23
Feb
14

Rise and Shine

By Nerdy Wonka 125 Comments
Categories: All Photos, Articles and Michelle Obama
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

President Obama greets audience members after delivering remarks on the economy at the University of Miami Field House in Coral Gables, Fla., Feb. 23, 2012 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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The Week Ahead:

Sunday: In the evening, the President and First Lady will host the Governors in town for the winter meeting for a dinner at the White House.

Monday: The President will meet with the National Governors Association.

Tuesday: The President will hold an event on the economy at the White House. In the evening, he will attend an OFA event in Washington DC.

Wednesday: The President will travel to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area for an event on the economy.

Thursday: The President will host an event on his ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ initiative.

Friday: The President will attend a DNC event in Washington.

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Kathleen O’Brien: Obamacare In NJ: Four Out Of Five Enrollees Have Paid Their Premiums

At least three-quarters of the New Jerseyans who have selected health insurance through the federal marketplace website have followed through by paying their first month’s premium, according to the three companies selling the policies. The state’s rate of paying customers is in line with figures reported across the nation. The figures are seen by some as an important barometer of success in the opening months of coverage.

In New Jersey, an early reading shows the percentage of those who have paid ranges from 75 percent to 90 percent.m”To date, more than 80 percent of enrollees from the federal marketplace have paid their first month’s premiums, said Thomas Vincz, spokesman for Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. “We expect that number to increase in coming weeks.”

More here

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NYT: What The Stimulus Accomplished

Of all the myths and falsehoods that Republicans have spread about President Obama, the most pernicious and long-lasting is that the $832 billion stimulus package did not work. Since 2009, Republican lawmakers have inextricably linked the words “failed” and “stimulus,” and last week, five years after passage of the Recovery Act, they dusted off their old playbook again. it prevented a second recession that could have turned into a depression.

It created or saved an average of 1.6 million jobs a year for four years. (There are the jobs, Mr. Boehner.) It raised the nation’s economic output by 2 to 3 percent from 2009 to 2011. It prevented a significant increase in poverty — without it, 5.3 million additional people would have become poor in 2010. Government spending worked, helping millions of people who never realized it. And it can work again, whenever lawmakers agree that putting people to work is more important than winning ideological fights.

More here

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Leonard Pitts Jr.: White Fear Trumps Black Life

“You can get killed just for living in your American skin.” — Bruce Springsteen. On Aug. 7, 1930, two young black men were lynched in Marion, Ind. A photographer named Lawrence Beitler had a studio across the street from the lynching tree. He came out and snapped what became an iconic photo, which he made into a postcard and sold. It shows Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith hanging dead and their executioners, faces clearly visible, milling about as if at a picnic. Though authorities possessed this damning photographic evidence, they never arrested anyone for the crime. It was officially attributed to “persons unknown.”

This was not a unique thing. To the contrary, it happened thousands of times. And African-Americans carry this knowledge deep, carry it in blood and sinew, the understanding that the justice system has betrayed us often, smashed our hopes often, denied the value of our lives, often. This knowledge lent a certain tension and poignancy to the wait for a verdict in the Jordan Davis trial last week. Mr. Davis was the black kid shot dead by a white man, Michael Dunn. A guilty verdict would seem to have been a foregone conclusion. It wasn’t. Indeed, the verdict was mystifying.

Mr. Dunn was found guilty on three counts of attempted murder — meaning the three other young men in the SUV with Mr. Davis — but the jury deadlocked on the murder charge. It makes no sense: If Mr. Dunn is guilty of the three charges, how can he not be guilty of the fourth? The jury’s inability to hold him accountable for Mr. Davis’ death only validates African-Americans’ grimmest misgivings about the “just us” system. Brittney Cooper, an assistant professor at Rutgers University, put it as follows on Twitter: “This is not just about jail time. This is about whether white fear legally means more than black life.”

More here

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Catherine Thompson: Federal Court Rules Against Notre Dame’s Birth Control Appeal

A federal court ruled against the University of Notre Dame on Friday in a lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act’s birth control mandate, the Associated Press reported. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago upheld a federal judge’s previous ruling that denied Notre Dame’s request for an injunction to prevent it from complying with the birth control mandate. The court noted in its decision that Notre Dame already notified the administrator of its employee plan as well as the insurer for students that the university would not pay for contraception coverage.

More here

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Chicago Tribune: Chicago Wins Bid For $320 Million Manufacturing Hub

Chicago will be the site of a digital manufacturing institute backed by $70 million in government money and another $250 million of private funding, giving the city, once a factory town, a better chance to re-establish its credentials as a modern maker of things. The decision, to be announced officially Tuesday by President Barack Obama, was hotly anticipated by city and state officials who recognized the opportunity to jump start high-tech manufacturing as a core component of Chicago’s economic vision. The city today, while still home to some manufacturing, is better known for its financial markets and convention business. The idea behind the institute is that manufacturing is being transformed by digital design, which replaces the draftsman’s table with the capacity to work and create in a virtual environment.

