Hang Tight, America: The Redcoats Are Coming | Shag Haircuts Unite

Hang Tight, America: The Redcoats Are Coming | Shag Haircuts Unite

Rule number one of the little bit of grunge, a little rock, rigorously disheveled shag haircut is that the woman should be seriously rebellious and not faking it when choosing to get shaggy. Shags are not for imposters and poll readers. Rather, the shag haircut is for leaders like 70s’s women Jane Fonda and Debbie Harry, who are activists to the core decades later.

‘Shag’ is a 16th-century word, possibly from an Old English term for “rough, matted hair or wool. Men primarily, but some women also, have adopted their own definition of ‘shag’ and it has a strongly sexual connotation, as in “S(he) is a great shag.” There’s typically a ‘but’ that follows, as in “She’s a great shag but a total airhead.”

Shags are generally considered to be nonconforming, sexy haircuts, willfully embraced by their owners. Besides Fonda and Harry, the shaggy bob is also tagged to Meg Ryan and more recently Taylor Swift and Alexa Chung. Vogue Italia breaks down all the shag haircut details and shares celebs with their shags.

Jane Fonda, Still Flexing Shag Muscle

The return of shags — now a year-old trend in the US — gets new cred with female resistance. We all know that American women Democrats, Independents and increasingly, educated Republican women are exercising serious shag credentials.

Nancy Pelosi to President Donald Trump: "You've come into my wheelhouse now"

HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI WAS THE CLOSING SPEAKER AT THE TEXAS TRIBUNE FESTIVAL. IMAGE BY BOB DAEMMRICH FOR THE TEXAS TRIBUNE.

Nancy Pelosi to President Donald Trump: "You've come into my wheelhouse now"

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi painted herself as a once-reluctant but now fully engaged general amid her party's push for an impeachment inquiry, in an onstage interview at The Texas Tribune Festival on Saturday.

To make her point, she used sweeping, solemn language to underscore her view that what is happening at the U.S. Capitol is an existential moment in American history.

"If this activity, this pattern of behavior were to prevail ... then it's over for the republic," she said. "We will have the equivalent of a monarchy."

"Let us be prayerful. Let us be solemn. Let us try not to make it further divisive," she added. "But we cannot ignore our oath of office to defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies foreign and domestic."

In her most extensive interview about impeachment since she announced plans to open an inquiry this week, Pelosi described herself as "heartbroken" over the revelation that President Donald Trump asked the Ukrainian president to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden. White House disclosures of the conversation — and that Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine prior to the conversation — unleashed a firestorm in Washington last week.

"I think right now there is a cover-up of a cover-up," she said.

When asked why she moved from the strongest backstop against impeachment to the leader of the effort, she chose brevity: "The facts."

Nancy Pelosi to Speak Saturday at The Texas Tribune Festival, As Trump Impeachment Looms

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be the keynote speaker, with Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith as moderator, at The Texas Tribune Festival this Saturday.. Image via Miguel Gutierrez Jr./The Texas Tribune.

By Chase Karacostas. First published on The Texas Tribune

Just a few days after declaring that the U.S. House of Representatives will begin a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will appear in Austin as the keynote speaker Saturday at The Texas Tribune Festival.

This is Pelosi's third time to speak at the festival, and it's one of her first major public appearances after Tuesday's impeachment investigation announcement. The California Democrat's interview, moderated by Tribune CEO Evan Smith, will be from 7:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Paramount Theater.

Impeachment is sure to be a major topic of discussion, as is Trump's July phone call with the Ukrainian president requesting an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.

Before this week, Pelosi had fended off demands from members of her caucus to pursue impeachment, even after a long-awaited report from special counsel Robert Mueller was released. Much of her hesitation lay with the desire to protect her party's hard-won majority in the House. However, her tune changed this week after reports that the call with the Ukrainian president was the reason for an "urgent and credible" whistleblower complaint filed last month.

On Wednesday, the White House released a record of the call showing Trump implored newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden's son, who served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company that Ukrainian authorities have investigated. While Biden was vice president, he urged Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor, though the country's investigation into the company was reportedly dormant at the time.

Trump put nearly $400 million of Congress-approved security assistance on hold in the days before the call, leading some to accuse him of implicitly dangling the revocation of aid if Ukraine did not investigate Biden.

Pelosi's panel will be streamed live on the Tribune's website.

