Tuesday Open Thread

Posted on February 13, 2018 by rikyrah

Jane Matilda Bolin LL.B. (April 11, 1908 – January 8, 2007) was the first black woman to graduate from Yale Law School, the first to join the New York City Bar Association, and the first to join the New York City Law Department. She became the first black woman to serve as a judge in the United States when she was sworn into the bench of the New York City Domestic Relations Court in 1939.

Jane Matilda Bolin was born on April 11, 1908 in Poughkeepsie, New York. She was the youngest of four children. Her father was Gaius C. Bolin, a lawyer and the first black person to attend Williams College, and her mother was a white, British woman named Matilda Ingram Emery who died when Bolin was 8 years old. Jane Bolin adored her father and she always knew she wanted to be a lawyer as her father but her childhood was completely destroyed when she saw all the horrible articles and pictures of the extrajudicial hanging of black southerners she saw in The Crisis, the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Bolin grew up as an active member of Smith Metropolitan AME Zion Church. Bolin attended a high school in Poughkeepsie and was one of two black students in her class at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Most of the white students ignored her and she lived off campus with the other black students. A careers adviser at Wellesley College tried to discourage her from applying to Yale Law School due to her race and gender. She graduated in 1928 in the top 20 in her class, and enrolled at Yale Law School where she was the only black student, and one of only three women.[1] She became the first black woman to receive a law degree from Yale in 1931 and passed the New York state bar examination in 1932.

She practiced with her father in Poughkeepsie for a short period, and then with her first husband, Ralph E. Mizelle. She ran unsuccessfully for the New York State Assembly as the Republican candidate in the seventeenth district in 1936. She then joined New York City’s legal department, serving as Assistant Corporation Counsel. The mayor of New York City, Fiorello La Guardia, appointed 31-year-old Bolin as a judge of the Domestic Relations Court on July 22, 1939, at the New York World’s Fair.[2] She remained a judge of the court, renamed the Family Court in 1962, for 40 years, with her appointment being renewed three times, until she was required to retire aged 70.[3] She worked to encourage racially integrated child services, ensuring that probation officers were assigned without regard to race or religion, and publicly funded childcare agencies accepted children without regard to ethnic background.



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52 Responses to Tuesday Open Thread

  1. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 10:15 pm

    Vornado will sell its stake in Kushner Companies’ 666 Fifth Avenue
    The company does not intend to keep its stake in the building for too much longer
    Kushner Companies bought the building back in 2006 for a record-breaking $1.8 billion but has yet to begin repaying its half of the $1.2 billion mortgage. Attempts to secure investors, including Chinese firm Anbang, have not worked out well and it would take a $4 billion construction loan to transform the site into condos. In order for this to prove profitable, sales would have to go for the unlikely price of $9,000 per square foot.

    Meanwhile, the full amount of Kushner Companies’ $1.2 billion mortgage is due by February 2019.

    Reply
  7. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 10:06 pm

    THE EVER LOVING PHUCK!!!!!!

    Sponsor An Immigrant Yourself
    No, really: A new kind of visa would let individual Americans—instead of corporations—reap the economic benefits of migration.
    By ERIC POSNER and GLEN WEYL
    February 13, 2018

    The raw emotions generated by immigration policy—provoked by heartrending stories of families torn apart by deportation, or citizens murdered by illegal immigrants—have scrambled political allegiances and confused public debate. Republicans, usually the champions of family values and small government, now want to restrict family reunification and give bureaucrats the power to screen people who want to enter the country. Democrats, traditionally the allies of the working class, want big business to select immigrants and have given scant attention to the legitimate interests of working-class natives.

    The only way to end this politically charged debate is to think carefully about benefits and costs as well as politics and perceptions. We need a new immigration system that offers liberal admission policies but targets its benefits to native workers rather than corporations.

    ……………………………

    So, immigration expands the economic pie but gives too meager a slice to ordinary people. The goal must be to retain, and in fact expand, immigration while ensuring that its benefits are distributed fairly. The current system does the opposite: channeling the benefits of migration to immigrants and domestic elites. Right now, special classes of citizens—mostly corporations (and in practice, big corporations) and family members—can sponsor temporary or permanent migrants, benefiting shareholders mainly, as well as ethnic enclaves.

    This system should be wiped away and replaced with a system of citizenship sponsorship for immigrants that we call a Visas Between Individuals Program. Under this new system, all citizens would have the right to sponsor a migrant for economic purposes.

    Reply
  9. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 10:00 pm

    LarryO says that up to
    FORTY
    FORTY
    FORTY
    FORTY
    people working in the White House DON’T HAVE AN ADEQUATE SECURITY CLEARANCE FOR THEIR JOB?

    DA PHUQ?!?!?!?!?

    Reply
  13. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    February 13, 2018 at 5:14 pm

    From Wikipedia

    “The New York Renaissance, also known as the Renaissance Big Five and as the Rens, was an all-black professional basketball team established February 13, 1923, by Robert “Bob” Douglas in agreement with the Renaissance Casino and Ballroom. The Casino and Ballroom at 138th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem was an entertainment complex including a ballroom that served as the Big Five’s home court. Following each game, a dance took place.”

    https://youtu.be/cMiubvy4F5Q&rel=0

    “On the Shoulders of Giants Film Trailer”
    https://youtu.be/tGv5D-ZW4p0&rel=0

    Reply
  14. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    February 13, 2018 at 4:59 pm

    “America the Trumped: 10 ways the administration attacked civil rights in year one”
    https://www.splcenter.org/20180119/america-trumped-10-ways-administration-attacked-civil-rights-year-one
    Excerpt:

    Here are 10 ways that he, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other administration officials have undermined protections for the most vulnerable people in America:

    Promoting a white nationalist agenda
    Slashing civil rights enforcement
    Revving up the deportation machine
    Banning Muslims
    Attacking voting rights
    Shredding LGBT protections
    Encouraging police abuses
    Reviving debtors’ prisons
    Undermining public education
    Eroding the rights of students with disabilities

    (In the article, each of the above is presented as a link that you can click on for further information.)

    Reply
  15. Ametia says:
    February 13, 2018 at 3:37 pm

    Kelly needs to come clean
    By Jennifer Rubin

    FBI Director Christopher A. Wray on Tuesday contradicted the White House’s account of when the bureau informed officials about the status of a senior aide’s security-clearance investigation.
    White House officials said that they were first contacted in the summer by the FBI about senior aide Rob Porter’s clearance. They also said that the investigation was never completed and that they did not know the extent of the allegations against Porter. He stepped down last week after accusations of spousal abuse by his two ex-wives.

    But Wray, testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the FBI submitted a partial report on his clearance in March and that the investigation was completed in July.
    In other words, it looks like the cover story the White House has concocted is false.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2018/02/13/kelly-needs-to-come-clean/?utm_term=.6434e1cd8e6a

    Reply
  16. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 3:30 pm

    The 22 agencies and programs Trump’s budget would eliminate

    1. The McGovern-Dole International Food for Education, which donates agricultural commodities and financial assistance to carry out school feeding programs in foreign countries.

    2. The Rural Business and Cooperative Service, which provides loans, grants and payments intended to increase opportunities in rural communities.

    3. The Economic Development Administration, which provides federal grants to communities in support of locally-developed economic plans.

    4. The Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which subsidizes advisory and consulting services for small and medium-size manufacturers.

    5. 21st Century Community Learning Centers, which helps communities establish or expand centers to provide before- and after-school programs and summer school programs.

    6. Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, an Education Department program that provides grants to support college preparation for low-income students.

    7. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which researches ways to enhance the effectiveness of health services.

    8. The Advanced Research Projects Agency, which provides support for Energy Department projects.

    9. The National Wildlife Refuge Fund, which compensates communities for lost tax revenue when the federal government acquires their land.

    10. The Global Climate Change Initiative, a proposal that reflects Trump’s decision last year to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.

    11. The NASA Office of Education, which provides grants to colleges and universities, museums and science centers. The funding would be redirected within NASA.

    12. The Chemical Safety Board, which is tasked with investigating accidents at chemical facilities.

    13. The Corporation for National and Community Service, which funds service opportunities, promotes volunteering and helps nonprofit organizations find volunteers.

    14. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds public television and radio stations including Public Broadcasting Service and NPR.

    15. The Institute of Museum and Library Services, which funds museums and libraries nationwide with grants.

    16. The Legal Services Corporation, a nonprofit that provides civil legal assistance for low-income individuals.

    17. The National Endowment for the Arts, which funds American artists and projects with grants.

    18. The National Endowment for the Humanities, which provides grants to American humanities scholars.

    19. The Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, which funds community development projects nationwide.

    20. The Denali Commission, the Delta Regional Authority and the Northern Border Regional Commission, which fund infrastructure and economic projects in specified areas.

    21. The U.S. Trade and Development Agency, which provides U.S. goods and services for foreign projects.

    22. The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a think tank focused on international affairs and foreign policy.

    http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/373441-the-federal-programs-trump-proposes-cutting-in-2019-budget

    Reply
  17. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 3:27 pm

    We’re at the point in the Porter news cycle where the WH could actually use a Mueller indictment or two to change the subject.— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) February 13, 2018

    Reply
  18. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 3:14 pm

    BOOM: @AGSchneiderman just won a preliminary injunction in federal court, blocking Trump’s discriminatory attempt to end DACA. pic.twitter.com/MR10DIX8DX— Eric Soufer (@EricSoufer) February 13, 2018

    Reply
  20. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 12:33 pm

    And the White House gets caught in another whopper.

    Christopher Wray testified that the FBI investigation of Rob Porter was completed way back in July.

    Meaning that they knew…
    in
    JULY
    AUGUST
    SEPTEMBER
    OCTOBER
    NOVEMBER
    DECEMBER
    JANUARY
    annnnndddd
    FEBRUARY

    Meaning, of course, that Kelly LIED.

    Reply
  21. Ametia says:
    February 13, 2018 at 11:35 am

    Making those rounds on the morning shows this week…

    Reply
  25. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 10:24 am

    Uh huh

    The folks at Axios say that this is Trump’s plan for the midterms:

    Here’s Trump’s real plan for ’18:

    A source close to the White House tells me that with an eye to getting Republicans excited about voting for Republicans in midterms, the president this year will be looking for “unexpected cultural flashpoints” — like the NFL and kneeling — that he can latch onto in person and on Twitter.

    The source said Trump “is going to be looking for opportunities to stir up the base, more than focusing on any particular legislation or issue.”

    Reply
  26. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 10:21 am

    Trump Takes Shackles Off of ICE Which Is Slapping Them on Immigrants Who Thought They Were Safe
    ……………………………

    A week after he won the election, President Trump promised that his administration would round up millions of immigrant gang members and drug dealers. And after he took office, arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers surged 40 percent…

    …as ICE officers get wider latitude to determine whom they detain, the biggest jump in arrests has been of immigrants with no criminal convictions. The agency made 37,734 “noncriminal” arrests in the government’s 2017 fiscal year, more than twice the number in the previous year.

    …………………..

    A Virginia mother was sent back to El Salvador in June after her 11 years in the United States unraveled because of a traffic stop. A Connecticut man with an American-born wife and children and no criminal record was deported to Guatemala last week. And an immigration activist in New York, Ravi Ragbir, was detained in January in a case that brought ICE a scathing rebuke from a federal judge.

    Reply
  27. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 10:15 am

    Americans kept in dark about Russian intel chiefs’ visit to US

    Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, talks with Rachel Maddow about the unusual visit of all three Russian intelligence chiefs to the United States and the fact that U.S. officials have said less about the visit than Russians.

