Damn Yankees is a musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop and music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., during a time when the New York Yankees dominated Major League Baseball. The musical is based on Wallop’s novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant.
Damn Yankees ran for 1,019 performances in its original 1955 Broadway production. Adler and Ross’s success with The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees seemed to point to a bright future for them, but Ross suddenly died of chronic bronchiectasis, at the age of twenty-nine, a few months after Damn Yankees opened.
My Fair Lady is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phoneticist, so that she may pass as a lady. The original Broadway, London and film versions all starred Rex Harrison.
The musical’s 1956 Broadway production was a momentous hit, setting a record for the longest run of any major musical theatre production in history. It was followed by a hit London production, a popular film version, and numerous revivals. It has been called “the perfect musical”.[1]
uh huh to the list
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The Forbes Five: Hip-Hop’s Wealthiest Artists 2015
Last May, shortly after word began to spread that Dr. Dre had sold his eponymous headphone line to Apple AAPL +0.19%, the superproducer made a proclamation: rap’s first billionaire was about to be crowned, and he hailed from Los Angeles.
“The first billionaire in hip-hop, right here on the [expletive] West Coast,” exclaimed Dre in a video clip that went viral almost instantly. But the deal, whose value was initially reported at $3.2 billion, ended up at an even $3 billion in cash. After taxes, Dre’s 25% stake left him with a $500 million windfall–$100 million more than FORBES estimated his stake to be worth last April–and a net worth of $700 million.
Amazingly enough, Dre is not the richest man in hip-hop; that honor goes to Diddy, who clocks in at $735 million. The news may come as a surprise to many, but while Dre’s wealth derived from a single jackpot idea, Diddy’s is the product of his interests in a slew of companies, a handful of which could one day give him a Beats-esque exit.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2015/05/05/the-forbes-five-hip-hops-wealthiest-artists-2015/?utm_campaign=Forbes&utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=social&utm_channel=Business&linkId=13969757
Thu., May. 07, 2015 9:00 p.m.
Justice Department to investigate Baltimore police on use of force
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch has decided to launch a federal investigation into whether the Baltimore Police Department has engaged in a “pattern or practice” of excessive force. Lynch’s announcement about the Justice Department’s probe — the latest in a string of municipalities that are being investigated by the federal government for civil rights violations — could come as early as Friday, according to two law enforcement officials
Read more » http://link.washingtonpost.com/548289943b35d072688b4aaa2kxvm.8n0j/VUwKzkmOF-OdYMY0Aa29d
we will see how the vote comes out
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Mike Madigan schedules vote on right-to-work, urges Rauner to give details
Posted: 05/07/2015, 03:28pm | Natasha Korecki
For months, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has toured the state trying to sell his “Turnaround Agenda,” largely centered on a push for right-to-work zones in Illinois.
Now Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan is essentially telling Rauner to put up or shut up on the anti-union plan.
Madigan, D-Chicago, announced Thursday that he scheduled a vote for May 14 on whether Illinois should adopt right-to-work laws and invited the Republican governor to provide specific language for his legislation.
It was the second shot across the bow from Madigan this week, targeted at neutralizing issues Rauner has pushed lawmakers to approve as part of budget negotiations.
One Republican accused Madigan of trying to cause “chaos” by singling out the issue.
In a statement released on Thursday, Madigan’s office said it urged the governor to “file formal legislative language for his measure,” then needled Rauner for beginning to talk about right-to-work “100 days ago” but offering up no specifics to lawmakers.
As part of his tour, Rauner has urged local municipalities to adopt right-to-work laws for their own communities, which take aim at the power of unions. In those zones, workers can opt against joining unions or paying union dues as a condition of employment.
During his $60 million election for governor, Rauner repeatedly decried Illinois unions as corrupt and castigated lawmakers as contributing to the state’s economic “death spiral.” Rauner urged for local adoption of right to work in the face of the improbability of it passing statewide.
Putting the explosive issue to a vote creates a dicey political choice for Republican lawmakers who want to support their governor — particularly those who have union-heavy constituencies.
……………..
Madigan used a similar tactic by calling Rauner’s proposed $2 billion in human services budget cuts for a vote this week. With House Republicans saying they were caught off guard, they voted “present” and Democrats voted “no.” The ultimate tally for Rauner’s budget cut proposal: zero “yes” votes.
http://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/7/71/586649/mike-madigan-schedules-vote-right-work-urges-rauner-give-details
So it is that if you cultivate a large and vocal enough fan base in America, you can pretty much get away with murder. As long as your fans line up for miles around the block and cheer you on and shout down anyone who dares challenge your dishonesty.
And the basis for this effusive support doesn’t even have to be anything deep, or anchored in anything moral or good about the object of worship. All you have to be is rich, famous and good looking.
How else does one explain Kim Kardashian drawing a crowd of people willing to stand in queue for hours to buy and have her sign her picture book of selfie collections?
That’s just how deeply pathetic, superficial and frankly, sad this all is. Little wonder then that so many celebrities and their pr teams are creating fake twitter and Instagram accounts that purport to be die-hard fans of their celebrity client just to psychologically manipulate others to get on the bandwagon to boost their artist.
Fame and celebrity are frightfully sick things these days. And the pr teams are the keeper of deep, dark secrets. Hopefully you never part ways with them or those secrets will find their way to the very public you were trying to keep them from in the first place.
