****
Your January Winner:
(4) President Obama waits with Sergeants at Arms and Members of Congress before entering the House Chamber to deliver the State of the Union address. Standing with the President are, from left: Paul Irving, House Sergeant at Arms; House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.; Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.; and Terrance Gainer, Senate Sergeant at Arms (Photo by Pete Souza)
****
Your February Winner:
(7) President Obama helps First Lady Michelle Obama off the stage after thanking the White House chefs during the State Dinner for President François Hollande (Photo by Pete Souza)
****
March
(1) President Obama talks on the phone in the Oval Office with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the situation in Ukraine (Photo by Pete Souza)
(2) President Obama plays with 5 month-old Vann Carroll during a visit with wounded warriors and their families who were touring the White House, in the East Room (Photo by Pete Souza)
(3) President Obama lets a little boy listen to his heartbeat with a stethoscope during a classroom visit at Powell Elementary School in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Pete Souza)
(4) President Obama with Pope Francis at the Vatican
(5) President Obama with Pope Francis at the Vatican
(6) First Lady Michelle Obama rides a toboggan at the Great Wall of China in Mutianyu (Photo by Amanda Lucidon)
(7) First Lady Michelle Obama hugs daughters Sasha, left, and Malia as they visit the Great Wall of China in Mutianyu, China, March 23, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon)
(8) First Lady Michelle Obama, daughters Sasha and Malia, and Marian Robinson feed apples to giant pandas during their visit to the Giant Panda Research Base in Chengdu, China (Photo by Amanda Lucidon)
(9) President Obama tours the Colosseum with Barbara Nazzaro, Technical Director & Architect of the Colosseum, in Rome (Photo by Pete Souza)
(10) President Obama looks at Rembrandt’s “Self-portrait as the Apostle Paul” as he tours the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (Photo by Pete Souza)
****
April
(1) President Obama walks with Lincoln Rose Pierce Smith, the daughter of former Deputy Press Secretary Jamie Smith, in the Oval Office (Photo by Pete Souza)
(2) Children help President Obama to his feet after he sat on the floor to have a group photo with them during a U.S. Embassy meet and greet at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila in the Philippines (Photo by Pete Souza)
(3) President Obama views the scene of the mudslide in Oso, Wash., from Marine One (Photo by Pete Souza)
(4) First Lady Michelle Obama hugs family pets Sunny and Bo, right, during a video taping in the Map Room of the White House (Photo by Amanda Lucidon)
(5) President Obama reaches down to 6-month-old Sabina Johnson, from Beaumont, Texas, who was visiting the Oval Office with her uncle, Elbek Elibaev, for his Make-A-Wish visit at the White House (Photo by Pete Souza)
(6) President Obama and the Easter Bunny listen as Cam Anthony sings the national anthem during the annual Easter Egg Roll (Photo by Pete Souza)
(7) President Obama visits with children following the Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride on the South Lawn of the White House (Photo by Pete Souza)
(8) President Obama stretches to shake the hand of a little girl during a U.S. Embassy meet and greet at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila in Manila, Philippines (Photo by Pete Souza)
(9) First Lady Michelle Obama visits with families working on crafts at Maryland Fisher House IV at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md (Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
(10) Carolina Garcia Delfin, 94, a Filipina nurse who fought in the resistance against Japanese forces during World War II, kisses President Obama after he mentioned her in his remarks to American and Philippine troops at Fort Bonifacio in Manila, Philippines (Photo by Pete Souza)
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The Obama Diary 
Whaaaaaat…First!
Congrats NW…and Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Merry Christmas to you and yours too, Swbluega!
🙂 Was so busy voting, forgot to Leave A Comment! ⭐ NerdyWonka, how good does first look on YOU!! ⭐ ❤ bye y'all, for a while, bak son.
Congrats NW. Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones and thank you for all the joy, along with poignant information, you contribute to the TOD community, daily.
Awww…thanks so much, Sir Bob.
Thank you also for all the information you provide on TOD which makes us constantly aware and knowledgable.
Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season.
Thank you, dear NW!!!
It’s a miracle!1!1!1! 😆 Nerdy, thanks a TRAZILLION for posting this, and haaaaaaappyyyyy Christmas again!