    Reply
  28. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 10:14 am

    Americans again made to learn from Russia about Trump Putin call

    Rachel Maddow reviews what now makes at least eight times that Americans have learned about Donald Trump interacting with Russian officials from Russian media instead of the White House.

    Reply
  29. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 10:12 am

    Hmmph

    Corker weighs his options as GOP frets about losing Tennessee
    The two-term senator is being urged to reconsider his retirement amid concerns Republicans could lose his seat in November.

    By BURGESS EVERETT 02/12/2018 06:30 PM EST

    Retiring Sen. Bob Corker is “listening” to Republicans urging him to run for reelection, according to a person close to him, a development that would quell anxiety among Republicans over losing a must-win seat to Democrats this fall.

    The two-term Tennessee GOP senator decided to call it quits in September amid an on-again, off-again dispute with President Donald Trump that has eroded his standing with the party’s base. But now a faction of Republicans in Tennessee and Washington are worried that the favorite for the Republican Senate nomination, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), could lose the general election — and with it the Senate majority.

    They want Corker to get back in to hold the seat and preserve waning foreign policy experience in the GOP. And there are signs that he is open to it, despite the steep climb a Republican primary might entail.

    “While Corker is listening to the concerns that have been raised, he hasn’t made any commitments,” said the person close to Corker. Corker himself said on Monday he had no comment on the race.

    Reply
  30. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 10:09 am

    UH HUH
    UH HUH

    Trump takes aim at blue states in infrastructure plan
    Some major transit projects are left fighting for scraps.

    By DANA RUBINSTEIN and RYAN HUTCHINS 02/12/2018 06:46 PM EST

    Major transportation projects in blue states may be in jeopardy in President Donald Trump’s 10-year infrastructure plan, which critics say favors little-populated rural areas to the detriment of urban America.

    The White House isn’t being coy about where its priorities lie in the $1.5 trillion proposal, released Monday: Of the $200 billion in actual federal investment called for in the 10-year plan, one-quarter would go to rural areas for purposes as diverse as sewers, highways, airports and broadband. But only 14 percent of people in the U.S. live in non-metropolitan areas.

    That leaves major transit projects — ranging from a long-planned rail tunnel linking New York and New Jersey to a nascent passenger rail system in California — fighting for the remaining money, $20 billion of which is dedicated to lightly defined “transformative” proposals that will “lift the American spirit.”

    “That’s a very clear message that urban America is not of very much consequence, and, ironically, it’s urban America that needs most of the infrastructure money,” said Martin Robins, the founding director of Rutgers University’s Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center in New Jersey.

    Reply
  31. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 10:07 am

    Tee hee hee

    Couldn’t happen to a better bunch of snakes.

    GOP congressman pulls Issa into ugly divorce
    Rep. Mike Turner is seeking to depose his colleague in the messy situation.

    By JOHN BRESNAHAN, JAKE SHERMAN and RACHAEL BADE
    02/12/2018 07:00 PM EST

    Rep. Darrell Issa was a groomsman in Rep. Mike Turner’s wedding to Majida Mourad in December 2015. Now, Turner is locked in a contentious divorce with Mourad — and he wants Issa deposed by his attorneys.

    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/12/issa-deposition-sought-in-turner-divorce-case-405990

    Reply
  32. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 10:06 am

    The pure EVIL with this group NEVER STOPS.

    Trump pitches plan to replace food stamps with food boxes
    By HELENA BOTTEMILLER EVICH
    02/12/2018 09:32 PM EST

    The Trump administration is proposing to save billions in the coming years by giving low-income families a box of government-picked, nonperishable foods every month instead of food stamps.

    White House OMB Director Mick Mulvaney on Monday hailed the idea as one that kept up with the modern era, calling it a “Blue Apron-type program” — a nod to the high-end meal kit delivery company that had one of the worst stock debuts in 2017 and has struggled to hold onto customers. Mulvaney said the administration’s plan would not only save the government money, but also provide people with more nutritious food than they have now.

    The proposal, buried in the White House’s fiscal 2019 budget, would replace about half of the money most families receive via the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, with what the Department of Agriculture is calling “America’s Harvest Box.” That package would be made up of “100 percent U.S. grown and produced food” and would include items like shelf-stable milk, peanut butter, canned fruits and meats, and cereal.

    But America’s Harvest Box, which USDA contends would save over $129 billion over 10 years, is not very comparable to startup meal-delivery companies like Blue Apron. For one, the Trump administration’s proposal doesn’t include fresh items, like produce or meat, which are the core of Blue Apron and its competitors. Such products perish quickly and are incredibly expensive to ship.

    Reply
  33. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 9:58 am

    Watch this space: The revenge of people of color and #MeToo

    While Kellyanne Conway, our latter day Goebbels, was on the TV box this weekend flapping her gums about how much Trump loves women (I bet he does), a poll from The Washington Post and ABC painted a different picture. According to political maven Ron Brownstein (whom L.A. gave to the country):

    In the Rustbelt states that decided 2016, Trump has slipped into a much more precarious position with these women: Gallup put his 2017 approval with them at 45 percent in Pennsylvania, 42 percent in Michigan, and 39 percent or less in Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Compared to his 2016 vote, his 2017 approval among blue-collar white women in the Rustbelt represented some of his largest declines anywhere — 18 percentage points in Ohio and 19 in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

    ………………………..

    If the GOP loses even a few percentage points of support among white women, it is done as a political force. As the GOP has become more misogynistic, women who vote for it but are otherwise not in thrall to a male-dominated system are beginning to realize that they derive no benefit from their fealty to the party. The long-awaited joining of the various sisterhoods may be happening. The supreme irony will be that this all began with the accusations against Harvey Weinstein, mega-donor to the Democratic Party. Democrats immediately and vociferously condemned him. The response from Republicans to their own malefactors has been noticeably different, and women are noticing.

    That’s one leg of the revenge against Trump. The other is, obviously, people of color, specifically African Americans, specifically African American women. Doug Jones would not be in the Senate without them. They have established themselves, in spite of what your average Bernie Bro would posit, as the very backbone of the Democratic Party. If it seems as if they are voting as if their lives depend on it, it’s because they are. This new dynamic bodes well for states like Texas, where millions of African Americans and Latinos who are eligible to vote aren’t registered to do so. The task of the Democratic Party is to get those people registered and committed to vote.

    Reply
  34. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 9:54 am

    Trump White House failing to secure proper security clearances

    Chris Lu, who ran the 2008 Obama presidential transition, talks with Rachel Maddow about how a normal presidential transition handles necessary security clearances ahead of taking office.

    Reply
  35. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 9:53 am

    Trump pitched real estate project to Georgian prime minister during White House meeting
    13 FEB 2018

    President Donald Trump reportedly used a White House meeting with the prime minister of Georgia last year to talk about a long-stalled real estate project in the former Soviet satellite state.

    Two former Trump business partners tell Forbes that Trump brought up plans to build a Trump Tower in Georgia during his meeting with Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili last May.

    Reply
  36. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 9:38 am

    Trump camp ties to Russia a transition quandary for Obama team

    Rachel Maddow shows how a newly released e-mail from Susan Rice illuminates the challenge for Obama officials trying to decide how to communicate with Trump officials they knew were under investigation.

    Reply
  37. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 9:11 am

    @kylegriffin1
    14m14 minutes ago
    More
    Blake Farenthold, who spent $84,000 in taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit by a former female aide, said he would immediately repay the money to the Treasury Department.

    Reply
  38. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 6:50 am

    Thank you for highlighting this American She-ro

    Reply
  39. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 6:49 am

    Countdown Clock:
    Three Days Until WAKANDA 😎😎🙆🙌👏

    Reply
  40. rikyrah says:
    February 13, 2018 at 6:49 am

    Good Morning Everyone 😄😄😄

    Reply

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