CNN's Strombo is Brilliant: The Watcher is the Winner

It has to be said.....

CNN's George Strombo is the best interviewer on television today.  He's good, as in amazing and brilliant and the show format is good, too.

The result:  plenty of information--sometimes inspirational information.

The people on his show, the guests seem to have a gusto--a zip in their conversation that one just does not see that often on television today.  Frankly, is is not only refreshing but really enjoyable.

George gives the viewer the feeling he is actually excited to hear what the guest has to say--I feel like he is genuine.  Strombo has the rare gift and foresight to not make the show about himself--the television watcher is the winner.

As a constant news watcher and radio listener I am personally really glad CNN put this show back on the air.  I look forward to watching it every Friday night, now, if I am familiar with the guest or not--and I'll tell you what--I have enjoyed it every single time and I have learned a lot, too.

The exciting news tonight--Tavis Smiley will be starting a radio talk show........

I can always find a new take on things after Tavis talks.  In his early years he was inspired to try to help people and make a statement after his dear friend was killed--shot in the back 21 times in self-defense by the police.  He also shared how he tried very hard to put Harrison Ford at ease when he could see that he was really stressed about his impending interview.  Tavis and George love radio talk shows and I do, too.  I can't wait to hear your new show, Tavis.

Kevin Smith gave a very moving interview talking about his parents and his family that he loves very much. He has so much to say it is easy to see how he can show emotions and make movies.  He talked about following his dreams and he inspired me to try and do the same thing, as well.

Maria Bello shared her story about starting out in an acting career and almost giving up at one point.  Now she feels so grateful that she has achieved success in her career she wants to do something good with her notoriety by helping women in Haiti.

Thank you George--good job, as usual--I really like your show.

(why is this show good?  one gets the impression the truth is being told...the truth is always energizing)

Crocheted Oval Rag Rug

Crocheted Oval Rag Rug

materials:  king sheet set from Anna's Linens cut into approx. one inch strips

Size J crochet hook

stitch:  single crochet

directions for a round rug:  Start with an eight stitch ring.

1st row--2 single crochets in each stitch.

2nd row--2 single crochets in every other stitch.

3rd row--2 single crochets in every 3rd stitch.

4th row--2 single crochets in every 4th stitch.

As the rug gets larger this may have to be adjusted as it may get wavy.

It is a very forgiving item to make, particularly if it is loose.....I never go back.....just keep adjusting as you go and it will be fine in the end.

do you know how to make a square or oblong rug.......can you tell us the directions.

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Bill O'Reilly: Just plain wrong on the facts

Love the story....Bill has been going on about Oprah and this is the second African-American lady who told a story recently about being treated poorly in a store because they were not dressed properly, but they let it go and moved on---well......exact opposite....one time in Tiffany's in Palm Springs I strolled in with baggy shorts, flip-flops, tee-shirt.  Right, I thought I looked just fine but after I left the store I saw myself walking by a shop mirror and was horrified at my legs--flabby, shorts way too thin and short, frizzy hair and a stained tee-shirt that was not at all shappy but baggy.

What's my point--the man in the store must have spent 30 minutes telling me about the color of diamonds, how diamonds were graded and  Tiffany's diamonds compared to others and what it meant to actually have a "Tiffany" diamond even though they may be more expensive comparatively.  

It doesn't add up.  We are not on the same level playing field.  Also--racism--white children, from a middle class school will not be beat up for gang affiliation.  That will never be in that kids repertoire of memories.  Again, Bill is dead wrong on his facts, as he often accuses Al Sharpton of whom he has an unhealthy vendetta against which reveals his racism and hate for others he feels are of a lower level than him, women and minorities.  But that is another story for another time.  Bill, is again and as usual, wrong......cl

Is Europe more sophisticated than the US when it comes to guns and health care?

Breaking Bad:  The US vs The UK

Laws that allow vigilante justice against kids.

Conservative right-wing talk shows that are culturally insensitive and happy about it.

Ted Nugent and Ann Coulter.

Health Care for everyone.

Guns.

Street Cams.

Piers Morgan.

To put it mildly; is Britain a more sophisticated nation than the United States?

