Wednesday Open Thread

Posted on April 20, 2016 by rikyrah

Happy HUMP DAY! Hope you’re enjoying Johnny this week.

This entry was posted in Current Events, Media, Music, News, Open Thread, Politics and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

121 Responses to Wednesday Open Thread

  2. eliihass says:
    April 20, 2016 at 11:55 pm

    LOL…So, browsing FLOTUS-related news as I do at the end of each day…seeing that if you really don’t actively search, you’d never really know just how hard she works in her unsalaried position…or that she even does anything at all..

    Let’s not even dwell on the fact that last week’s West Wing Week once again somehow completely neglected to mention her incredibly important visit to the World Bank – and the related $2.5 Billion World bank commitment secured in support of disadvantaged adolescent girls in communities around the world…a part of FLOTUS’ Let Girls Learn initiative…Watching last week’s WWW video, folks including those malicious and vile ones who have used falsehoods to attack her again and again, would once again assume FLOTUS did absolutely nothing but live high, and vacation on tax payer monies with her mother and daughters… aka ‘the family’ since as you know, FLOTUS is somehow unworthy and doesn’t even get to have her own independent billing as First Lady and wife…

    At some point in the near future God willing, West Wing Wing will probably include a half second snippet of FLOTUS in workout gear or in the garden with a turnip….or we can wait with bated breath and hope that they’ll be benevolent enough to fleetingly show the back of FLOTUS’ head as she enters Windsor castle together with POTUS, in the next West Wing Week video…That seems to be how it works as far as those who put together the West Wing Week videos are concerned…black out her mostly important and serious work…and once in a blue moon, fleetingly show a snippet of her – or her back…in something random…

    A travesty to imagine how appallingly erroneous, outrageous, dismissive, trivializing, and unfair if posterity relies on those WWW videos (produced by the White House no less!), to tell, weigh, judge the efforts and significance of this magnificent first black First Lady…

    But I digress…

    So, apparently FLOTUS had a Q and A session today – as she’s done every year for the past 8 years…with the children of White House and Administration staff on Bring Your Daughters and Sons to Work day…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ixXDoF7LD0

    So this black kid (obviously put up to it by some adult) asked FLOTUS this:

    “…CHILD: My name is Jonathan Brezwill (ph.) I’m 14 years old. And my question to you is, do you think Hillary Clinton is — has made major accomplishments as a female candidate? And would you like to run for President yourself?

    MRS. OBAMA: I think Hillary Clinton is a phenomenal woman. And I’ve gotten to know her, and I think she’s made some pretty major contributions over the course of her life. She’s devoted her life to public service, as have many people in — who are seeking the presidency.

    But Hillary Clinton is an impressive woman. I will not do what she has done — I will not run for President. But there are other things that I want to do to stay involved in working in public service. Great question…”

    They can try to bait her, but my genuine and incredibly sincere FLOTUS, even when she’s been tried and strong-armed and baited…will always be her own woman… and a masterfully gracious and brilliant truth-teller…

    “…I’ve gotten to know her…”

    “…I think she’s made some pretty major contributions over the course of her life…”

    “…She’s devoted her life to public service, as have many people in — who are seeking the presidency…”

    LOL..

    Might be so…but not necessarily positive…’making contributions’ and ‘devotion to public service’ are all things that can also be attributed to Dick Cheney and Ted Cruz …And Cheney for all intents and purposes, can be described as ‘phenomenal’ too…in his own warped and wicked way..

    My FLOTUS is so done and so over the political shenanigans – she’s had enough. This unassuming, principled, no-nonsense, grounded, genuine woman with a strong core and a mind of her own, has had enough of the games…and the politics..

    Reply
    • Liza says:
      April 21, 2016 at 10:20 am

      When the young man asked that question, I was kind of hoping Flotus would say, “I’m glad you brought this up, young man. Allow me to make my official endorsement of Bernie Sanders right here and now while speaking to all of you wonderful children, the future of our great country.” Wouldn’t that have been awesome? But I understand why she had to go the “phenomenal woman” route.

      Reply
  3. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 20, 2016 at 11:18 pm

    UndergroundWGN Y’all. The baby picking cotton and hands were bleeding. Lord Have Mercy.

    Reply
  4. eliihass says:
    April 20, 2016 at 10:14 pm

    Hillary is sharing a lawyer with the DNC..? How is that even ethical…

    Brad Woodhouse now works for David Brock’s Hillary’s ‘Correct the Record’…LOL…you can’t make this stuff up…So messy and so distasteful…By the time this election is over, so many of us will no longer identify as Democrats…

    Reply
  5. eliihass says:
    April 20, 2016 at 10:08 pm

    “…more people “support” Clinton because there are systems in place to ensure her victory. #ElectionFraud #VoterSuppression…”

    Truer words have never been ‘spoken’…(written).

    https://twitter.com/TheCrowing33/status/722794866996948992

    Reply
  6. eliihass says:
    April 20, 2016 at 10:00 pm

    Does anyone even remember the 2008 primaries in New York..?

