Enjoy the music of the 1970’s. Top 10, according to Billboard.
1974
1. No Woman, No Cry – Bob Marley and the Wailers
2. Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
3. You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet – Bachman-Turner Overdrive
4. Rock Your Baby – George McCrae
5. Lady Marmalade – LaBelle
6. Autobahn – Kraftwerk
7. Help Me – Joni Mitchell
8. Waterloo – Abba
9. Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe – Barry White
10. Tell Me Something Good – Rufus
Review: David Oyelowo is Breathtakingly Brilliant in HBO’s ‘Nightingale’
Shadow and Act
By Aramide A Tinubu | Shadow and Act
May 29, 2015 at 11:18AM
It takes a great deal of courage to embark on a solo performance; a one-man cast with a singular location. It’s such a vulnerable experience for the actor, giving himself over the character and that character’s experiences entirely. Often it doesn’t work; the audience is unable to remain enamored with the story. However, when it does work, when the actor becomes infused in the character and with the story, the results are breathtaking. In HBO’s “Nightingale,” David Oyelowo gives the best performance of his career as Peter Snowden, a man quickly and violently descending into madness.
Director Elliott Lester requires his audience to do the work of piecing Peter’s story together for themselves. Through Peter’s manic though at times humorous monologues, we began to get a fuller picture of his life, and the circumstances that have led him to this particular moment in time. Set in modern-day Minneapolis, Peter is desperately trying to step into the 21st century though his surroundings have stalled him. He lives with his elderly mother and everything from the drapery on the windows, to the clothing in the closets are relics from the 1960’s. In one of the most striking scenes of the film, Peter enters the house and begins un-boxing a new iPhone. He kneels before it, worshiping its sleek design as if praying at the feet of God himself. It’s obvious that he’s been waiting a long time for this moment, the new device is so unlike the house phone that the audience had grown accustom to seeing him with. Though Peter is in many ways stuck in a past time, his story is one for this century. He documents his days through a series of vlogs, which he posts on the Internet. When he’s not on the phone, he speaks to his viewers, his mother, to God or to himself.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/david-oyelowo-is-breathtakingly-brilliant-in-hbos-nightingale-20150529
https://twitter.com/BAM_FI/status/604472256396427264/photo/1
https://twitter.com/HavesHaveNot/status/604459424887926785/photo/1
Saladin Ahmed @saladinahmed
If this was Muslims or Black people with guns standing outside a white church, I wonder if the media would refer to it as a ‘protest.’
https://twitter.com/splcenter/status/604361648271278080/photo/1
Yep. Bad habits die hard. This BS was a long time in the making and it isn’t going away overnight because of a DOJ investigation report on what has been going on in Ferguson.
Patrick @QuadCityPat
Sexual assault of a child isn’t “misconduct” you fucking child rape condoning cretin https://twitter.com/GeraldoRivera/status/604405329829478400 …
ah…nature…
https://twitter.com/sogoodman17/status/603224012001390594/photo/1
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/604372653609213953/photo/1
https://twitter.com/shadowandact/status/604371230666280960/photo/1
I just couldn’t sit still enough to watch a match there. I’d be too freaked out that the ceiling would break any minute.
https://twitter.com/DaRiverZkind/status/604429587880157184/photo/1
SG2,
your tweet about the Bikers getting POLICE PROTECTION as they DELIBERATELY INSULT MUSLIMS is on point!!
https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/604404097266094080/photo/1
https://twitter.com/GuardianUS/status/604263718281609217
https://twitter.com/Yardarm756DD/status/604078200751169536
I want to see this happen
…………………….
Brown ballerinas
Ballet’s big diversity moment is approaching.
by Yohana Desta
NEW YORK, New York — In three to five years, no one will be talking about diversity in ballet.
That’s according to Virginia Johnson, a founding member and artistic director of New York City’s famed Dance Theatre of Harlem. In a few years, she thinks it will be a boring topic “because it will have happened,” she says in a light but commanding voice. Soon, she says, the largely white world of ballet will be populated with dancers of color.
Soon — but not today. Not in 2015.
Today, the ballet world still has a race issue. Brown ballerinas are almost invisible, rarely in the spotlight. Pools of talent are left untouched, as major dance companies glide over people of color in favor of white dancers. Dancers of color don’t often get coveted principal or soloist roles, and browsing through the corps de ballet roster of renowned institutions like the American Ballet Theatre and the New York City Ballet shows that diverse swans are in short supply.
http://mashable.com/2015/05/27/ballet-diversity/
https://twitter.com/voxdotcom/status/603896020280442880/photo/1
Bravo, young lady!!
https://twitter.com/TheRoot/status/603904839970619392/photo/1
My cowboy cousin made the news. He helped rescue 31 head of cattle from high water in Fort Bend County Tx.
https://twitter.com/KHOUTV_Shooter/status/604359645080068096
happy the animals had good people like your cousin.
https://twitter.com/rebeccarnelson/status/604366083693232128
Sistas Who Swirl: Celebrity Women Who Found Interracial Love
By Staff | February 3, 2015
By Tamala Perkins
African American women are known for being the one group of women that is least likely to date inter-racially or as it is commonly called, “swirl”. This is actually quite a puzzle considering that Black women in America are also known for being the least likely to get married, even when they want to.
