Friday Open Thread

Posted on October 28, 2016 by rikyrah

Happy Friday, Everyone! TGIF

This entry was posted in Current Events, Democracy, First Lady Michelle Obama, FLOTUS, Media, Michelle Obama, News, Open Thread, Politics and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.

48 Responses to Friday Open Thread

  1. rikyrah says:
    October 28, 2016 at 9:45 pm

    Evening Everyone

    Reply
  4. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    October 28, 2016 at 8:39 pm

    “How to Talk About #NoDAPL: A Native Perspective”
    http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/38165-how-to-talk-about-nodapl-a-native-perspective

    http://www.truth-out.org/images/Images_2016_10/2016_1028nodapl.jpg

    Excerpt:

    “To reiterate what should be obvious: We are not simply here when you see us.

    “We have always been here, fighting for our lives, surviving colonization, and that reality has rarely been acknowledged. Even people who believe in freedom frequently overlook our issues, as well as the intersections of their issues with our own.

    “It matters that more of the world is bearing witness in this historic moment. However, we feel the need to point out that the dialogue around #NoDAPL has become increasingly centered on climate change. Yes, there is an undeniable connectivity between this front of struggle and the larger fight to combat planetary warming. We fully recognize that all of humanity is at risk of extinction, whether they realize it or not. But intersectionality does not mean focusing exclusively on the intersections of our respective work. It sometimes means taking a journey well outside the bounds of those intersections.

    “In discussing #NoDAPL, too few people have started from a place of naming that we, as Indigenous people, have a right to defend our water and our lives, simply because we have a natural right to defend ourselves and our communities. When “climate justice,” in a very broad sense, becomes the center of conversation, our fronts of struggle are often reduced to a staging ground for the messaging of NGOs.

    Yes, everyone should be talking about climate change, but you should also be talking about the fact that Native communities deserve to survive, because our lives are worth defending in their own right — not simply because “this affects us all.”

    “So when you talk about Standing Rock, please begin by acknowledging that this pipeline was redirected from an area where it was most likely to impact the residents of Bismarck, North Dakota. When Bismarck’s population — which is over 90 percent white — objected to the risks the pipeline posed to their drinking water, their concerns were accommodated, and the pipeline route was shifted into treaty lands. Please inform people of these facts, and remind them that our people are still struggling to survive the violence of colonization on many fronts. People should not simply engage with stories related to our struggles when they see a concrete connection to their own issues — or a jumping off point to discuss their own issues. Our friends, allies and accomplices should be fighting alongside us because they value our humanity and right to live, in addition to whatever else they believe in.”

    Reply
    • Liza says:
      October 28, 2016 at 5:33 pm

      The Hillary presidency is already shaping up to be about what we expect, and it hasn’t even started.

      Reply
      • eliihass says:
        October 28, 2016 at 7:37 pm

        “…Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe is a longtime Clinton ally, prolific Democratic fundraiser, and former Clinton Foundation board member, and last May we learned that he’s the subject of a federal investigation into his campaign contributions. Considering these facts, it’s a bit surprising that his name hasn’t been bandied about in this election, like that of Sidney Blumenthal, but he just made a belated entrance.

        The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday night that McAuliffe’s political-action committee donated nearly half-a-million dollars to the 2015 state Senate campaign of Dr. Jill McCabe. She is married to Andrew McCabe, who later became the deputy director of the FBI and helped oversee the agency’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private-email server.
        Dr. Jill McCabe is a hospital physician who had never run for office before. She was recruited by McAuliffe and other state Democratic leaders as part of an effort to win a Democratic majority in the Virginia legislature

        McAuliffe’s political-action committee, Common Good VA, donated $467,500 to Dr. McCabe’s campaign, making her the organization’s third-largest beneficiary. The Virginia Democratic Party, which the governor has significant influence over, gave McCabe $207,788. Combined, those donations made up more than a third of the campaign funds she raised.

        While the campaign spent $1.8 million, Dr. McCabe ultimately lost to incumbent Dick Black, and Republicans maintained control of the Virginia legislature.

