Today
5:0: Attends the National Christmas Tree Lighting; The Ellipse
03
Dec
15
87 Responses to “Early Bird Chat”
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White House.gov
- Why Diplomacy Matters: Follow Along as the President Heads to the 70th UN General Assembly
- President Obama on the Shooting in San Bernardino
- Weekly Address: We Will Not Be Terrorized
- West Wing Week: 12/04/2025 or, "Fromage!"
- The Employment Situation in November
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- “We know that the killers in San Bernardino used...
- President Obama just met with Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly to...
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- “One of the qualities that makes America’s armed forces the best in the world is that we...
- “What we do know is that there are steps we can take to...
The People’s View
- Open thread - Nuts with guns Liberal Librarian
- Open thread - The President's statement on San Bernardino Liberal Librarian
- Progress For Us: The Historical Context Behind Modern American Political Ideology Trevor LaFauci
- On being pro-life Liberal Librarian
- Open thread - Starting the week in a light-hearted vein Liberal Librarian
Smartypants
- The Paradox of a Good Jobs Report
- Mollifying the Insurgents
- The Deeper Issue With "Thoughts and Prayers"
- Why I Could Stop Screaming
- Admitting We Have a Problem
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
- Dems should go hard at GOP climate denialism in 2016
- Why Republicans aren’t objecting to Obama’s decision on women in combat
- Morning Plum: Sorry, Lindsey Graham. Republican voters WANT mass deportations.
Steve Benen
- This Week in God, 12.5.15
- Citations for the December 4, 2025 TRMS
- Massive gas leak imperils people, environment
- NY Times to call for gun control in historic front page editorial
- Terror fight calls for better training, equipping local police
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rimshot
It’s a gem. Morning petal.
It’s evening. sigh.
Not in my world it isn’t, daisy.
yer just fricken 6 hours behind. sun rises at noon in ireeeshland?
The sun never sets in Ireeeshland :cool:
ah, that essplains all that mastery over time zones.
GOP thoughts and prayers: “Please don’t let this hurt my campaign and I pray that the NRA will continue to donate thousands to me, thank you Jesus”.
That about sums it up, forus. They are also praying for the good Lord to show them how to blame President Obama and them ‘Libruls.’
Perfect!
GOD KNOWS THE VIBRATIONS…THE SINCERITY OF THE HEART…HE CAN SEE THROUGH OTHER MOTIVES…AND SO I SAY…GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!…CARRY ON!
Family all safe?
Yup, all are safe and accounted for. Thanks for asking.
NO…HE IS NOT…HE HAS LIFTED HIS HEDGE OF PROTECTION….HE…IS TIRED OF MAN’S INHUMANITY TO MAN!…NEXT………………
at chennai y’day.
Good Morning Ms. Chips!
Good Morning Everyone!
Hope today is a better day
Happy Thursday TODers
Heeeeeeeeeeeeya Chips.
Heeeeeeeeeeya Africaaaaaaaaaaa!!!
Aren’t there 365 days in a year?
This is a YTD stat.
Oh, I was perplexed by that statement.
WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS?
———————————-
Igor Volsky, contributing editor to Think Progress, criticizes lawmakers who ‘think and pray’ after gun violence but don’t take action to help prevent further mass shootings.
Duration: 6:17
——————————-
What’s the matter with thoughts and prayers?: http://on.msnbc.com/1XAzqhj
Morning. I feel a little disconnected from my head this morning…I was serious last night when I said that the entire country was suffering from PTSD. I woke up thinking about the fact that the congresspeople that allow this to continue to happen….DO NOT ALLOW GUNS IN THEIR PLACE OF WORK! You can’t go to a govt building or the state offices of your senator or Representative and bring your legal (or not) loaded weapon to the meeting in their office. Hypocrites. But we already knew that. Is this what freedom feels like?? Do you feel “free” yet?? I sure don’t. Not free anywhere you go anymore. Even a damn Christmas party at a place that helps disabled people isn’t safe. We should be ashamed of ourselves and LIVID at the people that enable this to continue…..We had more MASS MURDER in this country than there are days in a YEAR?? WTF! And the year isn’t over yet!
