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3/23/16 ~ Today's TILT! (THINGS I LEARNED TODAY)

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March is Women's History Month


Today is
Cuddly Kitten Day
National Chip and Dip Day
National Melba Toast Day
National Puppy Day
Near Miss Day
OK Day
World Meteorological Day

“FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!”

On May 2 1973, Black Panther activist Assata Olugbala Shakur (fsn) Joanne Deborah Chesimard, was pulled over by the New Jersey State Police, shot twice and then charged with murder of a police officer. Assata spent six and a half years in prison under brutal circumstances before escaping out of the maximum security wing of the Clinton Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey in 1979 and fleeing to Cuba where she was given asylum.
[See #12 for more info about Assata Shakur]

1) Only female mosquitoes will bite you.

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2) Reno is farther west than Los Angeles.
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3)  There are over 7,107 islands in The Philippines. 
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4) Latino Journalist, Jorge Ramos' daughter works for Hillary Clinton. Ramos has not tried to hide this fact.
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5) Switzerland has had great success in legalizing heroin, and putting the power to write prescriptions into the hands of accredited doctors.
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6) Former Superman actor, Dean Cain, got a BA in history from Princeton University and played professional football. He collects Christmas movies, and estimates he has "about 47" in his collection so far. 
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7) Anonymous recently announced a “cyber war” against Donald Trump, urging its followers to launch a barrage of cyberattacks on April 1 to expose the “appalling” GOP presidential candidate.
“We need you to shut down his websites, research and expose what he doesn’t want the public to know,” a person wearing the group’s trademark Guy Fawkes mask says in a video posted to an Anonymous YouTube channel. “We need you to dismantle his campaign and sabotage his brand.”

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8) On this day in 1839, the initials“O.K.” were first published in The Boston Morning Post.

via history

Meant as an abbreviation for “oll korrect,” a popular slang misspelling of “all correct” at the time, OK steadily made its way into the everyday speech of Americans.

During the late 1830s, it was a favorite practice among younger, educated circles to misspell words intentionally, then abbreviate them and use them as slang when talking to one another. Just as teenagers today have their own slang based on distortions of common words, such as “kewl”for“cool” or “DZ”for“these,” the “in crowd” of the 1830s had a whole host of slang terms they abbreviated. Popular abbreviations included “KY” for “No use” (“know yuse”), “KG”for“No go” (“Know go”), and “OW”for all right (“oll wright”).

Of all the abbreviations used during that time, OK was propelled into the limelight when it was printed in the Boston Morning Post as part of a joke. Its popularity exploded when it was picked up by contemporary politicians. When the incumbent president Martin Van Buren was up for reelection, his Democratic supporters organized a band of thugs to influence voters.

This group was formally called the “O.K. Club,” which referred both to Van Buren’s nickname “Old Kinderhook” (based on his hometown of Kinderhook, New York), and to the term recently made popular in the papers. At the same time, the opposing Whig Party made use of “OK” to denigrate Van Buren’s political mentor Andrew Jackson. According to the Whigs, Jackson invented the abbreviation “OK” to cover up his own misspelling of “all correct.”

The man responsible for unraveling the mystery behind “OK” was an American linguist named Allen Walker Read. An English professor at Columbia University, Read dispelled a host of erroneous theories on the origins of “OK,” ranging from the name of a popular Army biscuit (Orrin Kendall) to the name of a Haitian port famed for its rum (Aux Cayes) to the signature of a Choctaw chief named Old Keokuk. Whatever its origins, “OK” has become one of the most ubiquitous terms in the world, and certainly one of America’s greatest lingual exports.

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9) George Clooney is hosting a fundraiser next month for Hillary Clinton; Scott Baio has endorsed Donald Trump; Willie Nelson has endorsed Bernie Sanders. This is news because all three celebrities are activists (I know, didn't expect that from Baio, didja? Me, either. He became an activist when his wife was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
via CNN
"When Twitter users saw that actor Scott Baio was trending, some thought he had died or that a ‘Joanie Loves Chachi’ remake was in the works.