HUH??
https://twitter.com/AP/status/596423351935066112
https://twitter.com/Lib_Librarian/status/596421427751956480
HUH?
https://twitter.com/KRDONC13/status/596408881636446210/photo/1
Will Tom Brady & New England Patriots have their title STRIPPED?
American media is UTTERLY USELESS.
so Brady and Co, had well over a year to come up with an explanation for CHEATING.
Fuck a deflated football, They didn’t paly by the rules, so it’s FUCKING CHEATING!
Sitting before the cameras feeling and stroking footballs, because you know we have to do everything possible to justify Tom Brady and the New England Pat’s cheating to win multimillion dollar football games!
It wasn’t ‘deflated’. It was only ‘inflated’ from 16 down to 12.
Look at the smugness on Brady’s face. He’s not going to comment. Taking the PR hit, huh? He has that sense of white male entitlement like no other right now. He could care less that he’s a low down dirty cheater. He’s white so it’s alright.
New England’s going to carry that STANK with them for eternity.
But worse Ametia, he was still looking and sounding so guilty.
Shorter #TomBrady: hahahahahaha I’m a baller! #DeflateGate
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEZ0pp3WAAAaaFX.jpg
Valerie Jarrett @vj44 · Sep 15
FACT: 52% of POTUS’ second term circuit court appointments have been women. No other President has appointed more than 35% in a single term.
Another coon on the pole gif
https://drawception.com/pub/panels/2014/12-29/Hm1sffYyqN-8.png
LMBAO saved for future use. Afterall, it’s Coontastic season!
https://twitter.com/DKShan/status/596445295787016192/photo/1
“Former Ladue Police Chief alleges he was ordered to profile black motorists”
http://m.kmov.com/article.html#!/116862/cb725485334e6ed2f87694f5d26b385f
aint this about the muthaphucka
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These cops are tired of white people getting freaked out by their black neighbors
By Christopher Ingraham May 6
“People, please stop making my job so difficult.”
That’s the opening of a discussion in “ProtectAndServe,” reddit’s community of law enforcement officers. The poster, who goes by the handle “sf7” and has been verified as a law enforcement officer by the forum’s moderators, goes on:
So I’m working last week and get dispatched to a call of ‘Suspicious Activity.’ Ya’ll wanna know what the suspicious activity was? Someone walking around in the dark with a flashlight and crow bar? Nope. Someone walking into a bank with a full face mask on? Nope.
It was two black males who were jump starting a car at 930 in the morning. That was it. Nothing else. Someone called it in.
People. People. People. If you’re going to be a racist, stereotypical jerk…keep it to yourself.
Other forum users sympathize. One tells a story about someone asking the cops to investigate a middle-aged black man fishing in his own community. Another was asked to respond to a report of two Middle Eastern guys sitting in the same car. Another laments that “we frequently get calls about black men and woman and kids, yes [expletive] kids, walking. Like WWB [walking while black] was actually a crime and not a Twitter joke.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/05/06/these-cops-are-tired-of-white-people-getting-freaked-out-by-their-black-neighbors/
These white folks have lost their fucking minds. GTFO America, better still, go somehwere where there aren’t any BLACK people. And good luck with that venture.
https://twitter.com/wesleylowery/status/596424848345272320
Nathalie Baptiste @nhbaptiste
White people are actually calling the police on their neighbors for Walking While Black. #gentrification http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/05/06/these-cops-are-tired-of-white-people-getting-freaked-out-by-their-black-neighbors/ …
https://twitter.com/hosienation/status/596416237757956096
https://twitter.com/essencemag/status/596411135399702528/photo/1
‘Exhale’ – ASPiRE’s Primetime Talkie – Returns Tonight ( Issa Rae, Angela Burt-Murray, Erin Jackson, Rene Syler, Malinda Williams Host)
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
May 6, 2015 at 6:11PM
I’m late, but better late than never… So I’ll make this quick.
Tonight, ASPiRE, Wednesday, May 6 at 9 pm EST only on the ASPiRE TV network, the season premiere of its weekly talk series, “Exhale” (@exhaleTV), which is hosted by renaissance woman Issa Rae; journalist and media maven Angela Burt-Murray; comedian Erin Jackson; author and TV anchor Rene Syler; and actress Malinda Williams.
“The ladies of ‘Exhale’ are back!,” said ASPiRE general manager Paul Butler. “Our viewers are going to love the way ‘Exhale’ delivers the perfect blend of real talk on important topics, along with real laughs and emotion.”
In the all-new episodes (there’ll be 8 this season), a wide range of topics affecting African American women – including friendships, stereotypes, domestic conflict, secrets and entrepreneurs – will be discussed. Each episode will feature special guests, from celebrities and authors, to religious leaders and other professionals.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/exhale-aspires-primetime-talkie-returns-tonight-issa-rae-angela-burt-murray-erin-jackson-rene-syler-malinda-williams-host-20150506
Lorraine Toussaint, Aisha Hinds & Thomas Q. Jones Headline TV One Original Movie, ‘Runaway Island’
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
May 6, 2015 at 5:20PM
Another TV One original movie to add to your calendar – all part of the network’s plans revealed a month ago during its upfronts presentation, for an original programming lineup for the next TV season that includes 8 new series and specials, 16 movies, as well as new production relationships with new partners, the “For the Love of Ruth” script was penned by Rhonda Baraka.