And Happy Christmas to everyone!
Hahahaha! Merry Christmas NW and congrats on First!
Some people shouldn’t have so many choices and I am one of them. I don’t think I will be disappointed with the pictures that ultimately win.
Merry Christmas everyone! And special thanks to our incredible insouciant Blog Mistress Chips and her companion in arms NerdyWonka!
Special greetings to Danny: may some of your toys last another day.
Merry Christmas on this great getting up day to all you O’s! Have an exceptionally great day in TODville, where ever you are!!!!
Merry Christmas Cookemom – and long no see! 🙂 Glad to have you back!
SO glad to see you, cookemom!! Merry Christmas!
You too Cookemom. Where have you been? So glad you popped in. Merry Christmas!
Good to see you, cookemom! Thought of you often while you were out and about!
Thanks for letting the snow fall for today 😀
Happy Christmas
WOW.
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2014-year-in-review/year-pictures-2014-n268806
#51…Kim Jong Un with a batch of “lubricant”…..the look on his face…you might want to skim past this one. Big creep factor. Huge.
alright I admit, I went with the bunny ears 🙂
Me too! I was like this is what speaks to me today, at this moment. It’s iconic. We will know him by those ears. They are all so cute. WooHoo! Whichever wins. I loved the pic of Flotus with Bo too. Merry Christmas one and all. Much love to you and yours. Hey Chips and Nerdy Wonka. Thank you. You are much appreciated. Chips I thank the stars every day that you started this blog and then asked NW to be your right hand. You guys rock! What would we do without the other main street TOD villagers who keep us informed and laughing, and encouraged even through the tears at times. I find so much to be inspired by here.
Happy New Years.
Everything you said elo- I agree with 🙂 Happy Holidays to you!
So did I :D. I think its an iconic picture. I also went with the pope #4 because I love seeing them laugh together.
Me, too. Laughter makes the world go ’round!
I did, too! But my second choice got #1 (so far). 🙂
Holidays
Christmas Day Celebrating the birth of Christ.
Events
1964 James Bond Goldfinger premiers in the U.S. It was 3rd in the James Bond series and starred Sean Connery as 007.
1868 Civil War Pres. Johnson grants amnesty to all those who participated in the war, including Jefferson Davis.
1776 American Revolution Washington makes his famous crossing of the Delaware to attack the Hessians in Trenton, New Jersey.
1760 First black in America to publish his own poetry Jupiter Hammon publishes An Evening Thought.
1758 Halley’s Comet As predicted by Sir Edmund Halley, it arrives. This was the first time a comet’s return had been accurately predicted.
800 Emperor Charlemagne is crowned at St. Peter’s.
Births
1954 Annie Lennox Scottish singer, with the Eurythmics. Music: Sweet Dreams (1982, #1).
1949 Sissy Spacek (Mary Elizabeth Spacek), American Oscar-winning actress. Film: Carrie (1976) and Coal Miner’s Daughter (1979, Oscar).
1948 Barbara Mandrell American country singer. Music: Sleeping Single In a Double Bed (1977, #1). She was the Country Music Association’s Female Vocalist of the Year (1979) and Entertainer of the Year (1980 and 1981).
1946 Larry Csonka American Football Hall-of-Famer, Super Bowl VIII MVP.
1946 Jimmy Buffet American singer, songwriter. Music: Margaritaville (1977) and Cheeseburger in Paradise (1978).
1945 Gary Sandy American actor. TV: Somerset (Randy Buchanan) and WKRP in Cincinnati (Andy Travis).
1937 O’Kelly Isley d. 1986 American Grammy-winning singer, with the Isley Brothers. Music: Twist and Shout (1962), This Old Heart of Mine (1966), and It’s Your Thing (1970, Grammy).
1924 Rod Serling d. 1975 (Rodman Edward Serling), American Emmy-winning writer. Film: Planet of the Apes (1968, writer). TV: The Twilight Zone (producer, creator, and host) and Night Gallery (host).
1918 Anwar as-Sadat d. 1981 Egyptian president (1970-81), Time magazine’s Man of the Year (1977), and co-winner of the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize (with Menachem Begin).
