Wednesday Open Thread | Kool & The Gang Week

Posted on March 30, 2016 by rikyrah

Alright folks, it’s HUMP DAY & LADIES NIGHT!!!

KooltheGang

Kool and The Gang


Ladies Night

Kool and the Gang 1

Get Down ON.IT

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60 Responses to Wednesday Open Thread | Kool & The Gang Week

  1. rikyrah says:
    March 30, 2016 at 7:34 pm

    nature can be breathtaking at times

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BDjibc8irLw/

    Reply
  7. rikyrah says:
    March 30, 2016 at 7:31 pm

    President Obama has commuted more sentences than the last six Presidents COMBINED.

    what says you Blackademics?

    Reply
  8. Liza says:
    March 30, 2016 at 7:30 pm

    Another way for Hillary to win – don’t put Bernie’s name on the ballot. C’mon…

    A Democratic Party mistake left Bernie Sanders off the Washington, D.C. primary ballot https://t.co/RxRq3XMwIz pic.twitter.com/WgKz7ZpxsJ— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) March 30, 2016

    //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Reply
  11. eliihass says:
    March 30, 2016 at 6:58 pm

    The brazen double standards, the lies, the clutching of pearls…No less, by the very same veteran inventors and instigators of mess who created and fueled the mess and were looking to harness the mess for their own purposes in 2016… and in their own way…until of course Trump beat them all to it – hijacked it, and turned everything on its head .. and the Republican party in the process…LOL..

    And there’s Hillary Clinton suddenly best pals of President Obama and living savior of the blacks again…and black folks falling all over themselves to be the best possible firewall they can be, and just to prove their loyalty and worthiness to massa…massa who ain’t loyal …

    And there’s the media, looking out for their plutocrat owners, their high dollar contracts, the ad buys for their stations…their bottom line..

    The American people – some brainwashed, others just plain dumb…

    And the silly wannabes and the ones who think they’re so slick and can hide their entitled white feminist ‘…It’s our turn now…’ mindset behind the seemingly more altruistic ‘…we need to preserve the President’s wonderful legacy, and Hillary’s the only one who can do it. Bernie is the devil, he hates the President. Hillary loves him, they are besties and the President couldn’t live without Hill…Bernie is the devil…so evil..ugh..I hate him…and only because he hates the President who I love so much and if only Michelle would go away, he’s so hot…omg…but I’ve watched Hillary and she gets it…listen to her speech…she really gets it and looks so presidential…ugh..Bernie…I hate him…he hates women…his only about speechifying…how dare he promise to help students and middle class families…what a loser…I hate him…Hillary is the best…Wall Street is giving her money because they like her plans to stop their plundering… they know she’s going to be tough on them…Hillary is such a sweetheart, she loves black people, that’s why Henry Kissinger loves her…and Netanyahu too …her speech to AIPAC…oh, she was just playing to the general election crowd…she’s not a hawk…she just has to say what she has to say…it’s the reality of things…but she really has President Obama’s back…she loves him more than she loves Netanyahu…she didn’t mean to diss the President with that line that she would invite BiBi…of course not…Hillary recognizes just how amazing our hot President is and there’s no way she’s not going to tow the line…omg, I’ve been waiting forever for someone who looks like me to be President, …you know, just like how you people felt when ‘Obama’ was elected…not that I don’t love ‘Obama’..I love him…he’s soooo hot…omg …naughty mat…do you see how all the women in the world are crazy for him…they melt when he looks at them…omg he’s so hot…Can he hold me and look at me like that…Michelle is soooo lucky…omg …I hope she knows it…omg …I hate her…omg …you guys we can’t let Trump win…even if you hate Hillary…Trump is worse …sure, he used to be friends with Hill and Bill..but not like that…they always hated him…he tricked them…he’s so evil…just like Bernie…ugh…I hate Bernie…he’s such a misogynist…how dare he promise all those stupid kids who also loved ‘Obama’, that he’s not going to be beholden to Wall Street…ugh…I hate Bernie…Hill rocks…she’s really good at quickly repositioning and getting her points across…she’s a pro…she’s smart, the best…but not smarter or better than our hot President…omg…he’s so hot…let’s make sure Hillary wins…Bernie ..ugh…he’s the devil…he’s not hot…ugh…’

    So much madness, stupidity, hypocrisy, faux outrage, duplicity, disingenuity…so, so little time…

    They ain’t loyal fam…

    It’s not about us…never has been…

    Don’t be distracted, don’t be fooled..

