On This Day: President Barack Obama greets patrons at Canter’s Delicatessen in Los Angeles, Calif., July 24, 2025 (Photo by Pete Souza)
****
MoooOOOooorning!
24
Jul
15
Early Bird Chat
110 Responses to “Early Bird Chat”
Comments are currently closed.
White House.gov
- Weekly Address: It’s Time for Congress To Pass a Responsible Budget
- West Wing Week: 09/18/2015 or, "FAFSA! (fafsa, fafsa, fafsa, fafsa)"
- A More Perfect Union — Building Welcoming Communities Campaign to Strengthen Immigration Integration
- We Stand with Ahmed (and We Hope He'll Join Us for Astronomy Night):
- Uniting in Seoul to Extinguish Epidemic Threats through the Global Health Security Agenda
WH Tumblr
- Happy 68th birthday to the United States Air Force, and thank...
- “It’s these kinds of young people who make me...
- Happy Constitution Day! Let’s all take a moment to...
- letterstopresidentobama: “The reasons that so many immigrants came to America are the same reasons...
- Cool clock, Ahmed. We’re looking forward to your visit to...
The People’s View
- A note to Bristol Palin Liberal Librarian
- The Attempt To Destroy Hope Nancy the Artist
- America, 2015 - #IStandWithAhmed Liberal Librarian
- Open thread - GOP Cannibalism edition Liberal Librarian
- Open thread - Today's GOP Liberal Librarian
Smartypants
- Jeb Bush Plays Two Truths and a Lie
- 100 Immigrant Women Write an Open Letter to Presidential Candidates
- Reversing the Trend of Mass Incarceration
- Finally, the GOP Establishment Has an Outsider it Can Embrace
- Race and Mass Incarceration
A Writing Corner (LL)
- #Pixels: A sign of the Apocalypse?
- Annals in “WTH Were You Thinking??” – Potty Training
- For the young lady and her love of Seamus Heaney
- On compassion
- A Mass for the Dead
Greg Sargent
- Open Thread
- Happy Hour Roundup
- As Trump threatens to tax rich, lobbyists gear up to fight back
- Minority voters will know the GOP by the company it keeps
- Morning Plum: Hillary pokes the GOP’s Planned Parenthood hornet’s nest
Steve Benen
- This Week in God, 9.19.15
- Citations for the September 18, 2025 TRMS
- Veterans ignored in GOP debate, issues neglected in 2016 campaigns
- Punch in the face starts the day's 2016 news
- Iran, Russia, Syria in tumult of world news
WH Flickr
|
Good Morning!
Mooooooooooooorning Linda!
ahem.
yeah, yeah, whatev.
GE amk.
This toon is hilarious. :)
You better get out of Global’s way
:lol: What the heck are you doing up this early LP????
I have no clue, Chips :???: This is what happened when I tried to sleep :(
:lol:
I wonder what is PBO’s favorite horror movie. I would hope he’s a Hitchcock fan. LOL! :)
Yikes, LP, you’re scaring me. Are you watching horror movies before you go to bed?
Jackie, he’s probably just reading Amk’s links, four-legged snakes and the like, that’d give anyone nightmares.
Not this particular night, Jackie….I was watching Sportscenter before I passed out. Who knows?
and gujjus ain’t supposed to booze. sigh ….
I’m glad I don’t hang out with those foolish kind of gujjus. booze=sacrosanct
take it from a #totalteetotaller, booze=nightmares
:D. toldja.
GM LP, thanks for reply from last night (for me), this morning (for you).
I picked up on the fire v. ice part of trying to sleep, which I can relate to. Vivid nightmares, no so much thankfully.
I don’t know what it was last night…lets hope for my sake it is was an anomaly :D
Don’t know where you get these, AMK, but they’re perfect.
you can see them here.
http://www.gocomics.com/explore/editorial_list
warning: some of them are rwnj toonists
Weepin’!
Oh my - guess they cleaned up for the important peoples
Wow.
It’s been a loooong time since I’ve been to Canter’s — don’t see any rush to go back now. Ugh.
