NYT: Meditation on President Obama’s Portrait
Dawoud Bey’s photograph of the man who would soon be president was taken on a Sunday afternoon in early 2007, at Barack and Michelle Obama’s Hyde Park home in Chicago. The portrait is at once stately and informal. Mr. Obama’s hands are folded gracefully in his lap. He wears an elegant suit and white shirt, but no tie. He stares intensely into the camera.
The Museum of Contemporary Photography had commissioned Mr. Bey the year before to take a portrait of a notable Chicagoan. He had known the Obamas for several years and saw them periodically at social gatherings. Impressed with Mr. Obama’s keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic convention, Mr. Bey sensed a “growing air of expectancy” about him.
“When I was asked who I wanted to photograph,” Mr. Bey said, “it took me but a second to decide that I wanted to photograph him.”
More here
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Chat on
The Obama Diary 
me
A Complete Cali Conspiracy, GGail and LL!!!!
Tag team – Cali style 😀
GOAAALLLLLLLLLLL !
Hey Bob!!!!! 😀
Woot! Georgia in Hizzouse! Go GGail!
Woot Woot!!
I’ll be there at the end of August thru Labor Day!!!
Wootie wooooot!
Holla.
Yo bro!
Orale chola!
Get a room, Califions!
Haters gonna Hate – would you put up the Pic of the walking kitty saying this for me please?
Oh, go on then, Ms Fursty
PUURRRRFECT 🙂
One day I’m going to catalog your puns and shame you, that’ll give you paws for thought.
If I go DOWN, you go DOWN! PawsLeader
LOLzzzzz!!!!
El LL! 😀
GOOOOOAAAAALLLLLL 🙂
Chips You are about to start something On a Friday Weekend…….. 🙂 Obrigada. Yes!
Oh well, Best Day to do it.
It has been a Hard, Tough, even Ugly past week.
Thanks for the quicker, upper, lifter Portrait 😉
Me?!
😆 Afternoon Nena!
Yes, you, Dear Lady Chips.
What a great way to put a big old 🙂 😉 😎 Smile on many faces this Friday. Thanks.
GGail and LL are the Gold Medalists 😉
🙂
Hey you sunshiny winners, GGail and LL – I doff my cap to you two! I wonder who will paint the official WH portrait of PBO.
Hey Judith – yup, it’s sunshiny and Hot – thanks!
That portrait hypnotizes me
House Votes To Boost Well-Off Kids, Cut Out Poor Kids
According to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, that means a mom working full time at a minimum wage job would receive no help from the credit — because she would be earning only $14,500. Indeed, that mom would lose $1,725 under the new bill, while a family of four earning $150,000 would gain $2,200, according to the center’s analysis
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/25/child-tax-credit_n_5620014.html
25 Democrats voted yes on this travesty. Including some that keep filling up my in box begging for money.
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2014/roll451.xml
“The Israel Defense Forces denied targeting Al Jazeera, according to Sherif Mansour, of the Committee to Protect Journalists, which is investigating. But it was noted by Mansour and others that the gunfire came one day after Israel’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said he wanted to ban the network for broadcasting “anti-Semitic incitement, lies, provocation and encouragement to terrorists.”
There’s good reason for Israel wanting to shut down the kind of vivid coverage Al Jazeera is offering from Gaza City: Israel is losing the public relations war over its action in Gaza in a way I cannot remember seeing in any of its recent military actions. And part of that is due to the suffering of Palestinian civilians being depicted with an unprecedented sensitivity and prominence — at least, in American media.
More journalists in Gaza and more social media are among the reasons given for the change.
“There were only a couple Western journalists in Gaza when Israel invaded in 2008,” says Michael Calderone, Huffington Post senior media reporter. “Now, there are dozens covering every air strike in real-time through social media, complete with graphic images of Palestinian civilians, and even children, being killed and injured. So there’s a disconnect between Israeli officials’ repeated claims on TV about fighting terrorism and extensive footage we’re seeing of Israel bombing schools, shelters and hospitals in Gaza.” As Calderone sees it, such images have upended traditional packaging of stories out of Gaza.”
http://touch.baltimoresun.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-80896194/
Israel lost morale high ground… Think if this president was running Israel?
He would have SPEC Ops blow up tunnels, Delta Force running missions inside Gaza to defeat Hamas.
That’s it…
But Bibi is like Dick Cheney, and the abused become the abusers.
