On This Day: President Obama hugs first lady Michelle Obama after speaking at a memorial service at McKale Center on the University of Arizona campus, Jan. 12, 2011, in Tucson, Ariz
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The Week Ahead:
Monday: The President will welcome the President of Spain, Mariano Rajoy Brey, to the White House
Tuesday: The President will hold a Cabinet meeting, and in the afternoon he will welcome the 2013 NBA Champion Miami Heat to the White House to honor the team on winning their second straight championship title
Wednesday: The President will travel to Raleigh, North Carolina, for an event on the economy
Thursday: The President and First Lady will host an event at the White House on expanding college opportunity
Friday: The President will make remarks about the outcome of the review that he has led on the issue of signal intelligence
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Even the taxi drivers in #Chicago were eager to learn how to #GetCovered. Erin takes #OFAction to deliver the info. http://t.co/EcvZSDiLSc
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OFA Illinois (@OFA_Illinois) January 12, 2014****
57% of Georgia voters favor Medicaid expansion: media.cmgdigital.com/shared/news/do…
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Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) January 11, 2014****
Name: Lindsey Carmichael
Occupation: Social services, Paraolympian
Why is having health care important to you?
If I didn’t have access to health care I couldn’t imagine what my life would be like. The health care technology we have today is a blessing. The idea that we’re not sharing that with as many people as possible is crazy to me.
How did it feel to learn about the new health care options available to you?
It made me feel relieved and a little bit more in control.
Getting covered means: a piece of mind to keep living my life.
More here
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@nycjim: What Chris Christie woke up to this morning.
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Media Matters: How The Media Marketed Chris Christie’s Straight Shooter Charade
He’s been relentlessly and adoringly depicted as some sort of Straight Shooter. He’s an authentic and bipartisan Every Man, a master communicator, and that rare politician who cuts through the stagecraft and delivers hard truths. Christie’s coverage has been a long-running, and rather extreme, case of personality trumping substance. The truth is Christie was never the Straight Shooter that political reporters and pundits made him out to be. Not even close, as I’ll detail below. Instead, the Straight Shooter story represented appealing fiction for the press. They tagged him as “authentic” and loved it when he got into yelling matches with voters.
In August of 2010, the state was shocked to discover it had narrowly missed out on $400 million worth of desperately needed education aid from the federal government because New Jersey’s application for the grant was flawed. Christie initially tried to blame the Obama administration but that claim was shown to be false. Christie’s own Education Commissioner then publicly blamed Christie for the failure to land the money. He insisted the governor, who famously feuds with the state’s teacher unions, had placed that political battle and his right-wing credentials ahead of securing the federal funds and that Christie had told him the “money was not worth it” to the state if it meant he had to cooperate with teachers. In November 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice inspector general found that while serving as U.S. attorney, Christie routinely billed taxpayers for luxury hotels on trips and failed to follow federal travel regulations.
More here
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Tone deaf much? @GovChristie took state chopper to Ft Lee so he wouldn't sit in traffic on his way to apologize to citizens stuck in traffic
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Paul Begala (@PaulBegala) January 09, 2014****
Chris Christie: "I am not a bully." #bridgegate
This is him yelling at a woman while his wife laughs. http://t.co/mP6iIUkIi8
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Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) January 09, 2014****
Martin Longman: Christie Showed His Stripes As U.S. Attorney
The dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy of 2007 has been largely forgotten, but it was a very big deal at the time. It resulted in the resignations of the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, the Acting Associate Attorney General, the chief of staff for the Attorney General, the chief of staff for the Deputy Attorney General, the Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, the former acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, and the Department of Justice’s White House Liaison. It was a total disaster for the Bush administration that was the natural result of a conspiracy to deliberately politicize the Justice Department. The U.S. Attorneys who were fired were fired for insufficient partisan zeal. In some cases, they refused to open meritless voter fraud cases. In other cases, they wouldn’t open meritless investigations on Democratic politicians. In still other cases, they were actually investigating lawbreaking by Republicans.
So, one of the takeaways from the scandal was that the U.S. Attorneys who weren’tdismissed were incredibly suspect. The attorneys who were found acceptable to the Bush administration were the ones who would launch phony investigations against innocent people and who would cover up criminal activity if is was carried out by Bush’s allies. Chris Christie was a U.S. Attorney who passed that test. He was considered sufficiently corrupt (or corruptible) to remain a U.S. Attorney in Alberto Gonzales’s (and Karl Rove’s) Justice Department.
