Thank you Tulips – in time I will be able to clean all the cranberry juice from my monitor đ
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One more push – the deadline is midnight tonight:
Please vote for the kids at Desertflowerâs school in the Pepsi Challenge (see todayâs Rise and Shine post for more info).
You can do so either online or by text:
Go to the RefreshEverything website â registering takes two minutes, just type âdesert shadowsâ in the search box and the school will come up. Then vote!
President Obama arrives at John F. Kennedy International Airport
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President Obama’s limousine is seen under a tent outside a private residence as he speaks at a campaign event in New York
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Another gentle reminder:
Please vote for the kids at Desertflowerâs school â the deadline is midnight tonight (see today’s Rise and Shine post for more info).
You can do so either online or by text:
Go to the RefreshEverything website â registering takes two minutes, just type âdesert shadowsâ in the search box and the school will come up. Then vote!
Or, Text 73774and type in the message code 109320.
Charles Pierce: It is gradually dawning on people that Newt Gingrich is not the flavor-of-the-month/week/day/hour, and is very likely going to be the Other Guy for as long as there is a contest for the Republican nomination. It’s certainly becoming clear to Willard Romney, who yesterday got pissy with a Fox News anchor and lapsed into that unattractive part of his personality that can best be described as his Flog-the-Scrimey-Help modeâŚ. Willard, you’ve got a problem.
If Newt Gingrich really thinks he can win, then Newt Gingrich will do absolutely anything to accomplish that. He has no conscience in these matters, and he has no soul to speak of. He believes that the rules governing ordinary mortals in matters like public prevarication and gross public deceit do not apply to himâŚ.
⌠This is no longer a campaign. It is Newt Gingrich’s last chance to define himself in history as the grandiose figure he sees when he looks in the mirror ⌠If anyone thinks he’s likely to abandon that great quest just because he’s fundamentally unprincipled, and because the image itself is a tinpot fraud, they’re fooling themselvesâŚ.
Osborneink: The Occupation movement has a large contingent – not quite half – that is passionately opposed to endorsing the president of the United States for reelection …. this portion has managed to make the president into a source of division within the broader progressive movement. The Occupation was supposed to break our silos, but we are still talking past one another and thatâs got to stop.
Youâve probably heard by now that black Americans are not taking part in the OccupationâŚ.
âŚ. I canât help thinking back to Jane Hamsher, whose participation in the XL Keystone protests actually hurt their credibility in the African American âsphere. Iâm also reminded of how John Lewis got shunned in Atlanta, giving that cityâs mayor room to deny the Occupation legitimacy. Puritan gatekeeping gets you nothing.
Joan Walsh and Glenn Greenwald and David Sirota, et al – what Iâve come to call the Salonites – donât seem to understand the topic of race privilege, much less class. Recognition that race is a cultural construct does not blunt the cumulative effect of constant attacks on the character and intelligence of the first African American president.
Put simply, the Bill Maher – Michael Moore set has alienated a huge Democratic demographic…..
First Lady Michelle Obama meets with members of the board of Partnership for a Healthier America, an organization working to end childhood obesity, at the Omni Hotel in Washington, D.C., Nov. 30, 2011. Mrs. Obama later delivered the keynote address at the PHAâs inaugural Building a Healthier Future Summit. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
President Obama waves as he boards Air Force One before leaving Scranton International Airport
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A gentle reminder:
Please vote for the kids at Desertflowerâs school – the deadline is midnight tonight (see post below for more info).
You can do so either online or by text:
Go to the RefreshEverything website â registering takes two minutes, just type âdesert shadowsâ in the search box and the school will come up. Then vote!
Or, Text 73774and type in the message code 109320.
The kids at Desertflower’s school are trying to raise money for a new sound system. If the school can get in the top 15 of a challenge Pepsi are running, then the sound system will be paid for by Pepsi. They are currently at 19.
The challenge ends at midnight tonight – so please vote for Desertflower’s school!
You can do so either online or by text:
Go to the RefreshEverything website – registering takes two minutes, just type âdesert shadowsâ in the search box and the school will come up. Then vote!
Or, Text 73774 and type in the message code 109320.
Desertflower: “I hope everyone will take a minute to push for this for these great kids ⌠they all work too hard NOT to be heard. They have a voice too đ Thanks family.”
Marketwatch: Growth in private-sector payrolls sharply accelerated in November, led by the service-producing sector and small businesses, according to the ADP employment report released Wednesday.
Employment in the private sector rose by 206,000 jobs in November – the largest gain since last December and almost twice the average increase in recent months. The October level was revised up to 130,000 from a prior estimate of 110,000.
⌠While economists have noted a divergence between estimates from ADP and the government, markets look to ADPâs report on private-sector payrolls to provide some guidance on the U.S. Labor Departmentâs jobs estimate, which will be released Friday and includes information on both private- and public-sector payrolls.
11:30 Michelle Obama delivers the keynote address at Partnership for a Healthier Americaâs inaugural Building a Healthier Future summit
12:30 Michelle Obama welcomes military families to the White House for the first viewing of the 2011 holiday decorations
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Two more Reuters Photos of the Year:
âŚ. visiting the Lincoln Memorial, April 9
Moneygall, May 2011
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Ooops:
Reuters: Herman Cain had almost daily contact this month with the woman who says she had a 13-year extramarital affair with him, even as he battled sexual harassment allegations from other women, ABC News reported on Wednesday.
Reuters: Hillary Clinton became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Myanmar in more than 50 years Wednesday, launching an historic mission to press the reclusive country’s new leaders to sever illicit contacts with North Korea and deliver on reforms.
âŚ. The visit, announced by President Barack Obama at a regional summit in earlier this month, could also open a new arena of U.S. competition with China, which has watched warily as Washington courts its resource-rich southern neighbor as part of a broader policy of increasing U.S. engagement in Asia.
The Obama Diary 
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