Lorraine Toussaint, Thomas Q. Jones and Aisha Hinds headline TV One’s original movie, “Runaway Island,” the network announced today. Written by Christopher Brandt, the 2014 American Black Film Festival screenplay competition winner, “Runaway Island” tells a story about a group of troubled strangers looking to escape their woes, and who end up sharing a transformational experience on an island – Isle du Soleil, a secluded 1700s Gullah Sea Island resort – steeped in African American heritage and culture. It’s slated to premiere Saturday, July 25 at 8 PM.
Aisha Hinds and Erick Nordholm play an interracial couple who run the resort. Their lifestyle is described as slow-paced, and holistic, which forces the island’s visitors to examine the strengths and weaknesses of their relationships, along with their own insecurities, while taking stock of their lives and renewing their love for one another.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/lorraine-toussaint-aisha-hinds-thomas-q-jones-headline-tv-one-original-movie-runaway-island-20150506
Now THIS, I want to see!!!
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Black Panther Will Make His First Appearance in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ (Falcon + War Machine Will Join Him)
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
May 7, 2015 at 3:38PM
Marvel Studios has announced, via press release, the commencement of principal photography at Pinewood Studios in Atlanta, Georgia on “Captain America: Civil War,” the third installment of its franchise.
Set for release in the United States on May 6, 2016, “Captain America: Civil War” is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo from a screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely. The film returns Chris Evans as the iconic superhero Steve Rogers/Captain America, and will also feature Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon, Paul Bettany as The Vision, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Don Cheadle as Jim Rhodes/War Machine and Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch.
But wait, there’s more…
After his debut in Marvel’s “Ant-Man” on July 17, 2015, Paul Rudd will make his first appearance alongside the Avengers as Scott Lang/Ant-Man in “Captain America: Civil War.”
And before his makes his debut in his very own movie (set for 2018), Chadwick Boseman will also make his first appearance as T’Challa/Black Panther in “Civil War.”
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/black-panther-will-make-his-first-appearance-in-captain-america-civil-war-falcon-war-machine-will-feature-as-well-20150507
ummmm
ummmm
just sitting here, shaking my head while reading this
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Get Ready for Marlon Wayans’ ‘Fifty Shades of Black’
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
May 7, 2015 at 3:04PM
After spoofing the found footage horror movie with his “Haunted House” pair of films, Marlon Wayans now plans to do the same with erotic romance drama, with “Fifty Shades of Black” (you just had to know he’d use that as the title).
Details on plot aren’t public, although, really, it’s a spoof of an existing movie, so anything probably goes.
IM Global will finance the film (they got behind the “Haunted House” movies as well), which is set for release next year.
Wayans will of course star, but will also produce, and write the script with producer/writer Rick Alvarez and with Mark Tiddes (director of the “Haunted House” movies) directing.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/get-ready-for-marlon-wayans-fifty-shades-of-black-20150507
if true, this is pure, raw EVIL
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St. Louis Deals With A New Scandal: Stolen Babies
Posted by Elon James White at 2:06 pm .
May 072015
.
Eighteen women in the St. Louis area who were told their babies had died at birth now suspect their children were taken and used in private adoptions. All the cases happened in the 1950s and ’60s at Homer G. Phillips Hospital to young black poor mothers mostly 15 to 20 years old. Suspicions arose after Melanie Gilmore’s children set out to find her birth mother as a surprise for her 50th birthday. After this story was revealed, others have come out with very similar stories:
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2015/05/07/st-louis-deals-with-a-new-scandal-stolen-babies/
preparing to front-page this right now. Please contribute. thanks
Barack Obama has been cast
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Parker Sawyers Will Be Barack Obama to Tika Sumpter’s Michelle Robinson in ‘Before Sunset’-Style Romance
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
May 7, 2015 at 1:26PM
Parker Sawyers, known for parts in “Zero Dark Thirty” (2012), “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” (2014) and “Monsters: Dark Continent” (2014), has been cast to play Barack Obama in a film based on the early romance between Barack and Michelle Obama.
Titled “Southside With You” – I suppose referring to South Side, Chicago, home to some of the most significant figures in the history of American politics, including Obama – the project is being pitched as a “Before Sunset”-style type of movie (in short, man, woman, lots of mostly profound conversation over a period of time), which will take place entirely in one day during the summer of 1989, when one Barack Obama (then a first-year Harvard Law student) took his future wife, Michelle (an associate at a Chicago law firm), out on a first date, which included a tour of Chicago’s South Side.
Sawyers will play the younger Barack, joining the previously-cast Tika Sumpter as the younger Michelle Obama (who was Michelle Robinson at the time).
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/parker-sawyers-will-be-barack-obama-to-tika-sumpters-michelle-robinson-in-before-sunset-style-romance-20150507
Senate passes bill establishing congressional review of Iran nuclear deal
The legislation gives Congress a role in the process as Obama completes negotiations with Iran and allows for a 30-day review of any final deal.
Read more » http://link.washingtonpost.com/548289943b35d072688b4aaa2kwn0.7vta/VUutDkmOvqKU-GOJA5585
Right vows to ‘vigorously resist’ reproductive rights law
05/07/15 11:29 AM—UPDATED 05/07/15 11:33 AM
By Steve Benen
When city lawmakers in Washington, D.C., approved a new law banning discrimination on the basis of reproductive choices, much of the right was not pleased. But the Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal website published a report this week that some conservative organizations are actually preparing to ignore the new policy.
