offensive remarks about Latino and Asian-American students.
The girls, however, insist they are not bigoted.
“The song does not portray in any way how I actually feel about people,” one of the girls wrote. “I am a very open-minded person and I enjoy being part of a diverse family and diverse community. I am being raised to be respectful of all people, cultures and differences.”
The other girl said they were only mirroring the society they grew up in.
“As kids, we hear racist jokes all times of the day,” she said. “It’s what we’re around, it’s the jokes we heard.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/04/white-texas-girls-blame-society-for-their-racist-rap-about-lynching-black-boys/
LUVVIE’S RECAP IS UP
…………………..
I’m Just A Bill and Papa Pope is Back: Scandal Episode 419 Recap
Luvvie — April 17, 2015
Shoutout to the Scandal team for the Schoolhouse Rock hat tip on the title of this episode: “I’m just a bill.” Check out my Vulture recap for the short!
http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2015/04/im-just-a-bill-and-papa-pope-is-back-scandal-episode-419-recap.html
‘This is not Bundy Ranch’: Oregon miners beg militia nuts to stop threatening federal agents
TThe owner of a southwestern Oregon mining claim embroiled in a land-use dispute with federal authorities asked militia groups Thursday afternoon to stop sending volunteers to back him against government agents.
“We don’t need any more volunteers, we’re not under attack, this is not the Bundy Ranch,” said Rick Barclay, co-owner of the Sugar Pine Mining Claim, told the Mail Tribune. “Please stop calling the BLM and threatening their personnel.”
…Barclay said he and co-owner George Backes feared the BLM would remove or destroy their equipment before they had a chance to appear in court, so he contacted the pro-gun group made up of current and former law enforcement and military personnel.
The Oath Keepers issued an action alert, which was shared across social media by militia groups and other like-minded organizations, and armed volunteers carrying survival gear began showing up anticipating a possible government showdown.
Some of the same groups and individuals who backed Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy in his armed dispute with the BLM set up a staging area on private property near the mining claim – creating what Barclay called a “circus.”
“What you’re seeing is mostly a spectacle caused by social media and ‘keyboard commandos’ whooping it up,” he said. “A lot of the stuff going around on social media is absolute bullsh*t.”
Militia members, however, continue to call on social media for more volunteers to join them in Oregon, warning that the mine owner’s “stand-down” order was reported by untrustworthy “mainstream media” organizations…
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/04/this-is-not-bundy-ranch-oregon-miners-beg-militia-nuts-to-stop-threatening-federal-agents/
Estate Tax: GOP Serves Its Masters
by BooMan
Fri Apr 17th, 2015 at 05:11:35 PM EST
I guess that I basically disagree with Paul Waldman because I don’t think that Republican members of Congress want to repeal the Estate Tax because it’s just their nature to want to repeal the Estate Tax. I think they want to do it because their party basically exists purely to serve the interests of people who have vast amounts of wealth to leave in inheritances.
Any why shouldn’t fabulously wealthy people have a political party all their own?
The problem only arises in our two-party system where these fat cats fully own one party and are majority owners of the other. Making politics so expensive that only they can fund it is their game.
But getting politicians is easy. The votes are a bit harder, which is why the GOP goes to such lengths to disguise who it serves.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2015/4/17/171135/775
EEEEEEEEKKKKK!!!!
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Official Teaser #2
https://youtu.be/ngElkyQ6Rhs
https://twitter.com/psddluva4evah/status/589189234243854336
If I was a drinking woman, I’d be on my third scotch after the week I’ve had.
SO happy to see Friday come.
I feel you, Rikyrah.
I’ve got to get this Elizabeth Alexander book she read from at this White House event today; Such a beautiful tribute to her Eritrean husband who died suddenly at 50. Brought me to tears.
The book is ‘The Light of the World: A Memoir’. Fast-forward to about 43:00; that’s when the event starts on the video above.
OH NOEZ, LOOK AT THAT ANGRY BLACK MAN!
Tell the TRUTH, Mr. President.
these mofos here
https://twitter.com/ForbesWoman/status/589073329782448128/photo/1
Told ya. Meanwhile the outgoing Social Secretary Jeremy Bernard is also a college drop-out, but you never heard anyone mention that, nor was it the lede into any story about him..