    Someone remembered and forewarned..

    STEALING THE NY PRIMARY FOR HILLARY – BERNIE, WATCH OUT!

    Posted on April 6, 2016 by MITCHEL COHEN

    BY MITCHEL COHEN

    “No one knows who Bernie Sanders is”, said U.S. Congressional representative Charles Rangel just 3 months ago, as Rangel once again endorsed Hillary Clinton. “I never consider Senator Bernie Sanders to be in the same professional standard for the president as I do Hillary Clinton, not by a long shot.”

    – U.S. Congressional Representative Charles Rangel

    Americans are notorious for having very short memories. So with Charlie Rangel on the stump again for Hillary Clinton, let’s go back 8 years to 2008 when Clinton was running in the Democratic Primary for President of the United States against Barack Obama.

    At polling places in Charlie Rangel’s Harlem congressional district, EDs were reporting votes of 300 to ZERO, 240 to ZERO, for Clinton over Obama — IN HARLEM.

    In Brooklyn, dozens of Election District’s — some in predominantly Black neighborhoods — reported zero votes for Obama and 93 votes for Clinton. (See the Brooklyn Paper story, below.)

    Corruption has always been rampant in U.S. elections, and the Clintons (both of them) are among the leaders of that pack. And it doesn’t take some geek manipulating codes from afar on computerized voting machines to steal an election. It was easy to tamper with the old mechanical machines as well, if a group dedicated themselves to doing that.

    http://www.mitchelcohen.com/?p=3205

    SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2008

    In Harlem, Not a Single Vote for Obama
    Understand that this is New York!!! Also, these are Democrats not Florida Republicans! !!!!
    RGN

    February 16, 2008
    Unofficial Tallies in City Understated Obama Vote

    By SAM ROBERTS
    Black voters are heavily represented in the 94th Election District in Harlem’s 70th Assembly District. Yet according to the unofficial results from the New York Democratic primary last week, not a single vote in the district was cast for Senator Barack Obama.

    That anomaly was not unique. In fact, a review by The New York Times of the unofficial results reported on primary night found about 80 election districts among the city’s 6,106 where Mr. Obama supposedly did not receive even one vote, including cases where he ran a respectable race in a nearby district.

    City election officials this week said that their formal review of the results, which will not be completed for weeks, had confirmed some major discrepancies between the vote totals reported publicly — and unofficially — on primary night and the actual tally on hundreds of voting machines across the city.

    http://sociologistsforobama.blogspot.com/2008/02/in-harlem-not-single-vote-for-obama.html

    Barack Obama’s primary-night results were strikingly under recorded in several congressional districts around the city – in some cases leaving him with zero votes when, in fact, he had pulled in hundreds, the Board of Elections said today

    Unofficial primary results gave Obama no votes in nearly 80 districts, including Harlem’s 94th and other historically black areas – but many of those initial tallies proved to be wildly off the mark, the Board of Elections confirmed.

    Truth is, in some districts getting a recount, the senator from Illinois is even close to defeating Hillary Clinton.

    In a predominantly black Brooklyn district for which Clinton was given credit for a 118-0 victory on Primary Night, the Board of Elections’ latest figures indicate that she may not even come out the winner – Obama currently has 116 votes to her 118.

    http://nypost.com/2008/02/16/obama-robbed-in-ny/

    Reply
  7. eliihass says:
    April 20, 2016 at 9:29 pm

    https://twitter.com/davidplouffe/status/722894398086713347

    I’ve always said that these political operatives cum opportunists aren’t sh*t…

    And precisely because of this David Plouffe tweet, I will be making my first campaign donation in this election cycle, and I will be donating to Bernie Sanders right now…

    I hope Bernie stays in the race and keeps raising as much money as possible…

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      April 20, 2016 at 9:33 pm

      They have their matching orders SG…

      The idea is to bombard Bernie with their bogus arguments and forceful attacks and try to strong-arm him into getting out of the race..

      It’s shameful and despicable…and it has only made me despise some of these folks even more…

      Reply
  9. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 9:22 pm

    LOL

    HARRIET TUBMAN ON THE $20 JUST MIGHT BE THE MOST ELABORATE TROLL FOR WHITE TEARS EVER

    Damon Young, 4/20/16
    …………………………………………………..

    A man will enter some type of establishment. A bar maybe. A bank perhaps. Maybe even a bookstore. In my scenario this man is in his mid-forties. And possesses a slight stubble. He’s wearing chinos, a blue shirt, and brown shoes. He’s not a particularly handsome man, but not particularly unhandsome either. Think Nicholas Cage. Not that he looks like Nicholas Cage. But he’s on the Nicholas Cage handsome level. Anyway, a transaction will occur. Perhaps he will buy something. A latte. A bagel. A garden hose. Mints. Or maybe he will ask for change.