The city envisions the institute would focus on such projects as the faster and cheaper production of a next-generation aircraft engine; drastically reducing the amount of scrap material associated with small manufacturing runs; and speeding the design process among spread-out suppliers. “This is clearly, without a doubt, one of the most significant things to secure Chicago’s long-term economic future,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a Saturday interview. “It is the best insurance policy you can buy, which is major research capacity.” The $70 million grant will come from the Defense Department. Obama will officially announce the Chicago hub on Tuesday at the White House. The manufacturing initiative follows Obama’s new playbook for dealing with an oppositional Congress unlikely to enact any part of his economic vision. The announcement also delivers on the President’s pledge in his 2013 State of the Union address to set up three new manufacturing institutes from existing government programs.

In the spring of last year, the administration launched the competition. In addition to Chicago’s “Digital Manufacturing and Design Institute,” Obama will announce that Detroit has won an institute of its own focused on lightweight and modern metals manufacturing. The administration set up a pilot site in Youngstown, Ohio, in 2012, and a few weeks ago announced a new institute in Raleigh, N.C. Obama has also pledged to launch four more competitions for new institutes in the coming year in hopes of setting eight institutes in motion without any action by Congress. But Obama’s broader plan is to spur Congress to support the concept. His blueprint calls for a full national network of up to 45 institutes funded in part with new resources approved by lawmakers.

More here

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Adam Searing: How NC (Surprisingly) Became A Leader In ACA Enrollment

While North Carolina has refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and many politicians continue to complain about the federal health exchange, the roll-out of Obamacare in N.C. tells a far more positive story. North Carolina is enrolling uninsured people at a rate at least twice that of any other state that has refused to set up its own health exchange and refused to expand Medicaid. In short, among states that are dragging their feet on the Affordable Care Act – no advertising campaigns, no speeches by the governor on how important it is for everyone to have access to health care, no Medicaid expansion that guarantees the lowest income workers coverage – North Carolina is by far leading the pack in private plan enrollment. Even with the federal health exchange’s shaky start, N.C. has already enrolled 107,778 uninsured people in private health plans.  So what’s going on?

There are several answers. Our success starts with North Carolina’s excellent Medicaid managed-care program, Community Care of North Carolina. Even though Gov. Pat McCrory and legislative leaders declined the federal opportunity to expand Medicaid, N.C. Community Care has provided a natural framework to enroll uninsured people in private health plans. Under Community Care, local doctors, hospitals, health centers, health departments, social service offices, legal service providers and other community leaders have been quietly working together every day, every month and every year for a decade to help people access and use health care. Because of this, North Carolina’s Medicaid program is already a huge success both in delivering great care and containing costs. So, when the Affordable Care Act’s health exchange opened for business, there were already networks with proven records of success in helping people get health care. These organizations jumped right in to the enrollment effort because they work with uninsured families every day and know what a huge benefit this is.

More here

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The Globe And Mail: How Putin’s Sochi Dream Was Shattered By Ukraine’s Nightmare

Vladimir Putin has a dream – and for the past two weeks, the world has been helping him to live it. In this dream, Russia is rich again, a place where the reported $51-billion cost of the Winter Olympics in Sochi is no object. It’s a nation of impressive architecture and smiling volunteers who speak English but think like Russians. “Russia – Great, New, Open!” brag the billboards around the Olympic city. (“Open”? Sochi has high fences, surveillance balloons and warships off the coast; every phone call and e-mail is monitored.) Mr. Putin sees a Russia that is once more a global centre of gravity, indispensable on the world stage. Soon, if his plans come to fruition, Moscow will stand as the leader of a new bloc of nations – the Eurasian Union – with borders that look a lot like those of the Soviet empire, whose fall he has openly mourned.

Vladimir Putin also has a nightmare. And this week, it looked a lot like the burning heart of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital where tens of thousands of protesters battled police to bring down their Kremlin-backed, authoritarian government. Dozens died before a tentative truce Friday interrupted the hostilities, but anger remains so high that there is no guarantee it will hold. It’s not just that Mr. Putin fears the fall of President Viktor Yanukovych and the rise of a pro-Western government in Kiev, although that would be a heavy geopolitical blow. He needs Ukraine to take part if his Eurasian Union – currently set to launch next year with only Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Belarus as members – is to look like anything more than a tiny dictators’ club.

