Kanye 2020!

Everyone is laughing at Kanye West because he announced last night at the VMAs that he is running to be president of these divided states of American in 2020.

Frankly, I don't think it's so funny. I consider Mr. West a serious candidate and I would look forward to his contribution to the political debate and the circus that surrounds it.

Think about it for a minute. Is he any less qualified than say Donald Trump, Ben Carson,  or Chris Christie? I know that Kanye has said some outrageous things in the past, but so has Donald Trump, and he (Trump) has been leading the field of republicans all summer long.

I keep thinking of all the positives that could come out of his campaign. He would, for instance, be able to mobilize young people and get them to register to vote and get engaged in the political process. I bet he would get more young people to register to vote than another young black man from Chicago did almost 8 years ago.

He  would certainly know how to balance the budget.  Kanye has managed to build a nice little fortune for himself by properly managing his rap and producing career, and by branding himself to optimize his money making abilities. Yes he has had some bumps along the way, but so has Donald.

Then there is the mixed race wife. Americans will like that. We still can't have two 100% Negroes in the White House just yet. Kim will make an excellent First Lady. (Think Jackie O without the racism.)

And Kanye might not have formally studied foreign policy, but dude has been to a lot of countries, and they love him in places like Japan. Besides, he could work with some of those leaders in some troubled spots over the world by touting the fact that his wife has roots in some of those same countries.

Admit it people, you would live for those state of the union addresses under president West. Can you imagine if one of those wingnuts shouted out "you lie" in the middle of his address? I can. It would be pure gold.  

So Kanye, I say go for it, America needs you.   

Heck if Donald Trump can catch lightening in a bottle well then so can you.

Besides, I already like your platform:

"Before you ask me to get a job today, can I at least get a raise on a minimum wage?
And I know the government administered AIDS,
So I guess we just pray like the minister say,
Allah o Akbar and throw em some hot cars,
Things we see on the screen are not ours,
But these niggas from the hood so these dreams not far,
Where im from, the dope boys is the rock stars,
But they can't cop cars without seein' cop cars,
I guess they want us all behind bars.
I know it."  ~Heard Em Say~

Adam Levine for VP.

*Pic from forbes.com

Finally, some right wing suggestions for immigration reform, and Jamycheal Mitchell's life mattered as well.

*I thought that immigration reform was a serious subject. If it is, why are some of the GOP candidates saying such crazy things?

Let's start with Scott Walker. This dude things that it might be cool to build a wall on the Canadian US border. You heard that right; a northern wall. 

"Republican presidential candidate and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said on Sunday that a wall along the border between the United States and Canada is a "legitimate issue" to consider.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said that he would build a wall along the border between Mexico and the U.S. to curb illegal immigration — and has vowed that Mexico would foot the bill.

NBC's "Meet The Press" host Chuck Todd asked Walker on the Sunday program if he would consider building a wall along the country's northern border.

Walker said that some people along the campaign trail have raised the issue.

"They raised some very legitimate concerns, including some law enforcement folks that brought that up to me at one of our town hall meetings about a week and a half ago. So that is a legitimate issue for us to look at," Walker told Todd." [Source]

Sorry Scott, this issue is a loser for you. Did you forget that "Mexican is the new black?" Please take a closer look at the racial makeup of the folks up in Canada. They don't look anything like the Mexicans.

And then there is Chris Christie. His idea is just as outrageous. (Man Trump has these guys tripping over themselves to out crazy him.)

"Christie said Saturday that if elected president, he will track undocumented immigrants like FedEx packages.

"I'm going to have Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx, come work for the government for three months. Just come for three months to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and show these people," the New Jersey governor said at a town hall event here.

Christie added that while FedEx can track boxes, the U.S. can't track undocumented immigrants.

"You go online and at any moment, FedEx can tell you where that package is," he said. "Yet we let people come into this country with visas, and the minute they come in, we lose track of them."

Christie added, "We need to have a system that tracks you from the moment you come in and then when your time is up," he said. "However long your visa is, then we go get you and tap you on the shoulder and say, 'Excuse me, it's time to go.'" [Source]

Chris, I am going to use your own words on you: "Excuse me, it's time to go."

**Finally, if you were wondering why all the hue and cry about "black lives matter",  this story might help you to better understand.

"A young black man arrested by police in Portsmouth, Virginia, has been found dead in his jail cell after spending almost four months behind bars – without bail –  for stealing $5 worth of groceries.

Early Wednesday,  Jamycheal Mitchell, who had mental health problems, was discovered lying on the floor of his cell by guards. Prison officials say his death is not being treated as suspicious.

“As of right now it is deemed ‘natural causes’,” said Natasha Perry, the master jail officer at the Hampton Roads regional jail in Portsmouth. Yet Portsmouth police are looking into the circumstances surrounding the death of the 24-year-old.

On April 22nd, Mitchell was accused of stealing a bottle of Mountain Dew, a Snickers bar and a Zebra Cake worth a total of $5 from a 7-Eleven. His family reportedly believes he starved to death after refusing meals and medication at the jail, where he was being held on misdemeanor charges of petty larceny and trespassing.