    And then it will happen. He will be handed a 20. And this will be the first 20 he’s physically held with Harriet Tubman’s face on it. He knew this was going to happen. He remembers being dismayed by the news about it in 2016, and he also watched a couple recent news stories reminding people the Tubman twenties would be in circulation soon. But he just..forgot. He just didn’t realize it would be so soon. So sudden. So present. And when that 20 touches his hand for the first time, he recoils in horror. And makes a face like he was handed a bag of wet cat poop. But it’s a surreal horror, because although that 20 dollar bill has her damn fucking face on it, it’s still $20. And $20 is still $20. So he grudgingly and painfully puts it in his wallet. Making sure to separate it from the other bills. Because his wallet will stay segregated. It’s the least he can do. The only tiny victory he can muster. And, as he walks out — day ruined — he angrily gulps his latte. But he forgets the latte is hot and burns his throat. And he leaves the store yelping “Damn you, Harriet! Damn you to the Hell you came from!”

    ………………………………………………..

    The thought of this happening — and yes, this is totally going to happen one day — tickles the fuck out of me. I’m beyond elated and past verklempt at the White Tears this has already brought and will continue to bring to the yard. It tickles me even more than the thought of the people upset when Barack Obama was elected President. Because while I was tickled by that happening, the tickling was accompanied by a dread of something bad happening to him. But no such dread here. Because you can’t assassinate a 20 dollar bill.

    Reply
  16. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 4:06 pm

    I’m gonna have to wait to get home, get some dinner, and then enjoy the comments section:

    HARRIET TUBMAN ON THE $20 IS, OFFICIALLY, THE BLACKEST THING THAT WILL EVER HAPPENK

    Damon Young, 4/20/16

    I was going to create of a list of things Blacker than the face of Harriet Tubman — perhaps the fiercest and baddest person to ever plant a foot on American soil — replacing Andrew Jackson’s on the 20.

    …………………………………………

    But I decided not to. Because nothing I could possibly cite or conjure would be Blacker than this woman — this American who lived as a fearless, relentless, and unambiguous challenge of America; her very existence both an indictment of our nation and the fullest and beautifulest paean to the kidnapped Africans living within it — existing on our currency. The same currency she could have been purchased for 170 years ago. The Blackness scale has officially been broken. Obliterated. Decimated.

    And all I know is that I will never break a 20 dollar bill again.

    Reply
  17. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 3:22 pm

    Awesomely Luvvie ✔ ‎@Luvvie
    Andrew Jackson got kicked off the $20 bill for Harriet Tubman. Because it’s Abolition April. And the Blackest Year EVER.

    Reply
  18. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 2:39 pm

    16 Scandles ‎@Supernova_tash
    Every rapper in America about to have a line about how they don’t f**k with Ben Franklin, they carry Tubmans.

    Reply
  20. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 2:36 pm

    Orientalism, Whitewashing, and Erasure: Hollywood’s Historic Problem With Asian People
    by Jessica Lachenal ( ) Wednesday, April 20th 2016 at 1:26 pm

    Hollywood has no idea what to do with Asian people. And, given the fact that Hollywood often serves as a reflection of contemporary culture, this is a major problem. Aside from casting us as goofy comic relief (Long Duk Dong, really) or evil mystical ninjas (come on, Daredevil season 2), they just don’t know what to do with us. The confusion and ignorance around what we bring to the table sometimes gets so bad that rather than try and find out who we actually are, they’ll overwrite us with white characters, erasing us completely from narratives that inherently belong to one culture or another (looking at you, Ghost in the Shell). Sometimes, to bridge that gap, they’ll even try to use yellowface, which (if you somehow weren’t already aware) is the practice of donning makeup and a really racist accent to look and sound Asian.

    These hideously xenophobic implications at play in Hollywood’s insistence on erasing Asian people from their own narratives refers to some incredibly deep-seated, historical prejudices that were widely held back when Hollywood was still forming its identity. Consider Orientalism: popularized as a theory by Edward Said in 1978, it references a historic tradition of “othering,” which set the East far apart from the West in some of the most negative ways. Eastern beliefs, practices, and religions became “mystical, magical, mysterious,” really emphasizing the differences between the East and the West, pushing them further and further apart rather than trying to encourage connection and understanding.

    You can see some of these ideas at play in Marvel’s upcoming movie, Doctor Strange, which is a story focused on a white man (Stephen Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch) who goes on what amounts to a “magical, mystical journey” through a vaguely “Eastern country” to learn martial arts and mental powers from… well, a white woman. Originally written in the comics as a Tibetan mystic, the Ancient One who trains Doctor Strange is played by Tilda Swinton in the forthcoming flick. The movie presents Eastern religions as mysterious, “magical,” something that’s wildly different that exists only to be understood and mastered by a white person.

