Prince Roger Nelson (born June 7, 1958), known by his mononym Prince, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actor. A major figure in popular music for over three decades, Prince is renowned as an innovator and is widely-known for his eclectic work, flamboyant stage presence and wide vocal range. Widely regarded as the pioneer of Minneapolis sound, Prince’s music combines rock, R&B, soul, funk, hip hop, disco, psychedelia, jazz, and pop.
Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Prince developed an interest in music at an early age, writing his first song at age seven. After recording songs with his cousin’s band 94 East, 19-year-old Prince recorded several unsuccessful demo tapes before releasing his debut album, For You, in 1978 under the guidance of Manager Owen Husney. His 1979 album, Prince, went platinum due to the success of the singles “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?” and “I Wanna Be Your Lover“. His next three records, Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981) and 1999 (1982), continued his success, showcasing Prince’s trademark of prominently sexual lyrics and incorporation of elements of funk, dance and rock music. In 1984, he began referring to his backup band as the Revolution and released Purple Rain, which served as the soundtrack to his film debut of the same name.
I cannot stop thinking about Kalief Browder. How could an innocent child be treated this way for years and for what reason? Someone accused him of stealing a backpack? A f***ing backpack? Why aren’t the guilty ones responsible for this horrific injustice being outed? Why aren’t heads rolling? These calls for reforms at Rikers (why in the blazing hell was this child at Rikers?) and Mayor de Blasio saying that Kalief’s death won’t be in vain just doesn’t satisfy me. I want the guilty singled out and punished to full extent of the law. What is wrong with this country?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaFK32SvQ8c
Mark Kirk calling women Ho,’ but was he really Tryna Out Senator Lindsey Graham?
Yep
I hope this is right, first time I’ve seen it.
I heard it on the radio coming home.
TY. Of course, this kid should never have been charged in the first place.
Well, no one is going to be surprised that he’s a black judge. It is unbearable to think of Tamir Rice, he was such a beautiful young child.
BYE GIRL!
Good. And that wretched woman should never be allowed anywhere near children again ever.
https://twitter.com/Mediaite/status/609053172967952384/photo/1
They both need dental work or at least get a whitening toothpaste. I’m sure the Senate provides dental insurance.
https://twitter.com/TheDailyEdge/status/608778435146735616/photo/1
Wow. That is pretty amazing. No one has been talking about the deficit lately, have they?
https://youtu.be/cSA0lDjIw7U
First Lady Michelle Obama has a 1000 WATT SMILE!
…1000 WATT heart and smarts too…
they need to just bend over and take it, because we all know who’s in charge. shut your whining!!
……………..
The Koch brothers and the Republican Party go to war — with each other
The Republican National Committee’s data arm last year called it a “historic” occasion when it struck a deal to share voter information with the Koch brothers’ rapidly expanding political empire.
It was an uneasy détente between the party committee, which views itself as the rightful standard-bearer for the GOP, and the behemoth funded by Charles and David Koch, which is free of the campaign finance restrictions that bind the RNC and plans to spend almost $900 million in the 2016 election cycle to elect a Republican to the White House.
Party leaders, including the current chief digital officer for the RNC, hailed the deal as an important step forward in the GOP’s attempt to modernize itself.
But after the fall midterm elections, the deal was allowed to expire without being renewed. Since then, relations between the two sides have soured, turning into what one Republican operative described as “all-out war.” Interviews with more than three dozen people, including top decision-makers in both camps, have revealed that the Kochs’ i360 platform for managing voter contacts — which is viewed by many as a superior, easier-to-use interface than what’s on offer from the RNC — is becoming increasingly popular among Republican campaigns.
The RNC is now openly arguing, however, that the Kochs’ political operation is trying to control the Republican Party’s master voter file, and to gain influence over — some even say control of — the GOP.
“I think it’s very dangerous and wrong to allow a group of very strong, well-financed individuals who have no accountability to anyone to have control over who gets access to the data when, why and how,” said Katie Walsh, the RNC’s chief of staff.
https://www.yahoo.com/politics/the-koch-brothers-and-the-republican-party-go-to-121193159491.html
RNC discovers a problem with the Koch brothers’ operation
06/11/15 12:58 PM—UPDATED 06/11/15 01:21 PM
By Steve Benen
The more Charles and David Koch provided the resources for a massive political operation, the more it seemed as if the far-right billionaires were creating a political party of their own. The Kochs had an army of field organizers, blanketed the airwaves with political ads, and even had their own voter lists.
All of this, of course, raises important questions about the role of money in the political process, and just how much influence wealthy interests can wield in a democratic system. But as Yahoo News reports today, for the Republican National Committee, the Koch brothers’ power is raising very different kinds of questions.
The Yahoo News report notes, for example, that in the 2014 election cycle, the RNC and the Kochs’ operation struck a deal to share voter data, though the arrangement evaporated once the season came and went. Now, however, the two sides are sharply at odds, creating what one Republican operative described as “all-out war.”
Interviews with more than three dozen people, including top decision-makers in both camps, have revealed that the Kochs’ i360 platform for managing voter contacts – which is viewed by many as a superior, easier-to-use interface than what’s on offer from the RNC – is becoming increasingly popular among Republican campaigns.
The RNC is now openly arguing, however, that the Kochs’ political operation is trying to control the Republican Party’s master voter file, and to gain influence over – some even say control of – the GOP.
Katie Walsh, the RNC’s chief of staff, told Yahoo News, “I think it’s very dangerous and wrong to allow a group of very strong, well-financed individuals who have no accountability to anyone to have control over who gets access to the data when, why and how.”
I can appreciate why fights over data may seem like the ultimate in inside-baseball, but this is a fight worth paying close attention to.
Remember, for many modern campaigns, this data is the foundation for any successful endeavor. The more reliable and comprehensive the data, and the easier it is to use, the more effective the targeting, messaging, advertising, and grassroots organizing of any major campaign.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/rnc-discovers-problem-the-koch-brothers-operation
https://twitter.com/BlkHistStudies/status/608910623225868288/photo/1
https://twitter.com/AFP/status/608996758006452224/photo/1
Reuters Business ✔ @ReutersBiz
BREAKING: Murdoch to continue to be executive chairman of Fox, son would also become executive co-chairman of company: CNBC
A debate plan that ‘is not going to stand in New Hampshire’
06/11/15 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen
When Fox News unveiled its controversial debate format, in which the network would exclude nearly half the Republican field, problems emerged almost immediately. Many involved in the process balked at the prospect of Fox effectively positioning itself as an arbiter, determining which GOP candidates would be viable.
But when the network defended its format, the controversy grew. Chris Wallace, for example, defended the role of national polling, a dubious standard with little predictive value, by arguing, “A lot of people would say around the country, we’ve given Iowa and New Hampshire enough of a role and maybe the nation should play something of a role.”
Howard Kurtz added that Fox, not voters, “will help winnow the field.”
In states like New Hampshire, home to the first presidential primary, folks tend to take stuff like this personally. We talked yesterday about New Hampshire Republicans urging Fox to change its format to be more inclusive, but as Rachel noted on the show last night, the New Hampshire Union Leader, one of the state’s most influential media outlets, is going even further.
On the same August night that Fox News hosts a much-criticized and limited Republican presidential debate in Cleveland, the Union Leader will host a New Hampshire Presidential Forum in the first primary state.
It will be televised nationally by C-SPAN, which will also broadcast it on radio.
Union Leader Publisher Joseph W. McQuaid said yesterday that Fox’s plan “isn’t just bad for New Hampshire, it’s bad for the presidential selection process by limiting the field to only the best-known few with the biggest bankrolls. Why the RNC and, especially, its New Hampshire representative, Steve Duprey, would defend this and be a party to it is baffling.”
McQuaid added, “Voters here have an independent streak, and they might well be disposed to vote for a so-called ‘also-ran’ who didn’t meet the Fox criteria but who has spent the time and effort here to meet them and answer their questions.”
That’s quite a shot across the network’s bow.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/debate-plan-not-going-stand-new-hampshire
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CHNh0u9UAAA8qbm.jpg
FLOTUS, a WOMAN of STYLE & SUBSTANCE
That’s a great picture of FLOTUS. She’s lookin’ good.
folks in New Hampshire not taking kindly to Fox thinking that they will decide the GOP candidates for them.
………………..
Union Leader to host Presidential candidates’ forum Aug. 6
On the same August night that Fox News hosts a much-criticized and limited Republican presidential debate in Cleveland, the Union Leader will host a New Hampshire Presidential Forum in the first primary state. It will be televised nationally by C-SPAN, which will also broadcast it on radio.
Union Leader Publisher Joseph W. McQuaid said the newspaper has been considering such a forum for some time. He said an open protest letter sent Wednesday to Fox and the Republican National Committee from 56 prominent state Republicans should be a wake-up call to everyone in New Hampshire.
“What Fox is attempting to do, and is actually bragging about doing, is a real threat to the first-in-the-nation primary,” McQuaid said. “Fox boasts that it will ‘winnow’ the field of candidates before New Hampshire gets to do so. That isn’t just bad for New Hampshire, it’s bad for the presidential selection process by limiting the field to only the best-known few with the biggest bankrolls. Why the RNC and, especially, its New Hampshire representative, Steve Duprey, would defend this and be a party to it is baffling.”
