Hat tip Dancespirit.com
Photographer Aaron Pegg is already Insta-famous as @underground_nyc, where he snaps artsy photos of people throughout the NYC subway system. Over the weekend, he revealed that ballerinas are his favorite photography
subjects.
The New York Post interviewed Pegg and rounded up some of his best ballet pics—and we are drooling over the gorgeous poses and stunning lines. And it doesn’t hurt that his #flawless subjects frequently include Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Alison Stroming, Ingrid Silva and Nayara Lopes, American Ballet Theatre’s Elina Miettinen and Boston Ballet soloist Rachele Buriassi.
Of his dance subway shots Pegg says to the New York Post, “It’s such a great contrast between two art forms—the gritty subway with the elegance of ballet. I love working with ballerinas because they’re perfectionists. They make you want to be a perfectionist as well.”
Ladies, I have to do this….ROLLLLLLL TIIIIIIIDDDDDEEE!
I see you, Vitamin! I see you! But I love you!
Love you too, Southern!
https://twitter.com/LowKei_/status/687497516665798657
https://twitter.com/calottery/status/687487665080537089
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/687380030784065536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/MalorieMaddox6/status/687375491637067777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/KristynaEngdahl/status/687376695796477952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/687386312240971776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Jon Favreau @jonfavs 56m56 minutes ago
Somewhere in this rambling re-telling is the story of the first time I felt like I might be useful to Barack Obama: http://nymag.com/news/features… …
Winning at SOTU: Miss Edith Childs. Losing: Kim Davis’ Mullet
The 2016 State of the Union Address (and last of the Obama Administration) was full of entertainment. Y’all know I watch some of these shows to be the lady on the stoop roasting everyone. This is why people miss me sometimes when I don’t live-tweet shows and events. You’re basically missing Miss Benita.
ANTYWAY, in the one hour that President Obama spoke, he commanded my attention fully. Unless he didn’t because certain people almost stole his shine. Let me take that back. Someone DID steal Barack’s shine and her name is Edith Childs, a councilmember from Greenwood, South Carolina.
Please get these eye riches and behold Miss Edith in her glory.
Now you know good and damb well you gotta call her Miss Edith. Don’t walk around calling her “Edith” like she’s your age mate. WHO RAISED YOU? WOLVES?
Please get into this woman and get your life. The moment I saw her on my screen looking like her outfit was sponsored by God’s favor, I HOLLERED. The sequins hat was what got my attention first, sitting on her scalp perched like a crown because she is a QUEEN. Miss Edith is my patronus. If dementors ever came around me, she’d just stop them with the shine of being saved, then the shine from her outfit. I know she got a glitter brooch that says “Jesus” like my Granny did.
She is everything I aspire to be. Cranky, bedazzled and judging everyone. She’s sitting there like she wants to take a switch to Paul Ryan’s non-clapping ass. You know he spent most of the speech looking like someone didn’t cut the crust off his peanut butter and jelly sammich like he asked. Miss Edith might have been staring him down, wondering why he can’t respect the office of the President by putting his palms together two good times.
Miss Edith will be my mentor, if it’s God’s will because she got things to teach me, like how to let people know how unbothered I am with one look. Is she looking for mentees? Where do I apply? Am I worthy? These are just a few questions I have for Miss Edith. I am but a humble millennial looking to get cantankerous before I even qualify for AARP. Can she lead me to the light?
I know she can, because she just seems like a good church mother. You know the one who’s been on the Usher Board for 25 years, and she is the one who calls the #alphet colors every Sunday. And you know if you do not own a lavender blouse, it is up to you to look up and down to find one. Pray about it, chile. The Lord will make a way. She won’t lead you astray. These color schemes were fasted on and she touched and agreed upon them with the co-Head Usher, therefore they must come to pass.
Mother Childs is the Matron Saint of Not Giving a Damb and she is my everything. Now, her scowl is not to be confused with another’s.
