We will spend this week with the Top 10 Billboard Singles from the 1980’s.
Today – 1980
Position Artist Song Title
1 Blondie —-Call Me
2 Pink Floyd —* Another Brick In The Wall
3 Olivia Newton-John — Magic
4 Michael Jackson — Rock With You
5 Captain and Tennille —- Do That To Me One More Time
6 Queen —- Crazy Little Thing Called Love
7 Paul McCartney —- Coming Up
8 Lipps, Inc. —– Funkytown
9 Billy Joel —– It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me
10 Bette Midler —– The Rose
deray mckesson retweeted
WMC Action News 5 @WMCActionNews5 1h1 hour ago
#BREAKING: City Council passes the resolution to move the body of Nathan Bedford Forrest from Health Sciences Park.
https://twitter.com/goodblacknews/status/618224030294761473/photo/1
https://twitter.com/DaRiverZkind/status/618216326478168064
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/618217144015151104
This is totally how I feel:
Ha ha, well, why not? Didn’t he say he wanted Oprah Winfrey to be his running mate and there’s no way they could lose? I suspect she declined the offer.
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/617852529221570560
https://twitter.com/thinkprogress/status/618043640531800064
https://twitter.com/tommyxtopher/status/618147898597859332
https://twitter.com/mcbridetd/status/618192259943526400
UH HUH
UH HUH
https://twitter.com/attndotcom/status/618152455327494148
https://twitter.com/theonlyadult/status/618091009646456832
The Republican Debate Selection Process Is a New Wild Card in Presidential Politics
Fox News and CNN are using national polls to limit the debate stage to 10 candidates. Methodologically, they might as well be drawing straws.
A month from now, 10 Republican presidential candidates will walk out onto a primetime debate stage in Cleveland and confront each other face to face for the first time. If the debate were held today, Donald Trump would be one of them. Two sitting governors, a U.S. senator, the runner-up for the 2012 GOP nomination, and the first female CEO of a Fortune 50 company would all be excluded.
That’s an estimate based on qualifying criteria described by Fox News, which will host the GOP showdown in partnership with Facebook on Aug. 6 in Cleveland, using an average of five as-yet-unspecified national polls to determine the lineup. The network should be celebrating its coveted role of hosting the first debate of the Republican primary season, with the prestige and audience that it brings. But instead, the news organization may have stumbled into a political minefield.
In an unprecedentedly large field of 16 presidential contenders, at least half are statistically on the bubble of not qualifying for the debate stage, with only a month to differentiate themselves. The result is a campaign-within-a-campaign, with very different imperatives from the ones the primary process is designed to produce. Campaigns who are in danger of not making the cut may try everything possible to improve their chances over the next four weeks—taking extreme, news-making positions; dumping opposition research on opponents; inundating e-mail inboxes; and blitzing the Sunday television circuit, late-night talk shows, conservative radio airwaves, and cable news programs. Instead of spending resources on political operations in early-voting states, candidates may blow that cash on national TV ads to boost name recognition at the eleventh hour.
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-07-06/the-republican-debate-selection-process-is-a-new-wild-card-in-presidential-politics
Rand Paul draws parallel between taxes, slavery
07/06/15 03:09 PM—UPDATED 07/06/15 04:00 PM
By Steve Benen
It was just a couple of weeks ago that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) unveiled his flat-tax plan, which is a bit of a mess. The Republican presidential hopeful assembled “an all-star team of the kookiest pseudo-economists in the history of the Republican Party” to help him craft a plan, and he came up with a 14.5% federal rate.
In practical terms, Paul is proposing a multi-trillion-dollar tax overhaul that the country couldn’t possibly afford. But in ideological terms, the GOP senator’s vision on tax policy is arguably even more outrageous.
BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynski reported today on remarks Paul delivered last week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa:
Paul said he believes that “you have to give up some of your liberty to have government,” saying he was “for some government.”
