Jack & Jill Politics

rikyrah: THIS IS FOR SUNDAY, JANUARY 4, 2009:

Israel Invades Gaza: Info, Updates.

***UPDATE*** January 4th, 9:15AM Israeli forces backed by heavy artillery have stormed into the Gaza strip, dividing the coastal area in two and surrounding the strip's biggest city.

Israel says that it has "hit" dozens of militants during heavy gun battles. So far about 30 soldiers had been wounded, two seriously.

Despite the now heavy troop presence on the ground in Gaza, Hamas continues to fire rockets at southern Israel:

Even with Israeli forces on the ground, though, Hamas continued its rocket fire. About 25 rockets were launched at southern Israel by Sunday afternoon, the military said. One hit a house in the Israeli border town of Sderot. Touring the town some time later, Michael R. Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, had to be rushed into a protected space when Sderot's incoming rocket alert sounded.

THIS NEWS gets SADDER by the day!! So many LOST LIVES!! SAD!!



***GOTTA go ta choich. Loooooong DAY!*** :>) L8R



Most of the fighting early Sunday was taking place in northern and eastern Gaza, in areas not far from the Israeli border. But at least five civilians were killed and many wounded on Sunday morning when Israeli shells or rockets landed in the market of Gaza City while people were stocking up on supplies.

460+ dead, 1700 wounded

I don't think half of the targets they hit are military targets, but are civilian targets.

The Israelis have long ago become their own nemesis in saying, never again.

Ann Coulter is still talking about Michelle Obama...for real?!? Who is giving this woman a microphone? I am sick and tired of hearing this stick with yellow wire hair talking about my future first lady. The jealousy is so obvious.

No one is going to buy the book. Seems to me she is just trying to get her five minutes of fame by riding the Obama coattails. She should be glad that Mrs. O is above getting back at her.

Can someone help me out? I am confused about the Israel-Palestinian conflict. From what I understand, the Palestinians want a separate state that includes the West Bank and the Gaza strip. Israel, I thought was okay with this. Hamas, a terrorist organization was put into power by the Palestinians and now they are attacking Israel? And, Israel is fighting back?

So are the people in Gaza Israelis or are the Palestinians or both?

Does the average Palestinian really hate or feel victimized by Israel? If so, way?

Does the average Israeli really hate or feel victimized by the Palestinians? If so, way?

If Hamas didn't exist would people of I/P be fighting?

Is this really a religious war?

Sorry if these questions are stupid, but I really don't get it. And since the US is pro-Israel I'm not sure I'm getting the full story.

More importantly, should my friends and I cancel our plans to go to Jordan? I really want to see the Dead Sea.

pjamma: OOPS! I responded INCORRECTLY to another poster.

It was YOU who I was AGREEING with. :>)

I'm STILL in "LEARNING MODE" on this matter. Sooooo, Ima be somewhat quiet and "take good notes!"

I guess that this is the meaning of "continuing edumencation" for me! :>) :>)

The Israeli Palestinian conflict has gone on for forever so Hamas aside, they'd be fighting about something. I believe the people in Gaza are Palestinians (375+ dead). I cannot attest to the other questions you raised but I am sure you can find some good info on google, I did :) It is just so damn sad!

Yes it is sad. So many people dead. It's heartbreaking to see all those bombs exploding, bringing death & destruction. I'm tired of d#mn wars!

Both sides are making religious claims. There can be no middle ground with that. Hamas wants ALL of the land and believes that it belongs to Arabs. The Israelis believe that they are the "chosen people" and have a divine right to the land

No middle ground

Do you think if the US stop sending foreign aid to Israel that could at least make the situation less volatile? Israel is able to do what is doing because of U.S. foreign aid. If they didn't access to that then where would they be.

I DO think that we should stop sending foreign aid (not just to Israel, but all countries) except in emergency situations. But that aside, I do NOT think that the hostilities would cease.

Foreign aid is not a bad thing itself. I'm Haitian-American and believe me Haiti needs it, but I see where you coming from.

No it is not bad in itself, but if you take it away from one, you have to take it away from all

I take it them sharing is just out of the question..

in a nutshell. Yes, it is out of the question

TariqNelson: THANK YOU for your information. :>)

Tariq,

What does it mean the US blocked the cease-fire talks. What happened?

I'm so sick of all the killing. Innocent people dying. It's just too much.

The US has too many people who believe in a messianic figure that will lead a battle of Armageddon making policy. They are trying to create conditions for these 'prophesies' to come true.

Meanwhile people are dying. I repeat: as long as religion is in the equation, there will NEVER be peace

I heard one of the talking heads say Bush blocked the cease-fire talks because Israel needs to do what it has to do!

You think the Bush Administration blocked talks so things would be more difficult for PEO? Just a thought!


This can only get worse with more loss of life. Why stop talks to cease fighting?

I'm with TariqNelson......there will never be peace...all we can pray for is a relatively contained conflict that doesn't go nuclear.

**Sigh** I know you're right! No peace until Christ returns. It's just that I am so tired of death & destruction.

Now Israeli President Shimon rejects possibility of cease-fire and warns of long ground invasion! More death & destruction!

Christ returning is exactly what the people are trying to provoke with their policies. They have put religion into this entire thing and it is getting people killed

r we there yet?

rikyrah: Found this from an "archivist":

Sunday, January 04, 2009
Rothenberg Archives: Obama Flier from 2004 Senate Race

We're cleaning out our files after another cycle, and stumbled upon some old Obama campaign literature. And by old, of course we mean going back to 2002. So over the next few days, we'll post some of it for you all to take a look at.

Here is a flier from the 2004 Senate primary in Illinois (click on the image for a larger version):

I've got 4 words: A - DOR - A - BLE!! :>) :>)

Now ya know that I have my KODAK paper right beside me. :>) :>)

IT'S ON!!! :>) :>) ***print****

GreenLady, the flyer of PEO and fam is fabulous!

2002, who knew?

spirit: Isn't it!! :>) :>) Ima watch for additional ones from this writer. :>)

WHO!??? :>) :>)

Notice that I always seem to B "WATCHIN'" somethin' :>) :>)

Somebody's Watching Me (Rockwell)

KINDA. . . . . .. . . . :>) :>)

Guests for the Sunday TV news shows

Rolnd Burris o ABC This Week with George S.

Dirty Harry Reid on Face The Nation

Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows: ___ ABC's "This Week" — Senate appointee and former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris, D-Ill.; Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. ___


htmlhttp://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/03/ap/tv/main4696485.shtml

Correction: DIRTY HARRY REID on MTP

rikyrah: From the NYT:

A New Chapter: Europe Is Ready to Work With Obama

WASHINGTON — After rebuffing the Bush administration on a number of fronts, European governments are signaling that they may be more willing to engage with the incoming Obama administration on a variety of stalled issues, including taking in prisoners from the Guantánamo Bay detention center and strengthening sanctions against Iran.

BUT, some are SUGGESTING conditions.

Annnnnnnd, so is Mr. P-E Obama, HE KNOWS!

rikyrah: More on HIS ECONOMIC PLAN:

Obama Considers Major Expansion in Aid to Jobless

CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats are considering major expansions of government-assisted health care insurance and unemployment compensation as they begin intensive work this week on a two-year economic recovery package.

One proposal, as described by Democratic advisers, would extend unemployment compensation to part-time workers, an idea that Congressional Republicans have blocked in the past.

Other policy changes would subsidize employers’ expenses for temporarily continuing health insurance coverage to laid-off and retired workers and their dependents, as mandated under a 22-year-old federal law known as Cobra, and allow workers who lose jobs that did not come with insurance benefits to be eligible, for the first time, to apply for Medicaid coverage.

The proposals indicate the sorts of potentially long-range changes that Mr. Obama intends to push in his promised American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, as he named it in his weekly Saturday address on the radio and YouTube. They will be combined with one-time measures that are more typical of federal stimulus packages to jump-start a weak economy, like spending for roads and other job-creating public works projects. One proposal, as described by Democratic advisers, would extend unemployment compensation to part-time workers, an idea that Congressional Republicans have blocked in the past.

Other policy changes would subsidize employers’ expenses for temporarily continuing health insurance coverage to laid-off and retired workers and their dependents, as mandated under a 22-year-old federal law known as Cobra, and allow workers who lose jobs that did not come with insurance benefits to be eligible, for the first time, to apply for Medicaid coverage.

The proposals indicate the sorts of potentially long-range changes that Mr. Obama intends to push in his promised American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan,as he named it in his weekly Saturday address on the radio and YouTube. They will be combined with one-time measures that are more typical of federal stimulus packages to jump-start a weak economy, like spending for roads and other job-creating public works projects.

THERE IS MORE.

CHANGES - to help people!! :>)

Who do you think should replace Harry Reid as majority leader? I say Dick Durbin or Russ Feingold.

rikyrah: DAY -17 On His "JOURNEY TO JANUARY 20, 2009 Whoo! Hoo! :>)

1. HEADLINE(s):

a) Obama: Country Needs Economic Stimulus Plan

CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama urged congressional leaders Saturday to move quickly on an economic recovery plan, even as some Republicans are saying they want more time to review the details.

Obama said Congress should pass an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan designed to create 3 million jobs. The Democratic president-elect hasn't announced a final price tag on it, but aides said the cost could be as high as $775 billion.

"For too many families, this new year brings new unease and uncertainty as bills pile up, debts continue to mount and parents worry that their children won't have the same opportunities they had," Obama said in an address taped Friday and distributed on radio and posted on YouTube Saturday morning.

THERE IS MORE.

b) Michelle Obama, Daughters Head to District

CHICAGO -- Michelle Obama and her daughters, Malia and Sasha, departed for Washington this afternoon, a day before President-elect Barack Obama was scheduled to move to the nation's capital from the family's home town.

The future first lady and her daughters will arrive in Washington tonight to get settled before the girls begin classes Monday at Sidwell Friends School, according to an aide to Obama who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss Michelle Obama's schedule. The Obamas are planning to stay at Washington's historic Hay-Adams Hotel for two weeks before the inauguration.

Journalists spotted the three leaving the family's Hyde Park home about 2:27 p.m. Central time in a motorcade en route to a Chicago airport.

Michelle Obama's Saturday departure came as a surprise, as aides to Obama did not announce that she would fly to Washington separately. Since she and her girls are traveling without the president-elect, the pool of journalists assigned to follow his movements is not accompanying them on the trip.

c) Obama praises new Colorado senator, Michael Bennet

President-elect Barack Obama Saturday praised Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter's choice of Michael Bennet as that state's next senator, saying Bennet reflects "the qualities of the ruggedly independent state."

Ritter officially announced his choice at a Denver press conference Saturday.

"Filling Ken Salazar's boots in the US Senate is a tall order. But in selecting Michael Bennet, Governor Ritter has made an excellent choice," Obama said in a statement released by his transition office.

"Michael Bennet perfectly reflects the qualities of the ruggedly independent state he has been chosen to serve. An innovator in the public and private sectors, he has shown himself willing to challenge old thinking and stale policies," Obama also said.

Bennet, the Denver Public Schools Superintendent, replaces Sen. Ken Salazar, Obama's choice to be interior secretary.

Ritter had narrowed down his choice to either Bennet or the popular Denver mayor John Hickenlooper, and made his final decision on New Years Day, according to reports.

In the news conference Saturday, Ritter said Bennet is "exactly who we need representing Colorado."

"Michael has this unique set of personal and professional experiences that make him the right choice for Colorado," Ritter said, according to CNN Denver affiliate KUSA.

d) House plans to fast-track Obama plan


Obama’s record-setting stimulus plan is getting such astonishingly quick treatment from House Democrats that officials say it could go from draft to final passage in one week.
Photo: AP

President-elect Barack Obama’s record-setting stimulus plan — the biggest special spending bill in history — is getting such astonishingly quick treatment from House Democrats that officials say it could go from draft to final passage in one week.

The bill has no text or details yet, but it does have a name: Obama revealed Saturday in his YouTube/radio address that it will be called the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.”

When asked about the title, Frank Luntz, a Republican consultant who wrote a treatise on political linguistics called “Words That Work,” told Politico: “Obama's team are the best linguists I've ever seen. Republicans aren't in his league right now."

