May 19, 2013

Tuesday Open Thread: The Lost Kingdom of Ethiopia

January 15, 2013 by 126 Comments

GOOD MORNING P.O.U.!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAY to the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.!

 

mlk

We continue with Part II of The Lost Kingdoms of Africa: Ethiopia

Filed Under: African Americans, Arts and Culture, History, Open Thread Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
  • http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia

    Justice Department Takes Aim at Armstrong
    By REED ALBERGOTTI And VANESSA O’CONNELL

    Justice Department officials have recommended joining a federal whistleblower lawsuit aimed at clawing back sponsorship money from former professional cyclist Lance Armstrong, according to people familiar with the matter.

    The Justice Department has been weighing the matter since 2010, when the suit was filed by Armstrong’s former teammate Floyd Landis.

    All whistleblower suits are kept under seal, and neither the Justice Department nor Landis have acknowledged the suit’s existence or the allegations. However, according to a person who has seen the lawsuit, Landis alleged that Armstrong and team managers defrauded the U.S. government when they accepted money from the U.S. Postal Service.

    The Justice Department and Landis declined to comment.

    MORE: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323596204578242250517426858.html?mod=WSJ_GoogleNews

    • Miranda

      Floyd Landis is somewhere laughing his ass off for sure.

      • isonprize

        F’real. But Landis never made even a slice of the money Armstrong pulled in.

        • Admiral_Komack

          But Landis won’t have to pay back the amount of money Lance Armstrong will…sniff…the poor guy…cue up the sym-phoney.

  • Miranda

    I must say, Oprah is all that. When she decided to come back in and get rid of some of the OWN execs and get hands on with programming, she totally turned that ship around. Ratings are way up and now she gets a major scoop in the Armstrong interview.

    Looks like the staff might be getting that real good vacay again this year.

    • http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia

      Now that things are looking better for OWN, I wonder will she bring back her talk show?

  • rikyrah

    Good Morning, Everyone :)

  • rikyrah

    Happy Birthday, Dr. King.

    And thank you.

  • rikyrah

    Lew is a Different Kind of Pick

    by BooMan
    Tue Jan 15th, 2013 at 12:30:32 AM EST

    I think the last Secretary of the Treasury who had never been either a banker or a CEO/President (before Tim Geithner) was James Baker. Before Baker, you have to go back to John Connally (the guy in the car with Jackie and JFK). Feel free to look up all the bios of all the Treasury secretaries who have served this country in its entire history. I’m not an expert on this history and I don’t know a lot about most of them.
    I do know, however, that it’s been pretty much a requirement that anyone serving as the Secretary of Treasury have experience either in the financial services industry or as the head of a large corporation. Geithner slid by that requirement because being head of the New York Federal Reserve was close enough.

    Jack Lew had a year and a half stint at CitiGroup, which hardly qualifies him as an experienced banker, but does check the box.

    I’m not wedded to the idea that the Treasury Department should be run by CEOs and bankers instead of economists or progressive reformers, but I do find it tiresome when people act like Jack Lew is just more of the same. He’s actually quite a bit different. Geithner was a complete creature of Wall Street. Baker and Connelly really owed their positions to being the patrons of more powerful politicians: Connelly (LBJ) and Baker (Poppy Bush). Jack Lew isn’t anyone’s wingman. He barely got his feet wet on Wall Street. He’s a wonk. You might call him an expert.

    http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/1/15/03032/5753

    • http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia

      Folks need to realize that not every person who works on Wall St. is the second coming of Gordan Gekko.

      • GN

        Exactly. I’m not an expert on Lew’s background, but this looks to be the extent of his Wall St. tenure:

        In June 2006, Lew was named chief operating officer of Citigroup’s Alternative Investments unit, a proprietary trading group. The unit he oversaw invested in a hedge fund “that bet on the housing market to collapse.”

        Sounds like he developed his skepticism towards exotic financial products in his few years there. The majority of his career was spent in government and he is a demonstrated, successful proponent and protector of the safety net. Not sure where the hysteria is coming from. New Yorker, went to public schools as a child, Harvard, Georgetown Law, canvassed for Paul Wellstone as a youth, worked for Tip O’Neill, and amongst many other accomplishments, was instrumental in negotiating the debt ceiling deal which shivved Boehner and protected safety net programs. Were it not for his connection to President Obama and the emo left’s Obama Derangement Syndrome, he’d likely be heralded. He looks like a great pick to me.

        • http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia

          That passage is based on this Mother Jones article about Lew that says he was in charge of a Citigroup investment unit that invested in a hedge fund that bet on the housing market to fail: http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/01/flashback-lews-time-citi-and-other-disappointments

          The article tries to suggest Lew was the mastermind behind those investments, but he was the Chief Operating Officer, a position that doesn’t include investment decisions:

          “In January 2008, he switched to Citigroup’s alternative investments unit. A press release announcing his new position as chief operating officer of the group said he would “oversee coordination between the operations, technology, human resources, legal, financial and regional departments.

          The memo stated that Lew also would be a member of Citigroup’s management committee, a group of senior executives who met regularly to discuss different parts of the bank’s business.

          During his 2010 confirmation hearings for chairing the Office of Management and Budget, Lew said his Wall Street experience was “as a manager, not as an investment adviser.””

          http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/jack-lew-had-major-role-at-citigroup-when-it-nearly-imploded/2013/01/10/a913431e-5b6b-11e2-9fa9-5fbdc9530eb9_story.html

          If EmoProgs want to criticize Wall St., they need to first learn how it its corporate structure works.

  • GN

    At thepeoplesview, deaniac as usual presented a reasoned, factual piece about Jack Lew as Treasury Secretary. In the comments, section, folks were going in on the emo/fauxgressive left; this comment by CL Nicholson is of absolute beauty:

    jziglar realize that Democracy Now! primarily to exists to make emo-progress feel good by feeling depressed, news is secondary. Amy Goodman would find a way to piss on Obama’s accomplishments if he funded the cure to cancer. The interview would something like this:

    GOODMAN: “Today we are speaking to Dr. X, long time public health advocate and expert in quantum magic. He’s the professor emeritus of microbology at ABC State. Dr. X, welcome to Democracy Now”.
    DR. X: “Thank you Amy”
    GOODMAN: Dr. X, now that we’ve cured most forms of cancer, is there any concern that you have with how the Obama Administration’s NIH dispersed funds?”
    DR. X: ” Yes Amy. My team attempted to cure AIDS with sunflower seeds and cow dung – and we were told that the idea was ridiculous, even though sunflower seeds and cow dung are natural alternatives. They claimed that we didn’t have orthodox methods or even a lab – but that’s a corporatist smoke screen.”
    GOODMAN: “Dr. X, you’re saying that Obama administration sought corporate advice because your team used cow dung?”
    DR. X: “Exactly. Millions of lives could be saved from HIV via cow dung – but according to our fascist government, such ideas are not smiled upon. Once again showing that the Obama Administration is in the back pocket of Big Pharma. You can check our download from WikiLeaks for proof!”
    GOODMAN: “Dr. X, thank you for being a champion for health and the environment.”
    DR. X: “Thank you Amy”

    Sorry, but that shadow campaign trolling during the election really pissed me off.

    http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2013/01/selective-memory-for-liberal-elite.html

    Spot. on. The whole piece and the comments section is more than worth the read.

