egypt

President Barack Obama talks on the phone with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in the Oval Office, Jan. 28, 2011. Vice President Joe Biden listens at left, and the President’s National Security team confer in the background. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Text of statement here

BBC: Why Egypt Matters – If Egyptian unrest turns into an Egyptian revolution, the implications for the Arab world – and for Western policy in the Middle East – will be immense.

Egypt matters, in a way that tiny Tunisia – key catalyst that it has been in the current wave of protest – does not. It matters because its destiny affects, in a range of ways, not only Arab interests but Israeli, Iranian and Western interests, too.

Egypt, the most populous Arab state, can help determine the thrust of Arab policies – whether towards Israel or Iran or in the perennial quest for Arab consensus on issues that matter.

Above all, the Egyptian state has traditionally had a strength and solidity that made its collapse seem unthinkable.

Read the full piece here

President Barack Obama discusses the situation in Egypt with Vice President Joe Biden and the national security team during the Presidential Daily Briefing in the Oval Office, Jan. 28, 2011. Attending the briefing, clockwise from the President are: National Security Advisor Tom Donilon; Chief of Staff Bill Daley; Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communication Ben Rhodes; Tony Blinken, National Security Advisor to the Vice President; Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough; John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; and Robert Cardillo, Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Intelligence Integration. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

chuckle

motorcade mania (updated: the cameraman has posted a comment!)

‪Manitowoc‬,‪ Wisconsin‬, January 2011

😆

See the full video here

As the ‪Manitowoc‬ guy will tell you, the trick is to keep your camera steady:

😐

good morning, america

truly, these people are something else

KVOA: Those wishing to oust Sheriff Clarence Dupnik are taking action this afternoon. The Pima County Tea Party Patriots have organized a “Dump Dupnik Rally” at the Sheriff’s Office, claiming Dupnik is no longer fit to be sheriff after controversial statements he made surrounding the Tucson shootings.

Meanwhile, Dupnik supporters have also planned a rally at the Sheriff’s Office today. “People tend to poo poo this business about all the vitriol that we hear inflaming the American public by people who make a living off of doing that. That may be free speech, but it’s not without consequences,” Dupnik said during a news conference hours after the shootings at a Tucson Safeway on January 8th.

Tucson resident Mary Cuevas agrees with the Sheriff’s words. “I feel that he was coming straight from the heart and that it needed to be heard and that it was the perfect time actually for him to start this debate,” Cuevas said.

Cuevas says she is planning to come support Sheriff Dupnik peacefully and silently. “When I heard that the Tea Partiers were going to protest against Dupnik, and try to have him resign, I’m just against it,” Cuevas said.

Read full article here

There’s a ‘Support Sherriff Dupnik’ Facebook campaign here

And you can send a supportive message here (People for the American Way)

no turning back

Text of speech here

President Barack Obama addresses the Families USA 16th Annual Health Action Conference, in Washington, Friday, Jan. 28, 2011. Families USA is an consumer advocacy health care organization. At left is Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollack

White House video:

‘we do big things’

ooops, bad news for the gop (encouraging news for america)

Wall Street Journal: U.S. economic growth accelerated in the final three months of 2010 as Americans spent more, suggesting the recovery may pick up speed this year.

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of all the goods and services produced, rose at an inflation-adjusted annual rate of 3.2% in the fourth quarter…The increase takes total output to its highest level since the end of 2007, when the recession started.

Consumer spending, accounting for about 70% of demand in the U.S. economy, rose at a 4.4% rate in the fourth quarter. That’s the fastest pace since the start of 2006 and double the average rise in spending in the previous three quarters of 2010.

…For the first time in 2010, the economy also benefited from a trade surplus in October to December……Spending on durable goods like cars and furniture jumped by 21.6%, while spending for nondurable goods like food and clothing was up by 5.0%.

Full article here

Meanwhile….

MSNBC: Ford earned its largest profit in more than a decade in 2010, as demand for its cars and trucks rose and it benefited from years of restructuring. It was the company’s best performance since 1999 and the first time it has earned back-to-back annual profits in six years.

Ford earned $6.6 billion, or $1.66 per share. That’s more than double its 2009 profit of $2.7 billion… Ford’s U.S. sales jumped 20 percent last year — double the rate of the industry — as an improving economy spurred demand for the company’s F-Series pickups and other vehicles. Ford became the top-selling brand in the U.S. last year, beating out Chevrolet and Toyota for the first time since 2003.

Full article here