springtime – night owl chat

What a day. Time for some uplifting music.

Of course, Vivaldi

Springtime

President Obama statement on events in Boston

“Yes, we will find you.”

 

Chat Away

Remember: The Tsarnaev brothers do not represent the entire Caucasian community. There are many good, law abiding Caucasians in our country.

— Feodor Chin (@FeoChin) April 19, 2013

Wolf? Keep up.

CNN reporter: “They have him cornered right now!” Wolf Blitzer: “They have who cornered?” Wolf? Keep up.

— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) April 19, 2013

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Wolf Blitzer: “Something is going on, but I want to be precise – we don’t know what it is.” CNN’s new motto?

— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) April 19, 2013

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Chat away.

prayers for peace

The Prayer of Saint Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred … let me sow love
Where there is injury … pardon
Where there is doubt … faith
Where there is despair … hope
Where there is darkness … light
Where there is sadness … joy
Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled … as to console
To be understood … as to understand,
To be loved … as to love
For it is in giving … that we receive,
It is in pardoning … that we are pardoned,
It is in dying … that we are born to eternal life

Buddhist Prayer for Peace

May all beings everywhere plagued
with sufferings of body and mind
quickly be freed from their illnesses.
May those frightened cease to be afraid,
and may those bound be free.
May the powerless find power,
and may people think of befriending
one another.
May those who find themselves in trackless,
fearful wilderness—
the children, the age, the unprotected–
be guarded by beneficial celestials,
and may they swiftly attain Buddhahood

Muslim Prayer for Peace

In the name of Allah,
the beneficent, the merciful.
Praise be to the Lord of the
Universe who has created us and
made us into tribes and nations
That we may know each other, not that
we may despise each other.
If the enemy incline towards peace, do
thou also incline towards peace, and
trust God, for the Lord is the one that
heareth and knoweth all things.
And the servants of God,
Most gracious are those who walk on
the Earth in humility, and when we
address them, we say “PEACE.”

Jewish Prayer for Peace

May we see the day when war and bloodshed cease
when a great peace will embrace the whole world
Then nation shall not threaten nation
and humankind will not again know war.
For all who live on earth shall realize
we have not come into being to hate or destroy
We have come into being
to praise, to labour and to love.
Compassionate God, bless all the leaders of all nations
with the power of compassion.
Fulfill the promise conveyed in Scripture:
“I will bring peace to the land,
and you shall lie down and no one shall terrify you.
I will rid the land of vicious beasts
and it shall not be ravaged by war.”
Let love and justice flow like a mighty stream.
Let peace fill the earth as the waters fill the sea.
And let us say: Amen

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More prayers here.

This is your late afternoon open thread.

From Syria to Boston, with love

The_47th

Thank you LovelyPlains

Back in a while, chat away

This and That

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AP: Blocked by Congress from expanding gun sale background checks, President Barack Obama is turning to actions within his own power to keep people from buying a gun who are prohibited for mental health reasons.

Federal law bans certain mentally ill people from purchasing firearms, but not all states are providing data to stop the prohibited sales to the FBI’s background check system. A federal review last year found 17 states contributed fewer than 10 mental health records to the database, meaning many deemed by a judge to be a danger still could have access to guns.

The Obama administration was starting a process Friday aimed at removing barriers in health privacy laws that prevent some states from reporting information to the background check system…

More here

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In this photo provided by the Hern family, first lady Michelle Obama visits with Aaron Hern, his parents Alan and Katherine, and sister Abby, all of Martinez, Calif., at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, April 18. Aaron Hern, 11, was among those injured by one of the bomb blasts near the Boston Marathon finish line

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President Obama meets with Boston Athletic Association volunteers after attend the “Healing Our City: An Interfaith Service” at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross

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TPM: A teenager said he is scared to go outside after he was portrayed on the Internet and on the front page of the New York Post as connected to the deadly Boston Marathon bombings.

Photos of Salah Eddin Barhoum, 17, and friend Yassine Zaime were posted on websites whose users have been scouring marathon finish line photos for suspects. The two were also on the Post’s front Thursday with the headline: “Bag men: Feds seek these two pictured at Boston Marathon.”

More here

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A tremendous and painful amount of attention has been cast on our beloved Sunil Tripathi in the past twelve hours…. fb.me/QDwDVwjg

— Finding Sunny (@findingsunny) April 19, 2013

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Oh, the media……. “how do you feel about America?’

The poor man:

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Reuters: The Boy Scouts of America called to end a long-standing ban on openly gay members, a spokesman said on Friday, but the organization’s board must still vote in May on whether to ratify the resolution.

If the vote is approved, “no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone,” Deron Smith, the organization’s spokesman, told Reuters.

More here

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Don’t think I posted these two, apart from in the comments:

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More newsie stuff a little later

Rise and Shine: Toon Time

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Today:

The President has no scheduled public appearances

12:0: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney

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Keep Chattin’