Thursday Open Thread

Posted on May 11, 2017 by rikyrah

Some HAPPY for you!

Some History

Millions of black boys sit in front of televisions with a basketball resting between their crossed legs, watching their basketball icons with awe. Well, one black boy will get to partner with the very organization that molds these icons: the NBA!

Per Forbes, the widely-popular national basketball league has entered a licensing partnership with 15-year-old entrepreneur Moziah “Mo” Bridges and his Memphis based company, Mo’s Bows, which manufactures handmade bow and neckties.

Initiated by the league, the agreement grants Mo’s the rights to manufacture products with the logos of NBA clubs for distribution through the company’s online store as well as retail outlets in a seven-figure licensing deal! The league itself is on track to rack in about $6 billion in revenue this year. Wow!

“Moziah’s creativity and entrepreneurial spirit are an inspiration, and we are thrilled about the launch of the Mo’s Bows NBA Collection,” said Lisa Piken Koper, NBA Vice President, Global Partnerships. “We are always looking for ways to diversify our merchandise offerings and cater to our fashionable fan base, and couldn’t be more excited that fans will have a fun and unique way to show support for their favorite NBA teams.”

15-Year-Old Mo’s Bows Founder Ties His Way Into NBA Partnership

Moziah “Mo” Bridges is channeling peak black boy joy with this major business deal!

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45 Responses to Thursday Open Thread

  5. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 10:59 pm

    Al Giordano‏Verified account @AlGiordano

    Al Giordano Retweeted so-called Jenn

    The Sanders Inc. primary vs @LacyClayMO1 seems like an assault on the entire @OfficialCBC, attempted revenge for 2016. Att: @RepYvetteClarke

    Reply
  14. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 2:44 pm

    This Tom Perez statement on Trump’s voter fraud commission is blistering pic.twitter.com/KA1eWUjwpV

    — Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) May 11, 2017

    Reply
  15. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 2:23 pm

    While it is just one poll and all caveats apply, the most recent one from Quinnipiac paints a devastating picture for the man in the White House. They note that Trump got a bit of a bump after the missile strike in Syria, but he’s back down now to a near-record negative 36 – 58 percent job approval rating—and that is from a poll conducted before the announcement about Comey being fired. The drop holds true for groups that have been an important part of his base.

    ………………….

    But as Adam Raymond summarizes, it’s not just job approval numbers.

    Every number in this poll is bad. The majority of Americans say Trump is “not honest,” lacks leadership skills, doesn’t care about average Americans, is not “level-headed,” and does not share their values. On the economy, immigration, foreign policy, and terrorism, more Americans disapprove than approve of the job he’s doing.

    Finally, Philip Bump tweeted the part of this poll that is getting most of the attention.

    Quinnipiac asked people what word first came to mind when they thought about Trump. https://t.co/ks0UauOs9O pic.twitter.com/HQ3bYWhD16

    — Philip Bump (@pbump) May 10, 2017

    In total, the poll reported 46 words used by respondents to describe Trump. I did my own calculation and found that 28 of them were negative (idiot, clown, bigot), 10 of them were positive (strong, successful, great) and 8 were neutral (president, businessman, American). But beyond that, it is amazing to hear people describe the President of the United States with words like “idiot,” “liar,” and “buffoon.” Perhaps you’ll agree with me when I say that is disturbing in what it says about our current situation, but encouraging in that so many people are actually paying attention to the horrors we’re seeing from this president.

    While the opportunity for American voters to weigh in on this president’s performance is still about 3 1/2 years away, here’s a bit of hope for 2018:

    By a 54 – 38 percent margin, American voters want the Democratic Party to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives. This is the widest margin ever measured for this question in a Quinnipiac University poll, exceeding a 5 percentage point margin for Republicans in 2013.

    Reply
  16. Ametia says:
    May 11, 2017 at 2:21 pm

    Thursday, May 11, 2017
    A Coup in Real Time: Trump’s Firing of Comey is More Proof that He is in Collusion with Putin’s Russia ———-By–WARN

    In total, Trump’s firing of Comey, his hostility to an independent judiciary, his authoritarian behavior and his evident attempts to control or contain the investigation into his connections to Russia add up to a constitutional crisis. Unfortunately, Trump is being aided and abetted in his irresponsible, and perhaps even criminal behavior, by a Republican Party that, to this point, values power and partisan politics over loyalty to country and true patriotism. Trump’s supporters among the American people are deeply devoted to their leader, even if that means siding with Putin’s Russia and spitting in the face of American democracy. They are authoritarian lemmings.

    While the supposedly “liberal” news media largely refuses to tell the ugly truth about Trump and the fascist movement he represents, the conservative media serves as Trump’s personal echo chamber, much as Pravda and other state-sponsored publications served the Communist Party during the Soviet era.

    Unfortunately, this state of emergency is the new normal in America. In the future, people who are now living will tell their children and grandchildren how they watched American democracy surrender to plutocratic authoritarianism and fascism in real time. These same children and grandchildren will ask, “Why didn’t you do anything to stop it?” What will we tell them?

    History is watching. The American people now have to choose if they will be bystanders or agents in their own destiny. I am deeply saddened that so many Americans seem ready and willing to choose the first option.

    http://www.chaunceydevega.com/2017/05/a-coup-in-real-time-trumps-firing-of.html

    Reply
  17. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 2:20 pm

    Trump Names Racist to Co-Chair Voter Fraud Commission
    by Martin Longman May 11, 2017 3:17 PM

    On paper, Kris Kobach is the kind of guy you’d like to marry your daughter. An Eagle Scout who graduated summa cum laude and first in his department at Harvard, went on to get M.A. and Ph.D. in Politics from Oxford and a law degree from Yale, Kobuch also did missionary work in Uganda, clerked for a federal judge, and obtained a White House Fellowship to work for the Attorney General of the United States.

    On the other hand, the Minority Leader of the Kansas Senate Anthony Hensley once stated that Kobach is “the most racist politician in America today,” and with plenty of justification. Kobuch is the brains behind both Arizona SB 1070 and Alabama HB56, the two most notorious anti-immigrant bills to be produced in this country in recent decades. He’s the country’s most famous proponent of bogus voter fraud theories and has boasted of successful efforts to suppress the minority vote both during his time as chairman of the Kansas Republican Party and as Kansas’s Secretary of State.

    He’s also a classic John Bircher-style nutcase who has referred to both the American Civil Liberties Union and the League of Women Voters as “communists.”

    Donald Trump seriously considered Kobach to serve as his Attorney General and also as his Secretary of Homeland Security:

    It was later reported that Kobach was being considered for Secretary of Homeland Security, and was photographed carrying a document entitled “Department of Homeland Security, Kobach Strategic Plan for First 365 Days” into a meeting with Trump. This plan reportedly included a register of Muslims as part of a suite of proposals, which also included the “extreme vetting” of immigrants.

    …………………….

    As a former county coordinator for ACORN/Project Vote efforts to boost minority participation in our elections, you can imagine how I feel about Kris Kobach who clearly thinks I should have been prosecuted for my efforts. I’m offended by the very existence of the commission which is an affront to the most minimal grasp of reality, so naming Kobach as the co-chair is little more than confirmation that the whole effort is a fraud on the American public.

    No one in American life has less credibility with the left on voting issues than Kobach. And it certainly doesn’t help that he’s not only seen as a racist but as perhaps the most effective racist in the country. Trump doesn’t care about that at all and perhaps even enjoys sending the message that he doesn’t care.

    So, here’s what we’ll get:

    One adviser said the group would spend about a year drafting a report that would take a comprehensive look at election issues that have preoccupied state officials for many years.

    They’ll spend a year looking for ways to justify efforts to curtail minority voting, and they’ll do it based on the delusions and lies of the president:

    Civil rights groups also reacted with alarm to the impending creation of the task force, arguing that Mr. Trump’s own comments about illegal voting by immigrants suggested that his intent was to work to restrict the voting rights of minorities.

    Sherrilyn Ifill, the president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, called the commission “a thinly veiled voter suppression task force,” adding that it was “designed to impugn the integrity of African-American and Latino participation in the political process.”

    Reply
  18. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    President Trump Just Crippled His Legislative Agenda
    by Martin Longman May 10, 2017 3:45 PM

    Writing in the Washington Post, James Hohmann makes a rather obvious point about the fallout from President Trump’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey.

    Another significant repercussion: Every piece of Trump’s agenda just became harder to get through Congress. Democrats will be less inclined than ever to work with this president, and the liberal base will become even less tolerant of red state incumbents collaborating with him. It’s going to be really hard to get to 60 votes for anything Trump wants for a while.

    Also noted in that article is the fact that the Senate Intelligence Committee has requested financial records on Trump and Trump associates from the Treasury Department and that the Ranking Member of that committee, Democrat Mark Warner of Virginia, plans on holding up all Trump nominees until he’s gets the information he seeks. That should be lumped together with the Senate Democrats’ decision this morning to invoke the two-hour rule to curtail the majority’s ability to hold committee hearings.

    Reply
  19. Tyren M. says:
    May 11, 2017 at 12:24 pm

    Good afternoon 3Chics,

    I was too young to watch Nixon go down. I thought Reagan would. They stole Bushes election so I knew he wouldn’t. But this shit right here??? How can he NOT go down? We know but still. Checking it all out. Have a good day all.

    I’m here for Eat What You Want Day!

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      May 11, 2017 at 2:01 pm

      Hi Tyren. I was a senior in high school. There a too may rats to mention in this shit show. This is why #45 has gone as far as he has.

      Reply
    • rikyrah says:
      May 11, 2017 at 2:15 pm

      Hi Tyren.Well, we will see.

      Reply
    • Liza says:
      May 11, 2017 at 5:55 pm

      I was going to FSU when Nixon resigned. It’s one of my best memories. There were like a zillion of us in the student union watching this one TV. Nixon gave his speech and everyone went crazy. It was great. If there were any Nixon supporters there, they were keeping a low profile.

      Reply
  20. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 12:12 pm

    Uh huh
    Uh huh

    How’s those votes turning out for you….
    ……………………

    Cooper: Trump administration denied 99 percent of amount recently sought by N.C. for Hurricane Matthew help
    Journal staff and wire reports May 10, 2017

    Gov. Roy Cooper on Wednesday expressed his “shock and disappointment” in the small amount of federal disaster money the Trump administration and Congress have authorized in the latest round of funding for Hurricane Matthew recovery in North Carolina — less than 1 percent of what the state requested.

    Cooper had hoped for more than $900 million in federal relief, an amount he said was a conservative request made in consultation with U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., U.S. Reps. David Price, a Democrat from Chapel Hill and David Rouzer, a Republican from Johnston County, and others in the state’s congressional delegation. Just $6.1 million in federal money was approved.

    The funding request was in addition to $1.4 billion in federal and state money the state has already received, Cooper said. The storm caused an estimated $4.8 billion in damage, Cooper has said.

    Cooper expressed his dismay at the latest round in a letter sent to President Donald Trump, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan.

    Cooper also invited Trump to visit North Carolina to see storm damage firsthand. An official in the Trump administration didn’t immediately respond to an email request for comment Wednesday.

    “Families across Eastern North Carolina need help to rebuild and recover, and it is an incredible failure by the Trump Administration and Congressional leaders to turn their backs,” Cooper said in a statement.

    “North Carolinians affected by this storm cannot be ignored by the Trump Administration and Congressional leadership, and I will continue to work with our Congressional delegation to get North Carolina residents affected by the storm the help they deserve,” he said.

    Taylor Holgate, a spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said Wednesday that hurricane recovery has been and should continue to be above partisan finger-pointing.

    “The bipartisan North Carolina congressional delegation worked to secure more than $300 million in federal assistance for Hurricane Matthew and is committed to making sure the people of North Carolina have the resources they need for hurricane recovery,” Holgate said. “Sen. Burr encourages both Democrat and Republican leaders to work together to ensure that those suffering as a result of a natural disaster get the support they need.”

    Reply
  21. Ametia says:
    May 11, 2017 at 11:19 am

    Russian TURDS in OUR white house yesterday. Where they vetted, frisked, checked for wiring?