        According to McAuliffe’s spokesperson, the governor only met with the McCabes once — on March 7, 2015 — to urge Dr. Jill McCabe to run. At the time, Andrew McCabe was running the FBI’s Washington, D.C., field office. FBI officials say he sought and followed ethics advice from the agency, taking no role in the campaign and avoiding work on public corruption cases in Virginia.

        In the same month that Dr. McCabe launched her campaign, it was revealed that Clinton used a private-email server while she was secretary of State. The FBI probe was launched in July 2015, and the FBI’s D.C. field office provided personnel and resources for the investigation.

        At the end of that month, Andrew McCabe was promoted from the D.C. field office to the FBI headquarters, taking the number-three position there. He was promoted again in February 2016, becoming FBI Director James Comey’s second-in-command. At that point — months after his wife’s campaign ended — he became part of the team overseeing the Clinton probe, but FBI officials said Comey made all the final decisions in the investigation…”

        nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/10/mcauliffe-aided-wife-of-fbi-official-handling-clinton-probe.html

        Reply
      • eliihass says:
        October 28, 2016 at 9:08 pm

        “….RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Soon after Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine accepted Hillary Clinton’s offer to be her running mate, he called Terry McAuliffe to say thanks.

        Kaine had reason to be grateful: it’s likely no one lobbied as hard for Kaine as the colorful Virginia governor, a Clinton pal and former Democratic fundraiser.

        And with one friend atop the ticket and another as her running mate, McAuliffe could find himself with two direct lines to the White House should the Clinton-Kaine ticket win on Election Day.

        McAuliffe led the effort to raise money for Bill Clinton’s re-election bid, vacationed with the couple after the Monica Lewinsky scandal and secured a $1.35 million mortgage on their house in Chappaqua, New York, after they left the White House swamped by legal debts. He traveled the world with Bill Clinton as a board member for the Clinton Global Initiative, his post-presidential foundation, and helped manage Hillary Clinton’s 2008 run for president.

        “I’ve known Hillary and her husband Bill for more than half my life,” he said in a speech to the Democratic convention Tuesday, delivered just after she officially became their party’s nominee. “I love this woman.”

        He remains a confidante, golf partner and loyal advocate of both Bill and Hillary. In recent months, he’s hosted fundraisers and campaigned across the country for Clinton. He’s rumored to be interested in a Cabinet post, perhaps Commerce secretary, should she win.

        At times, McAuliffe’s deep ties to the Clintons can be problematic. In an interview Tuesday with Politico, he said he believes Clinton will support the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal — with some tweaks — if she’s elected president. The agreement is fiercely opposed by many in the Democratic Party.

        McAuliffe’s spokesman later said the governor was expressing what he wanted Clinton to do as president. Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta responded on Twitter, saying, “Love Gov. McAuliffe, but he got this one flat wrong. Hillary opposes TPP BEFORE and AFTER the election. Period. Full stop.”

        Republicans see the McAuliffe-Clinton relationship as ripe for abuse, particularly after McAuliffe was investigated by the FBI over whether political donations to his gubernatorial campaign violated the law. He has not been charged with any crime.

        “Terry may be the most powerful unimprisoned governor in the country,” said Republican strategist Alex Castellanos.

        The governor has played key roles in Kaine’s political rise. As chairman of the Democratic National Committee, McAuliffe helped provide a hefty $5 million to Kaine’s campaign for governor.

        Kaine returned the favor, campaigning and helping McAuliffe raise money for his gubernatorial bid. McAuliffe also appointed Kaine’s wife, Anne Holton, to be his secretary of education. Holton resigned on Monday to devote herself to her husband’s run for vice president…”

        bigstory.ap.org/article/a21a12fecb1c43f68136132f09800c98/kaine-adds-virginia-governors-potential-white-house-ties

        Reply
      • Liza says:
        October 28, 2016 at 9:26 pm

        Yep, this is the Democratic establishment doing what they do to prevent real democracy from happening in this country. Well, what is going to be interesting is seeing how the Clintons serve their many masters once elected. All those favors they owe, all that money they took, all those folks they used (like the mothers of murdered black children), and all those Bernie supporters who think the Clintons can be held accountable….Lord, what a mess.

