Jack & Jill Politics

Miranda,
Here is an excellent read on the crapshoot game DERIVATIVES and the hustlers on Wall Street....the dope man hires boys as runners and so DID Wall Street ..excerpt:


To this day, the willingness of a Wall Street investment bank to pay me hundreds of thousands of dollars to dispense investment advice to grownups remains a mystery to me. I was 24 years old, with no experience of, or particular interest in, guessing which stocks and bonds would rise and which would fall. The essential function of Wall Street is to allocate capital—to decide who should get it and who should not. Believe me when I tell you that I hadn’t the first clue.


I’d never taken an accounting course, never run a business, never even had savings of my own to manage. I stumbled into a job at Salomon Brothers in 1985 and stumbled out much richer three years later, and even though I wrote a book about the experience, the whole thing still strikes me as preposterous—which is one of the reasons the money was so easy to walk away from. I figured the situation was unsustainable. Sooner rather than later, someone was going to identify me, along with a lot of people more or less like me, as a fraud. Sooner rather than later, there would come a Great Reckoning when Wall Street would wake up and hundreds if not thousands of young people like me, who had no business making huge bets with other people’s money, would be expelled from finance.

http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-...

HA!! Thanks, I'm about to read this.

Somebody told me the lil duffle bag boys are just the same as these hedge fund managers and I do believe its true! LOL

What Junior Stands to Lose
By Terence Samuel | TheRoot.com
Blagojevich may be the one indicted, but Jesse Jackson Jr. has a real trial ahead of him.

http://www.theroot.com/id/49156

What in the world does James Montgomery mean...'he's ENTITLED to it'??!!

No, he is not entitled, no he did not earn, but yes indeed he did campaign for it.

It ain't Union wages...but Executive Compensation that creates the bad business model. Working Americans better unite....cause the rightwing are now into union busting. I don't know who is going to be left in the GOP....read more



Executive compensation is perhaps a more meaningful barometer of demonstrated priorities and cost structures of the Big Three relative to their Japanese competitors. According to data from 2006, the top three executives at the Big Three earned $26.5 million in salary and bonuses while in the same year, the top 37 executives at Toyota earned a combined $21.6 million (in 2006, Toyota’s top executive Hiroshi Okuda earned only $903,000).

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, in 2007 Ford’s CEO Alan Mulally was compensated $21.67 million, when in the same year Ford recorded losses of $2.72 billion. GM’s CEO Rick Wagoner earned $15.7 million in compensation in 2007, while the company posted losses of $38.7 billion. The prevailing management philosophy at these (and too many other U.S.) companies, which divorces compensation from business performance, is a more likely culprit of the industry’s troubles than the UAW. It’s also a major reason why any government intervention should include limits on executive compensation and require changes to managements’ backwards stances, including on issues such as opposing state emission standards.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/12/...

America's other shitty foreign policy: economic imperialism

People are always asking why folks in other parts of the world dont like the US. You know this will be the reaction to the Iraqi journalist especially whenthe MSM show stills of his face. A common person on the ground here will say "They dont like our way of life and our freedoms. We have so much and they are jealous of what we have"

Sure but thats only part of the story. People in other countries are sick of their economies being destroyed routinely and cavalierly by Western monetary policy. The IMF says bend over and people are raped once again. Except of course its economic rape and destruction. Burgeoning Third World industries are decimated whether its agriculture or textiles- think of any industry and its been destroyed by free trade and the supposed engine of equalisation and progress -globalization. Until people see how they are linked with workers in Africa, Caribbean, Asia and Latin America who are also trying to prosper and see their children educated and healthy- we will still have workers being screwed over.

For people who havent seen these movies see them now- they encapsulate so clearly what reading about these issues cant. Check out Life and Debt http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-527709... and Tshirt Travels http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/tshirttravel... .

I really hope Obama could try to push forgiveness of Third World country debt. I know he has a lot on his plate but this is one of the big olive branches that would help people in the developing world see how he is different. I am not holding my breath since he doesnt really even talk about poor people in this country and his economic team are the same type of crooks and rapists that are in the IMF and Worldbank.