“I’m for paying some taxes,” continued Paul. “But if we tax you at 100% then you’ve got zero percent liberty. If we tax you at 50% you are half slave, half free. I frankly would like to see you a little freer and a little more money remaining in your communities so you can create jobs. It’s a debate we need to have.”
Well, maybe. We can have a debate, for example, about the correlation between income-tax cuts and job creation – which Rand Paul may not understand quite as well as he thinks he does. The senator might want to talk to Sam Brownback in Kansas about whether one leads to the other.
But once presidential candidates start equating taxpayers and slaves, there’s a more serious problem.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/rand-paul-draws-parallel-between-taxes-slavery
can’t wait to hear both of them
https://twitter.com/markknoller/status/618089907337175040
Al Giordano telling some truth
https://twitter.com/AlGiordano/status/618119204311572480
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2015/07/svsu_student_says_he_doesnt_de.html
Detroiter, SVSU student facing felony waited to pull over in brightly lit area
Low-speed pursuit leads to college student’s arrest
on July 06, 2015 at 5:34 AM
KOCHVILLE TOWNSHIP, MI — DaJuawn Wallace said he didn’t stop immediately when prompted by police at 2 a.m. Feb. 19 because he was taught to pull into a well-lit and safe area before doing so.
The Detroit native who is a commuter student pursuing a master’s degree at Saginaw Valley State University believes he did not commit a crime, since he pulled over in a Sam’s Club parking lot about 1.5 miles up the road from where police activated their lights.
The Saginaw County prosecutor’s office disagrees, however. Wallace faces one felony count of fleeing and eluding.
“I live in Detroit, and I know some people who were robbed by fake police officers,” Wallace said. “I was taught to find a well-lit area to pullover in.”
Wallace said he was making a store run to get medicine for his girlfriend when he saw headlights in his rearview mirror, accelerating behind him.
Wallace signaled and moved into the right lane to let the vehicle pass. The police car activated its lights and sirens to initiate a traffic stop.
“I was not speeding up, turning off my lights or trying to get away,” said Wallace, 24.
Police dash-cam video shows Wallace sticking his hand out the window and signaling. He said he did so to show police that he was going to pull over in the Sam’s Club parking lot.
Saginaw Valley State University Police Officer Leon Wilson wrote in his police report that he initiated a traffic stop on Wallace because his vehicle fit the description of a car that he observed driving on a sidewalk on the SVSU campus. Wilson lost sight of the vehicle.
“I was uncertain about the make and the model of the vehicle, but this vehicle looked like the same color and was leaving the immediate area,” Wilson wrote.
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2015/07/svsu_student_says_he_doesnt_de.html
found at POU:
Miranda
This state senator in SC is having the most epic meltdown over the darn confederate flag
———————–
Joy Reid @JoyAnnReid 53s53 seconds agoSouth Carolina, USA
Senator Bright now complaining that there are attempts under way to move the body of Nathan Bedford Forrest (founder of the KKK).
Joy Reid @JoyAnnReid 3m3 minutes agoSouth Carolina, USA
Bright’s speech has spanned ISIS, the “oppressive” federal government, sin, “lifestyles” and the fact that he says he’s never met a Klansman
Joy Reid @JoyAnnReid 7m7 minutes agoSouth Carolina, USA
… And he added that he thinks Clarence Thomas is the greatest Supreme Court Justice in history, which prompted guffaws in the chamber.
Joy Reid @JoyAnnReid 8m8 minutes agoSouth Carolina, USA
Bright is rambling, saying people during antebellum period were white supremacist because they “didn’t have examples” like Jesse Jackson.
Joy Reid @JoyAnnReid 8m8 minutes agoSouth Carolina, USA
Bright on the dais arguing that people should oppose the Lincoln memorial too because he was racist and only opposed slavery to win the war.
Joy Reid @JoyAnnReid 10m10 minutes agoSouth Carolina, USA
Another amendment by Sen. Lee Bright is now up. It would replace the battle flag with the actual flag of the Confederate States of America.