On the other end of the spectrum of life-giving resplendence is the human tofu, Kim Davis. Somehow, she managed to be in the building, and I’m mad at whoever invited her. I know it wasn’t the Obamas. Was she there because of affirmative action? I think they needed to balance out the SLAY quotient of the night. Amidst all those bright suits and LAID hair, they needed to bring the level of FIERCE down so someone had Kim show up. In this alphet:
BW AHA H AHA HA HA HA
Ms. Edith is every Church Mother that all she has to do is LOOK at you and you shut your mouth, and sat up straight. She didn’t even have to be YOUR Big Mama.
Ms. Edith was THAT woman in the church.
Couldn’t nobody tell her nothing.
I love the comments on Kim Davis.
I am with folks…how you gonna say you spend so much time up in church and not have ONE decent outfit.
https://twitter.com/mattdpearce/status/687371365645565952
https://twitter.com/officialSmith_/status/687101215012827137/photo/1
Just in case………
LOL
Dear Powerball Winner: Take Our Advice and Take the Annuity
So let us suppose, reader, that you have won Wednesday’s $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot. Congratulations! You have some important decisions to make, such as what ailing magazine to acquire and what congressional seat your spouse should run for. But first, you must choose whether to take the prize as an annuity paid over 30 years, or a lump-sum payment right now.
If I’m reading you right, you should probably take the annuity.
First, some background: You might not realize this, but the top prize in the $1.5 billion Powerball is not actually $1.5 billion. (Nor is it $999 million, as many of the three-digit-readout lottery signs around the country say it is.) If you take the prize as a one-time cash payment, you will get a mere $930 million, before taxes.
If you want $1.5 billion, you’ll have to take it in installments over the next 30 years. That’s a long time, and so most people take the cash, according to Kelly Cripe, a Powerball spokeswoman. But I think most of them are making a mistake, for the following reasons.
First, while people associate the term “annuity” with payment streams that end when you die, the Powerball prize is actually what actuaries call an annuity certain: a stream of annual payments, every year from now until 2045, regardless of what happens to you. If you die before 2045, the future payments become part of your estate, like any other asset.
Second, there are big tax advantages to the annuity. The main one is that taking the annuity is basically like letting the government hold onto part of your prize for a while and invest it for you — and the government does not pay tax on investment income. Of course, once you get the annuity checks, you’ll have to pay income tax on them. But if you take the lump-sum cash prize, you’ll pay tax twice: on the prize when you win it, and on the income you get by investing it.
This adds up. If you invested all your prize money in the same way Powerball does (essentially by putting it in government bonds), you’d end up with 20 percent more cash in 2045 if you took the annuity option rather than the cash option, thanks to the tax savings. You could shave that difference by picking a different investment strategy with better tax management, but you’ll never beat the effective tax rate of zero on the investment income earned inside the Powerball annuity.
Taxes aside, you’ll probably quibble with the pretax rate of return on the Powerball annuity. Effectively, it’s like investing in bonds that pay 2.843 percent interest. But that’s actually a good deal for an ultrasafe investment in today’s ultralow interest rate environment, said Allison Schrager, a financial economist with expertise in annuities.
Rep. John Lewis on President Obama’s last State of the Union address
Jan 13, 2016 By Terry Shropshire, Managing Editor and Web Editor
Legendary Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.) commented on the president’s speech.
“Tonight President Obama appealed to the very best in the American people. He suggested we all have a responsibility, as members of Congress and as participants in our democracy, to come together to serve the greatest and highest good. He encouraged us to us to lay aside whatever divides us and find ways to move forward on common ground , knowing that doing so benefits all of us, including those who depend on our leadership around the world.
“He spoke with great faith about the dignity of the countless and nameless Americans who are the lifeblood of our democracy. It is those ordinary men, women and children who are the true keepers of the American flame. He reminded us that our vision of a fair and just society can only be realized when we participate as citizens. He charged us to vote, to speak out and speak up as we face the challenges that lay ahead.
“He appealed to us to open up the political process and let everyone come in. We cannot fear a change that is inevitable. We must embrace the calling of the 21st century. He encouraged us to take the money out of politics so that the people select us through their votes as their representatives, not party politics, gerrymandering or, big money interests. As a nation and as a people, we must find a better way.