U.S. Houses Passes $4.5 Billion Border Aid Bill Amid Mounting Concern For Detained Migrant Children

U.S. Houses Passes $4.5 Billion Border Aid Bill Amid Mounting Concern For Detained Migrant Children

By Adam Willis. First published in The Texas Tribune.

As reports of migrant children being held in squalid conditions at federal facilities near the border continue to draw outrage, Democrats successfully pushed a $4.5 billion humanitarian aid package through the U.S. House late Tuesday evening with a vote of 230 to 195.

The passage of the bill marks a narrow victory for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who managed to coalesce a unified front after several days of uncertainty and division within the party. Ultimately, only four Democrats broke rank, none of them Texans. Among the Republicans from the state, U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes, was the only member to buck his party, voting in favor of the bill. Hurd's districts covers much of the state's border with Mexico.

Note: The Four Democratic women who broke with Pelosi are Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.).

Pelosi Is Defiant Against Nadler's Jump Start On Impeachment, Wants Trump In Jail

Pelosi Is Defiant Against Nadler's Jump Start On Impeachment, Wants Trump In Jail

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi affirmed Tuesday night that she wants to see President Donald Trump “in prison”. Her comments came Tuesday night in a heated clash with House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler over the feasibility and timing of launching an impeachment inquiry against Trump.

Politico reports that “ Nadler and other committee leaders have been embroiled in a behind-the-scenes turf battle for weeks over ownership of the Democrats’ sprawling investigation into Trump.” The Speaker, widely considered to be the most formidable female politico in the world, stood her ground, with the support of other committee leaders. Their investigations would stop if an official impeachment inquiry is stopped.

“I don’t want to see him impeached, I want to see him in prison,” Pelosi said, according to multiple Democratic sources familiar with the meeting. Instead of impeachment, Pelosi still prefers to see Trump defeated at the ballot box and then prosecuted for his alleged crimes, according to the sources.

The Evolution of the Medieval Witch – and Why She’s Usually a Woman

The Evolution of the Medieval Witch – and Why She’s Usually a Woman

By Jennifer Farrell, Lecturer in Medieval History, University of Exeter. First published on The Conversation.

Flying through the skies on a broomstick, the popular image of a witch is as a predominantly female figure – so much so that the costume has become the go-to Halloween outfit for women and girls alike. But where did this gendered stereotype come from? Part of the answer comes from medieval attitudes towards magic, and the particular behaviours attributed to men and women within the “crime” of witchcraft.

Taking one aspect of the witch’s characterisation in popular culture – her association with flight – we can see a transformation in attitudes between the early and later Middle Ages. In the 11th century, Bishop Burchard of Worms said of certain sinful beliefs:

Some wicked women, turning back to Satan and seduced by the illusions and phantasms of demons, believe [that] in the night hours they ride on certain animals with the pagan goddess Diana and a countless multitude of women, and they cross a great span of the world in the stillness of the dead of night.

According to Burchard, these women were actually asleep, but were held captive by the devil, who deceived their minds in dreams. He also believed that none but the very “stupid and dim-witted” could think that these flights had actually taken place.

NRA Puts Nancy Pelosi + Gaby Giffords Out For Target Practice. Will Sandy Hook Ruling Dampen Their Machismo?

NRA Puts Nancy Pelosi + Gaby Giffords Out For Target Practice. Will Sandy Hook Ruling Dampen Their Machismo?

The National Rifle Association left little to the imagination in their March 2019 issue of American Rifleman, citing Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and gun control advocate, former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Gifford — herself an assault rifle victim — as in the line of fire and perhaps in need of a little target practice.

There’s no doubt that these are macho men. The white nationalist assassin from Australia who Facebook livestreamed with his assault on two New Zealand mosques Friday is also a macho man. that currently leaves 50 dead and 50 hospitalized — many in critical condition.

On Thusday, March 14th, the Connecticut Supreme Court overturned a lower-court ruling, agreeng with Connecticut’s Sandy Hook families that the marketing employed by Remington Arms, a major manufacturer of deadly assault rifles and specifically the AF15, was so aggregious in appealing to men’s “killer instincts” that it transgressed against federal immunity laws that protect gun manufacturers from liability.

Connecticut law, the court wrote in the majority opinion, "does not permit advertisements that promote or encourage violent, criminal behavior." While federal law does offer protection for gun manufacturers, the majority wrote, "Congress did not intend to immunize firearms suppliers who engage in truly unethical and irresponsible marketing practices promoting criminal conduct, and given that statutes such as CUTPA are the only means available to address those types of wrongs, it falls to a jury to decide whether the promotional schemes alleged in the present case rise to the level of illegal trade practices and whether fault for the tragedy can be laid at their feet."

