DramatistDreamer

Trump's mess of a "strategy" in Africa continues to wreak havoc.

AFTER TRUMP TRAVEL BAN, CHAD PULLS TROOPS FROM BOKO HARAM FIGHT IN NIGER

I noticed that Grigor ended up holding several items for Juan Martin. I guess he's used to carrying around other people's stuff since he dated Sharapova and had to carry her bags.

I hate how slow the Singapore courts are.  They're like Rio Olympic Games slow!   This tournament is definitely going to favor the Pushers like Svitolina and Wozniacki.

30 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

Yeah, it's pretty upsetting. I've seen a few of Toback's movies (not a fan), but I wasn't aware of his predator reputation. 

My experience in film consisted of doing a few PA jobs in mostly student and indie filmmakers on the East Coast so I was definitely not "in the know".

I've heard more about his films than actually seen them. 

What a disgusting man. 

Sadly, I expect more of these stories to emerge. 

I'm glad they're being named and shamed. They need the power that they wielded/threatened others with, taken away.

As I said before, I'd be glad to see them all swept out like the dirtbags that they are.

I just came across this because I saw it trending online. OMG!

Rajoy, more than anyone else at this time, is giving steam to the Catalan independence movement at the moment with his heavy handed approach. 

Catalonia (Cataluña) was always a semi-autonomous region and now they surely will feel that what autonomy they seemed to have has been yanked. If they couldn't get many Barcelonetans to coalesce around the issue, Rajoy's heavy hand might now provide the catalyst for it.

Having been to the region myself as a student in the 90s, I have to say that this issue was simmering long before Putin ascended the world stage. 

If people don't know about the Basques/ETA, it's worth reading about them. For over 40 years, they were known as a terrorist organization by the Spanish government while they were seen by others as a separatist and nationalist organization.

The Basques often used violent and extremist means like bombings.

Not to compare the two movements at all (ETA was a completely different organization with different aims) but just to show that

These type of movements are not new to Spain.

Spain Will Remove Catalonia Leader, Escalating Secession Crisis

43 minutes ago, MoTheGreat said:

 

I heard Putin is behind this too.

Wait. What do you mean? That he somehow backs Mariano Rajoy? I'm dubious about that.

No matter what side of the divide, both Catalonia and the rest of Spain want to remain a part of the European Union. The EU is Putin's nemesis. Putin only seems to be interested in countries where there is a faction that want to leave the EU. Catalonian independence is not that type of movement. 

IMO, these issues seem to have been in the making for several decades.  Catalonia has always been a semi-autonomous region.  I got a chance to visit once and even though Barcelona was more cosmopolitan (in the touristy areas), the areas outside of Barcelona seemed to staunchly identify as Catalan. Some even refused to speak Spanish, preferring to speak Catalan.

The Spanish economy is just beginning to emerge from a very deep and protracted recession. During their recession, the Catalonian area was one of the few economic bright spots (their proximity to the Mediterranean makes them a big producer/exporter of certain items). Also with tourism to the Barcelona area, Girona, Costa Brava and other surrounding areas, Catalonia provided (still does), a lot of wealth for the nation.

Catalonians have become embittered by the feeling that they have contributed enormous wealth yet don't have enough say in how they are governed and where their taxes go.

The mayor of Barcelona made an interesting point- she said that she believes that if only the government had held an actual legal, sanctioned referendum, they'd have probably discovered that the majority of people would've voted to stay with Spain.

The implication was that the Spanish government didn't need to use such a heavy hand, Rajoy's government caused the issue to escalate almost to the point of no return.

Still, even though it's been some years since I've been to Barcelona, I can't help but think that there can be a diplomatic resolution if cooler heads prevail.

In case that declassifying of JFK intel diversion tactic doesn't work out, there is this-

Donald Trump Is Rush-Shipping Condolences to Military Families

This administration is one lie and coverup after another. Fundamentally dishonest.

WTF! People should be reporting this fool for spreading false information. Twitters guidelines for reporting abusive accounts generally don't include spreading misinformation-- they need to fix that because it's the reason these Bots could go around spreading misinformation and fomenting strife.

Anyhoo, speaking of False News,

FauxNewsChannel has tried to fixate on the since of Harvey Weinstein while quietly renewing Bill O'Reilly's contract.

O’Reilly Settled New Harassment Claims, Then Fox Renewed His Contract

Meanwhile Fox has been assailing the liberals for Harvey, the cons have been quietly letting O'Reilly back in the ranks. No wonder he's been so mouthy lately.

O’Reilly Settled New Harassment Claims, Then Fox Renewed His Contract

2 hours ago, Khan said:

I didn't know that, DD, but once again, I'm not surprised.

He only denied charges of "non-consensual sex" but basically remained silent about the individual accusations by specific actresses until Lupita.

11 minutes ago, Taoboi said:

I notice that.

 

Is he that stupid to not know how that is going to look?

Old habits die hard?  He's been getting away with atrocious behavior for so long, he still seems to cling to the notion that he can still wield power over someone. 

Speaking of which, someone put this out...I'm pretty sure at least one or two were following me for awhile.

More Russian race trolls @Twitter & @Instagram:
Pamela_Moore13
Crystal1Johnson
Usa_gunslinger
Sincerely_black
Afrokingdom
black_business pic.twitter.com/yTrVgyUBfh

— Paula Chertok🗽 (@PaulaChertok) October 17, 2017

17 minutes ago, MoTheGreat said:

 

 

There was also fake BLM twitter accounts. That's why Facebook, Google, & twitter are all in trouble. They took money from Russians.