We’ve all heard the different theories as to why Black women are just not getting married at similar rates as women from other groups, like that a lot of African American men are in jail or that many men in the Black community are secretly gay. Some even say that part of the reason Black women aren’t getting married is that a lot of them grew up in homes with no fathers and feel like they can have the same lives as their mothers.
http://naturallymoi.com/2015/02/sistas-who-swirl-celebrity-women-who-found-interracial-love/
it’s a SCAM AND A FRAUD TO STEAL PUBLIC MONIES FOR PRIVATE ENTITIES
………………………..
Vouchers could shift at least $600 million from districts through 2025
By Erin Richards and Andrew Hahn of the Journal Sentinel
Sending thousands more students to private, religious schools under an expansion of Wisconsin’s statewide voucher program could shift $600 million to $800 million out of public schools over the next decade, according to an analysis from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
Assembly Democratic Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) and Rep. Sondy Pope (D-Cross Plains) unveiled the memo Thursday to underscore their concerns about how the expansion could deplete funds available for public schools.
“It is so clear that Republicans in the state Legislature are selling out Wisconsin kids, families and neighborhoods to support Gov. Walker’s presidential ambitions and reward the out-of-state special interests that give millions to Republican campaigns,” Pope said.
But a voucher-school advocate countered that it’s impossible to forecast the cost of the school choice program expansion over the next decade, because schools cannot predict how many students will participate, and how many seats private schools could offer them.
“I’m a little bit surprised the fiscal bureau put this memo out,” said Jim Bender, president of School Choice Wisconsin. “Normally, they don’t say, ‘We’re going to take a purely speculative run and just guess at the numbers.'”
The back-and-forth comes after the GOP-controlled Joint Finance Committee last week approved an expansion of the statewide voucher program, and a mechanism for funding it, as an amendment in the state budget. Gov. Scott Walker had proposed expanding the 2-year-old statewide voucher program in his initial budget request.
The budget still has to pass both houses of the Legislature and be signed into law by Walker.
The fiscal bureau memo predicts that approximately 2,000 incoming pupils would participate in the statewide voucher program in 2015-’16, and about 3,000 would participate in 2016-’17.
Payments for those pupils over the next two years would be paid for with about $37 million from the state’s general purpose fund, with payments fully offset by aid reductions to the pupils’ districts of residence, according to the memo.
The expansion plan calls for allowing more students to obtain vouchers beyond the next biennial budget — with the cap increasing each year until it’s removed entirely after about a decade.
That’s why Democrats asked the fiscal bureau for a projection of what the expansion would cost through 2025.
The statewide voucher program currently caps enrollment at 1,000 students.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/voucher-expansion-could-cost-at-least-600-million-through-2025-b99509041z1-305357651.html
Provision slipped into budget dilutes teacher license rules
Anyone with a bachelor’s degree could be hired and licensed to teach sixth- through 12th-grade English, math, social studies or science in Wisconsin under a provision slipped into the state budget proposal by a Republican lawmaker.
And any person with relevant experience — even a high school dropout — could be licensed to teach in any other non-core academic subject in those grades, according to the provision.
Critics argue the changes, if approved, would dramatically lower Wisconsin’s teaching standards.
The teacher certification provision was approved as part of a package of K-12 budget items by the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee last week in a 1:30 a.m. vote. It was proposed by Rep. Mary Czaja (R-Irma). She said she pursued the measure to help rural schools find and retain qualified teachers in hard-to-fill subjects.
But a rural schools leader said that’s not what rural schools asked for.
“Heavens no,” said Jerry Fiene, executive director of the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance. “This totally destroys any licensure requirements that we have in Wisconsin. It’s very concerning.”
Fiene said rural school district leaders have been looking for flexibility to expand options for degreed, licensed teachers. For example, allowing a credentialed English teacher already on staff to teach another subject if he or she has relevant experience.
And some districts seeking to expand technical education offerings have asked for credentialing flexibility, like the ability to hire someone with experience — but maybe not a bachelor’s degree — to teach hands-on classes such as construction.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/late-night-budget-action-dillutes-teacher-license-rules-b99508103z1-305176951.html
Walker can’t stop celebrating medically unnecessary ultrasounds
05/29/15 10:45 AM—UPDATED 05/29/15 10:54 AM
By Steve Benen
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) ran into a little trouble this week on one of his most problematic policies. The Republican presidential hopeful chatted with conservative talk-radio host Dana Loesch and defended his law requiring women undergo state-mandated, medically unnecessary ultrasounds before they terminate unwanted pregnancies.