“Most importantly, I think President Obama made it crystal clear that the union is strong. Some politicians who are running for president make it appear that the country is weak, in service to their own ambitions. They want us to believe that the American dream is no more. But President Obama said tonight, that even though our nation is challenged by change, it is still strong. It is still vibrant, and it is still the most powerful nation on earth. And I believe the history books will show, that President Barack Obama left this nation much better shape than he found it.”
http://atlantadailyworld.com/2016/01/13/rep-john-lewis-on-president-obamas-last-state-of-the-union-address/
“He appealed to us to open up the political process and let everyone come in. We cannot fear a change that is inevitable.”
Truth. The right wing conservatives, no matter how extremist they become, no matter how many guns they have, or how many politicians they have bought cannot hold back what is inevitable.
What in the ever living fuck?
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/687362252710768640
The NBC chief seems to think Trump is going to win and he wants to get a head start on ingratiating himself and his network.
They think they’re slick.
GOP must hope Latinos won’t notice this key difference in English and Spanish SOTU rebuttals
By Laura Clawson
Wednesday Jan 13, 2016 10:53 AM CST
For the second year in a row, there was a significant difference between the English and Spanish versions of the Republican State of the Union rebuttal. For the second year in a row, that difference was immigration.
The English version, delivered by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and the Spanish version, delivered by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, shared basically the same language to open their immigration passages: “No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws, and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country.” But that’s where they bid each other farewell. Haley, in English:
At the same time, that does not mean we just flat out open our borders. We can’t do that. We cannot continue to allow immigrants to come here illegally. And in this age of terrorism, we must not let in refugees whose intentions cannot be determined.
Diaz-Balart, in Spanish:
It’s essential that we find a legislative solution to protect our nation, defend our borders, offer a permanent and humane solution to those who live in the shadows, respect the rule of law, modernize the visa system and push the economy forward.
UH HUH
UH HUH
City hall office containing water documents broken into, officials say
FLINT, MI – Officials say a recent city hall break-in occurred in an office containing documents related to the city’s water system.
Flint police previously reported a break-in at City Hall, 1101 S. Saginaw St. over the holiday break, but information released Monday, Jan. 11, confirmed the break-in happened at a vacant executive office in the mayor’s suite that contained documents related to the city’s water system.
“The office that was broken into is where some water files are kept,” Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said. “However, at this point it’s hard to tell if any files were taken. The only thing we know for sure was stolen is a TV.”
Flint Police Chief James Tolbert said investigators were working to discover if any documents connected to the city’s water system were taken.
The break-in was discovered Dec. 28 by an employee when they returned from work following the holiday break. No other offices were disturbed.
“The video doesn’t show anything,” Tolbert said. “Officers are now doing a security survey.”…
The guilty ones are scared they are going to end up paying for what they’ve done.
THEY NEED TO GO TO JAIL.
IT WAS A CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE, FROM TOP TO BOTTOM!
Nancy Osborne @NancyOsborne180
Snyder’s people changed data to hide #FlintWater poisoning #TBATs http://michiganradio.org/post/… …@maddow @MMFlint
From POU:
https://twitter.com/abasinfo/status/687305474711093248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
tee hee hee
https://twitter.com/KristinPolitico/status/687237450377330688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/narcisostudio/status/687301363924103168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
I love the color of that dress. A great look, so simple and elegant, no jewelry. FLOTUS always looks beautiful and I am really going to miss the fashion, but we still have a WHOLE year.
https://twitter.com/Kennymack1971/status/687294446728159233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/GQMagazine/status/687103512669491205
love this
https://twitter.com/TifeTheBawse/status/687104709602230272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
PHUCK.OUTTA.HERE.
https://twitter.com/dolcegabs/status/687273253711273985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
At State of the Union, Michelle Obama Wears Her Optimism for All to See
…Yes, there were more important things to think about than a dress on Tuesday. But if you believe this highly social-media-aware administration — the one thatpreviewed the evening’s speech on Facebook — did not calculate the subliminal signals that the two protagonists might send via every means possible on one of the most public, closely watched evenings of the year, well, I’ve got a birther for you to meet.