    • conlakappa

      How sad for me that I could hear Complainy Goodman’s rising-falling cadences in my head as I read that? The woman makes Schleprock sound cheery.

      • GN

        I just about fell out at “expert in quantum magic”…

  • TyrenM

    Good Morning POU. Just gazing the MnnPost and pissed at my Congress Critters. Nevermind Bachmanniac today. On the left, Keith Ellison crying about drones. On the right Collin Peterson crying that the fault stops at the Presidents door that the Farm Bill didn’t get a vote in the House. Not the Speaker, but the President. He’s long been a DINO but damn. The article states he’s only on the Ag committee, so he has nothing else to bargain with. Also, how do u blame PBO when your own House leadership won’t bring bipartisan bill up for a vote? Ugh.
    Have a good day all.

  • Miranda

    Oh so Buzzfeed starting mess this morning huh? Quoting the “anonymous sources” of former Obama staffers complaining about not getting tickets for next week….smh.

    • Admiral_Komack

      Corny, Tavis…is that you?

    • Town

      former Obama staffers = Cornel West.

  • http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia

    Breaking Politics ‏@breakingpol

    Report: White House official says President Obama will announce his gun-safety proposals as early as Wednesday – @NBCNews

    • goldenstar

      So much for all those folks who said that this WH lacks courage, political capital, commitment, etc. PBO said that he would have something by the end of the month. Oh, it’s mid-month. Whadya know.

      • QOakaJP

        Yeah, but they’ve already moved on to other pressing issues, like a head count of women in a WH photo at any given time, or how PBO secretly hates seniors and wants them to be force-fed off cat food, or something.

        • jds09

          Anything to avoid reporting about the ass whupping the teapartiers are gonna be taking on this issue. Their ranks are filled with Alex Joneses.

  • GreenLadyHere

    - <a href="GOOD TUESDAY MORNTIN Sepia/POU FAM♥. HAPPY BIRTHDAY REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, Jr. -THANK U. –2-DAY IS SIGNIFICANT – -A REPORT on the GUN CONTROL PLAN; CABINET MEMBERS R MAKIN' DECISIONS. -MR. PRESIDENT WAS VERY BUSY -SIGNIN' 20 BILLS; ANOTHER INFORMATIVE ENTRY IN OUR SERIES. THANK U Sepia.. -
    ——☻Martin Luther King – (Speech) With Inspirational Music -AMEN. RIHEP

    – - -☻President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are scheduled to receive the daily presidential briefing in the Oval Office and then have lunch together in the president’s private dining room on Tuesday.

    – - -☻Obama’s second-term cabinet, as it stands so far. [PICS]

    – - ☻Obama signs slew of bills – -
    – - – - – - -+President Obama on Monday signed 20 bills into law, from legislation naming post offices to bills authorizing intelligence spending and increasing penalties for stealing trade secrets for the benefit of foreign entities.
    – - -SNIP – –
    Here’s the full list:

    – - – ☻NEW INFORMATION: The ALLIANCE of Ethiopian CHRISTIANS annnd MUSLIMS. :>) – -

    - – - -ENJOY YOUR ENERGY DRANK. :>) – -

    – - -THANK U Sepia. Learnin’ sooo MUCH. :>) B BLESSED 2-DAY. :>)

  • GN

    Yesterday, Sepia warned that the emoprogs were using the reddit/Adam Green person’s suicide to take smacks at their “enemies” and WOW was that warning apt:

    o_O

    @MarkAdomanis
    @ggreenwald @janehamsher ABL, in addition to being stale and boring, is one of the most consistently repulsive writers on the internet

    @ggreenwald
    @MarkAdomanis @janehamsher Aaron Swartz’s crime in that case was criticizing President Obama. Thus, he had to be smeared as a criminal

    @MarkAdomanis
    @ggreenwald she views the entirety of reality through the narrow spectrum of “do you support or oppose Obama.” It’s lunatic

    @MarkAdomanis
    @ggreenwald and, of course, if you point this out, you’re the one who is “obsessed” with Obama. Or something

    GG and whomever this Adomanis person is can have a seat. These remarks are now beyond derangement. As far as critics of PBO go, Swartz (RIP) was a really obscure one. If people are to be “smeared” as “criminals” for “criticizing President Obama,” why then are critiques of far more visible critics like West and Smiley limited to noting their hypocrisy, pettiness, and likely self-motivation. Glenn Greenwald is not only beneath contempt, but here you see an example of him playing into the fears and paranoia of his readers by claiming that someone who was on charges for a bona fide case of hacking was “smeared” and persecuted because of President Obama. What separates these people from the teapartiers buying up land and planning last stand insurrections against an admin which they’re convinced has targeted them for persecution? How is this any different from the lies and misleading emotional stories on Fox”News” designed to use people’s fear to manipulate them?

    • Miranda

      Gigi is beyond crazy at this point. He is totally and completely without sanity. He really needs to be seen by a psychiatrist.

      • GN

        I read on thepeoplesview that notwithstanding all of the accusations by emos that Swartz was facing millions of dollars in fines and decades in jail, that he’d been offered a deal by the prosecution for…six months. While black kids younger than him face exponentially longer terms for nonviolent theft crimes. It’s really fucked up that GG and co are using him as a martyr for false claims of persecution. Let the kid rest in peace; in no rational world were the charges he was facing life-ending, but he couldn’t see that. I think that GG knows better, but is shock-jocking anyway. It’s why I can’t stand him.

        • Miranda

          There is no difference in what Greenwald and the other batty emoprogs are doing in comparison to the NRA and their batshyt responses to the Newtown shooting. No difference whatsoever.

        • http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia

          THIS. But GG and his ilk won’t use their platform to defend those Black kids.

          “Shock-jocking” is the perfect description for what he’s doing!

        • Worldwatcher7

          The reasons for suicide are often complex and deep. If they want to honor Swartz, they could spend their time trying to understand how he was really feeling or supporting organizations that work to prevent suicide. They are using his death for there own cynical ends.

    • http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia

      Jane Hamshit led the charge by tweeting a blog post ABL wrote back in 2011 about Swartz being charged with hacking: http://angryblacklady.com/2011/07/19/progressive-change-campaign-committee-pccc-co-founder-aaron-swartz-indicted-for-wire-computer-fraud/

      IIRC, Baby Jane, Adam Green, GiGi and the rest of the EmoProg crew were SILENT and kept their distance. But now they’re defending dude’s honor?

      P.S. Mark Adomanis is a blogger at Forbes magazine. The bible of the 1%. http://blogs.forbes.com/people/markadomanis/

      • Alma98

        You can add some folks over at BJ to the list. One commenter went so far as to compare this situation to civil right activist marching on the bridge in Selma, smh. It was in response to a commenter who basically said black people don’t have the luxury of getting a six month suspended sentence.

    • AxelFoley

      Fuck Greenwald. With a kitchen knife.