        I wonder how much longer this system is sustainable. People are fed up.

        Reply
  11. SouthernGirl2 says:
    October 28, 2016 at 12:40 pm

    Breaking News: House Oversight Chair: FBI reopening Clinton email investigation.

    Reply
  12. Liza says:
    October 28, 2016 at 12:14 pm

    “A Shameful Moment for This Country”: Report Back on Militarized Police Raid of DAPL Resistance Camp
    OCTOBER 28, 2016
    …
    JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We turn now to North Dakota, where on Thursday hundreds of police with military equipment raided a resistance camp established by Native American water protectors in the path of the proposed $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline, which has faced months of resistance from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and members of hundreds of other tribes from across the Americas. On Thursday afternoon, over a hundred officers in riot gear with automatic rifles lined up across North Dakota’s Highway 1806, flanked by multiple MRAPs—that’s mine-resistant ambush protected military vehicles—sound cannon, Humvees driven by National Guardsmen, an armored police truck and a bulldozer. Water protectors say that police deployed tear gas, mace, pepper spray and flash-bang grenades and bean bag rounds against the Native Americans and shot rubber bullets at their horses. This is a video shot by Unicorn Riot, followed by a Facebook Live video from Sacheen Seitcham of the West Coast Women Warriors Media Cooperative.

    SACHEEN SEITCHAM: They’ve been pepper-spraying. They’ve maced. They’ve tasered. They’ve thrown percussion bombs and smoke grenades at us. All for water. Over 300 pigs. We are protecting the water. They’re protecting oil. That’s what’s happening.

    AMY GOODMAN: Water protectors set up a blockade of the highway using cars, tires, fire in order to try to protect their camp, parts of which were demolished by police. Four people locked themselves to a truck parked in the middle of the highway in order to stop the police advance. Elders also led prayer ceremonies in front of the police line. Some were arrested in the middle of prayer. In total, more than 100 people were arrested. Ahead of the police raid, the Federal Aviation Administration also issued a temporary no-fly zone for the airspace above the resistance camps for all aircraft except for those used by law enforcement. Police appeared to be evicting the frontline camp in order to clear the way for the Dakota Access pipeline company to continue construction. Company cranes and bulldozers were active Thursday just behind the police line on the site of the sacred burial ground where Dakota Access security guards unleashed dogs on Native Americans on September 3rd.
    …

    TARA HOUSKA: …Yesterday, we saw folks being maced. I was standing right next to a group of teenagers that were all maced in the face, maced right—like all kinds of people. Myself, I actually was almost shot in the face by bean bag round. It ricocheted off a truck right next to my head. These police were actively trying to hurt people, pushing them back to allow construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. They were defending monetary interests as human beings were being physically hurt. You know, I saw—I saw, right in front of me, a group of police officers pull a protester forward and begin beating him over the head with sticks. There’s video of it that you can see. I mean, this was an all-out war that was waged on indigenous protectors that were doing nothing more than peacefully assembling. There was no fires, there was nothing like that, until the police began their violent attack on us.

    JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Tara, where was this incident in—for instance, in relationship to the September 3rd dog attacks at the tribal burial site?

    TARA HOUSKA: When Dakota Access jumped ahead over 20 miles to destroy the site that had just been identified by the tribe the day before as a sacred place, that happened on September 3rd. That’s also the anniversary of the Whitestone Hill massacre. That was the exact place the day that Dakota Access was basically constructing its pipeline, right in the background, as literally hundreds and hundreds of people came to stand and pray and bring all of their energy forward to stop this from happening. And it was right at that site where Native American men, women and children had been attacked by private security, by dogs and mace and all the same things that we saw yesterday—this incredible escalated violence against people that were doing nothing more than trying to stop the destruction of sacred sites right in front of their eyes.

    AMY GOODMAN: Tara, you saw rifles aimed directly at people, police aiming those rifles?