Especially because the dress was impossible to miss, thanks to its bright hue, identified by its designer,Narciso Rodriguez, as marigold, but labeled by Twitter observers, as, variously, mango, mustard and orange Starburst.
It was just as impossible to miss the fact that it telegraphed a mood that was unquestionably upbeat and sunny. Indeed, it was the brightest dress the first lady had worn to a State of the Union since 2012, when she appeared in bright blue Barbara Tfank, and a notable contrast to the last State of the Union, where she wore a zipped-up sober gray skirt suit by Michael Kors — and the dimensions were multiple.
The designer, after all, is Cuban-American; a fitting (no pun intended) nod to the resumption of diplomatic relations between the countries that is part of her husband’s legacy, as well as to the American fashion industry, for which she has been a notable booster. Though the dress was originally priced at $2,095 on NeimanMarcus.com, then reduced to $628, it is now sold out.
As it happens, Mr. Rodriguez has been a favorite of Mrs. Obama’s since the first campaign, when she wore a red and black dress he made for election night. She wore his burgundy dress to her husband’s first State of the Union in 2009. Then, as now, the dress was sleeveless. Then, as now, the first lady’s sculpted arms were on display. Then, people freaked out a little (sleeveless! in February!), and she did not go sleeveless again to the annual speech until 2013. Now, no one blinked. Though, judging by the votes of Twitter approval, they did seem to smile.
Progress, of a kind.
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/687304521983365123
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/687313416600563712
Potus don’t leave. I’m not ready for that. I can’t deal!
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/687119390056169472
Buffoonery
https://twitter.com/rick00979/status/687305097060167680
When I look at Donald Trump all I can think to do anymore is pray, “Dear Lord, have mercy on the American people despite their wickedness. So many of people in this country do not deserve him especially the children. Amen.”
Political Animal Blog
January 13, 2016 7:15 AM
The Source of President Obama’s Optimism
By Nancy LeTourneau
On the day President Obama was first inaugurated, he faced two big challenges. The first was dealing with the mess that was left to him by his predecessor: two intractable wars, Osama bin Laden alive and reconstituting his network of terrorism, and an economy in free fall. But while taking on those issues, he also faced the challenge of Congressional Republicans who had developed a strategy to deal with the fact that their domestic and foreign policies had not only failed, but led to the Democrats controlling the White House and both both houses of Congress. That strategy was eventually articulated publicly by former Republican Congressional staffer Mike Lofgren.
A couple of years ago, a Republican committee staff director told me candidly (and proudly) what the method was to all this obstruction and disruption. Should Republicans succeed in obstructing the Senate from doing its job, it would further lower Congress’s generic favorability rating among the American people. By sabotaging the reputation of an institution of government, the party that is programmatically against government would come out the relative winner.
…There are tens of millions of low-information voters who hardly know which party controls which branch of government, let alone which party is pursuing a particular legislative tactic. These voters’ confusion over who did what allows them to form the conclusion that “they are all crooks,” and that “government is no good,” further leading them to think, “a plague on both your houses” and “the parties are like two kids in a school yard.” This ill-informed public cynicism, in its turn, further intensifies the long-term decline in public trust in government that has been taking place since the early 1960s – a distrust that has been stoked by Republican rhetoric at every turn.
We are now witnessing the relative success of that strategy in various discussions about why Americans are so angry, cynical and distrustful of government. It’s what Republicans have been working on all along. But it has also led to the fact that their two front-runners for the Republican presidential nomination are Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.
That is the arena into which President Obama stepped last night to give his final State of the Union Address. And it is why he ended his speech with some discussion about a “better politics.”
https://twitter.com/NathanZed/status/687106025124569088
LOL
https://twitter.com/KevinMKruse/status/687278875022344192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Well, they ARE relics of a bygone area.
