June 11, 2020

Country group Lady Antebellum changes name to Lady A

Source: AP

Country group Lady Antebellum changes name to Lady A
2 hours ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Grammy-winning country group Lady Antebellum is changing its name to Lady A, with members saying they are regretful and embarrassed for not taking into consideration the word’s associations with slavery.

The band, made up of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, made the announcement Thursday on their social media.

The group’s first self-titled album came out in 2008, and included the Grammy-winning No. 1 country hit “I Run To You,” then it achieved crossover success on the pop charts with the nine-times platinum “Need You Now.” They won three Grammys for that song, including Record of the Year. They have also won numerous Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music awards during their nearly 14 year career.

Read more: https://apnews.com/bb120f4469e4282ba2a570fb837fe9fd?utm_medium=AP&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter

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https://twitter.com/AP/status/1271134865988206592

June 7, 2020

Bloodied store manager describes life in the age of COVID-19

AP News

Bloodied store manager describes life in the age of COVID-19

By JOHN ROGERS



For weeks Samantha Clarke calmly listened to the insults and threats directed daily at her and her employees by people who learned they couldn’t enter the Modesto, California, store without wearing a mask and following other coronavirus-related rules.

But never, says the 17-year veteran of retail sales, did she expect she’d be sucker-punched and knocked to the floor, blood gushing from her battered face. Not until it happened recently after a customer was told the last above-ground swimming pool in stock had just been sold to someone else.

“I’ve been in retail my whole life. I’ve been at this particular job 17 years and I’ve never heard of anyone being attacked, ever,” Clarke said by phone one recent evening after finishing the night shift.

But in retrospect she says, perhaps she should have seen it coming.

“We had the normal upset customer from time to time, but rarely did someone lose their temper and cuss at us,” she says of life before the store she manages began operating under state-issued coronavirus safety guidelines.

“Now it’s just daily, sometimes back to back to back,” she said.

https://apnews.com/6c3185047eb177dea7fa60682c211c84

June 7, 2020

"If Mississippi is ready for change, then everybody is ready for change."

‘If Mississippi is ready for change, then everybody is’: Historic crowd of thousands packs streets of Jackson to protest racial inequities

By Adam Ganucheau and Kayleigh Skinner

Thousands of Mississippians gathered Saturday afternoon in downtown Jackson for a peaceful protest against police brutality, inequities in the criminal justice system and state-sponsored Confederate symbolism.

A multi-racial crowd of at least 3,000 people — which some believe is Jackson’s largest demonstration since the civil rights movement — packed the streets for the protest in the hot June sun. Chants of “I can’t breathe!” and “Black lives matter!” and “No justice, no peace!” echoed down Capitol Street outside the Governor’s Mansion as organizers rallied the crowd.

A group of 15 activists — college students and young professionals — organized the Black Lives Matter Mississippi protest in the wake of the killings of George Floyd in Minnesota, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. In planning the event, organizers took inspiration from key figures of the civil rights movement.

“Bob Moses reminded us that when you want to look at America, you gotta look where? At Mississippi,” said Maisie Brown, an 18-year-old activist who was a co-organizer of the protest. “If Mississippi is ready for change, then everybody is ready for change.”

https://mississippitoday.org/2020/06/06/if-mississippi-is-ready-for-change-then-everybody-is-historic-crowd-of-thousands-packs-streets-of-jackson-to-protest-racial-inequities/


https://twitter.com/MSTODAYnews/status/1269420458740527104

June 3, 2020

Lincoln takes a knee.

https://twitter.com/cliffschecter/status/1268170024130404352


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EZlx6fsWoAYuqDU?format=jpg

June 2, 2020

Roku is offering an entire channel dedicated to QAnon - WTF?

Roku is offering an entire channel dedicated to QAnon

Conspiracy theorist behind the channel promises to also take it to Amazon and Apple

Written by Alex Kaplan

Published 06/01/20 9:31 AM EDT

Streaming platform Roku allowed a channel dedicated to promoting the dangerous QAnon conspiracy theory to launch on its platform last month. The channel’s creator says he also plans to offer it via Amazon Fire and Apple TV.

“Q Channel - QAnon Channel” describes itself as hosting “opinion based shows for getting the truth out, as we know it, about the Qanon movement.” The channel was announced in May by David Hayes, a QAnon supporter known online as “Praying Medic” who has a large following.

Roku has previously said that it bars from its platform content that is “unlawful, incited illegal activities, or violates third-party rights.” In May 2019, an FBI field office released a memo that listed QAnon as a potential domestic terrorism threat, and the conspiracy theory has been linked to multiple people who have committed threatening and violent acts.

. . . There have been numerous acts of violence associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory, including a man accused of murdering his brother with a sword, a man accused of murdering an alleged crime boss, a man who reportedly threatened to kill YouTube employees, an armed man who blocked the bridge over the Hoover Dam with an armored vehicle, a man who threatened to assassinate President Donald Trump, a woman who traveled to New York City to “take out” former Vice President Joe Biden, a man arrested for threatening to kill the governor and attorney general of Michigan, and multiple people who have attempted kidnappings.

https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/roku-offering-entire-channel-dedicated-qanon


---------- edit *
* edited to note that plans changed and it was pulled, see post #7 by morillon

Sweet.

May 23, 2020

Gabriel's Oboe - performed by Chris Botti

Ok, fair point, this is not an oboe.

May 22, 2020

Ennio Morricone, "Gabriels's Oboe", music school Ljubljana Moste-Polje, Slovenia

(for two violins)





from the movie The Mission (1986)

May 21, 2020

Marijuana is legal and haircuts are against the law.

RUTH BUZZI @Ruth_A_Buzzi

Marijuana is legal and haircuts are against the law.

It took half a century but Hippies finally won.


https://twitter.com/Ruth_A_Buzzi/status/1261511574117855238

May 18, 2020

San Francisco Bay Blues, Phoebe Snow, Live

I must credit getting in this mood to My Baby Just Care For Me posted previously by IcyPeas.

(of which I also love the animated cat version also on youtube)

May 12, 2020

"Dear epidemiologists, ..."

https://twitter.com/Laurie_Garrett/status/1260062995167789056


Dr. Elizabeth Sawin @bethsawin

Dear epidimiologists,

We feel for you.

Love,

Climate scientists