Thursday Open Thread | Jill Scott

Jill ScottJill Scott (born April 4, 1972) is an American singer, model and actress. Her 2000 debut, Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1, went platinum, and the followups Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds Vol. 2 (2004) and The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3 (2007) both achieved gold status. She made her cinematic debut in the films Hounddog and Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? in 2007. In Get On Up (2014) she plays the second wife of James Brown.[2] She also appeared as the lead role in the BBC/HBO series The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

Scott was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She grew up an only child in a North Philadelphia neighborhood, raised by her mother, Joyce Scott, and her grandmother.

She indicated in an interview with Jet Magazine that she had a happy childhood and was “very much a loved child”.[3] Scott was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness[4] and attended the Philadelphia High School for Girls.

About SouthernGirl2

A Native Texan who adores baby kittens, loves horses, rodeos, pomegranates, & collect Eagles. Enjoys politics, games shows, & dancing to all types of music. Loves discussing and learning about different cultures. A Phi Theta Kappa lifetime member with a passion for Social & Civil Justice.
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84 Responses to Thursday Open Thread | Jill Scott

  1. Ametia says:

    At first I thought this was an article from the ‘Onion.’

    New Low: Sheriff’s Office Claims Infant at Fault for SWAT Team Blowing His Face Apart with Grenade

    “Merely by being in that room, Bou-Bou had assumed the risk of coming under attack by a SWAT team. By impeding the trajectory of that grenade, rather than fleeing from his crib, Bou-Bou failed to “avoid the consequences” of that attack.”

    Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/infant-responsible-grenade-thrown-face/#yPkz3pJp3XqfQPo7.99

  2. rikyrah says:

    Issa Raye says black women are at the bottom of the dating totem pole
    Posted on May 21, 2015By Xman

    This video panel on black women and dating is interesting. Issa Raye, creator of the show, “Awkward Black Girl,” gets the panel started off by saying that she believes that black women and Asian men are at the bottom of the dating totem pole.

    She says that this discourages her and other black women from “pursuing black love.”

    Do you agree? Watch the panel and tell us what you think

    http://idatedaily.com/top-fives/issa-raye-says-black-women-are-at-the-bottom-of-the-dating-totem-pole/

  3. rikyrah says:

    Women in Detroit Are Getting Loans for Hair Weaves
    By Staff | May 21, 2015

    Reported by Ryan Brennan

    A hair weave is a treatment offered by most hair salons, providing customers with the look and feel of longer or thicker hair. However, it’s just artificial or natural hair that the salon purchased and is woven into the customer’s hair, close to the scalp. When getting a weave, women can choose from a long list of colors, lengths and textures. For example, a woman with short, curly hair can easily sport golden locks down to her waist if she wanted to, thanks to a hair weave.

    If interested in getting a weave, be prepared to spend a good amount of money because the process can be quite expensive. With this being such an pricey process, people are finding it harder to afford a weave. One group of people in Detroit, Michigan has noticed this and are looking for ways to help. The Weave Loan Store, located at 21621 West 8 Mile in Detroit,” according to HotHipHopDetroit, has found a way to do just that.

    The store offers loans to people who are preparing to purchase bundles of hair. On their website, they have listed their process for approval. Quite shockingly, it seems like anyone can get a loan from these guys. All you need is a valid ID, a recent check stub and an initial payment.

    http://naturallymoi.com/2015/05/women-in-detroit-are-getting-loans-for-hair-weaves/

  4. rikyrah says:

    Missing Clark Atlanta University Student Found Safe in Ill.
    Alexis Jones-Rhones never arrived at the graduation ceremony and had been last seen on the road.

    BY: BREANNA EDWARDS
    Posted: May 21 2015 12:14 PM

    Updated Thursday, May 21, 4:20 p.m. EDT: Clark Atlanta University student Alexis Jones-Rhodes, who had been missing since Monday, has been found safe in Illinois, WBS-TV reports.

    Authorities say that there was no foul play involved in her sudden disapperance, which occurred while the 22-year-old was supposed to be on her way to her graduation.

    http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2015/05/clark_atlanta_university_student_goes_missing_en_route_to_graduation.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr%3Acontent%26

  5. rikyrah says:

    uh huh

    uh huh

    interesting

    …………………………

    Univision Announces Acquisition of The Root

    The purchase marks a new beginning for The Root.