These people are so predictable. Watch them because they’re going to keep trying to belittle this competent hard worker. And some skin-folk including those who’d held the job before (and had hoped to remain the ‘only’) and those who thought they’d be getting the job but were passed over, are very much a part of and behind the baseless and tiresome sniff sniff.
Ask Scott Walker, who is running for POTUS about his college days.
tell it Ametia!
of course not. they’re always about feeding the Military Industrial Complex
…………
Boehner hoping there’s no Iran deal
By Ben Kamisar – 04/17/15 10:48 AM EDT
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Friday said he hopes the Obama administration fails to reach a deal on Iran’s nuclear program.
Boehner said he did not believe Iran would ever live up to its side of a bargain that would lift U.S. sanctions on Tehran.
“I’ve never been optimistic that we’d get to an agreement, a real agreement that would stop the nuclear threat from Iran and I don’t think the Iranians have any intention of giving up their desire for a nuclear weapon,” Boehner told Fox Business Channel’s “Opening Bell with Maria Bartiromo.”
Asked whether he’s expecting an agreement, Boehner said: “I would hope not.”
“I don’t think we can get to agreement with people who have no intention of keeping the agreement,” he added.
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/239207-boehner-hoping-theres-no-iran-deal
says the mofo who has never had a real job
………………
Jeb Bush Wants To Gradually Raise The Retirement Age
ByDANIEL STRAUSS
PublishedAPRIL 17, 2015, 10:38 AM EDT
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) said Friday that the national retirement age needs to be raised “in relatively short order.”
“I think we need to raise the retirement age, not for the people that already nearing —receiving Social Security that are already on it [sic], but raise it gradually over a long period of time for people that are just entering the system,” Bush said Friday during a speech in New Hampshire.
Bush’s comments on Friday follow New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) laying out a detailed proposal for cutting Social Security spending and raising the retirement age from 67 to 69. Bush didn’t specify what he would like to raise the retirement age to during his speech on Friday.
“And I think we need to do that in relatively short order. And social security can be sustained just as it was in the 1980s when Ronald Reagan, Tip O’Neill, Dan Rostenkowski I guess was probably in it, Bob Packwood —this group of people very conservative, very liberal, and in between— forged consensus on how to sustain Social Security over the long haul,” Bush continued.
The former Florida governor’s comments were more specific than a statement provided to TPMby Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, another Republican governor who has taken steps toward running for president in 2016, which said that he also wants to see “significant reforms” to entitlement programs.
Bush, like Christie, also signaled that he would like to see changes to the Social Security Disability Trust Fund. In Christie’s plan he suggested support for House Republicans’ move to try and leverage changes to the program by blocking a routine funds transfer between the disability fund and retirement fund. Bush, in his speech, that changes needed to the disability trust fund and Medicare “which is, are going to cause big, big contingent liabilities.”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/jeb-bush-social-security-retirement-age
https://twitter.com/_Iwishyouwould/status/589107486696824832
Jeb Bush: raise the retirement age
04/17/15 11:27 AM
facebook twitter 2 save share group 32
By Steve Benen
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), looking for a way to break through in the Republican presidential race, announced his support for major “reforms” to social-insurance programs this week, including a call to raise the retirement age to 69.
In the larger political context, the question was whether – and when – the more competitive GOP candidates would follow suit. Now we know.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) said Friday that the national retirement age needs to be raised “in relatively short order.”
“I think we need to raise the retirement age, not for the people that already nearing – receiving Social Security that are already on it [sic], but raise it gradually over a long period of time for people that are just entering the system,” Bush said Friday during a speech in New Hampshire.
The Florida Republican didn’t say, exactly, what the new retirement age would be under this vision, only that he’d like to see it happen soon.
All of this unfolded on video, which means that voters are likely to be reminded of this quote many times in the coming months, especially if Jeb Bush wins his party’s nomination.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/jeb-bush-raise-the-retirement-age
08/19/2014 National Guard member:‘You want to get out of here b/c you’re white, b/c these n-words, you never know what they’re going to do.’