“Recovery says putting the country back on track, and reinvestment is the next step up from investment,” Luntz explained.

THERE IS MORE.

2. http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1... Obama Administration In 2 Minutes I HOPE! :>) :>)

3. Obama brings firsts for black pressObama brings firsts for black press

Barack Obama’s election as president is prompting major changes in the nation’s black press, ushering in a series of firsts that editors say will reshape print, Internet, radio and television coverage aimed at African-American audiences.

Essence, the top-selling magazine among black women, will have a full-time White House reporter for the first time. Ebony magazine will add a White House reporter, either full time or as needed. Its sister publication, Jet magazine, will have a weekly two-page Washington report in every issue.

And Black Entertainment Television is scrapping its usual fare of videos and sitcoms for a four-hour live broadcast of Obama’s swearing-in — just as the leading cable network in black households did for both party conventions last summer, and on Election Day. TV One will do the same, airing 21 hours of inauguration coverage throughout the day.

In some ways, the moves mark a return to a time when the black press — particularly magazines — were newsier. Jet first published photos of the battered and swollen body of Emmett Till in 1955, sparking outrage and galvanizing a still-young civil rights movement.

“Who we are is really evolving right now, in this post-civil rights era,” said Bryan Monroe, vice president and editorial director of Ebony and Jet. “Our readers really need the black press.”

April Ryan, who has been covering the White House for American Urban Radio Networks for 11 years, wonders what took so long.

“Katrina happened under Bush, and Rwanda happened under Clinton,” said Ryan, who was one of a handful of black reporters in the White House press corps during that time. “If more reporters of color were here, maybe those issues would have garnered more attention, and it could have made a difference.”

She said that the addition of black reporters could mean more focus on the urban agenda — failing schools, crime, job loss, poor health care.

“I am five generations removed from a slave. I was here the night [Obama won], and I had goose bumps,” Ryan said. “Yes, we pause for the history of a black president — but it’s not the reason to be here. There’s real work to be done.”

The press as a whole has faced charges of pro-Obama bias — including respected names like PBS’ Gwen Ifill, who is black — but the magazine editors say they know they must provide balanced coverage to their readers.

THERE IS MORE.

4. HIS SCHEDULE: Saturday Jan. 3, 2009

All Times Eastern 8:00 AM

Obama gives his weekly radio address.

Read full story.
9:00 AM

The 111th Congress is called into session.
9:10 AM

Obama leaves for the gym at Regents Park apartments and emerges to return home exactly one hour later.
10:00 AM
10:51 AM

Obama arrives at his transition office in downtown Chicago.
11:00 AM
12:00 PM
1:00 PM
2:00 PM
2:23 PM

Obama leaves his office and returns home.

HE WORKS DAILY!! WOW!! :>)

THAT'S ALL FOR NOW!! :>)

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=6570544...

Reid is supposed to meet with Burris on Wednesday.

Ain't nothing to meet about. Either you're going to swear the man in or not. Don't need a "meeting' for that unless you're going to tell him to his face he won't be sworn in. But why wait until Wednesday? Do it Monday or Tuesday when he shows up.

They bet not block Burris from coming in the door but allow Norm Coleman, who is A) Not a Senator anymore and B) Currently under FBI investigation come in.

Town: I'm sittin' here "visualizing" TUESDAY, January 6, 2009, Washington, DC:

Senators and "wanna-be" Senators showin' up with a staff of ATTORNEYS and BODYGUARDS!! :>) :>)

JJP "popcorn!" CHECK! Green Tea! CHECK! Remote control! CHECK!! :>) :>)

It speaks volumes that there's no constant reminder by the corporatist media that Coleman is under investigation.

Ya know? LOL

The only place I ever saw it mentioned was The Huffington Post.

Miranda, hey there! The Nation had an article on the Coleman investgation. I hope Franken gets seated. Looks like the GOP are going to fight it, though.

It is unreal how these mofos are trying to block Roland Burris and would allow Norm Coleman. Unreal if they allow it!!!

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/state_of_change/...

Oh Dear God....was this inspired by the buffont on top of Sarah Palin's head??? Oh geez.......
www.bighappiehair.com

I just saw the commercial for this..........so Flo from Mel's Diner is making a comeback???

LOL! Well "KISS MY GRITS!"

spirit: Did you REQUEST this?

"KISS MY GRITS

It goes very quickly! :>) :>)

LOL! Too funny, GLH. Thanks!

spirit: YOU TUBE is my "bestest friend!" :>) :>)

I'ts growing on me too, GreenLady!

Miranda: LOL!!

blksista: HEAD BOW for the FAMILY/FRIENDS. Praying.

W-T-F?

Good Lord, I'm praying for Dre's family as I'm typing this. Where did that kid get all those drugs and why would he need or want them?

Pray for the family.

Good grief....morphine and heroin???

Isn't it suppose to be one or the other but not both? I always thought that morphine was used as a substitute for heroin addicts trying to get clean? Then again, I learned this from ER or House or one of those doctor shows so I could be really off.

My prayers go out to Dre. What a tragedy.

Hey JJP...I was wondering was the article about Rap music originating in Scotland discussed on here? It appears American professor Ferenc Szasz wants to credit "rap battles" to the ancient Calendionian art of "flyting" .....um, yeah right.

Here's a portion of the article

"According to the theory, Scottish slave owners took the tradition with them to the United States, where it was adopted and developed by slaves, emerging many years later as rap.

Professor Szasz is convinced there is a clear link between this tradition for settling scores in Scotland and rap battles, which were famously portrayed in Eminem's 2002 movie 8 Mile.

He said: "The Scots have a lengthy tradition of flyting - intense verbal jousting, often laced with vulgarity, that is similar to the dozens that one finds among contemporary inner-city African-American youth.

"Both cultures accord high marks to satire. The skilled use of satire takes this verbal jousting to its ultimate level - one step short of a fist fight."



Anyway, here's the link to the article

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/399886...

Okay, someone needs to revoke that Professor's sheepskin for coining that shyt.

Doesn't he know that rap was originated in the good ol' USA, by a pudgy, walrus looking brotha named Russell Simmons, who had some friends that formed a group called the SUGARHILL GANG, that put out the first rap record heard on the radio in 1979, called "Rapper's Delight"?

Followed up by a brotha named Kurtis Blow who coined the "Christmas Rap" Song that is now synonymous with his name, and describing Santa Claus as being a fat joker in a red suit with a lotta hairs on his chiny, chin chin and stopped by to get his party on at Kurtis' house.

I guess Scotland wants to be relevant in the scheme of world history. We can't ever enjoy creating shyt before someone ELSE wants to take it away from us and steal the credit for it. Dayum....

CPL, Scotish Delight

A hip hop the hippie the hippie to the hip hip hop, a you dont stop the rock it to the bang bang boogie say up jumped the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat ......

If those Scots start acting up, then you take their BAGPIPES AND KILTS!
.

Annnd, you KNOW that would have had to be written by Kurtis Blow, TOO!

ROFLMAO!!!!

Rap's been around since '79. Why he waiting 30 years later to lay the claim?

Oh hell naw........LOL

Gloria who??

Tell Gloria Steinem she's not relevant to this discussion.

Oh, and what Sepia said. Seems to me that the heifers against Caroline Kennedy getting appointed to that Senate seat are all Clintonistas.

I guess they know Hillary has to perform as SoS or else she's out on her ass, and no, there shouldn't be a caretaker to keep that seat warm as a backup plan in case she and Bubba Eff-Up while she's at the State Department.

Put it down, CPL.

With NO caretaker, Hillpatine must do her damn job or be FIRED.

What I want to know is why Hillary thinks SHE AND BUBBA CAN STILL CALL THE SHOTS.

They are NOT in CHARGE. What part of "not in charge" does she fail to comprehend?

ECHO!!!!!!!

NO CARETAKERS!

Gloria Steinem = Clintonista. 'Nuff said.

...exactly!

BOO-YAH!! lol

Don't nobody know Carolyn Maloney.

Get ready to say Senator Caroline Kennedy-Schlossberg.

Actually she only goes by Kennedy :)

SENATOR CAROLINE KENNEDY

Damn, my fingers are tingling just typing the name.:-)))

Flashbacks

Hmmmmmmm...You don't Say....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j3AJq3_cjQ&feat...

Hey, I missed the Daddy thread, but I gotta share my Daddy story, so I'm gonna post it here.

My biological father left my mother when I was 2, so the man I call Daddy is actually my stepfather. He raised me from 2 years old til adulthood. In fact, he is my Daddy! I call my biological father by his first name, I can count the number of times I talked to bio dad on one hand. I talk to my Daddy all the time, and he calls me randomly just to hear my voice he says.

The thing I liked about this commercial, is that he doesn't really say if the "Dads" are bio dads or not, they just say that it's the little things that influence a kids life.

Anyway, my daddy memory is of when I first hit puberty. My peiod had come down at school, and they couldn't reach my mom, so my dad had to come and pick me up from school, take me to K&B Drugstore (ol school pharmacy in New Orleans) to pick up some sanitary napkins. I was embarassed, he had no idea what he was doing, but to this day, I remember it.

That is too cute! :)

I think its so cute and cool that my older brother takes my niece each year to see Alvin Ailey, just the two of them for their father-daughter date. They started when she was 3, she's 7 now. My sister-in-law said at first it was gonna be a family thing, but then my two nephews would rather gouge their eyes out than go so it was gonna be her and Gabby (my neice) - but then my brother wanted to take her....how sweet is that?

lamh,

My daughter's best friend is a foster child. She was Maid of Honor at my daughter's Wedding. Juanette doesn't even know her dad & the mom is a drug addict. Juanette calls the foster parents "Mom" & "Dad" because they are her parents. These people love Juanette as if they have given life to her. It's a beautiful thing. Juanette graduated from Sam Houston State University and believe it or not....She is a Child Protective Investigator. Unbelieveable!

Wow! Thanks for sharing...I love these inspiring TRUE stories!

Parents are parents. (biology is NOT everything. it's not even most of it). Not everyone who produces a child is supposed to be a parent.

I am my father's only biological child. He was 'stepfather' to my sisters.

My favorite story about my father came from a close frien of my mother's. She knew people who worked with my father. When I was born, she and these co-workers of my father were talking. When my mother's friend pointed out that 'I' was my father's first child. My father's co-workers didn't understand, because all he did was talk about his 'daughters' (my sisters). They had no idea that my sisters were ' just' his stepdaughters. It never crossed their mind, the way that my father spoke of my sisters that they weren't his biological children.

I thought that spoke so much to my father's character.

My sister loved my father so much that she named her son after him.

My fondest story about my father is when he'd gather me and my 10 siblings and take us to the beach.

I wrote an essay about the experiences last year; It was published in our local paper.

Its titled "SEA GULL BEACH."

Many promises were made to take us to the beach, and many of those promises were kept. The moment I stepped into the backseat of the brown ’55 Pontiac, my toes were already sinking into the brown crystals of the shore.

One more turn on the shiny black asphalt, two more bumps before the crackling sound of gravel and the big sign ahead: “Sea Gull Beach” – “coloreds only.” I remember the first time I asked pop, “What does that sign mean?” and he answered very matter-of-fact, “It means we’re special.”

You can read the rest of it here:

http://www.letsgosouthwest.com/reader-submissio...

that was so beautiful. thank you.

Spirit,

You write beautifully. Your writing can make a person drift away in thought. One just let the imagination run. It sound like it was so much fun and happy times. I like that.

Justice58: Ima co-sign!! :>) :>)

We have similar stories, Rikyrah. I come from a huge family....14 kids. My father was married twice. He had 6 kids including a set of twins from the first marriage and 8 from the second marriage to my mother.

In 1998, my mother had a light stroke, so someone had to make sure she had a meal fixed and to help with bath & dressing. My oldest sister from the first marriage would get off her job in the morning and go fix a meal to take to my mother and give a bath & help to dress her. Weeks after that, my supervisor had spoken with my oldest sister about my mother being sick and was just shocked to find out that my sister & I had different mothers. You wouldn't have believed we had different mothers. It's the way we lived. And guess what, my sister is 30 something years older than I am. We make no difference among ourselves. We're sisters! And she is the cook in the family. She does it all from baking to wine making. She makes wine for fun & for Communion.

I love her so much!

Obama brings firsts for black press

Barack Obama’s election as president is prompting major changes in the nation’s black press, ushering in a series of firsts that editors say will reshape print, Internet, radio and television coverage aimed at African-American audiences.

Essence, the top-selling magazine among black women, will have a full-time White House reporter for the first time. Ebony magazine will add a White House reporter, either full time or as needed. Its sister publication, Jet magazine, will have a weekly two-page Washington report in every issue.

And Black Entertainment Television is scrapping its usual fare of videos and sitcoms for a four-hour live broadcast of Obama’s swearing-in — just as the leading cable network in black households did for both party conventions last summer, and on Election Day. TV One will do the same, airing 21 hours of inauguration coverage throughout the day.

In some ways, the moves mark a return to a time when the black press — particularly magazines — were newsier. Jet first published photos of the battered and swollen body of Emmett Till in 1955, sparking outrage and galvanizing a still-young civil rights movement.

“Who we are is really evolving right now, in this post-civil rights era,” said Bryan Monroe, vice president and editorial director of Ebony and Jet. “Our readers really need the black press.”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16894...

Great find, Miranda.

Still not going to watch BET, though.

Please go vote for our fellow blogger Angie, over at NuVision:

http://nuvisionforanuday.blogspot.com/2008/12/w...

Ok folks....

I know you see the phrase - Karma is a bitch - in this:

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/02/cornyn-uses-r...

Cornyn Uses Reid’s Burris Tactics to Refuse Seating Franken
By: Jane Hamsher Friday January 2, 2009 11:35 am 17


Over at Swampland, K-Tum has the inside scoop on how the Democrats plan to keep Burris from being sworn in:

The first thing the Senate leadership plans to do is to demand, under Rule 2 of the Standing Rules of the Senate, a certificate containing "the name of the person elected or appointed, the date of the certificate, the name of the governor and the secretary of state signing and countersigning the same, and the State from which such Senator is elected or appointed."

Oh, snap! At Harry Reid's urging, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White is refusing to sign such a certificate. No idea whether White's refusal to sign is legal or not, but that little technicality should be enough to keep the Democrats from having to seat Burris when he shows up on Tuesday.

Or not...


It turns out that Blagojevich--like every other Governor, I'm told--has a set of certificates that are pre-signed by the Secretary of State, to be used in the event of an emergency. If Burris shows up with one of those, the Senate leadership intends to reject it.

That Harry Reid is one smart cookie, ain't he? Well, that remains to be seen. Because the push to seat Al Franken provisionally this Tuesday could now be problematic:

In a conference call with reporters, Cornyn said Republican Senators fear that Senate Democratic leaders may try to seat Franken next week even if an official winner has not been declared in the election. But the Texan said Republicans are prepared to launch a filibuster to prevent Franken from being seated until state officials declare a winner and all legal challenges are exhausted.

"There will be no way that people on our side of the aisle will agree to seat any Senator provisionally unless a certificate of election has been signed" and all court cases about the Senate race have been completed, Cornyn said.


The Republicans have been planning to block Franken for some time, and Reid should have factored that in when he drew up his Burris game plan. Until Reid announced he'd refuse to seat Burris because he didn't have a certificate, the Dems had an argument that the Senate Republicans were just playing politics.

Now they're stuck trying to explain the double standard for Franken and Burris.

Harry Reid -- played by Blago, played by Cornyn.

He's a friggin' Stradivarius.


***********************

See...they continue to try and be SLICK...

And continue to get STUCK.

LOL.....niiiiiiiiiice..........nicely played.........Reid must not be good at poker..AT ALL.

Barack was constantly breaking McCain down like a fraction - this is another classic moment.

Thanks, Rikyrah!


I Love It! Go Barack, You're Just Too Cool

"There Was No Such Thing As Al Qaeda In Iraq, Until George Bush And John McCain Decided To Invaded Iraq"

"I Been Paying Attention", John McCain! "That's The News"