On This Day – Pete Souza: “From early spring to late fall, the light in the Oval Office is fairly consistent with the sun high above the horizon during the day. But during the winter months, the sun is lower and splashes through the back window in the early morning and late afternoon. Here, in the midst of the morning light, the President talks on the phone with British Prime Minister David Cameron.” Feb. 13, 2012
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Today (all times Pacific)
11:20: The President delivers remarks at the Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection, Stanford University
12:20: Participates in a roundtable with business leaders, Stanford University
4:40: Delivers remarks at a DNC fundraiser, private residence, San Francisco
****
On This Day
President Obama honors National Medal of Arts recipient Al Pacino in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, February 13, 2012
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama walk down the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington, February 13, 2012
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President Obama runs to the stage before speaking to workers and guests at the Linamar Corporation plant in Arden, N.C., on Feb. 13, 2013, as he travels after delivering his State of the Union address
****
MoooOOOooorning!
The Obama Diary 
FURST.
egg.sack.lee
Good West Coast morning Chipsticks & TOD family. Happy Friday 😊
Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooal morning GGail!!
Goooooooooooooooooal morning to you too Chips!!!!!
That’s a very supportive, we-are-in-this-together hug PBO and MLO are sharing! I truly ❤ this couple back, front, inside and out! 😀
Thanks, Ms Chips for your unflinching loyalty and commitment to these two outstanding world citizens!
Yes, it makes you heart smile, doesn’t it?
Yep! 🙂 🙂
{{{{{{VC}}}}}} Good morning to ya, VC!!!
😀 😀 I ❤ ❤ getting two GMs from you….. and hugs too!
Definitely better than flowers, Amk! Eat you heart out!
Eating segue ••► I’m off to have breakfast.
She gave you chicken along with the flowers? O well, enjoy! No jealousy here, as it’s way too early for *my* stomach to accommodate chicken
who said you are getting any? #allmine
#yelsewouldyoubewavingitinmyface #yesallyours #ugh I’m off to eat something more appropriate for breakfast
Meta, go do security detail for PBO and report back to us!
IF ONLY!! I’m not sure where he’s staying because I see they’re blocking off the area near the Fairmont but he usually stay at the Intercontinental in SOMA.
BUT!!!! I just found out his fundraiser tonight is in my neighborhood!!!! OMG, I just have to walk a few blocks and think I may be able to see what’s going on!! Now I just need to guess the timing……I’ll take a walk down there a bit later to see if there are preparations being made. Wish me luck!!
Meta, if you get close enough, ask his point guy/gal for the TOD tickets to the WH tour. We require special tickets. 😀
Good point, vc. We need the inside tickets. I’ll see what I can do. Maybe a plate of cookies will help.
I never thought of that! And some of your brownies, but take one of your signature pastry box along and after they have looked at them to convince themselves all is well, box them. (If you arrive with them in a box they may be initially suspicious.)
Meta – how exciting to have PBO so close!! I hope you catch a glimpse!
Ooooh meta! How exciting! Good luck!
Morning again. The EB Chat today is so chock full of information, it would take the rest of the day to process it. This really is the go to place to keep informed about everything.
perfect.
GE amk.
As DF said, perfect.
It’s perfect in so many ways — every MSMer should be asked this question to see the consequences of their “reporting.”
It’s also perfect because it was penned for the Charlotte Observer, just down the road from Chapel Hill (and just over the Great Smoky Mountains from our TNmtnGirl).
In CA terms, it’s as if Los Angeles said this about San Diego (which would probably never happened, since these two communities prefer to act like the other doesn’t exist — SD being a waystop to underage drinking in Tijuana for Angelenos, LOL).
gm TOD
Our stock market went up over 2% today. I have no idea why so I blame Obama.
Will the dow hit 18000 today?
PM Abbott fired the party whip today – seems he blamed him for not keeping the back bench in line – or whatever.
Our new state government starts tomorrow
Grandbabe is visiting tomorrow
Sometimes Life is good
So that’s my news – not quite up to Nerdy’s standard 🙂
I’ll be back in my morning to check out the US news – enjoy the day with PBO
They’re so simple.
They really do tickle me.
………………….
Perry: US Wants More Than ‘Young, Attractive’ Orator Obama
DOVER, N.H. — Feb 12, 2015, 9:16 PM ET
By HOLLY RAMER Associated Press
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday that voters have had enough of a “young, attractive” and inexperienced president and will be looking for a proven leader in 2016.