1907 Cab Calloway d. 1994 (Cabell Calloway), American singer, bandleader, actor. His orchestra was one of the leading bands of the 1930s and ’40s. Music: Minnie the Moocher (the first million-selling jazz record).
1889 Lila Bell Acheson Wallace d. 1984 American publisher. She and her husband DeWitt founded Reader’s Digest (1921). It obtained the largest magazine circulation in the world.
1887 Conrad Hilton d. 1979 American hotel executive. He bought his first hotel in Texas in 1919.
1880 Johnny Gruelle d. 1938 (John Barton), American children’s author, creator of Raggedy Ann (1917) and Raggedy Andy (1922).
1876 Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah d. 1948 Indian statesman, founder and first governor (1947-48) of Pakistan.
1821 Clara Barton d. 1912 American nurse, philanthropist, Mother of the Red Cross. Known as the “Angel of the Battlefield,” she helped organize and was the first president of the American Red Cross Society (1881).
1642 Sir Isaac Newton d. 1727 English mathematician, philosopher, astronomer. He discovered the three laws of motion, the law of gravity, and invented calculus.
Deaths
2006 James Brown b. 1933 American soul singer, “The Godfather of Soul.” Music: I Feel Good (1965) and Living in America (1986).
2005 Birgit Nilsson b. 1918 (Birgit Märta Svensson), Swedish soprano, famed for her roles in Brunnhilde, Salome, and Elektra.
1997 Denver Pyle b. 1920 American actor. TV: The Dukes of Hazzard (Uncle Jesse) and The Doris Day Show (1968-70, Buck Webb – Doris Day’s Father).
1996 JonBenét Patricia Ramsey b. 1990 American child beauty pageant queen, murder victim. Her murder in her Boulder, Colorado home drew national attention.
1995 Dean Martin b. 1917 (Dino Paul Crocetti), American singer, actor, partner of Jerry Lewis. He boxed professionally under the name “Kid Crochet.”
1977 Sir Charles Chaplin b. 1889 British silent film actor who endeared audiences with his “little tramp” character. He also co-founded United Artists (1919).
1973 Ismet Inönü b. 1884 Turkish statesman and its first prime minister (1923-37) and second president (1938-50).
1952 Dinty Moore b. 1869 (James H. Moore), American restaurateur, known as the “Corned Beef and Cabbage King.”
1946 W.C. Fields b. 1880 (William Claude Dukenfield), American actor. Film: You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man (1939) and My Little Chickadee (1940). Quote: “A thing worth having is a thing worth cheating for” and ” ‘Twas a woman who drove me to drink. I never had the courtesy to thank her.”
795 Adrian I b. ???? Italian religious leader, 95th Pope (772-795).
Ukraine FM Klimkin’s Christmas/New Year’s greeting could not be more meaningful. Crimea will always be Ukraine and the photo is stunningly beautiful.
Yes We Can
What a fabulous image!
Hope you enjoyed/are still enjoying your holiday, Bob!
Thank you Jacqueline. We’ve had a lovely day and are now settling in for a restful night. I hope the same for you and all your loved ones.
Such riches for March and April! Thank you for this review…..again, the choice was difficult…..but, I also will be happy with whatever picture is chosen for each month. Hope everyone is having a relaxing day………
These people are so incredible. How many of us would survive the conditions, the lack, and give birth to Joy and Wonder, while laughing and smiling. I am humbled before them.
Perfectly, beautifully stated, MP. I feel the same. Thank you!
It is I, who thanks you, SirBobfr!
IN_DEED ….
Merry Xmas, friends. Just finished picking up the house as my friend’s coming over for movies and then out to dinner afterwards.
oh, that is funny!
Merry Christmas, Chipster:) h/t WashingtonMonthly 🙂
Bob, thank you SO much for this international news. How wonderful are the messages of peace! AND…..a child born on Mt. Sinjar…..a baby to me, is always an affirmation of life and hope. I feel these people feel that way about this baby. May her life be blessed with peace in the near future.
“…. a child born on Mt. Sinjar…..a baby to me, is always an affirmation of life and hope. I feel these people feel that way about this baby. May her life be blessed with peace in the near future.”
Agree, Carolyn. Thank you!!
Boy, it sure is hard to choose, although the one of PBO and the P I ope alone is so iconic. I believe it will be historic as the two of them are. And the one with the Filipina nurse is so touching. I believe there should be a whole section for PBO and children. There isn’t one that doesn’t show his love shining thru.
This is Christmas Day Chips hope you are having a wonderful time with your family. Our children were here for breakfast and then they go to their in laws. We are having a quiet day and then dinner with friends. This is the first time we have had a quiet restful Christmas, I love it.
DON’T WORRY…I DON’T HAVE ANY FAMILY HERE……………
Merry Christmas Sue.
Very very hard choices for March and April but I voted anyway.
GA TODville, Merry Christmas to one and all (including Lockwasright, who is holding down the fort at work and getting extra $$$ for doing so 😉 ).
Bobfr posted this upthread, but it was in Italian.
DF posted this article earlier today. It’s encouraging that President Obama is getting some recognition for his accomplishments — but what stuck me was the toon (by the article’s author) that appears on the website with this article.
Everything I’ve seen says that “Selma” is THE movie of the year:
Also, thoughtful review by @nytimes @aoscott (he just phoned in his “The Interview” review):
From the review:
“I have rarely seen a historical film that felt so populous and full of life, so alert to the tendrils of narrative that spread beyond the frame. While entirely satisfying on its own, “Selma” seems to contain the seeds of at least a dozen other movies… ”
and concludes:
“… warm, smart, generous and moving in two senses of the word. It will call forth tears of grief, anger, gratitude and hope. And like those pilgrims on the road to Montgomery, it does not rest.”
So much talent amidst so much hardship …. inspiring ….
what choice of photo will I make – hard question, harder choices!
What a lot of trouble to get two words out! /patting on the left shoulder/ Merry Christmas to you, LPlains!
….and to you as well, VC!
love it.
Got it from the local desi Mensa group 🙂
excellent geek stuff.
interesting stuff!
Happy holidays, Global!
Coming in here very late, but just had to comment on this irrationally fabulous Xmas greeting!
By the way, if anyone got stuck on line three, like I did (forgot all my logarithm/number E stuff) This helped to refresh my memory (it would have driven me crazy, otherwise 🙂 )
http://www.virtualnerd.com/algebra-2/exponential-logarithmic-functions/natural-logarithms-base-e/natural-logarithms/convert-exponential-to-natural-log
some regard Christmas as the holiday of Peace on Earth;
photos of PBO and Pope Francis reminds me that the last we heard about the search for the resolution to Israel – Palestine entrenched conflict was when SoS Kerry was visiting the Vatican.
wondering if there are continued secret meetings going on that may also be later be revealed to have included the Team Obama working with the corporation of the Vatican;
well may be I dream given how Bibi seems to be more focused on the short term politicking & pleasing his loudest & most radical members of his populace;
Linda, the involvement of the Vatican with President Obama’s team that resulted in the seismic shift in Cuba, US relations is, for me, an absolute assurance that Pope Francis and President Obama are working the Palestinian, Israeli crisis, big time. The Pope’s invitation to President Peres and President Abbas led to, in June, a remarkable ceremony, as you know ….
Have little doubt that every day since that gathering that all three of them are doing everything possible to create a sustainable two state solution.
I also think that Bibi is finished as PM. Israelis can see for themselves that they are being more and more legitimately considered a pariah state and that they will never have peace if they continue their current cruel treatment of non-Jewish Israelis and Palestinians.
you are correct Dr. Bob (as usual);
I connected the Cuban Policy shift to the visit by these two leaders to the Vatican & related it to SoS’ Kerry’s visits – we live in hope for a better world where a few leaders strive for peaceful resolutions to entrenched problems so that all of humanity can grow and thrive
“… we live in hope for a better world where a few leaders strive for peaceful resolutions to entrenched problems so that all of humanity can grow and thrive …”
IN_DEED we do, Linda. Thank you!!
Watched Midnight Mass from Bethlehem last evening, and noticed that Pres. Abbas was attending. May have been an Israeli rep, as other faiths and governments were also represented, but not sure. Anyway, Peace on Earth!
thanks for that heads up! I will look more closely at the faces of the attendees. hope something is in the works on that conflict, too many dead, too long in for people to live that kind tension-filled life
Agree!
Very good to know that President Abbas attended, Jacqueline. Thank you!
#CorporateGreed is why most Americans aren’t enabled to thrive and truly enjoy their life ….
Spoke with the store manager at our neighborhood Safeway. Very pleasant person and my comments began with ‘I know you’re not responsible for the store being open.’ Then stated that ‘evil persists when good folk remain silent’ and stated that I’ll never set foot in the store again and will encourage all my neighbors and friends to do likewise. She said the folk working were ‘volunteering’ and receiving ‘holiday pay,’ to which I responded they should have received that ‘holiday pay’ plus a day with their families and if Safeway wanted to be neutral regarding religious holiday celebrations then they could provide the same pay and day off at Thanksgiving (they were open then, as well). She was touched.
We will only have the quality of society we want if we band together and make it happen. If we focus on #CorporateGreed & #TruthAndReconciliation we will quickly realize just how interconnected avarice, fear and racism are and how the #Kleptocrats leverage fear and racism in service of their avarice. We’d also never see a US Federal Government operate a #TortureRegime ever again because America would stop waging wars of choice (Vietnam, Iraq) & when confronted with an evil like 9/11 would approach whatever military response with the precision demonstrated over and over again by President Obama. Oh, and BTW, we wouldn’t be fueling the kind of fierce hatred for the US that our immoral, #NEOCONSTER support for Israel has generated in thousands of Madrasa, world wide – 9/11 being the off-spring of that hatred.
Yes We Can
Thank you Bob. I didn’t know they were open today. We have 2 Safeway’s in our town and last month they were bought out by local owners. So excited to have local ownership.
Local ownership really matters, Marilyn. The manager with whom I conversed told me that Safeways in Alaska and Idaho closed for the day and she admired them for doing so.
Merry Christmas to Chips and all at TOD. Peace and happiness to all at this wonderful site.
And the very same to you Anna, thank you so much!!
that was hard, but I made choices for my photos & FINALLY voted;
Na Merry, Merry Christmas to everyone at TOD!
Late to the village, sure, but not too late to share my hope that you’ve all had/been having a very, very …!
Any day spent with one of the grandkids makes it a very, very…
And you, my dear, are never late…whenever you show up is the perfect time.
‘whenever you show up…
Is that for **me**?
Aaaw, you can be so sweet, Japa!
Of course it is for you. And I can be, but not very often so best to enjoy when it happens.
O I started enjoying it right away, in case it was taken away even as I tried to decide if it were mine. 🙂 🙂
And here is of the very few others that can brighten any place merely by showing her face, as it were.
Hey, good save 🙂 Happy Christmas to you and your family, Japa!!
Geez louise, don’t you have anything to do than following the chap around, checking how he breathes in and out! /slapping hand down./
No!
🙂 Happy Christmas VC!!!
Thanks, Shugah! I trust you and my nephew have been excellent guests at your x-mas dinner.
New post!
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/12/25/2014-jacquelineoboomers-most-memorable-moments/
thx bt.
It just screamed you, so I had to buy it! Happy Christmas Mister!
I would have preferred ireesh eggnog.
It’s rude to complain about the gifts you receive, so hush now.
I want an exchange.
Only when your gift arrives. /Waiting
look for it in the next thread. ..
or look for a puddle of water.
Now, about mine….
I repeat: We can discuss exchanging your dinosaur-murder-scene sweater for Ireesh egg nog ONLY when my gift arrives.
you mean it hasn’t reached ya yet. DONT LIE.
It’s a helicopter!1!1!1 Aw, thanks Amk – do you have the tracking number?
what fracking tracking number? ask the courier/santa.
You haven’t sent it yet, have you?
look, a guy could do only so much.
wimminz /
smhGAH.I hope everyone had a wonderful day no matter how it was spent.
VC, Why not have weighted voting? I wanted to vote for pics # 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8 9.