    Reply
  21. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 2:34 pm

    Where are our Cooning gifs?

    We need ALL of them.

    ……………..

    Carson defends Andrew Jackson, calls for ‘another way’ to honor Tubman
    April 20, 2016, 02:22 pm

    Ben Carson criticized the decision to replace former President Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill on Wednesday, saying Jackson was a “tremendous president.”

    “I love Harriet Tubman. I love what she did. But we can find another way to honor her,” the former presidential candidate and retired neurosurgeon said. “Maybe a $2 bill.”

    http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/277015-carson-defends-andrew-jackson-calls-for-another-way-to-honor

    Reply
  22. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 2:31 pm

    Harriet Tubman once staged a sit-in to get $20. The Treasury just gave her all of them.
    How Tubman got the $20 she needed to rescue her own father from slavery.
    Updated by Dara Lind on April 20, 2016, 1:30 p.m. ET

    he news that Harriet Tubman will be replacing Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 bill is significant for all sorts of reasons. Slave owner Jackson is being replaced by a former slave; Tubman, who led more than 300 slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad, is replacing a president who drove 16,000 Cherokees (and thousands more from other native tribes) out of their homelands on the Trail of Tears.

    But even if Tubman weren’t replacing Jackson, the $20 would be the perfect bill to honor her, because the sum of $20 played a significant role in her life on two separate occasions.

    For one thing, $20 was the amount she earned as a monthly pension after the Civil War, for which she helped the Union as a scout and spy. It was still less than the $25 a month paid to full soldiers, but it was the result of a long legal fight to earn a soldier’s pension at all. (Vox’s Phil Edwards wrote about this last year, when the social media campaign to put Tubman or another woman on the $20 was at its height.)

    But even before that — as Yoni Appelbaum of the Atlantic pointed out on Twitter — the sum of $20 played a huge role in Tubman’s efforts to rescue her own father from slavery.

    Reply
  24. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 20, 2016 at 2:10 pm

    SenSanders #BernieSanders #FeelTheBurn

    Keep on Pushing
    Can’t stop now
    Move up a little higher
    Some way, somehow…

    Reply
  26. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 12:44 pm

    AP: Ted Cruz now mathematically eliminated from clinching GOP nomination before convention
    POSTED 9:03 PM, APRIL 19, 2016

    NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is now the only Republican candidate with any chance of clinching the nomination before the convention.

    Ted Cruz was mathematically eliminated Tuesday after Trump’s big win in the New York primary.

    Trump won at least 89 of the 95 delegates at stake. John Kasich won at least three and Cruz was in danger of being shut out.

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      April 20, 2016 at 3:00 pm

      LOL I’m going to thoroughly ENJOY WHIPPIN out a $20 bill when I shop!!!

      We got to keep Harriet busy and CIRCULATE her as much as possible.

      Reply
  28. Liza says:
    April 20, 2016 at 11:58 am

    WTF is going on, y’all?

    ICYMI126k Democrats were removed from the rolls in #BrooklynSanders lost #Brooklyn by appx 57,909 votes#NYPrimary pic.twitter.com/6PGtsArg7r— Lizz Brown (@lizzzbrown) April 20, 2016

    //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Reply
  29. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 11:53 am

    Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain comes to Reading for Year of Culture
    11:50, 18 APR 2016
    BY FRANCESCA PERRYMAN
    The exclusive Q&A will see the 2015 queen of Bake Off talk about all things food including her new cook book

    We have exciting news for Great British Bake Off fans!

    The queen of Bake Off 2015, Nadiya Hussain is coming to Reading for the Year of Culture.

    Nadiya was crowned the winner of the sixth series of Bake Off – the most-watched TV broadcast of 2015.

    As part of Reading 2016’s theme of Eat Reading, she will be coming to Reading Town Hall in Blagrave Street on Sunday, June 19 for an exclusive Q&A.

    Her visit to Reading will come days after the publication of her first cook book, Nadiya’s Kitchen.

    A bit about Nadiya…
    Since winning Bake Off last autumn, Nadiya has been asked to bake the Queen’s 90th birthday cake, become a guest presenter on Loose Women, a reporter for The One Show and now writes a weekly Times food column.

    http://www.getreading.co.uk/whats-on/arts-culture-news/great-british-bake-winner-nadiya-11201624

    Reply
  30. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 11:46 am

    Yoni Appelbaum ‏@YAppelbaum 16m16 minutes ago

    1. Harriet Tubman’s first biographer, Sarah Hopkins Bradford, tells a remarkable story about the anti-slavery hero.

    2. Tubman had an intimation that her parents, still held as slaves in Maryland, were in trouble. She needed funds to effect their rescue.