Hours after the Senate allowed a controversial anti-discrimination law to officially take effect in the nation’s capital, a group of pro-life organizations released a joint statement pledging to continue operating in accordance with their beliefs – thereby putting themselves at risk of violating the law.
“Despite the enactment of this unjust law, we will continue to hire employees who share our commitment to the dignity of every member of the human family,” reads the statement released by Alliance Defending Freedom, the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Americans United for Life and Americans United for Life Action, March for Life, Concerned Women for America, the Susan B. Anthony List, the Family Research Council and the Assoc. of Christian Schools International.
The groups’ statement added, “We will not abandon the purpose of our organizations in order to comply with this illegal and unjust law. We will vigorously resist any effort under RHNDA to violate our constitutionally protected fundamental rights.”
If so, it seems an interesting showdown is on the horizon.
To briefly recap yesterday’s report and Rachel’s segment from last night, under current law, it’s already illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. But in the nation’s capital, local policymakers approved a bold new law – the “D.C. Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act” – which adds “reproductive decision-making to anti-discrimination provisions.”
For example, under the new local law, an employee in D.C. cannot be fired for being on birth control, using in vitro fertilization, or getting pregnant outside of marriage.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/right-vows-vigorously-resist-reproductive-rights-law
https://twitter.com/MayorSRB/status/596323987606605824/photo/1
ok then, LET’S GET IT DONE.
https://twitter.com/FranTownsend/status/596257122570117120/photo/1
I can literally smell them through the monitor. We have them in our back yard. Not in bloom yet.
https://youtu.be/-gF8s5CPnTM
Deesha Dyer: How a hip-hop kid from the wrong side of Philly became White House social secretary
By Krissah Thompson May 7 at 11:45 AM
It’s Deesha Dyer’s first week in a new job that nothing in her backstory suggested she would ever hold: White House social secretary.
The job has historically been the province of upper-class white women with pedigree, connections and political networks. Dyer arrived in Washington with none of these.
She was a girl from a hard-knock neighborhood in West Philadelphia who dropped out of college, got a 9-to-5, developed a side-hustle writing about Philly’s hip-hop and soul scene, went to community college, and at age 31 became a White House intern. It’s a résumé that would be highly unusual even among the more eclectic guests at White House state dinners — and now Dyer will be the woman who organizes them.
She is only the second black woman to serve in the role, responsible for planning every event held at the White House — in both the East and West wings — and executing a vision that reflects the Obamas’ style. “I’m excited about being able to bring people in here, and to make the White House as public as possible, and make sure that I am a warm face, I’m comforting and I’m a good host,” Dyer said in an interview this week.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/deesha-dyer-how-a-hip-hop-lover-from-philly-became-social-secretary/2015/05/07/97f93098-ef48-11e4-8abc-d6aa3bad79dd_story.html?postshare=5581431018199325
Look where I am NOW, in the WHITE HOUSE, BITCHES!
This should be the name of this piece, Krissah Thompson.
If you cultivate a large and vocal enough fan base in America, you can pretty much get away with murder. As long as your fans line up for miles around the block and cheer you on and shout down anyone who dares challenge your dishonesty.
And the basis for this effusive support doesn’t even have to be anything deep, or anchored in anything moral or good about the object of worship. All you have to be is rich, famous and good looking.
How else does one explain Kim Kardashian drawing a crowd of people willing to stand in queue for hours to buy and have her sign her picture book of selfie collections?
That’s just how deeply pathetic, superficial and frankly, sad this all is. Little wonder then that so many celebrities and their pr teams are creating fake twitter and Instagram accounts that purport to be die-hard fans of their celebrity client just to psychologically manipulate others to get on the bandwagon to boost their artist.
Fame and celebrity are frightfully sick things these days. And the pr teams are the keeper of deep, dark secrets. Hopefully you never part ways with them or those secrets will find their way to the very public you were trying to keep them from in the first place.
Please delete, don’t know how it ended up here…
BWA HA HA HA HA HA AH AH HA
https://twitter.com/hosienation/status/596360951034556416/photo/1
https://twitter.com/theplumlinegs/status/596361061177110528
https://twitter.com/BlackManUSA/status/596359560899727360
good job, Mr. Colbert
………
Comedian Stephen Colbert announced Thursday that he would fund every existing grant request South Carolina public school teachers have made on the education crowdfunding website DonorsChoose.org.
Colbert made the announcement on a live video feed Thursday at a surprise event at Alexander Elementary School in Greenville.
Colbert partnered with Share Fair Nation and ScanSource to fund nearly 1,000 projects for more than 800 teachers at over 375 schools, totaling $800,000.
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/2015/05/07/stephen-colbert-funding-grant-requests-south-carolina-public-school-teachers-donorschoose-crowdfunding-site/70938100/
This is awesome. More celebrities should do this.
May 06, 2015 4:40 PM
What Incentive Do Republicans Have To Do Good Things for the Cities?
By Ed Kilgore
Yesterday I briefly mentioned a Greg Sargent post that considered the extraordinarily non-urban nature of the areas Republicans represent in Congress (or at least the House), and raised a perennial question: why should GOPers care about urban policy, especially if it involves using government to solve problems? Aren’t they by definition Democratic problems?
Quoting Cook Political Report’s David Wasserman, Greg suggests the GOP’s suburban constituents expect some attention to urban policy, since it affects them as well. He also quotes a conservative wonk who basically says national political parties have to deal with national problems even if they don’t affect core constituencies.