A senior al-Qaeda commander in Afghanistan was killed in a US air strike earlier this month, US Defence Secretary Ash Carter has said.
He said that Abu Khalil al-Sudani was killed on 11 July.
Mr Carter said that al-Sudani planned suicide operations, and was directly linked to plots to attack the US.
Al-Sudani also directed operations against Nato, Afghan and Pakistani forces, Mr Carter said, and was close to al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
“Al-Sudani was one of three known violent extremists killed in the strike,” a Pentagon statement said.
“The death of al-Sudani will further degrade al-Qaeda operations across the globe.”
Mr Carter said that the trio were killed in the Bermel district of Paktika province.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33648600
Four-legged snake fossil.
Want the pic? … come on, it’s dead after all. for over 100 mil years.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33621491
Ugh. Although it looks quite well considering it’s 113 million years old.
ok then, I shall post the pic.
Those little snake arms are creepy to the max. Now you’ve given us all nightmares!
Looks like we have all agreed this is AMK’s fault…..I will return the favor for waking me up :D
That time BBC starts reading Nicki Minaj & Taylor Swift tweets as news after playing President Obama’s interview…smh
Morning all-even those who provide creepy early morning pictures. I had to drop out last night after the news about the Louisiana theater shooting. Just couldn’t take it anymore. Some days are like that. Hope this one is better for all of us.
I was the same Jackie, some times you’ve just had enough. Good morning to you.
Morning, Chips. Since I’ve been recuperating, my “enough” limit gets reached more quickly. I used to be a much tougher nut, but I’ve become an old softie.
GM Everyone!
Bowe Bergdahl caught in the middle of a Calif. drug raid, treated as witness before release
This time, he stuck around.
He’s been charged with desertion, but controversial POW Bowe Bergdahl didn’t try to get away when he got caught in the middle of a California drug raid, the Daily News has learned.
Bergdahl, 29, just happened to be at a location in California’s Redwood Valley when it was raided by sheriff’s deputies Tuesday. Several arrests were made after cops seized 181 marijuana plants, authorities said.
Bowe Bergdahl, rescued U.S. soldier, charged with desertion, faces life imprisonment
Bergdahl, who was not charged, was taken in for a field interview, treated as a witness and released.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/bergdahl-caught-middle-calif-drug-raid-article-1.2302529
A witness, what was he witnessing? One doesn’t casually end up around 181 marijuana plants, I’m not saying he planted the weed or was trying to sell the weed. But dude, 181 marijuana plants, this guy has the worst luck.
The house was apparently in Mendocino County CA, adjacent to Humboldt County CA, the weed-growing capital of the US — mj is a dominant source of income for Humboldt County, so activity/raid not much of a surprise.
Had the same reaction to #SandraBland’s death as you. Will post (lengthy) thoughts on a later thread today. Stay tuned…
OK then….
Oh my….Now THAT church is creepy and looks like it could be in one of the horror movies you posted about earlier…the Shining…the Conjuring…etc..
Some creepy stuff, HF :???:
Let’s just say if I visit Indonesia, you won’t find me “touring” this old church….well perhaps if PBO is there….
Well, LP, maybe it’s a monument to all those chickens of the world whose lives have been lost to satisfy human bellies. As a vegetarian, I especially mourn the ones who have lost their wings in hot wing craze. Maybe we need a chicken monument in the US.
Wyatt Cenac says Jon Stewart told him to ‘f— off’ after debate about racism segment
Although many will be sad to see Jon Stewart leave “The Daily Show,” one man most likely won’t be bothered by his exit from late night.
Wyatt Cenac, who left the night time political show in 2012, appeared on Marc Maron’s podcast WTF, where he shared a story about the host attacking him.
President Obama orders Jon Stewart to not leave ‘Daily Show,’ mocks Iran nuclear deal critics
The conversation began when Maron asked the writer if he and Stewart got along and he simply answered, “naw.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/wyatt-cenac-jon-stewart-told-f-ck-article-1.2302758
PBO only said that to make Stewart feel good because he knows Jon is an egomaniac. I don’t think PBO really cares that much whether Stewart stays or goes!!