Alrighty then..
Bon Jovi!
Rikyrah is bringing it this week. Love Bon Jovi.
THIS ONE, RIGHT HERE
Yes ma’am.
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/589056910134906881
Yes, because how dare they drag their black asses from the Mother Land and bring them chained to America!
Reid rattles GOP with Lynch vote threat
Frank Thorp, NBC News Capitol Hill producer, talks with Rachel Maddow about Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s threat to force a confirmation vote on Loretta Lynch if Mitch McConnell doesn’t act soon, and how the Senate calendar is likely to play out
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/reid-rattles-gop-with-lynch-vote-threat-429447235912
Leading Republicans differ over armed ‘insurrection’
04/17/15 08:40 AM
By Steve Benen
Nearly five years ago, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate named Sharron Angle used a phrase that was as memorable as it was alarming: her political vision included “Second Amendment remedies.” At the time, Angle’s point was that if conservatives disapproved of policies adopted by elected officials, Americans might want to consider armed violence against their own country.
We learned last year that Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), before her election, endorsed a similar perspective. The right-wing Iowan said at an NRA event that she carries a firearm “virtually everywhere,” in case she needs to defend herself “from the government, should they decide that my rights are no longer important.”
This year, it’s Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) who’s dipping his toes in the same waters. Sahil Kapur reported yesterday that the far-right presidential candidate is taking the “uncommon” view that the Second Amendment “includes a right to revolt against government tyranny.”
“The 2nd Amendment to the Constitution isn’t for just protecting hunting rights, and it’s not only to safeguard your right to target practice. It is a Constitutional right to protect your children, your family, your home, our lives, and to serve as the ultimate check against governmental tyranny – for the protection of liberty,” Cruz wrote to supporters in a fundraising email on Thursday, under the subject line “2nd Amendment against tyranny.”
This “insurrectionist” argument, as Second Amendment expert and UCLA law professor Adam Winkler calls it, is popular among passionate gun owners and members of the National Rifle Association. But major party candidates for president don’t often venture there.
Winkler told TPM, “It’s pretty rare for a presidential candidate to support the right of the people to revolt against the government.”
At least it used to be. In the American mainstream, when the people are dissatisfied with the government’s direction, we don’t need to take up arms or threaten violence – we have elections. Your right to vote exists; your right to armed conflict against Americans does not.
Cruz’s radicalism was enough to draw a rebuke from a fellow Republican and likely White House rival.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/leading-republicans-differ-over-armed-insurrection
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/588845980994244608
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/588848713449082880
https://twitter.com/GovernorOMalley/status/588832724934336512
https://twitter.com/sonamie/status/588820722216214530
I look at that shifty-eyed weasel and think ‘snake’! He is a bonehead!
this is who the GOP is all the way
two hundred million over FOUR YEARS?
FOR YEARS?
………………….
College of DuPage backers with exclusive deals rake in millions
Officials at the College of DuPage have a long list of items to turn over to federal investigators by next week, including a trove of documents related to contracts with companies tied to board members for the school’s fundraising foundation.
Here’s what those records will show: Nearly half of the College of DuPage Foundation’s 22 most recent board members are executives at companies doing business with the publicly funded school, and many of those companies have been awarded jobs without going through a competitive selection process, according to a Tribune investigation.
Those businesses have billed the college for nearly $200 million since July 2010 — while also ranking among the foundation’s most generous donors. The Tribune’s investigation, examining many of the same documents now being sought by federal authorities, raises questions about the confluence of business dealings and fundraising at the state’s largest community college.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/ct-college-of-dupage-foundation-contracts-20150416-story.html#page=1
Obama appoints new Social Secretary
President Obama has named a new White House Social Secretary, promoting deputy Deesha Dyer to the top job.
“Deesha shares our commitment to a White House that reflects America’s history, highlights our culture, and celebrates all Americans,” Obama said in a statement. “Michelle and I look forward to working with her in this new role as we welcome visitors from across the country and around the world to the People’s House.”
Dyer, 37, replaces Jeremy Bernard as Social Secretary, the person who organizes White House events ranging from formal state dinners to the annual Easter Egg Roll.
