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President Barack Obama addresses an audience of armed forces at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. President Obama thanked the troops for their service and marked the end of the combat mission in Afghanistan. ahead of the upcoming holidays
President Barack Obama returns a salute as he steps off Marine One helicopter upon his return on the South Lawn of the White House
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First Lady Michelle Obama reads “Twas the night before Christmas” to patients, families, and staff at Children’s National Health System in Washington
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Video Here
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First Lady Michelle Obama and First Dog Bo
First Lady Michelle Obama greets patient 14-year-old Nataya Miller while she visits patients, employees, and volunteers at Children’s National Health System in Washington DC
The Obama Diary 
All the tireless warriors:)
Congrats df!!! 🙂
NW, these compilations of “The President’s Day” are so uplifting, in addition to being informative. Thank you!!
Thanks, Bob.
I’ll throw my thank you in too. And the First Lady’s skirt. Oh I love love the skirt. You have to look closely. Just amazing.
How in the world the senate approved the surgeon general?
Because Cruz screwed up big time, amk!! 🙂
Everyone should be sending Teddie a thank you note 🙂
Bob, I’m out of the loop, saw some tweets about Cruz – what happened?
In summary, Chips …
“The Senate unexpectedly stayed in session for several hours on Saturday before voting on a bill to fund the government through next September (the “CRomnibus”).
The Saturday session was forced late Friday night by Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, who are upset over the Obama administration’s executive actions on immigration. They refused to allow Congress to go into recess without a vote on the constitutionality of Obama’s actions.
The Senate voted down Cruz and Lee’s motion on immigration — with several Republicans joining Democrats — before it passed the CRomnibus.
Because of the extra time, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was able to move closer to votes on 24 Obama administration nominees including nominees for Surgeon General, the head of the country’s chief immigration enforcement agency, and twelve federal judgeships who Republican senators have been blocking.”
http://www.vox.com/2014/12/13/7388109/cromnibus-senate
Oh, and I did take my own advice ….
🙂
My response is awaiting moderation 😀 😀 😀
Ah, brilliant Bob, an outstanding explanation!!! So tonight we should send some love to Ted? 😆
Agree, Chips 🙂
RT’d 🙂
As my daughter would say, Bob, you are the bomb! The NRA must be furious with Ted Cruz.
🙂
In_DEED, nath!!!
how many goppers voted for him?
ZERO
Then, how was he confirmed?
Dems still have the majority until the start of the 114th Congress, in Jan 2015.
yeah, but then they have had the majority ever since he was nominated, so what changed now?
Those silly Blue dog Dems who were from the gun lovin’ states were afraid the vote would hurt them in the midterms. Now they have nothing to lose because they still lost their midterms anyway.
You mean it was the frigging dems who were holding up his nomination?
I read Bob’s vox piece. “Procedural nuttiness” stood out. Still not sure if his nomination went through or not. cloture, bloture and all such nonsense./
He is now Surgeon General of the USA, amk 🙂
Ok, cool. 🙂
it wasn’t filibustered
No filibuster allowed.
@DavidAxelrod just tweeted this:
From the end of the last post….Sorry.
The Russian central bank announces a huge rise in its key interest rate – to 17% from 10.5% – to try to stem the rouble’s fall.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30490082
GE TODville,
Heartbreaking update from today’s Australian hostage siege:
And… the person who wrote this note has handwriting very similar to our President’s:
“The hero manager of a Sydney cafe was killed Monday along with a mother of two after trying to wrestle the shotgun off a radical Iranian refugee who held the place hostage during a 16-hour standoff, according to reports.
“They made the call because they believed that at that time, if they didn’t enter, there would have been many more lives lost,” said New South Wales state police Commissioner Andrew Scipione.
The gun fire that prompted the raid apparently came after 34-year-old Tori Johnson attempted to snatch the weapon from a dozing Monis, 9 News in Australia reported.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/hero-cafe-manager-dies-stop-gunman-sydney-article-1.2046360
BTW, Barrister Katrina Dawson died in route to the hospital from cardiac arrest. 3 other people were shot; 1 was a police officer who was shot in the face.
Nerdy? Loooooooooove ya!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Thanks, Chips.
Special delivery to @NerdyWonka… thanks for everything you do for TOD and to support our President and #BlackLivesMatter:
Wow, Bill Nye is on there! Sadly, I doubt he would be in the world cloud in a similar survey in the U.S.
duh, I meant word cloud!
Don’t you love it?
“Obama” is right after NASA!
And our food?
And our anthem? They don’t like “God Save the Queen?”
And our driving age?
And I don’t know what Queens of the Stone Age is/are (or Quuens?)
But they love LeBron James!
Thanks, Arapaho415.
The families of nine of the 26 people killed in a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School have filed a lawsuit against a rifle manufacturer.
The negligence and wrongful death suit was filed in Connecticut against Bushmaster Firearms International.
The families allege the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle used by Adam Lanza, 20, in the incident should not have been made publicly available because it was designed for military use.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30484531
Finally, some accountability.
As we all know, NEVER mess with President Obama ….
If you don’t have time to read the excellent article, then I want to be sure you do not miss the last paragraph …
“”Putin does not have good cards, and he has not played them as well as the Western press seems to give him credit for. Putin will succeed if he creates a rift in the Trans-Atlantic relationship, if we see Europe divided from the United States. That would be a strategic victory for him and I intend on preventing that.”” — President Obama
Hi there, Bob. I read “the excellent article.” Thank you so much for sharing it with us. As always, our President demonstrates how he is so well grounded in reality. I wonder, where are all those admirers of Putin-both from the right and the left?
Thanks for the link, Bob. I’m kinda partial to Tim Ash’s quote as well. “Moves like this create systemic risks, the risk of panic among the general population, and surely risks major deposit flight. It makes you think whether they forgot to read the manual which came with the bazooka.” BOOM.
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/12/13/black-lives-matter-a-march-for-justice/#comment-1212946
In response to the vote, my choices are: Jan-C; Feb-E; March-C; Apr-A; May-B; Jun-B; Jul-B; Aug-C; Sept-D; Oct-A; Nov-C; Dec-B.
Good Evening TODVille.
Just picking this up now, NCLB. Thanks.
The restriction that got me that @JamieDupree linked to is that small/rural post offices cannot be consolidated.
Which is an admirable thought, but hasn’t Congress hamstrung the USPS by underfunding them?
I replied to this tweet with this question: where’s the restriction on raising the salaries of US House and Senate members and on number of days in recess?
You can’t help but smile when you see First Lady Obama smile.
NW, this is the best after-work tonic. Thank you!!!
*Cough* Where’s my Wayne pic? #PlumPudding
What! you didn’t see it?
Oh wow Chips…it was HOT!!! 😀
It was one of those pics that disappear after being posted. I instructed Suri to send you notification. Damn Apple witch!
Redirect this scorn to that woman in the iPhone. I did my part 😀
You’re welcome, GGail.
I don’t know if this can be done but I wish it is done & the Senate can all confront that imbecile coburn they are forces to stay due to his vile action
fat fingers on the phone hit send too quickly before I could edit;
meant to say:
so that the Senators can all confront the imbecile Coburn because they are forces to stay in DC due to his vile action
I love this visit were FLOTUS go read to the kids, Tis as the night before Christmas, and she take questions from the kids. That is so cool.
Child: Do Bo and Sunny have stockings? Mrs. Obama: They do. Everybody has a stocking in our house. Grandma, Malia, Sasha, the President, me, Bo and Sunny.But we’re not going to tell them what we’re putting in their stockings,okay. It’s a secret.
Thanks annieb. That’s so sweet.
Iran makes @nytimes home page tonight:
@ThomasErdbrink (the article’s author) RT’d this:
To BobFr:
I sent this tweet this morning because you are so right that only those in power can initiate the change we need:
Background:
This is so tremendous….brings so much warmth to my heart
Just RT’d your tweet, Arapaho. Have been at it since very early this am, but have only had limited time to check-in at TOD. TY!
All the familiar names of places and transit stations, from my many years in Sydney. I can feel the energy from here. {{{{{Australia}}}}}
Wackos are everywhere!
{{{{{ POTUS ❤ FLOTUS }}}}} So, so lovely, strong, kind and genuine. ❤
More on Russia and its relationship with oil (as oil prices plummet):
News next: Winter Solstice begins with the Sun moving into Capricorn at 6:03pm EST (3:03pmPST) on 12/21/14. Followed in short order by the new Moon conjunct the Sun at 0.06 of Capricorn at 8:36pm EST (5:36pmPST), also on 12/21/14. Let the Candles be alight, let the music flow ~ May our beloved First Family enjoy the event in the seclusion of the Hawaiian Islands, safe, warm and together.
hmmm, wonder if law of averages is about to catch up.
Dance away. You still have Fellaini to muck up things.
But that doesn’t matter any more because:
God, I love BBC Sporf.
Not as much as I love Daviiiiiiiiiiiid 😎
nike ad?
That is being used by a bad man on twitter who I just filed a report to on twitter. . .
Do I have brain damage? I do not understand this. . .
AP: Manhunt Not for Suspect in Pa. Killing Spree
The search for a Pennsylvania man suspected of killing six family members and injuring his son continued into the night Monday. (Dec. 15)
Man Utd can win the title – Phil Neville
lmao.
Haven’t you some scotch to not give wifey unit?
on a cognac run since y’day night.
Ireesh, I hope?
hellessy.
Heathen. 🙄
If 11 percent of China drank one bottle of Cognac per year, the entire Cognac region couldn’t produce of the liquid to meet that demand.
“80 percent of our profit comes from Asia,” says Bertrand Guinoiseau, Martell’s brand development manager. “My business card is half in Chinese, half in English”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/sethporges/2013/10/10/6-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-cognac/
I should have bought stock in the amount of Hennessy that I drank back in the day.
“My question for Senator Brown would be to ask how his proposed legislation would affect wage stagnation and job creation. Anything that destabilizes financial institutions could seriously disrupt the positive trends we’re beginning to see there. Overall, when it comes to income inequality, I tend to support efforts to build up from the bottom rather than tear down at the top. But I’m open to being persuaded that both might be necessary.”
Ok fine folks, I have an early and busy morning, so see everyone on the flip.
Dr Vivek is only 37? The youngest SG? daymn.
Yep!! 🙂
Two frat boys were stranded at sea in a life boat. On the 4th day, a mermaid came up out of the water and offered them one wish to save their lives.
The frat boys thought about it and one shouted out,”I wish the ocean was a sea of beer.” And it happened.
A litle while later the other one shouted,”Great, now we have to pee in the boat!”
To Bob
!rotinom ruoy edisni kcuts m’I ,pleH
😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
tough luck
🙂
Late as usual, so you probably won’t see this — my first job was as a teller in a bank, and we had those phones with clear buttons that you pushed to get the phone line you wanted.
A customer asked to use the phone, and I said sure. His response was “What line should I use? HELP. I’M. TRAPPED. IN. HERE.?
Some local kids had slid the paper that showed the phone line numbers, flipped it over and written those words and replaced it in the phone. I was in hysterics, but the customer didn’t seem to get the joke. I told him to press the HELP button.
😀
Ha! We have seen the future use for it, perhaps!
#Refreshing
Did anyone see the Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell tonight? At the end of the show O’Donnell talk about the boy scouts at a church in Alabama who raised over $18 thousands dollars for the K.I.N.D Fund in Africa. It is to help kids in Africa get desks to set in when they are in school, they usually have no desk and they would set on the floor. Well those same boy scouts raised over $15 thousands this year. How wonderful, it just made me smile with joy that those kids were doing this to help those kids over there. I don’t know either one of them, but I’m so proud of them.
Just dropping by & sharing this which you can play as you go through traffic as you drive to your loved ones for the holidays, or cooking, or whatever:
Seriously ….
#TrustBarack
bbl ….
Returned before departing for the night to note that this tweet is not hyperbolic.
What we’ve witnessed in the actions of Russia’s Central Bank may well be the signal of the total collapse of a Nation State’s solvency.
Remember how fast Lehman Brothers and Bear, Stearns disappeared? Those were banks, not Nations.
Should be an interesting next few days.
#TrustBarack (and, don’t ever mess with him).
Late as usual (there’s less than a half-hour to go on the east coast), but I just listened to Ryan Seacrest’s 8-minute radio interview with President Obama.
It was pretty entertaining, with PBO saying Michelle never wears any of the clothes he gets her for Christmas :(, but Malia is easy to shop for and at the end, PBO gets (another) plug in for ACA.
Note: Annoyingly you either need to sign up on the radio website or login using either Facebook or GooglePlus (which involves sharing your email address with them) — wish more sites allowed Twitter logins.
This interview with Seacrest is the best. 🙂
And then there’s Scott Joplin:
Goodnight, oh Mostest and Bestest Blog and bloggers, ever! This day is done. ❤
OMG! I just love this! At a shopping mall in Philly no less, Opera Company of Philadelphia “Hallelujah!”:
TY, Gazelle!. I always love these. This reminded me of the wonderful Christmas part of the Messiah. I had to direct this one as part of my final grade in my conducting class. I received an A+. Always love the holiday music, especially the Messiah.
Maybe Chips and all of our gifted lovers of art, science, music, poetry in our TOD family will have an “Evening of Thanks To Our Troops For The Holidays..” during this celebration for 2014. In great honor of support for our great President , Vice President, this too could be our gift of TODers gift of deep appreciation to our men and women coming home from Afghanistan. Beautiful dance, poetry, choral music, great art pieces etc.,
To share an evening with our TOD Family with a “TOD’s Evening of Elegance” in music, poems, quotes,, beautiful national parks, our parks, lakes, rivers, mountains, buildings, and all that our service men and women have kept safe for us during these last ten years plus. Sharing the Fine Arts and the Performing Arts at TOD during the holidays for our troops. Just saying. HZ
Wow, HZ! An A+! But of course! 🙂
Dinner tonight was homemade gnocchi served in a homemade roasted garlic, bacon alfredo sauce. I ate too much.
That sounds completely decadent, and so good… 🙂
Getting in the mood.
OK, I promise to stop this after this one! LOL! 🙂
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE
A-M-E-N!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don’t stop, Gazelle!!!
These are so heartwarming!! Thank you
Not Christmas, but one of my favorite flash mob musical events that I’ll always be grateful to Chips for sharing …
good night TOD
For some reason I just had to share another favorite that, through the past few years, we’ve all enjoyed together. I watch this quite often as it never fails to infuse hope and admiration for what our species must cherish and sustain for countless generations yet to emerge.
now, good night 🙂
Awesome, Bob! I shall return with more later! 🙂
Morning!
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/12/16/early-bird-chat-442/
Morning! Anyone awake?