Today
11:20: The President receives a briefing with his national security team at National Counter-terrorism Center, McLean, Virginia. The Vice President also attends.
12:15: The President delivers a statement.
17
Dec
15
116 Responses to “Early Bird Chat”
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Morning, Chips. Great photo!
Gooooooooood morning to you Jackie!!!!
God Morning & congrats on 1st. It is going to be a great day today. I have been johnny come lately and just getting done with Christmas baking to ship out. It is a tough time for me. on the 19th of December, 1989 my oldest Son Ross had a stroke and we almost lost him. He made it and is in a Nursing Home in Minneapolis, being well taken care of. So the trauma is still with me even after 26 years.
But, I am doing fine and getting stuff done.
Wishing everyone a great weekend.
Safe flight for our POTUS & FLOTUS to the wonderful world of Hawaii.
So sorry about your son, Roberta. Christmas is so fraught with emotion and stress, it’s a wonder that any of us get through it.
Hugs to you, Roberta.
GOD BLESS YOU ROBERTA…YOU ARE LOVED DEAR CHILD OF GOD…MAY YOU BE COMFORTED WITH HIS DIVINE EMBRACE!
Oh Roberta, love and hugs to you, you’ve been through so much.
{{{Roberta}}}
{{{{{ Roberta }}}}
Love and light to you dear!
Roberta, prayers for you and your family.
{{Roberta and son}}.
A very cool thing happened yesterday. Unknown to anyone, my MIL had tucked away in a safe deposit box, a letter to my deceased FIL from 1948 signed by Albert Einstein!!! And she gave it to my husband as a Christmas gift. Needless to say, we’re getting it framed and hung in a place of honor.
Albert Einstein????? Whaaaaaaaaat?? That’s just amazing! How did they know each other??
FIL apparently contributed some money to a project Einstein was working on-not the bomb-and the letter was a long and lovely thank you-not a pro forma thing.
That is just fantastic Jackie - and I’m relieved it wasn’t for the bomb, otherwise I’d have to put you in spam. Not to be Amk-ishly mercenary about it, but…. that letter is probably worth a FORTUNE!!!
I will give her 100 bucks for it. … ok, ok, 110…
Make 100 trazillion and Jackie might deal :cool:
We’re saving it for our children, who will hopefully recognize it for the treasure it is and keep it.
If they put it on eBay, Jackie, disown them.
Since they won’t getting it until we’re, um, no longer around, disowning might be tough. But we could haunt them/
:-)
Brilliant! :-D
My FIL was an army officer in WW II and when he returned he worked for peace for the rest of his life.
Love this.
JackieG, what a priceless gift!
WOWIE! What an amazing gift.
That is just awesome jackieg. what a thrill to have some memorabilia from your FIL & Einstein Wooot!!!. :-)
Holy Smokes! What a gift! :-D
WOW! What a story! What a gift! Was this a “forgotten” piece of memorabilia or one that she was waiting for just the right time to present?
That’s amazing! What a great Christmas gift.
Happy news:
Oh good. I hope there’s a nice loooong penalty attached to that charge as well as a whopping fine. This creature is pure scum.
A truly vile piece of crap, I hope his world comes tumbling down.
THIS GUY REEKS OF SLEEZE!
The little punk ass look like he needed to be brought down a peg or two.
:lol:
Priceless!!!
THAT WOULD BE ME…I THINK OUT OF THE BOX!………………GOT IT?
LOL! Indeed! :-D
That’s too funny!
Morning everyone!! :) Happy Thursday! 2 more days until my vacation!!!! SO excited:) Then I can get down to the business of stimulating the economy:)
You mean you haven’t bought my pressie yet? :shock:
That’s exactly what I mean:) I haven’t bought ANY pressies!! Morning, Chips:)
Jesus. I thought you’d have put some planning in to mine, while leaving all the other unimportant ones to the last minute.