“As Calderone sees it, such images have upended traditional packaging of stories out of Gaza.”
In other words, the Israeli propaganda machine has had a giant wrench thrown in it …
Thank you Mr.Bobfr for the updates.
The news is just horrific; seeing babies screaming, bodies covered in blood, and adults crying profusely while running for shelter.
I have some residents who are cheering Bibi on, very pleased about what he is doing to the people of Gaza. They tend to meet up in the lobby to speak high praises for the slaughter that is taking place against humanity.
I can only pray, that what ever time I have left on this journey called life, that I will never allow my heart to be heartened to a point, that I could boldly stand, and cheer for the deaths of other human beings.
Too many people are immune to human suffering.
So true Cindy. I thought that Americans were done with war and death apparently there is still a lot of people on the right that still need to satisfy that thirst for blood, pain, death and destruction.
Will the presser be livestreamed? And if so, where can we see it? Thanks 🙂
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/live-video/
You can watch the presser live here.
Kerry speaking now. Turn the volume up to hear him.
SOS Kerry said that they haven’t yet come to an agreement because they still have some terminology in the framework to work out, and he’s confident that they will continue to come to a solution via further conversations.
Funny that Gallup is claiming that those who claim to know more about the Israel/Gaza conflict support Israel while those who claim not to know are higher. Maybe it would occur to idiotic Gallup pollsters that most of those who support Israel are fox news viewers and go on sites like Jihad Watch. Gallup = run by right wingers.
It’s the evangelical and Protestants that support Israel and any action they take. They are in cahoots with end times and Mageda.
Garbage.
Wow. You know when the mind exposes the words coming out…… are not conveying, but rather contradictory in a fatuous fashion……Wow.
The color of your skin or the shades of your ideology? What? Say what?
Rand is a frakin’ idiot
A slight stumble below the snake line…
On my way back up the mountain!
What can you say about these Republicans like Rand Paul and Ted Cruz?
GA TOD……hope everyone gets to enjoy their weekend!
Israel: Leaders of international diplomacy…..
In a statement on Wednesday, Brazil condemned what it said was a “disproportionate use of force” by Israel in its Gaza Strip offensive by pulling out its ambassador from Tel Aviv for “consultation.” The country is the second country to recall its ambassador from Israel; Ecuador did so earlier in the week. At first, the official reaction from Israel appeared sanguine. “Brazil is a friend, but we think its position is not balanced,” Israel’s general consul in São Paulo, Yoel Barnea, said according to the Wall Street Journal, adding that Israel should have a right to defend itself from the thousands of missiles being fired at it by Hamas and other Palestinian groups.
Things soon took a turn for the worse. “This is an unfortunate demonstration of why Brazil, an economic and cultural giant, remains a diplomatic dwarf,” Israeili Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said on Thursday, the Jerusalem Post reports. “The moral relativism behind this move makes Brazil an irrelevant diplomatic partner, one who creates problems rather than contributes to solutions.” That insult wasn’t the worst that Israel had reserved for Brazil, however. In an interview with the Brazilian media, Palmor brought up the most humiliating moment in recent Brazilian history – this summer’s stunning World Cup semifinal loss to Germany.
“Israel’s response is perfectly proportioned in accordance with international law,” Palmor said in an interview with the Jornal Nacional TV show late Thursday. “This is not football. In football, when a game ends in a draw, you think it is proportional, but when it finishes 7-1 it’s disproportionate. Sorry to say, but not so in real life and under international law.”
Please watch……powerful video:
Israel isn’t acting in accordance to international law.
thanks for this. I cried.
LP, I really wish you would not publish the gory details. It’s heartbreaking enough. Please!
it’s painful but it must be known because Israel is now a rogue country trying to wipe out the Palestinians.
I totally agree Jeff. If people were not tweeting the horrors we would not be hearing about them. Although some in the media are beginning to get a ‘clue’
My position is about TOD.
Bob has been keeping us updated on the situations around the world and he is able to inform us without going this route.
We get that there is much pain and suffering – I just would prefer that we don’t bring that level of stark pain here.
Jeff, I respectfully disagree – on this site we can do without the painful pictures and gory details. We all have our opinions and we don’t need any undue stress with the optics and details. I’m sure there are other blog sites that one can go to and get this if one chooses.
Sorry GGail…..that was not my intent. If even one person is uncomfortable….then that is one too many. TOD is a respite from the noise… my apologies again.