I went to see Dope today. I really liked it. It’s a smart movie. You all should check it out.
https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xpa1/t51.2885-15/11205716_1592212197700267_487963087_n.jpg
“Power Box was created in response to a national call in the United States for the economic empowerment of black communities. In addition to providing an extensive directory cataloguing black owned businesses across the globe, Power Box includes interviews with black entrepreneurs and professionals, product reviews, shopping guides and more features to spotlight black businesses. Power Box aims to help sustain and bring attention to the thousands of black owned businesses in existence.
In December 2014, during the Black Friday boycott spurred by the outcry in Ferguson, MO, entrepreneur Tami Sawyer used her strong social media presence to redirect the focus to supporting black businesses. Knowing firsthand the difficulties that black businesses face, Tami felt the drive to develop a product that would make buying black a standard practice in the black community. Backed by the support of her network through a successful Kickstarter campaign, Tami utilized her resources to build Power Box as a tool for black empowerment and financial security.”
https://www.facebook.com/ourpowerbox/timeline?ref=page_internal
https://twitter.com/Lib_Librarian/status/618172788302442496
https://twitter.com/blogdiva/status/618033908010086400
Skin Trouble
By N.D.B. Connolly July 06, 2015
Complexion in Jim Crow America could be a tricky thing. In the spring of 1955, Ebony magazine ran a curious story about the Platts, a family of Florida orange-pickers who had been “barred from the best schools because of a nose, [and] ostracized because of the tint of the skin” despite their claims of being white. According to teachers and law enforcement officials in Lake County, Florida, six of the Platts’ seven children had dusky complexions and “broad noses” befitting Negroes. Thus, the family had no place in the whites only community to which they belonged. Local authorities expelled the Platt kids from Lake’s white schools and forced the family to move out of their white neighborhood and into a house without running hot water and other basic amenities.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/primary-source/platt-segregation-ebony
ESPN has decided to move next week’s ESPY charity golf outing from Trump National to Pelican Hill. Company Statement: “We decided it was appropriate to change the venue, and are grateful for the opportunity to stage the event at Pelican Hill on short notice. This charity outing benefits The V Foundation’s Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund, providing resources for important cancer research for minority populations, including Hispanics and African Americans. Our decision reflects our deep feelings for our former colleague and support for inclusion of all sports fans. Diversity and inclusion are core values at ESPN and our decision also supports that commitment.”
http://espnmediazone.com/us/statement-espns-decision-move-upcoming-espy-celebrity-golf-classic/
https://twitter.com/qweenpush/status/618052830830551041
https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/618167491299274753
https://twitter.com/GirlsBooklet/status/611223398816026624
Faith groups press GOP for response to marriage ruling
By Tim Devaney – 07/04/15 03:56 PM EDT
Congressional Republicans are coming under pressure to respond to the Supreme Court’s ruling on gay marriage when they return to Washington next week.
Religious organizations aligned with the GOP are concerned the government will punish them for opposing same-sex marriage, and want lawmakers to put in place new protections for people with faith-based objections.
The groups are putting their lobbying energy behind the First Amendment Defense Act, a bill that would prohibit the government from retaliating against churches, schools and adoption agencies that only recognize heterosexual marriage.
“Regardless of where you come down on the issue of same-sex marriage, we shouldn’t allow the federal government to punish religious institutions for their beliefs about marriage,” said Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who introduced the legislation shortly before the Supreme Court ruling.
A number of GOP presidential candidates are backing the bill, including Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) is sponsoring the same legislation in the House.
Groups such as the Family Research Council, Heritage Foundation, and National Organization for Marriage are pushing for votes on the bill, calling it a commonsense response to the high court’s ruling.
http://thehill.com/regulation/legislation/246830-faith-groups-press-gop-for-response-to-marriage-ruling
FRC, HF, NOW, and other organizations like these get on my last nerve with this BS. They’re not the least bit concerned about religious freedom. The main point of this new bill is to legalize discrimination by alleged Christians against LGBTQ members and others they don’t like, want to associate with, or be bothered, with. If this bill makes it through Congress, I hope PBO vetoes the hell out of it.
