Jack & Jill Politics

rikyrah: LOVED THE PICS!!! SHE CONTINUES 2 GET HER - - HUGS ON!! :>)

LOVE - - FIRST LADY!! :>)

rikyrah: 'member - - this event? - - - SEMENYA - -S.A. RUNNER:

Here R the RESULTS:


Semenya Will Keep Medals; Gender Test Confidential
Board rules in favor of South African runner

South African runner Caster Semenya will keep her 800-meter gold medal from the world championships, and she'll keep the results of her gender tests to herself, the South African sports ministry said today. The ministry also said that the 18-year-old Semenya will be allowed to keep her prize money. "Whatever scientific tests were conducted legally within the IAAF regulations will be treated as a confidential matter between patient and doctor," the sports ministry said.

Before the 800 final in Berlin, the IAAF said it had ordered gender tests because of Semenya's muscular build and rapid improvement in times. The case set off a storm in South Africa, and the IAAF was accused of violating her privacy. South African track officials were accused of failing to protect her.

Thursday, November 19th, 2009
Jennifer Hudson is Stepping Back into Acting and Eddie Winslow’s Got a New Gig

Posted by Bossip Staff

Jennifer Hudson is slowly getting everything back on track. She just join the cast of a new movie called Winnie, a biopic on Nelsson Mandela’s wife’s life. Production for the movie will begin in May 2010 in South Africa. Let’s see if she can add another Oscar to her resume.

http://bossip.com/181355/jennifer-hudson-is-ste...

Thanks JJP for posting the pictures of FLOTUS at Hollin Meadows. I am an administrator there and had the honor of speaking at the roundtable discussion about children's nutrition and health. It was a fabulous day for our staff and students. Make no mistake, FLOTUS is the real deal. She's even more beautiful in person.
Jean

thanks for the reply. I bet the children loved the visit by the First Lady.

MORE FROM RUDE PUNDIT

11/17/2009
What's with the New Backlash Against Women? (Part 2: Palinophilia on the Right):

Palin likes to insinuate comparisons to Clinton regularly. She empathizes and treats Clinton like a victim of the evil Obama machine, which is pretty much the polar opposite of how Clinton would want to be perceived. It’s much the same way she sees herself as a victim of those gosh-darn mollusksuckers on the the McCain team, like Fatty McShouter, Steve Schmidt.

Of course, the absurd reality is that Hillary Clinton has worked her ass off endlessly for her country; agree or disagree with her or her goals, she has sure as fuck had a lot more on her mind than how funny it would be to make reporters walk in muck (as Palin delightfully recounts). Sarah Palin wouldn't know a policy debate if it tweaked her tits and called itself Jesus. She invokes Clinton in order to try to make some of Clinton's accomplished glow rub off on her through a confusing conflation. It's sort of like when people try to say that Michael Moore is the liberal Ann Coulter. It discredits Moore while legitimizing Coulter.

And her elevation to the status of someone any women should look up to and admire for anything is pure cynical anti-feminism. The very things that Palin is celebrated for by conservative bags of fuck are what feminists have been condemned for: being outspoken, combining work and family lives (although, you know, Palin decided she couldn't have it all), standing up to even the men who have supported her. But she is a sex traitor. She uses her femininity to support policies that enslave other women. And she derides the accomplishments that allowed her to become governor in the first fucking place.

She is worse than a joke. She is a disgrace. If she is the end result of the work of Gloria Steinem and Bella Abzug and Betty Friedan and so many other women, who were attacked with the language of violence and rape by politicians and the mainstream media (not from some asshole bloggers) that makes Palin's little buffeting about gentle, then that work needs to kick back into high gear. And now she's out there as if she's standing up for women's rights to...speak, one supposes, as long as the lines are the in a general framework of what the right wants her to say.

FROM RUDE PUNDIT

1/18/2009
Fact-Checking Sarah Palin Is a Waste of Everyone's Time, But Fuck It:
Sigh. This is getting repetitive, isn't it? Yeah, it's still fun, but, Christ, there's only so many times you can do it. But let's see if we can get it up for one more sore, exhausted fuck before we have to go back to doing real work.

Here's Sarah Palin on Rush Limbaugh's House of Donuts (Glazed and Ass) yesterday: "Let's go back to what Reagan did in the early eighties and stay committed to those commonsense free market principles that worked. He faced a tougher recession than what we're facing today. He cut those taxes, ramped up industry, and we pulled out of that recession. We need to revisit that."