Phones need to be ringing off the hook! The money needs to get out of politics because until we address that….this will NEVER go away!! The money from the NRA keeps these mouthpieces in office….no one is safe now. The irony of this whole thing is that the entire world looks to America as a beacon of freedom. Those of us here, are experiencing anything but….it’s getting worse and out of control….WE THE PEOPLE need to take a stand and say no more. ENOUGH. There is room for common sense reform. We have to have the will to make this happen and push back against the fear mongers…whose version of “coming for all your guns” does not resemble reality, unless, of course, you don’t deserve the responsibility of owning a fire arm!
I just don’t know anymore…I DO know that we have to do something because this path is unsustainable. This is not freedom. This is fear and intimidation and helplessness to overcome the fear and intimidation. We need to act now, before it’s too late….if its not already.
By the way, I am in no way suggesting that it SHOULD be ok to bring weapons into those offices! I am merely trying to point of the ridiculousness of their argument. They have no place in a polite society. Period.
‘no way suggesting that it SHOULD be ok to bring weapons into those offices’
fully disagree. let these enabling mofos taste what they spewed.
No….then we would become THEM. Not happening. By the way, stay safe. Hope that flooding subsides soon….make sure that everyone knows that these extraordinary rains were not in any way connected to global warming…stay safe, amk
Unless the entire bunch of these hypocritical cowards are hurt, things are not gonna change.
We are all back home about two hours ago. Deeply disappointed that we had to miss our niece’s wedding reception. And yes, many are calling it india is waking up to the reality of global warming.
Oh wow amk, the wedding was yesterday? Hope it went well. Post a pic if you can. Happy to know you all are safe.
The wedding gala happened about 2 weeks back in Chennai. We were to go for the reception which is being hosted by the groom’s family near london this week.
And then the rain goddess - yes, it must be a she - said, nope amk, not happening.
The goddess of mercy kept you all safe 😘
well, she could have talked to the rain goddess furst.
Now you want to direct the behavior of the goddesses. I’m not standing next to you anymore :shock:
Df, corporate billionaires, including the firearms and media industries, decided long ago that democracy is a luxury for Americans, so they have been systematically dismantling it. I’m sure those who wrote our constitution did not imagine lifetime sinecures for members of Congress whose votes are bought and paid for by billionaires and their lobbyists. So now we have a Congress that is 100 percent unresponsive to the needs of Americans and we are told that it will be impossible to replace the Republican members of Congress in 2016. What is wrong with that picture?
All you say is true. This was a feature all along….not a bug. This is part of the reason why so many believe that the American Dream is dead.
Morning all. Last night I called my son in Pasadena. He was at a restaurant with some friends and I wanted to yell at him-a 43 year-old man- to go home and lock his door. How sick is that? In the next few weeks we will all go to events,and visit shopping malls where we’re apt to hear about “Peace on earth, good will toward men.” Good luck finding that in the old US of A.
Hi Jackie i live in Pasadena and i have no desire to go to movie theatres, malls, restaurants, etc. The only place i would feel safe is in my home or homes of friends.
Consider a donation or helping out in some way.
http://americansforresponsiblesolutions.org/2015/12/02/ca/
December 2, 2025 – Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Navy combat veteran and retired NASA astronaut Capt. Mark Kelly, the Co-Founders of Americans for Responsible Solutions, issued the below statement following today’s tragic shooting in San Bernardino, California:
“It seems like every week we sit down together to find the words to adequately express our heartbreak for another community that has been shattered by gun violence.
“We always fail to find the words to match our anger, heartache, and disgust.
“Today is no different.
“Today is another sad day. Today, once again, America mourns those taken from us by gun violence.
