On This Day: President Barack Obama and Sen. Ted Kennedy walk down the South Lawn sidewalk at the White House April 21, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)
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The Obama Diary 
Hi. Bye.
Congrats, AMK!~ Bye for now.
Congrats, amk!
Love that photo of PBO and Ted Kennedy, Chips – Ted surely came out for our President, in grand style! Miss him.
Look at you – all shiny & furstie! Congrats! đ
Wow. This is a serious must-read:
GM/GA 57F.
Thank you for this article. Explains why it’s impossible to engage in civil conversation with Berniebots, because they are incapable of seeing beyond themselves.
IMO it would be helpful to have mandatory community service for middle and high school students in any area that does not have a “protected” status under CRA (Community Reinvestment Act, i.e., non-redlined areas) standards and match each student with another of a similar age in an underserved community. This would apply to both public and private schools.
The service wouldn’t be onerous (e.g., no janitorial or dishwashing duties, etc.), but instead would match one privileged student to another of the same gender/gender identity (don’t want to encourage hanky panky for vulnerable students) in underserved areas — just ask them to hang out together and talk or play (non-video) sports to find common interests and discuss how to pursue those common interests. I think both students would benefit, and would give them the opportunity to see the world from a different perspective.
From the article:
“itâs a trainwreck that is painful to watch, but impossible to ignore.”
“I see in the overparented child and the growing number of college students protesting on campuses with sensitivities and demands that seem disproportionate to reality.”
“If we continue to walk on eggshells to avoid offending these hypersensitive young adults, we are empowering their victimhood status. If we continue to indulge their irrational demands, we are robbing them of the opportunity to learn how to function independently in the real world… “
Wasn’t this excellent? I sent a link to a very close friend with a daughter off to college in the fall, and also a 10 year old. Because she and her husband have done it right, against severe odds.
I have another friend who is the spitting image of what is described in this article. No sense even trying to explain it to her, although she’s now panicked about her kids going away to college. You never expected anything of them, did everything for them, intervened, kept them from developing healthy friendships in order to keep them with you to “keep them safe.” And we now have an entire generation of kids who can’t do anything. Great.
It’s the generation gap revisited I guess.
Wouldn’t wish the horrors of the Vietnam War and the drafting of teenage warriors again, but children of those who did live through that have no concept of not being able to be a perpetual student until they’re 30 or older (am constantly amazed at news reports of those in their mid- to late-twenties described as “students.”
Probably because I was raised in San Diego, but everyone I knew there knew someone killed in Vietnam, which was just awful. Kids these days have no idea what it’s like to possibly have your fate decided on your 18th birthday by the date you were born (draft lottery). đŚ
I don’t think any young person alive during the Vietnam war didn’t know someone who died and didn’t have first hand knowledge of the destruction of lives during that period. You could be drafted, but you couldn’t vote if you were too young or too black. I sat with my best friend, and we watched the lottery on TV. His number was 2. He joined the National Guard and was able to play flute in the band, but he was trained as a soldier, had to play warrior two weeks out of the year. Because by then we had already lost friends in the war.
Women were still called “a spinster” on a mortgage application, if they had a bank pay them any attention.
There were sooooo many assaults against individuals that required remedy. It was real.
I don’t expect “the kids” to get it. Did I appreciate the Depression, WW II, the anti-Semitism my parents and much old brother faced? Not completely. But I was taught about them. I was taught to be respectful of history and to learn from it. There will always be a generation gap. But without adequate civics and history being taught and assimilated into thinking and values, it’s very tough.
I believe there should still be a draft, or as Hillary and PBO dreamed of before her, a national service requirement. Hillary wants that in return for “free” tuition. It should be commonplace to serve your country. Mr. 57 talks about what he learned about the world, other areas of the country, other cultures by serving in the 60’s.
Now we’re chauffeuring kids all day and night because they’re too lazy to get a damned driver’s license, do their laundry, or mow the lawn. God, I sound old, don’t I? Sigh.
Not to me, 57F, LOL.
Appreciate your perspective, which I share and wholeheartedly agree with.