Are we the wild, wild west?

America, America, America.......the right wingers are always talking about saving America, the freedom of America, taking back America.  Wake up and see who and what America is--we are a beautiful coat of many colors.  To quote Rachel Jeantel these old white ROWGs are old school--outdated and out of style.....not to mention embarrassing.

Thank goodness we have President Obama and Eric Holder, people in power, people of color, mixed color, the color of America, who can actually do something about it--change laws, promote equality, nominate judges.   That’s the best thing we have done.  We have elected President Obama in an act of forward thinking.

Let’s move our country forward to equal rights for all, for all children, towards sophistication--let’s move out of the wild, wild west some are so proud of and fearful of losing and to a forward thinking country of education, equal opportunities, cultural sensitivity and laws that prevent vigilante justice against children.

Some of these right wing haters--you know the names--if they would bother to listen to the words of Reverend Al Sharpton they would see he has a lot of very interesting things to say--soothing words that are really needed right now in this time of anger and everyone taking sides.  

We have an opportunity now to see the world through the eyes of others, not just through the white prism--we have a chance to gain knowledge and cultural sensitivity.  What is wrong with that.  Isn't that sophistication and isn't that a good thing.

talking about stand your ground and my disdain at laws that allow vigilante justice against kids..........

O'Reilly "goes o'reilly" over Eric Holder.....

Exactly, and this is why the ugly American, Bill O'Reilly of Fox News and others like him are on a rant about Eric Holder.

Eric Holder is a sign for positive change in the US--he actually has the power to affect laws.

Once President Obama spoke of Trayvon Martin in a personal way O'Reilly "went o'reilly."

Rather than face any issues about inequality in the United States he has gone insane about everyone taking "personal responsibility." Just as he feels he has done--he often points to himself as an example.

His other favorite rant is that of the breakdown of the family system and lack of a father in the African-American home. He is on a war against women and minorities.

What woman, black, white rich or poor would want to be married to an arrogant man that yells and doesn't listen. Women do not have to put up with that today.

Any talk of federally funded education and contraception will surely send him again into an angry tirade as James Carville, democratic advisor, experienced when he took time out of his day to explain the facts of life to Bill.

If he truly wanted to help any American he would have experts on his show and have a true discussion to a complex issue rather than being so conceited to think he can solve a problem where is is completely uneducated and without credentials.

O'Reilly and Fox news are code for "race" and that is an American Embarrassment we all have to deal with unfortunately.

Thank goodness we do have President Obama and Eric Holder.

please see Eric Holder's Urgent Sense of Justice written by Ana Marie Cox in The Guardian.....

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/13/eric-holder-sense-justice?commentpage=2

Eric Holder: A Significant Step Forward For the US

Series: On politics... and whatever

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Eric Holder's urgent sense of justice

Oddly, the first black president can do little to right racial wrongs, but the first African-American attorney general does much

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  • theguardian.com, Tuesday 13 August 2013 13.50 EDT
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In Texas, there is a history of 'pervasive voting-related discrimination against racial minorities,' AG Eric Holder said recently. Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP

Only Obama's most vicious critics deny him the singular accomplishment that, in a way, he shares with the country as a whole: he's the first black president. Nothing can take that away from him, or from us; it's a point of pride and hope whenever we are reminded of racial inequality's tenacious grip.

But imagine we'd elected another white guy – same policies, even the same personality. In that scenario, the Obama (the white version: O'Bama?) administration's most striking symbol for the advancement of American civil rights would be the appointment of Eric Holder, the nation's first black attorney general.

Civil libertarians may chuckle (or gasp) at the idea of Holder as a rights torch-bearer. He personally approved the administration's collection of the Associated Press' phone records, its surveillance of Fox News reporter James Rosen, and the unprecedented pursuit of Rosen as a "criminal co-conspirator" in violation of the Espionage Act. His department has stonewalled a Freedom of Information Act request to discover the justifications for US government drone strikes on American citizens.

