On This Day: President Obama leaves the Oval Office prior to departure for his family vacation in Hawaii, Dec. 22, 2010 (Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
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Morning TOD!! 😍😍😍
Kathleen! :-)
Congratulations on your first pl!
Good morning TODVille!
Good Tuesday, Chipsticks… TOD Family!
Congrats on first, Kathleen. :-)
Everyone enjoy your day.
swbluegaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! :-)
Good morning Ms. Chips, Danny and TOD family, I hope all is well with everyone this lovely Tuesday morning. Congrats Kathleen, on being first this morning.
To all, I hope your day is one of enjoyment, jubilation, and rejoicing. <3 <3 <3
Thank God that President Obama is still the President of The United States of America. ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆
Moooooooooooorning RanMan!!
GM TODville, Chips.
Check out the photo in this tweet I sent to Chips about a dog that DESTROYS every toy, except for the one which looks like him (LOL) showing young dog and “mature” dog love.
Too, too cute.
OMG Arapaho, cutest thing ever!!!!!!! Now I’m regretting that Danny’s new friend Barney isn’t a black Lab, I fear for his safety :???:
That is the cutest photo ever-they look as if they love each other.
Morning Jackie! The funniest sight is Danny trying to carry Barney down the stairs, it’s crash, bang, thud, wallop. How long Barney will remain in one piece ……. we shall see.
Still, he’s carrying him because he wants to be with him-that’s love.
#photoshopnowaybarneyisstillinonepiece.
Give it time ……. #gulp
just.do.it. boy.
love this photo….so nice
Gaaahh!! Chips, I dunno what you’re feeding Danny but it’s working- he’s a beaut! And cuddling with his buddy? My heart just grew two sizes too big ❤️❤️!
TOOTHACHE!!
:lol: Mooooooooorning Ms Majestic!
Mmmoorrnnningggg, Captain Chips! Danny is adorable!
We’ll wait to see how adorable he is when I take him to the vet in an hour for his booster injection thingies - when he was there last for his x-rays I got the sense it would be very difficult to get him back in the door at a future date. I hope the building is on firm foundations :???:
Oh, well you’ll just have to treat him extra special for the rest of the year. LOLz
Hope you’re having a super splendid holiday with plenty of R & R. {{{{Chips & Danny}}}}
Look at Danny with his latest toy 💕
Awww! So adorable!
Oh Danny, you are so Fatherly with your new toy…..oops ;) companion.
This so tender and sweet.
Thanks Cjips for sharing this photo with Us.
Chips :oops:
Pardon me.
Awwwwwwwwww…. that’s adorable.
SO cute! My family used to have a Malamute:) He was soooooooo big and handsome! Great dog…but he didn’t get along with the other male dog we had at the time…they were ok together when he was a puppy, after that…NO. They lived separately after that..and it was a bit stressful just to make sure they didn’t get together by mistake…he weighed 175lbs when he was grown…big, cuddly bear:)
Morning, TOD…it’s wrapping day for me!! Thanks for this, Arapaho!
Wow! That is the cutest thing today.
Dogs are becoming more and more like Us?
Sweet! Thanks for putting a Huge :) on my face, Arapaho.
The Miss Universe pageant is still headline news. If not for the crowning error, it wouldn’t have even been a blip in most people’s radar.
Sadly, if it were not for the comment about Trump regarding ISIS recruitment, the pageant debacle would probably have overshadowed the Democratic debate from the weekend. If the intent of the debate schedule was to lessen the visibility, and thus potential negative focus on HRC, then things didn’t go as planned this time around.
Actually, Sw, the disgusting comments from Trump probably brought many more women into Hillary’s camp. I was so appalled by his sexism that I was immediately on her side. Heard from an old friend that her Republican mother was voting for Hillary, partly in reaction to all the misogyny aimed in her direction. If el Trumpo keeps running his mouth off with off color comments about her and ‘women,’ Hillary will garner supporters without raising a finger. As I said yesterday, Trump is a punk who is operating above his class in this campaign. Hillary has dealt with world leaders with grace and intelligence. Loudmouth underestimates who he’s dealing with.
“…the disgusting comments from Trump probably brought many more women into Hillary’s camp.” I thought the same thing, JackieG.
And while he seems to have gotten away with his comments about Megyn Kelly (not to mention all the other groups he has attacked so far), I suspect he will be hurt some going after HRC as he is. Funny how there was little attention paid when the other GOP candidates attacked HRC (and PBO), but all Trump has to do is whisper and the media is on alert.