    3. Tubman marched into the New York office of abolitionist Oliver Johnson, and staged a sit-down hunger strike to secure the necessary funds

    https://twitter.com/YAppelbaum/status/722821475531694080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

    5. When she fell asleep, people who heard of her plight stuffed $60 into her pockets. She journeyed south, and brought her father to freedom

    Reply
  31. Liza says:
    April 20, 2016 at 11:46 am

    Former Syracuse basketball great Dwayne "Pearl" Washington has died after battling a brain tumor. He was 52. pic.twitter.com/jehCnIn8MQ— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 20, 2016

    //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Reply
  36. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 11:17 am

    Hamilton – the Musical, saved Hamilton on that $10 bill…..LOL

    Reply
  37. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 11:12 am

    Published on Apr 18, 2016

    In response to tabloid headlines, host Aisha Tyler opens up about her divorce on “The Talk.” Tyler says, “My husband and I are separating… that’s a very painful thing to go through and it’s also a really painful thing to go through in public… I’m sure you can imagine it’s pretty frustrating to have people talking about your private life who don’t know anything about it and speculating and you know saying lots of crazy stuff but I wanted to say this… my husband and I met when I was a teenager and I’ve been with him for more than half of my adult life… it’s very hard when you love someone very much to also start to realize that maybe you want different things for your lives… I don’t, not in any way see this relationship as a failure… We loved each other passionately and we lived life fully and we’re trying to let each other go in the kindest way we possibly can… that’s what I’m going to say about the relationship and the rest of it is none of your damn business!”

    https://youtu.be/4Je3QhPkwho

    Reply
  39. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 10:54 am

    The title is enough and made me LOL

    ……………………………

    Warren Unimpressed With ‘Sacrifices’ Cruz Has Made For 2016 Run: ‘Boo Hoo’

    ByALLEGRA KIRKLANDPublishedAPRIL 20, 2016, 10:01 AM EDT

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) argued in a Tuesday night tweetstorm that the “sacrifices” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) says he has made during his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination pale in comparison to those made by American workers.

    “Are you kidding me?” Warren wrote. “We’re supposed to pity you because trying to be the leader of the free world is hard?! 2 words: Boo hoo.”

    The Massachusetts senator’s impassioned response came after Cruz sent a campaign email on Monday listing the stresses of the campaign trail. Describing “constant attacks” from the “liberal media,” a lack of family and personal time, and months with little sleep, Cruz said he was proud to make these “steep” sacrifices for his supporters.

    Warren was unmoved, firing off a series of tweets about the lack of personal time experienced by Americans working multiple minimum-wage jobs as well as the “constant attacks” faced by immigrants, Muslims and women by GOP candidates like Cruz.

    As of Wednesday morning, the Texas senator had not responded.

    Reply
  40. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 10:51 am

    hmmmmmmm

    A black professor offers advice ‘For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood’
    By Emma Brown
    April 20 at 8:00 AM

    Christopher Emdin says he wasn’t trying to alienate anyone with the title of his new book: “For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood … and the Rest of Y’all Too.”

    But he did want to start a conversation that he knew wouldn’t be entirely comfortable. A conversation about the failures of well-meaning teachers whose approach to education – in Emdin’s view – often does more harm than good for their black and Latino students.

    He also wanted to give those teachers concrete tools to do better. So he wrote a book that is part cultural criticism and part how-to guide, not just for white teachers but for teachers of any race whose students’ backgrounds differ from their own.

    Reply
  41. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 10:48 am

    Rep. Elijah Cummings endorses Will Jawando in Md. congressional primary
    By Bill Turque April 18
    Maryland District 8 Democratic congressional candidate Will Jawando has landed the endorsement of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), whose robo-call will be going to over 40,000 households later this week.

    Cummings says that Jawando, a former Hill staffer, is “the best candidate to get things done in Congress.” He credits Jawando for helping to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Act for equal pay while he was an Obama White House aide.

    Reply
  43. Ametia says:
    April 20, 2016 at 10:34 am

    Besides, independent voters in NY yammering about being disenfranchised from the DEMCORATIC PARTY primary only voting yesterday, can anyone post verifiable links to voter suppression in NY STATE?

    Reply
  47. Ametia says:
    April 20, 2016 at 10:10 am

    Life expectancy for white females in U.S. suffers rare decline
    By Joel Achenbach April 20 at 12:01 AM

    Life expectancy at birth for white, non-Hispanic females in the United States declined slightly from 2013 to 2014, a change that could be a statistical blip but still represents a rare drop for a major demographic group, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    This unusual down-tick in life expectancy — from 81.2 to 81.1 years — is consistent with other research showing that drug overdoses, suicides and diseases related to smoking and heavy drinking are killing unprecedented numbers of white Americans, particularly women in mid-life.