Anyway heres an article for those that arent familiar with the topic. Talk by Jeffrey Sachs
http://www.cceia.org/resources/transcripts/226.... or http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3374 . There's another great article but I cant find it...

i've seen this life and death video before, its a nice piece. if anyone doesn't believe its true, go to any jamaican non tourist area and see how they're living. i was down there during the gas riots at the end of the 90s - scarrrryyy stuff. i wasn't in the tourist areas and there were lots of things i was really too young to be experiencing.

I can do anything you can do better....times are a changing...

Woman Blinded by Spurned Man Invokes Islamic Retribution
Four years ago, a spurned suitor poured a bucket of sulfuric acid over her head, leaving her blind and disfigured. Late last month, an Iranian court ordered that five drops of the same chemical be placed in each of her attacker's eyes, acceding to Bahrami's demand that he be punished according to a principle in Islamic jurisprudence that allows a victim to seek retribution for a crime. The sentence has not yet been carried out. Read More

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...

whiterosebuddy, my sister just emailed me this link for books. Hope something lights up for you!

African-American Voices in Children's Fiction
Compiled by Arrowhead Library System

http://als.lib.wi.us/AACList.html

O thank you kindly...I really appreciate this!!

rikyrah: Was this ever posted??

David Plouffe (Interview)

If he were less shy and had a funny accent, David Plouffe would be every bit the household name that James Carville is—perhaps even going on Oprah and taking cameo roles in Hollywood movies. Plouffe is, after all, "the unsung hero" of the "best political campaign in the history of the United States of America"—which is how Barack Obama described him before a global television audience, in the mother of all shout-outs, on the night he was elected Leader of the Free World.

SKIP

D.P.: First of all, we knew that we had to get really good turnout, and that we thought a human being talking to a human being in a state is the most effective in communication. So we needed an organization that was able to facilitate that. Secondly, a presidential campaign is a very well-covered enterprise, people are talking about it all the time, they see it on the newscast, they're reading about it online. In many respects, advertising in a senate race or governor's or congressional race can have more impact because those races aren't front and center for people. I always believed that advertising was very, very important. I think we went right in and it was very helpful—makes it meaningful because people have 100 percent knowledge of the candidate and are following pretty closely. So I thought we could afford to trim a little bit. Now we ended up raising a lot of money, so our point levels were very big in September, October, but we could've won without that. Then the McCain campaign likes to say, "we were outspent, that's why we lost on TV"—and I think that's complete malarkey.

THERE IS A LOT MORE! :>)

READ ON! :>)

I think it's a GREAT ARTICLE!! :>)

Interesting story on the design of Obama's logo for the Presidential campaign...See the losers too.

http://www.logodesignlove.com/obama-08-logo-des...

whiterosebuddy: Hey, THANKS! :>) :>)

I like ANYTHING that references Mr. President-Elect OBAMA!! Whew!!! :>)

"OXYGEN MASK!!" ***shakin' my head**** :>) :>)

Miranda,

Where you at? lol

Are you watching the Cowboys & Giants?

YES!!! And I wanted the Boys to win and they did!!!! Love that Tashard Choice!

Yeah CowBoys! Terrell busted all the locker room hyperbole.

My Vikings won! :-))) but my B-More Raven lost :-(((

Now why we picked the same teams!!! LOL I was SOOO happy to see Tavares Jackson had not 1, not 2...but 4 TD passes!! WOO HOO!!

I like the Steelers, but I wanted the Ravens to win... :(

Really? Born in B-More,and the Ravens kicks serious ass!!!!

I Live in Minnesota, and sooo proud of Tavares Jackson!!!!!
Glad they won in Arizona too!!!!

Its cold as a witches tit in a brass bra!!!! Snowy, icey and windy!

Spirit,

Dang! I would die from the cold. I hate cold! We had a few flakes of snow here on Wednesday and people were going nuts at the sight. It melted as soon as it hit the ground. We don't get to see snow flakes that often, so it was kinda exciting to some. No way I could live where you are, I wouldn't survive 24 hours!

Yeah, we WON!!

Next Sat night's game is scary though.....the Cowboys have to play the Ravens.....and the Ravens defense is like rabid wild dogs....I've never seen a defense so consistently good for the last decade. There are at least 4 future Hall of Famers on that Ravens D.