More here

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Venezuela Protests

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AP: Venezuelan Government Cuts Internet Access, Blocks Websites In War Against Student Protesters

The battle for Venezuela is being fought as vigorously online as in the streets, with authorities cutting off the Internet to a clash-torn university city and blocking selected websites and a “walkie-talkie” service widely used by protesters. A local TV reporter in San Cristobal, capital of the western border state of Tachira, said Thursday night that she could hear gunshots as teargas-firing police broke up protests just as they had the night before when Internet service was cut. “We’re still without Internet. And some people don’t have water or electricity either,” said the reporter, Beatriz Font. San Cristobal, home to one private and three public universities, is where the current wave of anti-government demonstrations began on Feb. 2, the fiercest unrest since President Hugo Chavez died last March began.

Later Thursday, the U.S. company Zello told The Associated Press that Venezuela’s state-run telecoms company, CANTV, had just blocked access to the push-to-talk “walkie-talkie” app for smart phones and computers that has been a hugely popular organizing tool for protesters from Egypt to Ukraine. Zello supports up to 600 users on a single channel, and company CEO Bill Moore said it became the No. 1 app in Ukraine on Thursday for both the iOS and Android operating systems. In one day this week, Zello reported more than 150,000 downloads in Venezuela. Some believe Venezuela’s information war, which escalated last week as the government blocked images on Twitter after violence in Caracas claimed three lives, is only just beginning. The protesters are fed up with a catalogue of woes that include rampant inflation, food shortages and one of the world’s highest murder rates.

More here

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Douglas Alexander: This Crisis Is About What’s Best For Ukraine, Not Russia

If a week is a long time in British politics, 24 hours has proven to be a long time in this Ukrainian political crisis. The priority must be to prevent further killing, and all sides must play their part in achieving this. The Ukrainian government has in recent months routinely ignored the democratic aspirations of the Ukrainian people. So it will take time for trust to be rebuilt across Ukrainian society and it will be hard for that progress to be made even after this crisis ends. That is why it is so important that the EU should continue to support Ukraine as the turmoil in Kiev continues. We must remember that this crisis began in November, when President Yanukovych walked away from an agreement with Europe that would have granted Ukraine access to the EU’s single market.

The UK government has had a noticeably low profile as the crisis unfolded. But we must recognise that the number of people killed in Ukraine last week is a tragic expression of the gravity of the crisis. The streets of Kiev have revealed a geopolitical fault line between Russia and the West. President Obama was right to say that Ukraine can no longer be seen as part of a “Cold War chess board”. More than 20 years after the Berlin Wall fell we should not see a new era of 20th-century satellite states take hold on the 21st-century European continent. President Putin is known for his zero-sum approach to foreign affairs – but what happens in Ukraine cannot just be about judging what makes sense for Russia. It must be about what works for the people of Ukraine.

More here

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Gunner Goz: Out Of Hell, A New Hope For A Proud People

Like many of you, our friends, my wife and I have been literally rooted to our chairs as we watched events in our beloved Ukraine roll out, ever since those terrible days in Kyiv last November when Ukrainians began to die because of the brutality of Yanukovych’s Berkut. Since then, many, many more innocents have sacrificed themselves to protest injustice, tryanny and corruption. Ukrainians have been incredibly brave throughout all this. They have withstood freezing cold, Militia attacks, titushki beatings, kidnappings, torture, murder, Berkut Molotov cocktails and finally, an ultimate horror, the cold-blooded, merciless snipers of their own government’s security forces

One little known fact most Americans are not aware of is that Ukraine’s 40 million citizens legally possess more than 2 million private firearms: 400,000 of them are in Kyiv alone. And yet, even in the face of murderous provocation and killings by the police and Berkut, very few of those privately owned firearms were ever raised in anger, even against their tormentors: the ratio of citizens killed to police casualties was over 10 to 1. It tells us that Ukrainians are a people possessing extraordinary restraint and respect for life, because if every private gun in Ukraine had been fired in anger, the dead would be in the many thousands by now.

More here

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On This Day:

President Obama meets with actor George Clooney in the Oval Office, Feb. 23, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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President Obama listens to staff during a meeting in the Oval Office, Feb. 23, 2010 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden discuss the Military Families Campaign with spouses of U.S. military leadership in the Map Room of the White House, Feb. 23, 2011 (Photo by Samantha Appleton)

President Obama poses for a photograph with Ambassador Jacinth Lorna Henry-Martin of St. Kitts and Nevis during an ambassador credentialing ceremony in the Oval Office, Feb. 23, 2011. Chief of Protocol Capricia Marshall and members of Henry-Martin’s family watch from the edge of the room (Photo by Pete Souza)

