Saturday Open Thread

Posted on April 16, 2016 by rikyrah

I hope you are enjoying this weekend with family and friends.

This past week, the last White House Science Fair of the Obama Administration took place.

Through the years. (thanks to TOD for the hat/tip)

 

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53 Responses to Saturday Open Thread

  2. Ametia says:
    April 16, 2016 at 7:22 pm

    HBO Confirmation is on now.

    Reply
  5. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2016 at 5:56 pm

    Attention teachers!

    ……………

    LOOKING FOR A JOB? HAWAII NEEDS MORE TEACHERS FROM THE MAINLAND

    Thursday, April 14, 2016 11:11AM

    HONOLULU, HI — Looking for a new job and love the beach? If you’re a teacher, you might want to consider moving to Hawaii. According to Hawaii News Now, Hawaiian officials expect up to 1,600 vacancies in their schools.

    To deal with this shortage, the Hawaii Department of Education has been sending recruitment teams to meet with potential applicants in cities across the mainland U.S. They’re hoping that educators in places like Chicago, New York, Portland, and Los Angeles will want to make a chance and move to the land of beautiful beaches and balmy weather.

    Living in Hawaii has its perks. In addition to its incredible scenery, polls show that it’s one of the nation’s healthiest and happiest states. However, its teachers are faced with a set of unique challenges.

    Teachers who come for positions are often placed in rural schools, and have to grapple with the state’s high cost of living.

    “Hawaii has one of the highest teacher turnover rates in the nation and this is more so for people that come from the Mainland,” Corey Rosenlee, president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association told Hawaii News Now. “They say, ‘I can’t live here’ and they leave and we have to go back and recruit, and this cycle just continually happens.”

    Reply
  6. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2016 at 5:52 pm

    Congratulations to them all!

    Eight Black Women to Make History: Receiving PhD’s Together

    Apr 14, 16 by Qwest7

    *This year’s graduating class at the Indiana University School of Education will be noted for making history as eight African-American women from the class are candidates to receive their PhD’s in Education together.

    The women, known as “the great eight,” weighed in on the achievement in an interview with Fox 59. The station noted that the weight of the moment hit the ladies after beginning the education program when they realized that not many women of color had come before them or at least not at the same time.

    “We understood very early on that we had a distinction, a commonality, a thread between all of us and so we began to meet as a group,” PhD candidate Nadrea Njoku told Fox 59.

    Although they were on different paths at different times, but the women unified in cheering each other on in a field that sees less than two percent of African-American women. The group will walk across the stage in May to get their well-deserved degrees.

    “We often deal with this idea that we always have to do more. And our collective black female community here we were able to tell each other you’re enough,” said PhD candidate Jasmine Haywood.

    As things got tough, the great eight found themselves leaning on them each other to stay sane.

    Reply
  7. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2016 at 5:42 pm

    water is wet news

    …………………………………….

    Mothers say middle-class status little protection against gendered racism for African American boys

    Study reveals how African American mothers parent young sons—via “bias-preparation” strategies—to navigate “Thug” image and vulnerabilities of African American masculinity

    Middle-class African American mothers must parent differently than their white counterparts. African American middle-class mothers bear the added weight of preparing their children—particularly their sons—to navigate “gendered racism,” or discrimination based on both race and gender, from a very young age. This is according to a new research study published in the April 2016 issue of Gender & Society , a top-ranked journal in Gender Studies and Sociology. While there has been anecdotal evidence regarding the phenomenon, this is the first rigorous analysis of what has been colloquially referred to as “The Talk” or the “Black Man’s Code,” a set of socially circumscribed rules black boys and men feel compelled to follow to protect themselves from suspicion, criminalization as “thugs,” and harm—regardless of class status. It provides more evidence that the phenomenon is widespread, and gives deeper insights regarding the nature of the problem and the role of mothers in addressing it.

    “Although the mothers in this study are middle- and upper-middle-class African Americans with more resources than lower-income mothers, this status provides their sons with little protection from gender and racial stereotyping,” says study author Dawn Marie Dow, assistant professor of sociology at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. “Participants believe that both race and gender trump class, and that the broader society associates poverty, crime, and undereducation with being an African American boy.”

    Drawing on 60 interviews of middle- and upper-middle class African American mothers, the study, titled, “ The Deadly Challenges of Raising African American Boys: Navigating the Controlling Image of the ‘Thug’,” outlines “bias-preparation” strategies mothers use to address the challenges their sons will face in a society that often criminalizes the bodies of African American boys and men. Importantly, Dow’s study confirms that these mothers are not able to turn to middle-class safety nets in the same way as their white counterparts. While most middle-class white families are depicted as feeling some level of security in their regular interactions with teachers, police officers, and the general public, the African American mothers in Dow’s study saw teachers as potential tyrants, police officers as potential predators, and the general public as a potential threat to their sons’ safety, survival, and emotional well-being.

    Reply
  8. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2016 at 5:35 pm

    uh huh
    uh huh

    This is not your grandpappy’s Republican Party

    BY LEONARD PITTS, JR.

    This one’s for John. He’s a reader who took issue with my recent column arguing that conservatism has become an angry and incoherent mess.

    John was particularly upset that I described conservatives as resistant to social change. Wrote John:

    “Tell that to the right side of the aisle who signed in the civil rights voting act in 1965. Which party resisted that? … Who resisted the proclamation that freed the slaves? Southern democrat party of course and who was it’s military arm during reconstruction? The KKK. Today that organization is tied into the liberalism more than conservatism. … Your party, the liberals who now call themselves progressives, are the party of Strom thurmond, Robert Byrd, Lester Maddox, George wallace — and … Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.”

    Please note what John did there. He responded to a critique of social conservatism by mounting a defense of the Republican Party, as if the two were synonymous. Granted, they are now, but in the eras John mentions? Not so much.

    ………………………………

    The truth, as any first year history student could tell you, is that Republicans were the more socially liberal party and Democrats the more socially conservative for at least seven decades after Lincoln. But in the years since then, they have essentially swapped ideologies.

    The reason John engages in this linguistic shell game, the reason he defends the party that wasn’t attacked instead of the ideology that was, is simple: The ideology is indefensible, at least where civil rights is concerned. You must be a liar, a fool or an ignoramus of Brobdingnagian proportions to suggest social conservatives have ever supported African-American interests.

    They didn’t do it a century ago when “conservative” meant Democrats. They don’t do it now.

    Sadly for John, pretending otherwise requires him to twist logic like a birthday party clown making balloon animals. How addlepated must you be to see common ground between the segregationist Lester Maddox and civil-rights activist Al Sharpton? How cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs are you when you consider the Ku Klux Klan and Strom Thurmond “liberal?”

    And yes, you may think this a lot of energy to lavish on one man. But it isn’t one man. I hear John’s “reasoning” literally a hundred times a year from conservative readers. Indeed, a few weeks ago on CNN, a Donald Trump apologist pimp-slapped reality by branding the Klan a “leftist” group. So John is hardly the only one.

    These people must lie about history in order to exonerate conscience. Yet the truth is what the truth is. John need not take my word for what conservative means. Merriam-Webster backs me up. He need not even take my word for the history. A hundred history books back me up.

    Reply
  9. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2016 at 5:23 pm

    Hadn’t heard of this. Spread the word.

    ANDREA SMALLS, FOUNDER OF THE WOMEN OF COLOR HEALING RETREATS, ON WHY HEALING AND SELF-CARE IS SO IMPORTANT TO BLACK WOMEN

    April 15, 2016 ‐ By Lauren R.D. Fox

    Two years ago, Andrea Smalls left her hometown of Brooklyn, New York, and moved to Costa Rica after visiting the country for vacation. Puerto Viejo is now the town where Smalls calls home and it is also the location where she’ll be hosting her very first healing retreat for women of color. Slated to be held June 13-20, women will have the opportunity to heal themselves through de-colonizing yoga, swim or surf lessons, meditation, holistic healing and women’s workshops. Smalls, along with six instructors, guide participants through various aspects of spirituality and give travelers the opportunity to support local Afro-Costa Rican businesses. Check out our chat with Smalls on why establishing a healing retreat specifically for women of color was so important to her.