Beyond the fact that this recession is worse than what Reagan faced in the early 1980s, he raised taxes multiple times. Fuck, when he was governor of California and facing the first deficit in that's state history, "Reagan ended up approving a $1-billion tax increase on a $6-billion annual budget, which was, proportionately, the biggest tax increase in state history."

And while Reagan did slash the fuck out of taxes on the wealthy, thus ensuring our path to economic doom, he also raised taxes multiple times. In 1982, he rolled back some of the tax cuts passed in 1981, which, in today's political rhetoric, would be "Holy fuck, Ronald Reagan is gutting your incomes like a shank-carrying white supremacist in a prison race riot." That would have been the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act. Notice that. "Fiscal responsibility" meant for the right wing's great god Gipper that one might have to raise taxes. It was "the largest peacetime tax increase in American history," as Reagan and Bush the Smarter adviser Bruce Bartlett put it..

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/

Thursday, November 19, 2009
ACORN
Losing NY-23 candidate Doug Hoffman became the latest in an increasingly long line of conservative politicians to blame his problems on ACORN yesterday despite the complete lack of evidence the organization played any role in his defeat.

The Republican base is with him though. PPP's newest national survey finds that a 52% majority of GOP voters nationally think that ACORN stole the Presidential election for Barack Obama last year, with only 27% granting that he won it legitimately. Clearly the ACORN card really is an effective one to play with the voters who will decide whether Hoffman gets to be the Republican nominee in a possible repeat bid in 2010.

Belief in the ACORN conspiracy theory is even higher among GOP partisans than the birther one, which only 42% of Republicans expressed agreement with on our national survey in September.

Overall 62% of Americans think Obama legitimately won the election to only 26% who think ACORN stole it for him, as few Democrats or independents buy into that line of thinking.

http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2009/11...

Ja, b/c those Negro...I mean ACORNS really revved up the black people in NY-23!

all 7% that live in NY-23. Now, think on that. only 7% of the district is BLACK..

yeah, I can see how ACORN stole it all.

Paul-Grayson “Audit The Fed” Bill Passes Financial Services Committee
By: David Dayen Thursday November 19, 2009 2:36 pm

Today, the House Financial Services Committee passed an amendment to their financial regulatory reform bill that would mandate an audit of the Federal Reserve. The Paul-Grayson amendment, named for its chief sponsors, Reps. Ron Paul and Alan Grayson, passed the committee by a count of 43-26.

Supporters of the audit the Fed effort were concerned that a competing amendment by Mel Watt would gut whatever Paul-Grayson added in transparency to the Fed. After heated discussion today inside the committee, it appears that Paul and Grayson have won this round.

The bill has yet to reach the floor of the House. The Senate’s version of financial reform, written by Chris Dodd, also has a mechanism to audit the Fed, but that has not yet been marked up in the Senate Banking Committee.

…It should be noted that an overall final vote on financial regulatory reform from the Committee, expected today, was blocked, chiefly by members of the Congressional Black Caucus, panicked about having to take the vote at a time of double-digit unemployment.

http://news.firedoglake.com/2009/11/19/paul-gra...

Black Caucus blocks Wall St. vote
By VICTORIA MCGRANE | 11/19/09 6:37 PM EST
Updated: 11/19/09 7:47 PM EST

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus threatened to oppose a key financial regulatory reform bill Thursday over unrelated economic concerns, forcing Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank to yank his bill before a final committee vote.

The move is being interpreted as the CBC sending a message to the Obama administration that they need to be more aggressive in supporting measures to help African American communities.

Frank (D-Mass.) had intended to have his committee vote this afternoon on the bill, one of the key pieces of the administration’s plan to restructure the nation’s financial architecture. But he announced he was postponing the final vote until after Thanksgiving after CBC members on the panel told him they would vote against it due to concerns over the “lack of response to the economic situation,” Frank said according to news reports.

“They said that they weren’t going to support the bill today because of issues absolutely unrelated to the bill – larger economic issues facing the African American community – so we put off the vote to give the time for the administration, leadership and the CBC to work those issues out,” Frank spokesman Steve Adamske told POLITICO.

The effort is being led by Rep. Maxine Waters, the most senior CBC member on the Financial Services Committee, and the move was the product of numerous meetings, said a source familiar with the talks. CBC members met with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner at the beginning of the week and with Shelia Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Wednesday, the source said.


http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29742...

http://thoughtmerchant.net/2009/11/19/timothy-g...