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First Lady Michelle Obama views the Slave Pen exhibit while touring the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 23, 2012. Pictured, from left, are: Dina Bailey, Associate Curator of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center; Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory; Verna Williams; and Allison Singleton (Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)

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125 Responses to “Rise and Shine”

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  1. 1 Nerdy Wonka
    February 23, 2014 at 10:29 am

    REMINDER: Vote for Meta’s Pastry Studio. Tell your family, friends, friends of friends, frenemies, sex buddies, exercise buddies, blah…blah…blah. Just Vote! 😀

    http://www.thekitchn.com/nominate-for-your-favorite-sweets-baking-cooking-blog-for-the-homies-awards-the-homies-2014-200246

  2. 11 desertflower
    February 23, 2014 at 10:31 am

    GM! TOD is all you need to know what’s REALLY going on in the world…Thanks, NW:)

  3. 15 Nerdy Wonka
    February 23, 2014 at 10:31 am

    • 16 Obama Grandmama
      February 23, 2014 at 12:06 pm

      If you have not, by all means read The New, New Deal by Michael Grunwald. It does an excellent job of explaining how the stimulus met a lot of PBO’s objectives, the under the radar facts.

  4. 18 Ladyhawke
    February 23, 2014 at 10:31 am

    LOOKING FORWARD TO “THE REID REPORT” STARTING 2/24 at 2:00 p.m. (MSNBC)

    Joy Reid is subbing for Melissa Harris Perry this morning and they are having a spirited discussion about the need for the $10.10 minimum wage increase. Republican Avik Roy made it seem like the wage increase would mainly be impacting teenagers. Ha! Joy challenged him and corrected him on the spot. I will post the segment as soon as it is available. Joy is a breath of fresh air. She does her homework and she has the facts at her fingertips.

  5. 20 mtmarilyn
    February 23, 2014 at 10:39 am

    Just after I posted the R&S arrived, so I brought my post over. Now I will go back and read NW’s wonderful R&S. Good morning everyone.

    Good morning TODville. I love looking at those strong beautiful hands. We are in good hands!!!

    We are in the middle of a big 2 day storm. It is 19 and the wind is blowing so the wind chill is 5. We are expecting 12″ – 24″. I can’t believe I was complaining about no snow. I am planning to do baking today. Hope everyone else has a beautiful day.

  6. 23 Proud Former White House Intern
    February 23, 2014 at 10:42 am

    Good morning great people, just stopping by to say hi while I do my homework.

  7. 25 Chipsticks
    February 23, 2014 at 10:43 am

    Nerdy, this is EPIC, it’s like a complete newspaper! Thank you so so so so so so so so so so much Mrs Jose!

  8. 28 hopefruit2
    February 23, 2014 at 10:46 am

    G’morning NW, Chips, TOD, lurkers, everyone and congrats NW on #1 :). Thanks NW once again for this excellent Sunday R & S roundup! I hope we will get some pics of the Governors’ dinner this evening.

  9. 30 canadabarb4obama
    February 23, 2014 at 10:49 am

    Congratulations, Canada! Proud of you!

  10. 40 amk for obama
    February 23, 2014 at 10:52 am

  11. 41 amk for obama
    February 23, 2014 at 10:53 am

  12. 42 hopefruit2
    February 23, 2014 at 10:59 am

    So now I find myself with a new vice – the Bates Motel series. I binge-watched the entire season 1 yesterday and now I’m hooked and ready for Season 2 premiering March 3rd. LOL! As if my schedule weren’t busy enough…

    • 43 meta
      February 23, 2014 at 11:03 am

      Oh boy, another series I’ll never catch up on! Thanks for the tip.

    • 44 sherijr
      February 23, 2014 at 11:05 am

      Ha, hf- I binged watched “Crossing Lines” you might want to check that out too.. about a group of multi-national cops working for the Hague (sp) going after criminals who cross country lines in Europe committing crimes.. on Netflix from French tv but all in English.

  13. 47 magapie
    February 23, 2014 at 11:07 am

    UNM SPANKS 6th ranked San Diego State!! (San Diego is NOT A STATE, I checked.) It wasn’t as close as the final score looks. The Lobos dominated. It was freakin’ beyond loud in The Pit!

    [Crickets]

    C’mon y’all aren’t excited??? EVERYBODY A LOBO WOOF! WOOF!! WOOF!!!!!!

    http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=400505617

    • 49 nathkatun7
      February 23, 2014 at 7:15 pm

      “San Diego is NOT A STATE, I checked.”

      Magapie, San Diego State University is one of the California State Universities. Some California State Universities (e.g. San Francisco State University, Sacramento State University, etc) are named after the cities. I am so sad my team was beaten so badly.