– See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150610/NEWS0605/150619874#sthash.3o6mhrmS.dpuf
Michelle Obama Will Be ‘Guest Editor’ Of More Magazine
AP | By By DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Posted: 06/11/2015 6:02 am EDT Updated: 1 hour ago
ASHINGTON (AP) — She’s a wife, mother and lawyer, an advocate for children and military families, and first lady of the United States. Now Michelle Obama has added a new gig: magazine editor.
The first lady is “guest editor” of the July-August issue of More, which bills itself as the magazine for “women of style and substance.”
It was a first for both the White House and the magazine industry, said Lesley Jane Seymour, More’s editor-in-chief.
“There’s never been a first lady who’s ever guest-edited a magazine and certainly not a sitting first lady,” Seymour told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
“She’s really the editor,” Seymour said. She said the edition focuses on Mrs. Obama’s “point of view on the world and it’s from her eyes.”
“Guest editor” wasn’t just a fancy title. The first lady had to pitch story ideas and write and approve copy for the 148-page issue, Seymour said.
She “was reading every page and asking for changes up until the last minute,” Seymour said. “She had to approve absolutely everything. She had to suggest various things, too.” Staff handled stories about fashion and beauty, along with basic functions of the magazine.
The theme of the issue is having “More Impact.”
Mrs. Obama said she welcomed the opportunity to share some of her White House experiences with like-minded readers.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/11/michelle-obama-magazine-editor-more_n_7559588.html
“…Just days after my family moved to Washington back in 2009, my daughters started their first day at their new schools. I went with Malia, my mother accompanied Sasha, and as I watched my girls climb into those big black cars filled with agents with guns and saw Sasha’s little face pressed against the window as her car pulled away, it hit me: What on earth were we doing?
What were Barack and I doing to our daughters? What were we doing to our marriage? Would they be OK? Would we be OK? At that moment, I made a promise to myself—and my girls—that I would do everything possible to make this disruption to their lives worthwhile…”
she doesn’t want segregation – she wants what White people were able to do to Black people DURING segregation.
No Relation @TheCosby
I want to see the records of the grades & disciplinary actions she’s given to her students broken down by race.
Rupert Murdoch, one of the world’s most influential media executives, is planning to step down as CEO of 21st Century Fox, a source said.
Murdoch, 84, is expected to hand over the media empire’s reins to his son James, but he will remain executive chairman.
BOY BYE!
https://twitter.com/JoeTrippi/status/608960107934834688
best response to this – found at POU
2016 elections are going to be quite a trip! I’m stocking up on POPCORN.
Joe Trippi is one of those ‘Democratic’ strategists that post 2008 and with clearer eyes, one has to constantly keep an eye on… A side eye..
White privilege
http://youtu.be/qg48ZZ2wYfM
https://twitter.com/handsupunited_/status/608771198403645441
The Rise and Fall of Two Florida Stoners Who Made It Big as Gunrunners
ByGuy Lawson | June 10, 2015
9182 views
In the summer of 2006, the war in Afghanistan was going badly. The Bush Administration’s surge of troops to Iraq had left few resources to deploy to Kabul, as a long shot Presidential candidate named Barack Obama said on the campaign trail. Desperate to turn the tide, the Pentagon decided to try to “stand up” Afghan security forces. Hundreds of millions rounds of various Soviet Bloc ammunition were required, rounds that could only be obtained by doing business with Eastern European arms dealers. Like all defense contracts, the solicitation was posted online, on the website fedbizopps.gov, to be open to competition from qualified bidders.
One such company was AEY, an outfit run by 21-year-old 9th grade dropout named Efraim Diveroli and his 25 year old part-time masseuse friend David Packouz. The two best buddy gunrunners—the two dudes—had entered a bid of $300M, hoping that they might beat Fortune 500 companies and win the geopolitically vital Afghan ammo contract. Until they received an email that would change their lives.
On January 26, 2007, David Packouz was parking his Mazda Protégé in the lot of his dive apartment building when his cell phone rang.
“Dude, I have good news and I have bad news,” Efraim Diveroli said. “What do you want first?”
“What’s the bad news?”
“Our first order is only for $680,000.”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/theslice/florida-gun-runners-afghanistan
Yeah, she thought it was love, but then something in her mind snapped…the watching of too many Lifetime Movies…
After she delivered them to Canada, she was gonna be a ‘loose end’, and everyone in the movies knows what criminals do wth ‘loose ends’.
……………………
Officials Say Prison Worker Joyce Mitchell Planned to Be Getaway Driver
‘She thought it was love’: Prison worker charmed by escapee
June 11, 2015
Joyce Mitchell, the New York prison worker being questioned in the escape of two murderers, was charmed by one of the inmates and planned to be their getaway driver until she got cold feet, senior government officials told NBC News.