I didn’t have a dog to hunt in the primary but now HRC definitely has the votes of my entire family. I loved her comments about NAZI Trump. They were so on point. But the other thing about the schlong comment was that it fed into another racist aka white supremacist meme - miscegenation, laws against interracial marriage. Miscegenation laws were not ruled unconstitutional until 1967. They had similar laws in Hitler’s NAZI Germany.
Morning all. Started on the dreaded pre-Christmas housecleaning yesterday and I’m already sick of it. Decorating was fun; cleaning is a drudge.
I feel your pain jg. Actually I’m still doing all of the above.
Amen!!!!!!
Pf, I think the media is titillated by Trump because his mouthy comments are so vulgar and classless. We’ve had a lot of weird, sometimes ignorant people running for president, but here is a truly trashy lowlife with a lot of money running for the highest office in the land. The media is acting like adolescents who are both thrilled and aghast at his dirty language. This is a new experience for them since most public figures, who are not convicted criminals, try to put on a public face in front of the media. Trump runs around in droopy drawers, scratching his stomach and acting like a complete boor and they giggle and report it like starry-eyed kids.
My morning news is not reporting what ll Douche said about Hillary, can someone inform me? Thanks
GM GGail.
IMHO, Trump is not actually running for President, he’s desperate for publicity and MSM has proven they’ll cover whatever he says, the more offensive the better. It’s all about milking the press and stoking the egos of his racist/unimaginative/ignorant supporters.
GGail, he made some nasty comment about Hillary having to take a bathroom break during the debate and being late back to the podium-said that showed she was weak and not qualified to be president. Then he made some vulgar remark about her being beaten by a male sexual organ in 2008. He’s trash, pure and simple.
Oh how disgusting!
Thanks arapaho and jackieg
HOPE…the Audacity of HOPE…this is what blk folks bring to America…We continue to struggle…continue to fight for the rights that should be ours upon birth….continue to bring Light into the darkness…and when we do… we move America Forward for everyone….as the President says…make a MORE perfect Union…
Beautifully said, Pf. I hope that there is a mighty coalition in 2016 with all those who are offended by the ugly, hateful, crude, and ignorant bigotry of the Republican party joining together to defeat them. We may not have the candidate we love, but we still have to fight for our lives and and future because all of that is at stake here.
YESSSSSSSS!!
Hi, AMK. If Hillary can wear this ‘slamming’ like a badge of honor and use it to show that she is stronger and smarter than Trump then he and his band of bigots will have done her a great favor.
GM, TOD! Drag a$$ing this am. God-daughters flight got in at 1 am, airport traffic looked more like 1 pm — crowded! I only live 15 minutes from airport, yet it was almost 3 am when we got home. On our way to breakfast, then errands, hope to be back by noon as I still have tons of house work to do… Read you later…
Ahhh Christmas, jazziz, the time of peace and light when we wear ourselves to a frazzle, spend ourselves into debt and end up resenting every person in any crowd we find ourselves in. Take it easy and please find some “you” time in the next few days.
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Good West Coast morning Chipsticks & TOD family.
What exactly is the winter solstice?
The December solstice happens at the same instant for all of us, everywhere on Earth. This year the solstice occured on Tuesday December 22nd at 04:49 GMT (Universal time) with the sun rising over Stonehenge in Wiltshire at 08:04.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/12061231/When-is-the-shortest-day-of-the-year-the-winter-solstice-2015.html
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Haven’t a clue why I posted this. It’s not like I understand or ever paid much attention to it previously.
Morning, TODobots!
VC, I thought it was interesting. So from tomorrow on we will see incrementally more daylight for those in the northern hemisphere and incrementally more darkness for those in the southern hemisphere. This ‘incremental’ light has never been very visible to me. It isn’t until late February that it starts to make any real difference.
Kaspar we are sending you healing thoughts, endurance and some virtual treats.
((((hugs to you 57&f)))) and prayers going up for sweet, dear Kasper.
Sweet Kasper, may your ordeal be over before you catch the car in your dreams 💕
Aw, 57, I hope Kasper pulls though with flying colors and you both get to put the ordeal behind you.
We also take Nickelby to get his stitches removed from the rim of his eye. I’m just as nervous about that, since he may look small but he packs some serious power into that 20-pound body! My vet is going to have his hands full.
