Enjoy this dance music.
“Take on Me” by A-ha
“What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction
“I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” by Whitney Houston
“Wannabe” by the Spice Girls
“Jump” by Kris Kross
“It Takes Two” by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock
“Fancy” by Iggy Azalea
“Rump Shaker” by Wreckx-N-Effect
“Here Comes the Hotstepper” by Ini Kamoze
“Walk This Way” by Run-D.M.C. with Aerosmith
I am put out with Loretta Lynch.
Told you from day one SG that I wasn’t feeling the words or the performance…I think a few of our family here were a bit upset when I wrote that…Besides, when Rudy Gulliani is one of your biggest cheerleaders, it’s good reason to pause and pause again…
Give me young Ms. Mosby any day…unapologetic and fearless in executing her duties. Addressing the real issues head-on…No fear, no favor.
That’s courage…
When the DOJ announced a couple of days ago that they will prosecute individuals on Wall Street instead of just cutting deals with the corporations who break laws, my reaction was, thanks but it’s too little too late. That is not to say that this shouldn’t be done, but it should have been done a long time ago.
I’m not aware of anything the DOJ has done in a single one of these high profile police killings of unarmed, innocent people. When Loretta Lynch came on board, I really had hope that the DOJ would prosecute some of these cases that are failing at the state level and are so obviously civil rights violations.
But it has become apparent that this isn’t going to happen. AG Lynch is going to run out the clock, and it will be up to the next presidential administration to define the role of the DOJ in this national crisis.
So sad, Lizz. But I think so too.
C’mon Steeler, let’s squash the Patriots TONIGHT.
https://twitter.com/KeeganNYC/status/642092168669171712/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
How can this continue to happen? A murder caught on video and cops still get away with it. Are we not a Nation of laws?
Sadly, the brutal treatment and heartless murders of black women is so commonplace now, it doesn’t even make the news and when it does, it doesn’t elicit any outrage or sympathy or demands for justice on their behalf…They are blamed for their fate because you know, black women…
They aren’t seen as delicate or blond, pale-skinned and petite enough to be protected –
There are still picketers parked outside the dentists office one month later, mourning a lion and demanding justice for Cecil the lion…
Natasha McKenna as with Sandra Bland and all the other black women murdered in cold-blood by ‘law’ enforcement, are deemed so much less less valuable than animals…and their deaths signal for more than a few, a relief…one less ‘undesirable’ and ‘aggressive’ black woman to have to contend with…and it is quietly celebrated as their deaths go uninvestigated, closed…
Cops are J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant. Instead of confession in Look Magazine, cops have video. @TheJusticeDept
https://twitter.com/Independent/status/642074340977082370?ref_src=twsrc^tfw
It’s so funny watching Piyush aka ‘Bobby’ Jindal calling Trump a narcissist..
TEE HEE HEE Marsha, Marsha, Marsha! Donald, Donald, Donald!
Ametia, hope you see this…
You’d mentioned joint pain/inflammation…May I suggest Zyflamend by New Chapter…? It’s a clean, natural, completely safe and effective anti-inflammatory with no side effects..
Also, I’m sure you’re probably already doing most of this, but cutting out sugar as much as possible and also too, alcohol, will help reduce inflammation…
Take care ok..we all desperately need your daily doses of fun naughtiness…
LOL..I love this site
When Will They Stop Making These Boring-Ass Black People Who Obviously Hate Black People?
Damon Young, 9/8/15
…………….
And almost as bad as encountering one of those internet Black people who clearly don’t like other Black people very much.
And yes, that last sentence was no hyperbole. There is literally no one more boring, more tedious, and more cliche than the Black person who spends much of their internet time talking shit about “Black people” collectively in a way that lets you know they either don’t actually know very many actual Black people or just plain hate Black people. They are, to be frank, the basicest of the basic motherfucker.
http://verysmartbrothas.com/when-will-they-stop-making-these-boring-ass-black-people-who-obviously-hate-black-people/
https://twitter.com/offlede/status/642084502706241536
I’m so so sorry, Judy Scott. I pray justice prevails.
yes, she is correct. her son was murdered.
https://twitter.com/postandcourier/status/642084693911937024
There really isn’t shit here to digests, Judge. Slager is a fucking MURDERER.