    TARA HOUSKA: Yes, there were police walking around everywhere with assault rifles. Directly across from us, there was actually a policeman holding his rifle trained on us, directly on us. Bean bag rifle assault—bean bag non-lethal weapons were also aimed at us. Every time we put our hands up, they’d put them down. As soon as our hands came down, they would aim back at us. Police officers were smiling at us as they were doing these things. There were police officers filming this, laughing, as they—as human beings were being attacked, being maced. I mean, it was a nightmarish scene. And it should be a shame to the federal government, it should be a shame to the American people, that this is happening within U.S. borders to indigenous people and to our allies, to all people that are trying to protect water. Yesterday was a really shameful moment for this country and where we stand.

    AMY GOODMAN: And the number of people you estimate were arrested, Tara?

    TARA HOUSKA: I saw dozens of people being arrested. I mean, they were just pulling people out and arresting them. You know, I saw—I actually had to get pulled back from a group that—I mean, the police were pushing forward and just grabbing people at will. We had a number of lockdowns, like that were right in front of us in this truck in the middle of the road, that was used to attempt to blockade these police from advancing forward. There were five people, actually, that were locked to that. They attempted to construct a tipi in the middle, right behind people that were praying and singing. And they—there were folks that locked down to that tipi, or attempted to. The police ripped that tipi down and ripped those people out. It was—it was a really horrible scene yesterday.

    http://www.democracynow.org/2016/10/28/a_shameful_moment_for_this_country

    Reply
  29. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    October 28, 2016 at 8:43 am

    “Philadelphia special needs student said ‘get off me, I can’t breathe’ before he died while struggling with staffers”
    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/special-student-died-breathe-article-1.2847461?utm_content=buffere153d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=NYDailyNewsTw

    Excerpt:

    “A Philadelphia special needs student said “get off me, I can’t breathe,” before he died while being restrained at a private school, according to witnesses.

    “Three staffers at Wordsworth Academy punched the 17-year-old boy in the rib cage and restrained him on Oct. 13 after he was suspected of stealing an iPod and became aggressive, according to violation reports obtained by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

    “The reports say some staffers were not properly trained in restraining children. A state order forced the school ceased operations at its residential treatment program earlier this week in wake of a state order.”

    Reply
  32. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    October 28, 2016 at 8:37 am

    http://www.theroot.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/rekia_boyd_071712_400jrw.jpg
    (Photo:Rekia Boyd)

    “Chicago Cop Who Quit After Fatally Shooting Rekia Boyd Seeks Disability Pay”
    http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2016/10/chicago-cop-who-quit-after-fatally-shooting-rekia-boyd-seeks-disability-pay/
    Excerpt:

    “Chicago police detective who quit his job just days before a Chicago Police Board hearing would determine whether he should be fired for the 2012 shooting death of 22-year-old Rekia Boyd is now seeking disability pay, the Chicago Tribune reports.

    “According to the report, former Chicago police detective Dante Servin is demanding disability pay from the city, saying that he continues to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder from the 2012 shooting that sparked protests and outrage.

    “The Tribune notes that the 48-year-old could collect as much as 75 percent of his former $104,000 salary until his police pension kicks in.

    “Servin was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the Boyd’s death, but was later acquitted. Boyd was among a group of people in Douglas Park when Servin approached to tell them to keep the noise down. Servin claimed that one of the individuals, Antonio Cross, became agitated and appeared to pull out what he thought was a gun.”

    Reply
  33. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    October 28, 2016 at 8:28 am

    Donald Trump calls African-American neighborhoods ‘ghettos’ with ‘so many horrible problems’
    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/donald-trump-calls-african-american-neighborhoods-ghettos-article-1.2848477
    Excerpt:
    “First they were “inner cities” – now they’re just “ghettos.”

    Donald Trump once again appeared to equate an entire ethnicity with a socio-economic segment as he during a campaign rally in Ohio on Thursday pledged to “work with the African-American community” to solve the problem of the “ghettos.”
    http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.2848476.1477642126!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_1200/618585242.jpg

    Reply
  35. Ametia says:
    October 28, 2016 at 7:42 am

    Good Morning, Everyone.

    Reply

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