    Reply
  22. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 11:15 am

    From TOD:

    bridgeriverpass
    May 11, 2017 at 11:46 am
    KOCH Party doesn’t care as long as we are giving the fossil fuel industries their $20 Billion subsidy.
    KOCH trying to END the wind subsidy and deceive on rooftop solar. Price of solar panels dropped by over 80% since PBO took office.
    KOCH Brother’s Diry War on Solar Power: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-koch-brothers-dirty-war-on-solar-power-20160211
    KOCH Brothers spreading disinformation about climate science and renewable energy: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/266600-koch-propagandist-attacks-wind-tax-break-is-um-on

    Reply
  23. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 11:14 am

    Trump claimed Comey told him three times he’s not under investigation. Comey associates tell the WSJ that’s nonsense https://t.co/lAzKUyUaOd pic.twitter.com/MCpmZn50eV

    — Mark Berman (@markberman) May 11, 2017

    Reply
  24. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 9:44 am

    MacArthur asked about pre-existing protection changes. Audience: “If you have a pre-existing condition, stand up.” Most audience on feet. pic.twitter.com/V4lhgGVX7q

    — Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) May 10, 2017

    Woman says MacArthur attack on gov’t healthcare “bureaucrats” is wrong.”What makes [them] worse than some employee of an insurance company?” pic.twitter.com/syaa1tgTva

    — Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) May 11, 2017

    MacArthur town hall still going 3.5 hours later pic.twitter.com/6qs7UPLMiJ

    — Katie Jennings (@katiedjennings) May 11, 2017

    Man angrily tells MacArthur: “You have been the single greatest threat to my family.” Says GOP bill was dead until MacArthur resurrected it. pic.twitter.com/U1O8vTwVBx

    — Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) May 11, 2017

    Reply
  25. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 9:44 am

    #FF @katiedjennings, who’s at what’s sure to be a doozy of a town hall https://t.co/i2755xpbYa

    — Adam Cancryn (@adamcancryn) May 10, 2017

    Well that didn’t last long. MacArthur now losing the audience, as crowd chants “shame” and consistently interrupting him. pic.twitter.com/PItTbyTm17

    — Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) May 10, 2017

    MacArthur ask for “respect.” Audience: “Can I be disrespectful on behalf of all the people you’re going to kill.”

    — Katie Jennings (@katiedjennings) May 10, 2017

    Attendee: “Donald Trump is the greatest threat in our democracy in our lifetime” for attacking press, judiciary, etc. Gets standing ovation. pic.twitter.com/CjDghsIbql

    — Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) May 10, 2017

    MacArthur’s response: “I didn’t come here to defend the president.” Says many members of district support Trump. pic.twitter.com/u3UMbp6bjI

    — Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) May 10, 2017

    Reply
  26. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 9:43 am

    Trump creating voter fraud commission today with Kris Kobach as vice chair. Will lead to massive voter suppression https://t.co/RneLso5ANS

    — Ari Berman (@AriBerman) May 11, 2017

    Reply
  27. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 9:41 am

    Feinstein says she’s read Rosenstein’s memo 3 times.

    “With each read I’ve become more troubled by the contents of this unusual document.” pic.twitter.com/HuETaTlstj

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 11, 2017

    NYT Ed. Board writes an open letter to Deputy AG Rosenstein: “You have one choice: Appoint a special counsel…” https://t.co/F8QN0njfaB pic.twitter.com/9dHHvsbWNN

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 11, 2017

    Reply
  28. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 9:39 am

    ICYMI:

    Betsy DeVos was invited to speak at Bethune-Cookman, an HBCU. Needless to say, many folks were deeply offended.

    Luvvie’s take on what happened yesterday:

    Dear Bethune-Cookman 2017 grads, thank you for telling Betsy DeVos ‘ nah”

    http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/2017/05/bethune-cookman-2017-grads-betsy-devos.html

    Reply
  29. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 9:32 am

    UH HUH
    UH HUH

    ……………………

    President Trump expected to launch commission on ‘election integrity’
    By KATHERINE FAULDERS ALEXANDER MALLIN
    May 11, 2017, 6:10 AM ET

    President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order today establishing a commission to review alleged voter fraud and voter suppression in the American election system, multiple senior administration officials tell ABC News.

    The officials say Vice President Mike Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach will be announced as Chair and Vice Chair of the ‘Presidential Commission on Election Integrity’ in a press release today. It’s not clear whether the White House will allow coverage of the order signing.

    The commission, which will include Republicans and Democrats, will be tasked with studying “vulnerabilities” in U.S. voting systems and potential effects on “improper voting, fraudulent voter registrations and fraudulent voting,” according to one official with knowledge of the announcement.

