(2009, Photo by Pete Souza)
In case you were worried President Obama is home alone – na, Bo’s with him 
(NYT)
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President Barack Obama will meet with the four congressional leaders on Friday as Congress on Thursday was poised to miss the Dec. 31 fiscal cliff deadline.
The White House meeting is with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio); House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nv.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
More here
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Check the 0:34 mark – the first President, surely, to sing along to a Led Zeppelin tune? 
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Hiya everyone, the blog should be back to normal – crikey, whatever that is 
– by tomorrow evening, I’ve been away from home all week so, as you might have spotted, the updates haven’t been too regular at all, at all, at all.
Meanwhile, how are ya all doing?
Thanks!! You’re awesome
Hellooooooooo Taiping!!!! Hope you had a blissful Christmas!
Christmas was great but working these two weeks. Lots of colds, bronchitis, and back pain. But got to go Vietnam and Cambodia first two weeks. School kids everywhere were great waving hello to our group.
Ah Taiping, I forgot you were on your travels, what amazing places to visit. Ugh, so sorry you’ve been feeling so unwell, hope you’re getting better?
No I am fine. Seeing patients in clinic: the only ones who come in this time of year are those who are sick. After all, who wants to see a doctor during the Holidays??
Can’t believe I’m first. Just checked prior to going home. Keep tweeting and calling everyone: time to expose GOP as suicide bombers ready to take everyone down.
Good to see him with Bo keeping him compnay
love Bo
Hello everyone! Congrats t1.
Watch over him and keep him safe Bo.
And here’s our once in a while feature: LL’s menu de nuite
Pork chops, brined in olive oil, soy sauce, minced garlic, and ground ginger
Oven roasted garlic potatoes
Honey glazed carrots and green beans
Now, I will admit: I cheated on the potatoes and veggies. They’re already prepared at Fresh n Easy; I just stick them in the microwave and poof, they’re done. But the marinade for the pork is one I came up with today, and it is quite yummy. Pan sear the chops, 4 minutes to a side, then stick them in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Succulent.
“I cheated on the potatoes and veggies. They’re already prepared at Fresh n Easy”
This is my response to you:
Submit to the cuteness!!!!
Crikey, John Terry shrank a bit
:O
That is why you’re not a children’s librarian! That video is unquestioningly squee-worthy! I’d pay good money to have her at my Storytime.
All I hope, LL, is that in about 20 years time she’ll sue whoever filmed & posted the clip for $678 million, and will turn up to collect her loot in a United shirt.
Yeah, Sir Alex WISHES he had cute little 3 year old girls singing about Man Spew! Instead he has his ruddy nose, his wine collection, and the gerbil that lives on Wayne Rooney’s head.
Oh, and the debt that the Glazers will Never.Pay.Off.
PBO was groovin’ on some Zeppelin:) Bonnie Raitt was gettin’ into it:) Love Bonnie Raitt…saw her in concert in Providence, RI….she’s awesome. Cooking dinner…checking back….
Loved it! I’, a big Zep fan, so that made me smile.
Me, too:) ALWAYS been a LZ fan…still am:) I smile and remember…
Me too, I was the youngest of four kids, and my older sibs were always listening to Zepplin. So anytime I hear it I am filled with warm fuzzy childhood memories. My favorite of their songs were “All My Love”, “Thank You” and of course “Stairway to Heaven”.
The President was groovin’ to the Led Zeppelin music covered by Lenny Kravitz!
Hanging here with all o’ y’all: in process of moving 1,689 photos from iPhone and 3,687 photos from iPad to poor old MacBook… Is MacBook happy, well no, not really. It hasn’t had to work so hard in years! (hmm, kinda like the GOP fops)
I’m thinking from now on it might be wise to move the photos more often.! How I do love Bo, giving up his Hawaii water time to help PBO on the job. What a good dog he is!
Oooooooh Pamela, that is one yucky job! And I always manage to lose half of what I’m trying to transfer in deepest cyberspace
Best of luck!!!
I guess the good thing might be with that many photos, it likely I will never even know if I lose a few! HaHa, sure did have lots of duplicates of pix I am certain were from TOD! Laughing all the way! Pete Souza will have to publish more than one book to cover the 2012 campaign! I reckon!