    Don’t fall for the okey doke…

    Reply
  12. rikyrah says:
    March 30, 2016 at 3:20 pm

    Once again, I ask what is the POLICY difference between what Trump is saying and what the GOP is doing on the state level when it comes to reproductive rights?

    I will continue to ask this…because nobody has shown me any difference.

    https://twitter.com/shomaristone/status/715262489534013440/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

    Reply
    • rikyrah says:
      March 30, 2016 at 4:13 pm

      FROM BJ:

      On point to me:

      Tom Q says:

      March 30, 2016 at 4:51 pm

      I agree with the few people above who say Trump is doing what he does with many of his positions — taking what’s the standard GOP position, removing the Frank Luntz-concocted softening, and carrying it to its logical conclusion. That he’s done this so consistently and recklessly throughout the past year makes me still maintain a sliver of doubt as to whether he’s seriously campaigning for president, or actually running a performance art scam to expose the party’s true heart for all to undeniably see.

      It’s hilarious how the right-to-life people have jumped to disavow this. They’ve been almost the Luntz baseline group — obfuscating their actual positions for decades in an attempt to coat regressive policies with reasonableness. Trump giving away their con is lethal to their brand

      Reply
  15. Ametia says:
    March 30, 2016 at 2:49 pm

    UH UH

    Reply
  18. rikyrah says:
    March 30, 2016 at 2:13 pm

    He has to repair the damage done to his brand.
    The only way to do that is to:
    a) win the Nomination,
    or
    b) appear to have won the nomination and have it stolen from him with GOP Convention shenanigans.

    Does Trump Want an Exit Ramp?
    by BooMan
    Wed Mar 30th, 2016 at 02:07:40 PM EST

    When it comes to a classic narcissist like Donald Trump, it’s hard to say when (or if) he’ll begin to find the process of running for president so humiliating that he’s tempted to just drop out. He clearly doesn’t care that “respectable” people are routinely calling him a racist and comparing him to some of the most notorious fascist dictators of the 20th-Century. He doesn’t seem to care that the intelligentsia and the media elite are condemning his character and his intelligence. But he’s also obsessed with his image and he’s financially dependent on his brand. His campaign has already cost him business relationships and partnerships, yet that hasn’t tamed or dissuaded him so far.

    But, let’s remember what happened to H. Ross Perot, who you might recall dropped out of the race in July 1992 only to reenter it in early October:

    Like Trump, Perot was allergic to spending money: he believed that paid advertising was unnecessary as long as he could get on TV as often as he wished. For a time, it worked: He got away with many slip-ups, gaffes and misdeeds because they reinforced his outsider persona. Perot was adept at using the public’s disdain of the news media to deflect criticism. Repeatedly deemed a nut-bag by the press, Perot adopted an appropriate campaign song: the Patsy Cline tune, “Crazy.”

    But Perot came to despise the scrutiny brought on by all the free media he sought, and he never truly embraced retail politics to the degree needed to win. Just as Trump has drawn criticism for phoning in his cable-news appearances from his bedroom, Perot preferred to campaign from his Dallas office rather than make personal appearances. And ultimately, his skin proved too thin for the race: When he withdrew in mid-July, he gave various official explanations for the decision. But the one his advisers gave to the New York Times was telling: “[C]ampaign insiders described Mr. Perot as a man obsessed with his image who began to lose interest in the contest when faced with a barrage of critical news reports.” Even when Perot dove back into the race in the fall, he was a busted candidate: in the final five weeks, he left Dallas only for debates and a handful of rallies. After his 1992 loss, Perot’s image never really recovered, and after one more flailing presidential run in 1996, he disappeared from the public eye almost entirely.

    Trump’s already getting a little squirrelly. He’s under pressure after his campaign manager was indicted yesterday for battering a Breitbart reporter, and now he’s reneging on his pledge to support the eventual nominee because he feels the RNC has treated him shabbily and he can sense that the party elite are plotting to deny him the nomination at the convention. There’s increasing talk that he could cost the Republicans control of the House of Representatives as well as the Senate.

    Reply
  19. SouthernGirl2 says:
    March 30, 2016 at 1:19 pm

    Rachel Maddow discusses sex scandal in Washington.

    Reply
  20. SouthernGirl2 says:
    March 30, 2016 at 1:14 pm

    Rachel said the guy who has the DC Madam list will release the names of people on the list in 2 weeks and it could affect the 2016 presidential campaign.

    Who is on the list? Bill Clinton? Hillary?

    Reply
  21. SouthernGirl2 says:
    March 30, 2016 at 1:10 pm

    Hillary Clinton is at the #Apollo. Nah Nah Nah….calling Sandman.

    Reply
  23. rikyrah says:
    March 30, 2016 at 11:55 am

    Nearly a third of Republicans don’t want Muslims in the military
    BRIAN PATRICK BYRNE
    Mar 30th 2016 11:13AM

    Nearly one-third of Republican primary voters don’t think Muslims should serve in the U.S. military, according to a national poll conducted by Public Policy Polling.

    In the poll, conducted between March 24 and 26, PPP asked 505 Republican primary voters: “Do you think that Muslims should be allowed to serve in the US Military, or not?” Thirty-two percent of respondents said they shouldn’t be allowed to serve, while 49 percent said Muslims should be allowed to serve in the military. The remaining 19 percent said they weren’t sure.

    Of those who thought Muslims should not be allowed to serve, most of them were women. Thirty-five percent of female Republican primary voters gave that answer compared to 30 percent of men. Younger respondents were more likely than their elders to have the same preference. Thirty-six percent of respondents between 18 and 45 years old told pollsters they don’t think Muslims should be allowed to serve, versus 28 percent of respondents older than 65.

    Reply
  25. rikyrah says:
    March 30, 2016 at 11:36 am

    Debbie Wasserman Schultz Shouldn’t Be Welcoming Loan Sharks Into the Democratic Party.

    “So why, then, is my opponent — Debbie Wasserman Schultz — introducing legislation in Congress to deregulate an industry that is already profiting from ripping off millions of Americans? Why is she fighting against Elizabeth Warren and the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, who are attempting to protect our neighbors from the worst abuses by payday lenders?

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-canova/debbie-wasserman-schultz-payday-loans_b_9360186.html

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      March 30, 2016 at 7:10 pm

      Debbie Wasserman Schultz is proof-positive that our party has lost its way again…Boggles the mind how she’s allowed to stay on as DNC chair…
      We’re back to the dirty, wheeling and dealing politics of old..

      Reply
  27. Ametia says:
    March 30, 2016 at 11:31 am

    WE ALREADY KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO BE THE CASE

    Minneapolis police Officers Mike Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze will not face charges in the November shooting death of 24-year-old Jamar Clark, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said.

    Details of Clark’s death have been murky, angering residents. But investigators concluded that the officers acted in self-defense, the prosecutor said.

    Reply
    • Tyren M. says:
      March 30, 2016 at 10:30 pm

      Knew it was coming. The office got real quiet wherever I entered. Tomorrow, business as usual I’m sure.
      Freeman has none to give and doesn’t need to run again (68 I think.)

      Reply
  29. rikyrah says:
    March 30, 2016 at 10:37 am

    Trump angst pours in from overseas
    03/30/16 06:00 AM EDT

    Lobbyists in Washington say they are being flooded with questions and concerns from foreign governments about the rise of Donald Trump.

    Officials around the globe are closely following the U.S. presidential race, to the point where some have asked their American lobbyists to explain, in great detail, what a contested GOP convention would look like.

    The questions about Trump are “almost all-consuming,” said Richard Mintz, the managing director of Washington-based firm The Harbour Group, whose client list includes the governments of Georgia and the United Arab Emirates.

    After a recent trip to London, Abu Dhabi and Beijing, “it’s fair to say that all anyone wants to talk about is the U.S. presidential election,” Mintz added. “People are confused and perplexed.”

    Reply
  31. rikyrah says:
    March 30, 2016 at 10:35 am

    These people are pure EVIL

    A phucking ACCOUNTANT telling a NURSE what to do?

    I’ve had so many Elder Relatives. I am shaking with rage here.

    …………………………….

    FBI: Texas Hospice Owner Directed Nurses to Overdose Patients

    “You need to make this patient go bye-bye,” executive is quoted as saying
    March 30, 2016

    The owner of a North Texas medical company regularly directed nurses to give hospice patients overdoes of drugs such as morphine to speed up their deaths and maximize profits, an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit for a search warrant obtained by NBC 5.