  • GreenLadyHere

    Sepia – - –AHA! – — -Luvin’ THIS KNOWLEDGE! – - -While the critics R callin’ MR. PRESIDENT’s “GUN CONTROL/REFORM actions” — into question, SEEMS AS IFF – -FORMER presidents have used EXECUTIVE ORDERS!! – -

    — –Presidents Bush and Clinton Also Used Executive Orders to Reform Gun Laws -

    — – –Republicans are threatening to impeach Obama over executive action on gun control, but many presidents have issued executive orders on gun control, including George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

    First Larry Pratt went impeachment nuts and then yesterday, Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) threatened that he would file articles of impeachment against President Barack Obama if he uses the power of his office to address gun control.
    ————–SNIP- – - -

    — ☻In 1989, then President George H.W. Bush issued an executive order halting the importation of some semi-automatic firearms after a mass school shooting Stockton, California. He based his executive order on the 1968 Gun Control Act and used it to ban the shipment of what could be considered “assault weapons” unless they were used for sporting purposes. (Question: Did the free republic cease to exist then?)

    - – -☻In 1998, then President Bill Clinton also issued an executive order to ban the importation of more than 50 semiautomatic “assault weapons” that had been modified to get through that “sporting purposes” exemption.

    – -☻In 2001, Clinton moved again via executive order, banning the importation of assault pistols.
    – -SNIP- – -
    – -☻Obama, a constitutional lawyer, appears to have used his executive power well within the law for gun regulation so far.
    THERE IS MORE – - – -HAH! – — -CARRY ON – - -MR. PRESIDENT. :>)

  • Miranda

    Why this is even necessary is just sad to begin with, you’re a Dem, support your damn President for a change.

    Schumer Says He’s Satisfied With Hagel on Mideast

    WASHINGTON — In a boon for the Obama administration’s efforts to advance the nomination Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense, Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the first senator to meet privately with Mr. Hagel, told President Obama Tuesday that he is optimistic that he could vote for Mr. Hagel’s confirmation based on his grilling of Mr. Hagel on a variety of issues pertaining to Israel and Iran.

    Mr. Schumer, the most influential Jewish member of the Senate, said he would await Senate confirmation hearings before making his final decision on Mr. Hagel, a Republican and former senator who was nominated last week. But after a 90-minute meeting in the West Wing of the White House on Monday, Mr. Schumer appeared to be mollified on a number of concerns he has with some votes Mr. Hagel made while serving in the Senate and myriad comments he has subsequently made regarding the nuclear threat of Iran and other matters.

    more here
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/us/politics/schumer-says-hes-satisfied-with-hagel-on-mideast.html?_r=0

  • Miranda

    Oh hell naw….LOL, so wait, “Girls” DID decide to color up the cast a bit huh? Guess they heard the criticism.

    http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2013/01/15/arts/15HUSBANDSjp.html

    • http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia

      Oh, so Lena Dunham thinks adding a Black character to satisfy one of the white female characters Mandingo fantasies qualifies as diversity?

      Try again, Miss Ann.

      • Miranda

        I’ve never watched the show, but is the show without any supporting cast (like regular co-workers, neighbors, etc) of color? I don’t care if the main characters best friends are all the same race, but it sounds like there is no recurring supporting roles of color – I mean, you HAVE to work with people of color and live next to people of color in Brooklyn for heavenssakes. Jerry Seinfeld knew to have people of color recurring on Seinfeld in the middle of Manhatten, surely Lena knows this too.

        • conlakappa

          She repulses me beyond measure. That she’s from the Apatow stable repertory isn’t shocking. Enjoy the novelty while it lasts, Lena. You’re a sideshow and a way for Hollywood to feel good about itself.

        • http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia

          I’ve never watched it either, but from what I’ve read about it, it’s mostly white washed and when they do have people of color, it’s the maids and nannies: http://www.racialicious.com/2012/04/19/dear-lena-dunham-i-exist/

      • AxelFoley

        What’s this about a Mandingo fantasy?

        • TyrenM

          Looking at the Racialicious articles given in yesterday’s thread – there appears to be a Black Male supporting cast member who’s sexing one of the female leads (not Lena,) or something like that.

    • Tafr

      They colored it up the only way they know how.

      • conlakappa

        And somewhere Blair Underwood weeps that he’s now not getting those roles like he used to…

        • AxelFoley

          Ouch. LOL

  • Miranda

    Thank goodness this child was found safe, but what in the hell? You can just walk into a classroom like this? I told my sister-in-law years ago when I freely walked into her school and came up to her classroom that it was way to easy for me to do that.
    ____________________________________________

    Missing Pa. Girl, 5, Abducted From School Found

    A 5-year-old girl has been found after allegedly being abducted by a stranger from her classroom at a Philadelphia elementary school, where officials didn’t learn of her disappearance until six hours later.

    Nailla Robinson, 5, was found early this morning by a man in a nearby park in Upper Darby under bleachers and transported to the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania to be checked for hypothermia.

    Police say the little girl told them a stranger took her from the school Monday. She said she was blindfolded and walked a couple of blocks to a house. Nailla said a teenage girl later took her from that house to the playground, according to police.

    more here
    http://abcnews.go.com/US/missing-pa-girl-abducted-school-found/story?id=18217095

    • GN

      OMG, her parents must have been hysterical. That is horrifying.

    • GreenLadyHere

      Good MornTin’ miranda – -***BIG HUG** :>)

      – — Ooooh – –PRAISE the LORD! :>) – –BLESS U “wee one”♥. —

      –Bu – –bu BUT – –Accordin’ 2 da – “dreaded nra” – –iff she had a gun – — – - — NEVAMIND!! – - -

      Annnd the —-FORMER TEACHER? – - – -geesh!! —

      Thank U 4 this GOOD NEWS! – miranda. :>) —

    • Aquagranny911

      Thank Dios this child was found alive but it makes me sick to my stomach! Back when my oldest grandson was in kindergarten he went “missing” for over 3 hours. He was found accidently by a janitor hiding in a closet because he was scared. The teacher didn’t report him gone & no one was looking for him. His parents did not find this out until the end of the day when the teacher got in their face about what a “terrible” child they had.

      The worst about this is that he could have easily left the school & walked across the street to the apartment complex where he lived. With both parents at work, he would have been completely on his own for anything to have happened.

      My son & DIL were livid & removed him immediately from that school. They probably should have sued the teacher & the school district but this is AZ so they just found another safer placement for him at that time.

      IMO, that teacher should have been fired, maybe jailed! What responsible adult lets a 5 year old out of her/his sight for 3 hours without doing anything?

  • GreenLadyHere

    Sepia – - -AHA!! – —-MORE PROOF – -Da DREADED nra — -DOES NOT REPRESENT — all GUN OWNERS!! – — -

    – –The Five Gun Safety Laws That Gun Owners Support – -
    — – - -Vice President Joe Biden is slated to deliver his suggestions for a series of gun violence prevention measures to the President today. Most likely, stronger gun regulations will be among the measures Biden proposes. And while the gun lobby may argue that such laws are out of step with the opinions of gun owners, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that people who have a firearm in their home actually support a lot of gun safety measures.

    Here are the top five gun laws that most gun owners would like to see:
    - — 1. Universal background checks.The poll found that a huge majority of gun owners — 86 percent — would like to see every single person who wants to purchase a firearm go through a background check.     Currently, the so-called ‘gun show loophole’ allows some purchasers (those who buy used guns and those who buy at gun shows) to forgo a background check, setting up a system where criminals can easily purchase weapons.