    “Taken by itself, it could just be a random fluctuation from one year to the next,” said Elizabeth Arias, a demographer with the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. But the data, which was released Wednesday, also showed that Americans collectively have lost momentum when it comes to greater longevity. Life expectancy at birth has remained virtually stagnant for the nation since 2010.

    Arias said another study by her agency, to be published soon, will document the sharp increase in suicides, alcoholism-related diseases and overdoses.

    “Despite the positive influences of declines in heart disease and cancer and stroke, increases in other causes like suicide, chronic liver disease and unintentional poisonings were so large that they had a negative effect on life expectancy,” she said.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/04/20/cdc-life-expectancy-for-non-hispanic-white-women-dips-for-first-time-in-decades/?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_daily202

    Reply
  55. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 8:56 am

    Anyone from PA got the 4-1-1 on this guy?

    ……………………

    A Member of “Bernie’s Army” Is Still Waiting for the Candidate’s Help

    John Fetterman is running for Senate in Pennsylvania, one of the most expensive races in the country. He wants to know when the political revolution starts.

    By Michelle Goldberg

    John Fetterman, the populist mayor and long-shot Democratic Senate candidate, was one of the first elected officials in the country to endorse Bernie Sanders for president. He is, like Sanders, a political outsider. A tattooed giant—6-foot-8, more than 300 pounds—he’s spent the past 11 years presiding over Braddock, Pennsylvania, a largely black town outside Pittsburgh that was wrecked by the collapse of the local steel industry. Income inequality is at the center of his campaign. “I think there’s a great deal of overlap” between Sanders’ platform and his own, he tells me, “whether it’s a $15-an-hour living wage or health care, trade deals, a rigged economy.” Ideologically, the only real difference between the two men is that Fetterman is more in favor of gun control. He has the date of every homicide in Braddock since his election—nine in all—inked on his right arm.

    ……………………

    Given the money and political power stacked against him, Fetterman says he needs Sanders’ help to have any chance next Tuesday, the same day as the Pennsylvania presidential primary. So far, however, it has not been forthcoming. There’s been no endorsement, no fundraising support, no joint appearances. Fetterman’s campaign finds this confounding. On the ground, he says, there’s enormous overlap between his supporters and the Sanders grassroots. (“The crowd at the Fishtown brewpub is young, liberal, urban. They rave about Sanders—and Fetterman,” says a recent Philadelphia Inquirer story.) In a three-way race, he believes, Sanders’ backing could be decisive; Fetterman estimates that he’ll win if he gets 60 or 70 percent of Sanders’ voters.

    Reply
  57. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 8:45 am

    Had never heard of this

    RLJ Entertainment Picks Up Doc on 1st African American Expedition to Tackle North America’s Highest Peak (Trailer)

    By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act

    April 14, 2016 at 6:44PM

    Filmed 3 summers ago, and previously titled “Expedition Denali,” the now-titled “An American Ascent” follows 9 mountaineers who attempted to become the first all-African-American team to climb Denali (a.k.a. Mount McKinley) in Alaska, which rises to 20,320 feet above sea level.

    Directed by Andrew Adkins and George Potter, the short version of the story goes… In the summer of 2013, the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) brought together a group of men and women who made history as the first team of African Americans to blaze a trail up America’s highest peak – Denali – in part to mark the 100th anniversary of the peak’s first ascent, but also to build a legacy by paving a way for young people of color to get outside, get active, get healthy, become passionate about America’s wild places, and chase their own Denali-sized dreams

    Reply
  58. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 8:40 am

    POTUS + FLOTUS Team Up with ABC for Hour-Long ‘Jazz at the White House’ Special
    By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
    April 18, 2016 at 11:05AM

    President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will host “Jazz at the White House,” airing on International Jazz Day, Saturday, April 30 (8-9pm EST), on ABC. The one-hour primetime television special will feature an extraordinary array of artists from around the world paying tribute to the truly American art form of jazz.

    The All-Star Global Concert at the White House (filming on April 29) will feature performances by Joey Alexander, Terence Blanchard, Kris Bowers, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terri Lyne Carrington, Chick Corea, Jamie Cullum, Kurt Elling, Aretha Franklin, Robert Glasper, Buddy Guy, Herbie Hancock, Zakir Hussain, Al Jarreau, Diana Krall, Lionel Loueke, Hugh Masekela, Christian McBride, John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, Marcus Miller, James Morrison, Danilo Pérez, Rebirth Brass Band, Dianne Reeves, Lee Ritenour, David Sanchez, Wayne Shorter, Esperanza Spalding, Sting, Trombone Shorty, Chucho Valdés, Bobby Watson, Ben Williams and more.