    Executive Brad Harris, 34, founded Novus Health Care Services, Inc., in July 2012, according to state records. The Novus office is located on Dallas Parkway in Frisco.

    Harris, an accountant, instructed a nurse to administer overdoses to three patients and directed another employee to increase a patient’s medication to four-times the maximum allowed, the FBI said. He allegedly sent text messages like, “You need to make this patient go bye-bye.”

    In the first case, the employee refused to follow Harris’ alleged instructions, according to the FBI affidavit. The document does not say whether the other three patients were actually harmed.

    Reply
  32. rikyrah says:
    March 30, 2016 at 10:33 am

    The Associated Press @AP 22m22 minutes ago
    BREAKING: President Obama is commuting the prison sentences of 61 people serving time for drug-related offenses: http://apne.ws/1TiBHtW

    Reply
  33. Liza says:
    March 30, 2016 at 10:15 am

    Good article. I think most folks were just kind of shaking their heads after that “tone” comment. The Hillary campaign is worried about Bernie’s “tone”? Good Lord, when did Hillary the politician who never stops dishing it out to her (and Bill’s) challengers become Baby Hillary?

    Hillary Clinton’s “tone”-gate disaster.https://t.co/uYsEAg3OLI— 3ChicsPolitico (@3ChicsPolitico) March 30, 2016

    //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Reply
    • Liza says:
      March 30, 2016 at 9:41 am

      Well, this worked out really for this little girl, getting a trip to DC and meeting PBO. She’s adorable.

      Reply
  36. rikyrah says:
    March 30, 2016 at 9:27 am

    I would have never thought that he was THAT old.

    RIP.

    …………

    Benson’s James Noble Dead at 94

    James Noble, best known for his role as Benson‘s Governor Eugene Gatling, died on Monday, The New York Times reports. He was 94.

    The stage and screen actor passed away at Norwalk Hospital in Connecticut after suffering a stroke.

    Prior to his time on the long-running ABC sitcom, Noble was known for his work on Broadway, including a 1949 staging of The Velvet Glove and a later production of 1776 (which was adapted for film in 1972). His TV credits also included episodes of The Love Boat, Perfect Strangers, Law & Order and the soap operas One Life to Live and Another World.

    http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/celebrity/bensons-james-noble-dead-at-94/ar-BBr4gQb?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=HPCDHP

    Reply
  37. rikyrah says:
    March 30, 2016 at 8:24 am

    Trump and his rivals back away from RNC’s loyalty pledge
    03/30/16 08:00 AM—UPDATED 03/30/16 08:24 AM
    By Steve Benen
    There was a point last summer when Donald Trump flirted with the possibility of running an independent presidential campaign, prompting widespread consternation in Republican circles. But by early September, Trump announced that he’d signed the RNC’s “loyalty pledge,” committing him to the party’s nominating process – and its nominee.

    As we’ve discussed before, however, the New York Republican left himself some wiggle room. Trump said, repeatedly, that he would honor the agreement so long as Republicans treated him “fairly.” He never specified exactly what “fairly” meant – apparently, he knows it when he sees it – but the candidate’s rhetoric suggested he always saw a way out of his promise.

    All of which led up to last night, when things changed.
    When pushed again by moderator Anderson Cooper about whether he’d respect the so-called “Loyalty Pledge” … Trump was more direct:

    “No, I don’t anymore. No. We’ll see who it is. And he was essentially saying the same thing.”
    In this case, “he” referred to Trump’s principal rival, Sen. Ted Cruz, who also suggested he no longer feels bound by the party’s pledge.

    Reply
  38. rikyrah says:
    March 30, 2016 at 8:13 am

    Is the #GayMediaSoWhite? Gay Men of Color Exposed Racism in Gay Media on Twitter
    Mathew Rodriguez’s avatar image By Mathew Rodriguez March 29, 2016 LIKE MIC ON FACEBOOK:
    Move over Oscars, there’s something even whiter and gayer to talk about.