    BY: YESHA CALLAHAN

    Posted: May 21 2015 4:24 PM

    On Monday, Univision Communications Inc., the leading media company serving Hispanic Americans, announced that it has acquired The Root, the leading online news, opinion and culture destination for African Americans.

    “This bold new partnership between Univision and The Root underscores the ties that have long bound people of color together throughout the Western Hemisphere, and is a sign of even greater levels of communication, collaboration and exchange between these culturally vital groups of people,” said Henry Louis Gates Jr., director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University and chairman of The Root, who co-founded The Rootalong with Donald Graham, CEO and chairman of Graham Holdings Co., in January 2008.

    The Root is the No. 1 news, opinion and analysis website for African-American influencers and reaches an average of 5 million unique users per month, according to ComScore.

    “Like Univision, The Root aims to serve a significant segment of America’s diverse population. Our diverse communities are continuing to define the fabric of the country, from buying power, to social influence, to elections,” said Isaac Lee, president of news and digital for UCI and CEO of Fusion. “This game-changing union strengthens our ability to fulfill our shared missions of informing and empowering our communities.”

    In the transition to Univision, Donna Byrd, vice president, digital, and publisher of The Root, will join the leadership team of Univision Digital, and Lyne Pitts will continue in her role as the managing editor of The Root

    http://www.theroot.com/blogs/the_grapevine/2015/05/univision_announces_acquisition_of_the_root.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr%3Acontent%26

  6. rikyrah says:

    FOX411 ✔
    @Fox411
    Duggar sibling sexually assaulted sisters, another female, according to police report http://fxn.ws/1GsSCnm

  7. rikyrah says:

    here’s that AFFLUENZA in action, front and center

    ……………….

    https://twitter.com/PrufrockSays/status/601498609293533185

  8. rikyrah says:

    BUT…..

    he’s not on the ballot in 2016

    ……………….

    https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS/status/601465291604762624

  9. yahtzeebutterfly says:

    deray mckesson @deray · 6m 6 minutes ago
    4:30pm EST @MarilynMosbyEsq Press Conference. Today.
    http://player.listenlive.co/35701

  10. Ametia says:

    Check out this LEDE. Testing the waters to gauge how the NEGROES gonna responds?

    Will Cleveland riot if a cop is found not guilty?

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/cleveland-braces-for-violence-as-verdict-in-police-shooting-nears/2015/05/21/9010a592-ff28-11e4-833c-a2de05b6b2a4_story.html?wpisrc=nl_pmpol&wpmm=1

  11. rikyrah says:

    Obama Fires Back At GOPers Who Blame Him For Iraq War Failures
    byCAITLIN MACNEALPublished
    MAY 21, 2015, 12:20 PM EDT

    In an interview published on Thursday, President Obama responded to Republicans who have recently criticized his decision to withdraw troops from Iraq, arguing that the Iraqi government needs to work for its own security.

    The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg asked Obama about former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s (R) struggle last week to answer whether he would have invaded Iraq given what he knows now.

    “I’m very clear on the lessons of Iraq. I think it was a mistake for us to go in in the first place, despite the incredible efforts that were made by our men and women in uniform,” Obama responded. “Despite that error, those sacrifices allowed the Iraqis to take back their country. That opportunity was squandered by Prime Minister Maliki and the unwillingness to reach out effectively to the Sunni and Kurdish populations.”

    Obama then pivoted to the current situation in Iraq and responded to Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), who blamed Obama for the current instability in Iraq.

    “I know that there are some in Republican quarters who have suggested that I’ve overlearned the mistake of Iraq, and that, in fact, just because the 2003 invasion did not go well doesn’t argue that we shouldn’t go back in,” Obama said. “And one lesson that I think is important to draw from what happened is that if the Iraqis themselves are not willing or capable to arrive at the political accommodations necessary to govern, if they are not willing to fight for the security of their country, we cannot do that for them. We can be effective allies.”

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/obama-republicans-iraq-war-mistakes

  12. rikyrah says:

    Duke Professor: Asians Didn’t Feel Sorry for Themselves; Blacks Shouldn’t Be Told to, Either

    Professor Jerry Hough opines that Asian Americans worked extra hard and gave their kids “American” names as a show of their willingness to integrate into American society.