Perry, who is considering a second run for president, wrapped up a two-day trip to New Hampshire with a speech at the Strafford County Republican Committee’s Lincoln Day Dinner. While he repeated his warning that GOP voters shouldn’t nominate a “critic in chief,” he had plenty of criticism for President Barack Obama, saying his lack of executive experience before becoming president has hurt him and that he hasn’t picked up many management skills on the job. The nation is ready, he said, to move beyond “eight years of this years of this young, very attractive, amazing orator, junior U.S. senator.”
“I don’t think they’re going to go there,” Perry said. “They’re going to go to a tested, results-oriented executive who has a record of accomplishment.”
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/perry-us-young-attractive-orator-obama-28935049
So I guess Rick Perry is saying, hay try me I’m better then that young attractive, great orator Obama. What a joke Rick Perry is.
Jealousy is a horrible disease that seems to have afflicted so many white men. Obamacare has a cure 😉 Get on board with PBO and you’ll feel better in no time.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/koch-strategy-liberals-115163.html
After trying and failing to make the Koch brothers the focus of the mid-term election, Democrats are digging deeper into the billionaire brothers’ operations to combat their prodigious fundraising and making them the focus — once again — of the 2016 election.
Representatives of several powerful Democratic groups — from unions to abortion rights activists and environmentalists — gathered behind closed doors on Tuesday to take the next steps in plotting a strategy for dealing with Charles and David Koch’s plan to raise and spend more than $889 million over the next two years.
More at the link>
Making the Kochs the focus is a sure path to huge Democratic defeat.
Negative messages only work on GOP.
Dems get off their sofas when they believe their concerns are being heard and their needs being met.
VPOTUS had the best message yesterday. The economy is surging, families have reason to hope, let’s keep it going.
Even if I seem monotonous and one-note only I believe in this message. If we had done this in 2014 the mid-terms could have turned out very differently.
I see the DEMs are now permanently DEAF, DUMB, STUPID and want to LOSE.
All that koch money aided and abetted 24×7 noise couldn’t derail Obama. The dems are taking a wrong lesson from 2014 as usual. Sigh. It’s the messaging, you stupid.
amk Corporate Dems do not want to win. They have entirely gone over to the other side. Call me crazy. You saw the $250,000 payments to buy Dem votes for Keystone? That’s what I’m saying.
yup. you can count honest dems with your hands tied back.
GM DF,
Another example of how the MSM treats our national election as a horserace for cash, not as something meaningful for its citizens.
Gah.
❤ ❤ _^..^_ ❤ ❤ 2:00 this afternoon. Many blessings. ❤
Hugs and love to both of you.
MP I have escorted several animal friends to the rainbow bridge, never easy, thoughts and prayers with you today.
Thinking about you today, MP Hugs to you and the furry friend who has given you so much comfort,
{{{{{MP}}}} ❤
MP, it’s so difficult to lose a devoted companion, a true life-friend.
May you gain some comfort in knowing that most of TODville has been where you and your kitty is today. 😦
((( MP and _^..^_ )))
((((hugs, love, prayers))))) MP & kitty. I’ve been in your shoes five years ago and I still miss my JoJo. I held him and thanked him for being just a wonderful pet, companion, and friend.
Alabama’s ‘Redneck News’ Reports On Changes After Gay Marriage (VIDEO)
An intrepid citizen journalist in Blount County, Alabama posted a video to Facebook on Wednesday reporting on the changes to his state after legalization of gay marriage.
With a handheld camera, “Redneck News” anchor Jeremy Todd Addaway walked viewers through his property to survey any possible damage after the state ended its ban on same-sex marriage.
“This pile of brush is still here, and there are no homosexuals layin’ on top of it, doin’ homosexual things,” Addaway said.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jeremy-todd-addaway-alabama-gay-marriage
This is funny. Although he says he did see a couple of ” suspect squirrels ” doing something….
Good TGIF Morning TOD!
4 Day Weekend Baby!!!!!!
Good Morning Folks.
Safe travels LDS and warm thoughts for CanadaBarb for a speedy recovery.
LOL. They really are something.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/02/ted-cruz-president-obama-stimulus-lawyer
There are few members of Congress more opposed to using government funds to boost the economy than Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). As a candidate in 2011, he blasted President Barack Obama’s job creation agenda as “yet another rehash of the same big-government stimulus programs that have consistently failed to generate jobs.” Government, he went on, “doesn’t create jobs. The private sector…creates jobs.” In office, Cruz has inveighed against the president’s “failed stimulus, which reminds us that jobs are not created by the federal government”—a message he’s sure to repeat if he launches a presidential bid, which looks more likely by the day.