One of the inmates, Richard Matt, established a relationship with Mitchell over a couple of months, the officials said.
“She thought it was love,” one of the officials said.
Instead of being the getaway driver, Mitchell went to the hospital and checked herself in, the officials said. As NBC News has previously reported, Mitchell checked in on Saturday, the day the inmates were reported missing, with “a case of nerves.”
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/new-york-prison-escape/she-thought-it-was-love-officials-say-prison-worker-joyce-n373571?cid=sm_tw&hootPostID=a4d571f7fd9c4a8b5c2993b3417a69a8
side eye to this
https://twitter.com/pewresearch/status/608987076655054848
uh huh
uh huh
Don’t delete honey, be honest….
And she doesn’t want segregation…she wants what White folks were able to do Black folks during segregation
https://twitter.com/AYoungReporter/status/608807137905659904
Why Every Black Child Should Learn To Play Chess Immediately
……….
The benefits of chess have been something I long understood being a child that learned how to play rather early, but now I REALLY UNDERSTAND since I have the opportunity to watch my children develop and grow. They both learned at early ages. My oldest son was 2 when he finally figured out how to move the bishop. (Yes, I don’t know why, but that was the piece that he couldn’t get for some time.)
By the age of 4, he was enrolling in chess tournaments and beating grown men. My father won’t play him in chess either and i’m getting close to throwing in the towel as well. He is now 14 and a force in the chess world. My youngest son learned to play the game about 5 or 6 years old. Yes, he was slacking but is up to speed now. Although the youngest didn’t pick the game up and LOVE it like the oldest child, the benefits playing chess are evident in him as well.
Why Every Black Child Should Learn To Play Chess
Ok, I have really given you some background why i’m such a chess advocate for children, all children, but I feel black children should have a special emphasis put on them to learn and master the game. Here are my reasons.
http://urbanintellectuals.com/2014/01/13/why-every-black-child-learn-play-chess-immediately/
Chuck Schumer Is Not Working the Refs Very Well
—By Kevin Drum
| Wed Jun. 10, 2015 4:47 PM EDT
This is kind of fascinating:
After almost six months in the minority, Charles E. Schumer says Senate Democrats aren’t afraid to be obstructionists, detailing a strategy of blocking appropriations bills and other Republican agenda items until they get what they want….Schumer (D-N.Y.) said they are joining with President Barack Obama behind a plan to try to force Republicans to the negotiating table over everything from domestic and defense spending to highway funding and international tax reform.
….The White House-backed plan to get Republicans to support more spending for domestic programs by blocking floor consideration of appropriations bills was developed in a series of closed-door meetings held over the course of several weeks.
….To maintain their leverage, Democrats have decided to block all spending bills starting with the defense appropriations measure headed to the floor next week. Durbin told reporters on Tuesday that there is also no ruling out a blockade of program authorizations, like upcoming votes on highway funding.
It’s not the substance of Schumer’s comments that’s fascinating. By now, even the checkout clerks at the local Safeway know that Democrats plan to obstruct everything and anything. It’s time for Republicans to get a taste of their own dog food.
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/06/chuck-schumer-not-working-refs-very-well
https://twitter.com/commissbratton/status/608797124281704450
https://twitter.com/acwzywabit/status/608822658915008513/photo/1
Oh my..
it’s just a lot of dust in my eyes.
Yes, just dust.
that’s the answer – dust.
https://youtu.be/sZCdhVd3Vh8
SG2,
please retweet this video.
FRONT-PAGING THIS. Thanks for posting it here, rik!
MEANWHILE….
FLORIDA ENACTS 24-HOUR ABORTION WAIT
Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill into law Wednesday that requires women to visit a doctor and wait at least 24 hours before having an abortion. Women will not be required to wait for the procedure if they provide a police report, court order, or medical report proving the pregnancy was a result of rape, incest, domestic violence, or human trafficking.
Opponents of the bill argue the waiting period creates a burden for women, who already have weighed the decision or may live far away from abortion clinics and struggle to make repeated visits to the doctor. The measure goes into effect July 1.
http://elink.thedailybeast.com/4e555ee3e018bee76c3458202penu.2xmy/VXl6m0mODutNgUtpB41b1
Good morning, ladies. Off to deliver everyone’s checks. Prince is so cool!
Hi vitmainlover. awaiting with outstretched hands. LOL
Good morning, Vitamin!
I’m waiting on my check.
Good Morning Everyone.
Good Morning, Ladies & Everyone! :-)
Ah, THE PURPLE ONE…..
The Purple One…with his fine self.