David Campos Concedes To David Chiu In Race For San Francisco Assembly Seat

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — San Francisco Supervisor David Campos has conceded the race for the District 17 state assembly seat, his rival Supervisor David Chiu said Thursday evening.

Campos called Thursday to concede, Chiu said in a statement posted to Twitter and Facebook.

“We had a positive conversation and agreed to worktogether in the future for the good of San Francisco,” Chiu said.

According to the San Francisco Department of Elections, Chiu led with more than 51 percent of the vote as of Thursday evening with all precincts reporting.

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/11/06/david-campos-concedes-to-david-chiu-in-race-for-san-francisco-assembly-seat-district-17-board-of-supervisors-democrats/

What Marvel's 'Black Panther' Superhero Movie Really Says About America

The Earth didn't shift on its axis last week, so it's safe to assume most people missed the news that Marvel is releasing a Black Panther movie in 2017. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the iconic superhero will be played by Chadwick Boseman, best known for his roles as Jackie Robinson in 42 and James Brown in Get On Up.

The film is slated for a Nov. 3, 2017 release. This is no minor event: When it comes out, Black Panther will represent the first time Marvel Studios — the most prolific comic book movie producer in the U.S. — has released a live-action theatrical feature starring a black hero (Blade, based on the Marvel comic and starring Wesley Snipes, was produced by New Line Cinema.)

This move speaks volumes about the overwhelming whiteness of an industry whose output is consumed by an increasingly multiracial audience. Of course, comic and media consumers have always been a diverse group, but the absence of non-white, LGBT or female main characters has been a special point of contention in recent years.

When T'Challa, king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda, made his 1966 Black Panther debut — mere months before the real-life Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was established in Oakland, California, according to Slate — he was the first black character to get his own series with the company.


http://mic.com/articles/103392/7-reasons-why-the-black-panther-superhero-movie-is-marvel-s-best-idea-in-years

It's been a year since I got rid of my Facebook account.

It was a good decision. I had no idea what a time-suck it was.

Further proof that Obama is "weak" on terrorism.

The leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was “critically wounded” when a U.S.-led air strike targeted the western Iraqi border town of al-Qaim, tribal sources told Al Arabiya News Channel on Saturday.

U.S. Central Command confirmed in a statement that U.S.-led air strikes targeted ISIS leaders near their northern Iraqi hub of Mosul late Friday, without confirming whether Baghdadi was killed, AFP reported.

“This strike demonstrates the pressure we continue to place on the ISIL [ISIS] terrorist network and the group's increasingly limited freedom to maneuver, communicate and command," U.S. Central Command said.

Anbar province MP Mohammad al-Karbuli told Al Arabiya News Channel that coalition aircraft had targeted a gathering of ISIS leaders in al-Qaim that led to the killing of tens of people and wounded many more.


http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/11/08/Reports-ISIS-leader-critically-wounded-in-air-strike.html

DNC chief: We have a problem

The Democratic National Committee is planning a "top-to-bottom assessment" of its campaign strategy after suffering worse-than-expected defeats in last week’s midterm elections.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-Fla.), who leads the group, announced Saturday that a committee will examine the party’s performance in the 2014 and 2010 elections.

"We are going to look at where we fell short. We're going to identify our mistakes," she said in a video that was sent to party supporters.

"Our party has a problem," she added.

The committee will specifically look at messaging, get-out-the-vote efforts and digital operations. It will form in the next few weeks and present a report at the organization's winter meeting in early 2015.


http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/223434-report-dnc-to-launch-top-to-bottom-review-of-midterm-strategy

Just got back from Big Hero 6 and loved it.

If you don't like hero movies, it won't be for you. Otherwise, it was a very cute adaptation of some very minor Marvel characters without any ifluence from Marvel Studios. The kid and I had a lot of fun.

NYT: Active fathers face the same workplace penalties as mothers.

Researchers have described the “motherhood penalty” for women in the work force. The Journal of Social Issues last year published three studies on the so-called flexibility stigma for men, which together leave little doubt that there is reason for men to fear reducing hours or taking time off for family reasons.

One of the studies was by Mr. Coltrane of the University of Oregon. It used data from 6,403 men in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and was the first major longitudinal study — tracking the same group of people over time — to show that taking time off for family reasons reduced men’s earnings, just as it reduced women’s earnings. When men reduced their hours for family reasons, they lost 15.5 percent in earnings over the course of their careers, on average, compared with a drop of 9.8 percent for women and 11.2 percent for men who reduced their hours for other reasons.

When men start diverging from the breadwinner role by taking time off or working fewer hours — or, as Mr. Coltrane puts it, “become active-enough parents and begin looking like what we think of as mothers” — they can be penalized.

Another study found that men who used flexible work arrangements, whether taking temporary family leave or working from home or part time, received worse job evaluations and lower hourly raises. The third found that men who requested family leave were at greater risk of being demoted or laid off because they were perceived to have negative traits that are used to stigmatize women, like weakness and uncertainty, not masculine ones like competitiveness and ambition.

“The implications are dire for gender equality in the workplace,” said Laurie A. Rudman, the lead author of the third study and a psychology professor at Rutgers. One solution, she said, is to recast family leave as a manly thing to do: “Change the conversation of what it means to be a 50-50 husband in order to underscore it takes amazing strength for men to do that — it’s the opposite of weak.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/upshot/paternity-leave-the-rewards-and-the-remaining-stigma.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1&abt=0002&abg=0

Ahh What the hell, Jerry Brown for President.

Some on DU posted this video http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017225474 a few minutes ago of Bill Maher calling for Jerry Brown to run for president. He main point was ageism in America, but he also pointed out Brown's track record since taking over in 2011. He took over a state government that was a total shambles and is making it work again. He campaigned for a ballot measure raising taxes on the rich and won. And did I mention we now have Covered California. We have a long way to go towards restoring state services to where I think they should be and Brown is more cautious than I prefer. But he understands math, the constitutional requirement of a balanced budget and the fact that we can't print money like the federal government can. Should Brown decide to run, he has my vote.

Peters defeats DeMaio in CA.

Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) on Friday defeated Republican challenger Carl DeMaio in one of the most competitive House races.

The Associated Press called the race for Peters, nearly three days after polls closed Tuesday in the San Diego-based district.
Peters led DeMaio 51.2 percent to 48.8 percent, a nearly 4,500-vote margin.

National Republicans such as House Speaker John Boehner, touted DeMaio, an openly gay Republican, as one of their top recruits of the election cycle.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/223417-peters-clinches-victory-in-california-race

Claude Debussy "Clair de lune" (VIDEO)