“His body failed,” said Roxanne Adams, Mitchell’s. “It is extraordinary. The person I saw deceased was not even the same person.” Adams, who is a registered nurse, said Mitchell had practically no muscle mass left and had lost about 65lbs by the time of his death. [Source]

* Pic from theatlantic.com

**Pic from facebook

CAPTION SATURDAY.

I need a caption for this pic.

Example: The American paid me to do it. He said something about Tonya Harding.

*Pic from newsweek.com

When stealing a car is no big deal but "reckless eyeballing" is.

   Shout out to one of my regular field Hands, Lilacpr, for bringing my attention to one of the following stories.

Anyway, just to show you how white privilege works I am going to cut and paste a couple of stories for you.


"A woman in Los Angeles, allegedly under the influence of drugs, reportedly stole a car and led police on a wild chase before coming to a stop, jumping out of the vehicle and dancing awkwardly to Future’s latest single.

Initially, when I saw the video, I gave it my “White-people-are-a-trip” chuckle. But the more I watched it, the less funny it became.

After a couple of minutes, I was more resentful than amused.

While Black women need police escorts for laughing too loudly on trains, White women can lead police all over the place before jumping out to do a jig in the middle of the street. I kept thinking what would have happened if her skin had been a little bit darker.

Her White skin gave her the benefit of presumed innocence even though she had stolen a car and was lifting and tugging on her shirt as she exited it. She could have had anything under those layers of t-shirts.

Sandra Bland’s cigarette was a problem.

Sandra Bland was called defiant and arrogant but this White woman taunted the police with dance moves and it was funny. And more importantly, as far as I know, she’s still alive today."

Watch here to see what the writer is talking about.

And then of course there is the flip side to this story. You know....the black side.

"John Felton was driving to his brother’s house in Dayton, Ohio, on a recent night when he noticed a police car tailing him. Not wanting to give the officer any excuse to pull him over, Felton, who is black and was visiting Dayton from Michigan, tried to drive extra carefully. But the effort was insufficient: Soon after making a turn, Felton was forced to stop his car and show the officer his driver’s license.

It turned out Felton had not switched on his turn signal at the exact right moment; as you can see from the video Felton made of the encounter and sent to talk show host David Pakman, the white officer told him he had failed to signal within 100 feet of making his turn.

 

But why, Felton wanted to know, had the officer decided to follow him in the first place? That’s when the stop went from being an ordinary illustration of racial profiling to an extraordinary one.

"You made direct eye contact with me and held onto it when I was passing you," the officer told Fenton.[sic] The implication was that Fenton [sic] had marked himself as a suspicious character simply by looking at the officer." [Source]

Now I have to tell you as an officer of the court who is somewhat versed in the law, it is not illegal to make eye contact with a police officer.  In fact, quite often if you don't make eye contact you will give the police officer an excuse to say that you are behaving in a suspicious manner.

But we get it. If you want to stay alive in certain parts of the country, it might be a good idea not to "eyeball" those in authority. In case you didn't know "reckless eyeballing" has been a thing since the days of slavery. It's what got Emmett Till --and countless others---- killed back in the day.   

Anyway.....

"Update, Aug. 28, 5:10 p.m.: The city of Dayton put out a statement about the incident, acknowledging that "making direct eye contact with an officer is not a basis for a traffic stop.” The statement implies—but doesn’t say outright—that in pulling Felton over for not signaling within 100 feet of a turn, the officer was complying with a Dayton police initiative called "Safe Communities Through Aggressive Traffic Enforcement,” aimed at reducing traffic-related fatalities. The statement also says that the police department "is in contact with Mr. Felton,” and that he "has agreed to a conversation with the officer, facilitated by the Dayton Mediation Center” that will "allow Mr. Felton and the Officer to discuss the specifics of the incident.”

I would love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation. Although I am sure that it won't be very long. Unless, of course, Mr. Felton doesn't look the officer in the eye.

*Pic from madamenoire.com





 

People in glass houses....

       There are some stupid high profile people in America who actually influence political thought.

He is a former republican congressman who left office under mysterious circumstances (more on that in a minute) and now co-hosts a sometimes popular inside the beltway political talk show on cable television.

This is what he said about the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal earlier today as described by Tommy Christopher over at Mediaite:

'"I know people have raised questions about my e-mail use and I understand why, I get it. So here’s what I want the American people to know. My use of personal e-mail was allowed by the State Department. It clearly wasn’t the best choice. I should have used two e-mails, one personal, one for work, and I take responsibility for that decision.'

Again, think what you will about the “scandal” — take Hillary’s sober tone with a grain of salt, if you’d like — but this was pretty clearly an attempt to make a dent in moving the trustworthiness numbers that have so many people worried.