How cool, POTUS had his arm around FLOTUS as he was singing the Lep Zeppelin song.
Kravitz was really rocking it. Who was the guy playing the guitar? It remind me of Slash, was it him.
Lenny is sexy. The guy wasn’t Slash….but he was damn good!
Yes he was desertflower. Yes he was.
I think I’m gonna like this new senator from Hawaii:)
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/12/27/1378241/new-hawaii-senator-climate-change-the-most-urgent-challenge-of-our-generation/
Me too DF. Huge Obama supporter, my kinda Senator!
I really like the new senator from Hawaii! He seems to be a very genuine caring person. I also think the governor of Hawaii did a very smart thing by avoiding to treat a senate seat as some kind of hereditary inheritance to be awarded to the deceased Senator’s choice. If he had done so this would have, in my humble opinion, set a very bad precedence.
Absolutely spot on Nath…
Ted Kennedy did not designate anyone to his seat even when he knew he was dying…
I too think it would have set a very bad precedence…
Spent a couple of weeks on Maui after Thanksgiving. I was impressed with everyone and the energy they have directed to wind, solar energy, and the elimination of plastic bags, and proud to discuss and talk about it. They trully love their island paradise.
The dame who is a born loser.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/dec/17/hewlett-packard-meg-whitman
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20855660
rethugs should recruit her for presidency.
ACK, I despise that idiot woman.
Full disclosure: I’m writing this on an HP laptop, which may be the best computer I’ve ever owned. But, yes, California dodged a bullet when she spent $100m of her own money and couldn’t convince us peons to put her in Sacramento.
And on a culinary note, my pork smells AMAZING.
I had an HP laptop. The worst computer I had ever owned. I realized how crap HP was when I switched to a MacBook and how really really really really really really CRAP HP was, when I switched to a MacBook Pro.
She’s horrid…
A female version Mitt Romney only possibly slightly more sociopathic and narcissistic than Mitt if that’s possible…
He actually mentored her…
In what? Lying?
In 2010, I was so proud of my state. While most of the country seemed to be going mad electing corporate sponsored right wingers and tea baggers, my state, CA, defeated two big names, corporate sponsored candidates, intent on buying the elections: Meg Whitman for Governor and Carly Fiorina for the U.S. Senate. Can you even imagine where this country would be if those two had won in the most populous state in the country? Although we have our share of the crazies, like Darrell Issa, California, we are still very sane.
She got her butt handed to her in California. I doubt if she runs for any office in the future. She was like Robme only she spent $170Million of her own money which made it all too sweet when she lost to Jerry Brown. Meg is the female Mitt, or Mitt is the male Meg.
Well, at least he got to spend Christmas Day with his womenfolk. I know that they treasured that.
On the Lenny Kravitz video was that the guy that leads the music on Letterman’s show waling on those drums? Wow he was gettin’ it!
It is actually…
Paul Schaeffer? I thought it was him. Didn’t even know he played drums.
It’s not him.
That’s more like it. Thanks!
Well he sure is talented! I like his spirit
Just watched again and I don’t think it’s him…
This drummer looks a tad younger than Dave’s band leader…
I’ll have to watch it again for the 11th time. The first ten times I couldn’t get past Lenny. NAUGHTY MAT NEEDED!!
This whole situation is just insane. If it wasn’t so serious, it would be hilarious just how inept Boehner and his toadies are. I mean, seriously? And I am really stunned at how many otherwise intelligent people are brainwashed bythe likes of Faux Noise and the far left nutters that they can’t see what’s really going on here.
I’ve always had a deep respect for PBO but I have to say, that has really increased 100fold watching him deal with this insanity with preofessionalism and grace. He has the patience of a saint.
he is a saint. I would literally bitch slap the whole bunch of them!
You go girl!
Sorry, I assume gender. I have found out here that names are not always the best indications of gender. Kind of strange sometimes to think of someone as male then find out they’re female and vice versa.
I’m with you on this one, almablanca, may be we are old school! I think we can be forgiven…
I hope so. My son laughs at me when I tell him I remember when the milk man delivered bottled milk in a horse drawn cart.