Too many cowards in our justice system…Too afraid to do the right thing…more concerned about career preservation and advancement…
That’s why young Ms Mosby will always have my respect and admiration…
https://twitter.com/WLTX/status/642082605815492612
https://twitter.com/SenateDems/status/642068594763919361
Yes he was. If you try to deliberately cause pain and grief to any woman, you’re not even a man. You’re a petty POS!
https://twitter.com/BryanBellATL/status/641949809331544064
Types Of Pork, Ranked
Every Labor Day weekend in Pittsburgh, a rib festival (aptly named “The Rib Fest”) takes place outside of Heinz Field. Dozens of award-winning swine-selling companies set up storefronts and sell their best ribs, pulled pork sandwiches, sausages, briskets, and heart disease. Naturally, as a pork coisennessuor, I spent a decent amount of time there this year. How much time, exactly? Well, the people at Carolina Rib King — easily the best company — did the following when they saw me in line Sunday evening:
1. Started clapping
2. Allowed me to skip the line
3. Asked about The Wife Person™ and if the baby was still kicking
4. Asked if I was getting my “regular”
5. Gave me free food
As I took a bite of my pulled pork sandwich, BBQ sauce and a complete and utter lack of shame dripping on my shorts, I started thinking very seriously about pork. More specifically, of all the delicious porks out there, which one is the best?
In reverse order:
http://verysmartbrothas.com/types-of-pork-ranked/
https://twitter.com/NoShock/status/642026440393932801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[facebook url="https://www.facebook.com/becauseofthemwecan/videos/880958231954063/" /]
https://twitter.com/blowticious/status/642007265533276160
Awwwwwww, that is so sweet. Such an adorable little girl.
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/642028855058894848
Donald Trump says Ben Carson is questioning his faith and that he doesn’t know him. The Scripture says…”You shall KNOW them by their fruits”.
People question your faith, Trump, when you spread hate, hurl insults, name call, mock, belittle others. God is LOVE, the author of peace not hate.
Fruits of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23
Love
Joy
Peace
Longsuffering
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self control
Sadly SG, none of the republican candidates – or those who bankroll or support them – Dr. Ben Carson included, embody any of that true faith or fruits of the spirit you speak of..
Wake up Blake. It was about RACIAL PROFILING. Have you looked in the mirror lately?
*SIGH*
I can’t with this foolishness.
No, he thinks shaving his head clean, marrying a bottle blonde and distancing himself from all things black, will get him a pass…
He’s so deluded…I almost fell out of my chair laughing when he said he had visions of something similar potentially happening to his blond wife…As if..
told you…some of us won’t get it until the chair was kicked out from under him at his own lynching.
TRUTH
James, son, the racists continue their das·tard·ly deeds because you won’t CALL IT WHAT IT IS RACIAL PROFILING
<b.das·tard·ly
/ˈdastərdlē/
adjective
datedhumorous
adjective: dastardly
wicked and cruel.
"pirates and their dastardly deeds" "cops and their dastardly deeds"
synonyms: wicked, evil, heinous, villainous, diabolical, fiendish, barbarous, cruel, black, dark, rotten, vile, monstrous, abominable, despicable, degenerate, sordid; More
bad, base, mean, low, cowardly, dishonorable, dishonest, unscrupulous, unprincipled;
informallowdown, dirty, shady, sleazy, crooked;
beastly
"their dastardly plan to kidnap Hayes"
antonyms: noble
One has to see ones self as black, to feel ‘racially-profiled’…
In a warped sense, denying the racial-profiling obviously inherent in this incident, means he isn’t discernibly or ‘distinguishably’ black…Something he’s clearly worked hard at not being…
There are those who if they can’t exactly identify as white because a) it’s ridiculous, and b) they’ll never be accepted as such because of their black heritage, will shoot for being seen physically and otherwise as ‘race-neutral’…e.g Vin Diesel and James Blake…Part of the shaved head is to help fool some of those who aren’t as comfortable once they see the dead giveaway that is the hair…Sometimes that includes the person from whose scalp the who the hair sprouts..