Both of these observations are accurate, of course. But I’d go a bit further. Ideology is famously important to political parties these days, and is especially important to Republicans. Having an ideology involves a perspective on how to make the country better in all its constituent parts. Now that doesn’t mean an equal or even an proportionate degree of attention to different problems or different people, and “attention” can be negative as well as positive, particularly for those whose politics includes a demonology. But still, it would discomfit the very conservative ideologues you’d expect to be least interested in an urban policy if their party had nothing to say on the subject.
Ideology, moreover, sometimes involves taking positions that have no impact, or even a negative impact, on one’s own immediate interests, and/or those of important constituencies. There’s a reason we are all a bit astonished that Mike Huckabee is defending Social Security and Medicare against Republican schemes to reduce or restructure benefits. If politics were nothing but a money scramble among constituencies, Republicans would be taking Huck’s position all day long (instead of selectively Medagoguing Democrats by way of attacks on Obamacare) and it would be Democrats talking about means-testing these programs.
This is another reason why I don’t have much patience for people who despise ideology and long for the days of deal-cutting pols who didn’t give a damn about party or principles. Ideology can, of course, make terrible things happen, but it can also force people in politics to show at least occasional fidelity to something beyond themselves and the people who vote for them. Without it, you really do have politics that never rises above the tribal question of What’s In In For Me?
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2015_05/what_incentive_do_republicans055417.php
No agreement on Medicaid, hospital funding as Florida Gov. Scott meets with HHS secretary
MAY 6, 2015 — 5:20PM
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration snubbed Florida’s proposal to extend federal funds for hospitals that treat low-income and uninsured patients, a dispute that has paralyzed the state budget.
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell gave Gov. Rick Scott the news when she met with him in Washington on Wednesday. The Republican governor wants the administration to extend $1 billion in low-income pool funds for hospitals, but the federal government wants Florida to expand Medicaid, arguing its more efficient to give people insurance than to pay hospitals for caring for the uninsured retroactively.
Neither side has budged. The gridlock stalled Florida’s legislative session, prompting the House to abruptly adjourn three days early last week. Scott and lawmakers had asked the Obama administration to bypass a roughly two-monthlong required public comment and review period and give a preliminary answer on the funds so that lawmakers could agree on a budget when they convene for a special session in June. But Burwell declined.
“I told her that we need federal action right now. The low-income families in our state cannot wait on the federal government any longer,” Scott said.
http://www.startribune.com/no-agreement-between-florida-governor-feds-on-medicaid/302796031/
Scott and FL lawmakers have known for two years that the LIP program was coming to an end this year, but they failed to act. I am so proud of PBO and HHS Sec. Burwell for sending Scott’s behind back to FL empty-handed. There might have been a possibility something could have been worked out if Scott hadn’t run to the nearest federal court to sue the president and HHS. FL has a budget problem because of Scott and his GOP/TP buddies in the state legislature, not because of PBO and/or HHS. Scott is one stupid mfker.
The Price of Nice Nails
MAY 7, 2015
The women begin to arrive just before 8 a.m., every day and without fail, until there are thickets of young Asian and Hispanic women on nearly every street corner along the main roads of Flushing, Queens.
As if on cue, cavalcades of battered Ford Econoline vans grumble to the curbs, and the women jump in. It is the start of another workday for legions of New York City’s manicurists, who are hurtled to nail salons across three states. They will not return until late at night, after working 10- to 12-hour shifts, hunched over fingers and toes.
On a morning last May, Jing Ren, a 20-year-old who had recently arrived from China, stood among them for the first time, headed to a job at a salon in a Long Island strip mall. Her hair neat and glasses perpetually askew, she clutched her lunch and a packet of nail tools that manicurists must bring from job to job.
Tucked in her pocket was $100 in carefully folded bills for another expense: the fee the salon owner charges each new employee for her job. The deal was the same as it is for beginning manicurists in almost any salon in the New York area. She would work for no wages, subsisting on meager tips, until her boss decided she was skillful enough to merit a wage.
It would take nearly three months before her boss paid her. Thirty dollars a day.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/nyregion/at-nail-salons-in-nyc-manicurists-are-underpaid-and-unprotected.html?_r=0
uh huh
hmmmmmmmmmmmmm
An Inside Look at the Hillary Clinton Inner Circle
May 6, 2015 2:23 PM CDT
Some expected names and some surprises–a who’s who in the campaign.
For a quarter-century, Clintonology has been all about figuring out who’s up and who’s down, who’s part of the inner circle, and who’s been left out in the cold.
As Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign gets under way, a document obtained by Bloomberg offers a detailed accounting of who’s at the top of the heap.
The document, a draft memo from campaign manager Robby Mook dated April 21, includes lists of staffers who make up the initial roster of a daily 9 a.m. conference call for senior aides and a thrice-weekly 8 a.m. strategy session. A top campaign official, who confirmed the names on the lists, says that as the operation has ramped up, the strategy calls have taken place regularly, while the senior staff call has been more sporadic.
While the lists reflect the core participants, other advisers have at times been included. Aides expect the makeup of both calls to shift over time. Still, the document offers insight into Clinton’s starting lineup as she embarks on her second presidential journey–a snapshot of the high command as her campaign launches.
Many of the names aren’t surprises, such as those of campaign chairman John Podesta, finance director Dennis Cheng, and communications director Jennifer Palmieri. But there are a few unexpected entries, including longtime Democratic strategist Charlie Baker, whose hiring as the campaign’s chief administrative officer was revealed just last week.