I honestly can’t stand Stewart, Hf2, and haven’t watched his show since he cruelly mocked John Kerry in 2004.
WOW…wasn’t even aware that he had done this. But this behavior totally fits in with what I know of him now.
FULL PBO interview airing on BBC now
NOT HERE…:(
I’m getting it on BBC in America ‘World Business Report’ on channel 1207 ATT-UVerse
CABLE HERE…………….:p
GOOD MORNING TOD… WHAT IS LEFT OF FAMILY…LOOKS LIKE THERE WAS AN ALL NIGHTER HERE…………….THE SUN IS SHINING AND I HAVE A PULSE…WILL START FROM THERE…NOW…WHERE IS HE?..THE TOUR IN KENYA W/ BRROKE WAS AMAZING…PUT IT ON MY FB…AM SURE THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL RIGHT WINGERS THROWING UP ALREADY….WHAT A BEAUTIFUL HISTORY THE ENERGIZER HAS…BTW…I HAVE 2 OF THOSE T-SHIRTS WITH BORN IN THE USA ON THE FRONT AND HIS BIRTH CERTIFICATE ON THE BACK…LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL.
BTW…DID ANYONE NOTICE W/ TRUMP SPEAKING AT THE BORDER THAT ONCE INDIVIDUALS STARTED TALKING BACK…HE GOT SCARED AND CUT THE CONVERSATION SHORT..THAT’S WHAT HAPPENED…LOOK AT THE VIDEO.
AM DRINKING STARBUCKS…CINNAMON DOLCE HERE………..YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!
I WATCHED THE THEATER SHOOTING BREAKING NEWS LAST NIGHT….THIS IS BECOMMING A REGULAR EVENT SPONSORED BY YOUR LOCAL TERRORIST AD HOMEGROWN WANNABEES. THE REPUGNANT IDIOTS NEED TO STOP BOWING TO THE NRA AND WE MUST ESTABLISH BACKROUND CHECKS…GOOD ONES…BECAUSE SOME CONTAIN ERRORS AND ARE TOO SIMPLIFIED. TIRED F THESE HOOSIER IN THE HOLLAR GUN TOERS WHO SPIT AND PREACH HATE! NO WONDER I AM IN A CONSTANT STATE OF RAGE!
THAT’S TOTERS!
I love this picture, heads are exploding.
PRECIOUS…AND SHE LOOKS ADORABLE…I WISH SHE AND AUMA WOULD GO AND STAY AT THE WH FOR AWHILE…:)
WERE YOU ABLE TO FIND THE PBO INTERVIEW SUE? IF NOT I WILL TRY TO FIND A LINK FOR YOU…BUT IT IS AIRING W/O COMMERCIAL (15min) on BBC not BBCAmerica
NOPE…CAN’T GET IT…:(….THANKS FOR ASKING
HERE IS ABOUT HALF OF IT http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33646875
THE INTERVIEW WAS ~13 MINUTES UNINTERRUPTED
Just some background: Mama Sarah Obama is 93 years old - and is related to PBO by marriage to his grandfather (3rd wife), not biologically. PBO also has a great aunt Sarah who is 82 (his father’s sister).
Good for Mama Sarah traveling so far at 93. It’s not the biology that really counts, it’s what’s in your heart.
Indeed JG. He thinks of her as nothing less. He calls her “granny” and I’m pretty sure she’s the closest thing to a grandma that he could ever ask for.
G’morning Chips, TOD, lurkers, even amk, and congrats Linda on #1 :) Happy Friday everyone. Wishing our President a safe landing in his ancestral country! :)
‘sup?
Awwww…..now THAT’s a ‘sup I can believe in! :) :)
They are bonding. So cute.
oh yeah? you should jtp growl when jtp comes anywhere near her food. poor feller scared to his wits.
Jenny is a mature female who needs her food 😊
Jenny has multiple neck roles…she needs a diet:)
:D DF!
INDEED…PRAYERS UP FOR HIS STRENGTH AND SAFETY AND A VERY COOL VISIT WITH HIS GRANDMA!
MAKES MY HEART GO PITTER-PATTER…<3…I LOVE IT WHEN HE GOES WHERE HE IS LOVED AND RESPECTED!
LP, I love the way it says that PBO “rules the world.” That should set a lot of international tempers blazing. Would love to see Putin’s reaction to that or even Merkel’s.
“Your special ONE HUNDRED & TWENTY EIGHT-page bumper issue” :grin:
I’d like to have a copy of the “Special Obama Pullout” edition. American press can barely brings themselves to mention PBO in a positive light. Forget about celebrating our great POTUS.
Sucking up news time last night on the radio was that Africans were “disappointed” in PBO for not doing more for them in his first term. Okay - he had his hands full, as I recall, being President of the United States.
The slimy part of the “news” report was that China then stepped in with economic help, where PBO failed.
It’s amazing I don’t run my car off the road driving home from work.
Someone posted a Reuters article with this same nonsense about African “disappointment” in PBO. I take these reports with a grain of salt. Gossip mongers trying to stir up trouble while casting “Africans” as lazy, entitled fools looking for handouts. Basically it’s an attempt to stir up negativity on both sides in the wake of PBO’s visit to his ancestral country.
I wouldn’t be surprised if these reports are conceived and penned by American authors of Libertarian stripe.
Or they talk to one person and make it about everybody. God.
That was me HF and after reading other articles and seeing PBO’s sister on CNN, I must agree with you & 57, that it was probably one person’s quote that was made into a “big story”
BBL TO CHECK ON HIM……..I LOVE MY PRESIDENT…PRESS ON!!!!!
:) :) :shock: :) :) this is just too funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good Friday Morning Allison, Chips and TOD’ers
GM Donna!!
Good West Coast morning Chipsticks & TOD family. HAPPY FRIDAY 🌞
<3
Larry Wilmore did a very professional job discussing Sandra Bland’s death last night. He played the traffic stop video and stopped the tape at each point the Police Officer chose to escalate the tension. The PO was so aggressive and provoked Ms. Bland when it is clear all she wanted was for this thing to end. Larry and his panel talked about policing and bullying and the fear and harm PO do. Worth a watch and Comedy Central repeats larry’s show all day and on the web.
GM Vicki.
Thanks for the heads up.
Will definitely watch. As I mentioned to Don upthread, I have (lengthy) comments on #SandraBland’s treatment, MSM precedent established with #Ferguson to Don’s featured comments yesterday, which I’ll post here later today.
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Why African Americans Should Be 1st in Line to Cuba
As the U.S. Embassy opens in Havana for the first time in 54 years, we should learn the history that ties black Americans to the black population of the island.
By: DeWayne Wickham
Posted: July 20 2015 3:00 AM
Havana: On a small cut of land at the corner of 23rd Avenue and F Street in the Vedado section of this city stands a monument to two heroes of the Cuban people.
But the faces carved into the imposing marble-and-granite structure are not those of Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara, icons of the left-wing revolution that chased the right-wing dictator Fulgencio Batista from power and spawned a U.S. economic embargo of this Caribbean island nation that is older than most Americans.
On the side of the monument that looks out onto 23rd Avenue—a wide thoroughfare that stretches across this city from the Almendares River to the Bay of Havana—is the image of Martin Luther King Jr. On its other side, the monument bears the likeness of Malcolm X.
For over half a century, Cuba has been a forbidden fruit of American diplomacy. Banned from traveling here by a foreign policy that was deeply rooted in domestic politics, most Americans had limited access to—and little real knowledge of—this island nation that is just 90 miles off the tip of Florida. So, not surprisingly, the perception of Cuba that many “North Americans” had during this time was shaped largely by politicians in Washington, D.C.; political activists in South Florida; and a U.S. media that did more repeating than reporting on Cuba.
In announcing his decision earlier this month to loosen travel restrictions and renew diplomatic relations with Cuba, President Barack Obama opened up the possibility that many more Americans will make their way to Cuba. African Americans should be in the front ranks of this surge.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2015/07/why_african_americans_should_be_first_in_line_to_cuba.html
Good idea.
Cubans tell me that it’s a wonderful multi-ethnic mix, similar to Brazil. A good opportunity for any shade of American to blend in there.
so true.
so true.
………………………
Inequality Is the New Affirmative Action—for White People
It’s become the go-to populist term for white middle-class rage over the wealth gap, and another way for politicians to avoid difficult conversations about race.
By: Charles D. Ellison
Posted: July 23 2015 3:00 AM
With 2016 on the horizon, presidential candidates are all on the new policy-wonk flavor of the year: “inequality.”
And they’re using it in a heated bid to win as many white votes as they can get.
Interestingly enough, the cognoscenti once talked up the canyon-sized gaps between rich and poor as default markers for a broader conversation on the inequality we always knew: racism. Today “inequality” is an umbrella term for all sorts of unequal conditions that are in neatly constructed sociological silos: economic insecurity keeping its distance from racial inequality, even though, as policy expert Kathleen Geier correctly notes, “they are closely intertwined.”
Now it’s as if “inequality” has quickly evolved into the go-to populist expression of middle-class white voting rage—conveniently segregated from that uglier conversation on race. It’s what a largely white field of Democratic and Republican candidates now use to show authenticity when street cred is questioned.
On the left, Hillary Clinton feverishly embraces inequality when she’s viewed as too cozy with Wall Street; Bernie Sanders continues his love affair with inequality because, well, who doesn’t hate Wall Street? Even Republicans, from red-state firebrands like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum to the less Tea Party-aligned such as Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, are clumsily fashioning themselves as proponents of the poor.
So long as you don’t mention the underserved people of color whom inequality hits the hardest. These days, “inequality” discourse has gone the way of hip-hop: co-opted. Once an exclusive narrative of black plight, anti-oppressor themes are watered down so that white electorates can feel less guilty and fearful. It’s then, for example, better to say that everyone is unequal rather than to admit #BlackLivesMatter.
http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2015/07/inequality_is_the_new_affirmative_action_for_white_people.html
This is sooo true. This term “inequality” as it’s now being used by today’s presidential candidates, is just a new way of saying “All lives matter, not just Black ones.” O’Malley’s “gaffe” was that he wasn’t savvy enough to couch it in hidden terms like “inequality.”
Had no idea this was true: “Once an exclusive narrative of black plight…”
This is why I love TODville and everyone who comments here. I learn so much, every day.
Thanks, ((( rikyrah )))
Good Morning BFF and TOD.
Exactly HOW MUCH do I love this?
…………….
Bessie Coleman Takes Flight via Audra McDonald in Tomorrow’s ‘Doc McStuffins’ Episode
Photo of Tambay A. Obenson
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
July 22, 2025 at 4:58PM
Parents will probably be familiar with “Doc McStuffins,’ the hit animated children’s television series that’s been airing since 2012 on the Disney Channel and Disney Junior.
……………………………………………
Kiara Muhammad voices the lead character, Doc McStuffins, and she’s joined by Lara Jill Miller as Lambie, Robbie Rist as Stuffy, Loretta Devine as Hallie, Jess Harnell as Chilly, Kimberly Brooks as Dr. Myiesha McStuffins (mother to Doc McStuffins) and Gary Anthony Williams as Marcus McStuffins (Doc McStuffins’ father).
Worth noting, the series also counts several African American writers and animators working on the show, which is a rarity even still today.
Tomorrow night’s episode, titled “Itty Bitty Bess Takes Flight,” airing July 23 at 9 AM ET/PT, sees Doc and the toys help a tiny tin airplane pilot named Bess - a historical toy created in the likeness of the famous African American woman pilot, Bessie Coleman - get back into shape after her joints become rusty.
Audra McDonald guest stars as Bess, and, as you’d expect, will sing a tune or two as Coleman.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/bessie-coleman-takes-flight-via-audra-mcdonald-in-tomorrows-doc-mcstuffins-episode-20150722
New post.
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/07/24/when-will-we-say-enough-is-enough/
And we can add quite a few more hate crimes to that list.
Chris has always had spot-on observations like that. I cite him a lot.