He capitulated to congressional and military demands (with a possible assist from the White House) that terrorism suspects stand trial in military tribunals – but grudgingly and in spite of his personal conviction that there is "no other tool that has demonstrated the ability to both incapacitate terrorists and collect intelligence from them over such a diverse range of circumstances as our traditional justice system". He decided to shield CIA interrogators from prosecution for committing torture and killing prisoners of war. And just recently, Reuters reported that Holder's Justice Department has expanded the already-suspect use of NSA wiretaps to collect information about domestic criminal investigations, a use of secret data collection far beyond any other in American history.

And that's just a list of the things that upset observers on both sides of the political spectrum. Add in controversies that infuriate the right, those having to do with the "gun-running" operation Fast and Furious, hissupport for executive action on reducing gun violence, and his possiblerole in the IRS's treatment of Tea Party groups – and it's clear that the shred of goodwill that Obama holds onto by the simple fact of his ancestry and personal achievement is largely unavailable to Holder.

Yet, it's Holder whose tenure will reach farthest into the everyday lives of black Americans.

Holder's announcement Monday of a radical new approach, at the federal level, to the "war on drugs" is just the most recent improvement on policies that have a direct effect on the black community – though the cost of unjust mandatory minimum sentences is also a real one to all Americans, to the tune of billions of dollars a year.

Holder has also chosen to engage head-on in the fight to keep the gains achieved by the Voting Rights Act. While really just a proactive move to enforce the parts of the law left standing by the US supreme court's June decision, it's also a precedent-setting foray that gives VRA advocates in Congress political cover for their push to restore the guidelines that determine which jurisdictions' discriminatory pasts merit special oversight.

And in the wake of the Zimmerman verdict, it has been Holder who offered the Obama administration's most passionate condemnation of the "stand your ground" laws, which muddied the legal waters and allowed Zimmerman to avoid harsh consequences for the death ofTrayvon Martin.

This last act, while carrying the least weight in terms of policy, bears the best witness to why Holder matters so much to the future of racial equality in the US. He did not simply condemn the de facto discriminatory stand-your-ground policies, he bore autobiographical witness to the quotidian injustices faced by black men today, in America, even now. In a speech to the NAACP, he said:

I was stopped by a police officer while simply running to a catch a movie, at night in Georgetown, in Washington, DC … [Trayvon Martin's death] caused me to sit down to have a conversation with my own 15-year-old son [about] how to … interact with police … like my dad did with me.

In a speech widely-circulated among conservatives as proof that Holder holds a "reverse-racism" grudge against white Americans, Holder spoke frankly about the illusion of equality that impedes the expansion of equality. And this was right at the start of his term, addressing Department of Justice employees. (You can quibble with his venue and timing – he probably intended to set a marker, but he wound up poisoning the well – but he wasn't wrong.)

Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards. We, as average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race.

This is as true today as it was then. And even more to the point: we simply do not talk enough with each other about Eric Holder's race.

It's possible that Holder's personal investment in his office is what hasundermined his progress in other areas, and exacerbated his administrative weaknesses. He is reportedly admired for his loyalty and attention to his staff and colleagues; we generally like our attorneys general to be on the side of the law, not individuals. (The man who has thus far won history's greatest praise, after all, is the one who was essentially fired after just four months: Elliot Richardson, who resigned rather than obey Nixon's order to fire Watergate investigator Archibald Cox.)

Obama will always be the man who broke the color barrier to the White House, but his specific actions in the arena of black-white relations have been understandably muted – and the strong reactions to the occasions when he has resorted personal commentary explain why: he must, at all costs, avoid the appearance of being an angry black man. Eric Holder isan angry black man, and thank God for that.

We should not ignore the growth of the surveillance state under his watch. Indeed, black citizens have just as much, if not more, cause to be alarmed by unimpeded invasions of privacy and warrantless searches and seizures. This is not a free pass for the setbacks in freedom Holder has allowed; it's just an acknowledgment of the civil rights policies that could, I hope, pave the way for another administration – one created by advancement in voting rights and soothing of race relations – to undo the wrongs overseen by this one.

Eric Holder is the first black attorney general – an asterisk to the term of the first black president. But it's the first black attorney general who's helping to make sure there can be a second black president.

copied from the guardian..........