The former‘Happy Days’and‘Charles in Charge’ star was actually gaining notice for his politics rather than his work.

Baio endorsed Donald Trump for president during an appearance on Fox News'"Justice with Judge Jeanine" show Saturday, and his announcement began picking up steam on social media soon after."

[NOTE* See the ADDENDUM for a long list of Celebrity Endorsements for Bernie Sanders]

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10) In Bernie News
Wait, was there an election last night? You'd hardly know it, listening to the pundits talk! Not even Bill Press or Thom Hartmann were WOOTING AND HOLLERING!! And they SHOULD have been!

Here it is in a nutshell. For the first time, Bernie won in EVERY sense of the word yesterday. Not only did he win more states, but for the first time, he also won MORE DELEGATES.

Although the final results have not been announced, it is evident that Bernie took the night.  Arizona had more delegates up for grabs (75), and even though Hillary won there, the fact that Bernie won by bigger margins in Utah and Idaho, gave him a total net gain of more "pledged Delegates" than Hillary received. This SHOULD BE HUGE NEWS! The upstart candidate who started out at 3% approval, has now surpassed his competition!

Nope.

ESTIMATE OF PLEDGE DELEGATES to be AWARDED from 3/22/16

STATE

DELEGATES

CLINTON

SANDERS

TYPE

ELECTION

AZ

75

44

30

Primary

Closed

ID

23

5

17

Caucus

Open

UT

33

6

26

Caucus

Semi-Open

via realclearpolitics

Hillary won one state, Arizona "by a large margin" (57.8%-40%)

Bernie won two states, by WAY larger margins! (Idaho 78%-21%; Utah 79%-20)
The mainstream media told the story like this:
NYTimes: "Clinton and Trump Win Arizona; Cruz Picks Up Utah; Sanders Takes 2"
CNN: "Primary results: Front-runners score key Western victories"
Washington Post:"Clinton, Trump win delegate-rich Arizona, but falter in Utah and Idaho"
Wall Street Journal: "Donald Trump Wins Arizona, Ted Cruz Dominates in Utah"
Fox News: "Fox News Poll: Cruz gains on Trump in GOP race, Clinton up by double digits"
You get the picture, "Sanders" has become the "N" word of politics. No mention of Sanders' winning by 50 points in TWO STATES! Zip!
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Meanwhile in Arizona, numerous cases of Voter Disenfranchisement and Fraud are being reported.
The GOP reduced the number of voting precincts, ostensibly to “save money” especially in Maricopa County, which is the largest county in the state, with 30% Latino voters.  Elsewhere in the state, the average was 2500 voters per precinct, however, in Maricopa County, it came out to one polling location for every 21,000 voters, thus causing huge lines.
Many precincts ran out of ballots, many long-time Democrats were no longer listed at their polling stations, many Independents purposely switched to the Democratic Party just so they could vote for Bernie, but then were turned away. Many voters waited in line for up to five hours.
Many elderly people couldn't take it, and went home. In many precincts they ran out of ballots, or had to provide "Provisional Ballots", in some places, there are reports that the precinct leaders did not have a clue about how to operate the machines. This is the one state that Hillary won.

This is a big deal.  Senator Sanders commented about it today, and how undemocratic the voting process was.  There is already an online petition going around demanding an investigation into the possible incidences of Voter Fraud, Suppression and Disenfranchisement.

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On Monday, Cenk Uygur, of the member-supported online news network, TYTNetwork(dot)com, mentioned on his weekday online news show that he was sad that Bernie Sanders had never chosen to give Cenk an interview. An online petition was created. 17,000 people signed it. Two days later, Bernie Sanders was interviewed by Cenk on TYT today! That's why they call their following "The TYT Army". You can catch their show every weekday at 6 pm EST.

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"Oh, my God! I just converted my Dad to TYT AND Bernie! I feel like 'John the Baptist" ~ J. Grimes, TYT viewer
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11) Tim Canova runs into the DWS Firewall
[I received this email from the Tim Canova campaign. He is a Progressive Democrat, giving Debbie Wasserman Schultz a strong Primary Challenge in her Florida District. Schultz is openly anti-Medical Marijuana, and stands a good change of landing a position in the Cabinet of a Clinton Presidency. It would be electoral justice if she lost her seat. A vote for Canova is a vote against Schultz. That's reason enough to take notice and try to help him out.]

“Tara - 

It’s important you know what a Florida Democratic Party spokesperson said about why they are denying our campaign access to the voter file: 
‘A committee spokesperson… confirmed to New Times that the Florida Democratic Party does not offer data access ‘to candidates challenging incumbent members of Florida’s Democratic congressional delegation… We stand with our incumbent members of Congress and we’re proud of the job they do representing the people.’’

Proud?  That’s not the word we would have gone with.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz has a record of accomplishments, but it isn’t for the people — it is for her wealthy campaign donors. In Congress, few representatives have done more to help Wall Street banksters and payday loansharks than our opponent. Her record is not something for Democrats to be proud of — period. 

The establishment is simply throwing up another obstacle for our campaign to overcome...Our volunteers on the ground are ready to make calls and knock on doors. All we need to do now is give them the tools to even the playing field. 

If Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the Democratic establishment in Florida (or in Washington for that matter) think we are going to let them disrupt us, then they have another thing coming. 

Together, we can finally give the voters a real reason to be proud again. 

In solidarity, 
Team Canova”
[If you can spare it, he's asking for $10. Go to the Tim Canova web site to donate.]
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12) Assata: In her own words
"My name is Assata ("she who struggles") Olugbala ( "for the people" ) Shakur ("the thankful one"), and I am a 20th century escaped slave.
Because of government persecution, I was left with no other choice than to flee from the political repression, racism and violence that dominate the US government's policy towards people of color.
I am an ex political prisoner, and I have been living in exile in Cuba since 1984. I have been a political activist most of my life, and although the U.S. government has done everything in its power to criminalize me, I am not a criminal, nor have I ever been one.
In the 1960s, I participated in various struggles: the black liberation movement, the student rights movement, and the movement to end the war in Vietnam. I joined the Black Panther Party. By 1969 the Black Panther Party had become the number one organization targeted by the FBI's COINTELPRO program. because the Black Panther Party demanded the total liberation of black people, J. Edgar Hoover called it the "greatest threat to the internal security of the country" and vowed to destroy it and its leaders and activists.
Political Prisoner to Exiled
On May 2, 1973, I, along with Zayd Malik Shakur and Sundiata Acoli were stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike, supposedly for a "faulty tail light." Sundiata Acoli got out of the car to determine why we were stopped. Zayd and I remained in the car. State trooper Harper then came to the car, opened the door and began to question us.
Because we were black, and riding in a car with Vermont license plates, he claimed he became "suspicious." He then drew his gun, pointed it at us, and told us to put our hands up in the air, in front of us, where he could see them. I complied and in a split second, there was a sound that came from outside the car, there was a sudden movement, and I was shot once with my arms held up in the air, and then once again from the back.
 Zayd Malik Shakur was later killed, trooper Werner Forester was killed, and even though trooper Harper admitted that he shot and killed Zayd Malik Shakur, under the New Jersey felony murder law, I was charged with killing both Zayd Malik Shakur, who was my closest friend and comrade, and charged in the death of trooper Forester.
Never in my life have I felt such grief. Zayd had vowed to protect me, and to help me to get to a safe place, and it was clear that he had lost his life, trying to protect both me and Sundiata. Although he was also unarmed, and the gun that killed trooper Forester was found under Zayd’s leg, Sundiata Acoli, who was captured later, was also charged with both deaths.
Neither Sundiata Acoli nor I ever received a fair trial. We were both convicted in the news media way before our trials. No news media was ever permitted to interview us, although the New Jersey police and the FBI fed stories to the press on a daily basis.
In 1977, I was convicted by an all- white jury and sentenced to life plus 33 years in prison. In 1979, fearing that I would be murdered in prison, and knowing that I would never receive any justice, I was liberated from prison, aided by committed comrades who understood the depths of the injustices in my case, and who were also extremely fearful for my life.

