Monday Open Thread: The Lost Kingdom of Ethiopia

January 14, 2013 by Sepia 153 Comments

GOOD MONDAY MORNING P.O.U.!

This week, we’ll take a look at BBC’s series The Lost Kingdoms of Africa: Ethiopia.

Part I:

Filed Under: African Americans, Arts and Culture, History, Open Thread, Politics Tagged With: African History, Ancient Africa, Ancient African Civilizations, BBC, Black History, Dr Gus Casely-Hayford, Ethiopia, The Lost Kingdoms of Africa

AxelFoley

Ooooh, this is gonna be a great series. Right up my alley.
- GreenLadyHere
  
  GOOD MONDAY MORNTIN’ AxelFoley. ***BIG HUG*** :>)
  
  — – -***BIG fist bump** – - -Woo! Hoo! – –WHAT a GR8 WEEK of African/Black HISTORY!! – - which is missin’ from my knowledge bank. :>)
  
  -Soooo lookin’ FORWARD – - –>:>)
  
  Good 2 C U AxelFoley. :>)
rikyrah

Good Morning, Everyone
rikyrah

Cracks in the wall on opposition to gun safety

By Steve Benen
Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:33 AM EST

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) appeared on “Fox News Sunday” yesterday and was asked about gun policy. The Republican senator has boasted of her “A” rating from the National Rifle Association, so it was easy to assume that Ayotte would simply reject any and all changes to the status quo.

But the New Hampshire senator, at least at a superficial level, suggested she has an open mind in some areas of the larger policy debate.

…………………………….

Though that’s hardly an iron-clad commitment, in this environment, “willing to listen” is a major step away from “no.”

Indeed, it hasn’t generated much attention, but a variety of cracks have quietly appeared in the GOP’s wall of opposition to any restrictions on firearm ownership. On Friday, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) reiterated his opposition to an assault weapons ban, but said he’s open to an expanded FBI database to prevent illegal gun sales and possible limits on high-capacity magazines.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/01/14/16505247-cracks-in-the-wall-on-opposition-to-gun-safety?lite
- conlakappa
  
  Less of an open mind than an empty head. She comes off, er, not particularly bright.
  - Admiral_Komack
    
    I don’t care what they say…watch what they do.
rikyrah

January 13, 2013 3:26 PM
The Hagel Wars

By Adele Stan

When President Barack Obama began floating the name of Republican Chuck Hagel, the former U.S. senator from Nebraska, to replace Leon Panetta as secretary of defense, the Washington punditocracy scratched its collective head, asking why would Obama pick a fight with Republicans over SecDef, when he had more important fights looming over the sequester and the debt ceiling?

But, really, isn’t that just the point of the Hagel nomination?

In nominating the iconoclastic Republican, loathed as he is by the Republican right and the Iraq-warmongers known as neocons, Obama guaranteed an unseemly drama that will unfold before the American people, just as machinations get underway on the nation’s fiscal future.

Republicans will be seen attacking one of their own, one whose name was put forward by the president, bless his soul, as a gesture of bipartisanship. And the beauty of it is that Hagel is a war hero, wounded in Viet Nam, who still has shrapnel in his chest from an attack that earned him one of his two purple hearts.

The Hagel wars increased in intensity today on the Sunday morning talk shows, where former Secretary of State Colin Powell issued a spirited defense of the Nebraskan on NBC’s Meet the Press, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., himself a former prisoner of war, took to the airwaves of CBS, to argue against his former Senate colleague on Face the Nation.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_01/the_hagel_wars_1042370.php
rikyrah

Downton Abbey Fans…..

My poor Edith

My poor Edith

And Carson so loves Ms. Hughes.
- itgurl_29
  
  Edith can’t ever win. I’m really worried about her.
http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia

MEDIA ALERT! PBO will hold his last press conference of his first term today at 11:15am EST, 11:45am CPT
- conlakappa
  
  CPT? Did you really?! /cheesy grin
  - JojoRaze
    
    But on the real, PBO never starts these things on time! LOL but I understand stuff happens and changes.
rikyrah

With coin gambit off the table, GOP faces stark choice
By Steve Benen

Mon Jan 14, 2013 9:15 AM EST

Over the weekend, the Treasury Department officially took the $1 trillion platinum coin idea off the table. It was a fun thought experiment, and I continue to believe it was a public debate worth having, but when it comes to resolving the Republicans’ looming debt-ceiling crisis, it’s apparently time to move on from the coin gambit.

Now, there are a few other exotic schemes out there, but all available evidence suggests there will be no workaround. As White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters on Thursday, “[T]here is no plan B. There is no backup plan. There is Congress’s responsibility to pay the bills of the United States.”

In other words, either congressional Republicans do their duty and meet their obligations or they don’t. Those are the options.

………………………

1. Obama disarmed a month before a critical standoff: By ruling out the escape hatch, President Obama and his administration have shifted the leverage in the GOP’s favor. Even if the White House never intended to actually mint the coin, leaving open that possibility made Republicans nervous, and told GOP leaders that the president had the option of acting unilaterally if they pushed the fight too far. Now, that’s no longer possible, and the result is more power in Republican hands.

2. Obama has ratcheted up the pressure on the GOP: By rejecting the coin stunt early on, the president has actually strengthened the White House’s negotiating position. The coin idea wasn’t Obama’s escape hatch; it was the Republicans’ — it meant they could screw around endlessly, knowing that, when push came to shove, Obama would act and save the nation from default without Congress having to be responsible in the slightest.

Since these two contradict each other, they can’t both be right. And though I was initially inclined to believe the former over the latter, I’m beginning to change my mind.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/01/14/16505613-with-coin-gambit-off-the-table-gop-faces-stark-choice?lite
GreenLadyHere

- -GOOD MONDAY MORNTIN’ Sepia/POU FAM♥. – - – -***BIG HUG*** ; LOOKIN’ FORWARD – –> 2 a BUSY DAY annnnd WEEK. – -MEETIN’ ALL DAY –including’ – VP Biden MEETIN’ with DEMS on GUN CONTROL — EXCITIN’-INAUGURATION REHEARSALS. :>) Also: – - -THANK U 4 THIS SERIES Sepia. :>) – - -

—-☻ -Afterward, Biden and President Obama will meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office, and later, the president will participate in a credentialing ceremony with ambassadors from Poland, Japan, Zambia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Paraguay, Tuvalu, Maldives and the United Mexican States.

— -☻ –Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with members of the House of Representatives on Monday to discuss ways to curb gun violence. He will be joined by Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.

– - ☻ -Raw: Dress rehearsal for second Obama inauguration -
—– –Inauguration organizers held a practice parade in Washington to prepare for the Jan. 21 public swearing-in of President Obama. (Jan. 13).
—The “STAND-INS” – - -musta been Sooo EXCITED. :>) – –

—-☻ –LOOKIN’ FORWARD —> 2 this INSPIRIN’ SERIES –Sepia. Thank U. :>)

– — ENJOY YOUR ENERGY DRANK! :>) —

– —- — B BLESSED 2-DAY. :>) – -
- nellcote
  
  the United Mexican States=Mexico?
  