Murdering Joke gave Krispy Kreme Kristy 12 minutes to talk fast, loud bullshit his way through that interview. A better person? GTFOH
Reposting here from yesterday. Thank you for the hat tip & link, Liza
MUST READ & PRINT
LETTER TO MY SON
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/tanehisi-coates-between-the-world-and-me/397619/
Thanks for re-posting, Ametia.
YVW Liza. Coates broke it down, really he did. It’s a literally a full discourse for not only all all Black fathers, but ALL Americans Heart-rending!
TNC is both a gifted writer and a clear thinker, to be sure. Such a rare combination.
You know, I was saddened that a news show host was in such denial that she had to ask Mr. Coates why he felt American progress was built upon looting and violence.
A news show host, one would wish, should have some sort of background in history??; also should at least know the sad state of affairs in present day America to admit that oppression as well as suppression (of voice and vote) is still going strong??
Hasn’t she figured out who gets the “FREE ride” in our country? who is denied equal opportunities? equal justice? fair pay? Why is she so willfully ignorant? Why does she continue this history of non confession?
I know that I am reaping the benefits of our ugly history of accumulating wealth on the backs of unwilling slaves, cheated sharecroppers. I know that our country has cheated Blacks out of jobs they were qualified for; I know that I would have had more competition in seeking admission to college if cities had not handed Blacks an unfair, subpar, and underfunded education esp. in inner cities…on and on with redlining, fair housing….
My benefits belong to the African American community…not to me. I don’t deserve them. I so want to change things.
And then, for that news host to ask Mr. Coates if he had had hope. She and Whites have to make the changes to bring about a glimmer of hope before he can answer that question.
Chutzpah Watch – Chris Christie edition
07/06/15 01:08 PM—UPDATED 07/06/15 01:10 PM
By Steve Benen
In January 2014, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) held a lengthy press conference in which he tried to show at least some contrition. After scoffing at his “Bridgegate” scandal for weeks – he even told reporters they would have to apologize to members of his team – the Republican governor was confronted with so much evidence of wrongdoing within the Christie administration that he felt compelled to apologize.
Indeed, at the time, Christie went so far as to describe himself as “embarrassed and humiliated” by the actions of his own team.
A year and a half later, the governor is now a presidential candidate, and he’s made the transition from humiliation to self-pity. As he did in May, Christie told Fox News yesterday he wants news organizations to apologize to him over Christie’s own scandal.
It’s a genuinely bizarre dynamic – some of Christie’s top aides conspired to cripple a community on purpose, abusing their power in the governor’s name to a literally criminal degree, and Christie’s defense is that he was simply too ignorant to know what was going on around him, creating a scandal that left him “embarrassed and humiliated.”
And now he’s waiting for journalists to apologize to him, as if Chris Christie were the victim of his own fiasco. The governor appeared on msnbc this morning, and continued to dismiss one of the biggest controversies of his career.
“Nobody cares [about Bridgegate]. They don’t care cause here’s why. They don’t care because there’s now been three independent investigations, all of which have said the exact same thing that I said the day after it happened. At some point people just say well after three investigations two of which were run by Democrats … after a while people just say, ‘Okay, I guess he’s telling the truth.’”
Continuing to feel sorry for himself, the scandal-plagued governor added, “Instead of just standing up and saying what they should say, which is, ‘We’re sorry governor, for having jumped to conclusions, we’re sorry for not only having accused you, but convicted you,’ they say, ‘Oh, it’s a culture.’ … It wasn’t a culture because if it was, there would have been a lot more of these incidents.”
Let’s unwrap this a bit.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/chutzpah-watch-chris-christie-edition
For Republicans, Trump is driving the debate
07/06/15 09:20 AM—UPDATED 07/06/15 09:43 AM
By Steve Benen
The initial concern surrounding Donald Trump’s presidential campaign was that he would qualify for the debate stage, denying a slot that would otherwise go to a more serious candidate. But yesterday offered a vivid example of the effect Trump is having on the campaign: he’s dominating the Republican conversation in ways that do the GOP no favors.