But before entering politics, when he was a $695-an-hour lawyer in private practice, Cruz once delivered a full-throated defense of the stimulus spending he now condemns. In a little-noticed legal brief Cruz filed in July 2009 on behalf of the Texas Retired Teachers Association, he argued in favor of the legality and constitutionality of the Texas state government using federal stimulus money to cut a one-time $500 check to some 250,000 retired teachers. Moreover, Cruz touted the economic benefits of the payments and noted that they would help fulfill the mission of Obama’s stimulus. These $500 checks, Cruz wrote, “will directly impact the [Texas] economy…and will directly further the greater purpose of economic recovery for America.”
If we had a honest media, it wouldn’t be hard to document dozens (hundreds?) of lawmakers who did exactly the same thing.
Back when I watched @Maddow on a regular basis, my favorite (in being appalled by) segments were those which posted photos of the many lawmakers posing with giant faux-stimulus checks, grinning because they achieved success in getting district to suckle off the government’s teat.
G’morning Chips, TOD, lurkers, everyone, and even amk. Thanks Chips for a wonderful Friday R & S roundup! 🙂
POTUS’ Buzzfeed video is now over 21M views in LESS than 24 hrs! 🙂 🙂 #ThanksObama
Great news! So good when PBO gets his message out. 21 million! OMG
The feckless media tries to claim that he’s unpopular..yet all his videos are instantly viral with mostly positive reactions – year after year after bloody year. Somehow the two things don’t jibe…
PBO is unpopular….to the GOP, MSM media, haters, and faux news watchers which is most of their viewers and electoriate. PBO is very popular to over 50% of the population.
Actually, people you mentioned know perfectly well that he is quite popular. That’s why they hate him so much. They tell themselves that he’s unpopular to make themselves feel better. But deep down, they know the truth…
Uhm…er…WTF?!?!
yeah, I KNOW. Look at the amount of jewelry on her.
HRC came out of hiding briefly today with an op-ed in the NY Times co-authored with Bill Frist a Republican.
Subject was need to retain S-CHIP.
I have no argument with this bland piece but I do find it interesting that it is a non-controversial issue written with a Repub. Lady Walmart is making certain nobody confuses her with a Liberal or Progressive actual Democrat.
Unlike PBO and YOLO hopefruit mentioned above, this newspaper article will be read by very few. I didn’t actually read it. Please. I noted it.
PBO Buzzfeed—worth many looks.
21 million, that is why some is criticizing POTUS about the BuzzFeed video.Talking about how he is damaging the office of the president. They know the BuzzFeed video is reaching people who might sign up for ACA.
Yeah, like having a 21st century president in a codpiece is so presidential. Bah.
“Some” will criticize any and everything PBO does. It is wonderful to see PBO bypassing the corrupt msm establishment and communicating directly with the American people. PBO is working around the MSM’s attempted blackout of his Presidency/message to great effect.
Teaming up with Bill Frist is just another reason to stay clear of HRC.
IIRR, isn’t frist considered one of the decent repubs?
no. without anyone asking him to, he “diagnosed” terry schiavo from video clips he saw in “the news” and used her family’s tragedy for what he perceived as political gain:
he’s another silver spoon-fed republican with his dad starting one of the largest health insurance companies in america, which makes billy mega-rich. this company has been preying upon the public and profiting enormously for decades now by denying people healthcare as an “insurance” company, despite he and his family all went to medical school and became doctors.
Oh, ok. Thanks. Wrong memory then.
and this is who hillary is wants to associate with. can’t wait for lanny davis to be all over “the news” now too. #Thanks Hillary
wants to be ‘popular’ with all those ‘hard working’ murkans again? #triangulation
She is a horrible politician with bad political instincts/strategy. She seems to be attempting to run a general election strategy before even winning the Dem primaries. It makes no sense.
True. It’s in her nature. Can’t ‘change’ that.
The article is not bad it’s just that both act like a crisis is on the immediate horizon when in reality Congress has until September to reauthorize S-CHIP and they both admit ACA would be able to fill the void in most instances.
First was another example of MSM fawning over one of their own — elite, culturally progressive (i.e., women and LGBT parity) that they praised to high heavens.
One of the reasons I’m grateful/addicted to TOD is that I’ve had my eyes opened up, that I learn so much here.
I now how to recalibrate all the media pieces I read before joining TODville to sort through the MSM lies over the decades.
yup, this place will set you right, alright. 🙂
Don’t forget that his family business was HCA Hospitals…. The same company that received the highest fine in US history for bilking Medicare . Gov Rick Scott came from there also
Geez.
WTG, HRC, teaming up with another Rick Scott — still cannot understand how a convicted fraudster/swindler got elected twice by FL.
