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Friday, February 28, 2014

Hardball with Chris Matthews Oscars’ Best Pictures: Based on true stories Chris Matthews talks to “Inside the Actor’s Studio” host James Lipton and film critic Ann Hornaday about the upcoming Academy Awards, and discuss the Best Picture nominees. Excellent discussion of "12 Years a slave"



Hardball with Chris Matthews on msnbc

Exclusive: Latinos Are Punch Line at Joe Arpaio Roast | Hatewatch

Arizona State Rep. John Kavanagh, a Republican from the Scottsdale area, had conservatives chortling with one joke after another about racial profiling, “rounding up Hispanics” and much more. For good measure, he mocked the controversy around SB 1062, the so-called religious freedom bill, taking a shot at Muslims in the process. And he mocked the federal monitor appointed to oversee Sheriff Arpaio’s operations after a judge determined that his department engaged in racial profiling and illegal detentions of Latinos.
It’s not uncommon for roasters to push boundaries. People joke about things that might otherwise be off-limits – sex, old age and a person’s personality and appearance. This was different.
Kavanagh, who made headlines last year for trying to criminalize bathroom use by transgender people, used Latinos as a punch line in one racist joke after another, and the crowd lapped it up. The jokes and laughter, caught in an unguarded moment, reveal why conservatives have such a difficult time connecting with Latinos – there is a fundamental lack of respec


Exclusive: Latinos Are Punch Line at Joe Arpaio Roast | Hatewatch

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Audiobooks and the Return of Storytelling - NYTimes.com

"We tend to regard reading with our eyes as more serious, more highbrow, than hearing a book read out loud. Listening to a written text harkens back to childhood, when we couldn’t read it ourselves, or a time when our parents left off reading the chapter out loud in the middle, a nudge that we’d use our school-taught skills to finish it off by ourselves.

The great linguist Ferdinand de Saussure thought we treated writing as more important than speaking because writing is visual. Speech is ephemeral — you hear a word, and then it is gone. The word written down remains, and so we attach more significance to it. Saussure wrote that when we imagined text as more important than speech, it was as if we thought we would learn more about someone from his photograph than from his face.

But so it is. The ability to read has always been invested with more importance than mere speech. When only a small priestly elite could read, books were sacred mysteries. When more people could read, literacy became a means to move forward in the world. These days, the ability to read is a prerequisite for full participation in the social order.

But for most of human history literature has been spoken out loud. The Iliad and the Odyssey were sung. We think that the Homeric singers of those tales mastered the prodigious mnemonic task presented by those thousands upon thousands of lines of text through an intricate combination of common phrases — rosy-fingered dawn, the wine-dark sea — and nested plots that could be expanded or shortened as the occasion demanded..."

Did White Male Insecurity Kill Jordan Davis? - The Root

For angry white men like Dunn, Jordan Davis’ “gangsta rap” music and Trayvon Martin’s “hoodie” symbolize a larger culture war in which putatively wholesome American culture is under siege by blackness. “Stand your ground” laws, Dunn believes, give Americans the right to defend themselves against “the denigration of women” and “the violence and lifestyle that the ‘gangsta rap’ music and the ‘thug life’ ” adopted by “an entire generation” of “young black men.”
Awaiting trial, Dunn wrote several letters to his family and friends complaining about how “jail is full of blacks and they all act like thugs.” In a letter to his daughter, he offered the following solution to the problem of  black thuggery: “This may sound a bit radical but if more people would arm themselves and kill these f--king idiots when they’re threatening you, eventually they may take the hint and change their behavior.”
Threatened by growing black economic and political power in the early 20th century, white men calling themselves the Ku Klux Klan used this same portrayal of black men as violent, sexual predators to justify racial terrorism. It’s estimated that from 1880 to 1930, more than2,400 African Americans were lynched, often for insulting white men or forgetting “their place.” For contemporary angry white men, standing up to “gangsta rap” and “thugs” is akin to night-riding on black men, as portrayed in D.W. Griffith’s classic 1915 film The Birth of a Nation.
Although economic downturns disproportionately affect black unemployment and home ownership, working-class and college-educated whites are now feeling the sting of restricted opportunity. In his book Angry White Men, sociologist Michael Kimmel describes how these men often blame the trifecta of feminism, affirmative action and immigration for their woes.
The relative devaluing of white privilege has been interpreted as racial oppression of whites and “reverse discrimination.” Opinion polls (pdf) suggest that half of all white Americans now see themselves as the targets of racism, and that number pushes past 60 percent among self-identified Republicans and among those who watch Fox News.


Did White Male Insecurity Kill Jordan Davis? - The Root

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Blanche Armwood's story is one worth sharing | Tampa Bay Times

" My older son is a senior at Armwood High School, and my younger son is a junior at the school, but ask them what they know about the school's namesake and their knowledge doesn't go much beyond "she was an African American educator." Of course, it's difficult for me to criticize when a group of older and supposedly wiser friends recently exclaimed, "Armwood is named after a black woman?" Yes, it is. And not only was Blanche Armwood a black woman, but she fought for her fellow African-Americans with the same fervor often displayed by the high school's football team. Unlike the Hawks, however, Blanche Armwood didn't get to play on a level playing field in the early 20th century. In the Jim Crow South, blacks were relegated to second-class status, endured lynchings and struggled to find equality."

The perceived problems of the 1% The New York Times’ Nick Confessore and Fordham University Prof. Zephyr Teachout join to discuss the “problems” faced by America’s wealthy elite.



Inside a Wall Street secret society | MSNBC

Are we living in a new ‘Gilded Age’? Chris Hayes talks with New York Magazine reporter Kevin Roose, who snuck into a meeting of a Wall Street secret society and wrote about his experience.



Inside a Wall Street secret society | MSNBC

Are we living in a new ‘Gilded Age’? Chris Hayes talks with New York Magazine reporter Kevin Roose, who snuck into a meeting of a Wall Street secret society and wrote about his experience.



All In with Chris Hayes on msnbc

Texas Republicans seem to want to spend their last few years in control of Texas using trolls like racist Ted Nugent to pull out the vote of bigots. This is short term gain for long term pain.



All In with Chris Hayes on msnbc

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Unemployment The Number 1 Problem For Americans, Gallup Poll Says



Unemployment The Number 1 Problem For Americans, Gallup Poll Says

De Blasio Outlines Steps to Eliminate Traffic Deaths - NYTimes.com

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping set of proposals aimed at improving street safety in New York City, pledging considerable police resources and even precious political capital in Albany to a most ambitious goal: eliminating traffic deaths.

The 42-page plan is rooted in a Swedish street safety approach known as Vision Zero, which treats all traffic deaths as inherently preventable. Perhaps the most significant changes involve the New York Police Department, whose officers will increase precinct-level enforcement of speeding.



De Blasio Outlines Steps to Eliminate Traffic Deaths - NYTimes.com

Worst. President. Ever. This Presidents’ Day, we ask: who is the worst president ever?



Jordan Davis, 'Stand your Ground' and justice | MSNBC

Worst. President. Ever.



Jordan Davis, 'Stand your Ground' and justice | MSNBC

Jordan Davis, ‘Stand your Ground’ and justice After the verdict in the latest “Stand Your Ground” case, legal analyst Lisa Green and Jelani Cobb join Chris Hayes to discuss the law’s impact.



All In with Chris Hayes on msnbc

Christie’s longtime friend watched traffic jam Who once coached Gov. Christie’s son’s little league Hockey team? And what does he have to do with ‘Bridgegate’? Chris Hayes weighs in.







All In with Chris Hayes on msnbc

Sunday, February 16, 2014

On the Killing of Jordan Davis by Michael Dunn - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic

I insist that the irrelevance of black life has been drilled into this country since its infancy, and shall not be extricated through the latest innovations in Negro Finishing School. I insist that racism is our heritage, that Thomas Jefferson's genius is no more important than his plundering of the body of Sally Hemmings, that George Washington's abdication is no more significant than his wild pursuit of Oney Judge. I insist that the G.I Bill's accolades are inseparable from its racist heritageI will not respect the lie. I insist that racism must be properly understood as an Intelligence, as a sentience, as a default setting to which, likely until the end of our days, we unerringly return.