And don’t be fooled by the usual ‘I can’t deny the white half of me’ crap…It’s more the awareness and gleeful exploitation of the many advantages and privileges on offer when one flashes ones white heritage – even as a black person in our society…
oooh Lady, just tell the truth, until the cows come home.
And we know the only way they come home is in the form of pot roast or a hamburger.
From POU:
ALL.OF.THIS. You can see it in his face, eyes…. DEER IN HEADLIGHTS….
https://youtu.be/PGX1BtqCyxo
In Clinton, voters see a long résumé but a short list of accomplishments
The Debrief: An occasional series offering a reporter’s insights
By Karen Tumulty September 10 at 9:00 AM
For nearly a quarter-century, Hillary Rodham Clinton has played an outsized role in the nation’s consciousness as an advocate and a political survivor. Her presidential campaign’s favorite way to describe her is as “a fighter.”
But something surprising has emerged in public opinion about the former first lady, senator and secretary of state. Asked to name something tangible that Clinton has actually accomplished, many voters come up blank.
It happened when Bloomberg News posed the question in May to a focus group of 10 Iowa Democrats. They praised Clinton for strength, experience and competence but could not recall a single thing she had done.
In their own polls and focus groups, Republicans have seen the same thing. And they are sensing a vulnerability in Clinton’s record that could compound the difficulties she is already facing with the controversy over her decision as secretary of state to use a private e-mail account and server rather than a government one.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-clinton-voters-see-a-long-resume-but-a-short-list-of-accomplishments/2015/09/09/fff3fc60-573e-11e5-8bb1-b488d231bba2_story.html
“…In Clinton, voters see a long résumé but a short list of accomplishments…”
Very, very, very short list of actual accomplishments. Actually pretty non-existent. All talk, no action.
MAKE IT STOP!
https://twitter.com/TheRoot/status/641976987007995904
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_GURqPdHJY
UH UH UH
*rolls eyes*
LOL Waiting for eliihaas to weigh in too. As if Pink and Amy Schumer, and Ellen have any clout with us
OMG that blue mis-shapen pantsuit. UGH
Yawn.
Ametia, you’re so naughty..
https://twitter.com/cbsbaltimore/status/641995160033882112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
not surprised by this
………….
The Tiger Mom Tax: Asians Are Nearly Twice as Likely to Get a Higher Price from Princeton Review
by Julia Angwin, Surya Mattu and Jeff Larson, Sep. 1, 2015, 10 a.m.
Every year, thousands of high school students get ready for the SAT by using The Princeton Review’s test preparation services.
But few, if any, realize that the prices for The Princeton Review’s online SAT tutoring packages vary substantially depending on where customers live. If they type some ZIP codes into the company’s website, they are offered The Princeton Review’s Premier course for as little as $6,600. For other ZIP codes, the same course costs as much as $8,400.
One unexpected effect of the company’s geographic approach to pricing is that Asians are almost twice as likely to be offered a higher price than non-Asians, an analysis by ProPublica shows.
https://www.propublica.org/article/asians-nearly-twice-as-likely-to-get-higher-price-from-princeton-review
Congratulations @MarilynMosbyEsq!
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/641992546193793024
Good.
yeah baby!!!
As it should be! Carry on, Ms. Mosby
https://twitter.com/benjancewicz/status/641964752885776385
https://twitter.com/justin_fenton/status/641984125553872897
https://twitter.com/RectorSun/status/641946782587584512
https://twitter.com/BaltimorePost/status/641979144511709184
https://twitter.com/justin_fenton/status/641939078762622976/photo/1
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/641954299493281792/photo/1
I loved Hillary….with her materialistic self. LOL
https://twitter.com/EricWolfson/status/641291225719570432/photo/1
Piyush is about to get his feelings hurt…
LOL
……………..
