Army Command Sergeant Major Bennie G. Adkins salutes after President Barack Obama awards him the Medal of Honor for actions during the Vietnam War
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President Barack Obama applauds at right after presenting the Medal of Honor for Army Spc. Donald P. Sloat to his brother William Sloat, left, in the East Room of the White House. Donald P. Sloat of Coweta, Okla., was killed in action on Jan. 17, 1970, at age 20. While on patrol, a soldier in his squad triggered a hand grenade trap that had been placed in their path by enemy forces. According to the White House, Sloat picked up the live grenade, initially to throw it away. When he realized it was about to detonate, he shielded the blast with his own body in order to save the lives of his fellow soldiers
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"Our Vietnam vets are patriots. You served with valor. You made us proud." —Obama awarding the #MedalOfHonor http://t.co/VdEYpa4jen
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The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 15, 2014****
"No matter how long it takes—no matter how many years go by—we will continue to express...gratitude for your…service" —Obama to Vietnam vets
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The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 15, 2014****
The Obama Diary 
Thanks NW 🙂
Cheat!1!
FURST!
Say Whaaaaat?!!! You do realize how infrequent I land on this coveted spot 😯
Oh, go on then: goooooooooooooal!
Chips, I ❤ you to pieces! Gooooaaaaallllll 😀
Hey Now!!!! 😀 😀 😀
Congrats GGail.
You’re welcome, GGail.
Thanks a traaaaaaaaaaaaabillion Nerdy!!
Hey Chips, how are you doing? I’m adjusting to teaching again after a slow start. I am tired, though and I have a number of kids whose parents “hate” Obama 😦 Very depressing.
You’re welcome, Chips.
Many of my male cousins were called to served in that war
After having seen the back-story, thanks to Bob, I can now look at these ceremonies in a clearer light.
I’m proud to tell you that my son turns 18 this week, and he registered to vote in school today during his AP Government class. The class spent the last few weeks discussing Party platforms, and histories. They took a survey to help them determine what party they most closely align with. Happy to report that he
registered as a Democrat!! He’ll be voting for the first time on November 4th. I can’t wait:)
Awesome!! Thanks for the encouraging news, Grace.
Grab a Mop Grace – You’re just full of “Good News”. Son turns 18, registered to vote and will be voting as a Democrate! Whoo Hoooo!!!
pls excuse the *e* on the end of Democrat. It stands for excitement 😀
Completely lovely news Grace!!!
Thanks everyone! Is my “proud Mommyness” showing?
Justifiably so!
I just wish he would have had an opportunity to vote for President Obama. Having the privilege to vote for him twice myself is something that I’ll carry with me forever. How fortunate we are to be present during PBOs time.
Tell him that a Dem vote in 2014 IS a vote for President Obama!
Thanks Lana! You’re brilliant!
That’s FANTASTIC!
Nerdy & Chips, I forgot to inform you both that I received this invitation via email… 😀
MANCHESTER UNITED VS CHELSEA
SUNDAY 26 OCTOBER 2014
Chelsea’s visit to Old Trafford on Sunday 26 October is sure to be one of the highlights of the season, as Louis van Gaal’s new look United side take on one of our biggest rivals.
Plan your trip to the UK and be here to experience all the drama and action in true style, from some of the best seats in the house with Matchday VIP hospitality.
All packages include:
• Champagne on arrival
• Outstanding food
• Complimentary bar*
• Q&A with a former player
😆 Where the heck did you get that?!?!
It’s an email that was sent to me. I’ll forward it to you. Check your inbox shortly.
You’re a flippin’ HOOT!!!!! 😆
Hahahahahahaha!!!!!! ROFLMAO!!!!! 😀 😀 😀
Chelsea will CRUSH Man United and I will laugh, laugh, laugh at you because you’ve decided to align yourself with Chips. 🙂
Amk post a Bible thumper and a Koran thumper both yielding semi-auto AKs.
Now look who wants Evolution banned in schools?
Were we not all taught that Knowledge is Not Only powerful, but with knowledge, we grow, advance and are better Citizens of the Human Race.
Hey WashPost……in 2011, Zarkosy of France was the Top guy wanting Qaddafi out from Libya.
Hey CNN, YOU Failed with your Tie Poll result in NH.
Even Rasmussen has Shaheen with the lead.
Not enough. I don’t even understand why Dems are not further ahead given the unpopularity of the Republicans. 😦
A Republican pollster.
The polls are all over the place. Pew has Dems up by 5.
Watched new episode of The View with Nicolle Wallace and three things came to mind. She stated right off she is a Republican (that’s ok), she was expressive without being “naughty” about Sarah Palin (too bad) and she always spoke of President Obama not just Obama. I am a huge President fan so I appreciated her calm demeanor and there are some good Republicans. Oh yes, she is also positive HRC will run!
Nicolle Wallace used the term “Coocoo for cocoa puffs” to describe the Tundra Twit on @maddow awhile back.
That should be on a continuous loop whenever GOP is mentioned, LOL.
Sound like she Wallace is a replacement for that idiot Elisabeth Hasslebeck, but Wallace might not be so stupid liar like Hasslebeck.
Might not be such a stupid liar like Hasslebeck.
Love how they “make up” these award names, just to draw him out. I say just award him “One of the Most Handsome Men Alive in the 21st Century” and then call him in every year for an updated photo!
Was that shallow? (Who cares; he is!)
Damn right JOB, who cares? The man is fine!
Damn right! ❤
So.. Alison Lundergan Grimes does not agree with PBO on coal and epa she says….. What is she doing about this ?
The likely reason the dreaded coal miners’ disease has come back: failure by mining companies to use tried and true methods to control dust.
Black Lung Disease Surges To New Highs, Research Shows
The uptick in severe disease has hit especially hard in a triangular region encompassing southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, and southwestern Virginia. In these areas, thick deposits of coal largely have been mined out, and companies increasingly are cutting into rock containing minerals that are toxic to the lungs, researchers and industry experts say.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrishamby/black-lung-disease-surges-to-new-highs-research-shows?utm_term=3x9ee0m#2u4afzv
Worked with a man a while back who attended a meeting related to safety training or something, at a building which housed a United Mine Workers local. I think it was in West Virginia. He said when he arrived he noted that outside of the union hall, there were reserved parking signs. Some were for the union officials.
Some said “Black Lung.”
My co-worker said he almost broke down and cried, right in the parking lot. Hard to think that these people are still being exposed to these hazards, when abatements could be in place.
“FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — A few miles from the street where Michael Brown died is the grave of Dred Scott, a slave who went to the Supreme Court and tried, unsuccessfully, to be recognized as a free American citizen. One hundred and fifty-seven years later, a white police officer’s fatal shooting of Brown — unarmed, black and 18 years old — raises fresh questions about the extent to which blacks in suburban towns are regarded as full partners by the officials and law enforcers elected largely by and responsive to small segments of the population. Political participation is increasing on the national level for blacks and Hispanics. On the local level, voting continues to be struggle, as it is in this St. Louis suburb..cont”
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Whenever a black person gets arrested or killed and it makes headlines — as was the case for 18-year-old Michael Brown — some media outlets make the mistake of perpetuating racist stereotypes before the truth has even been sorted out. Swayed by an institutionalized fear of black youth, news stories all too easily fall back on racially coded words like “thugs” and “hoodlums.”
While the Ferguson Police Department in Missouri was able to hire an all-white public relations agency to mitigate outrage, the families of young men and women like Brown rarely, if ever, get that same opportunity to craft their images and messages for the press, as shown in the viral hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown.
A new video from Funny or Die tackles this glaring lack of consciousness from the mainstream media and other organizations by imagining a special PR agency for black people, specifically when they’re “gunned down or put on public trial.” That’s where the fictional Real You PR comes to save the day, helping to choose the “best possible photo of you for the evening news broadcast.”
“some media outlets make the mistake of perpetuating racist stereotypes”
I wish I could believe that it was truly a “mistake.” I’m old enough to know that this is deliberate on the part of these media outlets.
Can anyone explain to me why Greenwald is in New Zealand – does he think a country’s election should be an international event? Unbelievable that he would interfere in an election in a country with which he has NO links whatsoever.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11324685
Read that a little earlier 99ts, could NOT believe it – and Assange and Snowbird in on the act too. These are egos truly out of control, meddling in countries where they have NO business.
Vietnam claimed many men from my generation, several from my neighborhood parish. Despite our peaceful protesting, it went on far too long, the cost is still being paid. I feel that I may be somewhat behind still, but noticed a long discussion earlier regarding an adult brutally beating a small child. I am a trained and certified Montessori early childhood teacher, 13 years in the classroom with 9 interns under my supervision over that time. I am also a certified parenting trainer, and offered classes 3x/year as well as private consultation in peoples homes, working with the family on a more intimate level. I also a single parent, who received little to no help or support from my ex. Yes, in our family too, as children, we had to choose our own switch, learned the hard and painful way it didn’t matter whether you chose a small thin one, or a substantial one, being beaten by someone who was supposed to LOVE you left more than physical scars. Given all that, I feel I must add my tuppence by saying the ONLY time beating (including spanking) a child is: NEVER. NEVER. NEVER. Thank you. ❤
*acceptable is (sorry, post comment got away before editing!)
I hope your parents didn’t remove your underpants and hit you with a stick on your genitalia and groin leaving cuts and bruises as was done in the case of Adrian Peterson’s 4 year old son.
Absolutely not, BillR.
Hi MP I am very impressed with your training with the Montessori and working with parents and families to help raise happy healthy children. I imagine most of us were raised by parents who believed in sparring the rod spoiled the child. I have met many boomer parents who had children later in life (late 30’s) used other methods to discipline their kids. I do not have children and glad I did not because this is how I was raise, mom was raised, and grandma, etc. I am glad my brother and his wife did not use corporal punishment on my niece however when my mom baby sat in my presence she did not paddle my niece when she was little and I was glad they used an outside caregiver. My aunt baby sat small children and swatted hands or legs but never on bare skin. I noticed that small children who are spanked DO grow up to be more aggressive. It would be nice that all new parents are giving mandatory parenting during la maize on the evils of spanking.
Agree Jojo. We do not change the future by recreating the past, over and over and over. My own grandmother used to tell us of being beaten with a cat-o-nine-tails, which I understand was a whip with 9 leather strands, maybe even had metal on the ends. As a kid, this scared me sh*tless, but we never had it that bad. My mom used to whack us, or make us wait until Dad came home; he so hated that, because he had no idea what had happened, but he was expected to dole out the punishment! (I will tell you all the naughtiness was ALWAYS my brothers misbehaving, never me!) But, I had my daughter in my mid-30’s, and I just never felt like smacking her, or spanking her, it seemed so futile. As she was entering pre-school, I found a program, interned, then became a head teacher, and the rest all fell into place. Loving, being firm and kind, explaining things to kids. LISTENING! Letting them talk, and teaching them to think for themselves, and to try not to judge others, all vital life skills. I still have people who contact me sometimes to tell me what a difference I made in theirs and their children’s lives. We do shape the future, here, now, today! Marvelous!
CLINTON EMBRACES IOWA, OBAMA IN RETURN TO STATE
… Former Sec. of State Hillary Rodham Clinton [spoke] during U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin’s annual fundraising Steak Fry, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014, in Indianola, Iowa. …
…Though Clinton is the favorite for the 2016 Democratic nomination should she run, she advised the audience and the media on Sunday that her focus was on the November midterm elections. …
… She added, “Under President Obama’s leadership, our country is on the road to recovery,” before rattling off a list of improving economic indicators in Iowa, such as its unemployment rate of less than 5 percent.
Specifically, she cited Obama’s signature domestic initiative, the 2010 health care bill…
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268798/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=Qozuqogw
She must have been reading this blog 😀
Maybe she’s learning. Maybe not. We’re watching you, Hillary.
I think that we need to all call a truce and agree to join forces ….the November 4th elections are too important for us to have a divided house….we must stand tall together…it is the only way we will win…
Moving Forward Together
As long as Hillary joins forces for 2014, doesn’t take credit for the President’s accomplishments or put down his policies or strategies in public, and moves forward together, I agree.
The Hillary bunch has been on the wrong (2016) track on occasion before this. The whole purpose of pushback has been to get her and her loyalists to help secure a Democratic majority for Pres. Obama – not to mention for our country – otherwise, we waste the next two years. That’s the goal all of us here have, of course.
Moving Forward Together
my comment was not to chastise you Jackie…they were general comments…I try to remain hopeful and not be drawn into the Hilary turf wars….I feel that every time I do I am taking my eyes off the prize…I know that she and her supporters are not helping matters….I continue to work to change Congress…..
scares me sometimes to think how it would be if we do not win this November…
Oh, I’m sorry, pf, didn’t mean to imply I thought you were chastising me! I didn’t. My “tone” and response were all about Hillary’s supporters, not even so much her!
Keep working to change Congress, for we all MUST! Good for you and all your efforts.
#Forward
Emblazoned on this year’s bus are the words “We the People, We the Voters.” In this election year, we are hitting the road to say “enough is enough.” We are telling our nation that voters must turn out in record numbers to counter the corrupting power of big money and to elect candidates who will govern for the 100 percent. Our Constitution does not say “We the Rich People.” Instead, it’s all about “We the People,” all of us, building a more perfect union.
Gosh – these folks look so happy to be meeting PBO – who would have thought! That is one wide smile!
Election Toolkit Orientation Signup
NETWORK is hosting small groups for interactive calls to find out what you are doing to get out the vote in your community, as well as share NETWORK’s get out the vote resources with you.
Bastards!
Ugly bastards at that, J4O. They should have to try to live on what most people make in the real world. Not just for a week, or a month, but for a minimum of a year! They might get it then
Hi TOD Famil-lee
I absolutely love those moving medal ceremonies. It is so right to honour the soldiers no matter how long it takes
Anyone else watching The Roosevelt’s? It is astounding how closely TR’s beliefs and philosophy about role of government and how ALL people should be treated is aligned with PO. Also, how everyone, children included, were drawn to him. This is absolutely amazing!!
Hi Tnmtgirl, I started watching last night but the cable kept messing up so I could not watch the whole first part but It was very interesting about the young FDR and how much he was loved and dotted on by his mother and father yet was not spoiled.
New post:
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/09/15/scotland-the-brave/
What’s up TOD?
Hope everyone had a good weekend.