More here
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Maybe don't drink bottle of water at press conf when you're at fault for 300,000 people not having any. #wvchemleak http://t.co/sSuYf0YjLI
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Rod Snyder (@RodSnyderWV) January 11, 2014****
PHOTOS: What it looks like when a massive chemical spill contaminates your water supply thkpr.gs/1dbq16P http://t.co/iPl3kcPDoA
ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) January 11, 2014
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Adario Strange: 5 Hospitalized After West Virginia Water Contamination Crisis
Five people have been hospitalized following a major water-contamination crisis in West Virginia, according to local news reports. Although the exact reasons for the hospitalizations have yet to be confirmed, local reports suggest that the patients’ symptoms could have been caused by chemical contamination of the water supply. Government officials in West Virginia declared a state of emergency on Thursday in nine counties due to water contamination that has impacted over 300,000 local residents. Due to the contaminated supply, residents in the affected areas have been unable to drink tap water or use it to bathe, cook or even wash clothes for several days.
The situation reached a critical point Thursday when residents of Kanawha County reported smelling a licorice smell in the air, which was traced back to a 35,000-gallon chemical storage tank based near the Elk River. Operated by Freedom Industries, the storage tank reportedly overflowed and eventually contaminated the water supply maintained by the West Virginia American Water Co. plant, according to CNN. Freedom Industries president Gary Southern held a televised press conference Friday during which he answered questions about the accident, while sipping a bottle of Aquafina water. “At this point, Freedom Industries is still working to determine the amount of 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol, or Crude MCHM, a chemical used in processing coal, that has been released, as the first priority was safety, containment and cleanup.”
More here
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BBC: BP Loses Bid Over Gulf Oil Payouts
BP has lost an appeal to cancel the terms of its multi-billion-dollar settlement with businesses over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster. A US federal appeals court on Saturday upheld the terms of the original 2012 settlement. The UK oil giant has supported compensation for businesses harmed by the disaster.
But it argued that the terms of the existing deal meant that some huge sums were being paid for false claims. In 2012, BP agreed to make payments to those who suffered economic losses as a result of the disaster aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which triggered the worst offshore oil spill in US history. The blast killed 11 workers and released an estimated four million barrels of oil into the gulf.
More here
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The Economist: He May Be Getting Somewhere, After All
FEW believed that John Kerry, the American secretary of state, would manage to haul the Israelis and Palestinians back into the negotiating room, let alone get them to discuss anything of substance. Yet six months since talks began, he may be able to present, within weeks, a “framework agreement”, after which final details must be hammered out. Diplomats who had mocked his dogged prophetic conviction now sound shocked by his progress. Rejectionists on both sides who quietly presumed that the process would collapse under its own weight now express alarm. Consternation and confusion are visible on the faces of some ministers in Binyamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government.
Mr Kerry’s methodical midwifery may be paying off. His team of 120, including four generals, has almost as great a command of detail as do the Israelis and Palestinians. He hugs the foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, a former firebrand who vilified Palestinians and was cordially detested by them in return, whereas his predecessor, Hillary Clinton, used to shun him. Mr Lieberman nowadays praises Mr Kerry for bringing peace closer than ever, and has turned the ten naysayers in his party’s parliamentary bloc into yes men. Yair Lapid, the finance minister, has come out strongly in favour, bringing onside his 19 parliamentarians, the second-biggest party in the 120-strong Knesset. Mr Kerry’s people have also courted the black-hatted Haredim, or ultra-Orthodox. All told, he has overseen a remarkable turnaround. After the election at the beginning of last year, a narrow majority in the Knesset would have shied from a negotiated two-state solution. Now, according to insiders, its members stand 85-35 or so in its favour.
More here
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Jonathan Chait: That Awkward Moment When Republicans Have To Hurt The Poor Before They Can Love Them
“Poverty,” reports the New York Times, “is suddenly the subject of bipartisan embrace.” Before poor people get too excited about this new development, some clarification may be in order. The parties are not embracing a shared program to alleviate poverty, nor even the goal of doing something at all about poverty anytime soon. There is merely shared agreement to discuss poverty as a subject. What hasn’t changed is the general shape of the Republican economic agenda in either the long run or the short run. Republicans agree that government takes too much from the rich and gives too much to the non-rich, and its domestic agenda is constructed largely as a corrective to what Republicans see as excessive redistribution.