    By: Diana Ozemebhoya Eromosele

    Posted: May 18 2015 10:10 AM

    Duke University professor Jerry Hough is receiving backlash after he posted a response to a New York Times editorial on the Times website. In his response he expressed disdain for what he said was a message being given to black Americans to feel sorry for themselves with regard to racism, WTVD reports.

    “The blacks get awful editorials like this that tell them to feel sorry for themselves,” Hough, a political science professor, wrote. He also described Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake as “utterly incompetent” for her handling of the recent unrest in Baltimore, during which hundreds of people protested against Freddie Gray’s fatal detainment by police.

    Professor Hough also seemed to suggest that the Asian-American community’s response to racism and discrimination has been better than that of black Americans.

    “In 1965, the Asians were discriminated against as least as badly as blacks. […] So where are the editorials that say racism doomed the Asian Americans. They didn’t feel sorry for themselves, but worked doubly hard,” Hough said.

    Then Hough wrote about how Asian Americans were more willing to integrate into American culture— because they gave their kids “American” names—while saying black Americans gave their kids “strange” names.

    “Every Asian student has a very simple old American first name that symbolizes their desire for integration. Virtually every black has a strange new name that symbolizes their lack of desire for integration,” he wrote.

    Hough also weighed in on how each group deals with interracial dating, which, according to Hough, sheds more light on how black Americans don’t want to integrate with white Americans.

    http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2015/05/duke_professor_jerry_hough_says_that_asians_didn_t_feel_sorry_for_themselves.html

  13. rikyrah says:

    What the hell?
    7 years old?

    Chicago Gunman to 7-Year-Old Before Shooting Him: ‘What You Be About?’

    Elijah Dace was walking home from school with his siblings when two gunmen jumped out of an alley and opened fire, hitting the young boy in his shoulder.

    By: Breanna Edwards

    Posted: May 21 2015 11:33 AM

    Seven-year-old Elijah Dace was walking home from school Wednesday with his brother and sister in the Morgan Park neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side when the trio were ambushed by two gunmen who came out of an alley, with one of them yelling, “What you be about?” before opening fire at the children, police say, according to the Chicago Tribune. The gunmen then took off running.

  14. rikyrah says:

    From Relaxed to All Natural: Johnny Wright, the Man Behind Michelle Obama’s Hair

    The celebrity stylist talks about his work with the first lady, creating unique looks and her famous bob silhouette.

    By: Danielle C. Belton

    Posted: May 21 2015 3:00 AM

    Michelle Obama with an Afro? Michelle Obama with an Afro!

    It could happen!

    And celebrity stylist Johnny Wright—the stylist to the first lady—is the man who would make that happen if it did. Wright, who says Michelle Obama has been completely natural for years now (he straightens her hair with a flat iron), says it is a possibility that maybe the world’s most famous bob could go naturally curly.

    Anything could happen, really.

    “I don’t know. Maybe on vacation she will,” says Wright, raising the hopes of natural-hair fans everywhere. “She is 100 percent natural now. It is a possibility.”

    http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2015/05/from_relaxed_to_all_natural_johnny_wright_the_man_behind_first_lady_michelle.html?wpisrc=topstories

    • Ametia says:

      LOL

    • Ametia says:

      if I threw a tantrum or my daughters for that matter, I would be asked to lay down on the floor just like this lil girl did, and gotten my bottom warmed up. LOL

      • rikyrah says:

        Ametia,

        if I had done this, my mother would have been like, ‘ this little heifer’…..excused us, and asked where the closest bathroom was. ….

        I think you know what would happen in the bathroom.

        LOL

        the expression on POTUS and FLOTUS’ faces are priceless

  15. rikyrah says:

    Obama’s Fast Tracked Trade Bill Clears Key Senate Hurdle

    President Barack Obama’s trade agenda has cleared a key Senate hurdle to move toward a final vote.

    The Senate has topped the 60 votes needed to begin substantive action on Obama’s bid for “fast track” negotiating authority. The vote was
    62-38.

    Obama says fast track authority will improve prospects for a trade treaty with 11 other Pacific-rim nations.

    Labor unions and other groups vital to Democrats strongly oppose Obama’s trade agenda. They say free-trade deals cost U.S. jobs.

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/fast-track-trade-bill-obama-senate-vote?utm_content=buffer36e93&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

  16. rikyrah says:

    Singer Akon Makes Progress With African Solar Power Venture
    May 20, 2015

    Senegalese-American RnB singer Akon may be best known for his string of platinum-selling records, but the Missouri-born artist is also becoming a rising star in the movement to bring electricity to rural Africa.

    Visiting New York this week for the United Nations’ Sustainable Energy for All e4allsummit, Akon and his two co-founders of Akon Lighting Africa, Samba Bathily and Thione Niang, took time out of their manic schedule to talk to WSJ Frontiers about their mission to bring solar power to rural Africa.

    Launched in February 2014, ALA’s aim is simply to “bring electricity to African villages by a clean and affordable solar energy solution.” The company uses a micro-lending model to provide solar-powered micro-grids and street lighting systems.

    Akon’s venture joins a relatively crowded field of entrepreneurs and investors—and governments—looking to establish off-grid solar projects across the continent. One characteristic that differentiates ALA, though, is its growth rate.

    An ALA solar-powered street lighting installation in Guinea Conakry. David Monfort/Dagency

    Just over a year since launching, the company has operations in 11 nations, including Guinea Conakry, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Benin and Sierra Leone.

    http://blogs.wsj.com/frontiers/2015/05/20/singer-akon-makes-progress-with-african-solar-power-venture/?mod=e2tw

  17. rikyrah says:

    Angry white people shout down protest against ‘racist’ prosecution of black Ohio judge
    21 MAY 2015 AT 11:44 ET

    Neo-Nazis disrupted a protest Wednesday in Cincinnati against racial injustice, complaining that civil rights activists were engaged in “white genocide” by trying to end white supremacy.

    A group of local ministers called on Major League Baseball – which will hold its All-Star Game this summer in the city – to stand with them against racist policies in the criminal justice system, reported the Cincinnati Enquirer.

    The activists said they wanted to call attention to the continuing prosecution of former Juvenile Court Judge Tracie Hunter, who was convicted earlier this year on one felony count of having an “unlawful interest” in her brother’s job as a juvenile corrections officer.

    They compared the case to the recent deaths of black men and women at the hands of law enforcement officers.

    At least, they tried to make the comparison but were shouted down by about a half-dozen white supremacist counter-protesters.

    http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/angry-white-people-shout-down-protest-against-racist-prosecution-of-black-ohio-judge/

  18. rikyrah says:

    Whites moving to Detroit, city that epitomized white flight
    May. 21, 2015 10:40 AM EDT150

    DETROIT (AP) — Whites are moving back to the American city that came to epitomize white flight, even as blacks continue to leave for the suburbs and the city’s overall population shrinks.

    Detroit is the latest major city to see an influx of whites who may not find the suburbs as alluring as their parents and grandparents did in the last half of the 20th century. Unlike New York, San Francisco and many other cities that have seen the demographic shift, though, it is cheap housing and incentive programs that are partly fueling the regrowth of the Motor City’s white population.

    “For any individual who wants to build a company or contribute to the city, Detroit is the perfect place to be,” said Bruce Katz, co-director of the Global Cities Initiative at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. “You can come to Detroit and you can really make a difference.”

    No other city may be as synonymous as Detroit with white flight, the exodus of whites from large cities that began in the middle of the last century. Detroit went from a thriving hub of industry with a population of 1.8 million in 1950 to a city of roughly 690,000 in 2013 that recently went through the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. In that time, the city’s population went from nearly 84 percent white to a little less than 13 percent white.

    http://bigstory.ap.org/article/42a97be9840e4b7889f1b8d5653a048e/whites-moving-detroit-city-epitomized-white-flight

  19. rikyrah says:

    Wisc. GOPers demand apology from rape survivor who used ‘rape’ to describe their defunding of schools

    David Edwards
    21 May 2015 at 10:09 ET

    isconsin Republican lawmakers have accused Democratic state Sen. Lena Taylor, who is a sexual assault survivor, of not being “sensitive” enough after she repeatedly used the word “rape” to describe their treatment of the state’s schools.

    “For years, individuals who sit on this committee and in this building have known that they have been raping the children of MPS,” Taylor had said during a Joint Finance Committee meeting on Tuesday.

    “I get it. The word ‘rape’ sounds offensive,” the Democratic senator added. “But when you consider the fact that 15 out of 100 kids can read on grade level while $89 million have been skimmed from the education of kids and that you don’t invest in in even the crisis areas — who are you fooling?”

    WKOW reported that Republicans immediately demanded an apology from Taylor.

    “Shameful,” Republican state Rep. John Jagler complained on Twitter.

    http://www.rawstory.com/2015/05/wisc-gopers-demand-apology-from-rape-survivor-who-used-rape-to-describe-their-defunding-of-schools/comments/#disqus

  20. rikyrah says:

    Too Late for a Basketball Prodigy, Paterson Seeks a Truce

    The death of a 15-year-old basketball prodigy has led to a truce among rival gangs in Paterson, N.J
    By DAN BARRY MAY 21, 2015

    PATERSON, N.J. — The combatants agreed to meet in a law office, in one of those ancient brick mills that cast shadows of Paterson’s flourishing past over its hard streets. This beef between up the hill and down the hill had to end, now that another child had died of gunfire. A basketball prodigy. A boy.

    Street-smart elders had demanded the meeting, so here came teenagers and young adults from both neighborhoods last Monday night, slouching in the conference room’s red-leather chairs, leaning against a wall featuring a portrait of John Lennon. They quickly squared off like aggrieved litigants.

    The tension between pockets of the these up-and-down neighborhoods in Paterson, considered one of the most violent small cities in the country, goes so far back that no one remembers how it began. But knives had replaced fists, and guns had replaced knives, and now Armoni Sexton, 15, a silky 6-foot-7 player with a shot at a world beyond, was dead.

    “Why this kid?” Kenyatta Stewart, a lawyer who helped arrange the meeting, said, echoing the question that nagged those in the room. “Why do you pick the most talented, the tallest — the kid we all expected to be the next one?”

    more here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05

  21. rikyrah says:

    May 20, 2015 1:19 PM

    Rand Paul’s Dangerous Game

    By Ed Kilgore

    For a while there it looked like Rand Paul’s efforts to make his father’s insurgent “liberty” movement acceptable to GOP elites might take so much edge off his policy positions that there might not be much reason to prefer him to any other Republican pol. For whatever reason, he’s resharpening the edge, most notably in accentuating his original opposition to the Iraq War at a time other proto-candidates are having to make uncomfortable recantations. But then there’s this (as reported by The Hill’s Alexander Bolton):

    Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul says he will bash Hillary Clinton over her husband’s record of putting “a generation of black men in prison” if he is the nominee.

    Paul, a freshman senator from Kentucky, says he will compete with Clinton in Philadelphia, where Democrats have a 7-to-1 registration advantage, and other impoverished cities by highlighting his support for criminal justice reform….

    “I’ll ask Hillary Clinton, what have you done for criminal justice? Your husband passed all the laws that put a generation of black men in prison. Her husband was responsible for that,” he said.

    http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2015_05/rand_pauls_dangerous_game055654.php

  22. rikyrah says:

    Put Iraq blame where it’s due
    05/20/15 12:50 PM—UPDATED 05/20/15 05:29 PM
    By Steve Benen
    For most of the last week, as Republican presidential candidates have been asked whether they would have invaded Iraq and started a disastrous war, the GOP line has been simple: blame it on the intelligence community.

    The Republican message, predicated on short memories, is that George W. Bush was a responsible leader, trying to do the right thing, who based life-or-death decisions on the best available information. As we discussed on Monday – and as Rachel explained in a segment I hope you saw on Monday night – this line isn’t even close to being true.

    All of which leads us to Republican Talking Point #2: blame President Obama.
    Blame President Barack Obama, not his predecessor, for the turmoil in Iraq, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told New Hampshire’s WMUR.com. […]

    “I blame Obama for Iraq, not Bush,” Graham said as he toured New Hampshire.
    Graham, an unannounced Republican presidential candidate, said the same thing on CNN this week: “At the end of the day, I blame President Obama for the mess in Iraq and Syria, not President Bush.”

    Kristol brought his preternatural ability to always be wrong about everything to Twitter this week, arguing that when Bush/Cheney left office, Iraq was “calm.” Then that rascally Obama screwed everything up.

    James Woolsey, the former CIA director and war proponent, told TPM this week that the only thing that could have changed his mind about the invasion – even with the benefit of hindsight – was President Obama. “ ‘I should have said in ‘03, ‘No, I don’t want us to go to war under Barack Obama,” Woolsey said.

    David Kurtz, mocking the Republican line, paraphrased the nonsense this way: “We had a good thing going in Iraq, then boom, six years after the invasion, Obama took office and messed the whole thing up.”

    To be sure, as truly insane as these arguments sound, it’s clearly become an arrow in the GOP’s rhetorical quiver. When Republicans aren’t blaming intelligence agencies for what transpired in 2003, they’re blaming President Obama – the one who was right about Iraq from the start – for the war they apparently find tough to defend.

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/put-iraq-blame-where-its-due

    • Ametia says:

      These IDJITS are so predictable.

      Blaming PBO for IRAQ is like a bunch of teenage boys with baseball bats, batting down a gigantic hornet’s nest, and then turning to the one boy who didn’t bat it down, saying it’s your fault we all got stung!

    • Ametia says:

      DAMN YOU BARACK OBAMA!

      • majiir says:

        God is good. In spite of all of the roadblocks the GOP/TPers have thrown in his path, the president is triumphing. I think he’ll go down in history as one of our best presidents. Lord knows, I’ve prayed for him every step of the way, and I’ve asked God to walk with him. My prayers, and those of others like myself, are being answered. The GOP/TPers are always mouthing off about God and having him “guide” their paths and “open” doors for them, but I think the devil is guiding them and God is guiding and protecting our PBO.

      • Ametia says:

        AMEN!

    • Ametia says:

      Amazing GRACE! Mr. Otis Clark.

      You know he survived most if not all the RACISTS folks who did the horrific burning.
      GOD DON’T LIKE UGLY.

  23. yahtzeebutterfly says:

    Great Migration:

    “The Forgotten Girls Who Left the South and Changed History”

    http://time.com/3857576/girls-great-migration/

  24. rikyrah says:

    WHAT DA PHUQ?!?!?!?!

    ……………

    Georgia middle school teacher arrested for letting kids have sex in classroom

    Posted 11:44 am, May 20, 2015, by Scott Wise

    STONE MOUNTAIN, Georgia — A teacher was fired from his job and charged with a crime after he was accused of allowing students to have sex in a classroom closet. A parent discovered text messages between her 14-year-old son and middle school math teacher Quinton Wright.

    “I was in a state of disbelief when I read all these messages,” the parent, who asked to remain anonymous, told WSBTV. “Basically he’s allowing the students to have sex in a storage room in his classroom.”

    The texts, according to the mother, indicated her son could have sex in the classroom from 7:30 to 8:30. In one text, the teacher asked the teenager if he told the girl what was going to happen and that she could not tell anyone. Another text indicated the teacher did not have condoms to provide.

    http://wtvr.com/2015/05/20/classroom-sex-text/

  25. rikyrah says:

    Scott Walker jobs agency in ‘chaos’ amid calls for federal probe

    05/19/15 02:56 PM—Updated 05/19/15 03:10 PM

    By Zachary Roth

    Three days after being sworn in as Wisconsin governor in 2011, Scott Walker announced an ambitious plan to turn the state’s commerce department into a semi-private corporation laser-focused on economic growth and job creation.

    “Transforming the Department of Commerce will align state government with our most important mission: creating jobs,” Walker said in a statement announcing the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), whose major role would be to make loans to private companies.

  26. rikyrah says:

    The point of Rand Paul’s 10-hour spectacle
    05/21/15 08:00 AM—UPDATED 05/21/15 08:05 AM
    By Steve Benen
    One of the more noteworthy points of Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) relatively brief political career came two years ago with a 13-hour speech. Taking advantage of John Brennan’s CIA nomination, the Republican senator demanded to know, “Does the president have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil?”

    It’s a shame, in a way, that this was a defining moment for Paul, because his question didn’t really make much sense. The Justice Department responded a day later with a one-sentence reply – no, the president does not have that authority – and Paul said he was satisfied.

    But the substance was largely overlooked, and the spectacle impressed many of Paul’s core supporters and much of the political media. His limited understanding of the issue didn’t matter – “Stand With Rand” was born.

    Which brings us to yesterday, and the Kentucky lawmaker’s latest attempt at a Senate spectacle. Paul took the Senate floor mid-day, and as NBC News reported, wrapped up shortly before midnight.
    Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul has ended a more than 10 ½-hour filibuster-like speech on the Senate floor to protest the renewal of the Patriot Act, highlighting his opposition to the National Security Agency’s controversial bulk collection of telephone data.
    As his speech got underway, Paul said on Twitter, “I’ve just taken the senate floor to begin a filibuster of the Patriot Act renewal. It’s time to end the NSA spying!”

    Strictly speaking, that’s not quite right. For one thing, it wasn’t a filibuster. For another, the bill pending on the Senate floor at the time was a trade measure, not renewal of the Patriot Act. And finally, Paul’s 10-hour speech won’t end the NSA’s surveillance program, or really have much of an impact on public policy at all.

    So if Paul’s explanation for the stunt paints an incomplete picture, what was the actual point of yesterday’s drama on the Senate floor?

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-point-rand-pauls-10-hour-spectacle

  27. rikyrah says:

    from LUVVIE

    You Can’t Take Command: Scandal Season 4 Finale Recap
    Awesomely Luvvie — May 19, 2015 2 55

    http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2015/05/you-cant-take-command-scandal-season-4-finale-recap.html

  28. rikyrah says:

    From the creator of Mad Men himself:

    Mad Men Creator: Finale Coke Ad Came From Don’s ‘Enlightened State’

    By Kimberly Roots / May 20 2015, 5:42 PM PDT

    http://tvline.com/2015/05/20/mad-men-finale-matthew-weiner-interview-don-wrote-coke-ad/#more-614833

    For those of you who need to hear it straight from Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner‘s mouth: Don (and not Peggy) wrote the Coke ad.

    “The idea that some enlightened state, and not just co-option, might’ve created something that is very pure” was an attractive way to end the series, Weiner said. “To me, it’s the best ad ever made, and it comes from a very good place.”

    The assertion was one of the highlights of a public conversation Weiner had with A.M. Holmes (The L Word) at the New York Public Library on Wednesday evening, four days after his AMC series’ final episode aired.

    Weiner conducted no interviews after Sunday’s episode, so the conversation was the first time fans had an opportunity to hear Weiner’s thoughts on the finale.

    “I’m so pleased that people enjoyed it and seemed to enjoy it exactly as it was intended,” he said, adding that the episode had been locked down since October.

    During the conversation, Weiner shared some of his influences (such as President Richard Nixon and Catholicism) and recent insights about the show’s final hour.

    “Don likes strangers. Don likes winning strangers over,” Weiner said. “He likes seducing strangers, and that is what advertising is.”

    ………………………………

    * Though Weiner had known for seasons that the end of the series would feature the Coke ad and Betty’s cancer diagnosis, the same can’t be said of one other huge, fan-satisfying development. “I didn’t know Peggy and Stan would end up together,” he said. “That had to be proved to me.”

  29. rikyrah says:

    Democrats Have Good Reason to Want Alan Grayson Out of Senate Race

    By: Jeff Henderson | Posted: May 17, 2015 8:00 PM

    Democrats across Florida and in Washington, D.C., had to cringe over Alan Grayson’s behavior this past week.

    Despite being one of the richest members of Congress, Grayson has always carved out a niche for himself as a populist who doesn’t back down against the Republicans or big business. Only one problem: Grayson had been planning to invest funds into a Cayman Island account, something he has punched away at Republicans and corporations on.

    Grayson was called out for his hypocrisy this week by the Tampa Bay Times and the Democrat went ballistic, unleashing a barrage of insults and obscenities at reporter Adam Smith. Needless to say, the story went national, no surprise considering Grayson is thinking of running for the Senate in 2016.

    http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/democrats-have-good-reason-want-alan-grayson-out-senate-race

  30. rikyrah says:

    Good Morning, Everyone :)

  31. yahtzeebutterfly says:

    Good Morning, Everyone :)

    https://youtu.be/9g1_qt7obuE&rel=0

    • yahtzeebutterfly says:

      SG2 or Ametia, I did not realize this video had Biblical quotations. I do not want to “impose” religion on anyone. Perhaps you can delete the video for me please?

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