Friday Open Thread | SEAL Week

Posted on June 26, 2015 by rikyrah

Happy Friday, Everyone! Let’s Seal the week with more SEAL. Hope you’re enjoying the week.

‘Prayer for the Dying’

1416-seal-prof1b

Human Beings-Live

Change is Gonna Come

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70 Responses to Friday Open Thread | SEAL Week

  4. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 9:12 pm

    They are showing

    The Gospel Tradition: In Performance at the White House on TV One. It will be repeated at 10:30 pm EST.

    Reply
  7. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 8:47 pm

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. speaks out against Confederate flag
    June 26, 2015 4:06pm EDT

    Nearly a decade ago, Dale Earnhardt Jr. spoke out against the Confederate flag in a somewhat wishy-washy way, but now that NASCAR is supporting South Carolina in its decision to remove the flag from its Statehouse grounds, Earnhardt is clarifying his stance further.

    “I think it’s offensive to an entire race,” Earnhardt told reporters Friday at Sonoma Raceway. “It belongs in the history books and that’s about it.”

    NASCAR has removed the symbol in all official capacities, but Confederate flags still fly in abundance on a weekly basis at NASCAR races.

    “NASCAR will continue our long-standing policy to disallow the use of the Confederate Flag symbol in any official NASCAR capacity,” NASCAR said in a statement earlier this week. “While NASCAR recognizes that freedom of expression is an inherent right of all citizens, we will continue to strive for an inclusive environment at our events.”

    Jeff Gordon wasn’t quite as deliberate in his message when asked Friday, but said he supports NASCAR’s decision. Via the Charlotte Observer’s Jim Utter:

    “To me I’m in support of what they are doing. It’s a delicate balance,” Gordon said. “We race all over, but the South is an area where we have a lot of fans. Everyone has different opinions and expression of that. I support NASCAR and the stance that they are taking.”

    http://www.sportingnews.com/nascar/story/2015-06-26/dale-earnhardt-jr-confederate-flag-south-carolina-nascar-darlington-souther-500?eadid=SOC/Twi/SNMain

    Reply
  12. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 3:00 pm

    Luvvie on Maury Povich

    The Maury Povich Show is a National Treasure
    Awesomely Luvvie — June 26, 2015

    I googled and it says the Maury Povich show first aired on September 9, 1991. That show is only 6 years younger than me. WOWSIES. I just wanted to do an ode to one of the funniest, most foolery-filled shows on television. Even to this day, Maury is unfuggwitable because he is an enabler of shenanigans.

    http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2015/06/the-maury-povich-show.html

    Reply
  15. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 12:20 pm

    The image of this…I want a picture

    Jill Biden ‏@JillBidenVeep 2h2 hours ago
    Joe is running through the halls with a rainbow flagged tied on like a cape high fiving everyone. #MarriageEquaility #LoveWins #SCOTUS

    Reply
  23. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 10:50 am

    Norah O’Donnell ✔ @NorahODonnell

    Change for “our LGBT brothers and sisters must’ve been so slow for so long but compared to so many issues America’s shift has been so quick”

    Reply
  27. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 10:10 am

    Marriage equality becomes the law of the land
    06/26/15 10:11 AM—UPDATED 06/26/15 10:54 AM
    By Steve Benen
    On June 26, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down sodomy laws. On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act.

    On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court made marriage equality the law of the land.

    THE RUNDOWN WITH JOSE DIAZ-BALART, 6/26/15, 10:01 AM ET
    SCOTUS rules in favor of marriage equality

    The Supreme Court ruled Friday that the U.S. Constitution requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriages, making marriage equality officially the law of the land.

    Two questions stood before the high court: Does the 14th Amendment require states to license a marriage between two people of the same sex, and does that same amendment require a state to recognize legally valid same-sex marriages performed elsewhere?

    The court ruled that the answer to both questions is “yes,” clearing the way for gay and lesbian couples to marry in all 50 states.
    This post will be updated shortly (and repeatedly).