Bill O'Reilly--Out of his League and Out of his Mind

I'll take Anthony Weiner or Eliot Spitzer any day over a yeller like O'Reilly.

Frankly, O'Reilly is not only code for racism these days but he is also conducting a war on women.

Women today deserve the right to chose over their own person--who, what , when where and gender--all of the options to be available to them including education and contraception.

Fully funded and planned parenthood--the women deserve the best--not an uniformed old yeller that refuses to listen to the facts.

About 20 years ago, Holland--condoms advertised on the Cartoon Network--right, noticed on a vacation--let the US catch-up.

Bill O'Reilly--out of his league and out of his mind.

Oasis in the back yard........

Chris Christie: Jersey's Protector Will Not Be Held Hostage By The NRA

George Zornick

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Action and dysfunction in the Beltway swamp. E-mail tips to george@thenation.com. 

Christie Is Facing Increased Pressure on Gun Bills

George Zornick on August 13, 2013 - 1:44 PM ET

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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie answers a question during a campaign event in Manville, New Jersey, Monday, May 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Last week, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed ten measures related to gun control, including some that are mildly controversial in the pro-gun community: one bill would mandate that New Jersey’s background-check system cross-reference the federal terror watch list, while another would call for the submission of New Jersey mental health records into the federal background check system.

But some crucial bills remain unsigned, including a “national model” for universal background checks, and a ban on .50-caliber weapons. Christie’s office told The Nation last week that no decision has yet been made on those bills—and this week, many of the national forces in the gun control debate are starting to ramp up the pressure.

Mark Kelly, the husband of former Representative Gabby Giffords and a leading voice in the gun law reform movement—not to mention a native New Jerseyan—penned an op-ed in the NewarkStar-Ledger today asking Christie to sign the bills:

Gov. Chris Christie and I have much in common.

We’re both straight-talking, no-nonsense sons of New Jersey who grew up in neighboring towns. We’ve devoted years to public service and protecting American communities. We have wives and kids we love dearly. I haven’t always agreed with everything he’s said or done, but I’d like to think we share a belief that we must prevent gun violence and also protect gun rights—and that there are moderate, common-sense policies that do both.

That’s why I’m asking the governor to sign the “centerpiece” gun safety bill sitting on his desk. The bill is simple and sensible: It would expand background checks on gun purchases and safety training for gun owners, and tighten penalties for letting guns fall into the hands of children. These basic measures are supported by just about every group you could think of: gun owners and non-gun owners, Democrats and Republicans and independents, business owners and faith leaders, law enforcement and medical professionals.

Meanwhile the Star-Ledger and another major newspaper in the state, The Times of Trenton, published editorials also asking Christie to sign the bills. The Star-Ledger editorial was particularly strong-worded and said “a veto would be a cynical blow to public safety, and a slap in the face of this state.”

As we noted last week, while Christie almost certainly won’t lose the gubernatorial election this fall, a significant amount of his political capital is invested in the idea that he has broad bipartisan appeal in a blue state. Anything that significantly dents his victory margin or poll numbers is a non-trivial threat to his political future—and in the general presidential election, should he make it there, a veto of universal background checks for gun purchases could be significantly damaging.

But of course Christie has to first make it through the GOP presidential primaries, and a majorityof self-identified conservative Republicans wouldn’t vote for a candidate with whom they disagreed on gun control even if they agreed with him or her on everything else.

So far, the reaction in the pro-gun community to Christi’s signing last week’s bills has been fairly muted.

Scott Bach, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, joined the National Rifle Association’s “Cam & Co.” show and declined to bash Christie for signing the measures.

Instead, he urged the audience to take a constructive approach. “It’s a little agonizing, after all this time and effort, to have these three bills dangling out there, but right now the message to gun owners is, keep contacting the governor’s office,” he said. “It’s pretty important right now that anyone who cares about this issue, anybody who wants to let Governor Christie know this is an important issue to them, if they’re looking at him as a potential presidential candidate, should weigh in with his office immediately and let him know to veto the last three gun bills on his desk. That’s absolutely critical right now.”

With crucial bills still unsigned, George Zornick writes about what is at stake for Christie and gun control debate.

copied from The Nation.......