    Monday evening, gay men on Twitter took the media — especially gay-centric media like Out and The Advocate — to task for what they deemed a lack of inclusion and diversity regarding representation. The conversation began when black queer rapper Mykki Blanco retweeted Sony music songwriter Jesse Saint John.

    http://mic.com/articles/139181/is-the-gay-media-so-white-gay-men-of-color-exposed-racism-in-gay-media-on-twitter#.WhKIVaFuN

    Reply
  39. rikyrah says:
    March 30, 2016 at 8:12 am

    Empire’ Flops Overseas as Foreign Viewers Resist Hollywood’s Diversity Push
    5:00 AM PDT 3/30/2016 by Scott Roxboroug

    A version of this story first appeared in the April 8 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

    Driven by the ratings success of shows with mainly nonwhite casts — Empire, Black-ish and Fresh Off the Boat — along with political pressure to make shows better reflect their diverse audience, American TV outlets increasingly are greenlighting series that feature black, Asian and Latino leads. Fox’s 24: Legacy, a reboot of the Kiefer Sutherland series, stars Corey Hawkins, famous as Dr. Dre from Straight Outta Compton. CBS has Rush Hour, based on the action movie franchise, starring Jon Foo and Justin Hires, and has cast Sarah Shahi, a former NFL cheerleader of Persian and Spanish ancestry, as Nancy Drew in its reboot of the lily-white mystery franchise.

    “It’s color-blind casting,” says Sony Pictures TV casting director Dawn Steinberg. “There used to be a time when it had to be written that way to look for an actor with a specific ethnicity. Now it’s just who is the best actor for the role.”

    But when trying to sell overseas, American shows are finding the color barrier is still there. Why? Insiders say it’s because international audiences have yet to truly embrace diversity on the small screen. “These shows are a reflection of our society, but [they are] not a reflection of all societies,” says Marion Edwards, president of international TV at Fox.

    ake Empire. Fox’s hip-hop drama appeared to be a slam dunk for the international market: a splashy mainstream hit that felt both of the moment and a throwback to primetime soaps, and global hits, like Dallas and Dynasty. But the show has been a global flop. In the U.K., the first season drew a middling 717,000 viewers on Channel 4’s youth-oriented E4 network, a mere 3 percent share, and season 2 has been worse, averaging a 2.2 percent share with 595,000 viewers. The show first season averaged 181,000 viewers on Australia’s Channel Ten, prompting a shift to the smaller Eleven network, where season two has averaged just 77,000 viewers an episode. In Canada, broadcaster Rogers Media moved Empire off its free-TV network City after season two ratings dipped to 208,000 viewers, shifting the second half of the season to its online streaming service Shomi. While in Germany, Empire, which aired in primetime on Pro7, one of the country’s leading free-TV networks, attracted less than 1 million viewers per show and fewer than 4 percent of the national audience, a fraction of the channel’s regular draw.

    http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/empire-flops-overseas-as-foreign-879109

    Reply
  40. rikyrah says:
    March 30, 2016 at 8:03 am

    Sex scandal gets even worse for Alabama governor
    03/29/16 04:41 PM
    facebook twitter 12 save share group 54
    By Steve Benen
    When we last checked in on Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, the “family values” Republican was facing accusations from the former head of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency about an alleged extra-marital affair. The officer held a press conference to say he’d been fired for failing to go along with a scheme to hide the governor’s personal misdeeds.

    Bentley held a strange press conference soon after to apologize – though it was unclear to whom he was apologizing and for what. The governor acknowledged his role in inappropriate communications with his top political aide, but he denied having a “physical relationship” with her.

    An audio recording surfaced soon after in which Bentley is overheard describing what sounded like a “physical relationship” with his staffer.

    A week later, the questions are only growing louder; the list of Republicans calling for Bob Bentley’s resignation is growing longer; and the governor’s future is looking bleaker.
    Gov. Robert Bentley sidestepped questions about an alleged affair with senior political adviser Rebekah Caldwell Mason during a visit Monday to a rural health center in Centreville – his first public appearance since sexually explicit recordings of the governor talking to Mason were made public last week.
    If he’s come up with a defense or any new talking points, the governor kept them to himself. “We have made our statement last week and that’s all we’re going to say about that,” he said.

    But there is no scenario in which Bentley’s odd, literally unbelievable statement from last week makes his scandal go away. On the contrary, today’s headlines make clear this controversy goes well beyond an inappropriate workplace romance.

    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/sex-scandal-gets-even-worse-alabama-governor

    Reply
  42. rikyrah says:
    March 30, 2016 at 7:49 am

    Good Morning, Everyone :)

    Reply
  43. Ametia says:
    March 30, 2016 at 7:41 am

    Good Morning,, EVERYONE. :))))

    Reply

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