We are taking Kasper to a more complete surgical hospital for the bladder surgery. They will keep him overnight. In my 40+ years of being a doggie mommy, I’ve never had a dog who didn’t spend every night here. It’s going to be especially hard on Mr. 57 - Kasper is his little buddy.
Hope all goes well for little Kaspar.
{{{Kasper}}} Here’s hoping you’re good as new and back to feeling like a $$million! You don’t need those nasty stones:)
May you sell those stones on e-bay and get some toys, kaspar.
Great. Turn him into an entrepreneur. He’d LOVE that.
_/|\_ <3
Kaspar looks just like my puppy-nephew Oliver.
{{{{ Kaspar }}}}
Morning meta. That video brought a smile to my face , thanks!!! That is one good looking President 😎
Morning, GGail. Have you gotten any rain? It’s been very stormy here for 3 whole days!
meta, we got rain late yesterday evening and it’s been raining/drizzly ever since. I love it!
Still drizzling here at 4:05pm PST.
Oh! PBO looking great. What a shot
With babies crying and women cooing in the background:) Love this man!
I see you caught that, too!
And thus, with calm determination, PBO sets the tone for 2016. Who would mess with this man?? :bear: <3
Here is a ‘nice’, calm morning read about the nature of our president; the ideas shared aren’t new to us, just reaffirming. Check it out.
//…………………………………..
But since [Edward] Fox was particularly studying Javanese rulers and kings, he takes it a step further.
“Halus in a Javanese ruler is the outward sign of a visible inner harmony which gathers and concentrates power in him personally. In the West, we might call this charisma. Crucially, in the Javanese idea of kingship, the ruler does not conquer opposing political forces, but absorbs them all under himself. In the words of Anderson again, the Javanese ruler has ‘the ability to contain opposites and to absorb his adversaries’. The goal is a unity of power that spreads throughout the kingdom.”
Perhaps that is why some people see Obama’s approach as one that resembles the Aikido Way.
“There are no kicks and no punches within Aikido itself…Instead, there is an emphasis on blending with a partner’s attack and the use of techniques to lead that attack safely to a conclusion that is good for everyone…you have the chance to actually resolve the conflict rather than just winning the fight.”
To the extent that Obama absorbed these Asian influences is a question that only he can answer. But they sure make sense to me when I look at his record these last 7 years.
None of that is meant to reflect on the differences people have with President Obama’s policy choices. But it is a good reminder that our notions of things like strength and leadership are often rooted in Western patriarchal notions. A world that is increasingly experiencing the death of normal requires that we be more open and curious about other possibilities.
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.ca/2015/12/asian-influences-on-our-african.html
VC, this is a very important article. PBO outgrew western patriarchal ideas, but many of his opponents don’t even understand how locked they are in their own paradigm. Our President is a highly evolved human being, having to deal with those who are several evolutionary steps behind him. It must be very frustrating for him, yet very satisfying.
The more I know about our President…the more i am sure that our country has missed an opportunity that may not come again….I am ever proud to assume the title of Obamabot!
Me too, Prettyfoot! Like I keep saying I feel blessed to be among those that recognize what a gift we have in our President in real time vs those that will discover it later.
AMENNNN!!!…or those who will never see it..
Watch: CBS’ ‘Sunday Morning’ Previews Upcoming All-Star Lineup ‘Shuffle Along’
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
December 20, 2025 at 8:15PM
It was first announced in March when Producer Scott Rudin said that 6-time Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald would be returning to Broadway next spring, to star in a show that will look at the making of the 1921 hit “Shuffle Along” - one of the first Broadway musicals to be written and directed by African Americans.
To be titled “Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed,” the show will have a story by George C. Wolfe, who will also direct, with choreography by Savion Glover, who last worked together with Wolfe on the 1996 hit “Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk.”
In an all-star lineup, 4 African American theatre star performers of our time, will be joining Audra next spring: Brian Stokes Mitchell, Billy Porter, Brandon Victor Dixon and Joshua Henry - with 5 Tony nominations (including two wins) among them (not including Audra’s 6 trophies).
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/watch-cbs-sunday-morning-previews-upcoming-all-star-lineup-shuffle-along-20151220
Thanks Rikyrah!
Oooooo, neat! 😃
Glad to see the Secret Service…ever mindful…
Goood Tuesday Morning Family!
