On This Day - Pete Souza: “I was on the second helicopter and arrived moments before Marine One touched down at Brenton Point in Newport, R.I. I bet one of the advance staff that after landing, instead of walking to the motorcade the President would walk across the road to view the ocean at sunset. I won the bet.” Aug. 29, 2014
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President Obama greets five-month-old Davida Asen and her mother Rebecca Watson in the Outer Oval Office, Aug. 28, 2015. Rebecca’s brother-in-law, Jonathan Asen, Office of Legislative Affairs, brought his family to have departure photos taken with the President (Photo by Pete Souza)
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MoooOOOooorning!
White House.gov
1st!
Morning Don!
Morning Chips!
The happiest of Saturdays to you, Sir!
The happiest of Saturdays to you as well, and also to Danny.
Wuff! :-)
Congrats on 1st Don :)
Thank you Chips for, once again, brightening our Saturday with a PBO treat!!
Has WP now dumped on Twitter - tweets are only displaying as text???
Happy Weekend everyone ….
GM, Chips! Congrats on 1rst Don :cool:
‘Only days before President Obama travels to the Alaskan Arctic on Monday to focus attention on climate change, one of the effects of global warming is again apparent: Hordes of walruses are scrambling onto the Alaskan shoreline, because the Chukchi Sea ice floes where they would normally have rested have melted. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed to the Post Wednesday evening that a mass of walruses had “hauled out,” or gathered on shore, near the remote community of Point Lay. The service did not estimate the number or provide images. But photojournalist Gary Braasch has posted dramatic photographs, taken during an Aug. 23 flyover, of what appear to be at least several thousand walruses crowding onto a barrier island. (The photograph shown here was taken during last September’s haul-out.) Government radio tracking of the walruses also show a number of tagged animals clustered at Point Lay. This is the seventh time in a decade that walruses have been driven out of the Chukchi Sea by warming waters, and past haul-outs have numbered in the tens of thousands. This is one of the earliest haul-outs on record; most of the previous ones have occurred in September.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has been very concerned about the animals’ safety. Walrus populations are easily frightened on shore, and if something spooks them they may stampede into the water, often crushing any babies or smaller adults in their path. Past stampedes have caused thousands of fatalities. To prevent stress on the animals, the Service has issued a press release requesting that people — and specifically the media — keep away from the area while the walruses are hauled out….President Obama will arrive in Anchorage Monday to begin a three-day visit focusing on climate change and its effects in the Arctic, which include melting glaciers and sea ice, thawing permafrost, sea-level rise and their corresponding threats to people and wildlife. Alaska media have reported that one of the other stops on his trip will be Kotzebue — a village about 200 miles south of Point Lay, where the walruses are gathered on shore…continued’
Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooorning LP!!
Howdy, Chips! ….been a minute :) I hope you & Danny thoroughly enjoyed your vacation!
LP, as a young school girl many, many decades ago, I was fascinated by the idea that whole species could become extinct, like dinosaurs and mammoths. It all seemed so unreal and impossibly distant. Well, now we’re seeing it happen in real time and on a grand scale. Nothing can be taken for granted anymore.
Good morning all and congrats, Don. Just an update, a few days ago Cory Booker was specifically targeted by a tv ad urging him to vote against the Iran deal. This morning Sen. Casey was targeted by name on a tv ad. So this is the new tactic by the opposition.
I really don’t know what the holdup with Senator Booker is, you would think that if he were inclined to vote yes he would have said so already.
I don’t understand why he’d consider voting “no”???
Maybe he wants the glory of being #34. I hope so! Congrats on opening the day for us, Don!
IMO. Booker and Casey have left themselves open to these tactics by pretending to be considering their position on a choice that seems evident to people who are a) principled and b) listening to the facts.