Here, for example, was Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on NBC’s “Meet the Press” yesterday:
“I salute Donald Trump for focusing on the need to address illegal immigration. The Washington cartel doesn’t want to address that. The Washington cartel doesn’t believe we need to secure the borders. The Washington cartel supports amnesty and I think amnesty is wrong and I salute Donald Trump for focusing on it. He has a colorful way of speaking. It is not the way I speak. But I’m not going to engage in the media game of throwing rocks and attacking other Republicans.”
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) was asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” whether Trump’s anti-Mexican comments have hurt the Republican Party?
“Well, I say some things very differently. I say every night, I get on my knees and thank God I’m in a country people are trying to break into, rather than one they’re trying to break out of.”
Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R) was asked on CBS’s “Face the Nation” for his reaction to Trump. The Pennsylvania Republican said he doesn’t agree with Trump, but added:
“I think Donald points to a very important thing, which is we have a serious problem of illegal immigration in this country that is undermining American workers…. So while I don’t like verbiage he’s used, I like the fact that he is focused on a very important issue for American workers, and particularly illegal immigrants in this country.”
This just keeps going. Jeb Bush is talking about Trump. Chris Christie is talking about Trump. Rick Perry is talking about Trump. Mitt Romney is talking about Trump, and he isn’t even a candidate.
Not to put too fine a point on the story, but when one person is effectively controlling the political news cycle and dictating one party’s conversation, it looks quite a bit like this.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/republicans-trump-driving-the-debate
https://twitter.com/TheToast2015/status/618071847314264064
Ohio lawmakers scrap elected school boards and union contracts, usher in private control after barring opposition testimony
By Doug Livingston
Beacon Journal education writer
Published: June 25, 2015 – 09:23 AM | Updated: June 26, 2015 – 08:14 PM
In a bold move that has the potential for booting teachers unions from schools, stripping local voters of their authority over their school districts and turning operations over to for-profit companies, the Ohio legislature introduced and passed legislation in a matter of hours with no opportunity for the public to deliver opposition testimony.
The bill began innocuously in the House as an effort to help communities turn schools into comprehensive learning centers for the neighborhood. The bill passed from the House to the Senate a month ago with an overwhelming 92-6 vote.
Almost everyone liked it — until Wednesday.
The Ohio Federation of Teachers, one of the state’s unions representing teachers, was prepared to testify in favor of the bill as it headed for a committee vote.
But Melissa Cropper, president of the union, got wind of the amendment that could disenfranchise unions and voters and turn operations over to private interests.
When it came time for her to speak, she attempted to oppose the new provision, but was told that the amendment had not yet been offered, so she could not address it.
She sat down. The amendment was introduced and four men in line behind her who had traveled from Youngstown stepped up to give favorable testimony.
http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/ohio-lawmakers-scrap-elected-school-boards-and-union-contracts-usher-in-private-control-after-barring-opposition-testimony-1.603233
https://twitter.com/Jason89/status/618086864243847168
sigh…
more under life ain’t fair.
https://twitter.com/Dior/status/618040722361577472/photo/1
https://twitter.com/splcenter/status/618102164469121025/photo/1
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/618101120435662848
study and analyzed and try to find an angle to marginalize and discredit Black Twitter – just in time for the 2016 election season.
Uh huh.
What kind of SHENANIGANS are they up to now?
Call Me so, you can Do That To Me One More Time in Funkytown. I’m Coming Up to Rock With You. It will be Magic, this Crazy Little Thing Called Love and It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me Until then, it’s just Another Brick In The Wall and I’ll give you The Rose
It’s Way beyond time. Why can’t they find and destroy them. Something’s up as to why they are allowed to roam about terrorizing, kidnapping and murdering. who is funding them?
For the love of God, please stop these ruthless savages!
What did the current president of Nigeria do with the money from USA, give it to Boko Haram? GEESH!
Who is supplying weapons to these thugs?
Anyone else watching Scream on MTV?
https://twitter.com/joanwalsh/status/618069102486274048
Of course Trump just went RAMBO with the SOUTHERN STRATEGY. This is all that is happening. The GOP were on board until, well, you know, rug-headed Trump would not fall in line with their DOG-WHISTLING tactics.
https://twitter.com/UberFacts/status/618015919080632320
water is wet news. OBAMA still won though didn’t he?
http://m.c.lnkd.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/p/8/005/076/2ba/01b637e.jpg
gotta drop this here and just go
BWA HA AH AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA AH AH
……………………………………………………..
Jack and Jill of America isn’t too pleased with D.C. reality show
By Helena Andrews
June 25
Last week we told you all about a new “docu-series” filming in the area that is tentatively (and ridiculously) titled “Potomac Ensemble.”
The show, rumored to be in development at that bastion of quality programming — the Bravo network — promises to follow six local African American women navigating the “cattiness” of Jack and Jill, an elite membership organization founded by a group of Philadelphia mothers in 1938. Pot? Stirred.
Jack and Jill’s national board got wind of the series, which has filmed in Bethesda and on Capitol Hill, and is not, shall we say, pleased.
A letter from the organization’s national president, Tammy King, was e-mailed to members this week. In it, King, a senior vice president at Sotheby’s International Realty Group and an owner of several Wendy’s franchises, according to the Jack and Jill Web site, takes particular umbrage with the gossipy angle of the reality show because it “shines a negative light on our iconic organization.”
“As a result of these recent activities,” King writes, “we think that it is important to review our stated code because as mothers, we all agreed to abide by these rules as a condition of our membership.”
Chief among those edicts, according to the letter? Members are expected to act publicly in a way “that reflects the high moral and ethical character of Jack and Jill mothers” by “exercising good manners, avoiding derogatory, demeaning and insulting remarks, and keeping confidences and maintaining confidentiality.”
Sooo basically doing the exact opposite of what makes for good reality TV.
No word on how the fledgling TV stars, members of two Maryland chapters of the national organization, took their e-scolding, but we hear that the many non-reality-show-cast members are extremely concerned that “Potomac Ensemble” will give Jack and Jill, which provides cultural and educational opportunities for African American children, the “Real Housewives” treatment.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/wp/2015/06/25/jack-and-jill-of-america-isnt-too-pleased-with-d-c-reality-show/
NO RESPECT
07.06.151:08 AM ET
The Power of Black Twitter
On any given evening, Black Twitter will be dominating the top 10 trending topics in the U.S. But if this constitutes such a strong, galvanizing movement, then why is it so marginalized?
Black Twitter can move mountains.
On the night of June 28, Twitter erupted. The occasion was the 2015 BET Awards, which attracted a total of 12 million TV viewers—less than half of the 25.3 million who tuned in to this year’s Grammys. Yet, at any given moment, eight of the top ten trending hashtags in the United States that evening were related to the BETs, and since Twitter boasts an estimated 65 million users in the U.S., it’s safe to say Black Twitter is a force to be reckoned with.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/07/06/the-power-of-black-twitter.html?via=newsletter&source=DDMorning
can’t stand him
………………..
Jason Whitlock and the Messy Saga of ESPN’s ‘Black Grantland’
By Reeves Wiedeman
In the ESPN solar system, the network’s Bristol, Connecticut, headquarters is the sun, which makes its Los Angeles office something like Pluto — many miles away, and its status as a planet recently up for debate. In early May, ESPN parted ways not-quite-amicably with Bill Simmons, who founded Grantland, the pop culture and sports site based out of L.A. That office is also home to the Undefeated, a not-yet-launched site meant to explore race, culture, and sports. In 2013, John Skipper, ESPN’s president, hired Jason Whitlock, a prominent and controversial sports columnist, to launch the site. Whitlock agreed, and, in a moment he would come to regret, went on Simmons’s podcast and declared that the site would be, for lack of a better descriptor, a “Black Grantland.”