Or, if you’re Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough, this is clearly an attempt by Clinton to cover up the email “scandal” with the corpses of the two journalists who were murdered on live television yesterday, because… well, just because:

“I hate to tell the truth, but I’m going to tell the truth. I’m going to say it on the air. The timing of this was suspect at best. When they knew that cable news networks would be 24/7 on a horrible news story. come on, you know it was planned to be dropped this way. This is how campaigns think.”

Well, he got one thing right, Joe Scarborough really does hate to tell the truth. After that, it’s nonsense because, as Mark Halperin pointed out, Hillary didn’t “drop” even a milligram of new information or admission. I’d like to give Halperin more credit here, but the appropriate response here is “Are you an insane person?” not “I disagree with you about the timing.”

But as Halperin also pointed out, the idea was for Clinton to evince a more serious attitude toward the story in an effort to move beyond the email issue, the entire point of which would be to let people know that she is taking a more serious and sober attitude toward the email issue. Scarborough is essentially accusing the Democratic candidate of trying to use the murders to distract people from the thing she really wants them to know, and/or things she has already said many times. It’s the answer to the question “Could God create a take so hot, it would burn Him?”

Beyond being really stupid, though, this is the kind of sick thinking you’d expect to find in the recesses of Alex Jones‘ comments section, not on the air of a major cable news network. This is the show that’s on every television in Washington, D.C., every morning, and its host just accused Hillary Clinton of political necrophilia. Scarborough should apologize, at the very least." [Source]

He won't because he doesn't have to.  Americans,  no matter how "educated",  do not have the ability to differentiate between logical thought and over the top hyperbole for the sake of ratings or a sound bite lead.

So this too shall pass, and the Clinton legend, thanks to people like Joe Scarborough, will continue to grow. This might not rise to the level of the Vince Foster suicide to the black helicopter crowd, but it certainly adds to the narrative.

The irony of a guy like Joe Scarborough going into these dark places is that he has some alleged skeletons hiding in that closet of his as well.

"That state of affairs came to a screeching halt in July of 2010, when Moulitsas found himself summarily blacklisted from MSNBC. His offense? Mentioning, on Twitter, the strange, sad story of Lori Klausutis, the intern who was found dead in Joe Scarborough’s office when the “Morning Joe” host was still a Republican congressman.

 

Here’s their exchange:

 

 

Markos: Like story of a certain dead intern. RT @JoeNBC: Luckily for the White House, the media has been negligent on this story since Day 1.

Markos: But if you want to talk about bullshit “scandals”, @JoeNBC, there’s this one about Joe Sestak and the White House you might’ve heard of.

JoeNBC: @markos Unbelievable. You have a long history of spreading lies suggesting I am a murderer. This is the 3rd or 4th time by my count.

Markos: @JoeNBC, I’ve never suggested you’re a murderer. I’ve noted media hypocrisy in going after Gary Condit. But he was Dem. You aren’t.

JoeNBC: Anyone in media who interviews @markos, know that you’re extending your credibility to someone who regularly suggests that I’m a murderer.

Markos: A bit touchy, @JoeNBC? Links for where I accuse you of being a murderer please.

After this happened, MSNBC president Phil Griffin wrote to Moulitsas to say that he was banned from the network. It was one of the more bizarre pieces of cable news weirdness in history. It was also one in a long line of mini-wars Joe Scarborough has waged in an effort to stop getting people to insinuate that he killed his intern." [Source]

 

I guess those "rumors" and innuendos can go both ways.

 

*Pic from mediamatters.org

 

Vester the coward.

        There was a tragic event in Virginia today, where a lunatic chose to execute two people on live television.

Then, incredibly, he posted the entire thing on Facebook. (I won't give you the link, but you can find it if you want to.) 

We have seen these types of things before, but it's usually terrorists in some far away country  beheading someone to spread terror and win recruits to their cause.

This was some evil dude here in America who decided to kill two innocent people instead of coping with his demons and the social ills of society like the rest of us. This dude was no doubt a coward.

Yes, racism is real, and it's tough being a black man in America at times. Yes, homophobia is real, and it is no doubt hard to be a Gay man in certain circles. But sorry Vester, no matter what type of pressure or burden you are feeling, you do not have the right to kill two innocent people. This makes you no different than the animal who you claimed pushed you over the edge.

Once again a high profile shooting will keep our attention for a while. All the ingredients are there: race, randomness, the media angle. What we won't be having, though, is a gun debate, because very powerful people work overtime to make sure that doesn't happen.

Unfortunately, from the looks of things, their hard work is paying off.      

Finally, I have resisting the urge to call my broker these past few days, but it's getting harder and harder not to pick up the phone. (Gotta love how wingnuts are blaming Obama for the Dow dropping the way it has over the past few days. Dude gets no credit when the Dow is roaring at over 18,000 but he gets blamed if it drops. Sorry wingnuts, you can't have it both ways.)  

Anyway, if I call him now I am pretty sure that he won't answer.  If he did, I won't just hear the usual: "Ride it out Wayne, don't panic; you are in this for the long haul."

I wish that the folks over in China would get their stuff together. This is not our Father's Wall Street. What happens in places like China affects our bottom line here at home.