…Like most poor and oppressed people in the United States, I do not have a voice. Black people, poor people in the U.S. have no real freedom of speech, no real freedom of expression and very little freedom of the press. The black press and the progressive media has historically played an essential role in the struggle for social justice.

We need to continue and to expand that tradition. We need to create media outlets that help to educate our people and our children, and not annihilate their minds. I am only one woman. I own no TV stations, or Radio Stations or Newspapers. But I feel that people need to be educated as to what is going on, and to understand the connection between the news media and the instruments of repression in Amerika.

All I have is my voice, my spirit and the will to tell the truth. But I sincerely ask, those of you in the Black media, those of you in the progressive media, those of you who believe in truth freedom, To publish this statement and to let people know what is happening. We have no voice, so you must be the voice of the voiceless.

Free all Political Prisoners, I send you Love and Revolutionary Greetings From Cuba, One of the Largest, Most Resistant and Most Courageous Palenques (Maroon Camps) That has ever existed on the Face of this Planet."
[NOTE* This story was recently the basis for an episode of the TV Show, "Madame Secretary", starring Tea Leone.
In the fictional reality, the SoS offers to bring the exile (Afeni Rahim), living in Cuba, back to the states under protected status. Leone's character, "Bess" is in Cuba, right before the re-opening of the US Embassy.
Bess is driven to a restaurant so she "could try to convince the Shakur character (Afeni Rahim) to come back to America willingly. Bess tells Rahim that she would be treated fairly if she came back and that it’s not like how it was when she was convicted. Rahim tells her that she was not the one that shot the cop that night and it wouldn’t be different, citing Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner.

As it turns out, the FBI did in fact suppress evidence and wiretap Rahim's defense team, so the attorney general offers Rahim a new trial. Bess promises to release the old files, which state that Rahim didn’t shoot anyone. Rahim could come home, stand trial, and have everyone see that she’s innocent of the crime." ~ via ew

In real life, however, it's a different story. With the new relationship between the United States and Cuba, there is speculation that Cuba may be pressured to extradite Shakur back to the United States.]

To read Shakur's whole statement (it's 5 pages, or I'd print it all here!), go to Shakur's web site assatashakur(dot)org, or get her new book, "In Her Own Words".


ADDENDUM*: Actors and Comedians who have endorsed Bernie Sanders:

Patrick J. Adams, actor
James Adomian, comedian, actor
Ted Alexandro, comic
Joanna Angel, actress
Will Arnett, actor
Richmond Arquette, actor
Roseanne Barr, actress, comedian, producer
Justin Bartha, actor
Jason Bateman, actor
Kristin Bauer, actress
Joe Bereta, comedian[
Stephen Bishop, actor
Lewis Black, comic
Michael Ian Black, actor, comedian
Rowan Blanchard, actress
Madeline Brewer, actress
Mehcad Brooks, actor
Neve Campbell, actress
Reg E. Cathey, actor
Margaret Cho, comic and actress
Tommy Chong, comedian, actor, activist
Daniel Craig, actor
Barry Crimmins, comic, commentator
John Cusack, acto
Dani Daniels, actress
William Daniels, actor
Rosario Dawson, actress
Danny DeVito, actor[
Jimmy Dore, comedian
Eliza Dushku, actress
Ian Edwards, comic
Frances Fisher, actress
Ben Foster, actor
Jon Foster, actor, musician
Jeff Garlin, actor, comedian
Janeane Garofalo, comic, actress
Danny Glover, actor, director, activist
Nicholas Gonzalez, actor
Jasmine Guy, actress
Tiffany Haddish, actress, comedian
Deidre Hall, actress, activist
Brian Hamilton, actor
Daryl Hannah, actress, activist
Erin Heatherton, model, actress
J.G. Hertzler, actor; Town Board member, Ulysses, NY
Torri Higginson, actress
Brendan Hines, actor
Gaby Hoffmann, actress
Steve Hofstetter, comic
Josh Hutcherson, actor
Dom Irrera, comic
Maz Jobrani, comedian, actor
Alex Karpovsky, actor, director, producer
Vincent Kartheiser, actor
Michael Keaton, actor
Mimi Kennedy, actress and activist
Margot Kidder, actress
Laura Kightlinger, actress, comedian
David Koechner, actor, comedian
Zoe Kravitz, actress
Rachelle Lefevre, actress, activist
Donovan Leitch, actor
Juliette Lewis, actress, singer
Justin Long, actor
George Lopez, actor, comedian
Seth MacFarlane, actor, singer, producer
Jena Malone, actress
Holt McCallany, actor
Breckin Meyer, actor
Alyssa Milano, actress
Ezra Miller, actor
D.W. Moffett, actor
Alfred Molina, actor
James Morrison, actor
Viggo Mortensen, actor
Kevin Nealon, actor, comedian
Patton Oswalt, comedian, actor
Connor Paolo, actor
Scott Parker, actor
Rhea Perlman, actress
Jeremy Piven, actor
Emily Ratajkowski, model, actress
Nikki Reed, actress
John C. Reilly, actor
Carl Reiner, actor, comedian
Jeff Richards, actor, comedian]
Paul Rodriguez, comedian
Tim Roth, actor
Mark Ruffalo, actor
Jonathan Sadowski, actor
Susan Sarandon, actress, activist
Adam Savage, actor and TV star
Reid Scott, actor
Chloe Sevigny, actress
Sarah Silverman, comic, actress
Frazer Smith, actor, comic
Bill Smitrovich, actor
Cole Sprouse, actor
Doug Stanhope, comic
Jim Tavaré, comedian, actor, musician
Maura Tierney, actress
Dick Van Dyke, actor, producer
Sarah Vandella, actress
Milana Vayntrub, actress, comedian
George Wendt, actor
Paul Wesley, actor
Wil Wheaton, actor and writer
Harland Williams, actor, comedian
Shailene Woodley, actress
Sasheer Zamata, actress, comedian
[If you Google “Bernie Sanders Endorsements", it takes you to a fascinating page listing all kinds of famous people who have endorsed Bernie Sanders, from every walk of life, including scientists, economists, religious leaders, musicians, entertainers, doctors, labor leaders and much, much more].
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​Every "Recommend" or "Comment" you make gives me the juice to continue!
Message me to SUBSCRIBE! And by all means, Recommend Freely!
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*NOTE* - Please understand that I do not claim to be a “journalist”. I am only passing on bits of information, which others have researched, that drift through my awareness, on any given day. I watch, read and listen to any number of different news and entertainment sources, and it’s more than anyone could possibly intake and retain in a day, so I created this little daily “cheat sheet” for myself, so that I could remember all these oddball facts. Then I decided to share these tidbits, and thus was born the Daily TILT. I do this for fun. I hope you enjoy it.
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[Snarky comments by me are usually in brackets like this].
All photos by me unless credited otherwise.
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**NOTE: I purposely do not include links or photos in the TILT. The idea is to not have one story be highlighted above all the others. And sometimes links can be stressful. I, myself, sometimes get conflicted when presented with too many choices, so I thought I'd save you the trouble of having to make any of those types of decisions for a few minutes, while you read the Link-Free TILT!
I encourage you to further research any story that interests you, though. They are easy to Google.
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***My Daily Sources are usually one of the following: Democracy Now, The Daily Kos, Thom Hartmann, care2, Mother Jones, David Pakman, Ring of Fire, Jim Hightower, Alternet, Bill Press, Wired UK, John Fugelsang, Lee Camp, Bill Maher, The Huffington Post, The Daily Show, TYT Network, todayifoundout, Truthout, DIGG, Think Progress, Politico, Salon, Star Kelley, Friends of the Earth, Talk Media News, NRDC, Pirate Television, The Upworthiest, The Chase, The View, Soul Pancake, The Petition Site, Bioneers, TechKnow, The Daily Beast, PPP, YouTube and occasionally, MSNBC.
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As Thom Hartmann always says, "Democracy is NOT a spectator sport. TAG, you're it!"

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