michelle? ❤ ya

(Thank you Donna)

picture perfect: no 30

Brian Lara (West Indies cricket legend!) gives President Barack Obama a cricket lesson during the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad, April 2009. Photo by Pete Souza.

For Donna, Hachikō, Perry, Joy, Kamisi – and everyone else with Caribbean roots 😉

See all the ‘Picture Perfect’ photos here

happy thanksgiving everyone!

For our new visitors…

….and our ‘old’ ones too 😉

dad’s office

President Barack Obama talks with daughters Sasha and Malia in the Oval Office before pardoning a turkey named Apple in the Rose Garden, Nov. 24, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

hey, someone to look up to

President Barack Obama at Martha’s Table, November 24

at your service

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The Obama family distribute food at Martha’s Table a day before Thanksgiving, on November 24 in Washington, DC. Martha’s Table is a non-profit organization that provides food, shelter and clothing to those in need.

omg

(I know I promised this would be a Failin’ free zone, but you have to hear this – don’t worry, it’s sound only, you won’t have to look at her dimwitted face)

Mediaite: Sarah Palin’s choosing sides in the conflict between North and South Korea–and picking Kim Jong Il?
Couldn’t be. But there she is on Glenn Beck’s radio show saying just that: “This speaks to a bigger picture here that certainly scares me in terms of our national security policy. But obviously we’ve gotta stand with our North Korean allies.”
Beck helpfully corrects her, “South Korean allies.”

The scrambled tongue moment–as that’s surely what Palin will say it was–does bring up a charge made in John Keilemann and Mark Halperin’s book, Game Change, which portrays Palin as dangerously uninformed–a candidate for the vice presidency who didn’t understand that Korea was divided:

She knew nothing. She had to be taken through World War I, World War II, the Cold War, and Palin was not aware there was a difference between North and South Korea. She continued to insist that Iraq was behind 9/11; and when her son was being sent off to Iraq, she couldn’t describe who we were fighting.

Now, in fairness to Sarah Palin, she’s got a lot on her plate right now–a book tour, a reality show, and a daughter who landed in third place on Dancing with the Stars–so remembering arcane international details like which country has a lunatic dictator with nuclear weapons and which one has American troops can be difficult.

Maybe it’s time to make some notes on her palm?

Tonight’s Channel 4 News (Britain):

Today on Sky News (Britain):

New York Daily News poll:

😉

“damn obama!”

Eclectablog

Extracts:

I cannot believe this president and his Democratic “leaders”. This week brought it all home for me.

First, I get a statement this week from my credit card company. I could not believe what I saw. Look at these new account fees:

And check this out: The Late Payment fee will not exceed the total minimum payment that was due either.

Un-effing-believable! Damn that Obama! [Shakes fist at Obama]

Then, I’m renewing my health insurance through my employer and I come across this atrocity:

Can you believe it??? 26? For my son who is going to be a senior in college next year? He’s got allergies, a pre-existing condition. Sounds to me like they won’t be denying him coverage, goddamit!

For my daughter who is in graduate school? ….she’s a musician … that stupid Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act will make sure that she’s paid at an equal rate with the male musicians. Un-be-lieve-uh-BULL!

Un-effing-believable! Damn that Obama! [Shakes fist at Obama]

And then — THEN — the final indignity. It came during a company-wide meeting this week. Our company’s sales were up 48% over last year’s!!! And they’re up over 8% over 2008, the record year we had right before the economy tanked and we had our worst year ever in the history of the company! My company’s sales are about 75% automotive-related. The segment I’m in is related to the building industry and we’re up 300%! We’re actually hiring! We’re remodeling our headquarters. IN MICHIGAN!!!

Un-effing-believable! Damn that Obama! [Shakes fist at Obama]

I don’t know how much more of this utter fail I can take.

Read the complete masterpiece

happy thanksgiving, b&m

The song, ‘God damn you’re beautiful’, is by Chester See – you can see his own video here

And bless him, he’s an Obama supporter – when I first used his song in my (now deleted) YouTube account he left this comment: “I am Chester See and I approve this message.”

calamitous news for the gop: america is recovering

Politico: Wednesday’s unemployment data showing that applications for jobless benefits fell to their lowest level since July 2008, giving hope to a more solid economic recovery.

Bloomberg reports: Jobless claims declined by 34,000 to 407,000 in the week ended Nov. 20, Labor Department figures showed today. The total number of people receiving unemployment insurance decreased to the lowest in two years, and those on extended payments also fell. …

“The labor market is clearly improving,” said John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo Securities in North Carolina. “We’re seeing consistent job gains in the private sector. This suggests we’ll have a good holiday spending season.”

Reuters adds: The improving economic picture was also brightened by news that consumer sentiment perked up this month to its highest level since June…

“The economic recovery in the U.S. is becoming more sustainable, as the improvement in the labor market is finally supporting consumer spending,’ said Harm Bandholz, chief U.S. economist at UniCredit Research in New York.”