I remember the bottled milk deliveries to our doorstep, but not by horse drawn cart. I also remember when the “huckster” from a farm in the country brought fresh vegetables to our city street each week in his old farm truck (because my aunt, his neighbor, sent him since my mother loved fruits and veggies – sounds like a trick Mrs. Obama would be involved in, to make city kids healthier!). Am I old?
No Now that I don’t live in the big city anymore, I see that it is quite normal for the surrounding rural communities to set up small organic markets wherever they can find a spot. You are not old, just wise.
I’ll take that, even though the “wise” memories I shared were from the 1950s. Ha! Good morning to ya.
But the problem is on both sides…..Ask the media pundits and talking heads. They know who they are. Besides faux and half of teacan and the few on the front end of msnbc!
LOL yep…I am sure many of us have had that same desire. I’m sure he has daydreamed about it.
Yes. he does, Rain, and the sad thing is to think about how much he could accomplish, how far ahead the country would be, how robust the economy would be if he even had a half way sane House to work with.
I was thinking this just today, again, jg. There really is no excuse for the distortion and criminal behavior on the part of many of our “lawmakers”, who for no valid reasons have chosen to do nothing at all in the face of many challenges we face as a species! Not to mention all the plant and animal life which cannot defend themselves from us. It is tragic, really. Where do the 1% and the lobbyists think they will hide when the entire system collapses due to their incapacity for realism? They cannot live on the money when there is no Earth to provide for us.
Yes, I agree. It is sad. They are hurting us all.
“He has the patience of a saint.”
Indeed, Rain. He is one of the rare human beings who could deal with this insanity without loosing his mind or his grace. I’ve been around for some time and I’ve never witnessed any other Congress treating previous Presidents the way the majority of the GOP treat President Obama. This Republican dominated House of Representatives is by far the worst House of Representatives in my lifetime. It may even be worse than the 1950′s McCathy era Congress. I know of no other President, besides President Obama, who had to deal with an opposition party, controlling one House of Congress, that was dedicated to destroying his presidency, no matter the cost to the country.
It seems to me that the Republicans have decided that in order to save the United States, based on their right wing white supremacist ideology, the country must first be destroyed.This is also seen as a way to punish the majority of Americans who had the audacity to elect Barack H. Obama as President of the United States for two terms. It’s patently obvious that the GOP, having failed to unseat President Obama, has decided to go for broke in order to deny him any measure of accomplishments in his second term. American people be damned, the teabag/right wing dominated Republican party has absolutely no shame or qualms sending the U.S. economy into a Depression. That’s because the vast majority of the people in the GOP believe that destroying President Obama is more urgent, and more important, than destroying the U.S. economy. After all, those bank-rolling the GOP, like the Sheldon Adelson and the Koch brothers, have very little to fear; their billions will still be pretty much secure.
Our challenge, as enlightened citizens, is how to effectively fight back to have the President’s back and to ensure that our country is not destroyed! The President needs us to help protect the country against the forces intent on destroying it because they hate him.
What can we do, besides what we are already doing with trying to open as many eyes as possible to the sick truth of what they are really about, and really trying to do? I will happily take on the task, for President Obama and the future of our nation. Even other members of Congress and the House see it, and are calling the offenders out on it, yet they stubbornly persist. Is there formal action that can be taken? Surely their behavior and obvious motives warrant some sort of official action? But I admit I don’t know what that would be exactly.
Rain, you ask a very good question. I confess that I don’t have a well formulated answer. But, here are some of the things we should consider. Most of them we are already doing and we must continue to do:
1. We must continue to put pressure on members of Congress (via phones, e-mails, faxes, tweets, etc.) to demand that they put the interest of the country above their ideological interests.
2. We must continue to push back against the unethical MSM that misinforms Americans by suggesting that both sides are to blame in the impending economic disaster.
3. We must avoid temptations of trying to pile on the President based on the negative stories peddled by the media and by the holier than thou progressives (emoprogs). Rather we need to defend the President’s thoughtful and common sense pragmatism of trying to solve problems in a deeply divided government.
