Music by Fredrika Stahl
As requested by Carol09:
See you tomorrow 😉
Archive for April 22nd, 2011
22
Apr
11
let’s move!
Thank you ‘P’ 😉
22
Apr
11
well, o…..kay
BBC: The forthcoming visit to Ireland by American President Barack Obama has transformed the appearance of a small Irish village. Moneygall in County Offaly is awash with paint, as the rural village prepares to welcome the most powerful man in the world in May.
…To ensure the presidential feet are made as comfortable as possible, the pavements are being dug up, re-laid and smoothed over. It is just one of many improvements being made. Houses on the main street are being cleaned with power-hoses. Gardens are being tidied, new flowers are being planted.
The air in Moneygall is filled with the smell of paint. It seems like every spare brush in County Offaly is being used. Every house is being made to look its best, in preparation for the visit, which is likely to take place on Monday 23 May. The decision by one family to paint their house with the colours of the American flag has not gone down well with some of their neighbours. “It looks a bit tacky,” said one woman, as she watched the street turn red, white and blue.
But, overall, the small rural community has pulled together. The parish rector, Canon Stephen Neill, said: “This has brought joy and excitement to the whole area. It’s something to celebrate in what have been very dark times in our country economically.”
Moneygall has already received an economic boost – 3,500 litres of free paint from Dulux to help with the make-over. The village has no bank, no cash point, no coffee shop and a population of less than 300 people. However, it does have two pubs, including Ollie Hayes’s bar in the middle of the main street. The pub is full of Obama memorabilia, including a life-size bust which has pride of place on the bar. Now, the man himself is likely to call in next month. “It’s something I never dreamt would happen in a small village like this,” said Mr Hayes, as he served a group of American tourists. “We’re going to enjoy every minute of this.”
Moneygall is in the heart of Ireland, about 90 minutes from Dublin, on the road to Limerick.
One of the villagers, Henry Healy, is the eighth cousin of Obama. He said: “At first it felt almost surreal but now it’s becoming very real. He’s coming to Moneygall, he’s coming to my home town and I’m hopeful reality will really kick in if I’m privileged to meet the man and shake his hand. You have to pinch yourself. I got a bit taken aback when I saw the CIA here two weeks ago. I can only imagine what my reaction will be when the man himself actually lands here in the village.”
22
Apr
11
next week
Monday: The President and the first family will host the White House Easter Egg Roll
Tuesday: President Obama will host the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates at the White House
Wednesday: The President and First Lady will record an interview with Oprah Winfrey in Chicago, where he will also attend a couple of fundraisers (the show is expected to air May 2, but the date has not yet been confirmed). Later in the day the President will travel to New York City to speak at two Democratic National Committee events
Thursday: The President will host another head of state, Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, at the White House
Friday: The President will welcome the BCS Championship team, the Auburn University Tigers, to the White House. The team and their coach will participate in a Let’s Move Youth Football clinic on the South Lawn. Later in the day the President and first family travel to Florida to view the space shuttle Endeavour launch. The Presidnent will also travel to Miami to speak at the commencement ceremony at Miami Dade College
Saturday: President Obama and the First Lady will attend the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner
May, 2010
Last year:
And 2009:
(The girl in the top photo is at 1:00)
22
Apr
11
greenwald’s guy
ThinkProgress: Following Barack Obama’s historic election in 2008, comedian Stephen Colbert declared that because our nation had just elected its first black president, “racism is over.” “We did it!” celebrated the comedian with a chyron reading “Racism: 1776-2008″.
Despite Colbert’s obvious satire, the “racism is over” meme has caught on with at least one Republican presidential candidate: former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson.
ThinkProgress spoke with Johnson at a stop in West Palm Beach, FL. During a question about the Fair Labor Standards Act, Johnson abruptly shifted gears and declared that because “we elected a black president,” this shows that “we are colorblind” and “we’re not a discriminate (sic) nation”:
Unfortunately, racism is far from a historical relic in our society. A poll this month found that nearly half of Republicans in Mississippi want to ban interracial marriage … even this week, a Republican official in southern California circulated an email depicting President Obama as an ape. And Johnson’s assertion that “we clearly have shown” we don’t discriminate would be news to the nation’s 2.5 million Muslims who learned last month that they would be unwelcome in a Herman Cain presidency.
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Out.com: One of (Glenn Greenwald’s) hopes for 2012 is that candidates will emerge to take on the red and the blue teams – he is keeping an eye on Gary Johnson, a two-term Republican governor of New Mexico….
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So, Johnson’s ignorance (if that’s what it is) of people’s continuing experience of racism (including, needless to say, the President) isn’t a problem for Greenwald? He’s still the guy he wants elected to the White House? Interesting. Most real progressives, you would imagine, would be offended by the comments. Johnson, though, is on the same side as Greenwald in his latest pet project (Bradley Manning), so that’s okay.
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Rooted Cosmopolitan: According to the 2002 edition of the Almanac of American Politics, as governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson cut taxes on the rich while cutting social services for the poor. He tried to pluck money out of public schools and funnel it in to private school vouchers. He vetoed a minimum wage bill. He signed in to law a late-term abortion ban. He won’t affirm a belief in global warming, and says even if it is happening that the effects are exaggerated and too much money is being wasted on it. And he vetoed a bill that would have continued the collective bargaining rights of public employees. That’s right, without the bluster but apparently to the same intended effect he did the same thing to public employees in New Mexico that Scott Walker did in Wisconsin.
Johnson also opposes child labour laws (see here)
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More at The Reid Report (here and here)
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Hmm, and still Greenwald is worshipped by the Professional Left? Wow.
22
Apr
11
homeward bound
President Barack Obama walks across the tarmac towards Air Force One before his departure from Los Angeles International airport, April 22
President Barack Obama boards Air Force One, reflected in one of its engine at left, at Los Angeles International Airport (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
The Obama Diary 
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