In a Thursday speech that was previewed by his advisors, the Louisiana governor will begin a concerted campaign to discredit the New York businessman/entertainer who sits atop nearly every poll in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Jindal began the effort on Wednesday, releasing a campaign web video that compared Trump to Charlie Sheen during an infamous interview the actor gave in the aftermath of a drug overdose…
…Where others have focused on Trump’s ideological inconsistency and liberal positions on key issues, Jindal will call him a clown who is unfit to serve as president at such a pivotal moment in the nation’s history.
“He’s not going to pull any punches,” Jindal campaign chief strategist Curt Anderson told reporters.
From the examiner…will not link to it.
bought the EW with Shonda this morning. Congrats to her.
……………..
Shonda Rhimes opens up to Oprah about 100-pound weight loss on ‘Super Soul Sunday’
by Chris Witherspoon | September 9, 2015 at 2:17 PM
Shonda Rhimes is opening up for the first time about successfully dropping 100 pounds.
Rhimes recently sat down with Oprah for an all-new season of OWN’s Super Soul Sunday set to air November 15.
During the interview the acclaimed creator of ABC’s Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy opened to Oprah about how adopting the practice of saying “yes” for one year completely changed her life and also discussed her dramatic weight loss of 100 pounds.
As a self-proclaimed introvert, Shonda has chosen to spend much of her life out of the public eye, creating popular television shows and raising her three children. In an effort to evolve and step out of her comfort zone, Shonda shares with Oprah how her sister challenged her to say “yes” for an entire year to any unexpected invitations that came her way, which is chronicled in her upcoming memoir, “Year of Yes.” She opens up about this process, the powerful impact saying yes had on nearly every aspect of her life and what she says is one of the most amazing decisions she has ever made.
http://thegrio.com/2015/09/09/shonda-rhimes-100-pound-weight-loss/
I’m looking forward to seeing this episode of Super Soul Sunday,a nd reading Shonda’s memoir.
Black Jesus is coming…
…………
The Second Coming Is Here – Watch Trailer for ‘Black Jesus’ Season 2 (Premieres Sept. 18)
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
September 8, 2015 at 12:16PM
A year ago, Adult Swim ordered a second season of its then new Aaron McGruder series, “Black Jesus,” but given how long it’s been since that announcement, many fans apparently wondered if it was indeed returning for a second season. And it looks like it will be, so you can rest easy now.
“Black Jesus” season 2 will premiere on September 18 at 11pm.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/the-second-coming-is-here-watch-trailer-for-black-jesus-season-2-premieres-sept-18-20150908
ok, I might have to get this.
A Lee Daniels Special Director’s Cut of ‘Empire’ Is Coming in the Form of a “Gold Record Edition” Disc Set
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
September 9, 2015
If you still haven’t had enough of “Empire” with the second season a mere 2 weeks away, this should thrill you even more!
Announced this morning, On November 3rd, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment brings you the special Director’s Cut from Lee Daniels, plus a collectible soundtrack, featured character cards, and more.
The “Empire” Director’s Cut Pilot Edition, as it’s called, features collectible packaging, uncut music performances from the cast that includes Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson, Bryshere Y. “Yazz” Gray, Jussie Smollett, Trai Byers, Grace Gealey, Malik Yoba and Kaitlin Doubleday.
Here’s what you’ll be getting if you plan to pick this up – in total, 638 minutes of content; although no word on price yet:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/a-lee-daniels-special-directors-of-empire-is-coming-in-the-form-of-a-gold-record-edition-disc-set-20150909
I have had differences with this President on foreign policy,but that’s only because I wanted us out of places sooner. Have said it before, will continue to say it: I do not, under ANY circumstances, Trust Hillary Clinton when it comes to foreign policy. There is NOTHING that this President has done that I could point to and say, ‘ Hillary would have done it better.’ Not.one.damn.instance.
………………..