    MadameNoire: What inspired you to develop a healing retreat for women of color?

    Andrea Smalls: I thought it was important for women of color to have that space to come together. I created it when I came to Costa Rica and was sick of New York, especially with everything that is happening in America [police brutality]. It was just too heavy. I was scheduled to only stay for five days and ended up staying for two years because I loved it so much. While traveling, a lot of things started to happen—I began meditating more, I worked at a butterfly garden. I wanted a space for women of color to come because I think it’s so important for us to let go of certain things. It’s hard for many of us to find ourselves while being in the States.

    Reply
  10. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2016 at 5:21 pm

    sad to hear this. 20 years….sigh

    …………………………………..

    AISHA TYLER’S HUSBAND FILED FOR DIVORCE

    April 15, 2016 ‐ By Jazmine Denise Rogers

    After twenty years of marriage, Aisha Tyler and her husband, Jeff Tietjens, have called it quits.

    According to TMZ, the “Talk” host and Tietjens have been living separately since January 2015. Ultimately, it was Tietjens who pulled the trigger. He filed for divorce with the L.A. County Superior Court and cited irreconcilable differences.

    Tyler’s spokesperson, Lisa Morbete, told TMZ that she and her husband will continue their friendship despite the fact that their marriage is ending.

    Tyler and Tietjens, who were college sweethearts, tied the knot in 1994 when she was just 23 years old. At the time, she was sure that she didn’t want children, but as she approached her 40s, she experienced a change of heart.

    “I was with someone at 19, and I was married at 23, and I didn’t want kids when I was in my 20s,” Aisha shared back in September. “I wasn’t mentally prepared to take care of them; I was focused on my career. And then when I got to be in my 40s, and I thought about having kids, I wasn’t able to have kids naturally. I don’t regret it.”

    Reply
  11. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2016 at 5:19 pm

    yep

    WAS “LIVING SINGLE” REALLY BETTER THAN “FRIENDS”?

    Yesterday, I stumbled across the above meme on my Facebook timeline. Naturally, my first reaction was hell yeah. Of course, “Living Single” was better than “Friends.”

    But then I had to ask myself, do I really believe “Living Single” was better than “Friends” simply because I can relate to the Black characters a little bit more than the White ones?

    In all fairness, I watched a lot more “Living Single” than “Friends,” still with the way the latter show dominated in ratings and influenced pop culture, it was difficult to avoid altogether. So I’ve seen enough episodes to know the characters’ personalities, their storylines and of course, Phoebe’s “Smelly Cat” song.

    But when I think about the show as a whole, I generally found it to be mindlessly entertaining. You might have watched the show and chuckled once or twice, but ultimately found it hard to describe what you just watched. Like “Seinfeld,” it was perhaps designed to be a show about nothing. Unlike “Seinfeld” though, the dialogue surrounding these everyday occurrences was rather surface. I posed the question to my boyfriend afterward and he agreed that “Friends” was mostly just a series of jokes, back to back to back, about a particular situation.

    Reply
  12. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2016 at 5:09 pm

    hmmph

    The Perception of ‘Professional Hair’ Is An Obstacle For Many Black Women

    04/15/16

    Natural hair may be beautiful, freeing and here to stay, but the perception of it being “unprofessional” in the workplace is a realty for far too many women of color, namely black women.

    Last week, a viral tweet brought to light a Google search result for “unprofessional hairstyles for work” where the vast majority of hairstyles were of black women with natural hair. While this belief is not unheard of, this damning reality of what many black women face when job hunting or staying professional while at work is still relevant and problematic.

    Not to be overlooked when a Google search for “professional” hairstyles is sought, the results are of white, straight-haired blond women. This bias makes for serious conversations for black women on how to wear their hair. Natural hair is not unprofessional but far too many industries do not agree and why we are seeing more women being sent home or let go for rocking the natural tresses they were born with.

    As if just finding a job wasn’t hard enough, black women just starting out in the workforce are facing hair obstacles with the growing numbers celebrating and embracing natural hair.

    Ayana Lindsey, a senior at Spelman College in Atlanta, told TakePart: “When we’re preparing for job interviews and career fairs, some professors and career-planning advisers will strongly suggest that girls who normally wear their hair natural opt for straighter hair to appeal to the most conservative of employers”.

    Tiaira Muhammad, a University of Southern California sophomore shared with TakePart: “When I apply for internships when I have twists, I would worry how the interviewers would see me. I definitely wouldn’t consider wearing my natural hair. It’s really disheartening. I can count the number of black women journalists with natural hair on one hand.”

    Reply
  13. Ametia says:
    April 16, 2016 at 5:01 pm

    I don’t have time for this woman’s FOOLISHNESS!

    Reply
  16. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2016 at 4:51 pm

    it’s all fun and games until you mess with the money.

    ……………………………

    Report: Saudis vow to sell US assets if Congress decides gov was involved in 9/11

    Published April 16, 2016

    Saudi Arabia has reportedly told the Obama administration and congressional leaders that it will sell billions of dollars in U.S. financial assets if Congress passes a bill to make the Saudi government legally responsible for any role in the 9/11 attacks.

    The administration has tried to stop Congress from passing the legislation, a bipartisan Senate bill, since Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir last month told Washington lawmakers his country’s position, according to The New York Times.

    Al-Jubeir purportedly informed the lawmakers during a trip to Washington that Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell as much as $750 billion in Treasury securities and other American financial assets on the world market, fearing the legislation could become law and U.S. courts would then freeze the assets.

    The revelations about the Saudis’ ultimatum come several days after reports that President Obama will soon decide whether to declassify 28 pages of sealed documents suspected of showing a Saudi connection to the deadly 9/11 terror attacks.

    Reply
  21. sunshine616 says:
    April 16, 2016 at 2:50 pm

    http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/clintons-speeches-are-cozy-for-wall-streeters-but-closed-to-journalists/article/2553294
    So trying to find some info on thes damn Hillary speeches and wondering why a single word about the content of these speeches isn’t available anywhere. Well here ya go this is why. Why in the world would someone who wants to run the country that was run into the ground by these same people want to keep what she says to these people a secret… I’m gonna assume it’s not a scolding #releasethetranscripts

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      April 16, 2016 at 3:04 pm

      Hi Sunshine. SSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH…you’re not supposed to talk aout the HILLSTER and her VERY LUCRATIVE cozy Wall Street SPEECHES & all that PHAT $$$$$ she’s been paid.

      See old, angry, irritable, awful, gray-haired, Jewish Sanders, whose treating Hillary so bad, by mentioning said lucrative Wall $treet speeches!

      ALSO TOO

      Reply
  23. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 16, 2016 at 12:40 pm

    The “SUPER PREDATOR” myth has gotten a many innocent blk ppl killed. It’s shocking #BernieSanders has been the only 1 to call it what it is. Where is Rev Al? Why is he silent on this glaring racism?

    Reply
  25. Ametia says:
    April 16, 2016 at 11:50 am

    REMINDER! “Confrimation” the Anita Hill story airs tonight on HBO 2 8 p.m. ET, 7 CT.
    Stars Kerry Washington, Wendell Pierce, as Unca Clarence and Jeffrey Wright as Charles Ogletree, chief attorney for Hill, Gre Kinnear as Senator Joe Biden, where those of who watched in horror at this train wreck, Joe was INCOMPETENT. Yes, I said it.

    Reply
  26. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 16, 2016 at 11:35 am

    Eliihass, I need you to break it down for me as to why Hillary people are in such an uproar about Bernie going to the Vatican? Even the AP has joined in trying to belittle the visit.

    https://twitter.com/AP/status/721372639156170752

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      April 16, 2016 at 11:58 am

      My 2 cents:

      Pope Francis is not endorsing candidates. And like having ‘good manners’ is a fucking CRIME.

      Did the AP put out a spread on Paul Ryan and his visit to Israel? Did he visit NUTTY-YAHOO?

      The Pope and Sanders share more in common than the rest of the field, both Dem & RePubs,, especially when it comes to MORALITY-though priest pedophilia is anything but moral.

      Where they differ ithe most is on a woman’s right to choose and homosexuality.

      Reply
      • Ametia says:
        April 16, 2016 at 12:13 pm

        And further more, Bernie isn’t a ZIONIST Jew, unlike Hillary who is behnid Netanyaho and who HATES the Palestinians with the heat of a millions suns!

        Reply
  27. Ametia says:
    April 16, 2016 at 11:02 am

    dropping this right here!

    Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: In this crucial election, I’m endorsing Hillary Clinton
    By Kareem Abdul-Jabbar April 15 at 7:05 PM

    There is a tradition in U.S. politics of somberly proclaiming that each election is The Most Important in History. The idea, of course, is to scare people into voting for some candidate or another. This is done by describing an apocalyptic future like some sadistic camp counselor telling horror stories at bedtime with a flashlight under his chin. In making this assertion so frequently, we run the risk of sounding like the boy who cried wolf, and therefore not being taken seriously when an election comes around that really is important to American history.

    As this one is.

    This isn’t because we have a female candidate who may be her party’s nominee. That would be historically significant, as was electing Barack Obama as the first black president. His race and her gender inform who they are, as any person’s cultural background does, but it’s policies that maketh the politician.

    And it’s policies that make me endorse Hillary Clinton for president of the United States.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/kareem-abdul-jabbar-in-this-crucial-election-im-endorsing-hillary-clinton/2016/04/15/305bd5fc-0244-11e6-9203-7b8670959b88_story.html?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_opinions

    Reply
    • Liza says:
      April 16, 2016 at 2:23 pm

      The Washington Post again. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is wrong. Period. Policies??

      Reply
      • Ametia says:
        April 16, 2016 at 2:36 pm

        LOL There’s my girl, Liza!

        But..BUT, BUT, Kareem sounds so REASONABLE, though, ALSO TOO!

        Reply
      • Ametia says:
        April 16, 2016 at 2:56 pm

        FURTHERMORE, I wouldn’t vote for Hillary, even if POTUS & FLOTUS hit the campaign trail for this witch.

        So Kareem, you can write all the OP EDs you’d like.

        Watch for more of the athletes, stars, etc. step out and beat the drum of reason and continue to put forth the GOP is scary bullshit to brow beat us into voting for Hillary.

        NOT.VOTING.FOR.HILLARY.

        Reply
  28. Liza says:
    April 16, 2016 at 10:32 am

    The challenges facing our planet are not mainly technological or even financial. Our challenge is mostly a moral one.— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) April 16, 2016

    //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      April 16, 2016 at 10:58 am

      Bernie is correct in that morality is gone to HELL in a handbasket.

      The challenge with this is that the bulk of leadership is IMMORAL , and feed the immoral masses, while trying to legislate morality..

      Morality cannot be legislated. conscience, ethics, morality, they can’t be legislated.

      But folks with high moral compass, high ethics, high awareness and compassion, can create the environment for these qualities in others

      Reply
  29. Ametia says:
    April 16, 2016 at 10:07 am

    It’s SUNNY & 70 in the Minni-apple!!!!!

    Reply
  32. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 16, 2016 at 9:58 am

    I see all those people who were screaming “release the tax returns” have gone quiet. There was no there there!

    Reply
  36. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2016 at 9:05 am

    Good Morning, Everyone :)

    Off to swim and run errands.

    Reply

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