    - – 2. Background checks for ammunition purchasing.
    - – 3. Ban on extended magazines.
    - –4. Gun database.
    - – -5. Assault weapons ban.

    The support for each of these measures demonstrates that the gun lobby is out of step with everyday gun owners. NRA representatives insist that Congress won’t pass ammunition clip bans, for example, and say that background checks are “unnecessary” and expensive. But even NRA members support more regulations on guns than the lobby would like to indicate.
    THERE IS MORE. – — – - -LIES R – - -BEIN’ REVEALED!! – -HAH!

  • Miranda

    Sources: Oxygen to Cancel New Show ‘All My Babies’ Mamas,’ Starring Shawty Lo
    Jan 14, 2013 4:56 PM EST

    Under public pressure, Oxygen won’t let the new reality-TV series starring Shawty Lo see the light of day, sources tell Allison Samuels. But why was ‘All My Babies’ Mamas’ ever given life to begin with?

    more here
    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/14/under-pressure-oxygen-cancels-its-new-show-all-my-babies-mamas-starring-shawnty-lo.html

    • rikyrah

      the person who greenlit this should be out of a job

    • GreenLadyHere

      miranda- – - – -***WHEW LAWD– — deep breath***- –

      “WHYCOME” THIS- – -trash was even taken outta the TRASH CAN???–
      - – —WE get accused of this behavior annnd then we wanna glorify it??- –WHA’????— —

      - –Then THINK about the CHILDREN who R produced through SUCH DEMEANIN’ ADULT BEHAVIOR!!! – - -THINK about THEIR FEELINGS!!- –HOW DARE us/we ADULTS CONTINUE 2 HURT THEM!!- – -geesh!!

      – — -THIS is such GR8 NEWS!!- — -4 sooo many reasons. :>)- – -

    • nellcote

      My faith in Oprah is somewhat restored. This show really pissed me off. It was pretty much everything that is distructive for poc in “reality” shows.

      • Town

        Oprah didn’t have anything to do with this show.

  • GreenLadyHere

    Sepia – - – -Woo! Hoo! – — A BLACK HISTORY-MAKING MOMENT- -

    — – -1st black female computer science PhD student at Univ. of Michigan reveals lack of rolemodels – - -A FIRST!! – -Yaaaa! :>)

    — – -“Am I really the first?”

    That was the first thought that came to mind when Kyla McMullen, 29, found out she would soon become University of Michigan’s first African-American female computer science PhD alumna this past year.

    McMullen later decided to go to the records office to search for another fellow black female alumnus to connect with. But she soon discovered that she would become the first black female student in the history of the program to complete the PhD.

    “Typically when you think of someone who is in computer science. you think of a person who is a geek — with pocket protectors, suspenders and highwater pants,” McMullen joked in a phone interview with theGrio. “African-American women often don’t think ‘Okay, I wanna be that [nerd].””

    While McMullen’s graduation this past spring marked a racial landmark for Michigan’s computer science department, she said that her experience in the department was sometimes “isolating” because she had very few people to turn to for mentorship.
    THERE IS MORE.

    — -CONGRATULATIONS – -DR. KYLA McMULLEN! :>) WE R PROUD of U. :>) – -

  • GreenLadyHere

    Sepia – –PROTEST at WAL-MART – - -RE -GUN SALES – -

    —–Anti-Gun Protest Outside Walmart Near Newtown to Take Place Today –

    – — Gun-control advocates are planning a rally outside a Walmart store near Newtown, Connecticut, on Tuesday to demand the largest U.S. retailer stop selling assault weapons.

    The rally is planned for a Walmart in a Danbury shopping center, which is eight miles from the Newtown elementary school where a gunman opened fire on December 14, killing 20 first graders and six educators.
    THERE IS MORE

    —–RIHEP – -VICTIMS. – - – -CONDOLENCES 2 FAMILIES/FRIENDS. – -

    • AxelFoley

      Good.

      • GreenLadyHere

        HEEY AxelFoley. ***BIG HUG** :>)

        – - -***fist bump*** :>) — -Annnd I believe that MORE R PLANNED. :>)

        –ALL WE DA PEOPLE [co] – - -hafta SHARE in this MOVEMENT -AGAINST the “Dreaded nra/Gun lobbyists”. –

        MR. PRESIDENT stated that he is DEPENDIN’ on alla us!! –:>)

        Good 2 C U AxeFoley. :>)

  • GreenLadyHere

    Sepia – —RE: Lance Armstrong — -Ms. Oprah – -”HE BROUGHT IT.” – -Wha’? –

    – –WAY-ELL — -ACTUALLY – - -HE CAUGHT UP –with the KNOWLEDGE that people have already BEEN –TOLD about him!! – -

    PUH-LEEZE –Ms. Oprah!! — –HE OWED -”IT” – -2 errybody 2 –
    — --TELL DA TRUTH!! – - -

    NOW — we will WATCH 4 the CONSEQUENCES. – - -

  • GreenLadyHere

    Sepia – - – -JOBS! – — JOBS! — -JOBS!! – - -Woo! Hoo! –

    – — -To Be Equal: National Urban League Launches $70 Million ‘Jobs Rebuild America’ Initiative – -

    - – — “We urge that a comprehensive jobs program be developed and executed by way of a partnership that includes government, the private sector and the nation’s non-profit community.” November 7 National Urban League letter to President Obama, John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi

    The December jobs report has confirmed what urban America has known for a very long time: The fierce urgency of now is overtaking the slow pace of the economic recovery and continuing partisan gridlock in Washington. The recent jobs report reveals that 155,000 jobs were created last month and overall unemployment remained at a steady and still too high rate of 7.8 percent. But the unemployment picture in urban America tells a decidedly different story.
    — –SNIP – –
    African American unemployment, which has hovered at twice the national average for decades, has now climbed to 14 percent and the Hispanic jobless rate of 9.6 percent also continues to exceed the national average. Despite the efforts of the Congressional Black Caucus and other progressive voices in Congress, the jobs crisis in urban America has reached emergency proportions and is tearing at the economic and social fabric of many communities. That is why the National Urban League announced last week a new $70 million “Jobs Rebuild America” initiative designed to employ, educate and empower communities that have been hardest hit by the Great Recession.

    Our campaign is a two-pronged effort. First, through a $70 million public-private expansion of existing Urban League job training, education and business development programs, we intend to directly assist thousands of jobseekers and entrepreneurs in dozens of cities over the next five years.
    THERE IS MORE. – - – -BEST WISHES annnnd – -THANK U. :>) –
    [Gotta "bounce" sooon. MISSIN' U/CARRYIN' U --IN MY ♥ :>)]

  • BoomerGal
    • jds09

      Finally! I welcome this…step out of the shadows (coded language) and put your sheet on. These mofos still think we are living in the 1950′s when they had the power of a racist police state behind them. Those days are gone….Bring. It. On.

      • BoomerGal

        I hear ya, jd but I guess I’m too old and too tired. It’s hard to keep fighting these age old ideologies even though I know things are changing. Just not fast enough for me.

    • http://themidnightsolution.blogspot.com LTMidnight

      All just a game. She has to rebuild here right wing credibility for supporting Mitt Romney.