Read on in Salon. Sandy Hook Lawsuit Court Victory Opens Crack In Gun Maker Immunity Shield

Linda Sarsour Accuses Nancy Pelosi Of Upholding Patriarchy As Ilhan Omar Calls Obama A Pretty-Face Murderer

Linda Sarsour Accuses Nancy Pelosi Of Upholding Patriarchy As Ilhan Omar Calls Obama A Pretty-Face Murderer

Women’s March leader Linda Sarsour had choice words for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as House Democrats struggled this week to respond to Rep. Ilhan Omar accusing Jewish lawmakers of displaying "allegiance to a foreign country."

Sarsour, who served as co-chair of the Women's March in 2017 and 2019, accused Pelosi of "doing the dirty work of powerful white men" by condemning Omar’s words, writes the San Francisco Chronicle. .

"Nancy is a typical white feminist upholding the patriarchy doing the dirty work of powerful white men," she wrote in a Facebook post. "God forbid the men are upset - no worries, Nancy to the rescue to stroke their egos."

Friday night, Rep. Omar stole the narrative yet again, igniting a new controversy by appearing to bash former president Barack Obama as some sort of “war-mongering, neoliberal shill”, according to Vanity Fair.

Omar says the “hope and change” offered by Barack Obama was a mirage. Recalling the “caging of kids” at the U.S.-Mexico border and the “droning of countries around the world” on Obama’s watch, she argues that the Democratic president operated within the same fundamentally broken framework as his Republican successor.

“We can’t be only upset with Trump. … His policies are bad, but many of the people who came before him also had really bad policies. They just were more polished than he was,” Omar says. “And that’s not what we should be looking for anymore. We don’t want anybody to get away with murder because they are polished. We want to recognize the actual policies that are behind the pretty face and the smile.”

Rolling Stone March 2019 Profiles Nancy Pelosi + New Female Dem Voices In 'Women Shaping the Future'

Rolling Stone March 2019 Profiles Nancy Pelosi + New Female Dem Voices In 'Women Shaping the Future'

The Republican hate machine has obsessed over Nancy Pelosi for years. At least now the Speaker has four young women besides her. They are all WOC -- ironically or not? We've not seen anything like the Republican hate machine being readied in particular against these four young women: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley.

At least they've got broad shoulders to lean on and the best possible advice. And Madame Maxine will be in there, too, offering support. Right on, ladies!

We may not agree all the time, but I am one person who will not tolerate needless attacks and misrepresentations of these young women -- solely because Republicans always need a female she-devil to obsess over.

With 37 new Democratic women in Congress, the Repubican right wing — which is the only one active at this point — will probably lose their minds as the weeks go on. Especially if they ask smart questions like they did of Trump fixer Michael Cohen during last week’s hearing, these young women are standing on solid ground. That was a masterclass.

Mn. Rep Ilhan Omar Rebuked Over Anti-Semitic Tweet, Faces Loss Of Seat On Foreign Relations Committee

Mn. Rep Ilhan Omar Rebuked Over Anti-Semitic Tweet, Faces Loss Of Seat On Foreign Relations Committee

In a dramatic statement delivered on Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders are calling on Minn. Rep Ilhan Omar to apologize for tweeting the strong suggestion that political donations drive politiciams’ support for Israel.

In the dramatic statement, House Democratic leadership said that while "legitimate criticism of Israel's policies is protected by the values of free speech and democratic debate," Omar's "use of anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israel's top supporters is deeply offensive."

Nancy Pelosi Victorious – Why The California Democrat Was Reelected Speaker of the House

Nancy Pelosi Ready to Be Sworn In Again As Speaker of the House, Jan. 3, 2019

Nancy Pelosi Victorious – Why The California Democrat Was Reelected Speaker of the House

By Kathryn L. Pearson, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Minnesota . First published on The Conversation.

Despite some brash and not insignificant opposition, California’s Nancy Pelosi is returning to her previous role as speaker of the House.

She will preside over a chamber that is 77 percent male and a Democratic Caucus that is 62 percent male.

When the Democratic Caucus held their leadership election on Nov. 28, Pelosi won the nomination on a 203 to 32 vote, falling 15 votes shy of the 218 she would later need to win the speakership with all members voting.

When a vote was taken on the House floor on Jan. 3, she won by a vote of 220 to 192, with 15 Democrats voting for someone else or voting “present.” The close vote illustrated, once again, Pelosi’s skill in coalition-building and counting votes, but also that some Democrats – particularly new members and those in swing districts – are dissatisfied with her as the party’s standard bearer.

As a political scientist who focuses on gender and party discipline in the House of Representatives, I have studied Pelosi’s leadership and how she was able to hold it for so long.

It’s important to realize that Pelosi’s battle to win over wavering Democrats didn’t begin in November 2018. Rather, it stretches back to when she was first elected to leadership in 2001. Her ongoing ability to rally members of her own party illustrates why she has been among the most successful U.S. House speakers. It also suggests her leadership will help Democrats in Congress as they negotiate with President Trump and Senate Republicans, even if Pelosi remains unpopular in some Democratic members’ districts.

Rising to power

Nancy Pelosi's Max Mara 'Fire Coat' Worn To Obama's Second Inauguration Will Be Reissued

Nancy Pelosi's Max Mara 'Fire Coat' Worn To Obama's Second Inauguration Will Be Reissued

Nancy Pelosi's 2013 Max Mara ‘Fire Coat’ is about to make a comeback!! ‘Beale’ Street Director Barry Jenkins must be orgasmic.

On Wednesday evening, Max Mara announced that the jacket setting Twitter blazing was its "Fire Coat," which the Italian fashion house last sold in 2013. However, because the coat is drawing so much attention, the Italian fashion brand confirms that it will reissue it in 2019 in a range of colors, including Pelosi's red/rust shade.

Now all we need is 'Beale Street' director Barry Jenkins -- who really was the catalyst behind the red coat blast -- and Pelosi in a DC ad shot, and fashion has made history.

In a statement, Max Mara Creative Director Ian Griffiths said:

The FIRE COAT is a boule shaped coat with a funnel collar — which is very feminine — but it has a shoulder and sleeve that are cut quite sharply. So whilst the body is soft, the shoulders give it structure. That contrast between masculine and feminine gives it modernity. This coat was designed over 6 years ago; a good coat is a life companion so it should be designed not to date. Ms Pelosi wore this coat to the Presidential Inauguration in 2013, and again for her historic meeting at the White House in 2018, so it clearly means something to her. You develop an emotional relationship with a coat like nothing else in your wardrobe and Max Mara coats are much more than just clothes. They represent lasting values, they project personal strength and glamour. I can imagine why Ms Pelosi chose to wear the FIRE COAT for this important moment and I'm honoured.

'Beale Street' Director Barry Jenkins Is Crazy In Love With Nancy Pelosi's Ravishing Red Max Mara Coat

'Beale Street' Director Barry Jenkins Is Crazy In Love With Nancy Pelosi's Ravishing Red Max Mara Coat

Barry Jenkins is in the news as Director of ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’, nominated for a 2019 Golden Globe Award for Best Drama Film. Jenkins was also nominated for screenplay, along with Regina King for supporting actress.

Based on James Baldwin’s 1974 novel of the same name, ‘Beale Street’ tells the 70s love story of a young black Harlem couple, Tish and Fonny. Devoted to each other since childhood, the young lovers are torn apart when Fonny is falsely accused and jailed for rape.

In a smile-worthy move, Jenkins had other matters on his mind after Nancy Pelosi’s epic TV performance at the White House Tuesday, when Donald Trump tried to negotiate a budget deal live before the American people. It did not go well for the US president, although Trump’s supporters surely disagree, especially if you like to see Trump constantly interrupting the next Speaker of the House and the most formidable woman in US politics.

Blue Menu Politics: Nancy Pelosi's Sinfully Rich Chocolate Mousse Recipe

Blue Menu Politics: Nancy Pelosi's Sinfully Rich Chocolate Mousse Recipe

CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM FOR BREAKFAST

You won't hear this on Chris Matthews Hardball -- you know, Chris is trying to butter up the ladies lately -- but the secret to Nancy Pelosi's iron-clad grip on vote counting and controlling her spirited group of Democratic DC change agents is chocolate ice cream for breakfast.

Pelosi spilled the coffee beans to Food and Wine last year, admitting "I’ve been eating dark chocolate ice cream for breakfast for as long as I can remember. I don’t see it as different from having a cup of coffee. The flavors keep getting darker and darker, which I love. Double Rainbow has one called Ultra Chocolate; you can just imagine how delicious that is. And Three Twins, I like their Bittersweet Chocolate. Sugar cones are my thing.'

NANCY PELOSI'S FAVORITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE RECIPE