Timothy Geithner asked to Resign in Congressional Hearing: http://thoughtmerchant.net/2009/11/19/timothy-g...

Leave Comments!!!

19 Nov 2009 05:11 pm
Deconstructing Sarah, Ctd

Well, as promised the Dish is back to normal. I'm not. "Going Rogue" is such a postmodern book that treating it as some kind of factual narrative to check (as I began to), or comparing its version of events with her previous versions of the same events (as I have), and comparing all those versions with what we know is empirical reality (so many lies, so little time) is just a dizzying task. The lies and truths and half-truths and the facts and non-facts are all blurred together in a pious puree of such ghastly prose that, in the end, the book can only really be read as a some kind of chapter in a cheap nineteenth century edition of "Lives of the Saints." But as autobiography.

It is a religious book, full of myths and parables. And yet it is also crafted politically, with every single "detail" of the narrative honed carefully for specific constituencies. It is also some kind of manifesto - but not in the usual sense of a collection of policy proposals. It is a manifesto for the imagined life of an imagined Sarah Palin as a leader for all those who identify with the image and background she relentlessly claims to represent.

In this, the book is emblematic of late degenerate Republicanism, which is based not on actual policies, but on slogans now so exhausted by over-use they retain no real meaning: free enterprise is great, God loves us all, America is fabulous, foreigners are suspect, we need to be tough, we can't dither, we must always cut taxes, government is bad, liberals are socialists, the media hates you, etc etc.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily...

Special Needs Kids As Props
A reader writes:

Um:

When she got off the bus, wearing her familiar uniform of black skirt, high heels and red blazer, she waved with one hand and held her son Trig, dressed in a striped green sweater, in the other. The group erupted in applause. She walked to a small platform in the middle of the crowd, said "Thank you so much for showing up," and handed Trig to an aide.

What is the point of carrying the baby to the platform and then handing him to an aide? Why not leave him on the bus with an aide? Is he just a prop?

Of course he's a prop. Treating a child this way is a political decision. Just as publicly calling the father of her grandson a porn star is a political decision. And that tells you a lot about this person's character and what really motivates her.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily...

With the dangers of swine flu, is it wise for Palin to keep exposing her baby to crowds? I would not be taking an infant cross-country around so many people. Vaccinated or not. Especially an infant with Down's Syndrome, as it may put them at further risk of infection.

I'd bring pictures or videos, or tell cute stories to the crowd about the baby, but I sure wouldn't be putting his health at risk.

Richard Trumka, Andy Stern accuse Fed of massive secret bailouts and cronyism
By: Michael Whitney Thursday November 19, 2009 11:03 am

This is what I call “solidarity.” Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO, Andy Stern, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and Leo Gerard, President of the Steelworkers Union, all signed a letter with economists, labor leaders, and bloggers blasting Rep. Mel Watt’s amendment to gut the audit of the Federal Reserve.

Alan Grayson and Ron Paul have teamed up on a proposal calling for a full audit of the Fed, and they have the support of nearly three-quarters of Congress. But in a last minute power play by the big banks, Rep. Mel Watt will dutifully offer an amendment to not only gut the audit, but make the Fed even more secretive.

Trumka, Stern, and Gerard teamed up economists Bill Black and Jamie Galbraith and blogger Tyler Durden, among others, against Watt’s amendment and accused the Fed of “massive secret bailouts” and “cronyism and favoritism.” Their letter says:

The Federal Reserve balance sheet expanded to more than $2 trillion, along with implied and explicit backstops to Wall Street firms that could cost even more. Who received the money? Against what collateral? On what terms and conditions? The only way to find out is through a complete audit of the Federal Reserve. That’s why we support the Paul-Grayson amendment requiring a complete audit.

The Watt amendment does not repeal the existing provisions that prohibit a GAO audit of the Federal Reserve. In fact, it adds entirely new additional categories of restrictions. Instead of opening up the Fed’s secretive activities to public inspection, the Watt amendment cloaks it in further secrecy.

A vote for the Watt amendment is a vote for more secret bailouts. We urge you to support Paul-Grayson instead.

For labor leaders who don’t often see eye-to-eye, this letter (PDF) from Trumka, Stern, and Gerard is a pretty remarkable indictment of the Fed, the big banks, and their enablers in Congress. Add in the economists and bloggers and you have pretty strong opposition to the Watt amendment.

http://workinprogress.firedoglake.com/2009/11/1...

Army limits media access at Palin event at NC base
By MIKE BAKER
The Associated Press
Thursday, November 19, 2009; 8:24 PM

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The U.S. Army will allow the media limited coverage of Sarah Palin's appearance at Fort Bragg, but will bar reporters from interviewing her or her supporters on the post, officials said Thursday.

A Fort Bragg spokesman initially said the Army would ban the media from Palin's book signing next week, fearing it would turn into political grandstanding against President Barack Obama. After The Associated Press and The Fayetteville Observer protested, Col. Billy Buckner said the post would permit restricted access.

A small pool of reporters will be allowed to view and document the event but will be barred from the interviews. The public will be allowed.

Buckner said the setup will allow reporters their right to access while preventing the appearance from turning political - something that officials believe would violate policy.

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

Obama’s position on health care reform and mandates during the primaries:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shR4HZzr52o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceOG90OCCRw


Obama’s position on health care reform and mandates now: “That's why under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance – just as most states require you to carry auto insurance.

“But an additional step we can take to keep insurance companies honest is by making a not-for-profit public option available in the insurance exchange. Let me be clear – it would only be an option for those who don't have insurance. No one would be forced to choose it, and it would not impact those of you who already have insurance. In fact, based on Congressional Budget Office estimates, we believe that less than 5% of Americans would sign up”.

(The health care bill that was just passed in Congress and that is going through the senate has the mandate provision that Obama now advocates and limits the public option to a small percentage of Americans just like his plan)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/us/politics/1...

Obama’s position on FISA during the primaries:

Obama: "It is time to restore oversight and accountability in the FISA program, and this proposal -- with an unprecedented grant of retroactive immunity -- is not the place to start."

Bill Burton issues a statement, October 24, 2007, reaffirming Obama's position and pledging to support Chris Dodd's filibuster:

"To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunication companies”

Campaign statement, December 17, 2007, further elaborating on this point in regards to a particular upcoming Senate vote on Dodd's filibuster:

“Senator Obama unequivocally opposes giving retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies and has cosponsored Senator Dodd's efforts to remove that provision from the FISA bill. Granting such immunity undermines the constitutional protections”

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com...

His position on FISA after the primary and during the general:

"I want to take this opportunity to speak directly to those of you who oppose my decision to support the FISA compromise.This was not an easy call for me…..“I know that the FISA bill that passed the House is far from perfect. I wouldn't have drafted the legislation like this, and it does not resolve all of the concerns that we have about President Bush's abuse of executive power. It grants retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that may have violated the law by cooperating with the Bush administration's program of warrantless wiretapping.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barack-obama/my-p...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL802U2PdgM


Obama’s position on NAFTA during the primaries:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF9gpvI2UfU

Obama’s perspective on his perspective of NAFTA after primaries:

"Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified," he conceded, after I reminded him that he had called NAFTA "devastating" and "a big mistake," despite nonpartisan studies concluding that the trade zone has had a mild, positive effect on the U.S. economy. Does that mean his rhetoric was overheated and amplified? "Politicians are always guilty of that, and I don't exempt myself," he answered.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/18/magazines/fortu...

Obama’s betrayal of Public Financing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOFEdFpGF8I&feat...

Grayson/Kucinich 2012

Peace.

Those are valid criticisms but the NAFTA, FISA and Public Finance issues was during the campaign. So did you not vote for Obama then? On healthcare he has embraced the mandate and a limited PO which is fair to beat him over the head based on what he said in the campaign.

Kucinich voted against the house bill because it didn't go far enough. If all else is the same and he is in the WH, how does he shepherd a bill through the house and especially the Senate that he can support? 218 votes in the house, 60 in the Senate for cloture.

I voted for Obama in the Pa primaries ( it was either him or Clinton by then) and the general ( it was either him or McCain by then). I just posted those things just so some people can see that Obama didn't run as this centrist/moderate as many proclaim. I also posted it to show that Obama's duplicitous nature started not during his presidency, but right after he got the Dem nomination. Rational people certainly weren't going to vote for McCain after the primaries were over, so there was no real choice but to support Obama in the general despite his many policy reversals.

I personally believe Obama caved on the Public Option to keep insurance lobbyist money in the Dem Party for 2010 and 2012. 65 percent of Americans supported the public option and Obama could have strong armed congress with that support to pass a more robust Public Option - he chose not to for political reasons I believe.

After he won the Primaries he ran to the center which is why he flipped on those issues. To win in a general election he had to move to the center to get a majority of independents. The left or right alone can't win you a general election. McCain lost once he picked Palin because she moved the ticket too far to the right.

I have seen many people subscribe to this view but it doesn't make sense. If the economy is still really bad next year, independents especially will flee and they will lose no matter how much money they have.

Obama is a pragmatist. He knows that what he can get is what Bernie Sanders and Ben Nelson who are leftmost and rightmost in the caucus, can agree on for cloture.

Well goodluck to you and grayson/kucinich 2012

When did Boss Hogg get elected as governor of Mississippi?

Whack TV. Lou Dobbs is on Larry Kudlow's. I will post video.
I do mean whack you have to listen to Dobbs and Kudlow debate immigration

You obviously haven't had the displeasure of hearing Dobbs on his radio show...in my opinion he can now be seriously cast in the limpballs/hannity/beck lineup....all whacked out people.

NO I have never had the opportunity.
the videos are here. I regard Kudlow as whack and listening to the two of them on both sides of an issue was multiple WTF moments.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=133661740...
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=133662109...
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=133664002...
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=133664451...
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=133663998...

Black Broadcasting Network (BBN) will premiere its groundbreaking documentary series “Raising Boys – Tips for Single Moms” at Houston’s Angelika Theater, Thursday, November 5th. The four part opus focuses on the plight of inner-city single mothers and stars Houston-based activist, Deric Muhammad, a product of an urban single parent household himself. The premier starts at 7pm CT.

“I believe that much of the youth violence that has spiraled out of control in America’s major cities can be traced to the lack of guidance from strong fathers,” said Muhammad. “The problems start in the home and spill over into the streets. We think we can help.”

Muhammad takes you on a ride through the lives of women who are forced to pull “double duty,” playing the strenuous role of mother and father. Statistics show that some 70% of the households in America’s Black communities are headed by the female.

“Black Broadcasting Network is dedicated to enhancing the value of programming available to viewers today, and we are excited to present the premier of ‘Raising Boys,’” said Attorney Ricky Anderson, CEO of Black Broadcasting Network. “We believe ‘Raising Boys’ exhibits the type of programming BBN has in store for our targeted audience.”

This documentary is part of BBN’s strong grass roots campaign to address issues affecting the underserved age 18-34 demographic that it is determined to serve. The network will offer reality-based, solution-oriented content that speaks to the heart of the real issues facing young people growing up in today’s America. Thursday’s premier is one example of how the network plans to showcase and identify rising independent producers. BBN will host premieres throughout the coming months in major urban cities including Washington, DC, Chicago, New York and Atlanta.

Black Broadcasting Network Presents, ‘Raising Boys – Tips for Single Moms’

Sad and pathetic--70% of black households headed by a woman!

Given the media blitz surrounding the last U.S. presidential campaign and that book authors are often inspired by the world around them, it's no wonder the market for children's literature has seen its share of books about the new president, according to a Kansas State University children's literature expert.

But the number of titles about Barack Obama is astounding, said Phil Nel, K-State professor of English and head of K-State's children's literature program.

Nel recently presented the paper "Obamafiction for Children: Imagining the 44th U.S. President" at the American Studies Association conference in Washington, D.C.

Last he counted, Nel said there were around 60 children's titles about Obama -- including two dozen before he was elected to the presidency and more than 35 since. The total does not include books about members of the Obama family or Bo, the family dog.

Expert Says Number of Children's Books About Obama Is Astounding

---

Prediction: More zombie children emails and child brainwashing hysteria are in our future.

good...so, I'll have a plethora of choices to buy for Peanut.

okay, here it goes: i luv michelle obama as much as the next person. i appreciate all that she does for our country, what she represents to women & girls, etc. but this is a purely aesthetic question i have (as a person who has a thing for teeth, bone structure, symmetry): why doesn't she get her underbite taken care of? it would drastically change the entire structure of her jawline, making for a much more streamlined facial composition overall. and of course she isn't the first First Lady to have dental issues like that: jackie o., eleanor r. and hillary come to mind.

just wondering...

why didn't Streisand fix her nose?

why do some decide NOT to fix the gap in their teeth?

people comfortable with who they are learn to appreciate what they have, and make the most of it.

I think if Streisand had ever "fixed" her nose, she would have lost her voice! Her talent is in that nose!

uh oh....female on female hate in process..........time for Guns to run for cover.

She's probably comfortable with who she is...

Just like some people prefer to keep the gap in between their teeth

I'm not looking for a First Lady that has a perfectly structured face
Her teeth are clean and seem to be in good health....and that's good enough for me

again, my comment wasn't meant as a criticism... simply an observation. the artist in me notices things like that. gaps are another issue, and they add beauty to a face (in my opinion). i realise it's a touchy topic for many though. no harm meant, so u can relax.

Sorry but your comment invites nothing but laughter at best. I didn't know the way people are created is so they can apply to your aesthetic sense on what is beauty or to appeal to the "artist side of you"

I am just going to skip over your observation because it speaks to too many issues that women constantly have to deal with. But good luck with looking at human beings from an artistic point of view.

it would drastically change the entire structure of her jawline, making for a much more streamlined facial composition overall.

perhaps that is where your answer lies.....she may not want to change the structure of her jawline....it maybe one of those things she inherited from her parents or other relatives, and every time she looks in the mirror she relishes in her ancestry ..like the way high cheekbones and broad shoulders run in some families.......maybe 'streamlined" is not her cup of tea.....she loved and accepted herself a long time ago, and apparently it has fit her well thus far.

yes. i considered the inheritance aspect too--her not wanting to look dissimilar from other family members. makes a lot of sense. and you're right--she does wear self-acceptance very well.

i wasn't sure how my fascination with angles would be received here (because we--black women-- are very protective of michelle and rightly so!), but i appreciate your response.

someone had brought this story up, but didn't leave a link.


Teen got life sentence for killing pimp who raped her at 13
By Daniel Tencer
Sunday, November 1st, 2009 -- 2:49 pm

Supreme Court to rule on constitutionality of life prison terms for crimes committed by children

The case of a teenage girl who got life in prison for killing the man who raped her at age 13 and pimped her out for three years is drawing renewed attention to an upcoming Supreme Court decision on life terms for underaged felons.

A feature piece at Alternet.org tells the story of Sara Kruzan, of Riverside, California, who met a "father figure" at age 11. By age 13, he had raped her; for the next three years, she worked 12-hour days as a prostitute for her abuser.

When Kruzan killed her tormentor at age 16, the judge declared her actions "well thought-out" and gave her life in prison without parole.

Kruzan is one of 2,574 Americans "sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison for crimes they committed as children," according to a Human Rights Watch report.

http://rawstory.com/2009/11/teen-life-sentence-...

Do you believe the accounting standards board should be independent or not? If not you'll have the Congress making the decision.

for those following the ATLANTA Mayor's race:

a rap video for Norwood

http://animoto.com/play/jUOAPgfgfRpGi6KRR3cMpw?...



BWA HA HA HA HAHA HA HA

I'm liable to try and vote for Kasim Reed TWICE on Dec 1st. After seeing that, its worth the risk.

Thursday, November 19, 2009
Harry Reid, and What Happened to the Public Option

First there was Medicare for all 300 million of us. But that was a non-starter because private insurers and Big Pharma wouldn't hear of it, and Republicans and "centrists" thought it was too much like what they have up in Canada -- which, by the way, cost Canadians only 10 percent of their GDP and covers every Canadian. (Our current system of private for-profit insurers costs 16 percent of GDP and leaves out 45 million people.)

So the compromise was to give all Americans the option of buying into a "Medicare-like plan" that competed with private insurers. Who could be against freedom of choice? Fully 70 percent of Americans polled supported the idea. Open to all Americans, such a plan would have the scale and authority to negotiate low prices with drug companies and other providers, and force private insurers to provide better service at lower costs. But private insurers and Big Pharma wouldn't hear of it, and Republicans and "centrists" thought it would end up too much like what they have up in Canada.

So the compromise was to give the public option only to Americans who wouldn't be covered either by their employers or by Medicaid. And give them coverage pegged to Medicare rates. But private insurers and ... you know the rest.

So the compromise that ended up in the House bill is to have a mere public option, open only to the 6 million Americans not otherwise covered. The Congressional Budget Office warns this shrunken public option will have no real bargaining leverage and would attract mainly people who need lots of medical care to begin with. So it will actually cost more than it saves.