In a break with Obama, Clinton lays out tougher worldview
By Anne Gearan September 9 at 6:32 PM
Hillary Rodham Clinton — who has spent much of her campaign embracing the policies of President Obama — signaled clear disagreement with her former boss Wednesday in key areas of foreign policy, suggesting in some cases that he has been too hesitant.
Again and again, Clinton pointed to instances overseas where she would have taken a tougher stance than Obama, from arming Syrian rebels to confronting an expansionist Russia. In some cases, she was talking about policy debates she lost while serving as Obama’s first-term secretary of state, or about advice she suggested was not heeded.
The critique, delivered as part of a Washington speech focused on the Iran nuclear deal, was in many respects subtle — wrapped inside overall praise for Obama and never targeting him directly. But the differences were nonetheless striking for a candidate who has worked carefully to soften her hawkish national security reputation and who badly needs Obama’s liberal coalition of voters to gain the White House.
“Those of us who have been out there on the diplomatic front lines know that diplomacy is not the pursuit of perfection,” Clinton said. “It’s the balancing of risk.”
That line was meant to answer Republican critics who say the Obama administration failed to drive a hard bargain in international nuclear talks with Iran. But Clinton echoed some GOP criticism of Obama’s hands-off approach to some world problems.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-a-break-with-obama-clinton-lays-out-tougher-worldview/2015/09/09/be77b058-570f-11e5-abe9-27d53f250b11_story.html?tid=pm_politics_pop_b
Orange Glo continues to not be able to COUNT VOTES
…………….
GOP’s populist revolt arrives at Capitol, complicating Iran debate
By Mike DeBonis and Katie Zezima September 9 at 10:09 PM
The anti-establishment disenchantment now roiling the Republican presidential nominating contest landed on Congress’s doorstep Wednesday, with two presidential candidates rallying opposition to the Iran nuclear deal on the Capitol lawn, targeting not just President Obama but GOP leaders as well.
“We are led by very, very stupid people — very, very stupid people,” front-runner Donald Trump told the crowd, eliciting hearty cheers. “We cannot let it continue.”
The crowd frequently yelled “Amen!” and consistently booed any mention of Obama, congressional Democrats, House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Meanwhile, inside the Capitol, a member revolt forced Boehner to revise his plans to hold a vote against the Iran deal this week — an unexpected showing of the internal GOP acrimony that has some fearing a government shutdown in three weeks.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gops-populist-revolt-arrives-at-capitol-complicating-iran-debate/2015/09/09/2ebb9764-5731-11e5-8bb1-b488d231bba2_story.html
it’s Politico…but, it doesn’t mean that it’s not true.
Bernie Sanders overtakes Hillary Clinton in Iowa
People close to Clinton’s camp have recently been warning that the Vermont senator could win Iowa and New Hampshire.
By Gabriel Debenedetti and Nick Gass
09/10/15, 07:07 AM EDT
Hillary Clinton’s Iowa edge is gone.
Bernie Sanders leads the former secretary of state for the first time among Iowa Democrats likely to caucus in February, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll unveiled Thursday morning — the latest in a string of surveys that show a tightening race in the Hawkeye State.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/qpoll-iowa-213462#ixzz3lL9lASDj
Iowa Dems to Hillary: NAE! NAE!
but but but…he only appeals to a ‘sliver of the GOP…right…
Poll: Donald Trump surges to 32% support
By Jennifer Agiesta, CNN Polling Director
Updated 7:55 AM ET, Thu September 10, 2015 | Video Source: CNN
Washington (CNN)Donald Trump has become the first Republican presidential candidate to top 30% support in the race for the Republican nomination, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll, which finds the businessman pulling well away from the rest of the GOP field.
Trump gained 8 points since August to land at 32% support, and has nearly tripled his support since just after he launched his campaign in June. The new poll finds former neurosurgeon Ben Carson rising 10 points to land in second place with 19%. Together, these two non-politicians now hold the support of a majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, and separately, both are significantly ahead of all other competitors.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush stands in third place with 9%, down 4 points since August, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz holds fourth place with 7%. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker follow at 5%, with all other candidates at 3% or less, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who notched the only other statistically significant shift in the poll by falling 5 points since August.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/10/politics/donald-trump-ben-carson-cnn-poll/
I love me some Lamman Rucker. Nice hunk of chocolate :)
…………..