    First Update: The ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges is online here (pdf). It’s a 5-4 decision, with Justice Kennedy writing for the majority. He was joined, of course, by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan.

    Second Update: Justices Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito dissented. In an unusual move, each of them wrote their own dissenting opinion.

    Third Update: Roberts read his dissent from the bench, which is reportedly a first since the Chief Justice joined the court a decade ago.

    Fourth Update: From the majority’s ruling:
    “The challenged laws burden the liberty of same-sex couples, and they abridge central precepts of equality. The marriage laws at issue are in essence unequal: Same-sex couples are denied benefits afforded opposite-sex couples and are barred from exercising a fundamental right. Especially against a long history of disapproval of their relationships, this denial works a grave and continuing harm, serving to disrespect and subordinate gays and lesbians.”

    Fifth Update: Also from the majority:

    “As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/marriage-equality-becomes-the-law-the-land

    Reply
  28. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 10:07 am

    Kennymack1971

    Bin Laden dead, Auto industry alive, The ACA, Marriage Equality, bringing the economy back from the brink…..all on the watch of THIS President…

    Barack Hussein Obama. And he ain’t done yet.

    Reply
  29. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 10:06 am

    Republican governor faces possible impeachment in Maine
    06/26/15 08:39 AM
    By Steve Benen
    It’s very unusual for a sitting governor to be impeached. In fact, over the last century, it’s only happened six times, the most recent being former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), who’s currently serving a 14-year prison sentence.

    In Maine, there’s a very real possibility that this small club will gain a new member. Consider this powerful editorial published yesterday by the Portland Press Herald.
    Sabotaging House Speaker Mark Eves’ private career revealed more of the mean-spirited, small-minded revenge politics for which Gov. LePage has become famous. But this time, he may have gone too far.

    The Maine House should immediately begin an investigation of the governor, and if no new facts emerge that put his conduct in a positive light, he should be impeached and tried in the state Senate.

    That may sound like an extreme reaction, but the governor’s conduct takes Maine into new territory.
    For those who’ve followed the far-right governor’s strange career, LePage has earned a reputation for buffoonery, offensive antics, and a regressive policy agenda, but this new controversy points in a far more alarming direction.

    When the governor tells unfortunate jokes about killing media professionals he doesn’t like, it’s cringe-worthy. When he’s accused of using his office and public resources to punish political rivals, it may well turn out to be impeachment-worthy.

    Let’s back up and consider what the controversy is all about. Over at Daily Kos, Bruce Bourgoine published a good summary:
    On June 9, Republican Maine Governor LePage complained that a charter school that selected Democratic Maine House Speaker Mark Eves to be its future President should not hire him based on the Governor’s political personal opposition. The school decided otherwise based on Mr. Eves qualifications and planned to employ Mr. Eves.

    [On Wednesday, June 24], Governor LePage, after a long month of dozens of veto overrides and legislative action designed to put in place a budget that would be veto-proof, struck back personally at Speaker Eves’ future livelihood. The Governor actually threatened to withhold $530,000 per year from the school in state funds because of the Speaker’s eventual leadership of the institution. This thuggish action unfortunately resulted in the school breaking down and rescinding its offer of employment to Mr. Eves.

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/republican-governor-faces-possible-impeachment-maine

    Reply
  31. Ametia says:
    June 26, 2015 at 9:44 am

    Minnesota Selects No. 1 Draft Pick Towns

    The Minnesota Timberwolves selected University of Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns as their No. 1 pick in the NBA draft Thursday.“This is what you live for,” Towns said on ESPN. The Los Angeles Lakers took D’Angelo Russell as the No. 2 pick, while the Philadelphia 76ers selected Jahlil Okafor as No. 3. The 19-year-old, 6-foot-11 Towns averaged 10.3 points and 6.7 rebounds for the Wildcats, who made it to the Final Four before losing in the semifinals to Wisconsin.