Nine percent is a big chunk, but the Dow gained over 619 points today, so a brother can smile just a little bit. For now.

*Pic from abcnews.go.com

The Charlie Sheen candidate.

You have to believe me when I tell you that I am no fan of Megyn Kelly. I think she is an intellectual lightweight and a fraud, and the only reason she comes off as a half way decent journalist is because she plies her wares on FOX VIEWS. (What's that old saying? Oh yeah, "In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king.")

Still, the way Donald Trump has been treating her of late is shameful for someone seeking the highest office in the land. His obsession with her is juvenile and borderline creepy, and it speaks to some deeper issues with Trump's emotional stability.

Yet this man leads all republicans in the polls. America, what are you thinking?

I tried to view him as a serious candidate, I really did. I tried to listen to his speeches to see if there was something of substance behind all the bloviating and bluster, but alas, nothing. Just the same old Donald: talking loud and saying nothing. 

Then comes the kicker, he actually has Ann Coulter appearing at his political rallies now. Sorry Donald, but nothing says I am a joke of a candidate like having Ann Coulter appearing at your political events.

"Ann Coulter introduced Donald Trump at his rally in Iowa today, and she had a lot to say about their mutual favorite subject: immigration.

Coulter backed up Trump on the issue of deporting immigrants, even the ones with “anchor babies.” She mocked the liberal media for considering that a controversial statement and calling them “speech Nazis.”

She expressed her gratefulness to Trump that the media is actually talking about this issue and sanctuary cities and the border wall (“I love the idea of the Great Wall of Trump”), and declared, “I have not had this much hope for America since November 7th, 2012.”

Owen Wilson called Trump the Charlie Sheen of politics.   . That's not really fair. Charlie Sheen would have made a better president.

*Pick from Mediaite.com

"Laughing while black."

I swear sisters can't catch a break.

The narrative among those in the majority population is that they are angry. So when they try to get their wine on and bond a little bit among each other, said folks from the majority population get their hate on.

Anyway, here is a sad story from wine country:

"What started as a joyous ride through wine county Saturday afternoon turned into a “humiliating” experience for 11 African American women, who said they were booted off the Napa Valley Wine Train for laughing and talking too loud.

Accounts and pictures of the episode have been spreading across social media, spawning the hashtag #LaughingWhileBlack while the women involved have questioned whether they would have been treated differently if they were not African American.

“It was humiliating. I’m really offended to be quite honest,” said 47-year-old Lisa Johnson, who was among Saturday’s group. “I felt like it was a racist attack on us. I feel like we were being singled out.”                                                                                                                                          

The women have since been given a full refund by the train company, but continue to seek a public apology.

In a statement Sunday, Napa Valley Wine Train spokeswoman Kira Devitt said the company “received complaints from several parties in the same car and after three attempts from staff, requesting that the group keep the noise to an acceptable level, they were removed from the train and offered transportation back to the station in Napa.”

The incident began when Johnson and her book club, the Sisters on the Reading Edge, embarked around 11 a.m. for their annual trip through wine country — an adventure they had been planning since November.

Johnson, a self-described social media fanatic, posted pictures on Facebook, documenting the entire episode as it unfolded.

The women — all wearing matching T-shirts — were all seated in the same car in adjacent tables and seats, laughing and having a good time. They and the other passengers on the sold-out train were ordering tastings and glasses of wine as they rode the 18-mile stretch from Napa to St. Helena through California’s most famous and picturesque vineyards and wineries.

And while the group — which included an 83-year-old grandmother — may at times have been “rambunctious,” they were not “obnoxious or intoxicated,” Johnson said.

Several passengers, she said, even came up to them to take pictures, and asked about the romance novel they were reading for their club.

But a short while into their trip, Johnson said a manager on the train asked them to pipe it down.
“The train is set up to be with your friends, to drink wine and have a good time,” Johnson said. “We were thinking, ‘Who are we offending?’”

Later on, Johnson said the manager told them that “this isn’t going to work,” and that if they didn’t “tone it down,” they were going to be asked to get off the train.

“It was a bizarre thing for all of us,” she said, adding that many in the group quieted down and wondered what had happened.

According to Johnson, one of the women in the same car told the group “this isn’t a bar.”
“And we though, um, yes it is,” Johnson said.

What came next, she said, was the worst part of the afternoon. When the train pulled into the St. Helena station, the group had to do the “walk of shame” as they were escorted past passengers on the six other cars, Johnson said. At the station, the group was met by officers from the Napa Valley Railroad and St. Helena police departments.

“People were looking at us,” Johnson said. “To get escorted into the hands of waiting police officers. That’s the humiliating part.”

But Chief Jeff Hullquist of the Napa Valley Railroad Police Department said there “was no police action taken” at the station.

“When someone is removed from a train, they have to be dropped off at a station, and our policy is if someone is let off the train we’ll stand by,” he said. “We keep them safe until someone can get them.”