4. We should target vulnerable Republicans to entice them to support the President’s sensible policies such as enacting legislation to continue tax cuts for 98% of Americans and extending unemployment compensations for hundreds of thousands of people who still can’t find jobs.
5. We should recruit good candidates to run in those Congressional districts where Republicans are vulnerable. At the same time we must stress the importance of voting and financial contributions during the 2014 congressional elections with the goal of electing Democrats majority in the House of Rep. and increasing Democrats in the U.S. Senate
6. For the people on tweeter, Facebook, etc., we should follow the example of Bobfr, UT, AMK and others by trying to spread truth to a much wider audience and thus challenge the corporate media monopoly on news.
7. We should seriously consider “Direct Actions” (e.g. Demonstrations, Congressional sit-ins, boycott of biased media, etc.) in support of the President’s agenda.
We must start now to recruit good democrats for next election and we must do all we can to take back the house in 2014. If republicans lose election after election, they will learn to respect the will of the people. The good thing with democracy is that each person has a vote even billionaires have one vote each. The right wing has declared war on the American people and we have to fight back.
LAS VEGAS A teenager arrested last week with an unloaded assault rifle at a Las Vegas high school has been linked by counterterrorism investigators to another local teen who federal authorities said stockpiled guns and explosives and spoke about staging a mass casualty attack.
Police already were looking for 18-year-old Jake Benton Howell when he arrived at his former school on Dec. 21 with 40 rounds of ammunition and a 7.62mm SKS rifle in the back seat of his car, according to a police report released Thursday.
Authorities had been checking reports that associates and friends of Steven Matthew Fernandes
http://m.cbsnews.com/storysynopsis.rbml?catid=57561048&feed_id=0&videofeed=36
Top 40! Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.
EXACTLY! Many also want to destroy the country because they hate President Obama so much and would do everything to ensure that he gets nothing done on behalf of the vast majority of Americans. Any success by President Obama has in taking care of the needs of Americans is viewed as a threat by these people who hate him so much.
The desperate media attempt to cast Boehner as the victim and to whip up sympathy for him is not only otherworldly but insane…
Think I’ll log off and sit with the Christmas tree now, candles are so peaceful. See y’all tomorrow! I like having time off. I am tackling some big projects. But only one per day. It’s good! Hugs all around. Sweet dreams everyone! {{{{Chipsticks}}}} {{{{{PBO}}}}} {{{TOD}}}
G’nite Pamela. Peace!
Guess who?
US evacuates its embassy in CAR
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20855939
I’m glad they evacuated for the safety of embassy personnel, but also so McRubbish couldn’t blame Dr. Rice for not evacuating them.
Good idea, Pamela. I think I will join you.
PBO having to come back to DC hit a serious nerve with me and I need to stay calm and quiet before going to bed.
Thank you for the positive thoughts.
Good night everyone here.
Thank you Chips for everything.
Ari Melber just joked on LOD’s show that ” … Scott Brown’s middle name is Mitch McConnell.” Sad but true. Birds of a feather ____ together.
Lots of dis information leaked by the Republicans today. They are fucking around!
It’s all they got.
Hmmmmmmm disinformation…..???? Could those be called LIES?????
Yes!
Oh! I didn’t know that! Did you know that?
Jeesh!
You may not know this, Jovie, but during the Apartheied period in South Africa, whites treated dogs better than they treated Africans. That’s the reality many Africans had to deal with for almost a century. This situations was not that much different from what took place during the Jim Crow period in America, or in many other European colonized countries. The fact that you did not know this is clear evidence of your limited education that never required you to study the history of Black people in Apartheid, SA or Jim Crow U.S.A.
Japan’s Tepco sued by US sailors over radiation
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20856051
And the new rw govt, which the japanese voted in with a 2/3rd majority, wants to restart those reactors. People get the gobinment they deserve.
stay tuned
Whoops, here’s the first part:
I am really upset with these gop jokers’ antics which have led to PBO cutting short his long-over-due vacation.