** era **
LOL Republicans are ERRORS OF A BYGONE ERA.
THERE FIXED!
Definitely more accurate. Thanks. :)
Nikki Haley causes a stir in SOTU response
01/13/16 08:40 AM
By Steve Benen
Official responses to the State of the Union address are inherently difficult. The president is able to bask in the national spotlight, interrupted by frequent applause, in a grand and impressive setting. This is then followed soon after by someone standing alone in a room, responding to a speech they have not heard.
There’s a reason this usually doesn’t go well.
But both parties keep giving the gig to their rising stars, and last night was South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s (R) turn. Much of the rhetoric was familiar – did you know Republicans think Obama’s presidency is a big failure? – though the governor talked a bit about being the daughter of Indian immigrants, who faced tough times growing up in the rural South.
“My story is really not much different from millions of other Americans. Immigrants have been coming to our shores for generations to live the dream that is America. They wanted better for their children than for themselves. That remains the dream of all of us, and in this country we have seen time and again that that dream is achievable.
“Today, we live in a time of threats like few others in recent memory. During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation. No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws, and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country.”
And who, pray tell, might Haley have been referring to with “the angriest voices”? I don’t imagine anyone watching had any doubts.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/nikki-haley-causes-stir-sotu-response
And yet, she was caught alive.
https://twitter.com/njdotcom/status/687288125727481856
She’s OBVIOUSLY not related to SANDRA BLAND is she?
Woman fled traffic stop?! Woman has no name?
a gif for today
http://a.fod4.com/images/GifGuide/dancing/tumblr_lgqwsbEa891qfjmnk.gif
https://twitter.com/ajam/status/687281330808291328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
INTERNATIONAL SHADE
https://twitter.com/JZarif/status/687274923707002881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
RAFAEL is an American Citizen.
THAT is not in question.
He, IS NOT
a ‘ natural born citizen’ of this country.
He was not born on an American Military base abroad.
He was not born in an American Embassy abroad.
He was born in another country.
Even had citizenship in that country.
Let’s take it to the Supreme Court.
……………………
Ted Cruz is not eligible to be president
By Mary Brigid McManamon January 12 at 11:24 AMMary Brigid McManamon is a constitutional law professor at Widener University’s Delaware Law School.
Donald Trump is actually right about something: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) is not a natural-born citizen and therefore is not eligible to be president or vice president of the United States.
The Constitution provides that “No person except a natural born Citizen . . . shall be eligible to the Office of President.” The concept of “natural born” comes from common law, and it is that law the Supreme Court has said we must turn to for the concept’s definition. On this subject, common law is clear and unambiguous. The 18th-century English jurist William Blackstone, the preeminent authority on it, declared natural-born citizens are “such as are born within the dominions of the crown of England,” while aliens are “such as are born out of it.” The key to this division is the assumption of allegiance to one’s country of birth. The Americans who drafted the Constitution adopted this principle for the United States. James Madison, known as the “father of the Constitution,” stated, “It is an established maxim that birth is a criterion of allegiance. . . . [And] place is the most certain criterion; it is what applies in the United States.”
https://twitter.com/KeeganNYC/status/687265012499525632/photo/1
https://twitter.com/TrillAC_/status/687116050907856897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
One of my favorite lines from the speech:
https://twitter.com/aterkel/status/687103794459578368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/Politics_PR/status/687098076562067457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/FLOTUSnews/status/687114481596559360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
from POU:
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/687216061100486656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/samsanders/status/687117941473685506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
LOL!!
http://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/3057/2939/original.jpg
https://twitter.com/RonSupportsYou/status/687261020633473024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Residents in Burns, OR are being followed…scary!
A Must-Read article:
“scare tactics rattle residents near Oregon occupation”
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/01/residents_near_oregon_occupati.html
Good Morning, Everyone:)
Supposed to warm up to 30 tomorrow….woo hoo!!
Happy HUMP day, Everyone!
The BALLERINAS are Breathtakingly STUNNING. Thank you for the post, SG2.