Lamman Rucker, Kim Hawthorne and Deborah Joy Winans Join OWN’s Mega-Church Drama, ‘Greenleaf’
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow
Lamman Rucker, Kim Hawthorne and Deborah Joy Winans have all booked lead roles in OWN’s upcoming original scripted drama series “Greenleaf,” which hails from Craig Wright (“Six Feet Under,” “Lost”), and will follow “the unscrupulous world of the Greenleaf family and their sprawling Memphis megachurch, where scandalous secrets and lies are as numerous as the faithful. Greenleaf described is the center of the community for the thousands of predominantly African-American members who attend services there. But beneath its steeple lies a den of iniquity — greed, adultery, sibling rivalry and conflicting values.”
Rucker will play Jacob Greenleaf, the eldest, bum son of the Bishop and heir apparent to the Greenleaf empire. Hawthorne has signed up to play Kerissa Greenleaf, Jacob’s ambitious and controlling wife. And finally, Winans is Charity Greenleaf-Satterlee, youngest daughter of the Bishop and also the church’s Minister of Music.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/lamman-rucker-kim-hawthorne-and-deborah-joy-winans-join-owns-mega-church-drama-greenleaf-20150909
Watch Mike Huckabee’s ‘Biblical’ Support For Kim Davis Get Dismantled On Live Television
by Jack Jenkins Sep 9, 2015 10:45am
Tuesday afternoon, former Arkansas governor and current Republican candidate for president Mike Huckabee stood on a stage in Kentucky and held hands with Kim Davis, a county clerk who was released from jail yesterday after refusing to issue same-sex marriages by citing her faith. Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, has explained that his support for Davis comes from a shared Christian faith — specifically, a version that condemns LGBT relationships.
But while the cross-waving crowds at the rally in Kentucky — organized by Huckabee — cheered for him yesterday, the hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe were far less jubilant when he appeared on their show Wednesday morning. Joe Scarborough and co-host Mika Brzezinski quickly challenged the shaky theological claims of Huckabee and Davis, who is on her fourth marriage.
You can watch a portion the segment below (or if the video has trouble loading, view it here). It’s worth watching in full.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/09/09/3699628/mike-huckabee-hypocritical-theology/
about Trump
………….
From an essay from Tikkun Magazine: “Trump and the Ghost of Totalitarianism” (Excellent analysis of the Trump phenomenon)
“…And while liberals such as Michal Tomasky have pointed to his appeal to racial resentment, a gladiatorial style, and his ability to combine a war like discourse and elements of conservative fundamentalism with a flair for entertainment,[15] this type of analysis shies away from talking about Trump represents the challenge of understanding how totalitarianism now confronts Americans in new forms.[16]
He is the embodiment of a political party and casino driven social order in which informed judgments, moral responsibility, and collective action disappear from the world of politics. Trump’s often insulting, humiliating, misogynist, and racist remarks signify more than the rantings an antediluvian, privileged white man who is both savvy in the world of public relations and delusional in the world of politics. Trump represents the new face of what Hannah Arendt once called the “banality of evil.”[17] Unapologetic about the racist nature of his remarks, unreflective about an savage economic system that is destroying the planet and the lives of most of its inhabitants, and unaware of his own “criminal” participation in furthering a culture of fear and cruelty, he is typical of an expanding mass of pundits, anti-public intellectuals, and right-wing fundamentalists who live in a historical void and for whom emotion overtakes reason.
Clearly, the attack on reason, evidence, science, and critical thought has reached perilous proportions in the United States. A number of political, economic, social, and technological forces now work to distort reality and keep people passive, unthinking, and unable to act in a critically engaged manner. Politicians, right-wing pundits, and large swaths of the American public embrace positions that support Creationism, capital punishment, torture, and the denial of human-engineered climate change, any one of which not only defies human reason but stands in stark opposition to evidence-based scientific arguments. Reason now collapses into opinion, as thinking itself appears to be both dangerous and antithetical to understanding ourselves, our relations to others, and the larger state of world affairs. Under such circumstances, literacy disappears not just as the practice of learning skills, but also as the foundation for taking informed action. Divorced from any sense of critical understanding and agency, the meaning of literacy is narrowed to completing basic reading, writing, and numeracy tasks assigned in schools. Literacy education is similarly reduced to strictly methodological considerations and standardized assessment, rooted in test taking and deadening forms of memorization, and becomes far removed from forms of literacy that would impart an ability to raise questions about historical and social contexts.
For Arendt the inability to think, to be thoughtful, and assume responsibility for one’s actions spoke not just to a regrettable type of civic and political illiteracy, but was crucial for creating the formative cultures that produced totalitarian regimes. Absent any residue of moral responsibility, political indignation, and collective resistance, crimes committed in a systemic way now emerge, in part, from a society in which thinking had become dangerous and non-thinking normalized. Of course, thinking critically is largely produced in public spheres that instill convictions rather than destroy them, encourage critical capacities rather than shut them down, invest in public spheres rather than eliminate them by turning them over to private interests. What Donald Trump represents is rarely talked about in the media. He is the most current egregious highly visible symbol of a terrifying stage in American society haunted by the protean elements of a new totalitarianism. Totalitarian forms are still with us but they no longer find expression in the rounding up and killing of Jews, gays, and intellectuals or in the spectacles of militarism with the heightened show of armies of thugs dressed in military uniforms and black boots. The new totalitarianism is echoed in the resurgence of religious bigotry that runs through the current like an electric current and personified in the media celebration of bigots such as Kentucky clerk Kim Davis who believes that her religion gives her the right to both deny marriage license to gays and the disavow the separation of church and state. Unfortunately, Davis is more than an embarrassment politically and ethically, she reflects a sizable number of religious fundamentalists who have the backing of Republican Party and presidential candidates such as Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee.
Totalitarianism throws together authoritarian and anti-democratic forms that represent a new historical moment in American history. Economic fundamentalism now governs all of society rather than just the market and in doing so drives politics and sets polices that promote massive inequalities in wealth and power, produce huge amounts of suffering, and appear to delight in a culture of cruelty. Military fundamentalism points to a society that now militarizes everything from knowledge to schools. In this scenario, an increasing number of behaviors are criminalized, militarism feeds the punishing and incarceration state, and a kind of hyper masculinity now parades as the new model for legitimating aggression and violence in multiple spheres and against an increasing range of populations extending from women and black youth to Mexican immigrants. One of the most deadly fundamentalisms is education. We now live in a world in which illiteracy has replaced literacy and civic values have gone the way of the typewriter. As the orbits of privatization increase furthering what has been called by Mark Fisher the “empire of the self,” knowledge is transformed into the flow of non-stop information just as education collapses into training. Students are now defined as test-takers and celebrity culture has overtaken any viable notion of a critical, questioning, and informed culture. Trump’s rise in the polls is tantamount to the collapse of civic literacy and the public spheres that support it.
http://www.tikkun.org/nextgen/donald-trump-and-the-ghost-of-totalitarianism
https://twitter.com/PrettyFootWoman/status/641945467442593792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
ok….I already wanted to see it….now, I have another reason.
……………….
Dennis Haysbert Joins Sophie Okonedo & Adrian Lester in 6-part BBC Political Thriller – ‘Undercover’
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
September 9, 2015 at 5:42PM
Dennis Haysbert has joined stars Sophie Okonedo and Adrian Lester in Peter Moffat’s original 6-part BBC political thriller – “Undercover.”
