(1) Vice President Joe Biden, Dr Jill Biden, Sasha Obama and members of the Biden family pose on the pitch with Mia Hamm after the U.S. team’s 5-2 victory against Japan in the World Cup Final (Photo by Ronald Martinez)
(2) President Obama arriving in Kenya (Photo by Pete Souza)
(3) The President takes a selfie with his half-sister Auma Obama at the Safaricom Indoor Arena in Nairobi (Photo by Pete Souza)
(4) Dancing with sister Auma Obama, President Kenyatta, and others at the State Dinner in Nairobi (Photo by Pete Souza)
(5) Viewing the remains of “Lucy,” the 3.2 million-year-old fossilized bones of a human ancestor, at the National Palace in Addis Ababa (Photo by Pete Souza)
(6) President Obama arriving back at Joint Base Andrews (Photo by Pete Souza)
(7) President Obama smiles with Emma Didlake, the oldest known World War II veteran at 110 years old, in the the Oval Office of the White House. Didlake was a Private during the course of her service and her decorations include the Women’s Army Corps Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal (Photo by Yuri Gripas/Reuters)
(8) President Obama shakes hands with a vendor while walking in Central Park, NY (Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
(9) President Obama became the first sitting president to visit a federal prison in El Reno, Oklahoma (Photo by Pete Souza)
(10) President Obama walks down the Cross Hall with Vice President Biden after he delivered a statement on the Iran nuclear agreement (Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
****
The Obama Diary 
furst!
Well done petal
???? ok, what didja do now?
Well done, AMK! Such a wealth of stunning photos of the Obama Presidency… someday there will be a Pete Souza book on our coffee table.
IMO the most incredible lineup so far. Far and away love the one with PBO and sister Auma. Paleo Lucy pic is astonishing, as is PBO rolling up his sleeves in El Rino, just One star above him, memorables with Joe, gritty with vendors, happy with 110 year Emma, dancing on a Big night, little one with flowers, Women’s victory with Jill and Sasha. Wowsers, congrats.
two stars
above him
also. too. furst!
.
. .
lucy is ireesh.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35179269
The Ireesh came from Spain, Sardinia, the Middle East and a region now spread across Russia and Ukraine?
How come people from Spain, Sardinia, the Middle East and a region now spread across Russia and Ukraine don’t have red hair and freckles?
Although, apparently there is somewhere in Iran or Iraq (like Fox News, I confuse them) where all the people have red hair and freckles.
Interesting, thought I’d share 😎
Have I told you of Brother of LL’s heritage? 64% from Southern Europe, but 13% from West Africa. And 6% Ashkenazi Jew. Eventually I’ll do my own DNA test to see how we match up.
I love when they do that test on Finding Your Roots. My terror would be that I have ancestors from Liverpool. Or, worse, India.
amk is your long lost cousin.
My character has never been impugned in such a derogatory manner. 🙄
Fascinating
keeping up with the theme of the day….
Rare ‘corpse flower’ blooms in Australia.
http://www.bbc.com/news/35192049
The street children who run a newspaper in India.
A group of street children are busy in an unusual editorial meeting in a house in the Indian capital, Delhi.
They are bound by a shared passion to bring out Balaknama (Voice of Children), an eight-page quarterly newspaper which focuses on children living and working on the streets.
It proudly calls itself the “world’s unique newspaper for and by street and working children”.
Eighteen-year-old Chandni, the newspaper’s editor, joins the animated discussion over the content of the next edition of the paper whose circulation has gone up from 4,000 to 5,500 copies since she took over a year ago.
The reporters have either been street children or have worked as child labourers in Delhi and neighbouring states. They were rescued by Chetna, an NGO that works for the rehabilitation of street children.
By one estimate, more than 10 million children live on the streets and are forced into work in India.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35118791
grinding poverty. and our modi is busy signing multi billion dollar deals for nuke power and bullet trains.
What an amazing story. It takes a lot of organizational skill and talent to pull together a newspaper on a regular basis. I’m glad the BBC is giving these children some recognition.
Chips, I think the choices this year are harder than last year’s. I sit here being stumped every time you post more images. Every one of them is a work of art that brings back memories of some special time in PBO’s presidency and every one should get a prize.