I am so angry that I am ready to place my name on the ballot against the gop fool who represents my gerrymandered district. I think we should push a grassroots requests for volunteers to clean out the gop (aka punks)
Global, I think running against these people is a terrific idea. You then have the voice and the attention to call them out publicly on their antics. I hope you run. Now’s the time to do it. Line up supporters and get the signatures you need to get on the ballot.
Clean out the GOOP is right….
Thank you Bobfr.
I cannot sleep thinking about the way Our President is being treated. I had to come back and revisit some videos that makes me feel good. And here you are doing what you do best. You summed it up for me. I will go and donate for the Inauguration which I do plan to attend. I hope those who are not able to get together and sign the biggest card ever wishing the couple many blessings and encouragement during these four years they we all worked hard to accomplish. They deserve to enjoy and celebrate as if it was their first. It is better the second time around. We should let them know because I know the media is trying to put a damper on that as well with their manufactured lies from the Rethugs & Co.
Thank you, my friend.
LDS – I’m on TOD even later than you, and just saw your comment. Please don’t worry – I’m thinking the Obamas will be fine. It’s the rest of us who’ll have to keep up our spirits! We’ll make it, if we stick together in our support of President Obama.
My world is 7pm – dinner is almost ready – and I just looked at the picture of your President and Bo – they will both be fine – it is the American people that the GOP is hurting by trying to bring down the President – I feel for all those who could suffer if this nonsense continues.
I think Mary Bartula may have a point! Personally, I think the quickest way to ban assault weapons is if militant Blacks announced publicly that they intend to buy, and openly carry, assault weapons to protect their communities. After all, the California legislature, in 1967, had no qualms banning the carrying of guns in cities in response to the Black Panthers’ assertion of their right to carry guns under the 2nd Amendment. Ironically, It was the great Conservative, Ronald Reagan, who signed into law the ban on carrying guns in cities in CA. Even more ironic is the fact that the NRA never came to the defense of the Black Panthers’ Second Amendment rights! And neither did all these advocates who are so passionate about defending the Constitutional guarantees of the right to bear arms. As a result of that California law, Black panthers carrying guns were prosecuted and eventually disarmed. This is why I think right wingers, including members of the Supreme Court, who passionately defend the so called absolute right to bear arms are either ignorant or hypocrites. The history of Black Americans is littered with all sorts of prohibitions about the right to bear arms, even in self defense. Unless, of course, the 2nd Amendment only applies to white men, there has never been a time in the history of this country when the right to bear arms was absolute and applicable to all citizens.
Very informative history lesson, nath! Thank you:)
How do we make the point without alienating Blacks? We have a real problem in my locale when it comes to talking about guns and getting them to listen to the other side of the arguement? Maybe I should read Frank Luntnz and find out how he brainwashes them to be gin with?
You need to get your thoughts out there, for more to see, because they are spot on. Thanks for sharing all that.
Indeed! and Nathkatun7 you make excellent points.
Agreed!
aloha todville
anybody still up? here’s an interesting survey being conducted by sam wang at princeton election consortium. take a look and give it a go–i found my results a bit surprising:
http://election.princeton.edu/2012/12/26/in-search-of-the-nerdpoet-gene/
Mooorning (evening), Susanne and TODville!! Took the survey, man am I a lightweight in their 3 categories…but these categories in themselves are very limited. I prefer to think about Howard Gardner’s 8 intelligences!
Wow, he started with 7 intelligences, last time I looked there were 8, but this morning I find 9. In case anyone is interested:
http://skyview.vansd.org/lschmidt/Projects/The%20Nine%20Types%20of%20Intelligence.htm
Anyone that knows me here, knows that I love these things:) My results were surprising to me in some ways…and in another ( I am a very deep thinker!) not so much. Thanks for posting this here…bet that having the power to reach millions for these surveys, because of the internet, is hugely more helpful in finding a larger cross section of society than just walking up and asking people of they want to participate! I have much respect for Sam Wang….I hope that we hear back the results of the findings on this research.
WHAT A DISGRACE?
Greg Sargent @ThePlumLineGS
———————————–
Shorter Boehner: We already passed bill giving Ds nothing, & we can’t pass anything else, so it’s on Senate to find compromise
————————————
So the senate democrats are to vote for Ryan’s budget? The senate democrats are to vote against the President’s plan?
What planet do Boehner and Cantor live on? Has to be with Newt on Mars.
Voters who are loyal to the gop rather than the nation are responsible for having these suckers in congress and determined to mess the country up just to make an ideological point – “thank you” republicans
I am also exhausted by this daily media theme. It’s so pointless, so removed from the total obstruction by the GOP’s current crop of hateful crazies.
One more thing Reagen and Tip had in common, they were white. Let’s not kid ourselves into thinking the color of Barack Obama doesn’t have something to do with the B.S. he has being dealing with from Republicans.
Exactly. Newt Gingrich as speaker ruined the house and senate with his war on america that required all gop members to vote in lockstep.
Good Morning. Did everyone sleep well last night? I think I caught the flu bug from my son. For some reason I woke thinking about the so-called fiscal cliff. Lets just say I’m not bright eyed and bushy tailed! Don’t dare say what I’m thinking. Mad, that’s what it is. The House has been in open for business how many days since Nov. 6? They are ruining everyone’s Holiday, including their own families for doing this. They knew it was coming. They passed the bill. They made this mess. They shouldn’t be passing it off to a new session. The House has the purse strings, don’t they? We have more than the second Amendment to the Constitution, right? Thought they read the Constitution into the record the first day they made Boner Speaker? It is terrifying to think he is third in line to the president. Money should be raised to teach Civics to Republican voters. They need to be shown what their ideology is doing to our beloved country. I think I know what has caused me to be angry this morning. It is the letters and comments made in my local paper about guns in school. The reasoning is now a real threat to everyone. It’s because I see the raw Rebublican stupiditity close to home, with friends and relatives. Better move on. I’m guessing Chips is ready to start a new day.
Those using android cell phones, this app is pretty good for extending battery usage time, especially in super saver mode.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.easy.battery.saver
The way you feel is the way you feel. It is okay to express your frustration which many of us feel as well. Thank God and Chips that we have a safe place to vent. Take a deep breath and think about the many things that we can all be grateful for. Once a way to fight back against the craziest is clear, you will feelnbetter.
From DU…a reminder of how the Republicans, under Boner, have spent the last 4 years….Remember the part when he said that he was going to be LASER FOCUSED on JOBS??????????????
Two Years Ago, John Boehner promised to be “Laser Focused on Jobs and the Economy” So what has the GOP House been up to?
House Bills passed:
46 Bills on Abortion
113 Bills on Religion
73 Bills on Family Relationships
36 Bills on Marriage
72 Bills on Firearms
604 Bills on Taxation
437 Bills on Govt Investigations
Bills attempted and failed to be passed even by the GOP:
33 attempts to Defund Obamacare…..Failed
15 attempts to Cut Funding for Planned Parenthood……Failed
3 Attempts to Cut Funding for VA Hospitals…….Failed.
GOP blocked bills:
Blocked bill to aid Small Business
Blocked Unemployment extension
Blocked Bank Reform Bills
Blocked Campaign Finance Reform and open Contributions Law
Blocked MULTIPLE Jobs Bills
Blocked Infrastructure Bill
Blocked Ending Tax Breaks for companies that Outsource Jobs
Blocked Wall Street Reform
Blocked Energy Legislation
Blocked Mine Safety Bill
Blocked Oil Spill Liability Cap increase
Blocked Bill to lower Oil Company Tax Breaks
Blocked Bill to impose charging American Oil Companies on Oil achieved in the Gulf
Number of TRUE Jobs Bills even allowed to come to a vote in the House….NONE.
Hey Desertflower, that list is amazing–and NOT in a good way. Do you know the source or have a link to that data? I would love to use it in a Facebook post.
I see the non-snark Knoller is tweeting that there could be a deal if Obama would just agree to all Repub. demands, no tax raises on affluent, no nothing.
Geez—-did Knoller the Horrible actually waste twitter space on that brilliant thought??? There’s a Dumb Epidemic affecting our entire news media. Need quarantine.
Morning everyone!
http://theobamadiary.com/2012/12/28/rise-and-shine-385/
129 comments on here! I just can’t ride with the threads when they number 250+, cannot load! Join me?