    In the aftermath of the 2016 election, Trump claimed widespread voter fraud explained why former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton emerged with nearly 3 million more popular votes. To date, neither Trump nor his team has provided evidence to substantiate the claims, but they have promised an investigation.

    “You can never really find, you know, there are going to be — no matter what numbers we come up with there are going to be lots of people that did things that we’re not going to find out about,” Trump told ABC News’ David Muir in January. “But we will find out because we need a better system where that can’t happen.”

    Administration officials would not provide a draft copy of the order but described its scope to ABC News. The commission’s review is expected be broad in scope, and will not just address Trump’s allegations about the 2016 election but also “systemic issues that have been raised over many years in terms of the integrity of the elections,” one official said.

    Membership of the commission is still taking shape even as Trump is poised to sign the order creating it. Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson (R), New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner (D), Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap (D), Christie McCormick, commissioner of the election assistance commission, and former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (R), are among the names under consideration, the administration officials said.

    Reply
  30. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 9:10 am

    Topher Spiro‏ @ TopherSpiro
    Here we go: Handel defends Trump. Ossoff called for a special prosecutor. It’s on. #FlipThe6th

    Reply
  31. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 9:05 am

    From WaPo:

    Every time FBI Director James B. Comey appeared in public, an ever-watchful President Trump grew increasingly agitated that the topic was the one that he was most desperate to avoid: Russia.

    Trump had long questioned Comey’s loyalty and judgment, and was infuriated by what he viewed as the director’s lack of action in recent weeks on leaks from within the federal government. By last weekend, he had made up his mind: Comey had to go.

    At his golf course in Bedminster, N.J., Trump groused over Comey’s latest congressional testimony, which he thought was “strange,” and grew impatient with what he viewed as his sanctimony, according to White House officials. Comey, Trump figured, was using the Russia probe to become a martyr.

    Back at work Monday morning in Washington, Trump told Vice President Pence and several senior aides — Reince Priebus, Stephen K. Bannon and Donald McGahn, among others — that he was ready to move on Comey. First, though, he wanted to talk with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, his trusted confidant, and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, to whom Comey reported directly. Trump summoned the two of them to the White House for a meeting, according to a person close to the White House.

    The president already had decided to fire Comey, according to this person. But in the meeting, several White House officials said Trump gave Sessions and Rosenstein a directive: to explain in writing the case against Comey.

    The pair quickly fulfilled the boss’s orders, and the next day Trump fired Comey — a breathtaking move that thrust a White House already accustomed to chaos into a new level of tumult, one that has legal as well as political consequences…

    The known actions that led to Comey’s dismissal raise as many questions as answers. Why was Sessions involved in discussions about the fate of the man leading the FBI’s Russia investigation, after having recused himself from the probe because he had falsely denied under oath his own past communications with the Russian ambassador?

    Why had Trump discussed the Russia probe with the FBI director three times, as he claimed in his letter dismissing Comey, which could have been a violation of Justice Department policies that ongoing investigations generally are not to be discussed with White House officials?

    And how much was the timing of Trump’s decision shaped by events spiraling out of his control — such as Monday’s testimony about Russian interference by former acting attorney general Sally Yates, or the fact that Comey last week requested more resources from the Justice Department to expand the FBI’s Russia probe?…

    Dating to the campaign, several men personally close to Trump deeply distrusted Comey and helped feed the candidate-turned-president’s suspicions of the FBI director, who declined to recommend charges against Clinton for what they all agreed was a criminal offense, according to several people familiar with the dynamic.

    The men influencing Trump include Roger J. Stone, a self-proclaimed dirty trickster and longtime Trump confidant who himself has been linked to the FBI’s Russia investigation; former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, a Comey critic who has been known to kibbitz about the ousted FBI director with like-minded law enforcement figures; and Keith Schiller, a former New York police officer who functioned as Trump’s chief bodyguard and works in the West Wing as director of Oval Office operations…

    Reply
  32. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 9:04 am

    Today is Eat What You Want Day :)

    Reply
  33. rikyrah says:
    May 11, 2017 at 9:00 am

    Good Morning, Everyone 😐😐😐

    Reply

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