    • MsKitty

      Maybe I’m missing something, but hasn’t the vast majority of mass shootings been done by white males?

      Whatevs Manny, whatevs.

      • GN

        And serial killings.

        • AxelFoley

          And genocides.

    • Town

      The proper thing to do when somebody like this says stuff like this is pin them down to concrete solutions.

      If the problem is non-white people shooting and killing, what do you propose to solve this problem?

  • GreenLadyHere

    Sepia – — UPDATE on the POSSIBLE – - -”EXECUTIVE ORDERS” – –

    —-Joe Biden: White House eying 19 executive actions on guns – -

    – – - -The White House has identified 19 executive actions for President Barack Obama to move unilaterally on gun control, Vice President Joe Biden told a group of House Democrats on Monday, the administration’s first definitive statements about its response to last month’s mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

    Later this week, Obama will formally announce his proposals to reduce gun violence, which are expected to include renewal of the assault weapons ban, universal background checks and prohibition of high-capacity magazine clips. But Biden, who has been leading Obama’s task force on the response, spent two hours briefing a small group of sympathetic House Democrats on the road ahead in the latest White House outreach to invested groups.

    – –SNIP – - -
    – - – -“I think everybody acknowledges that the assault weapons ban is a challenge, but other things — like the size of the magazines, the background checks, straw purchases — are all things that have a good chance of passing,” Scott said.

    Speier said she told Biden the White House should do as much as it can on its own.

    “I urged him to do as much by executive order as possible,” she said. “Frankly, I don’t have a lot of confidence that this Congress is going to do anything significant.”
    THERE IS MORE. — -

    – - -THANK U – -VP Biden! – - – -BEST WISHES – — MR. PRESIDENT!! —

  • GreenLadyHere

    Sepia – - -Woo! Hoo! – –Jus’ received – –

    — -GreenLadyHere: – - -Michelle Obama’s birthday is on Thursday. And I think we can get 50,000 supporters to sign her birthday card.

    Michelle has done so much for our country. And I want her to know how much she’s inspired us. So let’s show her that she’s loved and appreciated with thousands of birthday wishes from grassroots supporters like you.

    — – –LET’S – -DO THIS!! – - -Woo! Hoo! –

    —- – —- –Lookin – FORWARD – -Michelle Obama was born on January 17, 1964 in Chicago, Illinois. -> — -

  • creolechild

    LOL! Ummm…No! NO…NO…NO! Why? Is there something in the water that’s adversely effecting y’all? Are you bored? Is your boss working on your last nerve? Has your significant other dumped you? Did your dog or cat just die? Is the exhibitionist in you veering out of control? JUST. STOP. IT! Seek professional help because this is not a good look. Okay?

    Video Overnight Thread- Improv Everywhere: No Pants Subway Ride 2013

    http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2013/01/14/video-overnight-thread-improv-everywhere-no-pants-subway-ride-2013/

    H/T Paddy

  • Miranda

    *blink*

    Teacher with fear of young kids sues Ohio district

    CINCINNATI (AP) — A former high school teacher suing the school district where she used to work is accusing its administrators of discriminating against her because of a rare phobia she says she has: a fear of young children.

    Maria Waltherr-Willard, 61, had been teaching Spanish and French at Mariemont High School in Cincinnati since 1976.

    Waltherr-Willard, who does not have children of her own, said that when she was transferred to the district’s middle school in 2009, the seventh- and eighth-graders triggered her phobia, caused her blood pressure to soar and forced her to retire in the middle of the 2010-2011 school year.

    more here
    http://bigstory.ap.org/article/teacher-fear-young-kids-sues-ohio-district

    • rikyrah

      I’m gonna tell her what I tell the pharmacists who think they can use ‘the conscience’ as a reason why they won’t fill LEGAL PRESCRIPTIONS -

      YOU NEED ANOTHER FUCKING JOB.

      • jds09

        Next it will be doctors that can’t stand the sight of blood. lol

      • Daltex82

        THIS!!!

    • AxelFoley

      I…I can’t even…

      That’s like being a lion tamer but being afraid of lions.

      This shit does not compute.

  • creolechild

    It’s nice that this particular topic is being explored but why we gotta be “junkies?” Pffffftttttt….you can do much better than that. Why not conoisseurs? I’m just sayin’…tighten it up will ‘ya please.

    ‘Soul Food Junkies’ digs into African American food history and habits

    Is soul food “the bane of African American health,” or is it a cuisine with a long and complex cultural history? What if it’s both? Filmmaker Byron Hurt’s documentary Soul Food Junkies premiering tonight on PBS aims to tell the history of soul food and contextualize collards, peas, and cornbread in the contemporary fight for food justice in communities of color, communities we often call “food deserts.”[....]

    Read more: ‘Soul Food Junkies’ digs into African American food history and habits

    H/T Susie Cagle

    • MsKitty

      I DVR’d it last night. From what I saw in the promos it should be decent.

  • http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia

    American journalism….

    House #GOP has lobbyists pay for their retreat, #Dems use taxpayer $. nationaljournal.com/daily/who-pays… As an American, which do u prefer?— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) January 15, 2013

    • Miranda

      SMH

    • jds09

      Nepotism run amuck, its killing journalism. Russert, Bush, Clinton, Huntsman….

    • conlakappa

      He’s so dense. I was going to go the easy route and crack on the nepotism that got him his job versus the President or Nancy Pelosi getting their jobs. Instead, I’ll point out that it smacks of pay for play and the GOP members are going to do the bidding of people who take them on junkets. That’s what whores do–provide the service for which they’ve been paid.

  • creolechild

    17 Years of AMBER Alerts Result in More than 600 Rescued Children

    The following post appears courtesy of Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs Mary Lou Leary.

    On January 13th, the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) observes the day in 1996 when nine-year-old Amber Hagerman was abducted in Arlington, Texas, while riding her bicycle. Her abduction and brutal murder launched the creation of the AMBER (America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert program. On this day we remind everyone to recommit themselves and remain alert and responsive to these emergency broadcasts for missing children. Because of AMBER Alerts, 602 abducted children have been successfully recovered and brought home safely.[....]

    Read more: http://blogs.justice.gov/main/archives/2632

    H/T Tracy Russo

  • creolechild

    Dallas Mayor Challenges Men To Stand Up Against Domestic Violence (VIDEO)

    Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings ….made an emotional plea at a press conference at Dallas City Hall on Monday, addressing what he calls the “tree of violence” that includes domestic violence.[....] Backing him up are Dallas Police Chief David Brown and domestic violence victim advocates. Chief Brown says that Dallas has seen a drastic increase in domestic violence homicides in the last year. There were ten in 2011 and 26 in 2012. The city investigates 18-20 domestic violence cases per day (10,000 per year). According to Brown, 13,000 offenses are reported per year, with 4,000 of those filed on people who acted in a violent way toward an intimate partner.[....]

    The mayor is calling on the men of Dallas to stand up against domestic violence with a public awareness campaign that will include a rally this spring and a mental health symposium. Rawlings’ goal is to “to change the male culture” in Dallas.[....]

    Read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/01/15/dallas-mayor-challenges-men-to-stand-up-against-domestic-violence-video/

    H/T Tiffany Willis

    • Joy

      Love Chief Brown! Despite his own personal tragedies, he has excelled at overseeing the DPD.