Utterly impossible, Jackie. As someone said recently, how on earth do you choose between a heart-warming photo of PBO with a baby and a heart-breaking poignant photo like the one of him embracing the VP at Beau’s funeral? But going through them all, with the outstanding help of VC, is a reminder of what an amazing, eventful year it was.
I make my choices simply because I have to. But seriously every one of those pics for each month could be my #1! 🙂
Same here Hopefruit! I’m kinda closing my eyes and voting blind at this stage! 🙂
THIS!
Ad usual, every.one.is.amazing. However, this time my selection was almost instant because of the truly historic nature of it. Wanta guess? 😄😄😄
I just had some of Mother of LL’s turkey fricasse with arroz congris and am on my final Manhattan. Damn, I’m satisfied.
mama’s boy
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, turkey and rice with beans.
Sounds delightful!
Meh. Just eating a scrumptious takeaway:
so anything goes now is the new blog motto? jus’ checkin’.
Sez dude who posts photos of his unsuspecting neighbors 🙄
critters dammit, critters. Tomorrow I plan to walk into their homes and offer to take them for a walk… again, critters dammit, critters.
Oi, drop by my place and take the Danster for a walk! He had a four mile stroll on the beach yesterday and I need six months to recover!!
no problemo. just email the boy to me. I’ll straighten
himhis tail up in no time.You’ll have to bring Leia too, they’re Superglued together
oooo, I always wanted to meet Princess Leia ….. whaaddaya mean she is a dog?
I know about you boy people’s lust for Princess Leia, but for some reason Danny’s relationship with Leia the dog has remained platonic. I just can’t think why 😕
you didn’t tell me she has gorgeous teak wood legs.
Carrie Fisher is contacting her lawyers as we speak.
wwwhat? it was a compliment. wimminz/smh
Oooh, beef stroganoff?
Not sure really, looks a little like dog food.
Aw, d’you see Lemmy from Motorhead died?
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35192060#?utm_medium=twitter
Yes, I did. I’m conflicted. Didn’t he have a Nazi thing. But, Ace of Spades.
Jesus, did he???? Well, **** that, I withdraw my RIPness.
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/lemmy-on-his-nazi-collection-i-only-collect-the-stuff-i-didn-t-collect-the-ideas/
“….. my house looks like a shrine to Nazism. But it’s just my collection. I mean, you can’t put it all in the cupboard; it won’t fit. I only collect the stuff. I didn’t collect the ideas.”
Ooooooooooh, FFS!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah.
My RIPness is reserved for Meadowlark Lemon. Because I’m an ex-New Yorker.
(But how did Lemmy survive this long??)
LMAO at how you address your family members here. I can see you at your front door with the welcome, “Mother of LL, enter with that turkey fricassee!”
We’re a weird family.
So are we. 🙂
I picked the Leader – again 😎
van Gaal??!!??
he ain’t going away, is he? dutch tape.
Not THAT Leader 😀 😀 😀
I thought you fired him yesterday???
I tried GGail, I tried, but like the GOP with Trump, we’re stuck with him 😥
Good thing I have my ManU membership. I’ll fire off a few choice words to the ole dood
DISCLAIMER: No President was disrespected during the ogling of his physique
ma’am.
Uhm…
🙂
Ummmmm…I wouldn’t bet on that…
Has anyone heard from 99ts? Isee by the news there was a big train derailment of sulfuric acid in Queensland.
I noticed her absence too Yardarm. Check on her and report back please. Thanks
Yes ma’am. I’ll swim right over there and get you the 411.
Fair winds & smooth sailing Sailor 😘
Don’t hold your breath! wise-ass. 😉
Say g’nite Yard 💕
While he was trending – did anyone come up with any concrete ideas on how to put the Fear of the Vote into these elected officials????
You’d think a simple thing like VOTING EVERY DAMNED TIME would do it.
Please don’t get me wrong, GGail! I do agree with you that voting is absolutely crucial! But I don’t think that voting alone is the cure to the deep seated and vicious racism. I think in this instance, we need strong expressions of outrage and vocal organized protests. In my humble opinion, black progress has never depended on voting alone! Rather, progress has come as a result of righteous moral indignation and tireless, organized protest. Lest we forget, it was through righteous indignation and sustained protests that finally forced this country to grant people of color, and women of all colors, the right to vote. Our struggle for freedom and justice must utilize all means and not just voting alone.
Your key phrase “ORGANIZED PROTEST” which is an ALL of the above strategy.
Can you hear the sounds of tiny icy pellets falling joyfully? 😦 Also, I peeked out the window and the ground is covered in white and I can hear the wind dancing and twirling and having itself a gay old time. I guess I had best put away those t-shirts I had started to iron for forays outdoors. Oh well, it’s the end of December after all is said and done!
I take it you don’t have a work assignment to go to in the morning
Geez louise, GxG, for a minute there you gave me a couple of missed heartbeats!!!!!! I thought I had forgotten which day it was!!! Grrrr.
.
.
No, I’m off for the rest of the week – going back **next** Monday. Please have a care for my heart and for the fact that lately I’ve been getting my days mixed up.
😄😄😄😄😄
It is *not* funny! For a moment after reading your comment my heart actually missed a couple of beats as I wondered whether I *was* supposed to be going in tomorrow. Given that there are days when I’m not absolutely sure (without help from CC – not) what day it is, you can imagine my moment of panic.
Yo Chips, I see a pretty pants I’m going to get you for your summer birthday. It looks quite comfortable and very eye-catching!
Um, o……kay. May I have a sneak preview, please?
It’s the colourful one in one of the pics of the month above.
The one on the right in pic 4??? I WANT THEM!1!1!
*cough-cough* Can’t say definitively – don’t want to spoil the surprise.
Those certainly are some spectacular pants. You’ll have to give Danny a tranquilizer before your first appearance wearing them. The shock might be severe and we wouldn’t want any ‘accidents’. (Remembering what he did to that bear…)
smh
Ha! That’s a good one amk.
aaand I am outta here.
They finally caught this punk and his mother. Words are not fit to print!
http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/28/us/mexico-affluenza-teen-ethan-couch-detained/index.html
Good!
No contest: The Leader of the Free World, disembarking between Venus and Jupitee. That is the awesomest of all!! Well, except that one last year when he was looking out at the sunset over the Irrawaddy River in Burma. 🐻
So did you vote this time? 😀
Absolument! And that is Jupiter, not Jupitee! Of course no one noticed the wee typo –
I read it as Jupiter. We gotcha covered, MightyPamela! That’s why you’re so mighty. Well, one of the reasons!
Oh, I did, but what’s a wee typo between friends – the ‘e’ is right beside the ‘r’ after all. 😀 😀
Either new posts are coming up too quick or I am reading too slow, probably the later. Anyway trying to catch up to tell LL congrats.
Thank you so much,Bob, for sharing these tweets! I could fight the tears when I saw pics. Of Emmett Till and Tamir Rice, side by side. 50 years ago when the fourteen years old, Emmett Till was brutally murdered I was almost ten years,Till,s murderers, like the murderer of Tamir Rice, faced no consequences for murdering a young Blaxk person,! This is outrageous!
It is outrageous, nath. And, I weep every time I look at the juxtaposed images of those two innocent children and all those countless children of color who have been slaughtered, unaccountably, by my fellow white folk. I’m way to angry and emotional to post anything else.
Wishing you and your wonderful family a healthy and joy filled 2016, nath.
Goodnight, TODville.
Good night, JO’B.
I feel physically ill after reading about the prosecutor’s decision on the Tamir Rice case.
I feel the same way, Dudette! Once again, another Black family is sent a message that their child does not deserve to be treated like any other innocent child, or even more importantly like a human being entitled to justice! I know of many instances when prosecutors came down much, much harder on people who killed or mistreated dogs than they do to people who murdered innocent black people!
Came to post fun stuff celebrating John Legend, Stan Lee and Nichelle Nichols birthday. Just don’t have it in me right now.
So I’ll just leave this and see you tomorrow.
Good Night.
Good evening TOD ohana! Nice article here about the president’s visits to Hawaii, focusing on the boost he gives to tourism. Also a little video 🙂
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/30843435/obamas-annual-visit-a-boon-for-hawaiis-tourism-industry
Morning!
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/12/29/early-bird-chat-619/