  I don’t think I’ve ever heard it expressed that way.
  - GreenLadyHere
    
    nellcote – - –Me either. – - -BUT – –teh google did. LOL – -
    
    — -United Mexican States (1824–1864) – –
    
    Thanks 4 brangin’ this up. :>)
GreenLadyHere

MEDIA ALERT: – - -MR. PRESIDENT WILL HOLD A PRESSER @ 11:30 am –EST – -
rikyrah

because of the free weekend from Showtime and Encore, I got to finally see ‘ TOO BIG TO FAIL.’

I would want everyone to watch it, and then tell me that this President didn’t save the GLOBAL ECONOMY.

PERIOD.
- Admiral_Komack
  
  Damn good movie.
  - Miranda
    
    All of the actors playing the CEO heads were so spot on.
  - Miranda
    
    All of the actors playing the CEO heads were so spot on.
rikyrah

The Morning Plum: The debt ceiling is the GOP’s problem. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Posted by Greg Sargent on January 14, 2013 at 9:10 am

Over the weekend, the White House took the “platinum coin” off the table, effectively removing the last remaining escape hatch to avoid default without Congressional approval. The White House hopes this will increase pressure on Republicans by depriving them of the option of holding out for more spending cuts and daring Obama to take unilateral action. The idea is that this will leave the GOP with a stark choice between reaching a balanced deal and being seen as willing to destroy the economy to get its way.

Today we have the GOP response. Via Politico, GOP leaders are leaking word that their Tea Party members really are serious — really, they are! — about going into default if necessary, to force the White House to cut spending once and for all:

Republican leadership officials, in a series of private meetings and conversations this past week, warned that the White House, much less the broader public, doesn’t understand how hard it will be to talk restive conservatives off the fiscal ledge. To the vast majority of House Republicans, it is far riskier long term to pile up new debt than it is to test the market and economic reaction of default or closing down the government.

GOP officials said more than half of their members are prepared to allow default unless Obama agrees to dramatic cuts he has repeatedly said he opposes. Many more members, including some party leaders, are prepared to shut down the government to make their point.

Yeah, okay. The game here is: “Hey, we can’t control our crazies!!! Better give us what we want before they destroy us all!!!”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/01/14/the-morning-plum-the-debt-ceiling-is-the-gops-problem-lather-rinse-repeat/
- conlakappa
  
  It’s all just drama for its own sake. Just like last time, their corporate paymasters/puppet masters will rein them in. But they get to be all chesty in front of their nutbar constituents. It’s completely cynical at this point.
GreenLadyHere

Sepia – –Di-ent watch the -Golden Globe Awards —BUT – - -

– –Nerdy Wonka ‏@NerdyWonka
Shorter Bill Clinton: “You all know I just came here to line up donors for Hillary 2016 right?” #GoldenGlobes – -

- -WE KNOW that it’s da – -TRUTH! LOL – - –BUT –I still have my doubts. :>)
- Admiral_Komack
  
  Didn’t watch it and I’m not donating.
  - GreenLadyHere
    
    Good MornTin’ Admiral. ***BIG HUG*** :>)
    
    – –***fist bump*** — – -Also as I watched “clips” —”WHYCOME” – –I NEEDED THESE??- -
    ——–Good 2 C U —-Admiral. :>)—
- Ce552001
  
  LOL!
  
  Next stop, the windshield washers annual convention where he’ll accept the award for something. Anything.
  
  It’s embarrassing. Seriously.
  - GreenLadyHere
    
    Ce552001 [BUT ---WE KNOW! LOL] – - – -
    
    – –LOL – - -Obviously – –AIN’T NO SHAME in THEY –”GAME”!! – - -geesh!! – –
- AxelFoley
  
  The Clintons all over the place now. And it’s funny how Everybody Loves Hillary.
  
  We called it, though.
  - GreenLadyHere
    
    AxelFoley – —-***fist bump*** ABSOLUTELY!! – - -:>) – -
    
    She betta tell here “CALCULATOR CREW/MINIONS” — da TRUTH!! — –
    
    Annnd WE STILL ‘MEMBER – — SHE di-ent STAND up 4 – –DR. SUSAN RICE!!
    
    – — —Annnd – - - “Ain’t I [SHE] -a Woman” ?
    
    Good 2 C U AxelFoley. :>)
GreenLadyHere

Sepia – - -MORE –EVIDENCE — Da nra – INSENSITIVE!- -DISGUSTING! —Pieces of – -EXCREMENT!! – –

FIRST: – — – -Lisa Sincock John Sullivan
How are NRA members supposed to use the app with their knuckles dragging along the ground? (John)

– — One Month After Newtown Shooting, NRA Releases Shooting Game App With Coffin-Shaped Targets – -

- –When 20 children and 6 adults were gunned down in Sandy Hook Elementary School exactly one month ago today, the National Rifle Association rushed to blame video games, not guns, for inspiring such mass murders. But the gun lobby seemingly lost sight of its target in the past weeks, and over the weekend released a shooting app, called “NRA: Practice Range.”

The app bills itself as a “network of news, laws, facts, knowledge, safety tips, educational materials and online resource.” The NRA reports that it “[i]nstills safe and responsible ownership through fun challenges and realistic simulations.”

But it isn’t all about hunting. It allows players practice shooting at targets — coffin-shaped targets, with red bullseyes at head- and heart-level:
– - – -SNIP – –

– — –NOTE: –The gun industry itself has ties to video game producers: Gun manufacturers sign contracts allowing gaming companies to use firearm brand names in video games as a method of product promotion.

– –I jus’ cain’t – —–THEY R –BELOW DISGUSTING!!! – - -
Miranda

SMH…this is not The Onion

Tea Party Fringe Group Develops ‘III Citadel’ – An Exclusive Gated Community With Its Own Arms Factory

Now that the fringe of the Tea Party, preppers and others like them have realized that secession isn’t in the cards, they’re turning to plan B. This alternative plan is not as cool as an entire state, but it certainly sounds like every little boy’s dream. It’s a neighborhood that will be surrounded by walls to keep out liberals and the like. It will be set up as its own neighborhood. But this is no Mr. Rogers neighborhood.

The III Citadel will be built on a 20-acre piece of land that’s located in Benewah County, Idaho. An artist’s rendering shows the scale and depth of the plans for the extreme Tea Party patriot Shangri-La. There are three planned residential areas, schools, green space, and even a (firearms) museum. There’s a town square, a farmer’s market, and an amphitheater. The plan boasts an arms factory so you won’t have to leave the secure and assuredly tightly-controlled lifestyle afforded by the “gated” community. The community will be surrounded by several towers and a curtain wall. There will also be a series of three walls so as to protect you from invading government agents.

more here
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/01/13/tea-party-fringe-group-develops-iii-citadel-an-exclusive-gated-community-with-its-own-arms-factory/
- http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia
  
  What kind of Jim Jones shadiggedy is this??
  - rikyrah
    
    This will not end well.
    - AxelFoley
      
      Waco 2: Electric Boogaloo?
      - http://oldhollywood.net/ woody45
        
        Must be a sad existernce to wake up and be scared of everyone and everything 24/7.
- Kennymack1971
  
  Insane. Nothing else to add.
- TyrenM
  
  Idaho, home of Aryan Nation, Ruby Ridge and now TP. Ugh.
- nellcote
  
  Is there enough Teabagger money to support both this one in Idaho and GlenBeckybeckystan in Texas?
http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia

So this came across the POU Twitter timeline last night…

Nakia ‏@KiaJD
I think SOME of yall’s hate for Girls is grounded in bitterness + misunderstanding stemming from not knowing any white ppl for real.