To be broadcast on BBC One (not ETA yet), the series is described as bold and gripping, starring Okonedo as lead character Maya, who’s about to become the first black Director of Public Prosecutions, and Adrian Lester as her husband, Nick. Just as her life comes under intense public scrutiny, Maya discovers that her husband and the father of her children, has been lying to her for years. Is he concealing an affair, or is it something altogether more sinister? If she digs up his real past, will she be safe? And who wants her in this new job and why? Twenty years ago, Nick was a fearless and dedicated undercover officer, infiltrating organisations considered a danger to society because of their political beliefs. Nick built himself a fake past and now with his wife unsuspecting, and his conscience killing him – his secret identity may compromise the new Director of Public Prosecutions – Maya, his wife.
Haysbert has signed up to play a man who has been wrongly imprisoned and has been on death row for 20 years.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/dennis-haysbert-joins-sophie-okonedo-adrian-lester-in-6-part-bbc-political-thriller-undercover-20150909
Liberal Librarian was on it.
……………….
the #irandeal and the great republican hissy-fit
By Liberal Librarian
With Senator Maria Cantwell becoming the 42nd Senate Democrat to come out in favor of the nuclear deal agreed to between Iran and the P5+1, President Obama not only has a veto-proof majority in the Senate and House, but also a bloc which can filibuster the bill of disapproval from even coming to a vote. In chess this is known as “checkmate”. The GOP has no moves left.
Except, of course, this is the GOP.
“Checkmate,” says Pres. Obama.
“Checkmate?” asks some elephantine GOPer. “Look, over there!” And then he proceeds to turn over the game board.
This is essentially what the GOP House has decided to do. The vote of disapproval was slated to be considered on September 11. That vote has now been put on hold due to a revolt among the hard right Teabaggers in the GOP House caucus, who for some reason don’t want to be forced to vote for a measure which Pres. Obama will swat away as he did famously to that fly years ago. So, as always, they’re revolting:
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/09/09/the-irandeal-and-the-great-republican-hissy-fit/
Good Morning, Everyone. :-)
hmmph
Republican anti-Iran deal plan falls apart despite rally spectacle
Rachel Maddow shares clips from assorted right-wing luminaries at an anti-Iran deal rally in Washington, D.C., and talks with Frank Thorp, NBC News Capitol Hill reporter, about how Republican disorder makes it unlikely there will be any actual vote of disapproval of the deal in Congress.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/gop-anti-iran-deal-plan-falls-apart-522669635935
TACKLED by 5 fucking COPS-5! FIVE, YA’LL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGxMcuJB3zM
Black Tennis Star Tackled By 5 White Police Officers
The latest accusation of racial profiling and police brutality comes from a familiar face in the sports world: Former tennis star James Blake.
Blake was in New York City for the U.S. Open on Wednesday when, as reported by Wayne Coffey of the New York Daily News, a plainclothes NYPD officer charged at him, picked him up and slammed him to the ground, mistaking him for a suspect in an identity-theft ring that had been operating in the area.
The Connecticut native and former world No. 4, who retired from tennis at the U.S. Open two years ago, initially thought the officer was possibly an old friend “running at me to give me a big hug.”
Four other cops, all white, soon joined the first officer, handcuffing and detaining Blake for 15 minutes, despite the fact that he showed I.D. and cooperated immediately.
“I’m going to do whatever you say. I’m going to cooperate,” Blake said he told the first officer when he was on the ground. “But do you mind if I ask what this is all about?”
Blake, an African American who names Arthur Ashe as his idol, admits that racial profiling was probably involved, but was more immediately concerned by the brutal nature of the encounter. His left leg was bruised and his right elbow cut in the incident.
“To me it’s as simple as unnecessary police force, no matter what my race is,” he told Coffey. “In my mind there’s probably a race factor involved, but no matter what there’s no reason for anybody to do that to anybody.”
http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2015/09/09/3700043/former-tennis-star-james-blake-mistaken-for-suspect-tackled-by-new-york-police/
tackled by 5 fucking COPS-5! FIVE, YA’LL
uh huh
uh huh
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Good morning, everyone!
All I want to do is zoom-a-zoom-zoom-zoom
And a poom-poom….. just shake ya rump
Check baby check baby one two three four
Check baby check baby one two three
Check baby check baby one two
Check baby check baby one
Kris Kross will make you JUMP!