    Reply
  59. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 8:34 am

    Will put this on my Amazon Wish List:

    ‘Underground: Season One’ Arrives on DVD June 14, Loaded w/ Bonus Features
    By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act

    April 18, 2016 at 12:53PM

    WGN America’s critically acclaimed new drama “Underground: Season One” arrives on DVD June 14 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) and Tribune Studios. The suspenseful series is executive produced by John Legend via his Get Lifted Film Co., who are also overseeing all music aspects of the gripping 10-episode journey, which follows a group of slaves striving for their freedom from the Macon plantation in 1857 Antebellum, Georgia. As they plan to escape, the immense sacrifices and uncertainty of where to go and who to trust will test those who have the courage to leave and decide who has the endurance to survive.

    The ensemble cast features breakout stars Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Aldis Hodge, alongside Jessica De Gouw, Alano Miller, and Christopher Meloni, and guest stars Marc Blucas, Reed Diamond, Adina Porter, Amirah Vann, Mykelti Williamson and Andrea Frankle.

    Reply
  60. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 8:03 am

    John Ridley has hooked up with Idris for a project?

    YES!!

    Nice! Idris Elba and John Ridley Team Up for London-Set Series on 1970s Black Political Radicals
    By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act

    April 20, 2016 at 8:45AM

    This should be solid!

    John Ridley will write, direct and executive produce “Guerrilla,” a new 6-part miniseries set to air on the Sky Atlantic network (in the UK) that centers on a couple whose passion propels them into making the leap from political activism to radical militancy. For those in the USA, the Showtime cable TV network will air the series, which is obviously great!

    Idris Elba will co-star and serve as an executive producer through his Green Door Pictures. Ridley will write the majority of the episodes and will direct the first two.

    Reply
  61. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 8:01 am

    Nicole Beharie Joins Michael Ealy and Jesse Williams in ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ Remake
    By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
    April 18, 2016 at 9:41PM

    Ten days after she said an official “good bye” to Fox’s “Sleepy Hollow” series, Nicole Beharie has joined Michael Ealy in the previously-announced remake of “Jacob’s Ladder,” the 1990 psychological thriller directed by Adrian Lyne, which starred Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña and Danny Aiello.

    Also previously cast is Jesse Williams; although I’m only just learning about his joining the film.

    http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/nicole-beharie-joins-michael-ealy-and-jesse-williams-in-jacobs-ladder-remake-20160418

    Reply
  62. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 8:00 am

    Mr. Mathis has never gotten his due. He’s fabulous.

    Reply
  64. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 7:54 am

    Bill That Angers Saudi Arabia Splits Senate Democrats, Obama
    April 18, 2016 — 6:55 PM EDT

    Two U.S. Senate Democratic leaders said they’ll continue to push a Sept. 11-related bill that has angered Saudi Arabia and is opposed by President Barack Obama.

    The measure, which would allow Saudi Arabia to be held responsible in U.S. courts for any role in the 2001 terrorist attacks, threatens to create a major rift with a key U.S. ally just as the president is gearing up for a diplomatic visit and pits Obama against many top Democrats.

    “If Saudi Arabia participated in terrorism, of course they should be able to be sued,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Democratic leader, said in a statement. Allowing a lawsuit by victims of the attacks to proceed, and the Saudi government to be held accountable if it participated, ensures the Arab kingdom will “pay a price,” he said.

    But Obama said Monday that he is “opposed” to the bill. “This is not just a bilateral U.S.-Saudi issue,” he said in an interview with Charlie Rose that aired Monday night on the “CBS Evening News.”

    “If we open up the possibility that individuals in the United States can routinely start suing other governments, then we are also opening up the United States to being sued” by individuals in other countries, he said.

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      April 20, 2016 at 10:32 am

      Thank you for this post! Beautiful women with common sense WISDOM.

      Although Common sense is not very common these days.

      SISTERHOOD, IT’S LIFESAVING.

      Reply
  67. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 7:49 am

    Michael Strahan Is Leaving ‘LIVE’ to Join ‘Good Morning America’ Full-Time
    By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
    April 19, 2016 at 11:46AM

    Michael Strahan is exiting his co-hosting duties on “LIVE with Kelly and Michael” to join ABC News’ “Good Morning America” full-time, according to ABC News President James Goldston.

    The NFL Hall of Famer had been guest-hosting on “GMA” for some time, but this move makes him a permanent member of the “GMA” family.

    Strahan will begin his new gig in September.

    “Over the past two years on ‘GMA,’ Michael’s proven to be a tireless and versatile broadcaster with an incredible ability to connect with people, from veterans and all kinds of newsmakers to a host of modern American cultural icons,” Goldston said in a statement today. “‘LIVE’ will kick off the search for a new co-host when the new season begins in the fall,” Goldston added.

