Night Owls: Welcome To N.E.R.D.

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This is your introduction to the fantastic, AMAZING, freaking ridiculous N.E.R.D. aka ‘Nobody Ever Really Dies.’ Why are they amazing? Because they range from rock, to hip hop, to funk, to alternative.

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rise and shine

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From Bobfr:

Dear TOD,

Before launching a Twitter storm, which I think could be quite successful, wanted to share the idea with all of you.

The idea is TOTALLY inspired by HZ’s post of earlier today (see here)

All of the companies that provide advertising $$ to hatemonger Rush’s (and others) broadcast radio/TV should be challenged to channel those $$ to support, across the USA, the types of events/services for our troops that HZ outlined. They’d get enormous advert exposure – for something overwhelmingly positive – and they would be infusing their $$ into actions and not just hate-filled sound waves.

The tweets are rather simple and could easily become ‘viral’ – along the lines of “”USA – Tell ALL sponsors on @ClearChannel of #Rush to funnel their $$ to support #USATHANKStheTROOPS inspired by http://tinyurl.com/7b4h39f“”

And, it would be reasonable to contact Sandra Fluke and ask her if she would be supportive of the effort.

What do you think?

This is something a site with now more than 8 million hits should launch because you’d want as much immediate impact and sustained effort as possible.

I’m in – if you folks want to make it happen.

#PRESSON

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Bobfr, this is brilliant. You are our Twitter king, lead and we will follow!

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Remember this Michael D Higgins video from last week (it’s from May 2010)? Charles Pierce liked it, a lot:

“To close out an almost unimaginable week of conservative stupidity – that boothead judge out in Montana, Rush Limbaugh’s hocking up the foul weasel mucus from the bottom of his soul, the Blunt Amendment – a commenter brought this to my attention. The star of our show is Michael D. Higgins, president of Ireland. Playing the part of a pile of smoking meat by the side of the road when Higgins is finished with him is Michael Graham, a local talk-radio blight up here in Boston. Don’t bring that weak shit to Grogan’s on William Street, lad.

“A wanker whipping up fear.”

Good on ya, boyo!

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From yesterday:

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Will catch up later today, chat away everyone 😉

how to deal with a teabagger

Don’t think I ever posted this before, it’s an ‘exchange’ between Irish politician Michael D Higgins and that Tea Party-loving hatemonger radio guy Michael Graham on Irish radio from May 2010.

Don’t miss the last 5 seconds 😉

You can hear the full 21 minute interview here, if you’re interested.

Michael D Higgins was elected President of Ireland last year.

President Barack Obama presents a 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom to former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, Aug. 12, 2009

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Back later, chat away.

even more pete souza (and lawrence jackson) genius

President Obama plays with Bo aboard Air Force One during a flight to Hawaii, Dec. 23

….. making phone calls to 10 American service members stationed around the world, from his vacation rental home in Kailua, Hawaii, Dec. 24. WHCA Presidential Communications Officer CPT Mallory Fritz and Military Aide Lt. Col. Sam Price coordinate the calls in the background

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, along with Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden, descend the Grand Staircase before delivering remarks at a Hanukkah reception in the Grand Foyer of the White House, Dec. 8

….. greeting Kennedy Center honoree Meryl Streep in the Blue Room of the White House, Dec. 4

…… taking a picture of guests Marilyn Arleen Nelson and Glen D. Nelson during the Kennedy Center Honors reception

….. greeting Elie Wiesel in the Oval Office, Dec. 5

….. arriving aboard Marine One at Osawatomie-Paola Municipal Airport in Osawatomie, Kan., Dec. 6

….. greeting U.S. Military Academy Cadets during the annual Army vs. Navy football game at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., Dec. 10

…… returning from a Christmas shopping trip, Dec. 21

All official White House Photos by Pete Souza and Lawrence Jackson

More photos here

tribute

The Rev. Al Sharpton reads a letter from President Barack Obama to Xea Myers 11-year-old daughter of Dwight Errington Myers, later known as Heavy D, during his funeral at Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, N.Y., Nov. 18

NY Daily News: Even President Obama had nothing but love for Heavy D, the respected New York-bred rapper who was laid to rest Friday after a star-studded funeral in his Mount Vernon hometown.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, speaking during the service, invited the late rapper’s daughter, Xea, to the pulpit and read a statement to the 11-year-old.

“I want to read you something and I want you to keep this, Xea,” Sharpton said, before reading it and revealing that it came from the White House. Obama’s message offered condolences and praised the rapper for his “infectious optimism and many contributions to American music.”

The message drew a thunderous ovation from the 1,500 loved ones and friends gathered at Grace Baptist Church for the private service…..

More here

MTV: “We extend our heartfelt condolences at this difficult time,” the note from Obama read. “He will be remembered for his infectious optimism and many contributions to American music. Please know that you and your family will be in our thoughts and prayers.”

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The Only Adult

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Good grief, part 2,036:

YouTube

😆 Thanks Tally!!!

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President Obama meets with China’s Premier Wen Jiabao at the East Asia Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, November 19

…. with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra

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From the archives (2005):

Thanks for the reminder Zizi

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Oh blimey crikey, you people are something else – thank you to everyone who was able to contribute today to the TOD Obama/Biden 2012 fundraiser at OFA, appreciate it so much. We’re gobsmackingly close already to that $6,000 target:

Link

So, here’s a little Hey and Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi! to help push us over the line:

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PS:

Meabloom: Chips!! You forgot our Friday’s Good video. Following our amazing POTUS around must have you pooped. I forgive.

😳

a breakfast prayer (video added)

President Barack Obama and others lower their heads during an Easter Prayer breakfast with Christian leaders in the East Room of the White House, April 19

…with Vashti McKenzie of the African Methodist Episcopal Church

…with Texas-based evangelist Bishop T.D. Jakes

an inconvenient truth…

Really?

Politicususa: Beneath all of the Republican and Tea Party grumbling about taxes, one key fact continues to be ignored:

According to the Tax Policy Center, Federal taxes are lower than at any time since 1955. Obama has now reduced taxes by more than any president since Dwight D. Eisenhower.

According to the Orange County Register, “For the past two years, a family of four earning the median income has paid less in federal income taxes than at any time since at least 1955, according to the Tax Policy Center. All federal, state and local taxes combined are a lower percentage of per-capita income than at any time since the 1960s, according to the Tax Foundation. The highest income-tax bracket is its lowest since 1992. At 35 percent, it’s well below the 50 percent mark of much of the 1980s and the 70 percent bracket of the 1970s.”

The problem is that the tax cuts have not promoted economic growth and have caused the federal deficit to explode … The answer to America’s revenue shortfall is to raise taxes. The US revenue gap could be closed immediately with a tax increase, but Republicans and tea partiers go insane as soon as the prospect is mentioned…The Tea Party set believes to their core that they are being overtaxed, but reality doesn’t match their perception.

In fact, most Americans have no idea that Barack Obama has lowered taxes. According to a 2010 CBS News/New York Times Poll, only 12% of Americans knew that Obama has lowered taxes. 53% thought that he kept taxes the same, and 24% believed that Obama has raised taxes. Not surprisingly, only 2% of Tea Party supporters knew that Obama had lowered taxes. 44% of them thought that the President has raised their taxes.

The right believes this because they got the idea from Fox News and talk radio…..While the Tea Party takes to the streets to keep tax rates low for billionaires, Barack Obama has lowered their taxes to historically low levels.

The bottom line is that beneath all the GOP spin the fact remains. Barack Obama, not Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush, is the greatest tax cutter in American history.

Full article here

‘war in libya: why we had no choice’

DB Grady (The Atlantic): …There are many ways to describe U.S. policy toward the Arab Spring. “Cowboy diplomacy” is not one of them. President Obama gambled that Tripoli would collapse under the weight of a tyrant 40 years overdue for retirement, as Tunis and Cairo did before it. The president avoided every appearance of hostility, imperialism, or American interest in the region…..

….however tarnished, the U.S. is the last superpower, and in times of crisis, the world still looks to it. The choice was to bear witness to an atrocity, or to end it. President Obama chose the latter.

….The argument follows that the United States is somehow hypocritical for bombing Libya but not the other oppressed Islamic nations using violence against its citizens. The implication of this position is that the choice is either war everywhere at once, or no war at all; the president appears to have answered it with a policy based on patience and opportunity, one country at a time…

….protesters elsewhere in the Arab world might be emboldened by the coalition’s willingness to prevent atrocity. There is some cleverness in striking Libya instead of Bahrain or Yemen….

…Why Libya? Because the struggling revolutions elsewhere need time, and Libya buys that time. The winds of change that swept through Tunisia and Egypt have slowed, and need invigoration. The departure of Moammar Qaddafi and the dawn of a new Libya will provide it. President Obama has taken a long view of the Arab Spring. Change will require patience, and patience is now policy.

Full article here