Political director Amanda Renteria isn’t on either list, though the campaign official said she is included on the daily 9 a.m. call.
Notable absences from the lists include chief financial officer Gary Gensler, though another Clinton aide noted that Gensler’s department is represented on the call.
The document lists 17 senior staffers invited to the 9 a.m. call. They include eight veterans of Clinton’s 2008 campaign, most of whom are longtime loyalists who have served Clinton in several roles, such as vice chair Huma Abedin, policy adviser Jake Sullivan, and digital director Katie Dowd. Mook and his top aide on field organization, Marlon Marshall, are also Clinton 2008 alumni.
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-06/an-inside-look-at-the-hillary-clinton-inner-circle
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╚╗╔╝
╔╝(¯`v´¯)
╚══`.¸.[Fill In The Blank]
LOL NEGROTOWN!
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Michelle Obama is Accused of “Playing the Race Card.” Let’s Check it Out.
One of the conservative’s favorite tools for blaming racial polarization on the current occupants of the White House is to accuse them of “playing the race card.” It happens every time one of them mentions racism as a factor in our country.
Usually the signal to noise ratio around such remarks by the President is so loud, it is difficult to unpack it all with much clarity. But recently some right wing publications accused First Lady Michelle Obama of “playing the race card” in her remarks at the opening of the Whitney Museum. It was a fairly quiet event, so let’s take a look and see what we can learn about how this kind of thing happens.
Here’s the quote from the First Lady’s remarks that they zero in on:
That’s it. According to these folks, that’s “playing the race card.” It boggles the mind, doesn’t it? If anyone had any doubts that First Lady Michelle was speaking the truth, all you’d have to do is visit a local museum and count the number of young people (much less young people of color) who are there.
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2015/05/michelle-obama-is-accused-of-playing.html
When will the detractors and dislikers go away???
Our wonderful First Lady was definitely “not playing the race card.”
I love Michele Obama for her caring, compassionate, good heart.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Jeb Bush’s Answer to Baltimore
At this point, I think it’s fair to assume that Jeb Bush is the most moderate Republican that we’re certain is going to run for president in 2016. With that in mind, I thought it would be helpful to examine his position on what to do about our urban areas like Baltimore and his ideas about fighting poverty. Given that the rest of the field is likely to be to the right of him, this is the best we’re going to get from a Republican candidate.
Today Bush published an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune on just that topic. The opening is beautifully and empathically written. But then he joins the bandwagon in blaming liberal policies for the problems.
Trouble is, from the War on Poverty to the persistence of liberal big city mayors, the same government programs have been in place for over a half-century — and they have failed. We have spent trillions of dollars in the War on Poverty, and poverty not only persists, it is as intractable as ever. This represents a broken promise. And it feeds the anger of Baltimore.
What is unfortunate for the Republicans touting this line is that their argument comes just as the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities published a new study showing that in 2012 (the last year for which data is available), federal government programs reduced the poverty rate from 29.1% to 13.8% and lifted 48 million people out of poverty (including 12 million children). What this demonstrates is that, even as bad as things currently are, they could get much worse if Republicans have their way.
Bush goes on to present three of his ideas about how to tackle the problem. Here’s the first one.
If our government leaders want to attack poverty, they should first acknowledge that an effective anti-poverty program is a strong family, led by two parents. The evidence on this is incontrovertible. And conservatives should not be afraid to say that as the family breaks down, so does opportunity. Our goal should be to build up families.
Where this one breaks down is when it comes to the question of what the government should do about it. A statement like, “Our goal should be to build up families” will get no argument from anyone – no matter what their political leanings might be. Policies like requiring employers to pay a minimum wage, paid sick leave, universal pre-K and affordable healthcare are all aimed at least partially on building up families. Providing access to comprehensive sex education, birth control and legal abortions have all been proven to reduce unwanted pregnancies and ensure that children are raised in supportive families. But I don’t think Bush supports any of those things.
This is merely rhetoric aimed at those who think that single parents and the divorce rate are to blame for all of our country’s ills, but don’t have a clue about anything government can do about it.
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2015/05/jeb-bushs-answer-to-baltimore.html
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Something’s Up With Bill De Blasio (updated)
A couple of weeks ago Fredric Dicker stirred things up when he reported in the New York Post that Bill De Blasio was planning to run for president. Most people eventually dismissed it as rumor-mongering.
Today, the NYC Mayor re-affirmed that he’s not ready to endorse Hillary Clinton yet.
De Blasio, a former Clinton aide, has said he is waiting to hear more about her positions, particularly on income inequality, and he reiterated that he is still not ready to endorse her for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“I’ve seen some clear signals, some clear ideas come out of her conversations in Iowa, certainly the speech on criminal-justice reform the other day I thought was very powerful, what she said yesterday on immigration. I think she’s beginning to fashion a progressive agenda,” the mayor said in an interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I think a lot of us, understandably, want to hear the core ideas around the fight against inequality,” he added.
Mike Allen at Politico writes this:
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, using his muscular perch to try to nudge the national Democratic Party to the left, next week will unveil a 13-point progressive agenda that he hopes will be the left’s answer to the Contract with America, which helped propel Newt Gingrich and the Republican revolution of 1994…
Among the planks is a universal pre-kindergarten program, DeBlasio’s signature policy since he took office on Jan. 1, 2014. Other elements are aimed at helping working people ($15 minimum wage) and working parents (paid family leave), and proposals for “tax fairness” (increasing the tax on carried interest, a huge issue for private equity).