It took only hours for a mock “Black Grantland” Twitter account to be created — “Our articles are 3/5ths shorter!” — but nearly two years later, the actual site still doesn’t exist. It was supposed to launch in August 2014, February 2015, sometime this May, and, most recently, June 24. In late April, as explanation, Deadspin ran a 10,000-word story titled “How Jason Whitlock is Poisoning ESPN’s ‘Black Grantland,’” which detailed Whitlock’s difficulty attracting talent to the site, and the striking dysfunctions in his management of those who had joined it.
On May 26, Skipper visited the Undefeated office to check up on the site. I was supposed to go to L.A. that week, too, after ESPN and Whitlock agreed to a profile of Whitlock and his site. I was to join Whitlock at an annual Memorial Day barbecue at his mother’s house, in Indianapolis, then fly on to Los Angeles, to visit the Undefeated’s office. My flights were booked when Whitlock called from an unknown number 12 hours before my departure. Half an hour later, he had uninvited me from both trips for reasons that were off the record, but did little to convince me that others I spoke to who have worked and interacted with him, at ESPN and elsewhere, were being overly harsh in describing him as paranoid, dismissive of young writers, and difficult to work with.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/07/jason-whitlock-and-the-saga-of-black-grantland.html
The Party of Andrew Jackson vs. the Party of Obama
By Jonathan Chait Follow @jonathanchait
This is an era of rapid social change, and also of historical ferment, when Americans are rethinking not only who we are, but who we were. The post-Charleston backlash against Confederate imagery is one manifestation of this. Another concurrent one is a struggle over the historic role of Andrew Jackson. Earlier this year, feminist activists started a movement to replace the seventh president on the $20 bill with a woman. The long lead time required for the Treasury to alter paper currency has saved Jackson’s status for the time being, but a historical reconsideration is well under way. Jackson presents a more distant symbol than the Confederate flag and — except for Native Americans, whose ancestors he slaughtered — a less visceral one. Yet the fight over Jackson runs just as deep, opening questions about the nature of American politics, the purpose of the Democratic Party, and the political cast of Barack Obama’s America.
Seven years ago, as Obama methodically sewed up the Democratic Party’s nomination, the peculiar and unprecedented makeup of his voting base raised skepticism and even alarm. Minorities and college-educated whites thrilled to the young, black law professor, but working-class whites regarded him with suspicion and even hatred, continuing to vote for Hillary Clinton in overwhelming numbers even after her prospects of winning the nomination had disappeared. The conservative electoral analyst Michael Barone marveled at “Obama’s great weakness among Appalachian voters — call them Jacksonians, after their first president.” Sean Wilentz, a Princeton supporter and staunch Clinton backer, complained that Obama was “usurping the historic Democratic Party, dating back to the age of Andrew Jackson, by rejecting its historic electoral core: white workers and rural dwellers in the Middle Atlantic and border states. … Out with the Democratic Party of Jefferson, Jackson, F.D.R., Truman, Kennedy and Johnson, and in with the bright, shiny party of Obama.”
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/06/party-of-jackson-vs-the-party-of-obama.html
Rikyrah, loving Captain & Tennille
Say those words again that you just did
Oh, baby tell it to me once again….
I see you, young lady. do that to me one more time. LOL
Bow Chica Bow Wow!
Sasha’s braces are off!
http://img2-1.timeinc.net/people/i/2015/news/150720/sasha-obama-1-800.jpg
Obama Plans Broader Use of Clemency to Free Nonviolent Drug Offenders
By PETER BAKER
JULY 3, 2015
The challenge has been finding a way to use Mr. Obama’s clemency power in the face of bureaucratic and legal hurdles without making a mistake that would be devastating to the effort’s political viability. The White House has not forgotten the legacy of Willie Horton, a convicted murderer who raped a woman while furloughed from prison and became a powerful political symbol that helped doom the presidential candidacy of Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts in 1988.