“Once again, a senseless act of gun violence has brought terror, tragedy and pain to one of our communities. This time, murderers with guns attacked the Inland Regional Center, a place of refuge and comfort for the some of the most vulnerable among us.
“We wish we could use words like ‘unimaginable’ and ‘unthinkable’ to describe the horror that unfolded today in San Bernardino. But it is not. Not in our country.
“While this situation is still unfolding and as we wait to learn exactly what happened and why, we are holding the San Bernardino community in our thoughts. We grieve for those lost, pray for strength for the injured, and hope for comfort for those whose loved ones were taken from them today.
“We are grateful to the first responders who are serving bravely and working to end these murderers’ rampage and ensure they see justice.
“We want to repeat something we said just last week after the tragedy in Colorado Springs: As a country and a people, we must reckon with the fact that these types of gun tragedies simply don’t happen as often in other countries. Other countries have evil people. Other countries have violent people. But our country stands nearly alone in the rate of people murdered with guns.
“America is an extraordinary place. But these tragedies make us stand out in the worst of ways.
“This is not the America we strive for. We have to do better. And we can.”
Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly are two extraordinary people who have given themselves the Herculean task of bringing common sense to the insane topic of gun control. My heart aches for what they have to endure each time there’s another mass murder-the memories, fear and pain it must evoke in Gabby. I honestly don’t understand the cruelty that has entered people’s souls, the willingness to destroy other human beings without any thought to what they really means. When did Americans become so soulless and pitiless?
I was thinking as I was making dinner last night…that these sob’s in congress THAT SHE WORKED BESIDE! chose guns over her!! Wrap your head around that. There are just no words for me anymore.
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Good West Coast morning Chipsticks & TOD family.
It takes my breath away! Millions and millions and millions of dollars ….
people voting to self-destruct.
I done read it all.
They stole a PHUCKING CABIN?
…………………..
Cabin fever? Log cabin in Wildwood disappears, St. Louis County police investigating
By Valerie Schremp Hahn, Samantha Liss
The Essen log cabin at 822 Highway 109 in Wildwood. Somebody disassembled and took the cabin sometime between Nov. 24 and 29, and St. Louis County Police are trying to figure out what happened. (Photo from the city of Wildwood.)
A historic log cabin in Wildwood has gone missing, and St. Louis County Police are investigating.
Sometime between Nov. 24 and 29, someone disassembled and carted off the pieces of the cabin off Highway 109 just south of Eatherton Road in Wildwood. The family who owned it had planned to donate the cabin to the city for use as a historic attraction.
St. Louis County Police spokesman Brian Schellman said the cabin could barely be seen from the highway.
“It’s pretty secluded, where, if nobody’s paying attention, you can probably get a big truck in there and do all this,” he said. “You’re not talking about a pickup truck moving it.”
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/cabin-fever-log-cabin-in-wildwood-disappears-st-louis-county/article_8ddd7ce8-7a90-5467-a10d-5c7779608747.html
UH HUH
UH HUH
That piece of sh!t call the NY Post is no difference then FOX.
Both are Rupert Murdoch’s. WSJ is almost the same after he purchased that many years ago too.
MEDIA ALERT:
THE WIZ, LIVE
Tonight, 8pm EST on NBC.
Should be interesting.
THIS. I said this yesterday, as well. When there is $$ behind NOT admitting we have a problem here….THAT’S a problem!
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2015_12/admitting_we_have_a_problem058854.php
Will they send him to jail, that’s the question
……………
‘Blade Runner’ Pistorius found guilty of murder on appeal
BLOEMFONTEIN, Dec 3 (Reuters) - South Africa’s “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius was found guilty on Thursday of murdering his girlfriend, in an appeal court ruling that could see him sent back to prison for up to 15 years.
The Supreme Court upgraded the 29-year-old Paralympian’s sentence on appeal to murder from “culpable homicide”, for which he had received a five-year sentence.
Pistorius was released on parole on Oct. 19, having spent one day less than a year in prison for shooting dead model Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013. He was meant to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest.
The athlete, known for the carbon fibre prosthetic blades he uses when running, will be sentenced for the new murder conviction by a lower court at a date still to be determined.
It is likely his lawyers could argue that his physical disability and mental stress should be considered as mitigating circumstances.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/blade-runner-pistorius-found-guilty-of-murder-on-appeal/ar-AAfYaxl?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=HPCDHP
as per beebs, he could 15 or less. it’s all judge’s prerogative it seems.
This needs to be retweeted thousands of times. Ryan, the perfect phony, leading a party of phonies and liars. And really, Pf, doesn’t that face just say it all? I’m not prone to violence of any sort, but I’m so tempted to hurl a custard pie at that self-satisfied mug.
Ryan is just one of the many in Congress who will never enact gun legislation..there is no appealing to decency…they do not have any…..there will be no action till citizens make this issue as important as Jobs…etc, and vote for legislators who will enact gun legislation…so the question is…When will it be Enough for WE THE PEOPLE??…
HE SPENT HIS TIME ON MORNING JAVA THIS MORNING TELLING JOE WE NEED A NEW PRESIDENT…THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN TO WATCH…PBO OWNS A SHREDDER!
Well the shooter in California bought the gun legally. Those assault weapons should not be able to be bought by anyone. It should be against the law.
I want to tell everyone of those politicians who care more about what the NRA think, then keeping it’s citizens safe, “KEEP YOUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS”. I will pray for you to get some courage to do what’s right.
‘Misguided missile’: A GOP strategist’s private advice on a Trump nomination
December 2 at 3:20 PM
Donald Trump has become such a force in the Republican Party that the official overseeing next year’s Senate races has proposed a delicate strategy for GOP candidates: Tap into Trumpism without mimicking Trump.
In a seven-page confidential memo that imagines Trump as the party’s presidential nominee, the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee urges candidates to adopt many of Trump’s tactics, issues and approaches — right down to adjusting the way they dress and how they use Twitter.
………………
In the memo on “the Trump phenomenon,” NRSC Executive Director Ward Baker said Republicans should embrace Trump’s tough talk about China and “grab onto the best elements of [his] anti-Washington populist agenda.” Above all, they should appeal to voters as genuine and beyond the influence of special interests.
“Trump has risen because voters see him as authentic, independent, direct, firm, — and believe he can’t be bought,” Baker writes. “These are the same character traits our candidates should be advancing in 2016. That’s Trump lesson #1.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/private-memo-lays-out-how-the-gop-would-deal-with-trump-as-its-nominee/2015/12/02/78514cba-9909-11e5-94f0-9eeaff906ef3_story.html
By all means, please mimic Trump.
Don, they mimic the Tea Party and it’s racism, why not mimic the racists Donald Trump. After all racists is the strong part of their base.
OH WELL..
shrug.
you built it. you keep him.
…………..
The one sentence that shows how worried Senate Republicans are about Donald Trump
By Amber Phillips December 3 at 7:30 AM
“If he carries this message into the general election in Ohio, we’ll hand this election to Hillary Clinton — and then try to salvage the rest of the ticket.”
That’s a quote from Matt Borges, chairman of the Republican Party in Ohio. He’s just one of several Republican operatives who recently told Jonathan Martin of the New York Times just how concerned they are that Republicans’ chances of keeping a hold of the U.S. Senate are inversely related to Donald Trump’s chances of getting the nomination.
Borges is in the thick of that right now. He’s trying to keep Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) in office in what is already a competitive reelection race in a presidential battleground state.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/12/03/the-one-sentence-that-shows-how-worried-senate-republicans-are-about-donald-trump/?tid=pm_politics_pop_b
America’s gun problem, explained
http://www.vox.com/2015/10/3/9444417/gun-violence-united-states-america
As Bobfr so often states:
672232742822780928
Bobfr may very well be a math wizard but I was trying to say this:
Good Morning Chips and TOD.
Sikh woman ordered to show breast pump after fellow passenger suspects she may be a terrorist
03 Dec 2025 at 09:32 ET
A Sikh woman said she was asked to show her breast pump to fellow passengers on a Delta Air Lines flight to prove she wasn’t a terrorist.
Valerie Kaur, an attorney and filmmaker who regularly appears on MSNBC, said she was waiting to board a flight to Los Angeles when she removed the luggage tag on her carry-on bag, where she kept her breast pump.
“The passenger behind me raised his voice,” Kaur wrote on her Facebook page. “I turned around. He was a white man and his face was angry. He asked why I removed the tag. I offered to explain but he said he didn’t want to know.”
She said the man instead raised his suspicions with other passengers in line, and an “alarmed and angered” gate agent questioned her.
“I explained that I was a nursing mother, but she still didn’t let me board with my bag,” Kaur said. “Her face was just as angry. I had to pull out the breast pump to show her. Only then was I allowed to take my seat. All the passengers in first class watched and I smiled weakly to show them I wasn’t a terrorist.”
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/sikh-woman-ordered-to-show-breast-pump-after-fellow-passenger-suspects-she-may-be-a-terrorist/
bin laden: mission accomplished
he does well till the last paragraph…
Teyonah Parris Delivers a Monologue That Gets to the Core of ‘Chi-Raq’s’ Message in New Clip from the Film
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
December 2, 2025 at 8:03PM
Two days to go! Spike Lee’s much-discussed next joint, “Chi-Raq,” will be released this Friday, December 4, courtesy of Amazon Studios - their first in-house feature film, in a deal that involves both Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate (noteworthy, as both have previously teamed up on prestige film fare).
The film’s solid cast includes rising star Teyonah Parris and multihyphenate and Nick Cannon, as well as lauded veterans like Angela Bassett, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cusack, Harry Lennix, Steve Harris, Wesley Snipes, and D.B. Sweeney. Singer/actress Jennifer Hudson also features.
“Chi-Raq” is a modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes. After the murder of a child by a stray bullet, a group of women led by Lysistrata (played by Parris) organize against the on-going violence in Chicago’s Southside, creating a movement that challenges the nature of race, sex and violence in America and around the world
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/teyonah-parris-delivers-a-monologue-that-gets-to-the-core-of-chi-raqs-message-in-new-clip-from-the-film-20151202
What forms of gun control work best? Congress bans federal agencies from finding out.
http://www.vox.com/2015/10/6/9465649/gun-violence-research-cdc
This is where we have to start…chipping away at laws like these…
Other than a couple of RTs, I couldn’t get anyone to pay any attention and I’ve written and called many others than those listed in this 140 character-limited tweet ….
Will try to visit tomorrow ….
#Hope4ALL
PBO & National Security team to make a statement shortly
Chat on
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/12/03/chat-away-724/
A Fresh Set of Official Images from Sundance-Bound Barack & Michelle in ‘Before Sunset’-Style Romance, ‘Southside With You’
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
December 2, 2025 at 5:13PM
Here are new official images from “Southside With You,” the project that is being sold as a “Before Sunset”-style film (in short… man, woman, lots of mostly profound conversation over a specified period of time), which takes place entirely in one day, set during the summer of 1989, when one Barack Obama (then a first-year Harvard Law student) took his future wife, Michelle Robinson (an associate at a Chicago law firm), out on a first date, which included a tour of Chicago’s South Side.
The future couple also caught a screening of Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” - something the president has talked about previously. I assume that moment in time will be incorporated into the script.
The film, which is directed by Richard Tanne, from his own screenplay (co-developed with co-star of the film Tika Sumpter), will make its world premiere at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival next month, in Park City, UT.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/a-fresh-set-of-official-images-from-sundance-bound-barack-michelle-in-before-sunset-style-romance-southside-with-you-20151202