    Reply
  68. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 7:46 am

    FYI:

    ABC’s ‘Shark Tank’ Casting Call Announced for “Minority Entrepreneurs”
    By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act

    April 19, 2016 at 2:21PM

    alues Partnerships is leading a nationwide casting tour supporting minority entrepreneurship and recruiting diverse ideas and voices to pitch on Season 8 of ABC’s “Shark Tank.” Casting calls are planned in local communities in Miami, FL; Austin, TX; New York, NY; Washington, DC; Detroit, MI; San Francisco/Oakland, CA; New Orleans, LA; and Cincinnati, OH.

    For those in New York, the next stop on the tour is tomorrow, April 20, when Minority Venture Partners (MVP) Accelerator Inc. – a not-for-profit startup program dedicated to the launch, scale, and exit of minority and women led-tech startups – will host a casting call for “Shark Tank” at the New York Institute of Technology’s School of Management (Manhattan Campus/http://nyit.edu/management/).

    Reply
  69. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 7:44 am

    The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database

    Some 12.5 million Africans were taken from their homes and forced aboard slave ships that were destined for the New World. About 10.7 million people survived the horrors of the Middle Passage between 1526 and 1866, only to end up in bondage on sugar, rice, cotton, and tobacco plantations throughout the Americas and the Caribbean.

    The transatlantic slave trade is the largest forced migration in history. Until recently, however, it was all but impossible to measure the trade’s true dimensions: There were simply too many records among too many geographically dispersed archives. But, today, the slave trade’s broad outlines and its subtler trends can be gauged because of a remarkably collegial and tech-savvy project called the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database.

    The database was born in 1990 in the British Public Records Office, when two scholars struck up a conversation about their respective projects. David Eltis, who is now the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of History at Emory University, was gathering data on the early history of the British slave trade. Stephen Behrendt, who teaches at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, was doing the same for its later years. They decided to combine their efforts to create a collaborative platform for further scholarship.

    With $1,025,644 from NEH and help from the W. E. B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University, Eltis and Behrendt were soon consolidating the data that they and many other historians had spent years culling from tax registers, port books, captains’ logs, private letters, and a myriad of other documents. They released the first edition of the database on CD-ROM in 1999 and, after integrating a wave of new information, launched an open-access website called Voyages in 2008. To date, the database includes data from 57 contributors, reflecting 34,948 voyages—an estimated 66 to 80 percent of all slaving expeditions to cross the Atlantic during the trade’s three-and-a-half centuries.

    Reply
  75. rikyrah says:
    April 20, 2016 at 7:28 am

    Good Morning, Everyone :)

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      April 20, 2016 at 7:49 am

      Good Morning, Rikyrah & Everyone. :)))

      Reply
    • SouthernGirl2 says:
      April 20, 2016 at 9:32 am

      Good morning. Not feeling too well tho. I have disc problems. The pain is a __________.

      Reply
      • Ametia says:
        April 20, 2016 at 10:08 am

        I’m feeling you, SG2. I suffered horribly in 2014 from this.

        Here are some tips that might be helpful:

        I do know that sitting for long periods is NOT recommended.

        See a good Chiropractor

        Hot and cold packs

        Arnica gel a homeopathic remedy

        Physical therapy- exercises to strengthen your core.

        Reply
      • rikyrah says:
        April 20, 2016 at 10:47 am

        SG2,

        I am sorry to hear that you feel bad. Ordinarily, I’d tell you to get to the doctor, but I don’t want you to risk things out in that bad weather. So, you do what you can until you get to the doctor.

        Reply
      • Liza says:
        April 20, 2016 at 12:30 pm

        SG2, I suffered with back problems (as well as shoulder and neck problems) in the early 1990s. It was a bad time because that is when insurance companies were into denying these kinds of claims and I couldn’t get much physical therapy. Eventually I had the good fortune to be sent to a world class orthopedist at UCSD. He believed very strongly that these types of injuries are best treated by working out with weights after, of course, getting evaluated and having a medical professional set up your program. I’m convinced he had it right, he helped me more than anyone. Strength and flexibility are so important, particularly as we get older.

        My orthopedist never prescribed pain medication. I guess he figured over the counter medicine was good enough, but pain really is the best indicator of your progress. And it doesn’t really take that long to start feeling better. Maybe in the beginning the best thing is a stretching program starting with heat, then stretch, then ice packs. But it is really important to get professional help and dismiss any doctor who just wants to medicate you and run like hell if you come across a doctor who wants to do surgery right away.

        My back rarely goes out anymore and when it does it is usually because I got careless or something happened that was unavoidable. This will pass, but yes it is something you have to be aware of and manage.

        Reply
      • Liza says:
        April 20, 2016 at 3:08 pm

        Yes, hang in there, it’s temporary.

        Reply
      • eliihass says:
        April 21, 2016 at 12:12 am

        Hope you’re feeling better SG…

        Ametia and Liza have both offered really excellent and spot on advice…

        Take care of yourself ok…And as much as possible, try to limit your intake of pain medication..

        Reply

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