But with time running short in Mr. Obama’s presidency, the White House has pushed the Justice Department to send more applicants more quickly. Mr. Eggleston told the department not to interpret guidelines too narrowly because it is up to the president to decide, according to officials. If it seems like a close case, he told the department to send it over.
Deborah Leff, the department’s pardon attorney, has likewise pressed lawyers representing candidates for clemency to hurry up and send more cases her way. “If there is one message I want you to take away today, it’s this: Sooner is better,” she told lawyers in a video seminar obtained by USA Today. “Delaying is not helpful.”
Under the Constitution, the president has the power to grant “pardons for offenses against the United States” or to commute federal sentences. A pardon is an act of presidential forgiveness and wipes away any remaining legal liabilities from a conviction. A commutation reduces a sentence but does not eliminate a conviction or restore civil rights lost as a result of the conviction.
…In his second term, Mr. Obama embarked on an effort to use clemency and has raised his total commutations to 43, a number he may double this month. The initiative was begun last year by James M. Cole, then the deputy attorney general, who set criteria for who might
qualify: generally nonviolent inmates who have served more than 10 years in prison, have behaved well while incarcerated and would not have received as lengthy a sentence under today’s revised rules.
“It’s a touchy situation,” Mr. Cole said in an interview. “You don’t want to just supplant a judge’s determination of sentence.” But after reviewing many clemency petitions, he said, “I’d seen a number of them where the sentences seemed very high for the conduct and it noted that the judge at the time of sentencing thought the sentence was too high. We looked at that and thought this really isn’t supplanting the judge.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/04/us/obama-plans-broader-use-of-clemency-to-free-nonviolent-drug-offenders.html?_r=0
https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/617866703066763264
UH HUH
UH HUH
https://twitter.com/NYDailyNews/status/618026699465228288/photo/1
uh uh UH & this MOFO commissioner Kelly was all over the tee vee covering up for the NYPD stop & frisk cops
the internet is forever, Man who wears a rat on his head
https://twitter.com/TUSK81/status/617900023615873024/photo/1
That Donald Trump has really got a mouth on him. And no filter engaged between his mouth and whatever he uses for a brain.
get.da.phuq.outta.here.
https://twitter.com/ZandarVTS/status/618028843580960768/photo/1
So who and what do they think has been large & in charge of the Democratic party for the last 7 years GETTING SHIT DONE, like for all of the ABOVE?
I LOATHE these snakes in the grass. They’re doing the same thing they did in 2010, trying to get folks not to vote.
Truth be told, these EMOPROGS are worse than the GOP.
The New York Times ✔ @nytimes
Ballerina Misty Copeland is heading to Broadway to join “On the Town” http://nyti.ms/1JInxyv
https://youtu.be/4qPBjs1ITXQ
Good Morning, Everyone :)
…says the owner of Niggerhead Ranch.
WIMBLEDON 2015 LIVE.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/livecoverage/wimbledon-2015/lc-AAc0f7S?ocid=u146dhp
Remember this interview?
O’Reilly lost that one!
Greek finance minister resigns
Greece’s maverick finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, announced his resignation on his blog Monday morning, and suggested that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had asked him to step aside to appease European officials who had grown weary of his lectures about the destructive impact of austerity.
Read more » http://link.washingtonpost.com/548289943b35d072688b4aaa2smmr.7j66/VZlWYkmOJrfzzAozA0633
Team USA celebrates a 5-2 win over Japan in the finals of the Women’s World Cup last night. (AFP/Nicholas Kamm)
Rev. William Barber pointed out in his sermon(video of it in the link below) that Shelby, NC where murderer Dylan Roof was arrested was a hotbed of Klan activity and that the street Roof ended up on or near was the street named in honor of Thomas Dixon who wrote “Birth of a Nation.”
http://www.southernstudies.org/2015/06/messages-america-must-hear-from-charleston-rev-bar.html
Timestamp 40:44 to 46:52
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Good Morning, yahtzee & Everyone!
Good morning!