*blank stare*

No, boo. I think the “hate” for Girls comes from the show’s pretending Black and Latino people don’t exist in Brooklyn (where the show takes place) unless they’re maids or nannies http://www.racialicious.com/2012/04/19/dear-lena-dunham-i-exist/, as well as the racism of one of the show’s writers: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2012/04/girls-writer-learning-theres-no-such-thing-ironic-racism/51338/ and Lena Dunham herself: http://www.racialicious.com/2012/08/14/lena-dunham-gets-it-wrong-again/

Like I said before, women of color better stop trying to fight Miss Ann’s battles. She’ll treat you like Missy Anne Reynolds treated Kizzy in Roots.
- JojoRaze
  
  You speak for me Sepia. The thing that bothers me about girls is that this show isn’t pretending to be a niche show like Portlandia, but is saying it reps for this generations women. OK, then, so why are all the main characters white in a city that’s majority minority? Miss me with that.
  - Ebogan63
    
    Thing about Portlandia, we have come in contact with folks that the show makes fun of. Shows like ‘Friends’ and Girls in a multi cultural, multiracial city like NYC are straight up bullshite.
- PBomb
  
  Huh? What the hell is this bish talking about?
  
  We know everything we need to know about white women. White women’s lives are shoved in our face daily. We know more about white women than we do about ourselves at times and that has been going on since the inception of this country.
- Town
  
  I have never seen GIRLS b/c I don’t have HBO and I also have no interest.
  
  I have no interest b/c Lena Dunham looks like an insulated hipster who’s too cool for school, who thinks she’s Carrie Bradshaw 2013, just hip and ironic and doesn’t know jack shiggidy but gets accolades for being “witty” and “knowing.” Blech.
  - Admiral_Komack
    
    I have HBO and I have no interest.
  - JojoRaze
    
    Co-sign-I have no HBO and no interest. I’m just low-key upset as a ny’er that this show, like Friends is becoming enshrined as reping all millenial-aged women when the stars look nothing like brown and black America. I’ve watched all-white female ensemble case shows, notably golden girls and Designing Women. i wasn’t offended by them b/c while the cast was all white, they didn’t pretend to be a representative of all women and say you have to watch them to understand the modern woman. They were funny and universal, though,b/c everyone has someonein their life like Julia sugerbaker and Sophia Petrillo. Also, they were black shows to counter them, too like Cosby Show and Family Matters. Girls is trying to force its universality on people w/o doing the work that Lena dunham acknowledges she can’t and won’t do, claiming she doesn’t know how to write for black, or other poc women. OK, cool, then stop saying your stuff is representative of all millenial-aged women.
    - http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia
      
      THIS.
      
      It’s like how white women were claiming to speak for all women when they complained there aren’t enough women in PBO’s administration.
- AxelFoley
  
  Yet many of these same folks claim this White House lacks diversity all of a sudden. Irony abounds.
GreenLadyHere

Sepia – - – -FIRST: – – -THANK YOU – -MR. PRESIDENT -:>) – -

- – -NOW: –GM’s Cadillac ATS, Chrysler’s Ram 1500 Win Auto Awards— -

– - – -General Motors Co. (GM)’s compact Cadillac ATS won the North American Car of the Year award while Chrysler Group LLC’s Ram 1500 won the truck prize, giving a sweep to recipients of 2009 U.S.-financed reorganizations.

The luxury sports sedan beat out the Ford Motor Co. Fusion and the revamped Honda Motor Co. Accord, both midsize sedans, the Automotive Press Association announced today at the North American International Auto Show. Last year, Hyundai Motor Co. (005380)’s Elantra compact sedan topped Ford’s Focus and Volkswagen AG (VOW)’s Passat. (PSAT)

– - -The Ram 1500, a large pickup that can get 25 miles (40 kilometers) per gallon on the highway, was named truck/utility of the year, at the Detroit auto show. The Ram won over Ford (F)’s C-Max hybrid, which Ford categorizes as a car, and Mazda Motor Corp. (7261)’s CX-5 crossover sport-utility vehicle. Last year, the Range Rover Evoque, part of Tata Motors Ltd. (TTMT)’s Land Rover brand, won the honor. Chrysler is majority owned by Fiat SpA. (F)
THERE IS MORE.

THANK U 4 BELIEVIN’ IN annnd BAILIN’ OUT the AUTO INDUSTRY.!! – -

- — ->i>What’s dat twitt? — “LET DETROIT GO BANKRUPT.”? -HAH! -LOSER!! – –
- nellcote
  
  Wow. When was the last time a new cadillac won a prize for anything?
  - AxelFoley
    
    Pimp Ride of the Year 1974?
  - GreenLadyHere
    
    HEEY nellcote. ***BIG HUG*** :>)
    
    – — –***I KNOW – -HUH?*** :>) – -
    
    – - -HOW ‘BOUT – - -THIS? – — LOL –
    
    – — -***runs away*** LOL – - -
    
    Good 2 C U nellcote. :>) – -
creolechild

Good morning POU!

Chicago Mayor Orders All City Pension Funds To Divest From Guns

On Monday, Chicago Mayor and former Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel announced that he has ordered all pension funds in the city of Chicago to divest their interests from gun manufacturers. Speaking at a gun violence prevention event at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Emanuel said that he hopes other mayors will follow suit: [....]

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/01/14/1442671/rahm-chicago-guns/?mobile=nc

H/T Annie-Rose Strasser
creolechild

Oooops…

Russians protest against anti-U.S. adoption law

At least 20,000 Russians marched through Moscow on Sunday to protest a Kremlin law banning US adoptions of Russian orphans in a move the opposition hopes will breathe some life into the faltering protest movement. The protest, dubbed the “March Against Scoundrels,” was aimed at naming and shaming lawmakers who fast-tracked the anti-adoption bill through the lower house of parliament, the State Duma.[....]

Moscow authorities had said no more than 20,000 people could participate in the protest and at least that number took part in the march amid a heavy police presence and temperatures of minus 12 degrees Celsius (seven degrees Fahrenheit), an AFP photographer said.[....]

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/13/russians-protest-against-anti-u-s-adoption-law/

H/T Agence France-Presse
creolechild

NEWSFLASH: Tucson Republican Joins Democrats – GOP ‘Is An Ideological Outlier’

The Arizona City Councilman who once held a gun buyback on the anniversary of the Tucson shootings, Steve Kozachik, is now leaving the party of gun nuts. Kozachik is turning in his Republican Party affiliation in favor of the Democrats. His reasoning? Just like liberals have been predicting, the right is too extreme for any reasonable person to associate with in its current state, and we can add Kozachik to the list of people who are abandoning it. He says that the Republican party is “being driven by a small, but vocal faction that has taken it far to the political right” in a Tucson Sentinel op-ed.[....]