  • Alma98

    Good morning everyone and Happy Birthday Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.!

  • creolechild

    Airlines Accused of Gaming Tax Rules

    CHICAGO—The transportation authority here accused two of the world’s largest airlines, United Continental Holdings Inc. and American Airlines, of dodging a combined $300 million in local taxes since 2005, expanding its allegations that several towns in Illinois are illegally operating as tax havens.

    [....] The Regional Transportation Authority alleges United and American set up “sham offices” in Sycamore, Ill., population 17,500, in order to save tens of millions of dollars in annual sales tax on the fuel they purchase for their planes at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.[....] The RTA sued United on Monday in Cook County Circuit Court. The authority, which oversees the mass-transit system in the Chicago metropolitan area, declined to sue American Air because it is still in bankruptcy court.[....]

    Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324595704578242193103307204.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5

    H/T Jack Nicas

    • conlakappa

      Next the authority should try to take on again the airlines practice of passing on the September 11 fee to the consumer.

      • Aquagranny911

        JEEZE LOWEEZ!!! IMO, airlines have collected at least 3 times whatever September 11 cost them!

  • creolechild

    Fighting Education Shock Therapy

    [....] In a coordinated effort, Title VI complaints have been filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) by plaintiffs from turned-over districts across the country: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, D.C., Newark, New York, and Philadelphia. Coming soon, says Jitu Brown of Chicago’s Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, are filings from Austin, Cleveland, Kansas City, New Orleans, Oakland, and Wichita. That’s 14 cities (and counting) that see evidence of discrimination in federal education mandates.

    Though the complaints vary city by city, the themes are common: school closings and turnarounds have a statistically disproportionate impact on students of color, and this impact is destructive: displaced students are shipped away from their neighborhoods and forced to cross many social boundaries, with little to no precedent of advanced academic success in their new environments.[....]

    Last year, a number of groups involved in the filings converged on Washington to promote the “Sustainable Success Model,” an alternative to the four intervention measures required under School Improvement Grants.[....] These demands are a rebuttal to the civil rights rhetoric bandied by moneyed scorched-earth reformers—Michelle Rhee, Bill Gates, Eli Broad, Mitt Romney, and their far-flung bases of support. They also remind us that the Civil Rights Act—whose Title VI took an extra decade of litigation to be enforced by federal education officials—is a vehicle for civil rights struggle rather than the one-off win that school textbooks often make it out to be. While Title VI has been used to varying degrees of success to equalize education funding and desegregate schools, its application to school closings is seeing its first test.[....]

    Read more: http://prospect.org/article/fighting-education-shock-therapy

    H/T James Cersonsky

  • creolechild

    New York set to pass first state gun laws since Newtown massacre

    New York is on its way to becoming the first state to pass new gun laws since the Newtown massacre on Tuesday, as Obama gears up to use executive orders to protect Americans against gun violence. New York’s Republican-controlled Senate voted 43 to 18 to approve the package Monday night, the one-month anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting which left 26 people dead, including 20 children.[....] The New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act was expected to pass through the Assembly easily Tuesday morning.

    [....] The new laws further refine New York’s assault weapons ban, reducing the size of legal magazines from 10 to seven bullets. It also puts in place more thorough background checks and streamlines a law that facilitates the confinement of mentally ill people who may pose a threat to themselves or others, according to the Washington Times.[....]

    Read more: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/130115/new-york-enacts-first-state-gun-laws-newtown-shooting

    H/T Talia Ralph

  • creolechild

    Recovery in U.S. Saving 8 Million Underwater Homeowners

    [....] Medved was among the 12 million borrowers in the U.S. who at the peak of the real-estate downturn owed more on their mortgages than their houses were worth, blocking them from moving or saving money by taking advantage of the lowest borrowing costs on record to refinance. As prices recovered, the number of underwater borrowers fell by almost 4 million last year to 7 million, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co., and could drop to 4 million within 2 years.

    The housing market is rebounding faster than anyone thought possible, according to Blackstone Group LP’s global head of real estate Jonathan Gray, as the Federal Reserve buys mortgage bonds to keep rates near record lows and investors sop up a diminishing supply of properties for sale.[....]

    Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-15/recovery-in-u-s-saving-8-million-underwater-homeowners.html

    H/T Heather Perlberg

  • Miranda

    Maybe Lance coming clean cuz he bout to dime out his main sponsor that got all that gubmit sponsorship money.

    Will Thomas Weisel, Who Owns Lance Armstrong’s U.S. Postal Team, Get Charged with Fraud?

    Lance Armstrong’s “no-holds-barred” interview with Oprah Winfrey on Thursday, when he’s expected to confess to the use of performance-enhancing drugs during his professional cycling career, comes as a federal probe into his finances has widened to focus on the man who bankrolled his champion teams: legendary San Francisco financier Thomas Weisel. Documents unsealed on Dec. 12 in a federal court in Washington reveal that government investigators pursuing possible fraud claims against Armstrong have also subpoenaed Weisel, founder of the Montgomery Securities investment bank and co-chairman of Stifel Financial.

    In Silicon Valley, Weisel, 71, is renowned for having taken public such companies as Amgen (AMGN) and Yahoo! (YHOO). In sports, though, he is known as the founder, owner, and chairman of San Francisco-based Tailwind Sports, the holding company for the U.S. Postal Service cycling team that Armstrong led to an unbroken string of seven victories in the Tour de France, from 1999 to 2005. From 1996 to 2004, the U.S. Postal Service paid out $40 million in federal funds to sponsor the team. Team management, which hired and paid the riders, promised in its contracts not to tolerate doping. The Major Fraud Investigations Division of the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General is trying to determine if Armstrong and others defrauded the government by violating that no-doping clause, a federal prosecutor wrote in a filing last year. Weisel declined to comment for this story. He has not publicly addressed reports of doping on the team.

    more here
    http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-15/will-thomas-weisel-the-owner-of-lance-armstrongs-u-dot-s-dot-postal-team-get-charged-with-fraud

  • Miranda

    Jamie Dupree‏@jamiedupree
    Spokesman Jay Carney says kids who wrote letters to the President about gun violence will be at the event

  • Miranda

    *facepalm*

    Oliver Willis‏@owillis
    WHO ASKED THIS? OMG, STOP. rt @ZekeJMiller Carney says he hasn’t spoken with Obama about Lance Armstrong

    • MsKitty

      I’m surprised they haven’t asked him what he thinks about Taylor Swift’s latest breakup while they’re at it.

      Dumbasses.

    • Daltex82

      They need to either replace the current crop of useless GOP minions known as the WHPC or just forgo the White House press briefings. Obviously they don’t care about informing folks about things that matter so why waste Jay Carney and the staff’s time.

      • nellcote

        Carney just needs to stop taking questions from the two front rows.

        • AxelFoley

          This.

    • AxelFoley

      Man, these muhfuckas are the most worthless pieces of shit…

  • Miranda

    What’s Really Behind the Hagel Fight
    Aaron David Miller points out that the bumpy nomination and confirmation process for Chuck Hagel to be the next defense secretary isn’t really about Hagel himself.

    “This is really a fight about Barack Obama. It is being driven by three somewhat overlapping constituencies — a pro-Israel community that doesn’t trust the president, a Republican party and a neoconservative elite struggling unsuccessfully to define its own foreign policy identity, and finally, a party in opposition that is determined to remind Obama that, reelected or not, he doesn’t have a free hand.”
    http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/01/15/whats_really_behind_the_hagel_fight.html

  • GreenLadyHere

    Sepia- — -IMHO- – -Since MR. PRESIDENT has NOMINATED Sen. Hagel annnd Mr. Schumer can – - -assist —–THEN- — -Movin’ –FORWARD—->:>)

    - — -After Meeting, Chuck Schumer Backs Hagel—

    - — – — Amid concerns over Chuck Hagel’s past comments on “the Jewish lobby,” leading Jewish Democrat Chuck Schumer had a 90-minute one-on-one with the Pentagon nominee, and emerged supporting his confirmation. Schumer came to the conclusion, despite “previous concerns,” and applauded Hagel’s support for “Israel’s right to retaliate militarily in the face of terrorist attacks by Hezbollah or Hamas,” as well as his readiness to “do ‘whatever it takes’ to stop Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons.”

    As to his “unfortunate use of the term ‘Jewish lobby’ … Senator Hagel understands the sensitivity around such a loaded term and regrets saying it,” Schumer said, per CNN.>
    THERE IS MORE- – — – -Please PROCEED :>) —–>

  • rikyrah

    Listen to David Frum

    by BooMan
    Tue Jan 15th, 2013 at 09:29:19 AM EST

    Another way of articulating David Frum’s point might be to say to the Republicans and their base that (in the fight over the budget) they can destroy the economy but they cannot win. They were able to force a deal in 2011 for two reasons. They had won a mandate from the voters in the 2010 midterms and the president was worried about being reelected and was willing to cave in order to protect the economy. This time around, they have no mandate, having lost the elections even worse than the results imply. And the president, while still protective of the economy, doesn’t have to worry that a recession will cost him his job. The last time the Republicans shut down the government, in 1995, they had a mandate and they still lost the political fight very badly. They also had a clean slate, having not controlled the House of Representatives for 40 years at the time. If they do it again, things will go very badly for them, even in many of their seemingly safe seats.

    I am not even talking about the debt ceiling and defaulting on our debts. That would be armageddon for the party, and I doubt Speaker Boehner would allow it. I am talking about refusing to appropriate the funds needed to keep people’s Social Security checks flowing and our National Parks open. David Frum is correct. The time to force major cuts to government programs is when the economy is healthy, unemployment is low, and after the Republicans have had a good election cycle. Until then, this kind of strategy is a suicide mission. It’s terrorism.

    http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/1/15/92919/2924

  • rikyrah

    How to Divide and Conquer

    by BooMan
    Tue Jan 15th, 2013 at 10:59:32 AM EST

    I hesitate to even say this out loud because I don’t want to clue the Republicans into what is happening. But, they are about to see their Speaker break his promise not to put any more bills on the floor that don’t enjoy the support of the majority of his caucus or that haven’t gone through the normal committee process. He is going to do it to raise the debt ceiling. If his caucus would listen to reason, Boehner wouldn’t have to renege on his pledges, but they won’t listen to reason.
    For the administration, their demand is simple: a clean bill with no negotiations. But they would prefer it to pass with a minority of Republican votes because it drives the wedge further into the House GOP, destroys their unity and, thereby, their effectiveness. And it conditions them to act in a divided fashion, which is a requirement for passing anything on guns, climate, or immigration, as well as for any acceptable tax reform or overall budget deal.

    It pays to go back and look at how the Republicans geared up to oppose Obama’s presidency before his inauguration. Back in March 2010, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reflected on how well his plan had worked so far.

    http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/1/15/105932/890

  • Miranda
  • rikyrah

    Ted Yoho, the Least Experienced House Freshman, Has a Secret Weapon: His 24-Year-Old Chief of Staff

    Kat Cammack went from having one Capitol Hill internship to running Rep. Ted Yoho’s office.

    Kat Cammack had just come from meeting a big donor in Jacksonville, Florida, and was now in a house with boarded-up windows, rusty frying pans, and what appeared to be human feces on the torn-up couch.

    “It was like a redneck party gone wrong,” she told me over a greasy-spoon breakfast on Capitol Hill. “At that point I was ready for someone to sneak up on me and take me out. I was just thinking, ‘If I die, I die; it is what it is.’”

    Cammack, the blond former pageant girl, just one year removed from being the head cheerleader at her university, was at this house to deliver a Ted Yoho-for-Congress sign. Fortunately for her, the man living there wanted nothing more than to express support for her boss and regale her with stories of his life as a carny and sing her a little opera (she said he had a very nice voice). It was just another day in the life of the only staffer on the Yoho campaign.

    In the end, the work paid off. Yoho—who had had no political experience but had been a large-animal veterinarian for 30 years—managed an improbable victory over 12-term Republican incumbent Cliff Stearns. With the election over, Cammack has gone from campaign manager to chief of staff.

    Oh, and she’s only 24 years old.

    Let’s put this into perspective: The only other political experience Cammack has is an internship in the office of Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., office and some volunteer work here and there for other campaigns, all while she was attending Metro State University in Colorado. There are ways to balance out inexperience in congressional offices. A guy with no political experience can hire a Hill vet to help guide him through his first years, or a longtime lawmaker can hire a young chief of staff to inject some new ideas into a stagnating office. Yoho’s office decided to just double down on the inexperience.

    http://nationaljournal.com/congress/ted-yoho-the-least-experienced-house-freshman-has-a-secret-weapon-his-24-year-old-chief-of-staff-20130115

    • conlakappa

      ::blinks::

      Plotline from Girls?

    • http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia

      Yoho is hittin’ that on the regular.

      • jds09

        LOL. Wrrong so wrong…lol

      • AxelFoley

        Beat me to it.

        What? Ya’ll know me.

      • sagittarius

        Hi, Sepia!

        Bad Lounge. You. That way ——————->

        • TyrenM

          I was beginning to wonder if the women were getting policed up in hrr! Just saying, if that had been me, handcuffed at the gate and sent without snacks. That said: In Rick James voice: Yo Ho ooww!

    • nellcote

      Yoho—who had had no political experience but had been a large-animal veterinarian for 30 years
      ===
      Perfect resume for joining the circus that is the House of Reps.

  • Miranda

    HAHAHAHA

    ThinkProgress‏@thinkprogress
    Sad Trombone: House Republicans can’t find any co-sponsors for their latest Obamacare repeal bills http://thkpr.gs/VYBu0S

    • Alma98

      HAHAHAHAHA!

  • rikyrah

    REMINDER:

    The Real Husbands of Hollywood premieres tonight at 10 pm EST on BET.

    I think it’s gonna be hilarious.

    • vulcan_girl

      I’m watching!

  • rikyrah

    The Morning Plum: Conservatives surrendering in debt ceiling fight?
    Posted by Greg Sargent on January 15, 2013 at 9:15 am

    The obsession with the platinum coin has distracted media figures from what is a far more important story: The slow realization sinking in among Republicans and conservatives that they are losing the debt ceiling fight.