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2015/06/26/minnesota-selects-no-1-draft-pick-towns.html?via=newsletter&source=CSAMedition

    Reply
  32. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 9:43 am

    Marva Collins, renowned educator, dies at 78
    By Tony Briscoe
    Chicago Tribune

    A pioneer in education, Marva Collins gained wide acclaim for her novel approach to teaching at a West Side school she started.

    Mrs. Collins, 78, who founded Westside Preparatory School in Garfield Park in 1975 and whose life became the focus of a made-for-TV movie, died of natural causes on Wednesday while in hospice care in Beaufort County, S.C., according to her son Patrick Collins.

    “She gave it her professional all, her very best,” he said.

    Born Marva Knight in Alabama, Mrs. Collins graduated from Clark College, now Clark Atlanta University.

    She moved to Chicago after graduation and took a position as a medical secretary. She later became a teacher in Chicago Public Schools, teaching second grade at Delano Elementary School on the Near West Side, her son said.

    She became frustrated with the classroom approach at the public school, her son said.

    “It was more playtime, less learning,” he said. “So she cashed in her $5,000 teacher pension, moved her tenants out and taught out of the second floor of her own home. That was her vision.”

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-marva-collins-obituary-met-20150625-story.html

    Reply
  33. Ametia says:
    June 26, 2015 at 9:42 am

    The Supreme Court on Friday delivered a historic victory for gay rights, ruling 5 to 4 that the Constitution requires that same-sex couples be allowed to marry no matter where they live and that states may no longer reserve the right only for heterosexual couples.

    The court’s action marks the culmination of an unprecedented upheaval in public opinion and the nation’s jurisprudence. Advocates called it the most pressing civil rights issue of modern times, while critics said the courts had sent the country into uncharted territory by changing the traditional definition of marriage.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gay-marriage-and-other-major-rulings-at-the-supreme-court/2015/06/25/ef75a120-1b6d-11e5-bd7f-4611a60dd8e5_story.html?wpisrc=al_alert-COMBO-politics%252Bnation

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      June 26, 2015 at 9:35 am

      SCOTUS is getting it ALL RIGHT this week!

      In a landmark opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 today that states cannot ban same-sex marriage, handing gay rights advocates their biggest victory yet.

      Get complete coverage of breaking news on CNN TV, CNN.com and CNN Mobile.

      Reply
  37. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 9:11 am

    SCOTUSBlog rocks!!
    I remember the Maddow segment when she introduced the folks behind SCOTUSBlog, and it was some old -timer reporter who still did everything by hand. Loved it.

    Reply
  38. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 9:08 am

    From Scotusblog. Gay Marriage – 5-4 (Kennedy)
    Holding: Fourteenth Amendment requires a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex. And to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when a marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out of state.

    Reply
  40. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 8:53 am

    Children of segregationists want to be on ‘right side of history’
    June 24, 2015

    Sometimes the apple falls far from the tree.

    The children of segregationists from the civil rights era have taken steps to differentiate themselves from the actions of their parents.

    They want to drive home the point that just because your forefathers were on the wrong side of history does not mean you need to follow the same trajectory.

    A South Carolina state senator whose father was a vocal proponent of segregation came out forcefully in favor of bringing down the Confederate battle flag from the Statehouse grounds.

    In a speech on the Senate floor of the Statehouse on Wednesday, Republican Paul Thurmond, of Charleston, said the “time is right and the ground is fertile” for the state totransfer the controversial emblem from the Statehouse to a museum.

    “It is time to acknowledge our past, atone for our sins and work towards a better future. That future must be built on symbols of peace, love and unity. That future cannot be built on symbols of war, hate and divisiveness,” Thurmond said from the podium.

    His late father, Strom Thurmond, was a U.S. senator for nearly half a century and ran for president in 1948 as a pro-segregation Dixiecrat (a member of the short-lived States’ Rights Democratic Party).

    The elder Thurmond holds the dubious Senate record of delivering the longest individual speech — 24 hours and 18 minutes — for his filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

    After the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Thurmond was so dissatisfied with the liberalism among Democrats that he became a Republican.

    Despite Thurmond’s high-profile resistance to civil rights, astatue honoring him now stands on the Statehouse grounds.

    His son, now 39, said he is proud to speak out against the Confederate battle flag and “be on the right side of history.”
    The younger Thurmond noted that many see the flag as a symbol of oppression and slavery, whereas others see it as a symbol of Southern heritage.

    He acknowledged that his family has been in South Carolina for many generations. And, he’s been told, his great-grandfather was with Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee when he surrendered in Appomattox, Va.

    “Think about it for just a second: Our ancestors were literally fighting to continue to keep human beings as slaves and continue the unimaginable acts that occur when someone is held against their will,” he said. “I am not proud of this heritage. These practices were inhumane and wrong, wrong, wrong.”

    https://www.yahoo.com/politics/children-of-segregationists-want-to-be-on-right-122348303806.html

    Reply
  41. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 8:52 am

    We Told You So! Kim Fields is Officially Joining ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’ http://www.lovebscott.com/news… via @lovebscott

    Reply
  44. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 8:28 am

    Republicans plot strategy to repeal Obamacare
    06/26/15 06:02 AM EDT

    Republicans in Congress are moving toward a plan to use a special budgetary process to repeal ObamaCare, after the Supreme Court ruled for a second time to uphold the controversial law.

    Since last year’s elections, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has proposed using budget reconciliation to repeal large chunks of the law.

    The procedure would allow Republicans to pass a repeal package through the upper chamber with a simple majority vote, bypassing the 60-vote threshold usually required for major bills. The gambit is less relevant in the House, where the GOP holds a sizable majority and the minority party has fewer rights.

    McConnell is expected to follow through on his earlier proposals, to the delight of conservatives, after Thursday’s 6-3 court ruling in support of a provision of the healthcare law dealing with insurance exchanges and subsidies.

    He views the budgetary tactic as the only way to get an ObamaCare repeal to the president’s desk.

    The effort has no real chance of becoming law — Obama is certain to veto it — but it will enable Republicans to satisfy their base supporters and draw a contrast between the parties ahead of next year’s presidential election.
    http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/246228-gop-plots-strategy-to-repeal-obamacare

    Reply
  51. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 8:14 am

    Those Are My People – President Obama’s words when he talked to Rep Clyburn the day after the shooting.
    ———————–
    In an emotional telephone interview with Yahoo News on Sirius/XM radio, Clyburn said he was on his way from Charleston airport on Thursday to a prayer service for those slain at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church when Obama called.

    “The president called, and we talked, and I noticed that he was very emotional in talking about Clementa” Pinckney, the pastor and Democratic state senator killed in the attack, Clyburn said.

    “I mentioned a couple of names (of victims) to him. He said, ‘Those are my people! Those are my people!’ He repeated that two or three times. I could tell that this event has struck a very emotional chord with him. So I was not the least bit surprised when he informed us that he would be coming to the service,” Clyburn said. Obama will deliver the eulogy for Pinckney on Friday.

    https://www.yahoo.com/politics/obama-to-clyburn-charleston-victims-are-my-122373502106.html

    Reply
  52. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 8:12 am

    Urban Outfitters charging $8 for this!!

    that can’t be real.
    I got a bag full of those at home for Peanut that I got at the Dollar Store.

    https://twitter.com/chardonarry/status/614196117916401664

    Reply
  53. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 8:09 am

    Chris King @chriskingstl
    The White House credentialed @LBPhoto1 to cover @POTUS’ eulogy in Charleston.

    Lawrence Bryant is a photographer for the St Louis American, a black publication. Below is a video from ABC News on his photos of the Ferguson protests.
    http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek…

    Reply
  54. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 8:08 am

    We gotta pass up Lifetime….this has to be on HBO or Showtime…

    She was straight up D***-matized.