‘There’s a new craze on Instagram that Christopher Columbus would totally heart: “tiny planet” shots—a trippy variation on landscape photography that depicts your surroundings as a free-floating orb rather than a flat square. It blurs the line between art and photography—and can result in some pretty dreamy images. The most convincing way to achieve these is with a camera like the Ricoh Theta ($300,theta360.com) It looks like a small remote control and has not one but two fisheye lenses on each side, which capture your surroundings in tandem. A companion app for iPhone and Android connects wirelessly to transfer photos from the Theta to your phone. To turn a Theta pic into a tiny-planet shot requires some fiddling in the app. The Theta camera takes 360-degree photos that capture everything above, below and even behind the photographer. Viewing these special photos in all their glory requires the app: You’ll see a wide-angle view of what was in front of the camera when you snapped the photo, and the app also lets you swipe the image to pan around. You can look up or down or even spin about.
In the app, you’ll want to zoom out and adjust the view to create a tiny-planet composition. Then take a screenshot of your image to share it with the world. (Ricoh says a new app, out soon, will simplify sharing and editing stills.) But creating a tiny-planet shot doesn’t require a pricey one-trick camera. With the right app, you can use your iPhone or Android phone’s cam. My favorite iPhone app for this purpose is Circular+ ($2). After you take a photo within the app (or import a standard photo that you’ve already taken), the app magically rolls your photos into a sphere. It also lets you add fun effects, like lens flares and solar streaks. For Android, Tiny Planet FX Pro app works similarly ($3). These apps don’t give you as much control or interactivity as the Theta camera, but they are less expensive…continued’
This is a cool idea, LP, and I love that you bring new ideas to TOD.
I’m glad you enjoy my weird fascinations, Jackie! I always worry that somebody is silently mumbling “why does that weirdo post randomness all the time :??? :D :D
Good MOrning TOD family. Was just watching Jonathan Capehart subbing for Steve Kornacki on MSNBC’s Up. They did a segment on HRC’s effort to “discourage” VP Biden from jumping into race by letting everyone know she has 50% of degates already and 1/5 of superdelegates. This was seen as another unforced error and likely to cause resentment among voters. Maybe HRC just isn’t presidential material.
She had the same math in 2008 and look what happened.
one would think that she learned from it
Hillary has that same sense of entitlement that Ann Romney had, it’s our turn.
not many people want to hear about inevitability => it implies that whatever voters are doing does not matter
I mean who are her brain trust, they brainstormed and this is what they came up with?
This is what I’m saying. I don’t think it’s her brain trust. I think she makes the final decision and seems almost unable to anticipate how different strategies can lead to negative or unintended consequences.
they have a lot of learning to do. Hope they do it fast
G, they’ve had almost eight years to learn this, if they don’t know it now they will never learn it. They had the Whitehouse for eight years in the 90’s and it’s like they have no clue about running a campaign.
]
I have many of the same sentiments as most of you do about HRC. I will vote for her as a last resort only. No GOP candidate will get my vote. However, after PBO, Hillary would be such a let down. She really deserves the title of liar after the ducking fire on the runway story during the 2008 Primary. I have thought of her as a good worker bee, but not as a leader. She is too concerned about how everything affects her politically.
“Solocam is a selfie stick that may actually provide value (bear with me here) by letting journalists shoot video from the field without lugging around an entire camera crew. The device is a selfie stick attached to a high-def bluetooth microphone, just like the pros use. While the entire setup looks ridiculous, the video it helps create looks surprisingly professional. The device also comes with an app for your mobile device which lets you record while using features like a teleprompter or special effects. The camera is set at an angle to avoid the dreaded flesh beard under all of our chins. The most basic version will set you back $50, while the pro is selling for $149.
The more expensive versions come with upgrade microphones and attachments to mount other cameras besides your cell phone. Before purchasing, it’s important to note that you will look just as weird pulling out the Solocam in public as if you were using a boring old selfie stick. However, this device may actually provide some real value, which could be worth it if you can stomach the embarrassment.”
lovelyplains, I presently have a Epson 1080p projector in my man cave but I’m looking to maybe replace it with a 60′ inch 4k, what are your thoughts?
I would definitely go with 4K do you want a curved screen or a flat one? I have to run a few errands right now, but I know where some premo deals are & will discuss some options as soon as I get back…see if you like anything here (I will give you my discount code if you do)
http://images.frys.com/art/email/082815_fri301apz/fri_web.html?site=cemail082815#set3
Thanks.
Do you know of any promo deals for world class strikers? And would you have the discount codes? I know of a football club in great need :???:
What’s a striker?
Watching United this season, I’ve been asking myself the same question. They need to sign your Pele, methinks :-)
Now you’re talking! I only watch soccer when Pele is playing, I think he scored two goals last week.
:lol: Once more I say: SCRAM!!!!!
Did you already have a falling out with your new young :star: Memphis :?: :?:
…you’ve become to fickle, Chips :)
We have a 65″ Curved Samsung smart TV and we luv it. A theater experience but no idea about coupons.
Incredible, LP! Thanks for always bringing these new technological advances here. To bad I’m incredible bad in taking pictures.
My pleasure, sjterrid …this new contraption should be pretty user friendly….why don’t you buy one and tell if it works well so I don’t have to drop some scratch and be the guinea pig :D :D
:smile:
Good Morning TOD and thank you Chips for the Rise and Shine
Congrats on 1st Don
This is completely off topic
I need a favor. :oops:
Billie Holiday (the Jazz Singer) celebrated her 100th Birthday this year and my cousin (Changamire) who is a local Jazz artist here in the DC area is doing a project to celebrate that occasion. She interviewed me and many others about Miss Holiday and my very short comments are on Youtube and now I have to get 50 views. (Sigh) Can you please view this for me? I hate to be photographed and I hate being videoed more but there is very little I won’t do for family so….
YES!
Done. Good job, Donna.
That was just beautiful Donna, loved your memories of Billie - you’re right, there will definitely never be another like her!
Thanks Chips! I appreciate you letting me “invade” your space with this. Much 3> to my TOD family.
Well done Donna! Jazz is my favorite music, along with blues!!
Done and faved!
Donna, I love this video. Your reflections are wonderful. Does your cousin have a regular gig? Would it possible to see her when we visit?
What a great idea! She performs at a dinner club in the area on occasions. I’ll see if we can work something like that out.
Here is a sample of her latest CD
Very cool! If we can swing it, that would be great. Just a thought! I think it would be fabulous for us to enjoy some music of some kind.
Hope it was okay to share.
Really liked this album too and shared.
She will love that!
If you direct me to her other videos I’ll watch those too. I luv her album. Are they on her YouTube page?
will do - for your sake
done! loved it. thanks a lot!
Awesome, Dona.
Also, to everyone watching, watch it on Youtube because that’s how Youtube counts the number of views, I believe. So, click on the Youtube button and watch it on Youtube’s website.
thanks for that reminder - had not taken that into account;
however, per your caution, I have gone through Youtube so I could be counted
Ahh excellent tip NW. Thank You!!
Thanks for the tip NW. I learned something new, again, on TOD, and I got to enjoy Donna’s comments for a second time, that way. And I was #166 (running a bit behind on TOD this week). So you made your goal Donna! Congrats! :-)
Donna you look great and I have to say I’m truly inspired by the closeness of your family. Mine is scattered across the country, so it’s a job to keep in touch. Billie Holiday was the best song interpreter ever. Her phrasing and the emotion she brought to every song turned ordinary tunes into something EXTRAordinary. I could listen to her all day every day.
Forgot to add that I clicked on, watched and “liked.” Hope you make 50 soon.
You’re up to 79 views already, Donna :)
You all are GREAT!!
Thank you so much!
Well done Donna!
Donna, Very well said.
Billie Holiday is my all time favorite female singer. The sweet purity of her voice. Nobody else sounds remotely like her.
Of course! Happy to listen!
Nicely done, Donna! What a tribute to one of the greats.
Doonna , you did a great job….
Done~ loved it Donna and what a wonderful project by your cousin.
Great Job…Donna….i can just see you in the basement with your uncle…reminds me when i found a cache of 78s that belonged to my grandparents…….
There was so much pain in her life…when i think of Billie Holiday it is hard to not to think of that… one of her songs….Strange Fruit…highlighted the lynchings of blk men….
there was a song written by Gil Scott Heron called LadyDay and John Coltrane….that is a favorite of mine…
Awesome Donna.
Great job, Donna!
It’s now up to 160 views!
done
Happy to do this, Donna. You look and sound very professional. I enjoyed your comments.
‘The great thing about go-anywhere, do-anything cameras like the Go-Pro is they capture everything. The bad thing about go-anywhere, do-anything cameras like the Go-Pro is they capture everything. That always-on, always-recording feature forces you to view and edit hours of B-roll, just to get to the highlights of that awesome 720 backside grab you did on the halfpipe. Enter Graava, a young startup with an artificially intelligent action camera that promises to do all your editing for you. The idea is that you’ll shoot video all the time, and trust the camera to save the best bits. The Graava camera ($249 during pre-orders) is a keychain-sized gadget that looks like a Pico projector in an white, black, or orange plastic shell. It clips onto your helmet, handlebars, or wherever, and records everything in your direct line of vision. It shoots 1080p video at 30 frames per second, or 720p at 60 fps. As it’s filming, Graava gathers data from its accelerometer, gyroscope, light sensor, GPS, and other sensors. That info—a landmark identified via the GPS or quickened heart rate picked up by your Apple Watch—tips Graava off to exciting moments buried in the footage.
The Graava founders reason that certain sensory spikes, like a savory smell, or an unusual sight, can indicate moments our brains would normally catalog. The camera does the same thing. A spike in heart rate or your speed, for example, might indicate a wicked descent on a trail. The camera uses those variations from the norm to rate events in the footage. You can also say “Graava” to the camera if you want to flag a moment it might not otherwise catch. Once the footage has uploaded to the cloud, Graava uses that data to auto-edit your day’s highlight reel to whatever length you specify. Suddenly, three hours of your largely lackadaisical fishing trip becomes ten minutes of cannonballs and fish flopping on deck. “With Graava,” says founder Bruno Gregory, “we emulate the way the human memory works…continued’
Speaking of historians - if I hear another one talking about past events using the present tense, I will punch them. I will. It’s my current most-annoying-thing.
Deez nuts is not new, my friends and I have been saying “Deez nuts” for years.
Friend: hey don, where are you guys going tonight?
Don: we’re going to d’s.
Friend: what’s d’s?
Don: d’s nuuuuuuuuuuuuts!
Good morning, Chips and TODville.
Chips, I hope your re-entry into workville has been tolerable!
Morning Ms Majestic! It hasn’t been smooth, and it took me about 10 minutes to find my desktop’s on button. How quickly we forget these things.
Take it easy, Captain!
Chips, that proves you had the right kind of vacation, chilling out and forgetting all the stresses. So many people I know take their work with them on vacation so that they never really have one. It’s probably one reason why so many Americans have either brain rot or ulcers.
I used to be a right eejit about this stuff Jackie, I’d keep checking work emails and taking work-related phone calls and end up losing half my chill-out time. I think turning 23 made me wise, now nothing is replied to until the chill-out break ends :-)
Yes, that 23 is such a seminal age and brings so much wisdom. It’s very smart of you to stick with it.
:-) Will I be even wiser when I’m 24?
Maybe, but the point of diminishing returns comes pretty quickly. That’s why it’s best not to tamper with a good thing. Stick with 23 and you can’t go wrong.
Will do Jackie, I will be 23 forever!
The front page of our local daily newspaper featured the story of a nearby town fair in which one vendor decided to prominently sell Confederate flags. When a Latino American complained about the flags as being offensive, racist symbols, the vendor told him to “Go back to Mexico!” (sound familiar?) The Latino American complained to the fair organizers who asked the vendor to remove the flags, but he argued that they were part of our “heritage,” even though he was selling them in a Northern state that fought for the union. Fortunately, the fair organizers held firm and he was forced to take down the flags. The craziness is everywhere.
CHEERS for those who stood up to this racism. Glad they were supported.
Morning jackie - I belong to a local women’s group and we write lots of letters/postcards to let our views be known on various subjects. We also write to thank people for doing something we think is worthwhile, especially when they have stood up for something that most people wouldn’t do.
This would be one of those times we would all write thank you notes to the fair organizers for their actions. This world needs some good feelings to offset all the craziness out there.
Weekly Address: Meeting the Global Threat of Climate Change
Warning: You’ll need a tissue by the end. :)
OMG, Trinidad ….. I’m in bits.
I was sitting here sobbing watching this. This happened in Canada a year ago. Here is the story:
In the most heartwarming PR stunt of all time, TD Canada Trust gave away gifts to special customers on July 25, turning their well-known Green Machine ATMs into “automated thanking machines.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/07/31/td-thanks-you_n_5637506.html
West Wing Week is one of the smartest things the WH has ever done. Great communication tool that chronicles his actions with grace and humor. I just love it.
You can’t help but smile while watching the WWW. Thanks meta for posting it. Saturday is my catch up day.
The President Tours Faubourg Lafitte Neighborhood in New Orleans
Okay TOD Rocks!
I’m at 56 views. My cousin will be thrilled. Thank you all so much!!
News we can use!
I.Love. It!!!!
What a beautiful report:)
<3 it.
What a handsome little one.
He isn't shy. WTG young man.
Lovely smile young man
cute
What a great story.
What a heartwarming story.
Next time I need sweatpants and such, I will be buying Colombia.
GM TOD.
TOD Rocks! Thanks Chips and BTs.
Congrats Don on your Gold :star:
So here we are. Sigh.
Donald Trump and his supporters slogan……… Make America White Again……Trump/Racism 2016
That’s a steaming pile of bullshit!
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/27/politics/donald-trump-fundraising/
Donald Trump appeared at a fundraising event for an outside group that can collect unlimited contributions from secret donors, a move in sharp contrast with his public calls for transparency in money and politics.
Trump attended a fundraising event Sunday at the home of real estate developer Charles Kushner and his wife, Seryl — Ivanka Trump’s in-laws — on the Jersey Shore. Some attendees were asked to pony up $10,000 for a group called Make America Great Again. According to an invitation, organizers have set up a super PAC as well as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit. While a super PAC is required to disclose its donors, the nonprofit is not.
He LIES! And Donna…nice YouTube video:) I gave you a click:)
Could it be that Trump needs Cash Flow more than he exaggerates?
Line up for your bar code tattoos and check in with your local agency every week.
These people are NUTS.
Poor Christie, he had it all, from busting Teacher’s unions to closing bridges. He really doesn’t believe what he’s saying, but when you’re fighting for Trump voters you’ve got to say the most stupidest shit imaginable just to stay relevant.
McCain and Palin received over fifty-million votes, and this was after Palin’s wit and wisdom were on full display. Over fifty-million people were willing to give the keys to the Whitehouse to a complete moron, an utter fool. Over fifty-million people looked inside Sarah Palin’s soul and said “I want some of that” my god, fifty-million people. I don’t think Donald Trump is in it for the long haul, he’s a real estate guy and like most real estate guys he’s just trying to up his per square foot price, sooner or later someone is going to buy him out.
I don’t know but I can’t see Trump, whose primary purpose in life is to make money, giving up his “businesses” to be POTUS at $400K a year. He’d probably have to divest or hide some of what he does because he is one big bag of conflict of interest on steroids.
Yet with all the Saturation of the NY/DC News Media coverage of Trump, none to the best of my ability has asked Trump how his “$10B” plus business is to be managed should he be elected.
Blind Trust is what has been the Tradition for POTUS and many elected officials. Conflict of interest is never mentioned nor questions raised by these Lazy Journos being spoon fed by Trump.
Chat away
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/08/29/chat-away-655/