  14. 50 desertflower
    February 23, 2014 at 11:13 am

    I could have told you this. http://www.balloon-juice.com/2014/02/23/the-war-on-fetuses-and-babies/

    Infant mortality is higher under Republican Presidents than under Democratic Presidents:

    Couple this with studies showing that fewer abortions have occurred when Democrats have the White House and any reasonable observer is compelled to ask, “Who are you calling ‘babykiller’, motherfucker?”

    I think they should be held accountable for these lies they tell daily. They care nothing about life, they only care about themselves and money.

  15. 51 hopefruit2
    February 23, 2014 at 11:22 am

  16. 52 Nena20409
    February 23, 2014 at 11:30 am

    Hello TOD Globe.

    Dr Susan Rice was to have been on MTP today. Mediaite has a piece. I don’t do Sunday shows anymore. But I found this from CBS in Dec 2013.
    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/national-security-advisor-susan-rice/

  17. 53 hopefruit2
    February 23, 2014 at 11:35 am

    It appears that the Whitehouse.gov will carry the Governors’ Dinner live tonight from 7:10PM ET.

    http://www.whitehouse.gov/live

  18. 57 africa
    February 23, 2014 at 11:57 am

    Happy Sunday TODers.

    Boy, I tell you president Obama’s schedule is something else. He is always on the go. I love my president, that’s all.

  19. 58 Bobfr (@Our4thEstate)
    February 23, 2014 at 12:05 pm

    Great R&S, NW!!!!

    Check the photo in this tweet …. Putin’s nightmare extends beyond Ukraine ….

    • 59 Bobfr (@Our4thEstate)
      February 23, 2014 at 12:07 pm

      Ambassador Rice on MTP ….

      • 60 Bobfr (@Our4thEstate)
        February 23, 2014 at 12:11 pm

        “When ex-President Viktor Yanukovych left his luxurious Mezhyhirya in a hurry on Feb. 22, he left a lot behind – including enough financial documents to keep criminal investigators and investigative journalists busy for months to come.

        Now the 140-hectare complex north of Kyiv is public property once again, thanks to a unanimous vote in parliament on Feb. 23.

        Journalists who arrived at the estate over the weekend found thousands of documents floating in the Kyiv Sea or at its bottom near shore. Some of them were burned around the edges in a failed attempt to destroy them. Others were still packed tightly in files and folders. A diver recovered some 160 folders of invoices, contracts, insurance policies, cash payment orders and the like.”

  20. 61 Chipsticks
    February 23, 2014 at 12:06 pm

    Oh FFS, NAACP:

    • 62 hopefruit2
      February 23, 2014 at 12:28 pm

      WTF..?!?!? The NAACP is as useless as a fireplace in a hot desert!

      • 63 Chipsticks
        February 23, 2014 at 12:32 pm

        Can’t believe this, Hopefruit. Some on Twitter are defending the invitation, they reckon the NAACP will use it to expose him, but he’s already exposed as the racist bigot he is, he does NOT need to be given this platform.

        • 64 hopefruit2
          February 23, 2014 at 12:35 pm

          Exactly – doesn’t the NAACP have better things to do than to waste time with this Libertarian bigot? Whether or not they want to “expose” him is irrelevant. As you said, he’s already exposed – he and his loony tune father.

          Methinks there is $$$$ flowing in all of this and NAACP’s financial bottom line is what matters to them at the end of the day.

          • 65 Chipsticks
            February 23, 2014 at 12:40 pm

            It’s really disgusting Hopefruit, and even if he was given a hard time when he spoke to the NAACP, it would only raise his stock with his devotees – which, as we know, include many so-called ‘progressives’. Insanity.

            • 66 hopefruit2
              February 23, 2014 at 12:42 pm

              Exactly. They’re giving him undeserved exposure when another far more deserving individual could be given the platform. Was this Van Jones’ idea? SMH…

      • 67 Dakota
        February 23, 2014 at 1:07 pm

        I’m sorry that you feel that way about the NAACP. As a member and an officer of my local branch, I would strongly beg to differ. With all due respect, the organization has always been in the forefront of the struggle for civil rights in this country and still is. If there is another organization that has done more, please enlighten me. Am I happy about this latest turn of events? No I’m not and national will be getting an earful from me and thousands of other members I’m sure. I would ask that you not dismiss 100 years of hard work because you disagree with this choice. The NAACP is non-partisan and surprising choices happen from time to time. Remember Mitt Romney spoke at the 2011 National Convention and look at all the good it did him.

        • 68 jacquelineoboomer
          February 23, 2014 at 2:09 pm

          I’m just learning of this invite, and don’t otherwise know anything about the rationale, but I seem to recall watching another awful speaker at a previous-year NAACP Convention – the speech was on C-Span – and I totally enjoyed it for a couple of reasons, although I can’t recall who the speaker was. The reason I enjoyed it was because a cold hush went over the auditorium during the entire speech. Don’t think there was any applause throughout, unless it was something about praising the NAACP or a similar comment, when attendees politely clapped. To me, it appeared the organization had set a nice trap for the fool, who thought he was “good enough” at faking it to get some resounding welcome. To me, it also appeared that giving such a platform to a fool exposed the fool even more, and I remember making up my mind that it was the latter point that was the reason for the invite. That’s just my personal takeaway from the prior event.

        • 69 jacquelineoboomer
          February 23, 2014 at 2:14 pm

          Oh, and, good for you, Dakota, for supporting the NAACP and your local branch so well.

          • 70 Dakota
            February 23, 2014 at 2:30 pm

            Thank you J’OB. I have my “moments” with the organization as most do. When I get frustrated, I try singing (or at least humming) “Ella’s Song.”

            • 71 jacquelineoboomer
              February 23, 2014 at 2:59 pm

              Good work always brings frustrations, that’s for sure. The good thing is that you are able to offer your thoughts and suggestions and participate, each time you show up!

      • 73 Chipsticks
        February 23, 2014 at 12:34 pm

        From the link: In an interview taped for C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” that will air Sunday, Lorraine Miller said she was interested in hearing more about the “Economic Freedom Zones” that the Kentucky senator has pushed.

        “We’d love to talk with him about it and work with him on it,” Miller said….

        I feel ill.

        • 74 theo67
          February 23, 2014 at 12:57 pm

          There are some instances when a person is so vile that anything good cannot overcome the evil they’ve projected into the world. Having this cretin speak to an audience that stands for equality is an insult – given that everything he stands for is the opposite. I just don’t understand this.

  21. 75 donna dem 4 obama
    February 23, 2014 at 12:10 pm

    Happy Sunday TOD.

    #BlackHistoryMonth

    Did You Know That?

    Henry O. Flipper who was the first African-American to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and commissioned 2nd lieutenant in the Army in an apparent racial incident, was accused by his white commanding officer of embezzling funds.

    Although he was acquitted of the charges, he was dishonorably discharged in 1882. Flipper tried unsuccessfully to vindicate himself for many years thereafter. He died on May 3, 1940, in Atlanta, Georgia. Thirty-six years after his death, in 1976, it was revealed that officers had framed him.

    President Bill Clinton posthumously granted Flipper an honorable discharge in 1999 and on the 100th anniversary of his graduation West Point unveiled a bust to honor the former graduate.

    • 76 hopefruit2
      February 23, 2014 at 12:33 pm

      Thanks donna. //sigh…SMH….

    • 77 CarolMaeWY
      February 23, 2014 at 2:58 pm

      Thank you for posting on the Black History Month. I have posted the ones I see on FB. My friend who grew up in Russia asked me why on one of the posts. I tried to go back and see what it was about but can’t find it back. Anyway I told her I never understood why we had slavery to begin with. I still don’t understand the why.

    • 78 vcprezofan2
      February 23, 2014 at 7:30 pm

      ‘was accused by his white commanding officer of embezzling funds.’ As soon as I read that, I thought ‘didn’t want to work with him so they set him up’. Very obvious even before seeing the end. No intelligent person was going to work hard to graduate from the military academy and then jeopardize that, especially not a first timer. smh, indeed.

  22. 79 Paulita
    February 23, 2014 at 12:21 pm

    De-lurking to say I am beaming with pride with Dr. Susan Rice for the classy and intelligent way she handled that ass-kissing republican D. Gregory. He tried to shove Putin and Benghazi down our throat and she left him looking like a little boy trying to score points using his father’s homework from the fifties!

    • 80 theo67
      February 23, 2014 at 12:31 pm

      People like D. Gregory just parrot nonsense in an attempt to demean those who don’t serve the right wing puppet-masters. They don’t have a clue about actual facts or history. He’s a fool.

    • 81 meta
      February 23, 2014 at 12:34 pm

      Bwwwahahaaaa!! Thank you for de-lurking to post this great comment!

  23. 82 Paulita Sales
    February 23, 2014 at 12:23 pm

    De-lurking to say I am beaming with pride with Dr. Susan Rice for the classy and intelligent way she handled that ass-kissing republican D. Gregory. He tried to shove Putin and Benghazi down our throat and she left him looking like a little boy trying to score points using his father’s homework from the fifties!

  24. 86 GGail
    February 23, 2014 at 12:32 pm

    Good West Coast morning NW, Chipsticks & TOD family and lurkers!

    I just checked on the voting and meta had 51 with Joy next with 46. Let’s keep the votes coming folks!!!

    NW, this R&S is a total and complete read – thanks!

  25. 87 Paulita
    February 23, 2014 at 12:35 pm

    Sorry for the double post. This is only the second time I have ever commented on anybody’s blog. I absolutely love this community. I pray for you all like family and will be eternally grateful to Ms. Chips and fellow blog tyrants. I’ve been telling everyone I know about this site.

  26. 89 hopefruit2
    February 23, 2014 at 12:46 pm

  27. 91 4morefor44
    February 23, 2014 at 12:52 pm

    what an impressive (and attractive…sorry!) person susan rice is:

    • 92 Paulita
      February 23, 2014 at 1:02 pm

      Inorite? I could almost see her suppress a deep sigh every time he attempted to re-frame his stupidity. Her response to everything left him with nothing.

      • 93 4morefor44
        February 23, 2014 at 1:15 pm

        yes, it’s so strange how it’s like he doesn’t ever listen to a word she says. when she’s talking, he’s just waiting for her to stop so he can throw out the next republican talking point. there’s no actual give-and-take conversation. rice answers each question directly, and he never follows up on what she just said.

        compare this to whenever dick cheney is ever on or someone such as john mccain, where he (and all of the big media types) are almost literally bowing before them, and accepting anything they say.

        • 94 Paulita
          February 23, 2014 at 1:31 pm

          The Obama administration = a return to TRUTH & COMPETENCE!! The real American way. (Big grin w/ all teeth showing.)

        • 95 vcprezofan2
          February 23, 2014 at 7:42 pm

          ‘he’s just waiting for her to stop so he can throw out the next republican talking point. there’s no actual give-and-take conversation’

          4more, give and take, and follow up on what was said, could only occur if Gregory knew what he was talking about. By your description, it’s the same MO Gregory uses with Cheney and McCain. He still doesn’t know what he’s talking about. The difference is that with these guys he’s ‘bowing and accepting’ and facilitating their lies with smiles while allowing them to speak, etc, whereas with SR he is confrontational and, to a certain extent, rude.

    • 96 Bobfr (@Our4thEstate)
      February 23, 2014 at 1:13 pm

      • 97 HZ
        February 23, 2014 at 8:39 pm

        Again, thank you so much for your tweets, Bobfr. Keep moving forward in this Year of Action. {{{{{{{ TY, Bobfr}}}}}}}}HZ

    • 98 prettyfoot58
      February 23, 2014 at 1:49 pm

      Susan Rice’s title is National Security Advisor…it should be stated under her name…he is grasping at some way to ruffle her feathers….but he was unable to…wow….listen to him….D Gregory is a fool

      • 99 HZ
        February 23, 2014 at 8:37 pm

        Thank you prettyfoot58. Dr. Susan Rice, National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States of American well represented the President and the people of America this morning. Dr. Susan Rice, did not allow David Gregory to ruffle her or distract her in anyway. She was direct and to the point. If you noticed also, TOD family, Dr. Susan Rice kept calling David Gregory’s name: ” David, if………” this is a very important observation when you have someone who does not know what he/she is talking about and has not done any decent homework on the topics being discussed, and most of all trying to distract, disrupt, and disrespect the guest who he knows is way above his knowledge of the matter; one does what is profoundly correct; call the arse name out constantly and make sure those who are listening know that she was talking to him and call him on it as one who wanted to take such an important situation and bring it down to the level of repugs talking points. Dr. Susan Rice, National Security Advisor for President Barack Obama does not roll like that, and these low-level talking heads better take notice. She is a tough lady, and she knows how to play in the Big game with all the Old Boys and their water buckets. Get over it, David Gregory. She is there to stay and do the work as a very fine National Security Advisor for President Barack Obama and the nation.

        I love her and was very proud of her this morning. Spoke with two personal family members in my family who is very close to Dr. Susan Rice, and they were elated with her appearance this morning and how she stood toe to toe with little David.HZ

  28. 100 Bobfr (@Our4thEstate)
    February 23, 2014 at 1:00 pm

    Parliament in Ukraine has named its speaker as interim president.

    Oleksandr Turchynov takes charge following the dismissal of President Viktor Yanukovych on Saturday. Mr Turchynov told MPs they had until Tuesday to form a new unity government.

    Yulia Tymoshenko, who was freed from jail on Saturday, has ruled out becoming prime minister again.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26312008

    • 101 Liberal Librarian
      February 23, 2014 at 1:15 pm

      The fact that PBO even has to warn Putin about sending in troops is worrisome. Like that Globe and Mail article stated, Putin’s dream of a neo-Soviet empire have just gone up in smoke. Kiev is the birthplace of the Russian nation, and it’s not going back into Moscow’s orbit without some external force.

  29. 104 Nerdy Wonka
    February 23, 2014 at 1:13 pm

    • 105 theo67
      February 23, 2014 at 1:18 pm

      I wish the last Secretary of State had praised Ambassador Rice in such a manner… Bravo for Sec Kerry!

      • 106 jacquelineoboomer
        February 23, 2014 at 1:56 pm

        I don’t remember hearing the last SoS praise anyone in diplomatic endeavors, unless they were no longer with us … maybe that’s just me. But I’m so glad Secretary Kerry remains himself in his new role – able to share not just the work, but the praise. Who does that remind us of?

        • 107 theo67
          February 23, 2014 at 2:02 pm

          Indeed! Birds of a feather…

          • 108 HZ
            February 23, 2014 at 8:44 pm

            TY, jacquelineoboomer. You are so on point, as usual. POB and Sec. Kerry are reading from the same book and are on the same page, same chapter, same paragraph and same sentence. Great team. These men will stay with their cores. We are bless to have them. HZ

  30. 109 Nerdy Wonka
    February 23, 2014 at 1:15 pm

  31. 110 Liberal Librarian
    February 23, 2014 at 1:19 pm

  32. 111 Liberal Librarian
    February 23, 2014 at 1:24 pm

  33. 112 Vicki
    February 23, 2014 at 1:46 pm

    Apparently Jimmy Fallon’s new show is breaking every kind of record for viewership and I couldn’t be happier about this.
    I do not speak TV so I don’t exactly get the ratings thing but what I do understand is that an America changing for the better is welcoming a talented open loving guy into their homes.
    it’s not just our wonderful FLOTUS as an early guest although that certainly helps. I think it’s Jimmy’s wide range of interests and comfort with diversity that shows. Nerdy highlighted the Hip Hop music with Justin Timberlake which was sensational.
    Jimmy relates to Young America and Old (like me 70+) alike.
    Anyone else enjoying the Tonight Show now?

    • 113 jacquelineoboomer
      February 23, 2014 at 1:52 pm

      Barely watched it when Jay was on, although I liked him – just prefer David Letterman when I watch late night. But I will definitely watch more of The Tonight Show, now that Jimmy Fallon is on. You are right, Vicki, no matter the age group (like me, somewhere between 66 and 68), he is great and his comedy is A+.

  34. 114 jacquelineoboomer
    February 23, 2014 at 1:50 pm

    New R&D Institute in Chicago … right next to the future Barack H. Obama Presidential Library, one hopes!

    Happy Sunday, TODville!

  35. 115 Bobfr (@Our4thEstate)
    February 23, 2014 at 1:50 pm

    Statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
    Posted on February 23, 2014 by chornajuravka

    On February 22, 2014, a special meeting was held attended by 116 members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. The following statement was adopted by the majority vote.

    The staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses deep condolences to the families of the victims, including our colleague Olena Vlasenko, who lost her husband Andriy Chernenko.

    In view of the resolution by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on relieving of the President of Ukraine of his constitutional powers, we believe that the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Leonid Kozhara does not have the moral authority to continue to represent Ukraine in the international arena. Therefore, we appeal to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to appoint immediately an executive responsible for carrying out the duties of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Meanwhile, the diplomatic service of Ukraine will continue to perform its functions in the interest of the nation and the citizens of Ukraine.

    We deny strongly certain public statements that a coup d’etat occurred in Ukraine. We condemn attempts to question the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.

    We urge our colleagues in embassies and consulates of Ukraine to provide objective information for our international partners about the events in Ukraine and to continue to assist in the organization of medical treatment abroad for injured Ukrainians. We emphasize that our telephone hotline functions around the clock. To reach us call +380-44-238-1657.

    This statement is posted on the Facebook page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and is open for signatures. It now contains more than 85 signatures of Ukrainian diplomats.

    Translated by Anna Mostovych

    Edited by Mariana Budjeryn. Assisted by Michael Donovan

  36. 119 Bobfr (@Our4thEstate)
    February 23, 2014 at 2:08 pm

    AMAZING cover of the Polish edition of Newsweek …

  38. 121 Bobfr (@Our4thEstate)
    February 23, 2014 at 2:23 pm

    Disgusting ….

  40. 123 anniebella
    February 23, 2014 at 2:29 pm

    Did you guys see that Sarah Palin will be having a new reality show? Something about sports or moose hunting or whatever. I don’t even know.

  41. 125 HZ
    February 23, 2014 at 8:51 pm

    NerdyW, again{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{ Thank you for all you do here for all of us. I so appreciate you and your support. }}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

    I love your dedication , and I am sure our Chips as you well know appreciates you as well. TY, TY, TY so much. HZ


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