See my original response to you about national service — I think peer-to-peer is the best way to grow when you’re an adolescent. A lot of what adults say sound like lectures to you at that age, but to hear what *real* hardship is from someone your own age will motivate many to make an actual difference in lives unlike their own privileged selves.
So well said, arapaho.
Thanks, 57. It’s a great article that explains a lot.
I saw a LOT of this behavior from well-to-do parents and striving kids when I did college choice advising. My target clientele was kids with authentic learning disabilities and Asperger’s, but too often parents of kids like the ones described by Gopal had pushed for an LD label so their kids could get extra time on the SAT/ACT, not because they were truly learning disabled.
Quick question: I thought it was illegal for the DNC to specifically support a specific candidate in a race. A rabid Berner on Twitter made this statement, “The DNC spent $12 million just for mailers & on line ads 4 her. Glasshouse.” 4 her obviously refers to HRC. I doubt this is accurate. But I want to check my assumption here before responding.
Greetings, TODobots! Thursday blessings everyone! Sure I’m a bit late, but I’m here – somewhere – now. đ
GM/GA VC, my international sister đ
Jason Goldman’s explanation makes me proud of how “this” administration has supported “We The People” in many ways.
I apologize, but my initial thoughts upon seeing this breaking news were VERY inappropriate.
I love cities, but this is beauty surrounded by concrete trees!
Oh, JO’B, how I would love to be there. New York gets under your skin and into your bones and your always, always miss it.
Truth be told, when I was 15, I wanted to move to NYC and read my poems for James Baldwin. Ha. (These were poems which today sound like Hallmark greeting card verses written by a 15-y/o, but I digress.) Almost decided to work there in my 30’s, but wasn’t able to move, and the commute …
Sigh.
NOW: Hillary Clinton Participates in Gun Violence Prevention Discussion in Hartford, CT – http://abcnews.go.com/Live?stream=4
And here: http://www.cbsnews.com/liveFeed/widget.shtml
The Do Nothing GOP….
More urgently, Democrats say, is the lack of approval of Adam J. Szubin, the acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the Treasury Department, even as Mr. Szubin oversees Treasury sanctions that target some 6,000 people and institutions.
This is congressional malfeasance on a grand scale, PF. Voters who reflexively vote R are giving approval to malingering cowards who refuse to do their job, but accept payment from the taxpayer. Wake up, America!
NOW: Bernie Sanders holds rally in Scranton – http://www.msnbc.com/live-online/watch/live-sanders-rally-in-scranton-670796355604
General Dunford has the face that I would expect a General to look like. Focused
I somehow missed this whole brouhaha with the White House over this ad a few weeks ago. This might answer why she has started to slip in the polls. đŚ
Ohhhh, bad move there.
Bernie is so out of his league in this election. He is completely ill-prepared to be POTUS:
Not sure if this is true. I hope not
I think it’s true. May he R.I.P.
I was just about to post…I hope it’s just a false rumor…but I’m concerned that it isn’t.
It’s on this wiki page. So sorry, if it’s true (there have apparently been hoaxes about him, recently).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_(musician)
There’s a Death at Paisley Park by the Chanhassen Police. It has not been termed as Price. I hope not.
OMG Not Prince!!! đŚ đŚ đŚ
I don’t think it’s been confirmed by a credible department/source
Well then, I guess the Publicist would be credible. Thanks Donna.
RIP Purple One
OMG!!
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2016/04/21/death-under-investigation-at-princes-recording-studio.html
“Celebrities pay tribute
KATY PERRY
@katyperry44m
And just like that…the world lost a lot of magic ⨠Rest in peace Prince! Thanks for giving us so much…
Whoopi Goldberg
@WhoopiGoldberg28m
This is what it sounds like when doves cry.. Prince R.I.P. Condolences to his family & 2 us all
Leslie Jones
@Lesdoggg30m
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA NOT PRINCE LORD!! NOT PRINCE!!!
Olivia Munn
@oliviamunn30m
I got to see @prince in concert this past summer and I was blown away by his talents and his generosity to (cont) tl.gd/n_1sojdmi
La Toya jackson
@officiallatoyajackson30m
What a sad day today! Terribly sorry to hear that #Prince has passed! What an incredible talent we’ve lost! Another one going to soon! #ripprince
OMG! Nooooo!
http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/21/entertainment/prince-estate-death/
// ……………………………
Prince had a special relationship with Toronto, the city where he once lived. Just last month, he performed two concerts at the Sony Centre that had been announced only two days earlier.
REVIEW OF PRINCEâS FINAL TORONTO CONCERT:
Prince shows Toronto crowd he can play a purple piano as well as the guitar
In his review of one of those shows, critic Nick Krewen wrote, âIt probably comes as little surprise that Prince, the legendary singer and songwriter who is as prolific as he is enigmatic, is as big a monster on piano, technically speaking, as he is on guitar.
âFor close to 90 minutes during the 7 p.m. show at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts â his second two-show appearance at the venue within 10 months, announced only 48 hours earlier â the Minneapolis native revealed his prowess on the ivories as he performed a variety of hits, covers and yet-to-be-released material on a purple electric grand.
âItâs not that anyone doubted the multiple-Grammy-Award-winnerâs ability to dominate another instrument as well as the 57-year-old wields a guitar; itâs just that most havenât had a chance to see him work it proper, since the axe is usually his contraption of choice. And when he has turned to keyboard performance in recent years, itâs usually to embark on a medley of some of the abundant hits heâs harvested over a 38-year career thatâs been spread over the pop, rock and R&B genres.
And concluded: âthereâs little argument that Prince is King.â
……………………….. //
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2016/04/21/death-under-investigation-at-princes-recording-studio.html
How sad…
A 2-year-old Indiana boy fatally shot himself Wednesday evening after discovering a gun in his motherâs purse, authorities said.
The boy retrieved the gun when his mother âmomentarily stepped away,â leaving her purse on the kitchen counter, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in a news release.
âThe grieving mother is cooperating with detectives and after detectives questioned her she was later released,â the release stated. âThis incident is being investigated as a death investigation.â
Police who responded to the home Wednesday night found that the 2-year-old had suffered a single gunshot wound and was unresponsive. The boy was taken to a local hospital, but died from the shooting.
It was, police said, an âunfortunate tragedy.â
âObviously, this is an extremely difficult environment for the first responding officers and EMS personnel,â the departmentâs news release said, âand should serve as a tragic reminder to all gun owners to think about safety around small children.â
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/04/21/two-year-old-fatally-shoots-himself-with-gun-found-in-mothers-purse-police-say/
An “unfortunate tragedy” which could have been so easily avoided. Guns don’t seem to be very good at protecting the family.
How many ‘tragic reminders” do people need? How many times has this happened? I’m beginning to think people should be prosecuted. Negligent homicide.
I’ve got our local radio on for the latest, but they are playing non stop prince, so I have to assume this is not going to end in good news….
They’re doing that here in Atl too!
I won’t believe it until they say it’s him. This is just too sad, and he is just way too young.
No one dies of the flu at age 57. That’s I will say for now.
I just read a bit more, so it’s true.
Well, here goes… đŚ đŚ đŚ đŚ
^100000000000000000000
May he RIP. Very sad.
Breaks my â¤
Going for a walk đŚ
{{{Donna}}}
He was not a “pop” musician.
Prince has died.
I need to cry.
I. CANNOT. DEAL. He can’t be gone
I just went to read the lyrics to Purple Rain, and will listen to the song next … if you’ll bear with me, I wrote this yesterday about a friend who is having a disappointing time in her life that she wasn’t prepared for, and will share it here after learning of Prince’s death … since it seems to fit the mood of the day now, for anybody who was a fan of his (as my son and I were). I dedicate this to his musical genius, which will be missed.
***
Broken Clouds
The weather call said
Seventy-four and broken clouds
In Lexington
And I thought to myself
Oh, I know, I know
Broken clouds
Here and there throughout our lives
Broken clouds in our hearts and
Broken clouds in our souls
We hardly ever
Dwell on them
Or look at them
We press forward
Diverting our eyes and our minds
From the very sight of them
The very thought of them
But there they are
Memories of broken clouds
Splitting in two because of
The sunny days that fool us
Into thinking they are gone for good
Broken clouds
Broken clouds.
Thank you for sharing your poem, Jacqueline. 2016 has been brutal for creative people (esp. men) in their 50s and 60s. Gone too soon!
OMG! this is such a shock! After his brief hospitalization a photo that showed him riding a bicycle showed up a few days ago. We are loosing too many gifted people and we are only 4 months into 2016.
Wow, what a shocker about Prince.
You can’t find much Prince on youtube.
So, let’s smile and cry with the Charlie Murphy skit.
” Game..blouses..bitches.”
Thank you……i remember this never laughed so hard.
Beautiful comment, Whoopi
I thought he performed one of the best Super Bowl halftime shows….
WOW! Was able to get a quick nap and awoke to the news that Prince has left us. We never know when will be the day or hour… RIP, Prince.
My heart hurts!
The beautiful ones you always seem to lose…..R.I.P. Prince
LIVE NOW: Chelsea Clinton holds organizing event – http://www.msnbc.com/live-online/watch/live-chelsea-clinton-holds-organizing-event-670897731991
Purple Rain is Gone.
Doves Cry is weeping
So Sad. I am not able to do anything.
Sam Prince 3 Times. Just baffled.
He didn’t smoke, Drink nor part-take in any form of Drugs.
He was a Jehovah Witness Practitioner. I am feeling that his Flu like issue last week turned ugly. Pneumonia? No Medication might have killed him way too early.
I am just weeping.
or his heart, Neena. Pneumonia was my thoughts also.
Neena, you’re feeling and thinking what I’m feeling and thinking. I became concerned last week when our radio station KJLH mentioned Prince being taken off of his plane due to illness and now…today.
Bless him for providing us so much good music.
BET retweeted this!
Okay, I can’t… đŤ
This will be the only time I quote George Will (on open primaries):
“Parties are indispensable instruments of representation because they aggregate interests and articulate distinctive doctrines of justice. But parties cannot do this if they can be hijacked by drive-by voters with no durable interest in the parties, acting on transitory whims, or even to make mischief by burdening a party with a weak candidate.” – See more at: http://pmcarpenter.blogs.com/#sthash.j0a7MEMN.dpuf
Yeah, it’s not too often I agree with Wills, (never) but that is the truth.
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The last big concert that I went to was one held by Prince in what was then the new stadium in my city. My sister, who is a few years younger than I and was the one who turned me on to Prince, ran to the stadium like we were teenagers. Prince was going through his spiritual stage so while there was none of the overt sexuality of some of his earlier performances, this one was still electric, with all of his varied musical skills on display. This small man was the maestro, the magician, that held us in thrall. Unlike many, I do not need to run to ITunes or a record/music store to get copies of his music; I need only go to my CD collection and digital collections to pull a selection.
Today I am thinking of Janelle, and BeyoncĂŠ, and usher and many other young artists who were influenced by him. I never paid much attention to BeyoncĂŠ until I saw her perform on the Emmy’s with Prince. It was the first time that I realized that he actually had a voice that was not being well-served by the bubble gum music that she sang with Destiny’s child. She later talked about Prince giving her a music lesson and how he said that it was very important for an artist to be able to actually play a musical instrument an to be able to read music. It is amazing to me that some musicians who were into serious ‘sex, drugs, and rock and roll” can survive well into their 70’s, while others like MJ, Prince, Natalie, and Whitney leave us at much earlier ages. I am so sad and shocked.
“realized that she had a voice…” Correction.
New post.
https://theobamadiary.com/2016/04/21/legend-icon-trailblazer/
Watch A Rare Video Of Prince Debuting A Longer Version Of âPurple Rainâ In 1983
BY: ALEX GALBRAITH 09.02.15 â˘
http://uproxx.com/music/watch-prince-purple-rain-original-1983/