But even the House's shrunken and costly little public option is too much private insurers, Big Pharma, Republicans, and "centrists" in the Senate. So Harry Reid has proposed an even tinier public option, which states can decide not to offer their citizens. According to the CBO, it would attract no more than 4 million Americans.

http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2009/11/harry-r...

Video of John Rodgers, CEO of Ariel Capital, Desiree's X.

thank you.

Has anyone seen Precious? I am asking because this insipid and jacked up The Blind Side seems to be Precious in feel good mode for white folks. It is not even about Michael Oher (who plays for my Ravens) but Sandra Bullock's trashing rich cracker heroine character! I think those people used Oher after "rescuing" him from the evil ghetto blackfolks. It's no accident that he's a big cornfed boy, like in The Green Mile, or played as quiet and stupid, like in Radio with that sad excuse Cuba Gooding. I think The Blind Side is the other end of a bad spectrum from Precious. When i went to the sneak preview, there were maybe 10 other black people out of 200 whites. Naturally they all cheered when the lights came on. I saw a car full of a family (and this was in Balto., yet) in the parking lot with a sticker that smeared The President and another that said Don't Blame Me I voted for McCain. These people were carrying on the loudest how this was such a greta movie. I felt bad that they turned this into a lovefest for supposedly liberal crackers when the focus should have been on Oher's story and what he felt!

Am I making too much out this or is Hollywood messing with us on two levels, big budget and indie?

LMAO.

I have no intentions of seeing this. I don't need another White Savior Movie. been there, done that.

I haven't seen either flick and really don't want to...and yes, that be Hollywood messing around!

Jesse Jackson: 'You can't vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man'
By Mike Soraghan - 11/18/09 05:42 PM ET

The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Wednesday night criticized Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) for voting against the Democrats’ signature healthcare bill.

“We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill,” Jackson said at a reception Wednesday night. “You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man.”

The remark stirred a murmur at the reception, held by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Foundation as part of a series of events revolving around the 25th anniversary of Jackson’s run for president. Several CBC members were in attendance, including Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who’d introduced Jackson.

Davis, who is running for governor, is the only black member of Congress from Alabama.

He is also the only member of the CBC to have voted against the healthcare bill earlier this month.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/68451-jackson...

I expect this type of stupid talk from Jesse. Blacks are the only community that destroy one another if someone wants to go their own way. So what he don't vote for health care. That doesn't make him black? If his constituents have a problem with it they'll vote him out. Messy Jessy is at it again. Jesse better keep up with that child support.

lol. he really does need to just shut up.

I see two separate issues: (1) Jackson challenging Davis's Blackness; and (2) Davis's throwing of Black Alabamans under the bus by voting against their interests in order to gain favor with White Alabamans--most of whom aren't going to vote for him anyway.

(1) Jackson could have and should have kept his comments private.
(2) As "Blackness Tests" go, I'm opposed to them. At the same time, there are certain actions that make people wonder about one's support, love and respect for the Black masses. Davis was essentially asking for it by his blatant selling out of his Black constituents re the Health Care vote.

And indeed I don't liek the healthcare thing either because I feel Obama and the Dems have wasted their political capital on it when they should be reforming markets, protecting consumers & saftey and getting folk working, cleaning up Bush messes. But I see the spirit in which Davis is out of touch.

Too strident and clumsy but me makes a point. What's Davis' thing here?

Re: John Conyers' Comments About POTUS

I'm not trying to defend Conyers here. But I will say that there is some--some--validity in the at-large criticism of PBO viz-a-viz his tendency to give legitimacy to gratuitous right wing opposition.

The Right had total control of all branches of government for nearly a decade, and their crowning achievement is the worst recession in recent history. These people are the arsonists who set our financial houses ablaze. These are the drunk drivers who drove our economic bus off a cliff. So one can (and should) reasonably ask why President Obama and certain Democrats in Congress give these people so much deference.

They broke "it" knowing full well that they would. Why in the world should they have a say in how to fix "it"?

Ok, you bring up some valid points but John Conyers was in the House during the entire Bush administration. How come he has waited until now to bring these problems to the forefront? Maybe he sees a person that looks like him in the WH and feels a lot more comfortable to pop shots?

i call it 'soulfood restaurant syndrome'. ever been in a soulfood restaurant and received AWFUL service, yet notice that white customers are getting treated properly? it's that mentality.

I sure have. I don't play that shit. I ask to speak to the supervisor.

Please Stop making Sense!