Mrs. Obama, noting that Dyer started in the Social Office two years ago, praised her passion and creativity.
“Whether helping flawlessly execute state dinners, or going the extra mile to open the White House to people who never dreamed they would walk through these doors, Deesha has worked tirelessly to truly make the White House the ‘People’s House,'” the first lady said.
Dyer said she is honored by the appointment as White House Social Secretary.
“I am constantly inspired by the openness, diversity, and traditions of this Administration,” she said.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2015/04/17/obama-michelle-deesha-dyer-social-secretary/25895139/
You know, I have nothing to say about this
I’m just going ummmmmmm
……………………………….
Meet the Cast of ‘Desperate Housewives – Africa’ + the Characters from the American Original They Each Play (Premieres in 2 Weeks)
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
April 16, 2015 at 7:25PM
Announced at MIPCOM 2013 (the international TV and entertainment market held in Cannes once every year; where content is introduced for co-producing, buying, selling, financing and distributing), Ben Pyne, president of global distribution at Disney, revealed that an “African version” of “Desperate Housewives” (the once comedy/drama series created by Marc Cherry, and broadcast on ABC from 2004 until 2012) was in development, for a summer 2014 debut.
The co-production deal was made with Nigeria-based EbonyLife TV (no affiliation with Ebony magazine) – a multi-platform broadcaster, and subsidiary of Media and Entertainment City Africa (MEC Africa) in Cross River State, Nigeria, run by Mo Abudu (aka Africa’s Oprah Winfrey, as she’s come to be known).
“Desperate Housewives” the “African version” will feature a pan-African cast, and will be set in Lagos, Nigeria, where it’s apparently been be shot, although its premiere date, as I only just learned, is now set for next month (not the initially-announced summer 2014 date – obviously), when it will air in 44 countries within the continent.
“We are going to make it relevant, number one, by using local talent — talent that our viewers will know and love; two, we are going to work with local stylists, local fashion designers, local interior designers,” said Mo Abudu, CEO and executive chairman in a statement almost 2 years ago. “We are going to give the stories an African flavor. We will localize it, because there’s nothing that the West has that Africa doesn’t have: we love, we fight, we kiss, we make up. We like all the good things in life. There’s good and there’s evil globally. So all those human interests, those things that appeal to you, believe me, appeal to us also.”
The original ABC TV series followed the dramatic lives of a group of women, over a 13-year period, and 8 seasons, as seen through the eyes of a dead neighbor who committed suicide in the very first episode.
The series has seen remakes in Turkey, Colombia, and Brazil, since its debut, and now heads to Nigeria.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/meet-the-cast-of-desperate-housewives-africa-the-characters-from-the-american-original-they-each-play-premieres-in-2-weeks-20150416
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Republican Loyalty Israeli Up For Debate
Posted by Zandar
If you want to know where years of Obama Derangement Syndrome has gotten us, then the latest Bloomberg Politics poll on Israel is a real eye-opener and more than a bit disturbing.
The latter I can understand, with FOX News and talk radio training Americans to openly hate their president on a daily basis. But the former means two-thirds of Republicans are willing to commit nothing short of treason, and the notion (often repeated by these same Republicans) that we have to “take our country back” means something entirely more sinister in light of this information.
When your Obama Derangement Syndrome manifests in a desire to help a foreign ally undermine the United States government, you have a problem. Republicans will tell you it’s okay because hey, they don’t recognize President Obama anyway (and hell they think he’s actually the Antichrist.)
Gotta love modern GOP “patriotism”. Towards Israel, over America, because screw Obama.
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/2015/04/republican-loyalty-israeli-up-for-debate.html
Papa Pope Returns to ‘Scandal’ – Watch a “Best of Papa Pope” Mashup
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
April 16, 2015 at 3:27PM
Papa Pope (as played by Joe Morton) returns to “Scandal,” and to prepare for his “epic” return (according to ABC), here’s a compilation of his very best lines through the years, also courtesy of ABC.
Watch the video (you’ll also find each line) below. The hastag ABC has set up is #PapaPopeIsBack, for all you “Scandal” freaks out there…
1) “Hello Olivia.”
2) “I am the hell and the high water.”
3) “You have to be what? Twice as good as them to get half of what they have.”
4) “Don’t use the person that I made to make you into a man. You’re a boy.”
5) “You know how people say I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you at parties and then everyone laughs? I could tell you but then I would have to kill you. We’re not at a party and I am not laughing.”
6) “There would be no Olivia Pope if not for me! You just shot your own father?!? You just shot me.”
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/papa-pope-returns-to-scandal-watch-a-best-of-papa-pope-mashup-20150416
https://youtu.be/-eQ97RSiVis
did Papa Pope have Jake taken out?!!!
seems like that, Ametia.
Papa Pope stays winning.
Watch ‘The Way of All Flesh’ – Documentary On “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” (Film Adaptation Still in Limbo)
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
April 16, 2015 at 1:08PM
I’m currently re-reading “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” the non-fiction book by Rebecca Skloot, which Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films optioned in 2010, to adapt into a feature film for HBO. Although there hasn’t been much development news since that initial announcement, which is unfortunate. I hope the project isn’t dead. If you know otherwise, or have some insider info on it, fill the rest of us in.
It’s a book I first read when the announcement of Oprah’s option was made, and I picked it up again over the weekend, looking for a specific passage in it, and instead found myself re-reading the book all over again, if only because I couldn’t find what exactly I was looking for. It’s also a captivating read.
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” tells the story of Lacks, a poor African America Baltimore mother of five who died of cervical cancer in 1951 at age 31, and whose cancerous cells, removed and cultured from her body, for medical research, by doctors at Johns Hopkins (without her family’s knowledge), led to significant breakthroughs in medical research, ranging from aiding the development of the cure for polio to AIDS-related treatments, and much more.
But that doesn’t even begin to really uncover the story of this mostly unknown black woman, her family, and the critical contributions she unknowingly made to science. There’s a lot of meat here, and I can see why Oprah would be interested in making a film based on Lack’s story, and aftermath.
The book was published in February of 2010, and I encourage you to pick up a copy if you haven’t. You can buy it here.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/watch-the-way-of-all-flesh-documentary-on-the-immortal-life-of-henrietta-lacks-20150416
Tell Us Something We Don’t Know, Linc
by BooMan
Thu Apr 16th, 2015 at 12:28:29 PM EST
For those of us who are going through the process of trying to reconcile ourselves to the “inevitability” of a Clinton family takeover of the Democratic Party, it seems that Lincoln Chafee wants to make the process as painful as possible by refusing to let us forget why we put all our sweat and tears into Obama’s campaign eight years ago.
Chafee, a former Republican and former senator, announced he was forming an exploratory committee last week. Chafee’s been differentiating himself from fellow Democratic primary contenders by taking sharp jabs at Clinton, willing to be more critical than would-be challengers former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley or former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb over her vote in Congress to authorize the war in Iraq.
“That was a moment where the premise for going to Iraq was so false that there were weapons of mass destruction; she didn’t do her homework. We live with the ramifications,” Chafee told CNN’s “State of the Union” over the weekend. “You may say that’s 12 years ago — that’s a big motivator for me running. If you show a lack of judgment, lack of doing homework then, what can we expect in the future?”
He’s right, of course, which is why picking at the scab is so irritating.
It’s even irritating to complain about it being irritating.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2015/4/16/122829/518#33
“…For those of us who are going through the process of trying to reconcile ourselves to the “inevitability” of a Clinton family takeover of the Democratic Party…”
Thank God I don’t fall into this category.
And thanks to Mr Chafee for doing the important truth-telling top Democrats are unwilling to do.
GOP passes massive tax break for millionaires, billionaires
04/16/15 04:41 PM—UPDATED 04/16/15 06:59 PM
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By Steve Benen
In recent months, high-profile Republicans, sounding quite a bit like class warriors, have complained bitterly about the wealthy benefiting most from the recent economic recovery. Even House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), without a hint of irony, complained that recent trends point to “exacerbated inequality.” The far-right congressman added that only “the wealthy are doing really well.”
It’s genuinely impossible to reconcile Republican rhetoric and Republican priorities in light of votes like these.
The House voted Thursday to repeal the estate tax, a longtime priority of Republicans that also spurred Democratic charges that the GOP is in the pockets of the rich. […]
The White House has threatened to veto the measure, and the bill does not appear to have the 60 votes necessary to break a Democratic filibuster and get through the Senate.
The final tally was 240 to 179, with nearly every GOP lawmaker voting for it and nearly every Democrat voting against it.
When describing Republican tax proposals, it’s not uncommon to talk about policies that disproportionately benefit the very wealthy. GOP proponents will say a bill benefits all taxpayers, but they’ll brush past the fact that the rich benefit most. This, however, is altogether different – today’s bill, called the “Death Tax Repeal Act,” quite literally benefits multi-millionaires and billionaires exclusively.
It’s not an exaggeration to say House Republicans, en masse, voted for a $269 billion giveaway to the top 0.2%. Under the plan, GOP lawmakers, who occasionally pretend to care about “fiscal responsibility,” would simply add the entire $269 billion cost to the deficit, leaving future generations to pay for a massive tax break for the hyper-wealthy.
Wait, it gets worse.
Asked about the bill this week, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters, “[The] estate tax’s repeal is long overdue. Remember, all of this money that families have saved has all been taxed, much of it multiple times. And then if you die, we’re going to tax you again. I think it’s totally unfair.”
Regrettably, the Speaker isn’t just trying to give the hyper-wealthy a $269 billion tax break for no reason, he’s also confused about the basics of the policy he’s championing.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/gop-passes-massive-tax-break-millionaires-billionaires
Louisiana goes for broke with discrimination bill
04/17/15 08:00 AM—UPDATED 04/17/15 08:15 AM
By Steve Benen
As marriage equality takes root as the legal norm in much of the country, opponents of equal-marriage rights have adopted a new set of tactics. Whereas it was common a decade ago to see Republicans pushing anti-gay constitutional amendments – at the state and federal level – right-to-discriminate measures have clearly become the new weapon of choice.
Arizona generated national attention last year with its foray into this area, but a gubernatorial veto quickly ended the fight. This year, Indiana created a firestorm with its discrimination statute, which policymakers were soon after willing to “fix.” Arkansas scaled back its far-right drive in this area soon after.
But msnbc’s Jane C. Timm reported yesterday that Louisiana Republicans are plowing ahead with a related bill of their own.
HB 707 – the “Marriage and Conscience Act” – says the state can’t take “adverse action” against someone for opposing same-sex marriage for religious reasons; sponsor Rep. Mike Johnson told msnbc he’s hoping the bill will come up for a vote in the next few weeks. If passed, this law would likely ensure, for example, that the state couldn’t punish a state worker who refuses to process paperwork on a name change following a gay marriage in another state, or a police officer who didn’t want to police a same-sex wedding ceremony.
“This Louisiana bill really does what people accused the Indiana law of doing,” leading religious freedom expert and University of Virginia law professor Doug Laycock told msnbc. While Indiana’s law offered up individuals accused of discrimination a legal defense that a judge could then weigh, Laycock explained, this law gives religious individuals absolute protection from state action, without balancing interests of – for instance – whether a gay individual’s right to services outweighs the religious individual’s freedoms.
Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), not surprisingly, told msnbc the proposal is “not about discriminating against anyone,” so much as it’s about “religious freedom.”
There’s ample evidence to the contrary.
In fact, this is a rather classic example of how one official’s personal ambitions can do real harm to a lot of people. Jindal wants to be president; the far-right governor is looking for a way to get attention for himself; he’s eager to curry favor with social conservatives in his party’s base; so he’s pushing a right-to-discriminate proposal – not because it’s necessary, but because it might improve his candidacy’s odds.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/louisiana-goes-broke-discrimination-bill
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Morning, everyone!
Oh Oh, we’re half way there, oh oh , livin’ on a prayer.”
happy Friday,Everyone.
Oh year, Bon Jovi, the 21st Century J”ersey Boys.”
“Shock to the heart, and you’re to blame, you give love a bad name!”