On the Killing of Jordan Davis by Michael Dunn - Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic

Friday, February 14, 2014

Plutocrats Despising the Poor: An American Tradition | Joseph A. Palermo

High unemployment, low wages, a lack of job security and opportunity, and austerity are the "new normal." The slashing of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the failure to extend unemployment insurance to 1.6 million people are only the latest manifestations of cold-hearted public policy that is only prolonging the slump.



Adding insult to injury we're forced to endure over the public airwaves the incessant whining and moaning of billionaires and millionaires who believe working people are not genuflecting to them enough or doing so without the desired level of devotion.



Plutocrats Despising the Poor: An American Tradition | Joseph A. Palermo

Monday, February 10, 2014

Samuel L. Jackson DESTROYS News Anchor -- I'm Not Laurence Fishburne, YOU MORON!!! | TMZ.com





Samuel L. Jackson DESTROYS News Anchor -- I'm Not Laurence Fishburne, YOU MORON!!! | TMZ.com

Fight Over Minimum Wage Illustrates Web of Industry Ties - NYTimes.com

WASHINGTON — Just four blocks from the White House is the headquarters of the Employment Policies Institute, a widely quoted economic research center whose academic reports have repeatedly warned that increasing the minimum wage could be harmful, increasing poverty and unemployment.

But something fundamental goes unsaid in the institute’s reports: The nonprofit group is run by a public relations firm that also represents the restaurant industry, as part of a tightly coordinated effort to defeat the minimum wage increase that the White House and Democrats in Congress have pushed for.




Fight Over Minimum Wage Illustrates Web of Industry Ties - NYTimes.com

Sunday, February 09, 2014

A gun bill returns with a vengeance | Political Insider blog

Georgia is a sick place. "Oh, no. House Bill 875, under the sponsorship of Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, not only includes a backdoor entrance for guns on university campuses, but would give concealed weaponry an unprecedented, protected spot right next to you – in bars, churches, libraries, senior centers, aquatic centers, at zoning hearings and city council meetings.

Last month, Capitol lawyers determined that university presidents couldn’t choose, campus by campus, where hidden, permitted weapons could be toted – killing an effort at compromise over the issue.

H.B. 875 simply decriminalizes the matter. Licensed carriers caught with concealed weapons on public campuses would not be subject to arrest, and would only face a civil fine of up to $100."

That’s a pin prick compared to the cost of speeding through a school zone.

Swiss Voters Narrowly Approve Curbs on Immigration - NYTimes.com

BERLIN — A narrow majority of voters in Switzerland on Sunday approved proposals that would reintroduce restrictions on the number of foreigners who are allowed to live and work in the country, a move that could have far-reaching implications for Switzerland’s relations with the European Union.

The referendum on the changes to the country’s liberal immigration law was a rebuke to the Swiss government, the banking industry and business leaders who had lobbied against the restrictions, warning that such a move could endanger Switzerland’s prosperity.



Swiss Voters Narrowly Approve Curbs on Immigration - NYTimes.com

Newspaper: We 'Blew It' With Christie Endorsement

"New Jersey's most highly-circulated newspaper, The Newark Star-Ledger, said on Sunday that it regrets endorsing Chris Christie in his last campaign for governor. 

A piece penned by Tom Moran, the editor of the paper's editorial page, says the Star-Ledger "blew" its endorsement of Christie for governor in October."

Saturday, February 08, 2014

Exclusive: AIDS patients in Obamacare limbo as insurers reject checks

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hundreds of people with HIV/AIDS in Louisiana trying to obtain coverage under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform are in danger of being thrown out of the insurance plan they selected in a dispute over federal subsidies and the interpretation of federal rules about preventing Obamacare fraud.

Some healthcare advocates see discrimination in the move, but Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana says it is not trying to keep people with HIV/AIDS from enrolling in one of its policies under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

The state's largest carrier is rejecting checks from a federal program designed to help these patients pay for AIDS drugs and insurance premiums, and has begun notifying customers that their enrollment in its Obamacare plans will be discontinued.

The carrier says it no longer will accept third-party payments, such as those under the 1990 Ryan White Act, which many people with HIV/AIDS use to pay their premiums."

The Miami Heat at the White House: Healthy Tips From NBA Champions

President Obama's Weekly Address: Expanding Opportunity for the American People

Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Elizabeth Warren backs plan to save USPS, replace payday lenders | MSNBC

" The Office of the Inspector General released a report last week, finding that 68 million Americans – that’s more than a quarter of all households – have no savings or checking accounts. Those Americans handed over nearly $90 billion in interest and fees to (oftentimes predatory) non-banking financial services, like check cashing and payday loans services.

For the average household, that comes out to about $2,412 a year.

“Think about that: about 10 percent of a family’s income just to manage getting checks cashed, bills paid, and, sometimes, a short-term loan to tide them over. That’s more than a full month’s income just to try to navigate the basics,” said the Massachusetts Democrat in an op-ed for the Huffington Post. “The poor pay more, and that’s one of the reasons people get trapped at the bottom of the economic ladder.”

That, combined with the U.S. Post Office losing billions of dollars every year, has resulted in the OIG looking into the possibility of post offices offering services like small loans, check cashing, and bill paying to its customers.

“With post offices and postal workers already on the ground, USPS could partner with banks to make a critical difference for millions of Americans who don’t have basic banking services because there are almost no banks or bank branches in their neighborhoods,” wrote Warren."

Maine Governor Cites ‘Troubling Epidemic’ of Addicted Babies - NYTimes.com

NYTimes: Freeing Workers From the Insurance Trap

Bill O'Reilly and the 'self-reliance' myth | MSNBC



Bill O'Reilly and the 'self-reliance' myth | MSNBC

Have you benefited from a government program? Bill O’Reilly called himself a “self-reliance guy” during his interview with President Obama. Chris Hayes discusses.



All In with Chris Hayes on msnbc

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - Exclusive, Bill de Blasio Extended Interview

Monday, February 03, 2014

Preschool Push Moving Ahead In Many States - NYTimes.com

The Middle Class Is Steadily Eroding. Just Ask the Business World. - NYTimes.com

As politicians and pundits in Washington continue to spar over whether economic inequality is in fact deepening, in corporate America there really is no debate at all. The post-recession reality is that the customer base for businesses that appeal to the middle class is shrinking as the top tier pulls even further away.

If there is any doubt, the speed at which companies are adapting to the new consumer landscape serves as very convincing evidence. Within top consulting firms and among Wall Street analysts, the shift is being described with a frankness more often associated with left-wing academics than business experts.




The Middle Class Is Steadily Eroding. Just Ask the Business World. - NYTimes.com

Proud To Be Indigenous American

Sunday, February 02, 2014

Nothing scarier than a nervous white man: The “Redskins” debate is really about white privilege - Salon.com

NYTimes: In China, ‘Once the Villages Are Gone, the Culture Is Gone’

A Mayor Most Everybody Looks Up To, Even When He Slouches - NYTimes.com

Mayors height

From left to Right John V. Lindsay 6'4" (my favorite) Ed Koch 6'2" (fun to debate, Michael Bloomberg 5'7", Abe Beame 5'2" Fiorello H.
La Guardia 5'2" and current Mayor Bill de Blasio 6'5-7/8"

 

A Mayor Most Everybody Looks Up To, Even When He Slouches - NYTimes.com: ""

(Via.)

4-year-old with IQ of 145 becomes Mensa's newest member - Yahoo News



4-year-old with IQ of 145 becomes Mensa's newest member - Yahoo News

An Open Letter From Dylan Farrow - NYTimes.com

What’s your favorite Woody Allen movie? Before you answer, you should know: when I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me. He talked to me while he did it, whispering that I was a good girl, that this was our secret, promising that we’d go to Paris and I’d be a star in his movies. I remember staring at that toy train, focusing on it as it traveled in its circle around the attic. To this day, I find it difficult to look at toy trains.



An Open Letter From Dylan Farrow - NYTimes.com

Chris Christie’s Office Targets Former Ally in a Memo - NYTimes.com

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart makes Fun of Atlanta's snow jam 1-28-14

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - Political Comedy - Fake News | Comedy Central

Saturday, February 01, 2014

Blacks Sleeping Patterns Are Unhealthy, Harvard Study Finds

"Perceived or objective job discrimination, limited control over work demands and a determination to succeed against all odds increase black workers’ stress, causing them to lose hours of restorative sleep compared to their white coworkers, according to a study by the Harvard School for Public Health.

 The problem, however, does not end there.

The lack of sleep leads to chronic ailments, including high-blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, diseases that are prevalent in the African-American community. Lack of sleep also can lead to death."

Up With Steve Kornacki - What ex-ally’s letter means for Christie The lawyer for Chris Christie’s former ally David Wildstein sent a letter indicating that the governor knew about the George Washington Bridge lane closures as they happened. Steve Kornacki outlines what this means for the players involved.



Up With Steve Kornacki on msnbc

Up With Steve Kornacki - Christie administration: Sandy funds ‘integrity monitors’ only in place since January Steve Kornacki examines how New Jersey is adhering to a law designed to oversee the way federal relief money is monitored. Amid reports about questionable contracts and inquiries into how Gov. Chris Christie’s team has managed and spent federal funds for Hurricane Sandy relief, New Jersey’s state Treasury Department tells Up With Steve Kornacki that the monitors under this law were only put in place in January 2014.



Up With Steve Kornacki on msnbc

Melissa Harris-Perry Scrutiny on Christie intensifies A letter from former Port Authority official David Wildstein’s lawyer alleges New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie knew about lane closures at the George Washington Bridge as they were happening last September. Steve Kornacki, Robert Traynham, Bob Herbert and Ari Melber discuss.



Melissa Harris-Perry on msnbc

Times Minute: Did Christie Know? on Hulu

Another Nevada Republican Leaves The GOP

"Days after Nevada's first female lieutenant governor left the GOP, a member of a notable Silver State Republican family is following suit.

The Associated Press reported Friday that lobbyist Neena Laxalt, daughter of former Nevada governor and U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt (R), decided to register as nonpartisan.

Laxalt's decision comes two days after Nevada Republican Sue Wagner announced she was jumping ship as a "symbol" that she does "not like the Republican Party and what they stand for today."

NYTimes: Microsoft Said to Be Close to Naming a New Chief

Major development in Christie scandal Former Port Authority official David Wildstein alleged in a letter on Friday that Gov. Christie knew about the George Washington Bridge lane closures.



All In with Chris Hayes on msnbc

Chris Christie should resign if bombshell proves true: Editorial | NJ.com

"Forget about the White House in 2016. The question now is whether Gov. Chris Christie can survive as governor.

David Wildstein, the man who ordered the George Washington Bridge lane closures, is now pointing the finger directly at Gov. Chris Christie, saying the governor knew about the lane closures in September when they occurred.

That directly contradicts Christie account at his Jan. 13 press conference when he made this statement: "I had no knowledge of this "— of the planning, the execution or anything about it... I first found out about it after it was over."


Chris Christie should resign if bombshell proves true: Editorial | NJ.com

Ex-ally alleges Christie knew of lane closure | MSNBC Christie's edifice oh lies and strong arm politics is crumbling.

"A former Port Authority official alleged Friday that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie knew about lane closures on the George Washington Bridge “during the period when the lanes were closed” last September. In a letter to the Port Authority, made public by his lawyer, David Wildstein also contended that he had evidence to support his allegation."

Christie Asks for Public's Patience While He Comes Up with New Story : The New Yorker

Christie Asks for Public's Patience While He Comes Up with New Story : The New Yorker