Read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/01/14/newsflash-tucson-republican-joins-democrats-gop-is-an-ideological-outlier/

H/T Shannon Barber
creolechild

Chart of the Day: We’re Driving Less and Less and Less

Justin Horner points out today that, against all odds, Americans are continuing to drive less and less. Vehicle miles traveled per person plateaued in 2005 and then started declining dramatically in 2008. On average, Americans drove about 700 miles per year less in 2012 than they did in 2007. So will this trend keep up? Horner offers three possibilities:[....]

Read more: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/01/chart-day-were-driving-less-and-less-and-less

H/T Kevin Drum
creolechild

Chart of the Day: We’re Driving Less and Less and Less

Justin Horner points out today that, against all odds, Americans are continuing to drive less and less. Vehicle miles traveled per person plateaued in 2005 and then started declining dramatically in 2008. On average, Americans drove about 700 miles per year less in 2012 than they did in 2007. So will this trend keep up? Horner offers three possibilities:[....]

Read more: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/01/chart-day-were-driving-less-and-less-and-less

H/T Kevin Drum
creolechild

Chart of the Day: We’re Driving Less and Less and Less

Justin Horner points out today that, against all odds, Americans are continuing to drive less and less. Vehicle miles traveled per person plateaued in 2005 and then started declining dramatically in 2008. On average, Americans drove about 700 miles per year less in 2012 than they did in 2007. So will this trend keep up? Horner offers three possibilities:[....]

Read more: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/01/chart-day-were-driving-less-and-less-and-less

H/T Kevin Drum
creolechild

U.S. economy to grow 2.5 percent this year: Fed’s Evans

The U.S. economy is expected to grow by 2.5 percent in 2013, improving to 3.5 percent growth in 2014, top Fed official Charles Evans said on Monday. Evans also forecast the U.S. unemployment rate would be 7.4 percent this year, easing to about 7 percent in 2014.[....]

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision last year to tie monetary policy to specific economic conditions should help boost the recovery without letting inflation take hold, said Evans, a chief architect of the policy. It also provides additional accommodation by assuring markets that rates will remain low even after the economy perks up, he said.[....]

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/14/us-usa-fed-evans-idUSBRE90D01920130114

H/T Clement Tan
creolechild

The Surprising Root Of The United States’ Wasteful Health Care Spending

[....] Experts have long held that anywhere from 30 to 50 percent of America’s $2.7 trillion annual health care spending is wasteful, either due to ineffective treatments, excess medical tests, hospital re-admissions, and medical billing fraud. But there has been some debate over exactly how much each of these factors contributes to wasteful health expenditures.

On Thursday, the nonprofit group New England Health Institute (NEHI) held a round table in which they explored exactly that, and their findings are striking: of the seven biggest factors contributing to waste, the largest by far is patients not adhering to their medication regimens. NEHI estimates that a staggering 50 percent of the 187 million Americans taking prescription drugs every year do not take them properly: [....]

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/01/11/1432291/surprising-root-wasteful-spending-health-care/

H/T Sy Mukherjee
creolechild

MGM’s Sustainability Officer Cleans Up in Las Vegas

[....] Ortega started as MGM’s chief sustainability officer six years ago after pitching the idea to executives.[....] Her biggest mission was greening CityCenter, a massive Las Vegas hotel, retail, and condominium development that MGM owns in partnership with Dubai World, the investment arm of the Middle Eastern city’s government. The various buildings ultimately earned a gold LEED rating, the second-highest environmental certification on a widely used scale developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Over the past five years, MGM has reduced electricity use at its U.S. properties—excluding CityCenter, which is relatively new—by more than 10 percent, the equivalent of what tens of thousands of homes consume. Water use has fallen 12 percent over the same period, which on a cumulative basis would fill 2,900 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Ortega acknowledges that many of the sustainability efforts are invisible to the public. Many guests assume that there is no recycling, for example, because they see no blue bins, she says. In fact, Ortega says, the separation is done on the loading docks behind the hotels. The company says it recycles nearly 40 percent of its trash, or close to 35,000 tons annually.[....]

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-08/mgms-sustainability-officer-cleans-up-in-las-vegas

H/T Verne Kopytoff
GN

This is terrible. I’m no fan of Adam Green & Co., but this story is incredibly sad:

Aaron Swartz, co-founder of Reddit and online activist, hangs himself in Brooklyn apartment, authorities say

Internet whiz kid and Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz, facing trial in February in a controversial computer-hacking case, committed suicide in his Brooklyn bedroom, cops said Saturday.

Swartz, 26, left no note before his Friday morning death in the seventh-floor apartment at a luxury Sullivan Place building, police sources said.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/co-founder-reddit-hangs-brooklyn-apartment-article-1.1238852#ixzz2HxuOuA00

*********
The article went on to state that he battled depression; mental health issues are no joke.
- http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia
  
  It’s very sad. Mental health is no joke. It’s a subject that deserves serious discussion. Instead, EmoProgs/PLs are using Mr. Swartz’ death as a weapon against the government, insinuating that the government caused his suicide. *smh*
  - GN
    
    It’s a subject that deserves serious discussion. Instead, EmoProgs/PLs…
    
    I don’t even need to read past that to know that the usual people are behaving as usual. RIP and condolences to his loved ones. Only 26 years old.
  - Town
    
    Obama strung up Swartz up himself, didn’tcha know?
  - Tafr
    
    No surprise as they are nothing but vultures. They take advantage of the mentally ill or those who tend to be vulnerable and weak minded. Cindy Sheehan, Manning and Dan Choi come to mind even though I’m pretty sure Manning and Choi are just jerks but you get what I am saying.
  - JojoRaze
    
    This young guy was Adam Green’s 2nd who was dl all of Jstor’s stuff. He was doing it to prove a point but got caught up when the gov’t prolly under Jstor’s orders said, ‘no we are not playing with him. He was dl our stuff direct from the Mit servers so he should face the consequences.’ His mental health, however, couldn’t handling it. He made a choice and didn’t have the support to continue.
- morphus
  
  Very sad. I’m unable to determine whether he is a MIT student, if so, I recall reading that suicide rates at MIT are the highest in country.
  - creolechild
    
    Morphus, he was an MIT student. His parents blame the prosecutors and the school for his death.
GreenLadyHere

—-Sepia – –Da TRUTH – -MAKES 4 a GOOD READ – –

– - — Washington is ‘Broken’ Because Republicans Abandoned Any Pretense of Governing – -

–Of all the forms of government, aside from direct democracy, representative democracy is a fair form of governance, especially when considering the alternatives that have proven disastrous for humanity throughout world history. The Classical Greek philosopher Plato identified five types of what he called regimes that should encourage adherence to some type of democratic government for the sake of a nation’s people. There are still governments controlled by aristocracy, theocracy, oligarchy, and tyranny, but those countries’ populations certainly are not free in the sense Americans are, and it is one of the detriments on not living in a country with secular humanistic tendencies inherent in a civilized democratic society. There is a growing number of Americans so dissatisfied living in a civilized society governed by a representative democracy, that they have begun threatening civil war and a revolution to transform American governance into a combination of Plato’s four deleterious regimes. The latest violent threats notwithstanding, the civil war and revolution have been under way for four years next week in Washington D.C.

The reason Washington is unable to function as it did for 232 years is that Republicans decided, after Barack Obama won the Presidency in 2008, to revolt and abandon any pretense of governing in a representative democracy and unequivocally chose to rule. To garner the power necessary to rule by oligarchy and punish the American people for electing President Obama, they marshaled support from aristocrats, theocrats, and the unintelligent that have become an axis of evil to representative democracy. On Sunday, when Face The Nation host Bob Schieffer asked Republican John McCain why Republicans seem “to be against every single person” President Obama has nominated, because, he said, “it’s usually been the rule if the president is going to be in charge of the government, we have to give him the people he wants to run it,” McCain said it was because the President did not ask Republicans “what do you think about it.”

– - – -THIS – - -> McCain revealed in one statement that the GOP considers themselves the ruling party controlling the government regardless the results of the election, and in conjunction with their deliberate obstructionism, explains their every action over the past four years.
THERE IS MORE. – -

– RE-THUCKERS – –EVIL/VILE – -DELUSIONAL – -RACISTS!! – -
GreenLadyHere

Sepia – - GR8 BLESSING! – —:>) – –

—- Robin Roberts says she’s heading back to ‘Good Morning America’ – -

— – -Robin Roberts says her road to recovery will bring her back to the “Good Morning America” anchor desk soon.

Appearing from her home on “Good Morning America” on Monday, Roberts wore a broad smile as she announced that her most recent bone marrow test showed no sign of the life-threatening ailment that has kept her off the air for months.

This means she can begin the process of returning to the anchor chair.

She calls it “coming home” and says she hopes to be back on the air “in weeks, not months.”
THERE IS MORE.

– —SUCH GR8 NEWS!! – - – -BLESS U Ms. ROBIN.♥ – –PRAYERS WERK! – :>)
creolechild

I’m posting a commentary that was mentioned by someone here at POU. (Sorry that I can’t remember who it was, but I want to thank them in advance for calling my attention to this particular piece.) Jonathan Odell shares his perspectives about White Authors of Black Stories in the interview, which is appropriate given the theme of today’s thread: The Lost Kingdoms of Africa.

http://www.aaregistry.org/videos/view/white-authors-black-stories-critique-jonathan-odell

H/T African American Registry
GreenLadyHere

POU FAM♥ – -Gotta “bounc” 4 a “care-takin’” – -errand. Backas soon as. :>)♥
qosine

Just picking up the convo on the last thread. I was curious about this self-important event – The Peace Ball: Voices of Hope and Resistance
One contrast jumped out. Notice anything?

…
Q. Is President Obama expected to attend?
A. We are inviting Mr. Obama but we will not have response until very close
to the date.
Q. Will there be vegetarian options? Vegan?
The Peace Ball menu will accommodate vegetarians and vegans.
- Camille
  
  –We are inviting Mr. Obama—
- Daltex82
  
  Q. Is President Obama expected to attend?
  A. We are inviting Mr. Obama but we will not have response until very close to the date.
  
  Luther President Obama’s anger translator should send them a response:
  
  Hell f*cking NO, and it’s President Obama bitches!
  
  Again, I will ask why is the President expected to be in the presence of numbnuts who cannot even be respectful enough to refer to him as President Obama.
  - qosine
    
    Yes!!!!
http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia

Live Stream of PBO’s Press Conference is up!
Ce552001

Hey Fam, Conlakappa posted on the previous thread that a dubious and questionable mix of well-known members of the anti-President Obama “progressive” movement are having a “Peace” inaugural ball in D.C. never missing another opportunity to get their hustle on.

Beyond the mind boggling factor of the why, they have invited Alice Walker and Marian Wright Edelman who are confirmed to attend.

I think as many of us as possible ought to contact the decent people on the guest list like the two mentioned.

They have to be reminded that these folks aren’t any better than the teabaggers on the right and have done and continue to do much harm to our democracy –

We might even have to educate them about these folks.

You’d be shocked just how little many of these people really know about the activities of these rabidly hateful, disrespectful and frankly vicious, obstructionists on the left.

Many hear “liberal”, “progressive”, and bite. They think they are well-intentioned and don’t realize they aren’t and that most of them crowing about how “disappointing” President Obama has been, never voted for or supported him to begin with.

They must be made acutely aware that they are essentially being co-opted to be conveniently used as cover for the continued disrespect and outright racist attacks on the President and First Lady.

Let’s tweet, email, telephone – we should also alert Rev. Al.

Ralph Nader and his band of fools sure have no shame!
- Camille
  
  Something’s going on and my name isn’t coming up, it’s Camille!
  - GreenLadyHere
    
    HEEY SisCamille: – –***BIG HUG*** :>)
    
    THANK U. 4 this info. — -I started 2 WELCOME U. LOL — -
    
    Good 2 C U. :>) – -
    - Camille
      
      LOL, Sis. Sorry about that. Must be a glitch of some sort.
- TyrenM
  
  Ms. Wright is coming to Minneapolis for MLK Breakfast. I’ll let her know.
  - Camille
    
    Thanks Tyren. They ought to be know what they are signing on to.
- Aquagranny911
  
  I hope these migwits have a ton of “no shows” & have to eat the costs of this caca!
  - conlakappa
    
    I spoke with someone about it after a meeting this afternoon. She is a messaging person. She hadn’t heard of it. I talked to her because someone of whom we think very highly and know is one of the folks. She too made a face when hearing Nader’s name, echoing the sentiment of “who would want to be affiliated with him?”
Miranda

*snicker*…but they won’t.

The GOP better listen to Colin Powell

Colin Powell spoke truth to the Republican establishment when he said yesterday on “Meet the Press” that “[t]here is a dark vein of intolerance in some parts of the party.”

The former secretary of state under President George W. Bush who endorsed President Obama twice was asked by moderator David Gregory whether the Republican Party left him or has he left it. Unashamedly declaring himself “still a Republican,” the retired four-star general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, “I think the Republican Party is having an identity problem.”

If the GOP hopes to pull itself out of the political quicksand in which it finds itself, the party better heed his counsel, especially his blunt assessment of how it neither can simply ignore the demographic changes underway in the country nor denigrate the people at the forefront of those changes.

more here
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2013/01/14/the-gop-better-listen-to-colin-powell/?tid=pm_pop
- Town
  
  The GOP couldn’t care less if they got black, latino or asian voters. They don’t want those groups (or women) voting PERIOD.
  - Aquagranny911
    
    Exactly!!!
- Aquagranny911
  
  This is just an observation but I find it interesting that it is two retired military guys (I forgot the other guy’s name) who recently called out the GOP for their racism. You can understand it from Powell but the other general was white.
  - http://oldhollywood.net/ woody45
    
    Lawrence Wilkerson was the other guy.
goldenstar

Ha, ha, ha!!!!

PBO just told Jackie Colm (sic) that the critics need to take a seat about the diversity of his Cabinet and staff. And, he is telling it just how sociable he really is to respond to his lack of socializing around Washington.

TELL. THEM.
- GreenLadyHere
  
  HEEY GOLDenstar. ***BIG HUG*** :>)
  
  – - -LOL – - -TRANSLATION: – - -SINCE U ‘ON’T KNOW – - -U BETTA – –AX’ – -SOMEBODY!! – - -HAH!
  
  — –Annnnnd – - -ANOTHER THANG!! – –HAH!
  
  Good 2 C U GOLDenstar. :>)
creolechild

Supreme Court Rejects GOP Attempt To Overturn Voter Intimidation Order

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an effort by the Republican National Committee to overturn a 30-year old court order aimed at protecting minority voters from intimidation, the Associated Press reports. The order stems from a lawsuit filed by Democrats in New Jersey in 1981 that objected to a “ballot security” program the RNC ran in minority neighborhoods.

Republicans said the order hampers efforts to combat voter fraud, but U.S. District Judge Dickinson Debevoise said voter intimidation remains a threat and preventing it outweighs the potential danger of fraud. The court’s rejection of the RNC’s appeal leaves the order in places until at least 2017.

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/supreme-court-rejects-gop-attempt-to-overturn-voter

H/T Pema Levy
creolechild

LOL! In other words, my record, and the facts, clearly demonstrates that y’all are full of shit! NEXT!

Obama: Premature To Criticize Lack Of Diversity In Second-Term Cabinet Nominations

[....] “I think, until you’ve seen what my overall team looks like, it is premature to assume that somehow we’re going backwards,” Obama said at a White House press conference. “We’re not going backwards. We’re going forward.”

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-premature-to-criticize-lack-of-diversity-in
Camille

Oh oh, someone quick, tweet the First Lady. Can’t have the President talking about being “lonely because his girls are growing up and spending less time with him”.

Can’t have the beckies ears tingling, thinking that’s code for my wife isn’t taking care of me and I could use some company!
- TyrenM
  
  Camille. You’re back!
  - Camille
    
    Something really weird is going on! I have no idea why my name isn’t showing up in some of my posts.
    - Aquagranny911
      
      Not just you. I think the guinea pigs that row this boat for disqus have that novovirus.
- MsKitty
  
  That screeching of tires you just heard was Maureen Dowd making a sharp u-turn to head over to Victoria’s Secret.
  - AxelFoley
    
    /_/_/_________________________
    
    It’s too early for this, MsKitty, LOL
  - Miranda
    
    She look cheap and tawdry…… Frederick’s of Hollywood probably more her style.
    - conlakappa
      
      Pleasure Chest.
    - Town
      
      No, she wears the “Smart N Sexy” brand from Walmart…
  - TresL
    
    LOL!!! I just sprayed my screen. Thank you MsKitty for my laugh of the day!
  - http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia
    
    *FTFO*
  - GreenLadyHere
    
    HEEY MsKitty – –***BIG HUG*** :>)
    
    – - -THAT LOCKIN’ sound is Victoria’s Secret – -LOCKIN’ their DOOR WHEN THEY SAW HER COMIN’! – -LOL- -
    
    Good 2 C U MsKitty. :>) – -
creolechild

[This comment was in response to goldenstar's comment downthread. Disqus is acting the fool today.]

LOL! In other words, my record, and the facts, clearly demonstrates that y’all are full of shit! NEXT!

Obama: Premature To Criticize Lack Of Diversity In Second-Term Cabinet Nominations

[....] “I think, until you’ve seen what my overall team looks like, it is premature to assume that somehow we’re going backwards,” Obama said at a White House press conference. “We’re not going backwards. We’re going forward.”

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/obama-premature-to-criticize-lack-of-diversity-in

H/T David Taintor
creolechild

Obama Will Seek Citizenship Path in One Fast Push

President Obama plans to push Congress to move quickly in the coming months on an ambitious overhaul of the immigration system that would include a path to citizenship for most of the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, senior administration officials and lawmakers said last week.

Mr. Obama and Senate Democrats will propose the changes in one comprehensive bill, the officials said, resisting efforts by some Republicans to break the overhaul into smaller pieces — separately addressing young illegal immigrants, migrant farmworkers or highly skilled foreigners — which might be easier for reluctant members of their party to accept.

The president and Democrats will also oppose measures that do not allow immigrants who gain legal status to become American citizens one day, the officials said. [....]

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/us/politics/obama-plans-to-push-congress-on-immigration-overhaul.html?hp&_r=1&

H/T Julia Preston
- Aquagranny911
  
  This is totally the way to go on this issue. Blast the Repugs with a huge comprehensive bill, lots of detail. Dios knows half of them have low attention span & reading comprehension so they won’t actually read the bill just latch onto one or two points & bleat like a bunch of figged goats.
  
  PBO will let them whine. Just more old white whine in old dusty bottles. The Prez will paste on some new labels, pass the bill with most of the important stuff intact, plus a few surprises & 98 points off the whine scale!
  
  Just my two pesos…
  - qosine
    
    “PBO will let them whine. Just more old white whine in old dusty bottles. The Prez will paste on some new labels, pass the bill with most of the important stuff intact, plus a few surprises & 98 points off the whine scale!”
    
    That’s the way it’ll go down, AG!!!
Miranda

HAHA…this is surely in the running for tweet of the day

TheObamaDiary.com ‏@TheObamaDiary
Lots of WH press corps diversity on view, up to seven different shades of pearly white.
- conlakappa
  
  And they are so shameless yet clueless that I doubt they yet get it.
  - http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia
    
    I just know PBO was thinking, “Is this bish serious??”
Miranda

Annnnd the next tweet of the day contender!

allanbrauer ‏@allanbrauer
Oh no! The “socialize” meme has been activated. Prepare for incoming from Sally Quinn!
- http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia
  
  LOL! I almost forgot about ol’ Rugburn Sally!
GreenLadyHere

Sepia – - – -FIRST: – –“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” – Gil Scott-Heron –

—NOW: – -That “Revolution” Talk – -

– –It’s not just anonymous internet bloggers or YouTube publicity hounds. Talk of “revolution” is everywhere on the extreme right, these days. From Pat Buchanan, Larry Klayman and Alex Jones to the organizers of new gun rights coalitions and protests. The federal government is spying on millions Americans without a warrant, killing thousands in Middle Eastern wars with drones and white phosphorus bombs and death squads and mercenaries, funneling billions of dollars to corporate cronies and war profiteers who use slaves and supplied our troops with poisoned water. The same government under President Bush sponsored torture, and President Bush’s signing statements, which declared that he could decide unilaterally what laws to obey or disobey, did not concern them that much, at least so long as a white Republican with a faux Texan accent was in the Oval Office.
— – -SNIP —

– –This hyperbolic reaction to the Obama administration’s meager efforts to date to push for some reasonable regulations on guns, regulations a majority of Americans support, would be astonishing in any other country. However, this is America. What is more, it is an America in which the first African American president has been subjected to relentless attacks on the legitimacy of his presidency by right wing and conservative media outlets and politicians. The racial component of the current outrage against Obama from the right cannot be discounted. They have been calling him a Muslim, a Communist, an atheist, a non-citizen, a fascist and the head of a conspiracy to destroy America’s “way of life” since before he was elected in 2008. Ludicrous claims that he was creating a secret army and that FEMA concentration camps were being prepared for white conservatives have been spread by many on the right via blogs and email. After each of his elections, gun sales soared.
- — -SNIP – -

— – -The last four years have seen an substantial rise in the number of far right wing organizations, militias, and other hate groups. Attempts by right wing groups, and by individuals motivated by right wing beliefs, to use violence to accomplish political goals is higher than any time I can recall. Does that mean civil war is at hand? Revolution? No, not at this time. However, discounting the effect of excessive and seditious rhetoric from the right would be a mistake. The powder keg’s fuse may not yet have been lit, but it is certainly being primed. The next Timothy McVeigh (or worse) is out there. Best to be better prepared than we were the last time a Democratic administration and the federal government were demonized by conservatives.

– —- -MR. PRESIDENT – –CALLED IT! – –THEY – — SUSPICIOUS!! – - -He couldn’T CALL ‘EM – -EVIL/VILE – -DELUSIONAL – –DISGUSTIN’ — -RACISTS!! – - – — -WE KNOW!! —
- Aquagranny911
  
  He did call it….”clinging to their guns & religion”….and that’s the truth!
  
  These people ARE dangerous! We need vigilance & prayer to protect this country from fringe groups of people who have lost all reason. I support Southern Poverty Law Center because one of the things they do is track & monitor hate groups. I also hope that Secret Service & FBI keeps a close eye on these extremists.
  
  IMHO, there is more danger from our home grown nutbuckets than from outside terror groups!
  
  OT: Hola GLH! We picked lots of oranges yesterday for the food bank & I thought of you ♥
  - GreenLadyHere
    
    HEEY Aquagranny911. ***BIG – -CITRUS – -HUG*** :>)
    
    – - – -***fist bump*** – - -DANGEROUS [3:07] — -
    
    Awww – - -THANK U —THANK U♥ – -
    
    Good 2 C U. AG. – - -:>)
- http://oldhollywood.net/ woody45
  
  It’s funny how these old geezers are talking revolution when the only revoloution they will ever lead is to get a new cap for Geritol.
  - GreenLadyHere
    
    LOL woody45. ***BIG HUG** :>)
    
    — – -Seeeeee. . . . LOL – - -U R a RIOT!! :>) – –Good 1. :>)
    
    - — -Annnd – -REVOLVIN’ LIKE THIS — -COULD GIVE ‘EM a –HIGH!- -LOL
    
    Good 2 C U woody45. :>)
  - Aquagranny911
    
    Woody45, I’m an “old geezer” who may need ‘jaws of life’ to open stuff but I still have a working mouth that can talk & convince people to do stuff. Not bragging, but I think I did pretty okay at GOTV.
    
    We can’t discount these goatfiggers just because of age. They can do real harm. Not that we should go in fear, just that we should keep out the ojos on their activities. Even geezers with no teeth can still pinch.
    
    Just saying….
    - http://oldhollywood.net/ woody45
      
      You’re not an old geezer you’re vintage. There’s a big difference. These Matlock groupies aren”t going to convince anyone of anything. The sounds you hear them making right now are the usual refight the sixties rhetoric.
      - Aquagranny911
        
        LOL!!!
Miranda

Crazy ass fool – his ass should be LOCKED UP.

Dad visits kid’s school, doesn’t hear ‘liberty’ in Pledge of Allegiance, threatens he has “spilled blood before” & will again
January 12, 2013
http://freakoutnation.com/2013/01/12/dad-visits-kids-school-doesnt-hear-liberty-in-pledge-of-allegiance-threatens-he-has-spilled-blood-before-will-again/
________________________
Cops watching Geneva school after Pledge flap

A Kane County Sheriff’s deputy was stationed for the second day Friday at Mill Creek Elementary School near Geneva, in reaction to a parent’s protest of how children were saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

But the parent being investigated maintains he is not a threat to children’s safety: “America, God and children are what is important to me,” said Colin McGroarty of Rockford.

more here
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20130111/news/701119803/
- Alma98
  
  Wrong color Miranda, if he were black they would have shot first and asked questions later.
  - edp4bho
    
    Questions? Seriously? You and I know better, Alma.
Alma98

Good afternoon all.
Miranda

*blink*

Anti-Choice Group Hosts Training Program To Teach Republicans How To Talk About Rape

Last year, Republicans likely lost two U.S. Senate seats because their candidates claimed “legitimate rape” is a form of contraception and that pregnancies resulting from rape are a “gift from God.” Last week, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) again demonstrated the GOP’s frequent willingness to belittle rape by claiming that former Rep. Todd Akin’s (R-MO) legitimate rape comments were “partly right.”
In the wake of these toxic statements about a horrific crime, a leading anti-abortion group is now leaping to the Republican Party’s rescue with a training program to teach GOP lawmakers how to speak about this subject:

more here
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/01/14/1441271/anti-choice-group-hosts-training-program-to-teach-republicans-how-to-talk-about-rape/
- Alma98
  
  Crazy boo-boo’s!
- rikyrah
  
  they never learn
- Aquagranny911
  
  They have to “train” Repugnant goat figgers in “how to talk about rape?”
  
  ….and Jesus wept…
  - conlakappa
    
    Well, they do keep trying to redefine it.
GreenLadyHere

Sepia – - – -Awwwww. . . .BEYOND SWEET – –:>) – –

– - – -Denzel’s Mystery Date at Golden Globes is … His Daughter! (Watch) – -

– - –*Before anybody tries to start some ish, let the record show that the woman on Denzel Washington‘s arm as he walked the red carpet at the Golden Globes was his daughter, Olivia.

In fact, before beginning their interview on Sunday night’s red carpet, Mr. Washington advised E!’s Ryan Seacrest, “It’s not my wife Pauletta, it’s my daughter.”

22-year-old Olivia, who worked on “Django,” and who’s not often seen or photographed at industry events, filled in for his normal date — his wife of 29 years, Pauletta. Olivia is one of Denzel and Pauletta’s four children, John David, Katia, and her twin brother, Malcolm. And might we add, she looks a lot like her mother, too.
– - -SNIP – - -

Watch: – - -
THERE IS MORE. — —LOVELY LADY. :>) – -
- Alma98
  
  Hey! GLH ***HUGS*** She looks just like her daddy.
- Aquagranny911
  
  Sweet!
rikyrah

Klayman Prepares for Armed Revolt; Barber Predicts ‘Second Civil War’

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Monday, 1/14/2013 10:25 am

Prior to the election, right-wing activists were confident of President Obama’s imminent defeat, arguing there was no way he could win another election. Stunned by his re-election and the pummeling Republicans received, now several conservatives are openly calling for armed resistance.

Judicial Watch founder Larry Klayman is once again calling for a revolution in his WorldNetDaily column, telling readers to “pray that Obama and Biden and the likes of Pelosi and Reid are so stupid as to carry through with their threats, so that the masses will finally be provoked to rise up as they did in colonial times.”

He called Vice President Biden’s gun task force recommendations, which haven’t even been released yet, “a declaration of war against the American people and our way of life” and hopes they “will in the end serve to be their own undoing and result in our liberation from their evil clutches.”

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/klayman-prepares-armed-revolt-barber-predicts-second-civil-war
- AxelFoley
  
  I hope when shit breaks out, these two assclowns will be on the front lines.
  
  Yeah, I know, I know.
- nellcote
  
  Predicts ‘Second Civil War’
  ===
  What in the fuck do they think has been going on for the last 4+ years if not a civil war?
- conlakappa
  
  Isn’t Klayman the one who made his bones on funding in constant pursuit of Clinton? It’s good to see his mania can have different foci. Truly, the man needs to get a life.
- goldenstar
  
  Woohoo!!!!! And, they don’t know how to count. Last time I checked, we are the majority. So these smart-talkin’ folks better watch out.
rikyrah

Executive action on gun policy

By Steve Benen

–

Mon Jan 14, 2013 2:31 PM EST

Though much of the right has been unhappy with Vice President Biden’s task force on gun violence, an unscripted comment Biden made last week caused conservatives to ring the alarm even more aggressively.

Talking to reporters about possible policy changes, Biden said, “The president is going to act. There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. We haven’t decided what that is yet, but we’re compiling it all … as well as legislative action, we believe, is required.”

The use of possible “executive orders” was not well received — the right, without having seen the still-unwritten orders, accused President Obama of taking dictatorial actions on guns without congressional approval. ABC’s Jonathan Karl raised the issue at this morning’s White House press conference, asking, “[G]iven how difficult it will be, some would say impossible, to get any gun control measure passed through this Congress, what are you willing or able to do using the powers of your presidency to act without Congress?”

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/01/14/16508961-executive-action-on-gun-policy?lite
rikyrah

The Chances for Immigration Reform

by BooMan
Mon Jan 14th, 2013 at 02:20:49 PM EST

Benjy Sarlin has a very interesting piece up at Talking Points Memo about how unions evolved from seeing undocumented workers as scabs during the era of Cesar Chavez to seeing them, in more recent years, as an exploited workforce deserving of representation and protection. Part of the article is about the prospects that Congress will be able to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill, and that is what I want to talk about. As the article (and people cited in the article) points out, there is a new optimism in the aftermath of the 2012 election, primarily because it is so clear that Latinos made a decisive difference in the outcome:

While victory in 2013 is far from certain, labor leaders believe conditions have improved significantly since their disappointing 2007 effort.
For one thing, Republicans acknowledge they’re on defense this time around in a way that was not true during past reform efforts. It was easier for GOP lawmakers to minimize the role of Latino voters in their 2006 midterm losses, which most blamed on Iraq, and their role in Obama’s 2008 blowout, which many dismissed as Bush fatigue. But the 2012 results, in which Obama racked up record margins and turnout among Latinos around the country despite a sagging economy and mediocre approval ratings, are much harder to ignore.

“I think many of the politicians were saying, ‘You know, we keep hearing about this Latino giant and it’s sort of a myth,’” Medina said. “But the reality finally hit home on November 6.”

The article also points out that agricultural interests have been stung by recent anti-immigrant laws in states like Alabama that have scared away temporary farm workers. Those interests are likely to apply significantly more pressure on the GOP this time around.

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/1/14/13271/3846
rikyrah

Ending Republican Nihilism, Ctd

On using the debt ceiling as ransom, it’s hard to put it better than our newly re-elected president:

To even entertain the idea of this happening, of the United States of America not paying its bills, is irresponsible. It’s absurd. As the speaker said two years ago, it would be — and I’m quoting Speaker Boehner now — “a financial disaster not only for us but for the worldwide economy.” So we got to pay our bills. And Republicans in Congress have two choices here: They can act responsibly and pay America’s bills or they can act irresponsibly and put America through another economic crisis.
But they will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the American economy. The financial well-being of the American people is not leverage to be used. The full faith and credit of the United States of America is not a bargaining chip.

And they’d better choose quickly because time is running short. The last time Republicans in Congress even flirted with this idea, our triple-A credit rating was downgraded for the first time in our history, our businesses created the fewest jobs of any month in nearly the past three years, and ironically, the whole fiasco actually added to the deficit.

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2013/01/ending.html
rikyrah

Dems hold a trump card in debt limit showdown
Posted by Greg Sargent on January 14, 2013 at 1:26 pm

Some Republicans seem to believe they have a clever endgame in the debt ceiling fight: The House GOP passes a bill that includes a debt limit hike and deep cuts to entitlements, and then goes home, challenging Senate Dems and the White House not to pass it, which would stick them with blame for default. Karl Rove floated a variation of this recently, as have some left leaning writers such as Brian Beutler.

But Dems have a response: Senate Democrats can simply amend such a bill, turning it into a clean debt ceiling hike. “They could simply strip out the spending cuts and increase the debt limit, and kick it back to the House,” Congressional expert Norm Ornstein told me. This would renew pressure on House Republicans to allow a vote on passing the debt ceiling hike on its own.

You might expect that if Senate Dems did this, Senate Republicans would filibuster it. But Ornstein, for one, says it’s quite possible they wouldn’t. Remember, Senate Republicans have been more reluctant than House Republicans to use the debt limit as leverage. You could see a situation similar to the fiscal cliff fight, in which Mitch McConnell, unlike the House, recognized political reality and entered into genuine negotiations with the White House. “There’s a strong possibility that Senate Republicans would not filibuster this and that would put the onus back on the House,” Ornstein says. “McConnell’s statements not withstanding, I don’t think Senate Republicans are all that eager to use the debt limit as a hostage this time.”

It’s true that a single Senate conservative could filibuster the bill. But it’s possible Dems could get 60 votes to overcome that. If the debt ceiling deadline looms, and if the business community bears down hard, demanding the GOP avert the destruction of the economy, you could see moderate Republicans, such as Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Bob Corker, support a hike. “You could imagine even people like Tom Coburn saying, `This is not the way to go,’ particularly if McConnell doesn’t stage a party-wide filibuster,” Ornstein says.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/01/14/dems-hold-a-trump-card-in-debt-limit-showdown/
Aquagranny911

Yo Peeps!

I think that the guinea pigs that row this boat may have that novovirus. Anyone else having problems with disqus or is it just me?
- conlakappa
  
  They have the flu. They are very on trend, those guinea pigs!
  - Aquagranny911
    
    I believe it is their diet & of course disqus doesn’t provide appropriate health care. I wonder if ACA can be expanded for guinea pigs?
Alma98

Walker and his cronies are trying to take over Milwaukee like they did in Detroit. I believe they’re going to try that city manager shit and we’re ready for a fight. He’s trying to cut all the alderman’s salary down to part-time. I believe this is some ALEC crap.
- goldenstar
  
  I am sure that it is ALEC-originated because they see their biggest opportunity to advance their agenda at the state and municipal levels. Please keep us informed!
  - conlakappa
    
    They had a multi-prong war in effect and were pushed back in Michigan. Wisconsin still gives them on mainland incubation spot and Puerto Rico gives them off-land/out-of-sight-out-of-mind incubation too. Shady mohfuhs being shady.
- Aquagranny911
  
  Alec has their dirty fingers in so many AZ pies. Fight them with all you got!
Miranda

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