Stop scaring me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

LOL! The Cowboys should win because they can get at least one TD outta the game.....I'm counting on my supercrush #94 to terrorize the Ravens QB into a 6 sacks game.

Yes. They have to do this!

Is Marion the Barbarian in the game?

Choice just made a Touchdown for the Cowboys!

20-8 ....Cowboys!

Alright, now. marion is my other son...he ate at my table.

Yup!

Just made a big first down!

For all of T.O. prima donna antics, I'm just glad the Cowboys won! LOLOL

Me too! The Cowboys needed this win! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Santa,

I have been sooooo good. Could you bring me Demarcus Ware??

Your friend,
Miranda

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rikyrah: MORE INVITEES [to the INAUGURATION]:

Little Rock Nine will join Tuskegee Airmen at Obama’s swearing-in

The now-aging civil-rights pioneers of the Little Rock Nine and the Tuskegee Airmen will have the opportunity to witness the swearing-in of Barack Obama as president.

Officials said Friday that invitations were being extended to the nine people who as teenagers desegregated Little Rock’s Central High School in 1957. Invitations to the Tuskegee Airmen, the famed African-American pilots of World War II, were announced earlier in the week.

Not all will be able to attend. Little Rock Nine member Elizabeth Eckford, 67, said she can’t afford the trip.**

The Washington Post

**-Ummmmm, I got my money laid on the table that ALL o' DEM will have FRONT ROW SEATS!! What say ye?? :>) :>)

GLH, I say they will all be in attendence!

spirit: YEP!! :>) :>)

I hope a charitable philanthropist steps in to get her there.

Contact Earl Stafford...

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Virgini...

Miranda: I'm believin' IT WILL! :>)

Somebody oughta help Elizabeth Eckford go to this once in a lifetime event.

Eckford was the student with sunglasses followed menacingly to the front door of Central High.

She too, was a sturdy black bridge to this moment.

Contact the brother, philantrophist, that is putting up folks...he paid something like 50K to afford the homeless and poor being able to attend with swell accomodation.

blksista: "Annnnnd, I AM TELLIN' YOU------SHE IS GOIN'!!" :>)

A pic of Ms. Eckford

Here's another one:
Little Rock desegregation [1957] (Ms. Elizabeth Eckford)

This is another iconic image of the 50’s segregation period. Elizabeth Eckford is one of the African American students known as the Little Rock Nine. On September 4, 1957, she and eight other African American students attempted to enter Little Rock Central High School, which had previously only accepted white students. They were stopped at the door by Arkansas National Guard troops called up by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus. They tried again without success to attend Central High on September 23, 1957. The next day, September 24, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent U.S. Army troops to accompany the Little Rock Nine to school for protection.

The thing is… she is not the subject of the photograph. Will Counts, the photographer shot Hazel Massery, the white girl shouting in front of the man. 40 years later she apologized to Elisabeth.


Here's an article:

The Little Rock Nine

They didn't start out being known as the Little Rock Nine but now they are in America's history books together. Here is a brief glimpse at these former students and what they are doing today, 40 years after this momentus year.

These nine students are unanimous in proclaiming the true heroes of the crisis at Central High School were their parents, who supported them and kept the faith that the process was right and that what they endured would give them opportunities they deserved.

THEIR BIOs ARE PRESENTED.

[NOTE: About 5 years ago, I had the PRIVILEGE of working with Dr. Terrence Roberts. I had invited him to speak in our school district as a part of our Black History Program. He was very modest annnnnnd, a GREAT SPEAKER!! ] :>) :>)

Thanks for drawing my attention to Ms. Eckford. :>)

"They didn't start out being known as the Little Rock Nine but now they
are in America's history books together."

um, not in any of MY history books - i am pretty sure we only talked about MLK in history and when Black History Month rolled around, we talked about a few people for maybe the first week. everything else i learned on my own or in college

nickwah22: Thanks. Maybe "some" history book has been revised.??

:>) :>)

rikyrah: I went looking to post this article on Vice-President-Elect Biden, BUT, an up and coming 5th Grade "news-caster is featured! HE's AMAZING!!

Biden to shrink VP role — big time

Joe Biden is laying plans to significantly shrink the role of the vice presidency in Barack Obama’s White House, according to an official familiar with his thinking.

It’s not just that Biden won’t sit in on Senate Democrats’ weekly caucus meetings – a privilege Republicans afforded outgoing Vice President Dick Cheney. He won’t have an office outside the House floor, as House Speaker Dennis Hastert gave Cheney early on.

Biden will not begin every day with his own intelligence briefing before sitting in on the president’s. He will not always be the last person Obama speaks to before making a decision.

He also will not, as a transition official calls it, operate a “shadow government” within an Obama administration. [NOTE: YOU BETCHA !! :>)]

One of the few ways he will resemble Cheney is in making clear his future ambitions, or lack thereof: Biden doesn’t expect to run for president after leaving the vice presidency, according to a transition source who was not authorized to speak on the record.

“What he has said previously is that Vice President Cheney had an overly expansive view of the vice president, almost created like a shadow government inside the White House," said the transition official familiar with Biden's role. "Vice President-elect Biden has a very strong view that the vice president’s role is to be an adviser to the president and to be a member of the president’s team, and that’s how he’s going to be in the job.”

[NOTE: IMHO - - Somebody HAD ta watch SHRUB! He might have "jumped off "and done something STUPID - - - - -ummmmmm LIKE LIE annnnnnnd START A WAR!!]

THERE IS MORE!

PLEASE WATCH the "LITTLE BROTHA!!" - - - DAMON WEAVER! :>)

Damon Weaver got it goin ON!!!

Loved his question to Dwayne Wade...''thought you voted for McCain' hahahahaa

whiterosebuddy: Aaaaa-man!! :>) :>)

Anybody catch 60 Minutes tonight. They had segment called "Where's the Bottom?" saying the financial crisis is going to get much MUCH worse because of other mortgage backed securities called option ARMS and Alt A . The video is here http://video.aol.com/partner/cbs/wheres-the-bot...

Here is some background http://www.seattledebtlaw.com/blog/2008/08/04/a...

Alt-A and Option ARMs: The Coming Storm

The first wave of Americans to default on their home mortgages appears to be cresting,” writes Vikas Bajaj in this morning’s New York Times, “but a second, far larger one is quickly building.”

Homeowners with good credit are falling behind on their payments in growing numbers, even as the problems with mortgages made to people with weak, or subprime, credit are showing their first, tentative signs of leveling off after two years of spiraling defaults.

The percentage of mortgages in arrears in the category of loans one rung above subprime, so-called alternative-A mortgages, quadrupled to 12 percent in April from a year earlier. Delinquencies among prime loans, which account for most of the $12 trillion market, doubled to 2.7 percent in that time.

What’s especially interesting is how closely the scenario outlined in the Times article matches up with this chart, published last year by the International Monetary fund using data from Credit Suisse, showing the value of mortgage rate resets due to happen each month between 2007 and 2015. (A reset is when the repayment terms of a loan change—invariably by increasing—according to a schedule determined by the loan contract.)

[Monthly Mortgage Rate Resets]

Earlier this decade, as the ballooning housing market pushed the affordability index past the point where the average first-time homebuyer could afford a typical home in many areas, the real-estate industry kept the boom going by offering “teaser-rate” mortgages. These loans had artificially low annual percentage rates that were only good for the first few years of the contract, after which they would reset to a much higher APRs that the buyers in many cases would not be able to afford. As long as housing prices kept going up, the story went, buyers would be able to use the increased equity in their homes to refinance into more affordable loans. Then housing prices stopped going up.

As the IMF graph shows, the problem began a couple of years ago with a huge wave of resets in the subprime market, giving rise to talk about the so-called “subprime crisis.” It has been the failure of these loans that has been responsible for much of the turmoil in the housing market over the past couple of years. By early 2009, however, most of the subprime resets will be over and done with. Then, beginning in early 2010 and continuing for a couple of years, there will be another big wave of resets, this time in alt-A and option ARMs.

As this scarily prophetic Business Week article from nearly two years ago puts it, option adjustable rate mortgages — the so-called “pick-a-payment” mortgages — “might be the riskiest and most complicated home loan product ever created.” Option ARMs offer several payment choices each month, typically differing by thousands of dollars. The least expensive option doesn’t even cover the full amount of the interest due on the loan, so the leftover interest gets added to the principle (a situation called negative amortization). Option ARMs sold like hotcakes during the boom, accounting for 9 percent of the volume of all mortgages sold in the US in 2006, and significantly more in boom states like California and Florida.
According to Standard & Poor’s, more than 75 percent of option ARM holders were making only the minimum monthly payment in 2007.

Those attractive payment options come to an end when the mortgage resets. Faced with a monthly payment that’s nearly double what they’ve been making, a debt that’s tens of thousands of dollars bigger than it was when they took it out, and a home that may be worth less than their outstanding debt by a wide margin, many homeowners will be forced to default or to seek protection in bankruptcy court.

Option ARMs, it can’t be pointed out often enough, are prime loans, not subprime. As today’s Times article notes, prime and alt-A loans make up a much bigger percentage of most banks’ mortgage portfolios than subprime loans do, raising the specter of a new wave of defaults that may dwarf the troubles we’ve already seen:

“Subprime was the tip of the iceberg,” said Thomas H. Atteberry, president of First Pacific Advisors, a investment firm in Los Angeles that trades mortgage securities. “Prime will be far bigger in its impact.”

It was a PONZI scheme...so of course it is going to get worse.

Mortgatebacked securities were DERIVATIVES...it was like gambling with monopoly money

And now everybody can't pay rent on BALTIC ave!!

All these new shopping and strip malls that went up in the past few years are next.

Oh snap.................you aint lyin.......... these "neighborhood developments" in many cities........yep, I'm waiting for the wheels to come off of Atlantic Station in Atlanta.

Whiterosebuddy: THANK YOU!! I'm informed! :>) :>)

That reminds me of a SONG:

Lloyd Price - Stagger Lee (Lloyd Price) :>) :>)

ENJOY!!! [I need ta get a life!] :>)

SHOT BILLY..o she shot that poor boy so BAAD!!

whiterosebuddy: Seeeeeee! :>) :>)

Got it. But what about Mediterrainean Place????

Foreclosed!!

Ha! Go to HELL, GO DIRECTLY TO HELL. Do not pass go,do not collect $200!

I am rolling the dice, praying on Free Parking ..you know the ghetto stash we put there instead of in the bank...so you can hit the number/lottery!!

C'moooon Free Parking!!!

I love how we in the hood change up a game to reflect our lives.

We need to HIT the NUMBA!!!

Dang, here I am thinking I'm all special with the FP stash.

Free Parking. MONOPOLY LAW-AWAY PLAN!!!

Blowin the dice, rubbin'em tween my fingas!!! Boo- yah!LOL!

Thank you.........they were shooting craps and they crapped out...its really very simple.

Yep!!!!

excerpt:

The derivatives market today is $531 trillion, up from $106 trillion in 2002 and a relative pittance just two decades ago. Theoretically intended to limit risk and ward off financial problems, the contracts instead have stoked uncertainty and actually spread risk amid doubts about how companies value them.

The contracts allowed financial services firms and corporations to take more complex risks that they might have otherwise avoided — for example, issuing questionable mortgages or excessive corporate debt. The fact that they can be traded in one sense limited risk but also increased the number of parties exposed when problems emerged.

Understand what I'm saying ??? NO?...read up on it...

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timesto...

Trumystique: THANK YOU for this information!

All I can do is ***shake my head**** um, um, um!

rikyrah: Some STATS from the ELECTION:

Turnout in presidential elections hit 40-year high

Enthusiasm among blacks and Democrats for Barack Obama’s candidacy pushed voter turnout in this year’s elections to the highest level in 40 years.

Final figures from nearly every state and the District of Columbia showed that more than 131 million people voted, the most ever for a presidential election. A little more than 122 million voted in 2004.

This year’s total is 61.6 percent of the nation’s eligible voters, the highest turnout rate since 1968, when Republican Richard M. Nixon defeated Democrat Hubert Humphrey, said Michael McDonald, a political science professor at George Mason University.

States finished certifying their election results this weekend, including California on Saturday. The Electoral College was scheduled to elect Obama president on Monday, with electors meeting in each state to vote in a largely ceremonial procedure.

Turnout increased for the third straight presidential election, encouraging news for those who have warned about voter apathy. Four years ago, 60.1 percent of those eligible voted.

“We seem to have restored the levels of civic engagement that we had in the 1950s and 1960s,” McDonald said. “But we didn’t break those levels.”

McDonald calculated turnout rates based on the number of eligible voters among adult U.S. citizens. Experts calculate turnout rates in different ways based on whom they consider eligible voters, a process that excludes noncitizens and, in most states, convicted felons.

Regardless of the method, turnout fell short of many predictions, in part because voters in some Republican areas of the country were not as enthusiastic this year with Sen. John McCain as the party’s nominee as they were four years ago when President George W. Bush won a second term.

Bush’s unpopularity after eight years in office, the nation’s fatigue with the Iraq war and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression—coupled with Obama’s message of change—contributed to the increased turnout for Obama. He was also helped by a surge in black voters, who had the opportunity to elect the first black president.

The number of registered Democrats jumped in many states, helping to propel Obama to a larger share of the vote than Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee, in 44 states and the District of Columbia.

Early voting hit a new high, with about 41 million people—or more than 31 percent—voting before Election Day, either by mail or at designated sites, according to returns compiled by The Associated Press. Early voting accounted for 22 percent of the votes cast in 2004.

The Obama campaign invested heavily in early voting, and it appeared to be the difference in several states, though many of those people might have eventually voted on Election Day.

THERE IS MORE!

Mr. President-Elect Obama - - - - - A SUPREME and MODEL VOTE-GETTING MACHINE!! :>) :>) Whoooo! Hooo! :>) :>)

David Gregory's no worse than Cambell Brown and Wolf Blitzer. Honestly, absent Hannity, etc. Fox's anchors ain't so bad.

I like Shep and am amused by Geraldo but other then that I don't really like Fox's anchors. However, since I travel a lot, sometime Fox and CNN are my only choices and CNN just puts me to sleep. So I watch Fox. The only anchors that I can not watch under any circumstances are O'Rielly and Hannity.

Agree on Shep. If I watch Fox at all, I'll watch Shep. He's pretty detached and balanced in his reading..... , I mean reporting. Love his Pinstripe suits too. Dude knows hog to rag it.

rikyrah: Waaaaait - a m-i-n-u-t-e!! FIRST - he said he might, NOW- he said NO!!

Embattled Illinois governor won’t resign Monday

Scandal-plagued Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich will not resign Monday, his spokesman said Sunday, but pressure to do so continued to grow on the governor to step aside before he is impeached.

Blagojevich was arrested last week on charges of conspiracy to swap political favors for cash, including an attempt to sell the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Barack Obama following his November presidential election victory.

“We have heard that there is a possibility that tomorrow he will make an announcement where he will step aside,” Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

But Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero Sunday denied the governor planned to resign on Monday: “I can confirm the no resignation.”

The controversy over Blagojevich has been a distraction for Obama and his team as the president-elect announced Cabinet nominations and tried to lay out plans for dealing with the recession and other crises after his January 20 inauguration.

The charges against Blagojevich come after years of investigation detailed by court-approved wiretaps.

But the governor has not been indicted and remains governor with full powers including being the only person who can name a replacement for Obama in the Senate. Through his lawyer, Blagojevich has denied doing anything wrong.

Guerrero said he could not confirm that Blagojevich has retained Edward Genson, a prominent Chicago defense attorney who recently worked for R&B star R. Kelly, helping the singer gain acquittal on child pornography charges, and for disgraced media mogul Conrad Black.

Reports suggest that Blagojevich faces considerable legal costs and Madigan, who went to the state Supreme Court on Friday to try to get him removed from office, said on “Meet the Press” that standing down may permit him to remain on the public payroll.

“That … option would potentially allow him to keep his salary and I have heard as well that that is one of his main concerns — his financial circumstances right now,” she said.

PRESSURE TO RESIGN GROWS

The Illinois House and Senate will meet as early as Monday to take up motions to specifically strip Blagojevich of his ability to appoint Obama’s replacement in the Senate, and potentially start impeachment proceedings.

The selection of someone to fill Obama’s Senate seat remains in limbo. Madigan ducked the question of whether she would be a candidate for the job, saying it was “not even on my radar screen” and repeated her call for Blagojevich to go.

“We think absolutely obvious that he is incapable of governing and it is best thing to do is move aside,” she said.

That view was seconded by Illinois Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn, who would replace Blagojevich should he leave office.

“I hope the governor does resign. I think that is best for the people of Illinois … He’s got to do something because our state is in crisis,” Quinn told “Meet the Press.”

If the Illinois Supreme Court removes Blagojevich, Quinn has said he would appoint a replacement for Obama in the Senate rather than hold a special election next year.

“I am concerned that we always have two senators from Illinois representing us in Washington,” Quinn said.

“I think it is very important that whoever is governor is given an opportunity to appoint at least a temporary person until an election could take place,” he said.

The Chicago Tribune reported Saturday that Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s choice for White House chief of staff, had spoken to Blagojevich’s office about who the governor should appoint to replace Obama in the Senate.

The talks did not suggest that Emanuel, currently a Chicago congressman, was involved in an alleged deal-making scheme for the Senate seat. Obama officials Saturday did not respond to requests for comment on the Chicago Tribune report.

Obama said last week he will report on contacts his staff had with Blagojevich’s office in coming days.

Peter Bohan, Reuters

UNDECIDED (Ella Fitzgerald) :>)

GREAT LADY!! :>)

ENJOY!! :>) ***DANCIN'*** :>) :>)

rikyrah: BREAKING NEWS, AGAIN!!:

SHRUB has SNEAKED INTO AFGHANISTAN!!

Watch out for "FLYING SOCKS!" :>) :>) The "shoes" have already been thrown!! :>) :>)

Malia: Amen, got me a 2-fer, a puppy and the White House!!!!!

Sasha: Mama, this means we're getting the puppy now, right?

Mchelle, Yes, girls, it's A WHOLE NEW WORLD!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2CVLWOoNsY

Awwww, that was SWEEET!!

I love all these brown folks in Disney movies nowadays!

I was trying to read one of the Disney classics, Cinderella to my grandson...they were his dad's originally...and his Dad (phibetakappa morehouse grad) said MA, what the heck is this (looking at the pics of all that paleskinandblondehairandblueeyes) ...I was like...welll, that is how the pictures looked back then. He rolled his eyes at me...and I KNEW...throw the book out...classic or not. My son did not want his child looking at them pictures and dreaming ...about fairy tales with folks that don't look like him.

Now, can someone please tell me where I can get fairy tales with brown folks in them? Hopefully there are classics out their like that now?

These I have are the original Disney Series.

I think they have a series of fairytales with black children in it. I bought my rory a black beauty and the beast, I will post it if I can remeber who did the series.

I have the same series. I stumbled on it by accident at Amazon and bought the entire group for my great-niece.

And people wonder where all the white skin love comes from!? Gotta have positive images of Brown people to counter balance all of that.

whiterose, yes Disney is growing in awareness. My niece bought several books for her daughters.

1. Queen Leah - An African-American Fairy Tale. 2005

It is the story of a poor, black southern girl who learned to love herself as well as diverse people. She descended from African royalty, but she had to overcome illegitimacy, poverty and a poor parental relationship in order to reach her goals.
All people have fairy tales, epics, legends, stories and folklore of the exploits and deeds of their ancestors. Queen Leah is such a story; it allows children of African ancestry to realize that we live in a world of possibilities, but that we have to work to prepare ourselves for success. Some of us put limitations on ourselves and others and ridicule dreamers because they are different, but we need dreamers to guide us as we look within ourselves and make our dreams become realities.
Its n paperback. Excellent reading!

www.amazon.com/Queen-Leah-African-american-Fair... - 203k -


2. Her Stories-African American Folktales, Fairy Tales and True Tales

www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/Her-Stori... - 33k -

Have they progressed to writing boy focused tales, too? He's only 4. He loves to read...so I read mostly Dr. Seuss now.

Wow, JJP moves fast. I'm offline for the weekend grading papers and there are a gazillion new posts up here!. Jesse Jackson, Jr. sitting down for an interview? Folks throwing shoes at Bush?

I did catch a few minutes of David Gregory on MTP. *sigh* I'd rather have Tom Brokaw back....