July 20, 2013

It's exactly what it says it is

A dream come true
...and it's not ONE MILLION DOLLARS, either!
It's exactly what it says it is
Class I laser, about as evil as your laser printer
Read more..
http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/f2eb/?rkgid=275668648&cpg=ogpla&source=google_pla&device=c&network=g&matchtype=&gclid=CPye2oyIv7gCFSFk7AodaE8ADg

July 20, 2013

New Florida Map

July 20, 2013

At first, I was speechless and appalled by the vicious, openly-racist commentary

At first, I was speechless and appalled by
the vicious, openly-racist commentary that exploded after the President's quietly thoughtful, eloquent remarks. Then I wondered: is it a benefit for the country to be made aware of our racism by seeing unvarnished proof of it, not only from ordinary citizens, but from our pundits? It would be impossible to claim, as Roberts did, that we have changed as a country and moved beyond the racist taint of our past, when confronted by such open hatred oozing forth from all directions.

PS: I can't help but think that the President's deeply-felt words went beyond the case at hand, and reminded people (including lawmakers) that justice was also denied African Americans by this recent Court decision.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/20/1225077/-Abbreviated-Pundit-Round-up-Some-of-the-best-and-the-worst-on-Obama-s-remarks#comments

July 20, 2013

Barack and Trayvon -By CHARLES M. BLOW: "We could all have been Trayvon."

Barack and Trayvon
By CHARLES M. BLOW
Published: July 19, 2013 77 Comments


On Friday President Obama picked at America’s racial wound, and it bled a bit.

..............

Most blacks don’t believe that racial prejudice is the whole of black people’s problems today, or is even chief among them. According to a Gallup poll released Friday, only 37 percent of blacks believe that the fact that they, on average, have worse jobs, income and housing is “mostly” because of discrimination.

But it would be hard to argue that bias plays no role, even if it’s immeasurable.

That’s why there was value in the president of the United States acknowledging his “two-ness” on Friday and connecting with Trayvon Martin — because we can never lose sight of the fact that biases and stereotypes and violence are part of a black man’s burden in America, no matter that man’s station.

We could all have been Trayvon.


.........
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/20/opinion/blow-barack-and-trayvon.html?_r=2&

July 20, 2013

Before He Was President, Mistaken for a Waiter: a 2003 Obama Meeting

Before He Was President, Mistaken for a Waiter: a 2003 Obama Meeting
November 7, 2008, 12:34 PM


2003 garden party at the Manhattan home of media luminaries Tina Brown, now editor of the Daily Beast, and Harold Evans. The gathering just a little more than 10 years ago was to celebrate Sidney Blumenthal's book The Clinton Wars.

...Standing by myself I noticed, on the periphery of the party, a man looking as awkward and out-of-place as I felt. I approached him and introduced myself. He was an Illinois state senator who was running for the U.S. Senate. He was African American, one of a few black people in attendance.

We spoke at length about his campaign. He was charismatic in a quiet, solemn way. I told him I wanted to pitch a profile of him to a national magazine. (The magazine later rejected my proposal.)

The following year I watched as he gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, and then won his Senate seat that fall. On Tuesday, Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States...

"What I will always remember...is as I was leaving that party ... I was approached by another guest, an established author. He asked about the man I had been talking to. Sheepishly he told me he didn't know that Obama was a guest at the party, and had asked him to fetch him a drink. In less than six years, Obama has gone from being mistaken for a waiter among the New York media elite, to the president-elect. What a country."



http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/11/07/before-he-was-president-mistaken-for-a-waiter-a-2003-obama-meeting/

July 20, 2013

OBAMA: "if Trayvon Martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk?"

"If we're sending a message as a society in our communities that someone who is armed potentially has the right to use those firearms, even if there's a way for them to exit from a situation, is that really going to be contributing to the kind of peace and security and order that we'd like to see?" asked Obama on Friday.

"And for those who resist that idea, that we should think about something like these 'Stand Your Ground' laws, I just ask people to consider if Trayvon Martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk? And do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting Mr. Zimmerman, who had followed him in a car, because he felt threatened? And if the answer to that question is at least ambiguous, it seems to me that we might want to examine those kinds of laws," he added.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/19/obama-stand-your-ground_n_3624594.html

July 19, 2013

Bennett - Neighborhoodie Watch

July 19, 2013

Republican senators discover they got nothing in nuclear option 'deal'

“There wasn’t any deal. They got what they wanted. We basically rolled over,” said Senator Richard C.
Shelby, Republican of Alabama. “What changed is the Democrats threatened to change the rules, and they got the agreement without changing the rules.”

“Senate Republicans preserved the right to surrender in the future,” Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, said on his Twitter feed.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/07/19/1224917/-Republican-senators-discover-they-got-nothing-in-nuclear-option-deal

July 19, 2013

Stephen Colbert Asks Eliot Spitzer About ‘Self-Comptrol’

Stephen Colbert Asks Eliot Spitzer About ‘Self-Comptrol’

............................

“Given a position of this responsibility, should the job of comptroller go to someone who has show a modicum of ‘self-comp-trol,’” Mr. Colbert asked early on, drawing loud audience applause. “Why, why, why should the people trust you?” he questioned Mr. Spitzer, who resigned from office five years ago after an infamous prostitution scandal.

Mr. Spitzer quickly tried to take charge of the conversation, arguing people should judge him “based on the totality of the record,” including his time spent as state attorney general, where he said he’d been the “umpire” of Wall Street.

....................................

But Mr. Colbert wasn’t done. “Before we go, one last question,” he said. “You know, you’re leading in the polls. You could win this thing … Do you think that it seems that voters are more forgiving than they used to be? Do you think that signals progress for our country, or the slow decay of our moral values?”

“Wow. Wow. That is a tough one,” replied Mr. Spitzer, looking unusually tongue-tied.

“This ain’t Charlie Rose, motherfucker!” Mr. Colbert gloated, to no response. “Come back and tell me.”


VIDEO & MORE of this Masterpiece:
http://politicker.com/2013/07/stephen-colbert-asks-eliot-spitzer-about-self-comptrol/

July 19, 2013

CNBC pulls video of Elizabeth Warren smacking down anchor over Glass-Steagall

And where did CNBC pull the video from? They filed a complaint with YouTube and had the video yanked from the Senator’s official YouTube account - but only after it had accumulated over 700,000 views in a matter of days.

Apparently, the buzz over Warren’s appearance got so great, that CNBC anchor Jim Cramer had to try to shoot it down on Twitter (h/t to HuffPo for that point):

Yeah, Elizabeth Warren had so little impact that CNBC filed a complaint against the YouTube account of a United States Senator in order to get the no-impact video pulled.


More, plus partial transcript and original video:
http://americablog.com/2013/07/cnbc-pulls-elizabeth-warren-video-glass-steagall.html