“The Napa Valley Wine Train does not enjoy removing guests from our trains, but takes these things very seriously in order to ensure the enjoyment and safety of all of our guests,” Devitt said, adding that about once a month guests need to be removed from the train.

Johnson said despite their treatment on the ride, the company has worked with them. They were given a refund, provided with free pictures, and a van was sent to pick them up.

“The people in the station were absolutely wonderful,” she said, ready to let the incident go.

But that’s when someone from the company posted an account of the incident on Facebook. Johnson was miffed.

“Following verbal and physical abuse toward other guests and staff, it was necessary to get our police involved,” the since-deleted post reads in part, which Johnson captured in a screen grab and re-posted to Facebook. “Many groups come on board and celebrate. When those celebrations impact our other guests, we do intervene.”

The post was quickly taken down and the company reached out to the women to make amends, she said." [Source]

"Our police".

Anyway, I love how Jeff Hullquist says that they were just protecting grown women and keeping them "safe". What was going to happen? Were they going to get attacked by a mob of wine tasters?

Give me a break!

Accused of "verbal and physical abuse" simply for laughing together and having a good time.
Unbelievable.

I think I need a drink, but I promise you it won't be wine.

*Pic posted by Lisa Johnson in mercurynews.com.

Jeb's black side.

Wait a minute now, I know that the republican candidates for president would love to get more of the black vote, but the way one of their front runners is going about it is not cool.

What's with Jeb Bush trying to use "subliminal persuasion" to get us black folks to vote for him?


"In what could be described as a “reverse Dolezal,” a leaflet sent out by pro-Jeb Bush Super PAC Right to Rise accidentally changed the racial identity of Bush’s left hand.
See if you can spot the problem:"



OK, so the yellow square around the hand is a dead give away. But what if it wasn't there? What if someone with a sharp eye didn't catch it? Negroes would be voting for Jeb in droves and not know why.

Look, I get the whole ebony and ivory thing, but somehow it doesn't work when it's on the same person.

Of course, as you would have guessed, the left hand is the black one.

To be fair, Jeb's peeps have fessed up.
"
Paul Lindsay @Paul_Lindsay

Mysterious hand revealed. Meant to use Valencia. Fail. Not deleting it from our servers.

12:54 PM - 22 Aug 2015 "

 

Not good enough.

 

One of his opponents was quick to catch it, and Donald being Donald, well.....

"

Donald J. Trump

✔ @realDonaldTrump

Jeb Bush has a photoshopped photo for an ad which gives him a black left hand and much different looking body. Jeb just can't get it right!"

 

Jeb just wants us all to be together. Unlike you, Donald.

 

 

 

 

CAPTION SATURDAY.

I need a caption for this pic.

For example: It's called the Nae Nae. Those Americans are crazy.

*Pic from newsweek.com

Open thread.

I am busy tonight, so I am going to leave this thread open for you folks to tell me what is on your mind.

It's Friday, so I am sure that you all have a lot to say.

Personally, I am still trying to wrap my hands around Mr. New York getting all kinds of Bama love on the "Redneck Riviera".

Beating homeless Mexicans will not make us "great".

The Field Negro education series continues.

Tonight we will educate you about the candidate leading the republican field to become their nominee for presidents of these divided states of America.

"Two Boston men were charged yesterday in the beating of a homeless Mexican man. The victim was allegedly sleeping outside a subway station when brothers Scott and Steve Leader rummaged through his things, then started beating him around the face and neck and hitting him with a metal pole. One witness heard the brothers laughing as they walked away.

Here's what police say Scott Leader told them to justify the assault: "Donald Trump was right — all these illegals need to be deported."

Here's what Donald Trump said when told about the alleged assault (according to the Boston Globe) at a press conference in New Hampshire: "I haven't heard about that. It would be a shame, but I haven't heard about that." Then the crowd buzzed, and Trump added: "I will say that people who are following me are very passionate. They love this country and they want this country to be great again. They are passionate. I will say that, and everybody here has reported it.".....

When people are committing hate crimes in your name, you do not call them "passionate." You do not say they "want this country to be great again." You say they do not represent you or your beliefs. You talk about why your followers are different from people who beat up homeless men because they're "illegal."

Donald Trump isn't explicitly saying it's okay to beat people up because of how they look, but at least two men have interpreted it that way. And instead of telling them, and the rest of his followers, that that interpretation is unequivocally wrong, he's — at best — framed it as a moderately regrettable downside of his movement's "passion."' [Source]

Oh, and by the way, I hope that you Negroes understand what the Trumpster means when he says, "Let's Make America Great Again." Think about it for a minute.


*Pic from tmz.com by Getty images.









  

Dating made too easy.

I must confess that I have never quite understood the allure of dating sites. Personally, I always preferred to meet my dates the old fashion way. Now it all just seems so damn easy: Stay at home,  log into your computer, pay a few bucks, and sign up to meet the girl or guy of your dreams.

Of course, as luck would have it, this is no longer my concern. Being bound by the bonds of matrimony has made my dating habits something to talk and write about in the past tense.

Not everyone shares my views on this issue. Some folks swear by dating sites. Which is why they are so popular and making a lot of people very wealthy.

And it's not only for single people. I first heard about Ashley Madison from a married friend of mine, who couldn't resist telling me what I was missing every chance he got.

 I wonder how he feels now?

Yes my friends, Ashley has been hacked. And apparently the hackers are showing no mercy. They are going to put everybody's business out there. (Memo to presidential candidates: Now might be a good time to come clean.)

Here is the first "celebrity" to be outed.

"The Ashley Madison hacks have seemingly outed one prominent public figure so far: Josh Duggar, the eldest son of 19 Kids and Counting‘s Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar.

According to Gawker, Duggar had a paid account with the famed website for extramarital affairs while working at the Family Research Council (FRC), a D.C.-based Christian conservative organization. His account information has been tracked to his home, as well as another residence owned by his grandmother.

Duggar became a national pariah after admitting this May to acts of child molestation, and the resulting backlash led TLC to cancel his family’s show in July.

Duggar has repeatedly made efforts to apologize for his actions, but in last night’s data dump of hacked information from the cheating website, someone was shown to have used a credit card with his name and billing address (as screen-grabbed by Gawker):"

No surprise here. Nothing this hypocritical weasel does surprises me. And I am quite sure that there will be more like him to come.

I repeat: If you are running for public office and you signed up with Ashley Madison, now might be a good time to come clean.

"The massive leak attributed to the hackers who rooted to the Ashley Madison dating website for cheaters has been confirmed to be genuine. As if that wasn't bad enough, the 10 gigabytes of data—compressed, no less—is far more wide-ranging than almost anyone could have imagined.
Researchers are still poring over the unusually large dump, but already they say it includes user names, first and last names, and hashed passwords for 33 million accounts, partial credit card data, street names, and phone numbers for huge numbers of users, records documenting 9.6 million transactions, and 36 million e-mail addresses. While much of the data is sure to correspond to anonymous burner accounts, it's a likely bet many of them belong to real people who visited the site for clandestine encounters. For what it's worth, more than 15,000 of the e-mail addresses are hosted by US government and military servers using the .gov and .mil top-level domains." [Source]

Have mercy!

What is it those old church ladies used to say? "Jesus take the wheel"
.

Crippled while black.

Lord have mercy! If you are a black man in American with one leg you better learn to walk on that bad boy.  No prosthetic limbs for you. It could cause you more problems than it's worth.

Just look at that poor man on the ground getting the business from San Francisco's finest.

"A throng of San Francisco cops detained a man with one leg by sitting on his prosthetic limb after they mistook his crutches for weapons, witnesses said.

At least 14 officers helped in the takedown earlier this month, said Chaédria LaBouvier, a journalist who filmed the incident.

The officers held down the man, who appeared to be homeless, for at least 30 minutes, LaBouvier wrote in a Monday post on Medium. He lay on the ground half-naked, his pants slipping off as he struggled with cops, and repeatedly asked, “What are you doing this for?”

LaBouvier said she was on her way to the Medium office to discuss a new project on police brutality when she noticed the cops corner the unidentified man.

Witnesses told her the officers were responding to call about someone waving sticks downtown — the “weapons” turned out to be the man’s crutches, she said.

“These are my crutches. I use these to walk,” the man explains in the video as the cops take them away from him. Then, several officers wrestle him to the ground.

At one point, the video shows an officer kneeling on the man’s prosthetic leg to further retrain him
More cops formed a “blue wall” around the man, LaBouvier reported, apparently an attempt to block witnesses’ views of the incident. At least 14 officers were on the scene, she said.

During the takedown, the man repeatedly told cops he was in pain — and asked them why they were restraining him.

“That s--t hurts,” he says in the video. “I have a f--king sore, an infection, on my leg.”
He continued: “What the f--k is wrong with you? Is this what you do? Is this respectable? When I say ‘no’, is this what you do to me?”

After 30 minutes on the ground, medics took the man to a hospital against his will, LaBouvier said. The cops did not arrest the man or charge him with any crime, she said. [Source]

Fourteen police officers to subdue one black man with one leg? My goodness, what if he had two?

I bet that poor brother's heart is not in San Francisco.


*Pic courtesy of dailykos. com

American suckers.

Like other people who watch politics for fun, and view it as something akin to the National Football League, I am really enjoying this summer of Donald Trump right now.

 I bet he can't even believe what a ride he is having. Dude must pinch himself every time he wakes up in his gaudy gold crusted bed.  The guy puts his foot deeper in his mouth, and his lead in the polls widen. Go figure. (What was that P.T. Barnum said? Oh yea, something about a sucker.)

All of this is causing the GOP establishment and the also- rans who make up their field of presidential contenders some serious consternation.

And journalists can't write enough about his unlikely and incredible lead in the polls. It's like a college football team leading the New England Patriots at half time.

"I feel like I've written this post four or five times now. But I just cannot get over or even fully get my head around the way that Donald Trump's mere presence in the race has this power to drive everyone on the Republican side of the aisle insane. I don't mean just that they don't like that he's in the lead and creating campaign havoc. I mean forgetting who they are, getting into fights with each other, and just generally losing their minds.

It's like one of these classic Star Trek episodes where some malevolent non-corporeal force is driving everyone mad or putting everyone at each other's throats for some unknown reason. But it's not non-corporeal at all. It's extremely corporeal, more than you and me. It's Donald Trump.

The latest example - actually the second that involves him, the first being the Trump-triggered feud with Bristol Palin - is with Erick Erickson.

Erickson has posted a series of rage- and expletive-filled emails he got from Trump supporters after he tried to knock Trump when Erickson thought he was done - just after the Fox GOP debate when he thought Trump was on the ropes and conservatives were turning on him. As we know, Trump wasn't down at all. He was only getting stronger, about to successfully pocket an abject surrender from Fox News and perhaps even force Fox to turn over hostages for good behavior.

This has inspired Erickson to opine about the toxicity of public rhetoric today and importance of civility and being "happy warriors." My point here isn't to bash Erickson. He's a friendly enough guy in person. But he is not a civility guy. No way, no how, not even remotely. But now he's come into the Trump harmonic convergence field and apparently forgotten who he is and lost his mind.

Like I said, I don't know how Trump does it. He may have superpowers that require him to be President." [Source]

Poor John Marshall cant figure it out, either.

The folks over at FOX  are losing their minds as they count their money. (I saw those debate ratings)
This time, though, they might have sold their souls to the wrong devil. Unlike other right wing political candidates, this one cannot be controlled. So Megyn took an unsuspected vacation, Trump is bragging about beating them, and deep within the bowels of the wingnut echo chamber there are different sounds coming from different places.

This has been fun to watch, but I am almost out of popcorn. Honestly, I thought that this freak show would have been over by now.

*Pic from youtube.com

"Dead or in jail."

I just read a touching essay from a young man named Wilbert L. Cooper.

Here it is:

'"The day you were born, there was a pine box and a prison cell built with your name on it."

Throughout my childhood and adolescence, my father said that to me countless times, especially just as I was walking out the door. The first time I remember hearing those words, I had to have been about six or seven; I was so young I didn't really understand what he meant. I had yet to grasp the burden that comes with being young and black and male in America. It just sounded scary, and after hearing it—given what little I understood about race at the time—I was left with the distinct feeling that I was cursed.

But that was dad's way. He always tried to speak to me like I was a little man. And not because he was on some cheap machismo trip or because he had a taste for the macabre—it was because he legitimately thought if I didn't understand this lesson early on, I might not make it to age 25.

 

The phrase "dead or in jail" loomed large over my adolescence, as I think it does for many young black men today. The New York Times estimates that there are 1.5 million "prime age" black men in America who are "missing" from society today, meaning they are either behind bars or pushing up daisies. How they got there is a confluence of the micro and the macro—individual choices and a game with incredibly high stakes that's been fixed against them from the start.

Allowing your child to play that game without understanding the rules is tantamount to leading them to slaughter. My parents understood this, not just as blacks who lived through the Civil Rights era but as retired police officers who saw the way race played out on streets and inside the municipal courts in the city of Cleveland.

The storied legacy of the premature death of black men (homicide is still our greatest killer, according to CDC data) has arguably been eclipsed by the mass incarceration of black nonviolent drug offenders. And although President Obama's administration has advanced sentencing reforms and clemency initiatives that will help reign in this injustice, we're going to be living with the fallout for generations.

 

Right now, blacks make up 12 percent of the population, but almost 60 percent of those doing time in state prison for drug-related offenses—and according to the Sentencing Project, these black prisoners are serving almost as much time for their drug offenses as whites are for actually violent crimes.

That is the great equalizer of the black American experience, whether you grow up in the whitest suburbs like I did or in the grimiest ghettos: Interacting with police is fraught with peril and inequity. Despite my familial connections to law enforcement—two of my great-uncles, both my parents, my uncle, and my sister have all served or are serving on the force in Cleveland—I know that sick scenes like the unnecessary arrest of Prairie View A&M grad Sandra Bland, who died in custody, or the brutal treatment of black teens at Craig Ranch North Community Pool in McKinney, Texas, earlier this summer are not exceptions to the rule. They are the norm—indignities etched into the everyday experience of being black in America. And even I—with my white friends and my media job and my master's degree in publishing—can still get caught up in that when I get stopped by the cops. Although we live in a country with an unhealthy obsession with status and wealth, whether you're in a Pinto or a Porsche, wearing a hoodie or Helmut Lang, when the law comes down on you, you're still a nigger.

 

I think that's why the last few years have been so terrifying for me as I've seen the names cycle through from Trayvon Martin to Kimani Gray to Victor White to Eric Garner to Michael Brown to Tamir Rice to Walter Scott to Freddie Gray to Samuel DuBose. I know that no matter how well I play the game, no matter how cognizant I am of the rules, it could happen to me. I think about it when I walk past the police station at the end of my block in Brooklyn. I ask myself: Is today going to be the day they are going to fuck with me? And if so, what will I do? Every time a new video shot on police cameras and bystander's cell phones emerges with yet another black life being smothered across the screen, I feel myself getting one step closer to a kind of nihilism about this country and my place in it.

I can relate to the blinding, hot rage I've seen swallow up so many other brothers of my generation, from the pain they foolishly inflict against one another because their arms can't reach the system to the pain they inflict upon themselves because they are trying to escape the realities of the everyday.

 

 It's in those fits of anger that I wonder, Were we always destined to live and die this way, like savages in the street or alone in cold cells? And if this is it, why did our parents have us at all? Why bring us into this world where our lives are short and wracked with pain?" [Read more]

 

Powerful and sad words. You have to feel for some of these young brothers out here.

 

But give the author credit, he understands that his reality is not like that of a "typical American". And he also understands that no matter what he accomplishes in life he will still be treated and viewed  differently by certain people in America.  

 

Because of what I do for a living I have been to countless prisons in my life, and I have to tell you that it's always a sad and depressing experience. While you know that some of the people you see there deserve to be right where they are, you also know that a large percentage of them should have been back in society a long time ago, or worse, should not have been in there in the first place.

 

But we can't give up. We have to encourage these young men of color to hit their books, get their priorities right, and respect their families and their communities. 

 

There will always be injustice and prejudice in the world,  but we can't let them use it as an excuse not to thrive. We just have to do our best to minimize it and make sure that those who practice it are called out when they do.

 

*Pic from huffingtonpost.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

  

CAPTION SATURDAY.

I need a caption for this pic.

Example: I wonder if these alligators like dark meat.

*Pic from Getty images on cnn.com

"A pretty good deal"?

"taking out Saddam Hussein turned out to be a pretty good deal,"

It was?

Let's see now.

"At least 67 people have been killed after a truck bomb exploded in north-eastern Baghdad, Iraqi officials say."


"A series of bomb explosions in Baghdad has killed at least 26 people and injured a further 67, reports Reuters, citing Iraqi police and medics.

 

The bloodiest attack occurred Monday in mainly Shiite Muslim Abu Dsheer district in the south of the capital, where a car bomb blasted near a crowded market killing seven and injuring 18 people. "

"While participating in Ashura holiday rituals today, many Shi’ites became easy targets for Sunni militants. Ashura commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein and symbolizes the schism between Shi’ites and Sunnis. Nevertheless, about two million pilgrims safely reached the holy city of Karbala for observances there.

At least 67 people were killed and 152 more were wounded.

In Saidiya, a suicide bomber dressed in a military uniform attacked Shi’ite pilgrims recreating a historic battle. At least 32 people were killed and 80 more were wounded. A second suicide bomber, possibly in nearby Baquba, killed 16 more and wounded another 27 pilgrims. Because Diyala is a confessionally mixed province, it has been the scene of many attacks on Shi’ite pilgrims, not only this year but in years past as well.

Nine people were killed and 28 more were wounded when two I.E.D.s exploded in Suwayra/Hafriya at a tent offering refreshments to pilgrims.

In Mosul, an I.E.D. killed two soldiers and wounded two more. A security official escaped an assassination attempt. Mortars targeting pilgrims wounded a policeman instead. A bomb wounded three more policemen. A bomb at a policeman’s home killed his son and wounded his wife.

Four gunmen were killed and three policemen were wounded in a clash.
Gunmen killed an imam at his home in Baquba.

Twin bombings in Kirkuk wounded five people.

A child was wounded during a rocket attack in Tal Afar.
An I.E.D. in Tikrit left one policeman with injuries."

BAGHDAD (AP) — An attack by the Islamic State group on a crowded marketplace in Iraq's eastern Diyala province has killed 115 people, including women and children, in one of the deadliest single attacks in the country in the past decade."

"One week: 34 American soldiers killed in Iraq. "

"BAGHDAD—Three American soldiers were killed and one was wounded in two separate attacks in Iraq on Saturday, the U.S. military said.

The deadlier of the attacks happened in the morning when a man dressed in an Iraqi army uniform opened fire at U.S. soldiers while they were conducting a training session for Iraqi forces at a military base on the outskirts of the volatile northern city of Mosul, Col. Barry A. Johnson, spokesman for the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said."

"Iraq War Deaths Exceed Vietnam War Numbers."

"In the deadliest incident for American soldiers in Iraq in over two years, five troops were killed in an early-morning rocket or mortar attack on a base in Baghdad. Though the 47,000 American soldiers stationed in Iraq no longer have a combat role, MSNBC reports that they "still come under almost daily attack by rockets and mortars in their bases and get shot at and targeted by roadside bombs when they move outside of their bases." 


Do you still think that taking out Saddam was a "pretty good deal", Jeb?

*Pic from talkingpointsmemo.com