LP, you are an awesome person and I thank you for understanding ❤
I agree. It forces anyone with a conscience to speak out against it. I hope they continue to let their voices be heard.
I appreciate the links LP and the tweets. They add value because they bring a voice to those who have none.
LP, I appreciated you bring these tweets over. They paint a powerful imagery of what is happening in Gaza right now. Social media is such of a impactful communication. I know it is a harsh and painful window of what is going on now, but I appreciate folks giving voice to it. I feel that I can at least try a little to stand hearing about it, maybe paying witness to it. I agree it is painful and I could not tolerate a steady intake of this misery and blood and death. I honor the human spirit and endurance. Make it stop.
As others have said Isreal is not winning the PR on this one. It’s a different ball game now and far too many witnesses to this horror.
So Count Von Knoller is capable of tweeting something else? Wow?
For any who are unclear about why agreement on a cease fire hasn’t been reached will be no wiser atter listening to the Ban ki Moon John Kerry Presser delivered in diplo-speak. Here is a translation:
Israel refused a cease-fire because they didn’t like the terms.. Their desired cease-fire called for ending Hamas rocket fire immediately but allowed Israeli troops to continue finding and destroying tunnels. Israeli troops staying within Gaza.
The Palestinians idea was that a cease-fire meant ALL sides stopped military action and israeli troops withdraw. Rafah gate into Egypt to open immediately or within an enforceable and defined timetable.
Vicki this should be shared far and wide. I can’t believe this is happening.
US tax payers should not fund Israel’s wars.
Israeli government is corrupt as every and the US media is complicate to their corruption.
Oooo, it’s so terrific to enter the village and be greeted FIRST with King Obama’s very intense gaze focused almost entirely on you!!! 😳 😳 🙂 🙂 Eat your heart out, Hopefruit, wherever you are!
Because whenever I come into the village pictures are revealed slowly from head view going downwards, I usually play a little game with myself. With pictures of POTUS I always guess which year it was taken before reading the caption, and most of the time I’m right. I wasn’t right this time of course, because I guessed 2008. 😉 😉 I’m sure you all know the criterion for my guesses?
Good afternooOOoon/early Saturday morning ladies and gentlemen of the village! What have you all been up to while I was pretending to get SOME – a very few – chores done?
Ms GGail, I noticed you there on top of the heap when I was gliding by but I was more focused on the tail end of the random picture so didn’t pause to say ‘hi’. I’m sure (or I hope) you understand.
Hiya vc. Of course, I understand your attention was elsewhere. No harm, no foul my sister 🙂
I figured you would, under the circumstances. 😉 😉
❤
Can’t speak for the rest of the country, but here in Cali, it’s #RecoverySummer #LandslideDems2014
Yup…as I suspected. Yet all the media, especially the AP and others rushed to report this. That’s why I always caution folks to wait until SOS Kerry speaks before retweeting stuff from media outlets. They more often than not do not have their facts correct – and sometimes the misinformation is deliberate.
Just FYI – I am listening to Kerry’s presser live, which is why I can confidently post Laura Rozen’s tweet – which I have assessed to be accurate, as stated by John Kerry.
Thank you hopefruit2!
Thank you Hopefruit !
I can always count on you to be levelheaded with your reporting.
No formal cease-fire proposal was rejected because none was presented.
Ok.
strange that Bibi would have to issue a correction. I would like to know why that false report was distributed in the first place.
I reject the Kerry deal … when in fact there was none presented. Seems to me rejecting anything the US proposed was the plan all along. But they jumped the gun.
Well, false reporting has become a cottage industry in and of itself. Certain factions stand to benefit when false reports are allowed to fester and metastasize in the media. If things are going well, the media’s revenue goes down because people no longer tune in. That is true, not just for the US, but for any where.
So the media on either side are highly motivated to give an appearance of more conflict, more controversy, more disagreement than there actually is. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell certain folks on Twitter, but they choose to dismiss what I’m saying.
People have jobs. SUVs are Gas Muzzling friendlier. The cost are with reason for many models. My opinion.
Within reason…….oops.
Darrell Issa’s Crushing Defeat: Investigators Find Obama Adviser Didn’t Violate Law
Bloomberg reported, “A special investigator’s office says it has found no evidence that David Simas, a top political aide to the president, violated a law that prohibits federal workers from engaging in partisan political activities. The White House Office of Political Outreach and Strategy “appears to be operating in a manner that is consistent with the Hatch Act,” said Carolyn Lerner, a lawyer at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, whose job is to enforce that law and protect whistle-blowers.”
http://www.politicususa.com/2014/07/25/darrell-issa-suffers-crushing-defeat-investigators-find-obama-adviser-violate-law.html
How many more strikes outs before this jerk is removed from the game ?
Now he’ll have to find something else to go after the president. Probably will now try to impeach Obama for not being American enough for his tastes.
One of the main reasons the Administration is not worried about the law suits against this President nor are they worried about the TBGOPers’ obsession with calling for Boehner to start Articles of Impeachment in the House of Representatives.
I guess they are hoping and praying for a miracle that a “blue” dress and a cigar will fall out the sky with PBO’s DNA on it…..not gonna happen.
Yet people keep retweeting all AP’s nonsense that they report from “israeli sources”
CNN is also still reporting it wrong.
CNN has an agenda.
mischievous = deliberate propaganda
FAIRMONT, W.Va. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin is being sued by one of his brothers, who says the West Virginia Democrat and another brother never repaid a $1.7 million loan intended to keep the family’s carpet business afloat.
Dr. John Manchin II filed the lawsuit in Marion County against the senator and Roch Manchin.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, says Joe and Roch Manchin received a loan of more than $1.7 million from John Manchin in the late 1980s to help the then-struggling business with the promise of repayment. No payments have been made.
John Manchin says that a July 2012 agreement made by the brothers allowed him to take one-third interest in coal and other related businesses by Joe and Roch Manchin if there was a delay in repayment.
But the lawsuit says the brothers’ general partnership was dissolved without John Manchin’s knowledge, with funds and assets transferred to a partnership controlled by Joe Manchin and his son, Joseph Manchin IV.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/manchin-getting-sued-by-his-bro
Ugh… I cannot stomach Manchin
😀
haha : )
Too cute, reminds me of the commercial with the dog sitting with the little girl in the SUV, until the girls says; mom, what is N.E.U.T.E.R?
Dog jumps out of the window and runs like there is no tomorrow.
🙂
I am afraid that this Dog thinks it might have heard the N-word: N.E.U.T.E.R. LOL
Dudette – Squeeeeee 😀
THIS!!!
This GOP governor should lose just based on not extending medicare for his people just because he hates Obamacare.
The best of humanity
ahhhhhh…………Thank you Dudette for bringing this “BEAUTIFUL” act of humanity to the human eyes.
With so much bad against humanity, this is what “true living” represents; in our dying, we can choose to reach back, and help another human being to live.
Look to a child to show us what kindness really is.
“Look to a child to show us what kindness really us.”
So Very THIS!
it is the best of humanity Dudette.
Thanks for this.
Hey GGail, I just hit a button (haven’t a clue which) on my fancy phone and got the world clock. Is it really partly cloudy in LA right now? Clock says it’s 1:12pm, 26 degrees celsius, and I see a half sun and clouds. Not sure how I got thee as I was trying to turn phone off after a local call. 😀
“I just hit a button on my fancy phone and got the world clock”
😆 😆 😆
Don’t you laugh, CC. It might come in handy to help you/us with time zone stuff next time the Os travel (IF I CAN FIGURE OUT WHAT I TOUCHED by then).
But when we need time-zone-stuff help VC, will you be able to find the world clock button again?
Sigh! Only time will tell. 🙂 Who knows, I may stub my toe upon it again before then.
That is if the phone hasn’t bankrupted me by then. Last night I used it to read a bit in the village after I signed off on the clunker. Well I turned internet off – I thought – , then turned the phone off, read for a bit and went to bed. On my way out today I turned the phone back on, only to discover that the internet had apparently been on all night, as well as the phone. Oy, I’m sure the phone company will love me. 😀
Oh holy smokes, poor VC – probably literally soon!!
Crossing fingers/toes till the next bill surfaces. Honestly, CC, it was the simple truth when I told GGail yesterday that I really don’t want a phone that’s smarter than me. When I push a button I expect the phone to shut off, not to decide for itself it’s not yet ready to go to bed. I cannot afford that kind of self-determination on the part of a …p.h.o.n.e. for crying out loud! It’s usually why I go for the simplest when I choose technology. I don’t know what possessed me to step outside my comfort zone this time.
And I was gonna ask you to sign up for Skype or Tango…(sigh) I’ve got a long way to go…to get you current
😀 You ambitious soul! In another decade or two if I’m still around…..maybe.
Actually, I do know, AND it’s mostly your and Nerdy’s fault! I took ‘data’ for the first time so that if I was away from home for a long time and wanted to look in on the village I could do so. Add that to the fact they had a ‘special’ going and it would only cost me a small increase on my monthly bill and I was bitten. 😉
Depends on where you are in L.A. vc. It is very sunny with some clouds in the valleys, about 88 degrees, but it might be more cloudy near the ocean or in the desert areas.
Hi Jojo! I do hope the cloudiness means that you’ll get even a little rain.
Unfortunately these are white clouds or haze a mix of clouds and smog…..not a drop of rain in sight.
Shucks! The world clock page didn’t clarify.
No sweetie, it’s 87F and Sunny. Are you sure it’s LA, California???? It could be LA for Louisiana?
(Or maybe she was looking at LA for Lapland??)
Hahahahah! Stop Chips!
/giving Chips a grim I-don’t-find-that-funny side eye, or better yet, the same look the dog on the car seat above gave/
No it was California, but measured in celsius.
Clueless in Florida
In an extraordinary — and extraordinarily awkward — failure of basic situational awareness, a U.S. congressman apparently mistook American government officials for Indian government officials during a congressional hearing.
As first reported by Foreign Policy magazine, freshman Rep. Curt Clawson (R-FL) spoke to State Department official Nisha Biswal and Commerce Department official Arun Kumar as if they were Indian government officials at a House Foreign Affairs hearing on Thursday.
“I’m familiar with your country. I love your country. And I understand the complications of so many languages and so many cultures and so many histories all rolled up in one,” Clawson said. He added: “Anything I can do to make the relationship with India better, I’m willing and enthusiastic about doing so.”
When he asked the American officials for cooperation from “your government,” Biswal appeared rather confused. “I think your question is to the Indian government,” she said, “and we certainly share your sentiments and we certainly will advocate that on behalf of the U.S. government.”
Clawson took office on June 25, replacing Rep. Trey Radel (R), who resigned after getting arrested for cocaine possession last fall.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/curt-clawson-us-officials-indian-officials ( video )
The recently appointed FL Rep could have been high. If not, what was Clawson’s problem for such confusion???
‘what was Clawson’s problem for such confusion?’
The fact he couldn’t be bothered to prepare himself before going into the meeting – well other than with a bunch of generalized platitudes.
GOP’s finest. hahahahaa
Kind of like some of the politicians who speaks bad about African Americans, gets caught, and then he says; I love those people, some of my best friends are the Negro.
Leave it to a politician to continually give us the meaning of “ignorance.”
Let me guess. They are planning to impeach the president over this.
So NYT has a story on this portrait of then sen Obama too? Hmm?
I am not all here today. Pardon me. Was about to post this somewhere else. Where is the edit button when I need it?
The truth is nothing has changed, save for a few gray hair for the POTUS.
The media? still full of immature and unsophisticated journalists.
The pundits? still bias and showing a lack of intellectual curiosity and analysis
The GOP? still buried under the weight of the elephant in the room, the racist teabaggers
The RWN? crazier as ever
Sarah Palin and John McCain? not in the WH then, not in the WH now
McLoss? still pissed because he is not winning; besides he is still senile
Palin? still irrelevant
POTUS? Consistent throughout.
Nothing has changed save for more racists showing their true colors.
moment in the life of a very private man.
—-
Which drives the beltway pundits nuts !
Waiting for the door to open and me to walk through FIRST.
I’m going to hold hands with you then, so that you can pull me in with you! Not so hard that I will fall, please. 😉
You had better watch out for vc, she’s off her ‘clunker’ lol
Hi Layla, nice to see you today. 😀 I am still on the clunker, been saving the fancy phone for a last bedtime look, mainly because I haven’t yet figured out how to reply toTOD on the f-phone.
you are too funny NCLB……I got you, holding it for you now : ) just don’t trip.
Nerdy’s new post:
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/07/25/a-tweet-or-two-87/
Looking forward to seeing this!
Ms. Dudette, I am going to be dancing in the aisle. I just know it.
I am going to see it in Harlem, U.S.A. So I can all ready feel the energy!
My sisters tell me they used to wait around three to four city blocks to see Mr. JB.
Mick Jagger learned his moves from James Brown……well, most of them…..okay. Some of them……Forget it!
Mike Jagger’s Production?
Wow. I had no idea.
Mick. :embarrassed: