On This Day: President Barack Obama looks through a telescope during the Astronomy Night event on the South Lawn of the White House, Oct. 7, 2009 (Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
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MoooOOOooorning!
07
Oct
15
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Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit’s DeeeeeeeeeFfffffff - good morning to ya! :-)
Morning, Chipster! How’s things??
df, good morning!!!!!!!!!
Morning, 57!!!
Always so shocked to see “Leave a Comment”…even after all these years:) Good morning, everyone! Happy Hump Day:)
La Fleur du désert gagne la journée! Félicitations! 😀😀😀
Good Morning, Everyone :)
gm Chips, gm df - congrats on the win
Goooooood evening Ms Australia!
Thanks, love! How’s everything down under?
ICYMI
Misty Copeland Performs With Yo-Yo Ma
Beautiful! Thanks & GM rikyrah😉
What a glorious way to greet the day!! Thank you, rikyrah!!
beautiful….thank you so much for bringing this to us…smilin
my granddaughter…is just beginning her training with toe shoes…Misty Copeland is a role model for her…smilin
GM PF58.
How adorable!
Can just imagine how cute she is, and there’s no better model for a dancer than the AMAZING Misty Copeland.
What a life story — would be heartwarming to hear that she and the teacher who initially saw her potential are still close (I have no idea if this is true, but hope so).
yes…she told me how hard it is and how painful….but she will endure…
Lovely!
This actually brought tears to my eyes. Such respect between Misty and Yo Yo. Just Beautiful. Thank you.
I think this is outrageous
Large pension fund files plan to cut retiree benefits under new law
Nearly 300,000 former truckers and their families would suffer significant losses under a proposal that uses a controversial new law to cut once sacrosanct pension benefits.
The huge Central States Pension Fund, which administers retirement benefits for some former and current Teamster truckers, said the reductions are the only way to save the plan from insolvency.
“A realistic rescue plan is needed now,” said Thomas C. Nyhan, executive director of the Central States Pension Fund. “The longer we wait to act, the larger the benefit reductions will have to be.”
Under the proposal, pensions for Central States’ 407,000 participants would be cut by an average of nearly 23 percent. But the pain would be distributed unevenly. Some participants, including the disabled, would not be subject to reductions. Older retirees would generally receive smaller cuts, while those who worked for defunct companies that did not keep pace with their pension funding obligations would face steeper reductions.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/retirement/large-pension-fund-files-plan-to-cut-retiree-benefits-under-new-law/ar-AAfbeQN?li=AAa0dzB&ocid=HPCDHP
Thanks for highlighting this, rikyrah. This is what’s calling hitting people when they’re down. If you’re elderly and have counted on a pension plan to live, you don’t have a lot of realistic work options to supplement your income.
you vote with your blinders and so take whatever consequences that come with it.
Good West Coast morning Chipsticks & TOD family.
Congrats DF on First! 😎
Goooooooood moooooooorning GGaaaaaaaaail!
Gooooooooood MoooOoooorning dearest Chips 😘
💋
so, anything goes policy again?
Check the headline for this….
Uh huh
Uh huh
Obama’s tantrums won’t end gun violence
The Washington Post
Michael Gerson
Following the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College, a “smoldering” (as one commentator put it) President Obama gave a revealing speech — a clarification, a culmination, of much that had come before. “[W]hat’s become routine,” he said, “of course, is the response of those who oppose any kind of common-sense gun legislation. Right now, I can imagine the press releases being cranked out: ‘We need more guns,’ they’ll argue. . . . Does anybody really believe that?” “This is a political choice we make,” he claimed, “to allow this to happen every few months in America.”
The president’s frustration, after delivering a sad series of similar speeches, is understandable. But his argument is still indefensible.
Even if you support “common-sense gun legislation” (as I do), there was nothing in Obama’s speech that effectively argued for it. No policy proposals or serious justifications. No one listening to the speech would be persuaded to take a position he or she did not already hold. Obama was saying, in essence, that it is obvious what we should do about mass gun violence, that evil people are blocking it, and that they have innocent blood on their hands.
This is apparently what some liberals think when anger releases them from civility and rationality. Obama speaks as if the gun laws he wants passed would put an end to these killings — a position for which there is no evidence. I believe that more thorough background checks and further restrictions on the type and firepower of weapons, along with improved health services for the severely mentally ill, would be good for our society, apart from mass killings. I hope that, in the long term, this system might, just might, intervene before a prospective mass killer strikes (though such causality would be very hard to demonstrate). But I have no basis for the calumny that people who disagree with me are choosing to allow mass murder.
This is the politics of moral posturing, not an argument rooted in social science. With his last election behind him, Obama is free to be Obama. And it appears that he is, deep down, a liberal commentator of the MSNBC variety — perhaps providing a preview of his post-presidency. The only apparent purpose of his gun speech was to incite the faithful by expressing a seething arrogance.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/obama%e2%80%99s-tantrums-won%e2%80%99t-end-gun-violence/ar-AAf8Szn?li=AAa0dzB&ocid=HPCDHP
They can’t stop rikyrah - they must attack every thing he does. Apart from anything else all the “liberal MSNBC commentators have been sacked, someone should tell Michael Gerson.
There’s so much stupidity in this Gerson article, it’s hard to know where to begin. The president is not allowed to express his feelings when he has to mourn the needless deaths of hundreds of people a year because, God forbid, he should behave like a caring human being. Every time he speaks he’s supposed to outline “in detail” the proposed gun regulations that have been repeatedly rejected by congressional Republicans because the media is too ill informed to remember what Congress did the last time there was a mass killing. PBO said that these kinds of killings do NOT take place in other civilized societies, which also deal with mental illness, because they have sensible gun regulation. Nobody else listening to the President was confused about what he said. Gerson must suffer from poor listening skills.
You tell him Jackieg! GM to you ☺️
oh I was just about to post this article. Thank you Rikyrah. Buncha crap by Gerson.
this is the way they control the meme…confuse the issue…but it won’t work….but changing the politics in Congress will prove difficult but not impossible…as Mandela said things are Impossible til they are done…
good insight here from smartypants…
David Adkins appears to be making a similar case.
Gun control will pass precisely when legislators become more afraid of the votes of gun control supporters than they are of gun control opponents. That will only happen when interested organizations invest in field…to mobilize voters on that issue, and when liberal organizations work to unseat Democrats who do the bidding of the NRA and replace them with ones who vote to protect the people. That is how the Tea Party accomplishes its goals: not by visibility protests or list-building campaigns, but by making examples of “RINO” Republicans and putting hardcore conservatives in their place. Many Democrats see that as “extremist” and bad form. But it isn’t. The Tea Party is extremist because of its positions, not because of its tactics
GM rickyrah.
Not gonna click on article, which is just another dog whistle MSM uses to project lies that PBO is “weak” (except when he’s a tyrant).
I highly doubt it. Not after presidents and civil rights leaders were assassinated and not much has been done.
Gun Control will happen when armed blk men stage demonstrations thru all white neighblorhoods…
Nope, the police will gleefully mow them down and on live teevee too with the msm egging them on. And the paranoia will be fanned by nra for pushing more guns on to the perpetually afraid populace.
you are right…it worked once with the Blk Panther Party…….Reagan enacted gun control back in the 70s..
those were days of some sanity at least. now it’s all 24×7 batshit crazy.
GE amk.
Sadly agree with PF58.
Gabby Giffords, a blue dog Dem supporting gun rights was nearly murdered when adorable 9 year old granddaughter of a legendary MLB coach was murdered, but lobbying dollars from NRA more important to the GOP traitors in Congress.
Good Morning Chips, Danny & congrats on 1st Desertflower. You be up really really early today. Have a great one everyone. BBL
Mooooooorning Roberta!!
yes, please do listen to Cruz.
……………
Cruz huddles with House Republicans on eve of Speaker vote
10/07/15 08:40 AM
By Steve Benen
By any fair measure, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is not popular among his Senate Republican colleagues. Indeed, once in a while, they seem to actively dislike him, as was the case last week.
But the far-right senator is not without Capitol Hill allies. What’s unusual is that Cruz has found his compatriots on the other side of the building. The Washington Examiner reported yesterday afternoon:
Sen. Ted Cruz will meet with a group of House Republicans one day before they’re scheduled to vote for a new senior leadership team.
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, has invited the Texas Republican, leading presidential contender, to address his Conservative Opportunity Society at a Wednesday breakfast meeting. The agenda, according to the invitation, is “conservative strategy for the remainder of the year.” Cruz has meddled in House affairs on several occasions, advising supportive insurgent Republicans in the chamber on key legislation and strategic matters.
The Texas Republican’s office confirmed that Cruz planned to meet with House conservatives today – just one day before House GOP members meet in private to nominate their choice for Speaker of the House.
Whether, and to what degree, Cruz intends to intervene in House affairs is not clear, but when the Washington Examiner said the senator has “meddled” in the lower chamber “on several occasions,” that’s no exaggeration.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/cruz-huddles-house-republicans-eve-speaker-vote
so you tinker with dna and get a nobel.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-34464580
Morning Chips. That’s probably the best image of George W I’ve ever seen because it’s exactly the way he always looked to me through the eight nightmarish years we had to endure him. No one was ever happier to see a former president take off in a helicopter. And here he comes again in all his non-glory. Jeb!?@&***, please go home and take every pathetic member of your family with you.
Jackie, you know how spectacular my photography career has been, but none of my masterpieces pleased me more than the one of that helicopter flying away that day.
:cool:
Glorious image, Chips, worthy of Souza himself. I literally cried with joy when that idiot choppered away.
You should frame that gorgeous image! I think the whole country of Bush weary citizens heaved a collective sigh of relief.
I don’t know, AMK. It’s hard to have any respect for a court that gave us Citizen’s United and gutted the Voting Rights Act. PBO managed to appoint two very good judges, but the bigots and corporate panderers outnumber them.
And Hobby Lobby.
Latest PPP Polling
1. Donald Trump: 27% (down two points from late August)
2. Ben Carson: 17% (up two points)
3. Marco Rubio: 13% (up six points)
4. Jeb Bush: 10% (up one point)
5. Ted Cruz: 7% (up one point)
6. Carly Fiorina: 6% (down two points)
7. Mike Huckabee: 4% (down one point)
7. John Kasich: 4% (down two points)
carly’s flavor turned sour within a week?
fucking war criminal.
Republican who shut down gun research now has ‘regrets’
10/06/15 11:10 AM—UPDATED 10/06/15 12:10 PM
By Steve Benen
When President Obama delivered public remarks last week in response to the mass-shooting in Oregon, he touched on an under-appreciated angle to the debate over gun violence.
“We spent over a trillion dollars and passed countless laws and devote entire agencies to preventing terrorist attacks on our soil, and rightfully so,” he said. “And yet we have a Congress who explicitly blocks us from even collecting data on how we could potentially reduce gun deaths. How can that be?”
……………………………………………..
There is no mystery as to how this happened. In the 1990s, the Clinton administration’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began expanding its research into gun-related deaths as a public health issue, so conservatives in Congress added language to the appropriations bill that finances the CDC: “None of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control.”
Nearly 20 years later, the principal author of that language, Arkansas Republican Jay Dickey, conceded to the Huffington Post that he has “regrets” over the policy that came to be known as the Dickey Amendment.
When [Dickey] helped pass a restriction of federal funding for gun violence research in 1996, the goal wasn’t to be so suffocating, he insisted. But the measure was just that, dampening federal research for years and discouraging researchers from entering the field.
Now, as mass shootings pile up, including last week’s killing of nine at a community college in Oregon, Dickey admitted to carrying a sense of responsibility for progress not made.
The Arkansas Republican now believes the policy that bears his name should be fixed, if not scrapped.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/republican-who-shut-down-gun-research-now-has-regrets
Good Morning all. I wish you all a GREAT day!
Good morning Betsy, you have a great day too!!!
It’s disaster drill day which is usually a very chaotic, if necessary, evil and involves lots of steps. I hope it’s not too hot today.
And the very same to you, Betsy!!
Gallup gives up the horse race
As pollsters confront unprecedented obstacles, the biggest name in the business backs away.
Gallup has been the country’s gold standard for horse-race election polling ever since its legendary founder, George Gallup, predicted Franklin Roosevelt’s landslide reelection in 1936.
But after a bruising 2012 cycle, in which its polls were farther off than most of its competitors, Gallup told POLITICO it isn’t planning any polls for the presidential primary horse race this cycle. And, even following an internal probe into what went wrong last time around, Gallup won’t commit to tracking the general election next year.
It’s a stunning move for an organization that built its reputation on predicting the winners of presidential elections. But it comes at a time of unusual tumult in the polling world. Other top-level brands like the nonprofit Pew Research Center have yet to poll the horse race, and still others have expressed concern about the accuracy of polling at a time when fewer people are reachable or willing to talk to pollsters.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/gallup-poll-2016-pollsters-214493#ixzz3ntCb3DU5
heh, heh, heh (dumbya style)
has twitter changed mentions to “Moments” :O
Oh my goodness, family! Have you seen this!!! [Tears!]
I want Trump and the other Republicans to explain why these other countries like England, Australia, Germany, Japan doesn’t have these mass shooting like the U.S. If Trump can explain it.
LOLz
Don’t let FOX hear that.
Mussie Zerai
That’s all.
India man builds 26-foot-high car.
and I am the one tagged as crazy.
also. too.
He owns a car museum in the southern city of Hyderabad where he displays a number of “whacky” car models.
The come in all shapes and sizes and include a toilet commode, an aubergine, a billiards table and a lipstick.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34464790
What? Did he get inspired after a vacation in Texas?
I guess the first question is, “Why?” What on earth could he do with a car like that except stand on it?
Good Morning, TOD.
I know it was reported on yesterday but the news that 6,000!!! 6,000!!!!! Federal prisoners are going to be released between Oct. 30 and Nov.2, just blows me away.
This is Effective Government In Action.
Even Stephen Colbert succumbed last night and mouthed the prevailing lie, “the government can’t get anything done,” as an explanation of why people are angry.
NO. Americans are angry because they have been lied to for so long that they no longer know whether they are coming or going. A steady diet of racism will do that to you.
The Obama Administration Gets Things Done. Always has. From early days until the final day and beyond.
The Accomplishment List is very very very lengthy.
That should be Our Democratic Message.
Yessss!
New post:
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/10/07/rise-and-shine-1094/
GM TODville.
The #gunsense movement has new vigor.
Hope this ad runs in some publication somewhere every week between now and Nov 2016:
Okay people. Tell me if I live in a “lost their fricking minds” RED state!?!?!?!?! County next to us: County commissioners had a resolution before them last night that “God’s wrath over the SC legalization of same-sex marriage” would spare the county. One of the CRAZY commissioners brought the resolution before the commissioners. It failed in committee, but geez. These people are crazy!!!! Then, our esteemed Lt. Governor encouraged all Christians to arm themselves and begin packing. So, after he came out with that batshit crazy idea, a local gun store said it would offer a discount to any Christian coming in to buy a gun. I know many of you live in areas like this. Frankly, this is all getting scary for me. I messaged last night with a friend from church and she’s seriously considering looking for a new job because all the Board members and higher ups where she works are crazy right-wingers. She loves her job (Knoxville Area Rescue Mission), but not sure how much longer she can deal with the comments and attitudes. Feel like many of us are truly living in lalalalalala land. :( :(
Did see this LTE just now: Regarding Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey urging fellow Christians to get handgun carry permits, can anyone seriously imagine Jesus, the Prince of Peace, packing heat? I, for one, cannot.
So having lived more than six decades I have learned two things. I cannot change anyone but myself (and even that takes work). I value people who respect, empower and include. When I feel I am observing a certain level of hypocrisy, incompetence and inability to collaborate, no matter the organization (work, volunteer, recreation), and no matter my level of interest in the group’s purpose or my need to be gainfully employed, at this stage of my life I will leave and not look back. I won’t cause drama, won’t even be critical. I won’t leave people in the lurch or undermine anyone. Until the last I will act respectfully and cooperatively. But I will leave. I have begun applying that to businesses I patronize as well. When I consider hypocrisy, incompetence or authoritarian tendencies or power issues I now include those that self identify with the Right and also those that ignore abuses committed by the Right. If I hear these notions, I know I need to start planning an exit, whether it be work, play, service or as a consumer. Maybe some day that will become more of the norm and it will be a kind of people’s sanction.