I've seen the fake Black bots on Twitter. I warned people that follow me about their existence by re-tweeting articles about them.

I'm hardly on FB so I'll take your word for it-- I have read that companies traced back to Russia purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of ads on FB.

Google still posts links to fake sites that masquerade as legitimate.  I just read about fake Politifact and fake Snopes sites being linked to fabricated articles on Google.

I'm so tired of Google, I use a different search engine now.  DuckDuckGo is not as efficient as Google but I'm sick of Google's shady practices.

Scary stuff.

So Lupita's account is the only one that Weinstein decided to publicly pushback on?  How very Trumpist of him.

Doesn't seem as if "rehab" is doing him much good.

8 hours ago, MoTheGreat said:

 

I'm reading stories that they had Russian plants in BLM. They was posting like they was for the cause just to cause trouble.

It wouldn't surprise me, in the least, if this was discovered to be the case.

This was a common tactic in civil rights movements throughout contemporary history, particularly ones championing the advancement of civil rights for Blacks.

COINTELPRO, anyone?

Niger Ambush Came After ‘Massive Intelligence Failure,’ Source Says

Will the Benghazi screamers actually do a thorough and serious investigation into what happened to these soldiers in Niger and why Mr. Johnson was left, lingering between life and death for two days in the desert?

7 hours ago, sivad40 said:

Many members from Lipstick Alley a predominantly black women website, has often said feminism was never for WOC, and that some white women were complicit when it came to white patriarchy and racism. 

I know at one time there was a push by some WOC like bell hooks to embrace "Womanism" which was seen as different from "Feminism", which many Black women, particular felt excluded from historically, for some of the reasons that @Khan described.

Black women had always had to work since being brought to this country as slaves, and often had to do the work equal to the men (ability/equal access to work had always been a major guiding principle in the feminist manifesto).

I'm not sure that the Womanist movement ever truly got off the ground and some Black women sought to embrace a more fluid definition of feminism, one that they had fashioned for themselves, which has been viewed as somewhat controversial by some feminists, who see feminism as being guided by a set of specific principles and strictures.

In any case, this past election has brought a great many divides into sharp relief and this is one of them.

45 minutes ago, Khan said:

Ironically, though, I think most African-American women hold more traditional values than even most white women.  Because they were largely raised by Judeo-Christian values, they truly believe, for example, that the husband IS the head of the household; that marriage IS defined by one man and one woman; that a woman is not to serve as the head of the church; that things like premarital sex and abortion are to be avoided, etc.

That was often the case but I think it's mainly on a generational level. The women of my generation are more likely to be college educated and though many want to be married, we are unwilling to be put in a position that is subjugated to a mate. Of course. some of us were raised attending church but didn't stay going as adults, many of us only attend sporadically, possibly, not being satisfied with the biblical scholarship.

My family being immigrants, had a situation that is considered atypical to begin with.

My mother was the pioneer...she led and her husband followed her to the U.S.

She had a job (not a great one, being an immigrant she got offered a sh*t job that Americans didn't want to do) which provided a visa and residency and in turn, she filed for her husband to join her in a couple years.

I don't believe my mother was ever able to have the expectation of anyone taking care of her, although it probably would've been a relief to her.

In terms of the lack of solidarity, it reminds me of a documentary I watched last year on Netflix on the feminist movement, particularly how the ERA bombed due to Phyllis Schlafly's group, who ultimately sabotaged the efforts for the ERA passage. 

2016 election seemed to be history repeating itself. Only in this case, I think my generation and the young WOC coming into full adulthood, will in future,  be less inclined to try to reach out and join ranks under the general banner of feminism, given the history of WOC getting burned in the end.

I read this. I continue to be disgusted by this man's behavior and I hope justice is meted out to him.

I am also concerned that people may forget that there are so many other men like Harvey Weinstein. Would that they could all face a reckoning but I hope people are not excluding the other obvious examples of men abusing their power, not just in the entertainment industry but across various industries.

Honestly, I get so tired of these vipers currently in the White House. Others may very well feel the same. I have a feeling that's why things sometimes slow down in this thread. 

No one can possibly be surprised that Kelly has basically sold his soul to Mango Mussolini. I'd question anyone who makes the choice to align him or herself to this administration of vipers.

There's an article in Politico that I have yet to read that discusses how the flurry of GOP retirements as a result of frustration threaten to make Paul Ryan's job more difficult. So?

I hope his job becomes impossible at this point. I also hope there is a wipe-out of as many GOP Congresspeople as possible leading up to and including 2018, including Ryan.

So Roger and Rafa in the season ending championships' final then...?

If only...but honestly, I'd settle for a decent human being in the WH right now.

Crowd chants "four more years" as former Pres. Obama campaigns for Phil Murphy in New Jersey. https://t.co/qwa4FGsiux pic.twitter.com/MaL43mitx1

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 19, 2017

Speaking of threads, I'm never sure where to put these types of articles but there is a brief mention of Tamara Tunie in this one. Apparently she's in talks with the Harlem School of the Arts to produce a musical there.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/18/nyregion/harlem-school-of-the-arts-performance-space.html

White House told Gold Star widow that President Trump was going to call. "I never received the phone call," she says pic.twitter.com/cMQFCcDX2T

— Colin Jones (@colinjones) October 18, 2017