The far-right governor said ultrasound images are “a lovely thing,” and the technology itself is “just a cool thing out there,” which Walker apparently sees as justification for Wisconsin forcing women to undergo unwanted procedures for no medical purpose.
In response to the controversy, Walker went back to Dana Loesch’s show yesterday, where the host complained about the “media rage spiral” and the governor accused the left of “making things up” because liberals “can’t win” the argument on the merits. Walker added:
“Who’s opposed to an ultrasound? They tried to claim there were certain types. Now, our law says that before someone has that procedure, they have to be given access to an ultrasound. It doesn’t designate which type. Most people will do the traditional one that people think of all the time. If they haven’t seen it themselves, certainly most people have seen it on TV or in movies.”
He added that there’s a “Walker Derangement Syndrome” in parts of the media.
It’s often amazing to see what willful ignorance can do. In this case, the Wisconsin governor still doesn’t understand the basic complaint at the root of the controversy.
“Who’s opposed to an ultrasound?” In theory, no one. When medical professionals perform routine medical procedures like these – for willing patients who volunteer to participate – there’s obviously not a problem.
But that’s not the policy Walker has imposed on Wisconsin women. I’ve been trying to think of a way to explain this in a way he’d understand. How about this: a woman wants to exercise her legal right, so she goes to a medical facility and meets with a physician. Under the old law, what happens next is between the patient, her conscience, and her doctor.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/walker-cant-stop-celebrating-medically-unnecessary-ultrasounds
UH HUH
WHAT PHUCKERY IS THIS
………….
#Hillary’s Black Outreach: What Selecting a Former Black Caucus Staffer Means
Posted On 28 May 2015
By : lauren victoria burke
What does the selection of LaDavia Drane as Hillary’s Black Outreach Chief mean? It means the end of the eyes-down-to-the-carpet way the Black Agenda was dealt with by Team Obama. It means a strategic connection between the Black Caucus and Team Clinton. Most importantly: It likely means more of an emphasis on policy that disproportionately effects African Americans and those policies being strongly communicated to black voters. In 2012, Black voters turned out at a higher rate than whites for the first time and black women had the highest turnout percentage of any voting demographic.
Drane’s hire is also a sign that Team Hillary wants to have an actual relationship with members of the Black Caucus — now the largest in American history at 46. Despite the fact that several CBC members endorsed Sen. Obama in late 2007 (Reps. Cummings, Lee, Jackson, Davis, Fattah, Cleaver, Scott-VA, Ellison, Ford, Rush…) there was a cold relationship and the “know-it-all/we-got-this” style of Obama’s campaign when it came to their Black ground game is likely now a thing of the past. As it would turn out, President Obama’s cold relationship would later extend past the CBC and to the entire
http://www.crewof42.com/news/hillarys-black-outreach-what-selecting-a-former-black-caucus-staffer-means/#sthash.s8g7XTQW.dpuf
from POU:
another great comment:
Well, of course Hillary wants the black vote. How can she win without it? It will be interesting to see what her “Black Outreach” team comes up with to ram down everyone’s throat while thinking they can “frame the issues” for the black community.
Here, let me save them some time. It is going to be impossible for Hillary’s team to convince black people to turn out to vote for her, an elderly white woman, unless she is willing to take on the crisis in policing and the inequality within the entire criminal justice system that mostly affects black communities. And it is doubtful that, as a presidential candidate, she will ever do that honestly and effectively. She’s too afraid of losing right leaning, white independent voters.
Her best bet is probably just to instill fear of the alternative, a Republican president, a Republican house, a Republican senate, and a conservative SCOTUS. It’s honest and it’s a hell of a lot better than thinking you can tell people what should matter most to them because it fits her campaign agenda.
Who would be your attorney general, Hillary? And what role do you believe the Department of Justice should have in the murders, mutilations, and relentless harassment of black citizens by the police? Do you believe that individual police perpetrators should be charged and tried by the DOJ when the states fail to remedy cases of police brutality? Answer these questions for me, Hillary. Until you do, I’m not interested in anything else you say.
These are questions that need to be asked of Hillary everywhere she campaigns!
From ‘con man’ to governor?
By Steve Benen
A year ago, Matt Bevin was seen as a rather ridiculous figure in Kentucky Republican politics. He’d launched a primary fight against incumbent Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), which led the GOP establishment to go after Bevin with a vengeance.
The results weren’t pretty. Bevin was labeled by leaders of his own party as a “con man” who lies “pathologically.” The first-time candidate was exposed a man who lied about his educational background, and whose business needed a taxpayer bailout. By Primary Day, Bevin lost by 25 points, and his career in politics appeared to be effectively over.
A year later, however, Kentucky Republicans will have to stop calling him a dishonest con man and start calling him their nominee for governor. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported this morning:
After Thursday’s recanvass of votes cast in the Republican primary for governor, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes said that there were “no substantial changes” and that she thought Matt Bevin would be the GOP nominee when the vote is certified June 8.
This morning, Bevin’s primary rival conceded the race. Bevin will now take on state Attorney General Jack Conway (D) in November, in the race to replace outgoing Gov. Steve Beshear (D).
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/con-man-governor
Chicas, we’re making news everywhere.
http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/27/marilyn-mosby-endorsed-tweets-calling-baltimore-cops-thugs/
they have been going through the trash at her home…you best believe that.
ICYMI Chicas
hee hee hee
go our twitter warrior!!
*Twirls*
Dang.
Tell Me Something Good, Lady Marmalade. You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet, until you Rock Your Baby in an Autobahn, traveling to Sweet Home Alabama. No Woman, No Cry It will be your Waterloo, if you can’t Help Me, because I Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe
May 29, 2015 9:32 AM
Rand Paul’s Money Troubles
By Ed Kilgore
For a while now I’ve been puzzled by Rand Paul’s behavior. It looked like he was cruising into the presidential cycle having blurred his distinctive views—especially on foreign policy—enough to keep the entire GOP from anathemizing him like the Old Man, while keeping enough edge on certain issues to support his unusual electability rationale as the candidate of the Cool Kids and maybe even some African-Americans. That he did another high-profile filibuster on NSA data collection seemed a bit excessive from a purely political point of view. But the real shocker was his gratuitous slam of virtually the entire Republican Party for “creating ISIS” by their militaristic meddling in the Middle East. It was like attacking the Keebler Elves for high diabetes rates: militaristic meddling in the Middle East is what Republicans do!
But today along comes Politico’s Alex Isenstadt with a very clear explanation of why the candidate of the Cool Kids is losing his own cool and re-establishing his family’s bad name in GOP circles:
In a presidential campaign defined by billionaire sugar daddy donors, Rand Paul has a problem: He doesn’t seem to have one.
While his rivals cultivate wealthy backers who will pump millions of dollars into their candidacies, Paul has struggled to find a similar lifeline. It’s led to considerable frustration in his campaign, which, amid rising concerns that it will not be able to compete financially, finds itself leaning heavily on the network of small donors who powered his father’s insurgent White House bids.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2015_05/rand_pauls_money_troubles055789.php
May 29, 2015 8:53 AM
SCOTUS As a Campaign Issue
By Ed Kilgore
Here’s some good news from the New York Times’ Linda Greenhouse for those of us who care a great deal about campaign finance reform, and/or are horrified already at what this election cycle is revealing about the state of pay-for-play in American politics right now:
Hillary Clinton has been telling people — a group of financial backers in Brooklyn, a house party in Iowa — that as president, she would appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn the Citizens United decision erasing limits on political spending by corporations.
“I will do everything I can to appoint Supreme Court justices who protect the right to vote and do not protect the right of billionaires to buy elections” is the way she puts it.
Now this is what is known as “setting a litmus test” for judicial appointees, and it’s still frowned upon by Serious People who don’t quite understand that the ideological polarization of American politics has penetrated pretty deeply into the judicial system, professional legal circles, and law schools. That a small handful of legal precedents the Supreme Court can choose to preserve, modify, or reverse have risen to the level of requiring candidates for president to pay attention to them should hardly be surprising. And as Greenhouse explains, Republicans have been openly advocating judicial litmus tests on abortion and other “family values” issues for more than a generation. For nearly that long, it’s been inconceivable that a Democratic president would appoint a Justice who wasn’t committed to abortion rights, whatever they thought about the particular constitutional theories underlying Roe v. Wade.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2015_05/scotus_as_a_campaign_issue055788.php
How Kevin Johnson Destroyed A Black Mayors Group To Promote His Brand
Dave McKenna
5/28/15 4:30pm
The African American Mayors Association, led by Kevin Johnson, opens its annual meeting today in Washington, D.C. The former NBA star and current mayor of Sacramento has been the president of the association since its founding in 2013—when, as president of the Atlanta-based National Conference of Black Mayors, he declared the older group bankrupt and resigned from it.
The NCBM was a historically significant but poorly-managed organization. By the time Johnson walked away from it to start the competing AAMA, it was crippled. This produced litigation now sitting in county and federal courthouses in the state of Georgia, in which remaining members of the NCBM accuse Johnson of first scheming to seize control of the group, then destroying it.
The filings allege that Johnson covertly organized a public/private consortium to launch what he called a “coup” against the NCBM. It was a study in overkill. His army included three public-sector PR firms plus his own mayoral communications staff, a law firm that boasts about its prominent role in the charter school industry, and his wife, the charter-school activist Michelle Rhee.
For all his side’s might, Johnson’s mission was a disaster. As soon as the old group’s old guard fought back, Johnson changed his goal from taking over NCBM to abolishing it. Then he started a clone organization. His first act upon founding AAMA was to install himself as president. His new group’s mission statement claims “AAMA was founded on the principals of transparency and accountability.” Johnson probably meant “principles,” but either way, there’s lots of evidence that Johnson viewed “transparency” as the enemy of his campaign. The story of his NCBM debacle features so much Machiavellian scheming, in fact, that even seasoned Johnson watchers are awed.
http://deadspin.com/how-kevin-johnson-destroyed-a-black-mayors-group-to-pro-1706908176
https://twitter.com/AllanMadeley/status/604307389211361280
Yes, this is how Hollywood ROLES.
MANAA Condemns Sony Pictures And Cameron Crowe For Continuing To Erase Asian/Pacific Islanders In “Aloha” Film
Posted on May 28, 2015 by MANAA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MANAA Condemns Sony Pictures And Cameron Crowe For Continuing To Erase Asian/Pacific Islanders In “Aloha” Film
LOS ANGELES– Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA), the only organization solely dedicated to monitoring the media and advocating balanced, sensitive and positive depiction and coverage of Asian Americans, is calling out Sony Pictures for its white-washed film Aloha which opens Friday.
Taking place in the 50th state, the movie features mostly white actors (Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, Bill Murray, Alec Baldwin, John Krasinski, Danny McBride, Jay Baruchel) and barely any Asian American or Pacific Islanders. “60% of Hawaii’s population is AAPIs,” says MANAA Founding President and former Hawaii resident Guy Aoki. “Caucasians only make up 30% of the population, but from watching this film, you’d think they made up 90%. This comes in a long line of films (The Descendants, 50 First Dates, Blue Crush, Pearl Harbor) that uses Hawaii for its exotic backdrop but goes out of its way to exclude the very people who live there. It’s like tourists making a film about their stay in the islands, which is why so many locals hate tourists. It’s an insult to the diverse culture and fabric of Hawaii.”
http://manaa.org/?p=1544
it’s based in Hawaii with no Asians….
uh huh
uh huh
Christie’s flip-flops start to pile up
05/29/15 10:03 AM—UPDATED 05/29/15 10:13 AM
By Steve Benen
A couple of months ago, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) spoke with Republican donors in South Florida, and delivered a fairly specific message: be wary of presidential hopefuls who’ve flip-flopped on important issues.
Given the reputation Christie has created for himself, the rhetoric didn’t come as too big of a surprise. The New Jersey Republican wants to be seen as a tough, no-nonsense guy, so while other candidates start adding nuance to their finessed positions, the governor’s rock-solid consistency is an important selling point.
In the two months since that exclusive donor retreat, however, Chris Christie changed course rather dramatically on immigration. And guns. And now Common Core. MSNBC’s Aliyah Frumin reported yesterday:
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie – who once supported the controversial, national Common Core education standards, unpopular among many conservative Republicans – declared on Thursday that the program is “simply not working.” […]
Christie called on Department of Education Commissioner David Hespe to assemble a group of parents, teachers and educators to develop new education standards for consideration in New Jersey and “not 200 miles away on the banks of the Potomac River.” Critics contend the set of academic guidelines adopted by 46 states since being introduced in 2010 by the National Governors Association, amounts to too much federal government interference on what should be a local issue.
Christie appears to have come to this realization quite recently. NJ.com published an interesting timeline this morning, highlighting the governor’s “evolution” on the issue, starting in September 2011, when Christie thought education standards crafted “200 miles away” were a great idea.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/christies-flip-flops-start-pile
Georgia Justice
The Supreme Court will review a case of blatant racism by prosecutors. For once, there’s a paper trail.
By Mark Joseph Stern
The prosecutors seeking to send Timothy Tyrone Foster to death row went about their job in a curious manner. During jury selection, they highlighted each black prospective juror’s name in green—on four different copies of the jury list—and wrote that the green highlighting “represents blacks.” On each black juror’s questionnaire, prosecutors circled the response “black” next to a question about race. They also referred to three black jurors as “B#1,” “B#2,” and “B#3” in their notes. Finally, the prosecution’s investigator ranked each black juror against the others—in case “it comes down to having to pick one of the black jurors.”
The prosecutors struck each black candidate, one by one, from the jury pool until none remained.
At the end of the trial, prosecutors asked the jury to impose the death penalty on Foster, to “deter other people out there in the projects.” The all-white jury convicted Foster of murder and sentenced him to death.
Foster, a black man, appealed his conviction to the Georgia Supreme Court. Striking black jurors on account of their race is unconstitutional, and Foster believed he deserved a new trial. But the Georgia Supreme Court rejected his claim. Prosecutors had not “demonstrated purposeful discrimination” in striking black jurors, the court held. There was no racial bias in the prosecution of Timothy Tyrone Foster. His execution could move forward.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2015/05/foster_v_humphry_at_supreme_court_prosecutors_cut_all_black_jurors_in_death.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_tw_top
This will be an important SCOTUS case to follow closely.
Ted Cruz adopts a new posture on disaster aid
05/29/15 09:20 AM—UPDATED 05/29/15 09:43 AM
By Steve Benen
The storms in Texas this week have caused deadly flooding, affecting communities across much of the state. According to NBC News’ latest reporting, “at least 23 people have died in flooding across the state this week.”
Given the disaster, it’s hardly surprising to see members of Texas’ congressional delegation speaking up in support of federal disaster relief. TPM reported yesterday:
“There are a series of federal statutory thresholds that have to be satisfied. Initially, it appears those thresholds are likely to be satisfied by the magnitude of the damage we’re seeing,” Cruz said while touring the flooding in Wimberley, Texas, according to Texas television station KSAT.
“Democrats and Republicans in the congressional delegation will stand as one in support of the federal government meeting its statutory obligations to provide the relief to help the Texans who are hurting.”
This is, of course, exactly what one expects of a senator after his state is confronted with a crisis. Indeed, note the senator’s specific phrase: “statutory obligations.” For Cruz, it’s not even optional – Americans have a duty under the law to come to Texas’ aid.
But as the TPM report added, Cruz took a very different posture in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, when he opposed federal disaster relief.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/ted-cruz-adopts-new-posture-disaster-aid
Found this over at BT, in reference to Hastert. this could get very very interesting.
……………
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9774.htm
DAMN, JUST DAMN. Real WHITE COLLAR crimes, that go on for decades, yet innocent Americans are being gunned down & killed for walking & breathing.
Totally fucked up.
Minneapolis Police Officer Threatens Black Teen
Uploaded on May 27, 2015
When Officer Rod Webber quickly approached the car that Hamza Jeylani was sitting in, the 17-year-old hit record on his cell phone. Moments earlier, Jeylani and three friends were pulled over by the officer after making a U-turn in a church parking lot in South Minneapolis after playing basketball at the local YMCA. After Jeylani and two friends were ordered out of the car, Webber threatened Jeylani as he handcuffed him.
“Plain and simple, if you fuck with me,” says Webber on the video, “I’m going to break your leg before you get the chance to run.” “Can you tell me why I’m getting arrested?” asks Jeylani. “Because I feel like arresting you,” replies Webber.
http://youtu.be/gxTBtXU4TYU
I have FRONT-PAGED this.
Harvard neuroscientist: Meditation not only reduces stress, here’s how it changes your brain
Sara Lazar, a neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, was one of the first scientists to take the anecdotal claims about the benefits of meditation and mindfulness and test them in brain scans. What she found surprised her — that meditating can literally change your brain. She explains:
Q: Why did you start looking at meditation and mindfulness and the brain?
Lazar: A friend and I were training for the Boston marathon. I had some running injuries, so I saw a physical therapist who told me to stop running and just stretch. So I started practicing yoga as a form of physical therapy. I started realizing that it was very powerful, that it had some real benefits, so I just got interested in how it worked.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/05/26/harvard-neuroscientist-meditation-not-only-reduces-stress-it-literally-changes-your-brain/?tid=pm_local_pop_b
What the heck is going on with Wisconsin public education
By Valerie Strauss
May 28 at 11:51 AM
What is the Wisconsin Legislature trying to do to public education in Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s state?
State Superintendent Tony Evers has gone on record accusing lawmakers of moving toward new legislation “that erodes the basic foundation of Wisconsin’s public school system.” How? By legislature efforts that include refusing to spend more money on public education for the first time in more than 20 years while while giving millions of dollars more to expand a private voucher program, slashing higher education funding, and weakening licensing rules for teachers.
Evers said in a statement:
“Wisconsin is nationally renowned for its quality public schools. We are a leader among the states in graduation rates, Advanced Placement participation, and ACT scores because of our highly trained educators and the support of families and local communities. The citizens of Wisconsin — measured by budget hearings, local advocacy, and recent polls — voiced their overwhelming support for our public schools and increasing funding in this budget.
“I am troubled that the Joint Finance Committee spent its time and effort designing a plan that erodes the basic foundation of Wisconsin’s public school system. If we want all students to achieve, we cannot continue to ask our public schools to do more with less. The eventual outcome of that exercise will be two systems of public schools: those in local communities that can afford to provide a quality education through referendum and those that cannot.”
…………………
Walker, in fact, had proposed a $127 million cut in K-12 funding and lawmakers restored the cut in their proposal — though they are not giving more money to public school districts for the first time in more than 20 years next year while at the same time spending millions more to expand to expand a school voucher program that uses public money to fund private education. The plan includes a voucher program for special-needs students, which critics say would reduce resources that public schools have for special-needs students.
It is worth noting that for the current school year, 75 percent of the applications to the voucher program were already in private school, according to the education department, and for the 2015-16 school year, 79.9 percent. Doesn’t that sound like a subsidy for the private school population?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/05/28/what-the-heck-is-going-on-with-wisconsin-public-education/?tid=pm_local_pop_b
and this little nugget…well…..
Where do you think these people will be teaching
CERTAINLY NOT IN THOSE TONY SUBURBAN SCHOOLS
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Indian Americans dominate the National Spelling Bee. Why should they take abuse on social media for it?
By Joe Heim May 25
The streak is as impressive as it is difficult to explain. In much the same way that Kenyan runners have owned the Boston Marathon, Indian American kids have placed a stranglehold on the Scripps National Spelling Bee, winning it now for seven years in a row and all but four of the last 15 years.
The streak has been much discussed and analyzed in recent years — except by the people who actually run the bee. For the first time, Paige Kimble, the bee’s longtime director, agreed last week to address the sensitive question of why Indian Americans have come to dominate the contest, which gets underway Tuesday at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md.
Part of her motivation: the outpouring of ugliness aimed at last year’s co-champions, Sriram Hathwar and Ansun Sujoe, on social media.
We certainly followed the coverage last year,” Kimble said, “and we are aware of Twitter posts that are not nice, that indicate that we have a long way to go as a country in embracing all of our immigrant population.”
Even she’s not sure how to explain the extraordinary performance of Indian American youngsters in the national bee compared with other groups. All bee wannabes devote thousands of hours studying tens of thousands of words. The difference for Indian American kids, Kimble said, may be a commitment to pursue the spelling championship over many years.
“How hard a child works is a very individual factor,” said Kimble, who won the national bee in 1981. “But what might be happening [with Indian American contestants] is that there might be perseverance for the National Spelling Bee goal over a longer period of time.”
Indeed, of the Indian American champions over the past 15 years, only one, Pratyush Buddiga, won on a first trip to the national bee in 2002. The others won after multiple trips, including last year’s co-champ, Sriram, who made it to the national bee five times before winning, and Kavya Shivashankar in 2009 and Sameer Mishra in 2008, who both won on their fourth trips.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/indian-americans-dominate-national-spelling-bee-then-slurred-on-internet/2015/05/25/8ec01098-f414-11e4-bcc4-e8141e5eb0c9_story.html?tid=sm_tw
what’s old is now new. Prince is back to wearing this style.
https://twitter.com/Prince3EG/status/604151166662901760/photo/1
uh huh
uh huh
https://twitter.com/rizzoTK/status/604049846048309248/photo/1
https://instagram.com/p/3PiEEaNNLp/
Black auto shop workers file class-action suit against NYPD
May 29, 2015 | 1:20am
The NYPD’s auto shop needs a major tune-up, says to a racial-discrimination class-action lawsuit filed by black workers who say they are kept in lower-paying jobs compared to their white colleagues.
Three Fleet Service Division employees — David Binyard, Ricky Davis and Tyrone Taylor — are suing the NYPD, the city and their bosses claiming that they’ve been routinely denied promotions for mechanic positions that pay $80,000 — twice what they earn.
Those jobs are given primarily to white people who are “less experienced and less qualified,” the Manhattan Supreme Court suit claims.
The three named plaintiffs, have a combined 30 years on the job. They all have prior experience in the auto industry.
The plaintiffs are stationed at a Maspeth, Queens facility where, out of 50 mechanics, only two are black, according to court papers
http://nypost.com/2015/05/29/black-auto-shop-workers-file-class-action-suit-against-nypd/
Because those ‘ real Amurikans’ get mad when they see the non-White succeed.
https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/604040342824992768
https://twitter.com/RocioGarciaM1/status/604243512301850624/photo/1
https://twitter.com/USNatArchives/status/604017977512448000/photo/1
nothing like putting some warm biscuits, with butter, face down into a saucer of syrup.
https://twitter.com/Foodimentary/status/604252996143185920/photo/1
SOLD!
pictures like this scare me
https://twitter.com/breakingweather/status/604243479854739457/photo/1
UH HUH
UH HUH
https://twitter.com/DavidNelsonNews/status/604199353985572864/photo/1
Now THIS was a family celebration!!!
https://twitter.com/OliviaGentile/status/604239161219026944/photo/1
So inspiring! Congratulations
just dust in my eyes.
yeah, just dust
https://twitter.com/msnbc/status/604241279099232256
https://twitter.com/ThisIsFusion/status/604224502776643584/photo/1
https://twitter.com/nationaljournal/status/604232230261657600
I think this could be good.
………………
Legends Don’t Retire; They Reinvent” in 2nd Longer Trailer for ‘Ballers’
Photo of Tambay A. Obenson
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
May 28, 2015 at 5:14PM
HBO’s new comedy series “Ballers” will kick off a 10-episode season starting on Sunday, June 21, at 10pm (it’s a 30-minute show).
Looking at the lives of former and current football players, “Ballers” follows former superstar Spencer Strasmore (played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) as he gets his life on track in retirement, while mentoring other current and former players through the daily grind of the business of football.
Omar Benson Miller, John David Washington (Denzel Washington’s son, in his first major acting role), Donovan Carter, Troy Garity, Rob Corrdry, Jazmyn Simon, and Arielle Kebble also star in the series, which is set in Miami, FL, and is created and executive produced by Steve Levinson, with executive producing duties by Mark Wahlberg, Peter Berg, Dany Garcia, Julian Farino, Evan Reilly and Rob Weiss.
As if Dwayne Johnson wasn’t already busy enough…
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/legends-dont-retire-they-reinvent-in-2nd-longer-trailer-for-ballers-20150528
NATIONAL SPELLING BEE ENDS IN TIE
Missouri teen Gokul Venkatachalam and Kansas’s Vanya Shivashankar tied for the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee title Thursday, in the second consecutive year officials have crowned co-champions. The 13-year-old Shivashankar, whose sister won the Bee in 2009, secured the title on the word scherenschnitte. Venkatachalam, 14, was told he would be co-champion if he spelled his final word correctly and without asking a definition, won on the word nunatak. Scripps had not crowned co-champions since 1962 until last year, when officials also ran out of words on the list to separate the two finalists.
http://elink.thedailybeast.com/4e555ee3e018bee76c3458202nq3l.3lfo/VWhXGkmO3SV-3N-_B1f2c
I sort of love that
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/604105229009723392
ok, this is just cool. can’t tell him anything!!!
LOL
https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/604105776060321793/photo/1
Divorce battle gets even uglier with new accusations
Bobby Flay’s estranged wife Stephanie March claims in court documents that the famed chef cheated on her with actress January Jones. A source tells In Touch magazine that Flay “committed adultery” with Jones several times in arly 2010. The magazine also reports that March has accused Flay of cheating with a food stylist and his assistant.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/trending/tt-BBkmtUK?q=Bobby%20Flay&form=PTTWNE&ocid=HPCDHP
California’s largest lake is slipping away amid an epic drought
ALONG THE SALTON SEA, CALIF. — The bone-dry lake bed burned crystalline and white in the midday sun. Ecologist Bruce Wilcox hopped out of his truck and bent down to scoop up a handful of the gleaming, crusty soil.
Wilcox squeezed, then opened his fist. The desert wind scattered the lake bed like talcum powder.
“That’s disturbing,” Wilcox said, imagining what would happen if thousands of acres of this dust took flight. It’s the kind of thing that keeps him up at night.
The Salton Sea is the largest lake in California, 360 square miles of unlikely liquid pooled in the middle of the Sonoran Desert. Now the sea is slipping away. The Salton Sea needs more water — but so does just about every other place in California. And what is happening here perfectly illustrates the fight over water in the West, where epic drought has revived decades-old battles and the simple solutions have all been tried.
Allowing the Salton Sea to shrink unabated would be catastrophic, experts say. Dried lake bed, called playa, is lighter and flies farther than ordinary soil. Choking clouds of particulate matter driven by powerful desert winds could seed health problems for 650,000 people as far away as Los Angeles. The effects would be even worse along the lake, where communities already fail federal air-quality standards and suffer the highest asthma rates in the state.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/california%e2%80%99s-largest-lake-is-slipping-away-amid-an-epic-drought/ar-BBkmwSD?ocid=HPCDHP
Surprise indictment wrenches former Speaker Hastert from obscurity
Rachel Maddow reports on the sordid Republican history that led Dennis Hastert to become Speaker of the House following the infidelity scandal of New Gingrich, and the shocking new federal indictment that suggests secret payments being made, but not who this person is.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/surprise-indictment-puts-hastert-in-spotlight-453693507992
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Good Morning, Rikyrah & Everyone. Happy Friday. :-)))
good morning everyone
Morning SG2!!
Good to hear from you this morning.