Good Morning Chips and TOD. Here is Kenya’s report on the President’s chip shot.
worth watching again—I love Our President.
Some geek news to offset the clown show nastiness!
Geeeeeeeeekette!!!
Queen of the Blogiverse!
👏🏾🎉🚀🌟
Grrrr! 🐶
😆😆❤️😆😆❤️😆😆❤️
Watch: Cicely Tyson Looks Back on Her Professional and Personal Life in CBS Profile
By Tambay A. Obenson | Shadow and Act
December 18, 2025 at 12:37PM
Cicely Tyson in a rare videotaped feature courtesy of “CBC This Morning” earlier this week, and is now available online.
The profile was done in conjunction with her Kennedy Center Honor celebration for her contributions to American culture, paving the way for African Americans in the industry.
“You know, I say no to everything first,” Tyson said, speaking to “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King in her old Harlem neighborhood. “I say no to everything because I always want to make sure that when I say yes, I know what I’m getting myself into
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/watch-cicely-tyson-looks-back-on-her-professional-and-personal-life-20151218
Chat away
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/12/22/chat-away-738/
Why those calling for a “no fly zone” in Syria either don’t understand PBO’s policy or are opposed to what The President is aiming for:
1) ISIL has no airforce at all. A no fly zone won’t further our goal of defeating ISIS.
2) When you create a no fly zone you need to enforce it. That means shooting down any aircraft that enter your zone.
Escalating hostilities or increasing tensions are more likely to lead to war rather than peace.
Also, the question of whether you’d advocate shooting down a Russian plane cannot be sufficiently answered by, “Well, I don’t think that will happen.”
No Fly Zones increase the odds of war intensifying. Under the guise of providing safety for refugees.
If you want to help refugees, help stop the war. Period. That is what the American policy is doing.
THAT is why POTUS opposes installing a no fly zone in Syria.
End of rant/lesson
Sued Over Old Debt, and Blocked From Suing Back
By JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG and MICHAEL CORKERY
DEC. 22, 2015
Clifford Cain Jr., a retired electrician in Baltimore, was used to living on a tight budget, carefully apportioning his Social Security and pension benefits to cover his rent and medication for multiple sclerosis.
So Mr. Cain was puzzled when he suddenly could not make ends meet. Months later, he discovered why: A debt collector had garnished his bank account after suing him for about $4,500 the company said he owed on an old debt.
Mr. Cain said he never knew the lawsuit had been brought against him until the money was gone. Neither did other Baltimore residents who were among the hundreds of people sued by the collector, Midland Funding, a unit of the Encore Capital Group, in Maryland State Court. Some of them said they did not even owe any money, or their debt had long expired and was not legally collectible, according to a review of court records.
In any case, the Encore subsidiary was not licensed to collect debt in Maryland.
Yet when Mr. Cain brought a class action in 2013 against Midland Funding, the company successfully fought to have the lawsuit dismissed.
If the plaintiffs wanted to try to recover their money, they would have to do so in private arbitration. And because class actions are banned in arbitration, Mr. Cain and the others would have to fight the unit of Encore — one of the largest debt buyers in the country with vast legal resources — one by one.
“I can’t for the life of me understand how this is allowed to happen,” said Mr. Cain, who could not afford to pursue his case alone in arbitration.
In short, Encore and rival debt buyers are using the courts to sue consumers and collect debt, then preventing those same consumers from using the courts to challenge the companies’ tactics. Consumer lawyers said this strategy was the legal equivalent of debt collectors having their cake and eating it, too.
The use of arbitration by the companies is the latest frontier in a legal strategy orchestrated by corporations in recent years. By inserting arbitration clauses into the fine print of consumer contracts, they have found a way to block access to the courts and ban class-action lawsuits, the only realistic way to bring a case against a deep-pocketed corporation.
Their strategy traces to a pair of Supreme Court decisions in 2011 and 2013 that enshrined the use of class-action bans in arbitration clauses.
Can the SAG’s do something? How can these corp’s sue and win after statute of limitations? I wonder if they could just close those checking accoun? I thought these companies can’t attach social security and pensions.
Their strategy traces to a pair of Supreme Court decisions in 2011 and 2013 that enshrined the use of class-action bans in arbitration clauses.
Talk about the courts making laws - this is what happens when a dysfunctional congress gives its power to SCOTUS.