Jokester. If you want a smile and a hug, I got that…otherwise, got to wait your turn:)
Go set a quiz, turtle face.
The spending bill was a republican give away to special interests that fund campaigns.
Big oil in particular, are dancing in the streets.
Domestic oil has ended a 40 year old ban, the biggest reason gas is so cheap in America.
Then a 500 ill ion dollar tax cuts for the rich.
Raising the deficit exponentially, all that good work Obama did in the deficit… Gone!
Meanwhile, democrats are so stupid, all they got were some domestic spending increases… Like national parks get more money this year.
(As if that won’t be the first thing cut if we get a republican president)
If you can share a better deal proposal, please do. Democrats and the American citizens must work with the congress they’ve been given by the people . Yes, I know republicans have a history of not compromising whereas Democrats always always do , because they are more often than not the grown ups.
There’s nothing anyone can do except vote the rethugs out and that’s not gonna happen sitting at home during mid terms.
We go forward and work diligently for control of one or both chambers of congress. Becoming obstructionists isn’t part of Democrats DNA although sometimes one wishes it were.
You nailed it as far as the alternatives are concerned, Mittens. WE have to elect a Democratic congress or this country will continue to get screwed! Also, Democrats understand the hardship of shutting down the government because they actually care when the most vulnerable are hit. If a spending bill was not passed, we would have seen government furloughs, delayed SS checks and a host of other problems that would have hurt people directly.
Amy Klobacher also included the abatement of the Medical Device taxes for 2 years. She is really catching hell from her constituents and no answer as to how that is going to help finance the ACA. It’s good until 2018 just when she is up for reelection again. Not going to happen here.
The Cadillac Tax was scheduled to go into effect in 2018 but her and Franken’s idiocy actually extends it to 2020!
Bad boys! Bad boys! Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you? :)
http://www.businessinsider.com/martin-shkreli-arrested-in-securities-fraud-investigation-2015-12
Martin Shkreli was arrested in a securities-fraud investigation on Thursday morning, Bloomberg reports.
The New York Times has confirmed Shkreli’s arrest, according to Times editor Peter Lattman.
Shkreli, the 32-year-old CEO of KaloBios, gained notoriety in September after it was revealed that as CEO of another company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, he raised the price of a drug used to treat parasitic infections by 5,000%.
According to Bloomberg reporters Christie Smythe and Keri Geiger, however, the current charges are unrelated to those two companies.
Before Turing Pharmaceuticals, Shkreli served as CEO of the publicly traded biotech company Retrophin.
“Prosecutors charged him with illegally taking stock from Retrophin Inc., a biotechnology firm he started in 2011, and using it pay off debts from unrelated business dealings,” Smythe and Geiger report. “He was later ousted from the company, where he’d been chief executive officer, and sued by its board.”
Good morning TOD and DF….Karma is quite delicious isn’t it :)
Morning dd!! Christmas came early:) Hope he STAYS gone and in jail…what a rotten, lousy cretin he is.
GM DonnaDem.
I think this saddens me the most — this greedy sociopath has (no doubt) broken his parents hearts:
From the Bloomberg article.
“The son of immigrants from Albania and Croatia who worked as janitors and raised him deep in working-class Brooklyn, Shkreli both epitomizes the American dream and sullies it.”
:-D :-D :-D
EWWW! Kind of crass from a President….but then, he has no class, just like the RW jokers here!
http://www.businessinsider.com/putin-russia-sees-no-prospect-of-improving-ties-with-turkey-2015-12
Putin reportedly took a shot at Turkey for turning to America for help, according to NBC News.
“Couldn’t they have just picked up a phone?” Putin said.
The Russian president then said Turkey “decided to lick the Americans in a certain place,” the BBC reports.
Someone should ask Putin where that “certain place” might be….would love to see the look on his face…. WHO THE HELL SAYS STUFF LIKE THAT TO A REPORTER???
They can say anything they want. He is taking his Q from the RWNJ in the good ole US of A.
Putin is a classless thug. It’s a strain for him to speak with dignity, which is why he always sounds like the neanderthal KGB operative he once was.
THIS!
GM TODville, congrats on #1, JackieG!
Who couldn’t see this coming (we all know that $$$ are of utmost importance to GOP)?
Wonder if the heat will now be on Cruz and Rubio (best known Cuban-Americans in #2016Campaign)?
The opposition will disappear as soon as they all get their investments completed.
DO NOT EVER STAND IN PRESIDENT OBAMA’S WAY!
Criminal Charges to Be Brought Against Enrique Marquez, Ex-Neighbor of San Bernardino Shooters
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/san-bernardino-shooting/criminal-charges-be-brought-against-enrique-marquez-ex-neighbor-san-n481666
Good morning TOD ….
My God!! How is this woman even standing after a trauma like that! I wish our grossly incompetent media would tell this woman’s story, rather than tediously running the Loudmouth on a continuous loop. Americans are fearful of their own shadows and of things that “might happen.” Nadia has traveled down every road in hell and here she is speaking to the UN.
Good West Coast morning Chipsticks & TOD family.
MoooooOOOoooOooOOOooOOooooorning GGail! :-)
Our AMAZING FLOTUS and Dr. Jill:
I pray that Saudi women change the face of their country. A few women were elected this time and I hope that number continues to grow with each election. Saudi women have been living under extreme patriarchal suppression for a long time. Voting is the first step toward empowerment and I hope my granddaughter can see the day when Saudi women and girls can reclaim all of their rights as full human beings.
Thank you Obama ….
Wishing all of you well ….
bbl ….
#Hope4ALL
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Nickelby has decided he is all better - chased him all over the house this morning to give him his eye drops. He won. Hopefully Mr. 57 can corral him.
It’s going to be a joy getting the stitches out next week. My vet has no idea how much strength this 20 pound dog can muster……..
Goooooooooo Nickelby!!!! :-) So, so, so great to hear he’s in eye-drop-escaping form!!
He seriously messed with my head: he’d come up on the sofa and I’d barely think about reaching for the drops, and he’d bolt. He needs one or two more days of the med to be safe, but he’s made the decision that he’s just fine, thank you very much.
He has diagnosed that he’s perfectly fine! :-)
Damn independent terriers…….
Good for him! Way to go Nickelby! Happy for Mom and Dad too! :-)
PROGRESS
This breaks the heart.
world’s bestest country.
TONIGHT!!
Thanks for the reminder. I.Cannot.Wait. :)
uh huh
uh huh
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/16/15
New clues about mysterious buyer of Nevada’s largest newspaper
Jon Ralston, host of Ralston Live on PBS in Nevada, talks with Rachel Maddow about what clues indicate that Sheldon Adelson is part of the secretive purchase of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and how Adelson might use Nevada’s largest newspaper to assert political influence.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/new-clues-as-to-powerful-papers-secret-owner-587366467816
There really should be regulations that newspapers cannot be owned anonymously.
I couldn’t agree more!
Woooot! Hello There My Sweet TOD Babies!
It’s raining scratchy kats and horny dogs in Atlanta, but it’s still a beeeeeautiful morning! :-D
Ya know that intro might’ve worked a lot better if I posted the correct damned Tweet! Arrgh! :-D
Anyway…. :-D
The google doodle from today - love it.
Big Lu!!! :-D
Woah, Chelsea have sacked Mourinho. Nerdy and LL? Hello??
Chat away
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/12/17/chat-away-736/
Black unemployment is significantly higher than white unemployment regardless of educational attainment
By Valerie Wilson | December 17, 2025
The black unemployment rate is nearly or more than twice the white unemployment rate regardless of educational attainment. It is, and always has been, about twice the white unemployment rate; however, the depth of this racial inequality in the labor market rarely makes the headlines.
http://www.epi.org/publication/black-unemployment-educational-attainment/