Republicans also believe that nothing about the immediate labor market requires any changes to their general economic policies. (That is, they don’t believe high unemployment justifies temporarily relaxing their opposition to deficit spending or to worry less about coddling the unemployed.) The near-term agenda remains completely unaltered. Republicans remain unified in their desire to cut food stamps and end emergency unemployment benefits unless offset by other cuts to domestic spending. Nearly all support ongoing state-based campaigns to deny Medicaid coverage to uninsured people too poor to qualify for tax credits to buy private insurance.
More here
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Chris Geidner: Obama Administration To Recognize Utah Same-Sex Couples’ Marriages
The federal government will recognize the marriages of same-sex couples who married in Utah in recent weeks, the Justice Department announced Friday. Approximately 1,360 same-sex couples married between Dec. 20, 2013 — when U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby found the state’s ban on same-sex couples’ marriages to be unconstitutional — and this Monday, when the Supreme Court put new marriages of same-sex couples on hold pending the state’s appeal of Shelby’s ruling.
In a video released by the Justice Department on Friday, Attorney General Eric Holder announced, “I am confirming today that, for purposes of federal law, these marriages will be recognized as lawful and considered eligible for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages.” Specifically, he noted, “In the days ahead, we will continue to coordinate across the federal government to ensure the timely provision of every federal benefit to which Utah couples and couples throughout the country are entitled — regardless of whether they are in same-sex or opposite-sex marriages.”
More here
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On This Day:
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The Obama Diary 
Gm all
woo hoo – thanks UT – I was about to go to bed & just thought to say g’nite – so now I shall have to read R&S – it’s looking good 🙂
Congrats, 99ts! Read on. 😀
Look at you!!!!! 🙂
A gold star – I was ahead of VC and Ms Chips – make that 2 gold stars
I think VC is still asleep 99ts, we should club together and buy her an alarm clock 🙄
sigh – guess that means no gold star – but a cute clock you have there.
/nose in air/ F*Y*I, Chips O’Cheesy, by 10:31am I had finished making family breakfast, tidied up the kitchen (ahem) and was in the middle of finalizing supper preparations! It makes life easier when I do sign on for Sundays, if everything else is in place – no guilt feelings then. So there! /nose lowered to rightful position/
99ts! Hope you’re having a lovely day or evening down under!
Morning all.
Even seeing a picture of my President and Mrs Obama on an anniversary such as this, I am so glad that I can wake up with them as POTUS and FLOTUS.
Just fantastic UT, almost as brilliant as Manchester United yesterday. Thank you sooooooooo much Legend!!
8th!! That was my plan all along.
😆 Congrats on 8th, Derbingle!
That is an insult to my Rise and Shine. My Rise and Shine post is nothing like the losers, Manchester United.
My Rise and Shine does not carry the banner of loser and failure like Manchester United does.
My Rise and Shine is A+ and fantastic like the kick ass, greatest team ever, and champions, C-H-E-L-S-E-A.
Ugh, that’s a horrible table. Give it a few weeks, though, and 7th will be up to first. Ish..
WFT is going on with MHP and her damn near orgasm over Bill Clinton saying “I feel your pain.”
She was not in a “damn near orgasm.”
Actually, she was criticizing him for telling AIDS patients and activists that “I feel your pain” then going on to lambast them and telling them to hush up while he spoke. She was also criticizing him for being the, as she called it, “great incarcerator.”
The segment was about “empathy,” at least that’s what the title at the bottom of the screen said. MHP sometimes wear her emotions on her sleeve; I mean she did start balling last week over some nonsense about Mitt’s granddaughter. Maybe “orgasm” was a bit of hyperbole on my part, maybe I should have said “excited.” Nevertheless, your point is taken.
Great discussion on Christie from UT’s link
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/01/09/how-the-media-marketed-chris-christies-straight/197500
The media twerps just can’t help the tingling when it comes to GOP politicians
“”Chris Christie is someone who is magical in the way politicians can be magical.” Time’s Mark Halperin appearing on Meet The Press, November 10 2013. ”
Wonder if any one on meet the press will ask if Mark Halperin has the same views today. All the things mentioned in that article should have been talking points before Christie was re-elected but the dems were just too keen to support him. Be nice to know “why is this so”
https://twitter.com/amk4obama/status/422389611768213504
corrected
Excellent R&S, UT.
Congrats on 1st, 99ts.
Thank you, Africa.
Agree, Africa. UT’s R&Ss are fantastic.
Thanks!
Happy Sunday everyone. How about that John Kerry, eh? Impressive by the day.
Always late to the game, but just wondering if anyone read this yet. I think it is a great read. Shows Gates, Hillary and Petreaus chicanery toward PBO.
It’s going to take those three and more to outwit President Obama; the thing is President Obama seems to have taken to heart the old axiom that says “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”
PBO is methodical. No matter the number, he sees the game. I love him for that.
Sorry Africa, I just double posted about this. Did not see your post up here.
Apologies.
🙂 🙂 The more yes the better!! How are you doing Criquet?
GM TODable TODbots on this Sunny Sunday in my neck of the woods.
Can We try and stop aiding the GOPers in their obsession to talk about 2016? 2014 is the Real Year to obsess about.
The TBGOPers do NOT love the Clintons. They are setting a plan in motion to defeat Hillary Clinton should she run. TBGOPers play on the so called PROGRESSIVES Bleeding Liberal Hearts. Divide and Conquer is their games.
SoS Clinton supported the OBL raid and Gates I believe didn’t. Neither did VP Biden.
Let Us not always pile on on Dems no matter how We all may dislike or disagree of them.
Christie is in deep bat poop. Yet very little TBGOPers are on any Medium attacking his abusive behavior.
Last, POTUS picked Hillary Clinton…..for Good, Bad and Ugly. Hillary per POTUS did a good job. POTUS even asked Hillary to stay longer than she did.
As Doc Bobfr always Posts: Trust pres Obama. He Earned it.
Lets Focus on 2014 and Get more Wins for POTUS. 2016 will right itself.
Good point, Nena. I agree. We can’t take our eye off the 2014 ball for one minute. The war is now and it’s critical.
noted earlier – always interesting to see these and who they are supporting
SOME MILLIONAIRES IN CONGRESS ARE AGAINST EXTENDING
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE BENEFITS FOR STRUGGLING AMERICANS
1) Millionaires’ Club: For First Time, Most Lawmakers are Worth $1 Million-Plus
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2014/01/millionaires-club-for-first-time-most-lawmakers-are-worth-1-million-plus.html
2) 5 Reasons Congress Must Extend Unemployment Insurance
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/news/2014/01/10/81927/5-reasons-congress-must-extend-unemployment-insurance/
Henry!
Obama Puts Republicans On Notice That Obstruction Won’t Be Tolerated in 2014
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/01/11/obama-puts-republicans-notice-obstruction-wont-tolerated-2014.html
Awesomeness!!
OMG, thank you for bringing that here. I have never seen or heard of him. This really brings tears to my eyes. This man is amazing. These are such beautiful animals. All wild animals are here for a reason.
Good Morning Chips and everybody.
g’nite everyone – I’m sure your all having a much better day than Gov Christie – more likely 1000 times better – enjoy
Good West Coast morning Chipsticks, UT & TOD family.
Excellent article on SoS Kerry. Thanks UT!
Benghazi!!!
What has Benghazi got to do with what happen in New Jersey , this shows you how dam stupid the Republicans are.
Did President Obama plan, set up what happen in Benghazi to get back at some of his enemies? Once again Republicans shows that they are guided by their hatred of this President, more then by any common sense.
That simply shows how the TBGOPers drive how the News media allow their issues to affect the coverage. The TBGOPers are masters at DIVERSIONS, Manipulations and driving the News Cycle……this leaves the Nation on a perpetual political dysfunction that ONLY benefits the TBGOPers Power and deny the Nation the ability fix obvious problems facing our nation.
So, how are you guys today ? The correct answer is Benghazi…
What are you guys up to? Benghazi …
Are you guys holding down the Fort?
Benghazi!
I am so suck of Benghazi I could scream.
I know several more damning stories about what happened on GWs watch classified too, never told stories/ that would make your head spin… But Benghazi.
Ugh !
Petrified of Obama, Republicans Panick to Cover Up Their Hostility to the Poor
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2014/01/petrified-of-obama-republicans-panick.html
Re: He May Be Getting Somewhere After All from the Economist…..the phrase “Kerry’s methodical midwifery” stuck out to me.
Kerry and PBO are cut from the same cloth. Eye on the long term goal, patient behind the scenes work, constant mind-numbing attention to detail, and plugging, plugging, plugging. The article states that Kerry had to mend some fences left broken by HRC. I wonder how much more of this will come out.
Think what a thorn HRC could have been for PBO in the Senate, and how much undermining Menendez would have done as chair of Foreign Relations Committee.
Bob Gates is sure a mixed bag…….I see no consistency or principle in him. Both he and Hillary are long past their sell-by dates. They need to get off the stage. (mixed metaphor)
Very informative and important read:
”
The leaking to the news media of a politically damaging version of internal debate between the White House and the coalition pushing for a major escalation was nothing less than shot across the bow from Obama’s principal national security officials, including Petraeus, Mullen, Gates and Clinton. They were signaling to the President that he would incur a significant political cost if he rejected the McChrystal request.”
“Obama responded by insisting that his press secretary tell CBS News that the July 2011 withdrawal was “etched in stone.” After hearing about that Obama comment, Petraeus told Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, that was “a problem” and said, “You need to fix that,” according to Woodward. Petraeus added that he would let Gates and Clinton “deal with this one”. ”
Oh boy Hillary Clinton…..mmmm.
Let’s remember, the only time the Clintons ‘look’ progressive is when they’re campaigning. They are indistinguishable from Wall St. Republicans and hawks in actual deed.
I would sure prefer Biden or Kerry to Clinton next time around. Any chance Kerry would run again?
take heart, bt.
Trust you to cut the table so that United aren’t even visible.
Just wanted to reduce the pain. Out of sight, out of mind and all that.
LOLGOP @LOLGOP 23m
Has anyone asked Andrew Cuomo about the Christie bridge phone call that Christie claims never happened?
wow really interesting Africa. I should download that and scan products that I have right now in my house and see how I’m doing.
yeah, right. He is gonna so oblige them. foresight >>>> hindsight.
After Gates’ commercial for Hillary this morning (I admit I watched little of it, but I think my assessment is correct) and the Dem Hillary-backers’ in the Senate despicable pro-Iran war stance, here’s my take:
The Clintons are showing their low rent colors, again. They would scuttle John Kerry and PBO’s diplomacy so that Kerry’s tenure as SoS does not overshadow hers (sorry, Hillary – that ship has already sailed). They would, as they did in 2007-2008, hurt the nation if it would get them back in the WH.
The pro-perpetual war meme is so last century. That PBO was conflicted and weighed continuing war is another reason the history books will love this President. We haven’t had a President that serious about weighing America’s military exploits in over half a century. Any Democrat hearing Gates’ all-war-all-the-time b.s. thinks more of PBO than ever.
That being said, in those early days of the Obama administration, I cannot think of a single instance where bending over backwards to include Republicans helped him or the country in any way. They are turncoats at every turn.
I’m going to have a hard time voting for her. All those feelings I had in 2007 are coming to the forefront again. I’m ’57andfemale’ because I was so offended that Hillary thought if you were a woman of a ‘certain age’, there was no other candidate but her. I was, in 2007 ’57 and Female’ and knew that Barack Obama was a far better man and would make a far better President than Hillary could ever be and Hillary Clinton did not own my vote.
Hillary supporter loses it…..
I have always maintained that if the Clintons had not fostered this type of behavior, GOP would never have been emboldened to treat PBO the way he has been treated with such unprecedented obstruction and disrespect. It was the Clintons that opened that door – the GOP said at the time they had no idea how to run against this guy. It was the Clintons, their barely veiled racism and the kind of attacks we had never seen between Democrats on the national stage that directly led to the outrageous treatment of this President.
Bill Clinton ushered in the financial crisis of 2008. Bill Clinton allowed the media consolidation that led to RW dominance. DADT, DOMA. Many of our current problems were the result of the Clintons. And they’re starting it all over again: if Bill Clinton couldn’t usher in peace in the Middle East then they’ll corral their minions to see to it that John Kerry and PBO aren’t allowed to do so. They are miserable people. Yes, I’ll vote for any Democrat but, after defending them so strongly through impeachment, etc., I have come to dislike them intensely.
It would be so nice if they didn’t so easily crawl back into the gutter. But here we are……
“I have always maintained that if the Clintons had not fostered this type of behavior, GOP would never have been emboldened to treat PBO the way he has been treated with such unprecedented obstruction and disrespect.” Yes. Yes.
My personal belief, also. The Clintons introduced most of the ugliness we see GOP using to insult, deride and disrespect PBO.
i agree with this completely.
as do I…
Gates and Hillary and Petraeus were all in cahoots on the Afghanistan debate. All right here: http://consortiumnews.com/2014/01/10/gaming-obama-on-afghan-war/
2014 & 2016 will turn out to the two most important moments in american history. Let’s see which way the worm turns.
And I’m scared to death, amk. I have lost a lot of faith in my country I’m afraid.
I still have hope, The recent VA election results, the #ObamaCare sign-up rates in some of deep red states, the steady popularity and approval rating of PBO, signs of economy getting better etc. will play in favour of dems.
I’m always hopeful. Just wary.
thanks for the background on your name choice– it’s a powerful statement.
‘I cannot think of a single instance where bending over backwards to include Republicans helped him’
Personally I think PBO’s accommodating actions in the early part of his tenure helped tremendously in showing (intelligent/thinking) voters that he a) was sincere in his willingness to reach out, b) tried repeatedly to be bipartisan. I think one very important offshoot of this was that he then had clear mastery of the moral high ground, and I believe that influenced reasonable independents and borderline Dems who might have been dithering.
Where is Dudette
Where is zizi?
I miss seeing them around or are they not here when I am?
Not sure about Dudette but zizi sent me a message during the holidays telling me she was traveling and wasn’t always able to get a good connection. I’m thinking Zizi might be out of the country.
Thanks, Donna. 🙂 🙂
Pope Francis is to appoint 19 new cardinals next month, including churchmen from Haiti and Burkina Faso, reflecting his commitment to the poor.
Cardinals, who wear red hats and robes, are the most senior clergymen in the Roman Catholic Church below the Pope.
Sixteen of the new appointees are under 80, making them eligible to enter a conclave to elect the Pope’s successor.
The new cardinals will be formally instated at a ceremony, known as a consistory, on 22 February.
Again, I am not Catholic, but I like this Pope. Like Latin America, Africa has a large Catholic population. I went to Catholic school back home.
yah. and then did you hear about the dude who owns Home Depot having a cow because Pope Francis was talking about the divide between rich and poor? I’m really impressed by this man’s commitment to the downtrodden and destitute. He seems like the Real Deal.
Morning, Utal! I have to say I started with the Economist article and spent a few seconds trying to figure out what ‘FEW’ stood for before continuing the sentence. 🙄 Acronyms will be the ‘death’ of me. 😀 😀
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Morning, TODobots and friends! It’s a beautiful day in the neighbourhood, I hope.
GMvc.
Hel-lo! 😀 Are you speaking to me now?
we weren’t before???
Aydontkno – You haven’t said a word to me in ages! I’ve been so shattered. 😀
ships that cross in the night? you should have hollered.
foghorn wasn’t working.
cold?
/ducks and runs
FTR (just so you know) I’ve been target practicing with snowballs and my speed of delivery is improving.
And I have been dodging all my life. Good luck and gunnite.
/see?
Good night, and sweet dreams (of being chased by snowballs). SPLAT!!! ….in the middle of the back of your head!! 😀
atchooo. that’ll be 1000 bucks, please.
Huh? You expect me to pay for your cold medicine? You are such an opportunist! 🙄
snowball in the middle of the back of your head !!! => atchooo => 1000 bucks
I got the weak link you were trying to make the first time! You still sleeping? Dream on!
Also, too, why are you talking all the way back here? *I* should charge *you* for forcing me to walk back all this way! Geez.
walking is a good exercise for all. free tip.
I refuse to move forward.
Good morning vc! It’s a beautiful day in southern Calif for sure 🙂
/mumbling…somewhat subdued/ For sure.
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Oh, Good west coast Morning, GGail.
Morning vc!
How’s offspring? Busy with school?
Just stepped in from church. Not so/too busy in my opinion!
Good morning all TODbots. What a great R&S!!! I do remember the US Attorney fiasco. I have always been aware politically but after all that went on in the Bush years I really became more aware. It is good seeing some journalists starting to do their job.
We have one of those fired U.S. Attorneys as a partner in the law firm I work for. Interestingly, he was appointed by GWB and fired by GWB.
Speaking of “missing” TODable TODers, where is LP? Has he piped in since FSU defeated ‘Bama?
Dudette has been gone an awful long time. Her Musical DJing at TOD has severely been missed.
Zizi2 ‘s commentaries are missed.
Jovie is back. HNY.
A friend just shared this video with me this morning. It is easy for all to understand.
Just finished reading Early Bird and I want to say “Happy Birthday to a4Alice and hopes her day is filled with smiles and love.
thankee GGail! 😉
WH just announcing that Iran will begin destroying nuclear stockpiles Jan. 20, per msnbc.
I love the fact that while MSM is Christie focused, O-Admin continue with the businessES of the day!
This one was dated Jan. 8 (last Wednesday)
Please proceed Senators Menendez and Booker, the floor is yours.
I know, eh Don? No rush. Give them space and time to show their true colours. Full disclosure – I am quite skeptical re Booker, but I’ll patiently let him ‘proceed’. I’se got time, I think. 😀
I was never conflicted about Hillary or Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton’s problem was that he actually thought he was the “first black president” as some in the AA community labeled him at the time. Bill Clinton had the CBC and other black leaders in his pocket when he was president and he used them to full effect, I’m not saying that Bill didn’t respect them; I’m just saying that he knew their vote would always be there no matter what. Whatever trouble Bill found himself in he knew that parts of the AA community would almost blindly take his side, that’s why when the Monica Lewinsky situation happened you had some in the AA community running over each other trying to get to the Whitehouse to pray for Bill.
So when 2007 comes around and this skinny black guy shows up, people are saying to themselves does this guy know that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic choice for the Presidency. Barack Obama so called fault was that he didn’t tow the party line and he didn’t show deference to the king-makers, in other words he didn’t kiss their asses properly. That’s why even today President Obama still doesn’t have the support of those that have in the past supported Bill Clinton without fail, and continue to support him even while he goes around undermining President Obama’s work. Both Bill and Hillary should be the first to champion President Obama’s achievements as it relates to healthcare, DOMA and DADT. But they can’t and they won’t, because doing so would be an acknowledgment that Barack Obama was and is a better President than Bill Clinton.
So now Bob Gates comes out with his memoir bashing President Obama and Vice President Biden, not the administration mind you, but Pres. Obama and V.P. Biden specifically. And who is spared, Hillary Clinton that’s who. Gates would have come out looking a letter better if he went in on the administration and not the surgical strike that he did. I almost want Gates to be Barack Obama’s official biographer mainly because he shows President Obama to be a man rushing to get out of a war that he doesn’t trust his generals to give him a true accounting of, and a man that has made the right decision every time a decision had to be made. Hillary on the other hand comes out looking like a warmonger and a part of a plot to undermine the President.
Please Bob, don’t stop talking.
This trusting the military people in charge attitude has permeated politics in recent years. Eisenhower warned us about letting the military complex become too strong. The trust meme enables the military complex as do the Clintons. JFK learned to distrust the advice given him from the military after listening to them with disastrous results. I am pleased to see PBO and our VP were always skeptical and did not just accept their views. I am disheartened to see that HRC took the side of the military actively trying to undermine PBO.
in the end, the truth will prevail
Good Afternoon TOD!
Today’s Sunday menu is:
Homemade pepperoni and sausage pizzas (my husband’s pie crust is to die for)
Homemade Chicken and Vegetable soup
Lemon meringue pie for dessert
All are invited.
Sounds good!
gunnite folks.
So Tomorrow, VP Biden is off to attend Ariel Sharon’s Funeral in Israel. Tony Blair of UK is too.
New post.
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/01/12/diplomacy-it-works/
Pres. Obama: Iran to implement nuclear agreement beginning Jan. 20; warns he will veto any legislation enacting new sanctions on Iran.
@PresidentJarba >> The official Twitter account of Ahmed Jarba, the President of the Syrian Opposition Coalition
https://twitter.com/PresidentJarba/status/422406043537129473