Some are considered decent on the surface….which is just a cover for their shady dealings underneath.
Read his wiki page starting at section 10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Frist
Two more days for ACA enrollment and this So-Called Democrat is talking about a health initiative that isn’t Obamacare!!!!!
With a RW Corporate stooge.
CEOs of Facebook, Yahoo!, Microsoft and Google snub Obama’s cybersecurity summit
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/item/40672-ceos-of-facebook-yahoo-m
Someone named John Kennedy wrote this . I have no clue who he is , but apparently he thinks Executive orders need to be approved by Congress….. ” Whether Obama’s executive order stands any chance of getting through Congress is another question. The clear signal right now is the White House and Silicon Valley do not stand united on cybersecurity. “
of course, these same self-important libertarian turds will kiss the ass of chinese and eu and say, you boss, whatever you say boss.
lots of other folks willing and quite capable of taking their spot.
Yep.
I’m with amk.
These liberatarian emoprog dudebros (aka elite white males) are more dangerous than the RWNJ dog-whistles — our despicable MSM can’t get enough of them and “report” on their meaningless greed.
Good Morning BFF and TOD.
been noticing some new faces in the secret service details. the new director is shaking things up.
I’ve noticed a lot of new faces, too. They seem to rotate fairly often now.
Look at that baby’s face. It’s like he’s smiling at an old friend 🙂
Just adorable.
Said last night to Meta that there haven’t been many babies to greet PBO at recent events. Can’t get enough of PBO with babies. 🙂
Aha! I’m glad PBO stayed in this stately hotel at the top of Nob Hill. That explains why there was such a weird re-routing of traffic and public transportation. Thanks, JER.
JER, once again – you come through with the 411. Thanks!
/waving/ Good wc morning to you, GxG! I notice the speakers at this summit insist on mentioning the good weather in CA, but *I* refuse to give up my brisk and very cold Friday (since I can’t).
GM vc (I’m late to TOD this morning, so am moseying down this thread talking to myself, no doubt, LOL).
Depends on whether you define good weather as a typical mid-February day or one that’s here because of climate change.
MTMarilyn had a discussion about the weather last night (60 degrees in Missoula yesterday, just not right for February) — and this is our second heat wave of the winter — low temps hovering around 70F (which is warm in the summer here) and daytime highs in the mid-80s.
In the recent past, you shouldn’t be able to see down the block in SF because of the bay fog, even during the summer.
Move along, climate change deniers, nothing to see here (as the northeast is bracing for another bone-chilling blizzard — the ying and yang of north American weather, apparently).
WC morning, Arap.
I define good weather as whatever ‘good weather’ we get whenever we get it regardless of what we *should* be getting. My feelings are that we *will pay* when the bad weather comes so I’m all for enjoying the ‘good’ when it’s in play. No sense tainting the good with thoughts of the bad – kinda like how I feel about thinking of 2017 now while PBO is still president. I generally don’t.
Exactly.
I banish any thought of 2017, one of the reasons I’m so adamantly opposed to 2016 candidates now, with the except of @VP Joe.
More proof of how MSM is crawling deeper into the pockets of GOP/Comcast/Kochs — simply because Dick “dick” Cheney didn’t run in 2008, media dismiss @VP’s ACCOMPLISMENTS — apparently being a Senator at the earliest age possible, being a humble (i.e., not high-flying) Senator taking public transit to work for 36 years without a hint of actual scandal (that plagiarism frothing was all MSM fever) does not qualify a Dem for being President — yeah Yahoo Tundra Twit, Lying Ryan, Rand “conspiracy theories” Paul, Newt “grifter” Gingrich, Rick “oops” Perry, ad nauseum are worthy of national speculation and donations from this country’s most greedy and heartless.
Saudi Arabia has suspended operations at its embassy in Yemen, as the security situation in the country deteriorates.
It is the first Arab country to suspend its diplomatic mission. Many Western embassies have also closed.
The Saudis have long played a key role in Yemen, but their influence has been shaken by a recent political takeover by the Houthis, a Shia rebel group.
The Houthis ousted the US-backed government last week.
In a statement Saudi Arabia said its staff had been evacuated from the embassy and had “arrived safely in the kingdom [Saudi Arabia]”.
Germany and Italy also joined the diplomatic exodus on Friday, following decisions by the US, Britain and France to end their missions.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-31457402
Russians are feeling the pinch. Some talk of salaries being frozen. Others worry that they might lose their jobs. Food prices have gone up. The rouble’s value has plummeted. Some landlords – and even taxi drivers in Moscow – insist on being paid in dollars.
So the question is, has this squeeze affected support for President Putin and his government? The euphoria over taking Crimea has long subsided – to be replaced by a bleak mix of bloodshed in Ukraine and an economic downturn.
The news that the Minsk talks have managed to get agreement on a ceasefire will be greeted with relief by most Russians.
But I would caution those in the West who assume pressure from sanctions has been the key to bringing President Putin to the negotiating table. Belts may be tightening. But it’s not clear Russian views of their government have been radically altered.
My sense is that over the last six months opinions here were not altered by the deepening Ukrainian crisis, but became more entrenched and polarised.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31437007
Of course, the first grafs are facts. The last two are bridget kendall doing ‘analysis’ based on some say. #airhead
I agree AMK. The economic pressure was designed to hurt the Russian elite, and it is. Any threat to Putin would come from the Russian Oligarchs who would have the power to overthrow him, not the ordinary Russian citizen (who may be more steeped in propaganda than Americans). This writer appears to be playing dumb.
she is dumb. only ‘optics’ matter to her. lyce doucett is the only one worth listening on beebs.
Messenger of God: Indian critics pan guru film.
Jamkhandikar advises you “to leave behind every ounce of common sense or sanity that you possess” if you go to see the film.
“The pot-bellied, hirsute hero who wears the most psychedelic clothes known to mankind can turn bullets into a crown, swords into rose petals, produce electricity from the palm of his hand; and while doing all this, gambol in meadows with bunnies as women dance in the background,” she writes.
“MSG is an unabashed propaganda film, one that never tires of telling us that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh is God’s own child who has been sent to earth to rid it of evils such as the drug and flesh trade.
“This is a movie that is so bad, it’s good. It is horrifying and hilarious at the same time. So what do you get out of it? Three hours of disbelief plastered on your face that you cannot wipe off, no matter how hard you try. Go watch it if you want to get astounded.”
LOL. Us indians will never get tired of being bamboozled by the various gurus and saints.
emergency oscar award meeting. lmao.
now, if only the kenyan had been a reeel murkan.
Waiting for the President
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B9vBX9HCUAAZZ7J.jpg:small
@TRYDC
WHO IS COVERING THIS?
12:00 PM EST – White House Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection http://www.whitehouse.gov/live
beebs asked me to try their new ‘exciting’ website. 36-point blaring headlines? No, thanks. (but, I am sure they’ll thrust it in my face fersure)
Pervez Musharraf has said that under his regime, Pakistan had tried to undermine the Afghan government led by ex-president Hamid Karzai for helping “India stab Pakistan in the back”.
“In President Karzai’s times, yes, indeed, he was damaging Pakistan and, therefore, we were working against his interest. Obviously, we had to protect our own interest,” the former military ruler said in an interview published on Friday.
Spies in Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence had given birth to the Taliban after 2001 because the Karzai- government had an overwhelming number of non-Pashtuns and officials who were said to favour India, Musharraf said.
“Obviously, we were looking for some groups to counter this Indian action against Pakistan.
“That is where the intelligence work comes in. Intelligence being in contact with Taliban groups. Definitely they were in contact, and they should be,” the 71-year-old former dictator told The Guardian in his luxurious home here.
http://www.rediff.com/news/report/isi-cultivated-taliban-to-counter-indian-action-musharraf/20150213.htm
Sooo, how is it working for ya now, perverse?
Taliban militants have attacked worshippers at a Shia mosque in the Pakistani city of Peshawar with guns and grenades, killing at least 20.
Police killed one of the militants in a gunfight around the mosque, in the wealthy Hayatabad district.
Another of the militants blew himself up with a suicide vest, and a third was arrested, police said.
Two weeks ago, another attack on a Shia mosque in Sindh province’s Shikarpur district left more than 60 people dead.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-31451201
Amen, let it be so!
I read this and with great effort controlled my natural feelings of hope.
It is possible that a deal will be reached.
It is also possible that a deal will be reached Before Bibi the Unwanted gets to our shores.
That would have Bibi the unhinged spitting bullets.
😀
Does anybody know why Obamafoodorama shut down her blog?
I was wondering about that too, meta.
CAN’T GET IT…WILL CHECK VIDEO LATER…:(
You might try this live stream via youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlTo9hFAFXs.
Livestreaming now.
OH, I wish I knew this was happening!!
#Obamafever here too
http://www.rediff.com/news/report/why-obama-the-coolest-president-ever/20150213.htm
I think PBO JUST FLEW RIGHT OVER MY APARTMENT!!!!
And WHOA, was that low! Shook a bit!
Chat away!
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/02/13/chat-away-517/