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2015/05/somethings-up-with-bill-de-blasio.html?spref=tw
Pete Souza Rocks
https://igcdn-photos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/t51.2885-15/11205906_1633556223524868_1965174593_n.jpg
WHOA
ICYMI
https://youtu.be/Rg58d8opQKA
Thank you! Front paging this. :-)
ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES
https://twitter.com/PrettyFootWoman/status/596028476936818688
Yes, they do. It’s head-bending to think of the back & forward games these pols play, isn’t it?
https://twitter.com/stiNgo100/status/502822664369496065
https://twitter.com/SeanMcElwee/status/530751246576414720/photo/1
We’ve seen the damage Republican POTUS have done to our country, which is why they don’t need to sit their crusty asses in the Oval Office leather.
https://twitter.com/mj_lee/status/590508454193823744
yet, they always run arround talking about ‘support the troops’
https://twitter.com/lavenderblue27/status/593569876158980096
https://twitter.com/emorwee/status/596053604039032832
LOL The canucks are waking up far more quickly than the slow Americans.
https://twitter.com/frontlinepbs/status/489438801110892544/photo/1
Yeah this is part of that charter school phenomenon that exploded after busing and desegregating schools.
https://twitter.com/tanehisicoates/status/596041776458260480
not that we didn’t already know this
……………….
The Crisis in Black Homeownership
How the recession turned owners into renters and obliterated black American wealth.
By Jamelle Bouie
In 2005, three years before the Great Recession, the median black household had a net worth of $12,124. Yes, this was far behind the median white household—which had a net worth of $134,992—but it was a huge improvement from previous decades, in which housing discrimination made wealth accumulation difficult (if not impossible) for the large majority of African-American families.
By the official end of the recession in 2009, median household net worth for blacks had fallen to $5,677—a generation’s worth of hard work and progress wiped out. (The number for whites, by comparison, was $113,149.) Overall, from 2007 to 2010, wealth for blacks declined by an average of 31 percent, home equity by an average of 28 percent, and retirement savings by an average of 35 percent. By contrast, whites lost 11 percent in wealth, lost 24 percent in home equity, and gained 9 percent in retirement savings. According to a 2013 reportby researchers at Brandeis University, “half the collective wealth of African-American families was stripped away during the Great Recession.”
It was a startling retrenchment, creating the largest wealth, income, and employment gaps since the 1990s. And, if a new study from researchers at Cornell University and Rice University is any indication, these gaps are deep, persistent, and difficult to eradicate.
In the study, called “Emerging Forms of Racial Inequality in Homeownership Exit, 1968–2009,” sociologist Gregory Sharp and demographer Matthew Hall examine the relationship between race and risk in homeownership. Simply put, African-Americans are much more likely than whites to switch from owning homes to renting them.
“The 1968 passage of the Fair Housing Act outlawed housing market discrimination based on race,” explained Sharp in a press release. “African-American homeowners who purchased their homes in the late 1960s or 1970s were no more or less likely to become renters than were white owners. However, emerging racial disparities over the next three decades resulted in black owners who bought their homes in the 2000s being 50 percent more likely to lose their homeowner status than similar white owners.”
This wasn’t a matter of personal irresponsibility. Even after adjusting for socio-economic characteristics, debt loads, education, and life-cycle traits like divorce or job loss, blacks were more likely to lose their homes than whites.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/07/black_homeownership_how_the_recession_turned_owners_into_renters_and_obliterated.html
https://twitter.com/JamilSmith/status/596041632782266368
https://twitter.com/pari_passu/status/505038666192809984/photo/1
https://twitter.com/Marmel/status/583118191242547200/photo/1
uh huh
uh huh
https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/581074194957471744
https://twitter.com/TheAtlantic/status/590506099721265152/photo/1
https://twitter.com/alexsteed/status/590508915978211328
https://twitter.com/NoShock/status/593163285341536256
https://twitter.com/BmoreLikeNita/status/593597389232939008
https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/595247636589969409
History of Highland Beach
Highland Beach was founded in the summer of 1893 by Charles Douglass and his wife Laura after they had been turned away from a restaurant at the nearby Bay Ridge resort because of their race. They brought a 40-acre tract on the Chesapeake Bay with 500 feet of beachfront and turned it into a summer enclave for their family and friends. It became a gathering place for upper-class blacks, including many of the well known personages of the age. Among the residents and guests were Paul Robeson, D.C. municipal court judge Robert Terrell and his wife Dr. Mary Church Terrell, Booker T. Washington, Robert Weaver, Alex Haley, W.E.B. DuBois, and poets Langston Hughes and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Charles Douglass’ father, the famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass, visited and would have become a resident had he not died before the house that his son was building for him was completed.
When Highland Beach was incorporated in 1922 it became the first African-American municipality in Maryland. Although founded as a summer resort, it is now a town of year-round residents who choose not to permit commercial establishments.
There are some sixty homes, many of them still owned and occupied by descendents of the original settlers. The residents are proud and protective of their town’s heritage, established over a century ago by proud and successful people determined to overcome the prejudices of their post-Reconstruction times. Highland Beach (on Chesapeake Bay) is the home of Twin Oaks, the Frederick Douglass Museum and Cultural Center.
http://www.highlandbeachmd.org/
https://twitter.com/tchopstl/status/595657350268264449
https://twitter.com/Eg_KOOLKIDs/status/594545233347682304/photo/1
this is so sweet
https://twitter.com/jazziz2/status/596274648427401216
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/596145193943961602/photo/1
https://twitter.com/AttorneyCrump/status/596164549981687808
The popularity of redistributing wealth
05/06/15 03:54 PM—UPDATED 05/06/15 04:51 PM
By Steve Benen
For many years, Republicans have tried to win political arguments with carefully worded phrases, crafted to pack a rhetorical punch. Good ideas for the criminal-justice system were fine, just so long as they weren’t “soft on crime.” It wouldn’t matter if a social-insurance program was effective; it mattered whether the right could label is “welfare.”
And sound tax policies can be proposed, but if Republicans can reject the idea as “redistribution of wealth,” it’s a goner. Such a condemnation was effectively a way to dismiss an idea as socialism.
But what if the American mainstream actually likes the idea of redistributing wealth? Gallup published an interesting report along these lines this week.
More than 75 years ago, at the tail end of the Great Depression, the Roper research organization and Fortune magazine asked Americans about “heavy taxes on the rich” as one method of redistributing wealth, and found one-third (35%) agreeing that the government should do this. Gallup began asking this question again in 1998, and found Americans’ agreement at 45%.
Since then, Americans’ support for this idea has fluctuated, but has reached a high point of 52% in Gallup’s most recent two surveys, conducted in April 2013 and April of this year.
Not surprisingly, there are stark differences among various groups. Democrats and independents like the idea of government redistributing wealth with higher taxes on the wealthy, while Republicans don’t. Younger Americans like the idea far more than older Americans.
But the broader point is that GOP politicians like to assume that Americans en masse reject the very idea as ridiculous. Clearly, that’s not the case – most of the public actually thinks government redistribution of wealth sounds like a pretty good idea.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-popularity-redistributing-wealth
Questions surround Michigan governor’s next move
05/07/15 08:00 AM—UPDATED 05/07/15 08:23 AM
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By Steve Benen
As recently as Tuesday, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) sounded very much like he was moving towards the 2016 presidential race. Just one day later, however, Politico reported that the Republican governor had decided to bow out.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will not run for president in 2016, according to two sources familiar with his planning.
Snyder, a Republican who was first elected in 2010, has been traveling across the country in recent weeks but has decided against a White House bid. One source close Snyder said he’d expressed concern about the time commitment needed for a national campaign.
So, that settles that? Oddly enough, no. Late last night, the MLive Media Group that covers Michigan news confirmed with the governor’s spokesperson that Snyder “has not made any decisions” about the presidential race, pushing back against the Politico report, which cited unnamed sources.
The governor’s press secretary specifically said that when it comes to Snyder’s possible national plans, nothing has changed. “On 2016, he’s watching the presidential race closely and hoping a common sense problem-solver emerges,” press secretary Sara Wurfel said. “He has not made any decisions about entering the field at this time.”
What’s left is a confusing picture. Just two weeks ago, Snyder traveled to Las Vegas to appear at a Sheldon Adelson event attended by several White House hopefuls. Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), who was on hand for the gathering, told reporters afterwards that he spoke with Snyder and came away with the “clear impression” that the Michigan governor “is running” for president.
This week, he went further, telling the Wall Street Journal he sees an opening in the GOP field. Snyder said Americans “need a problem-solver in Washington,” adding that when he looks at the current Republican candidates, “I haven’t seen one that I would define as a problem-solver.”
If the conflicting reports leave you confused about what the governor actually intends to do, you’re not alone.
One important piece of context, however, is worth keeping in mind. There was a statewide election in Michigan this week, which as the AP reported, didn’t go as Snyder had hoped.
Michigan voters on Tuesday resoundingly defeated tax increases that would have pumped $1.2 billion more a year into roads, a setback for Gov. Rick Snyder and others who warn that the state’s infrastructure is falling into disrepair because of inadequate funding. […]
A 1-cent sales tax hike was the centerpiece of the ballot measure, which also would have raised more money for education, local governments, and public transit and fully restored a tax break for lower-income workers.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/questions-surround-michigan-governors-next-move
oh Jeb…
these stories tickle me….
………………………….
Did Jeb Bush invest taxpayer money in porn?
The Hill
Tim Devaney
Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush is coming under scrutiny from social conservatives for investing taxpayer money in a company with ties to pornography.
The former Florida governor invested $1.3 million from the state’s pension fund into Movie Gallery, a film rental company that offers X-rated films in addition to comedies and action movies, according to a report in the International Business Times.
The report examined thousands of emails from during his tenure that show a strained relationship between Bush and the “religious right.”
One voter wrote Bush was supporting a company that was “enslaving men and women to its addiction.”
American Family Association founder Donald Wildmon, in particular, took offense to Bush’s ties to pornography. He wrote a mass email rallying social conservatives against Bush.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/did-jeb-bush-invest-taxpayer-money-in-porn/ar-BBjjltp?ocid=HPCDHP
Hell, yes, he did, and he knows it. Watch him try to brush off inquiries from anyone in the MSM who brings up this issue, and watch his supporters tell the rest of us that he’s a “god-fearing man who simply wouldn’t do something like this!” I read the article. When some FL citizens began asking his administration about this, one of the things they were told was that the state pension bureau doesn’t take advice from untrained individuals.
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Good Morning, Everyone!
rikyrah, I’m REALLY enjoying this week’s posts. My Fair Lady, one of my early musical theater favs.