    ………………………………………………….

    Shaw-skank had closet sex with killer at least 100 times: ex-inmate
    June 24, 2015 | 2:00am

    Prison worker Joyce “Tillie” Mitchell had sex at least 100 times in a sewing-shop storage closet with one of the convicted killers she helped spring, a former inmate told The Post — hours after her clueless husband insisted she never could have bedded the escaped criminals.

    Mitchell spent her jailhouse days giggling, chatting and showering gifts on convicted cop-killer David Sweat in the Clinton Correctional Facility workplace she was supposed to be supervising, said the former prisoner, Erik Jensen.

    She would routinely end her shift by disappearing into the 8-foot-by-15-foot stockroom with the 35-year-old Sweat for at least a half-hour at a time, said Jensen.

    http://nypost.com/2015/06/24/shawskank-had-closet-sex-with-killer-4-times-a-week-ex-inmate/

    Reply
  56. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 8:04 am

    Misty Copeland Debuts as Odette/Odile in ‘Swan Lake’
    By ALASTAIR MACAULAY
    JUNE 25, 2015

    When Misty Copeland made her New York debut in the double role of Odette/Odile in “Swan Lake,” the most epic role in world ballet, two aspects of the performance on Wednesday afternoon proved marvelous. One: that it all happened successfully. Two: the curtain calls.

    Let everyone know henceforth that an African-American ballerina has danced this exalted role with American Ballet Theater at the prestigious Metropolitan Opera House. Let everyone know that other African-American dancers, Raven Wilkinson (who danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1955-61) and Lauren Anderson (who, with the Houston Ballet, was the first African-American ballerina to became a principal of an American ballet company), brought her bouquets onstage. And let everyone know that her fellow dancers shared her applause with pride. (The enthusiasm and affection shown by James Whiteside, who partnered her as Prince Siegfried, was especially engaging.)

    As Odette, the Swan Queen, Ms. Copeland has moments of courage and grandeur when you feel the heroic scale of Tchaikovsky’s celebrated drama. She runs boldly around the stage like a creature accustomed to vast space; she raises her arms with the epic sweep of mighty wings. In other respects, she’s admirable but without striking individuality. The substance of “Swan Lake” is there, but in potential. I hope she dances it again and reveals more in it.

    For her sake and everyone else’s, I wish that Ballet Theater’s “Swan Lake” was a good one. Odette is dully good in the first lakeside act, Odile is vampily bad in the ballroom act, and then we go back to the lakeside act to watch Odette being dully good again — more dully this time because she has no choreography worth looking at.

    As Odile, Ms. Copeland follows in the misguided Russian tradition of tucking her head down and repeatedly looking hard at the audience under her brows (as if at the mirror) to let us know she is a scheming villainess. The result makes her look unclassical and makes Siegfried, by falling for her, look even more of a ninny than usual.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/26/arts/misty-copeland-debuts-as-odette-odile-in-swan-lake.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1

    Reply
  59. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 7:58 am

    The segment from Maddow’s show where she talks about the President’s Legacy.

    Obama cements legacy with Supreme Court health care win

    Michael Beschloss, NBC News presidential history, talks with Rachel Maddow about how the Obama administration’s Supreme Court victory fits in the context of his presidential legacy and in the scope of the history in establishing American health care.

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/obama-cements-legacy-with-health-care-win-471554115831

    Reply
  60. rikyrah says:
    June 26, 2015 at 7:53 am

    Good Morning, Everyone :)

    Reply
  61. Ametia says:
    June 26, 2015 at 7:40 am

    Good Morning, Everyone. :-))) Thread coming for Rev. Pinckney’s Homegoing today…soon.

    Reply
    • yahtzeebutterfly says:
      June 26, 2015 at 7:54 am

      Good Morning, Ametia and Rikyrah.

      Thanks for planning to create a special page for Rev. Pinckney’s Homegoing.

      Reply

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