    We’ve already heard from Newt Gingrich and the Wall Street Journal edit board that the threat of default puts the GOP in a terrible political position. John Boehner has admitted that the debt ceiling is not the party’s primary source of leverage in the fiscal talks. Mitch McConnell has refused to say whether he stands behind Boehner’s continued insistence (despite his acknowledgment of weak leverage) that any debt ceiling hike shouldn’t happen without spending cuts of the same magnitude.

    Today, in another step forward, the National Review calls on Republicans to take the threat of default off the table:

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/01/15/the-morning-plum-conservatives-surrendering-in-debt-ceiling-fight/

  • rikyrah

    Why gun politics are no longer dangerous for Democrats
    Posted by Greg Sargent on January 15, 2013 at 11:34 am

    All signs are that President Obama intends to include an assault weapons ban in the package of gun reforms he’s set to release this week. This provision is widely thought to have little chance of getting through Congress; even Harry Reid has expressed skepticism that it can pass the Senate, and red state Dem Senators are said to be leery of it.

    It’s unclear why Dems need to worry about the politics of the ban, however. That’s because new polling shows that opposition to the assault weapons ban is driven almost entirely by non-college males, a constituency the Democratic Party continues to rely upon less and less. Meanwhile, the constituencies that form the pillars of the emerging Democratic coalition — minorities, young Americans and college educated whites, particularly women — support the ban, in come cases overwhelmingly.

    This underscores the ways in which gun control politics are changing — and why Dems no longer need to fear the issue.

    The new polling comes from the Post/ABC News survey out last night. The toplines show that Americans support an assault weapons ban by 58-39. I asked the Post polling team for a detailed demographic breakdown:

    * White non-college men are by far the least supportive, at 43-55.

    * Meanwhile, white college educated men support a ban, 57-41. White college educated women are even more supportive, 73-25.

    * Nonwhites overall are also very supportive, at 63-33.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/01/15/why-gun-politics-are-no-longer-dangerous-for-democrats/

  • rikyrah

    Debt ceiling endgame comes into view
    Posted by Greg Sargent on January 15, 2013 at 1:39 pm

    This is a great catch by Jed Lewison. On MSNBC this morning, Rep. Greg Walden — a member of the House GOP leadership — would not directly answer when asked if the House would allow a vote on a debt ceiling hike without a majority of Republicans supporting it. If so, it could very well pass the House, mostly with Democratic support.

    Little by little, you can see the outlines of a possible endgame coming into view. To be sure, things could still go very wrong for Dems, but there is a potential outcome favoring them that is looking more likely: Republicans quietly allow the debt ceiling to get detached from the other talks, while voting against raising it themselves.

    There are two ways this could work. The first is that Senate Dems could put up the so called “McConnell provision” — the measure supported last year by the Senate GOP leader that would effectively transfer authority over the debt ceiling to the President — for a vote. Yesterday Obama asked Congress to give him this authority.

    As you’ll recall, last year Mitch McConnell asked Harry Reid to hold a straight up or down vote on this provision, to bluff Dems, but was forced to filibuster his own proposal when it became clear that Dems had the unity to pass it. If Dems put this up for a vote again — and they should — virtually the whole strengthened Dem majority would likely support it. If McConnell filibusters again it’s possible Dems could get the 60 votes needed to overcome it.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/01/15/debt-ceiling-endgame-comes-into-view/

  • rikyrah

    Impeachment is not a toy, redux
    By Steve Benen
    Tue Jan 15, 2013 9:37 AM EST.

    Rep. Steve Stockman (R) of Texas served one term in the 1990s, during which he ran into a little trouble in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing, when his “links to anti-government militia groups” became problematic.

    Sixteen years later, the right-wing lawmaker is back on Capitol Hill, and this time, he’s prepared to impeach President Obama if the White House uses executive orders to shape gun policy

    …………………………………

    The Texas congressman added that “the president’s actions” — which, remember, have not happened — are a direct attack on Americans that place all of us in danger.” Stockman added, “If the president is allowed to suspend constitutional rights on his own personal whims, our free republic has effectively ceased to exist.”

    Let’s look at this from a few different angles. First, I’d recommend Rep. Stockman consider decaf.

    Second, using executive orders on gun policy is not an impeachable offense. On the contrary, Republican presidents have acted on gun policy through executive orders, too, and there are plenty of legal options available to the president that are entirely consistent with constitutional limits and powers. No sane person is talking about “suspending constitutional rights.”

    And third, impeachment is not a partisan toy.

    http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/01/15/16525007-impeachment-is-not-a-toy-redux?lite

  • rikyrah

    Polls show strong support for new gun laws

    By Steve Benen

    Tue Jan 15, 2013 7:59 AM EST

    The White House is set to release a series of recommendations from Vice President Biden’s task force on gun violence, which will no doubt face intense criticism from groups like the NRA and their allies. But two new polls suggest that a month after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary, there’s a growing public appetite for meaningful gun reform.

    A Pew Research Center report released late yesterday found a majority of Americans support a wide variety of new measures, some by enormous margins. For example, 85% of Americans favor making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks, while 80% support laws to prevent mentally ill people from purchasing guns.

    It’s worth emphasizing that in our current political climate, 80% of Americans don’t agree on much, but they at least agree on measures like these.

    What’s more, two-thirds of Americans (67%) favor creating a federal database to track gun sales. In a bit of a surprise, nearly as many people (64%) support having more armed security in schools, boosted by large numbers of self-identified Republicans backing the idea.

    http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/01/15/16523822-polls-show-strong-support-for-new-gun-laws?lite

  • rikyrah

    RNC backs radical electoral-vote schemes
    By Steve Benen
    Tue Jan 15, 2013 12:55 PM EST.

    The Republican National Committee is restricted by a 30-year consent decree from targeting racial and ethnic minorities in its efforts to end fraudulent voting. Calling the anti-intimidation decree “antiquated,” RNC lawyers asked the Supreme Court to lift the order, but yesterday, the justices turned down the appeal without comment.

    The RNC, however, is not without other offensive ideas

    National Committee believes Wisconsin and other battleground states should change the way they allocate their Electoral College votes, but he said he is not inserting himself into how states decide to proceed.

    “It’s not my decision that can come from the RNC, that’s for sure,” said Reince Priebus, the RNC’s chairman.

    Gov. Scott Walker recently said he was intrigued by the notion of Wisconsin divvying up its electoral votes by congressional district, but that he had not made up his mind on whether to back the idea.

    We’ve discussed this before, but for those just joining us, Republicans in a variety of states — including Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio — have raised the prospect of changing the way their states’ electoral votes are allocated in presidential elections. Instead of winner-take-all contests in which the candidate who wins the most votes in the state then wins that state’s electoral haul, some in the GOP want district-by-district races.

    That way, in a state like Wisconsin, President Obama can beat Mitt Romney by over 200,000 popular votes, but when it came time for the electoral college, Obama and Romney would split Wisconsin’s electoral votes, five to five. Expand this to the national level and Obama would have finished 2012 with 5 million more popular votes than Romney, but Obama still would have lost the election thanks to gerrymandered districts.

    http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/01/15/16527252-rnc-backs-radical-electoral-vote-schemes?lite.

  • http://pragmaticobotsunite.blogspot.com/ Sepia

    Afternoon Thread is up!

  • AxelFoley

    Happy Birthday, Dr. King.

    Sing it, Stevie: