On This Day: President Barack Obama greets 109-year-old Emma Primas of Houston, Texas, prior to the Easter Prayer Breakfast in the East Room of the White House, April 7, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
07
Apr
16
128 Responses to “Early Bird Chat”
Leave a Reply
White House.gov
- Email from Dan Johnson: Professor Obama
- Chart of the Week: Why Congress Needs to Act on the Zika Virus
- Get the Facts: How Climate Change Can Affect Your Health
- The First Lady Welcomes Spring with Annual White House Kitchen Garden Planting
- Why You Should Care About New Actions to Tackle Corporate Inversions
WH Tumblr
- “Before he was President, he was a law professor. My...
- “It is so important to remember that our diversity has been—and...
- A changing climate could pose health risks to you and your...
- “Today is Opening Day—a day that brings back a lot of...
- On the last day of Women’s History Month, we’re...
The People’s View
- If You Believe It Enough, It Becomes Real: Bernie Math and The Delusion of Revolution Trevor LaFauci
- It IS That Simple: Bernie Sanders is Clueless About Breaking Up Banks Spandan Chakrabarti
- Thoroughly Unprepared: How Bernie Sanders Flunked the Test on His Own Signature Issues of Banks and Trade Spandan Chakrabarti
- What If He Wins: Why Bernie Sanders Never Vetted His Own Campaign Platform Trevor LaFauci
- #WIPrimary and Open Thread Spandan Chakrabarti
Smartypants
- "You Can't Always Get What You Want"
- President Obama Commutes the Sentences of Another 61 Individuals
- Media Should Learn to Avoid Republican Leaks About the Clinton Email Story
- The Backlash of Entitlement Sustained by Dominance
- A Feminist Democratic Agenda
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
- Why Republicans struggle to convince ordinary Americans the GOP is on their side
- Sanders rips Clinton as not ‘qualified,’ and the Dem race goes nuclear
- Happy Hour Roundup
- Trump would be awful for the GOP. But Dems think Ted Cruz would be a disaster, too.
- Clinton attacks Sanders on guns, but the truth is complicated
Steve Benen
- Thursday's Campaign Round-Up, 4.7.16
- Republicans see 'Obamacare' everywhere, on everything
- Why Indiana's Mike Pence is receiving some unwelcome alerts
- An 'enormous drop-off' hurt down-ballot Dems in Wisconsin
- White House challenges Congress to step up on Zika threat
WH Flickr
|
Morning everyone, even more enormous thanks to Nerdy for all her work, she’s a gem. I’m off again this morning, they’re hoping to move my mother to a rehab place so hopefully that’ll happen quickly, she definitely has had enough of that hospital. But she’s okay, lots of painkillers so she’s comfortable.
Hope everyone is doing great, will catch up with you all the minute I can.
Gm Chips. Glad to hear MOM is doing better. Take care and Nerdy did an outstanding job yesterday and always. (((hugs)) to you and your MOM.
Gm Chips and Roberta. Sending all good vibes to Mom for the healing.
Hope your mom’s recovery speeds along and the pain lessens. Rehab is sometimes not much better than hospitals, so I hope she goes to a good one.
But good rehab can be a miracle. Here’s hoping she has a positive experience.
Sending healing and positive energy to Chips and Mama Chips.
All the best to you and your mother, Chips!!!! Sure hope she’s able to get out of the hospital soon!!!
G’morning and hang in here Chips! Thanks for the update and wishing your mother continued healing!!
Hugs and prayers to you, your mom and your family. Know this isn’t easy. So glad she is doing better.
Hi Chips,
I’m probably too late to catch you but, best wishes for a speedy and full recovery to your mom!
Dear Chipsaroyale! I’m hoping the Queen Mother’s recovery goes quickly and smoothly! Hugs and kisses to you both! 😘
That’s good news, and I hope the good news will continue. You are so missed here but Moms always come first! Tell her we love her and thank her for raising such a wonderful daughter.
Chips, so happy to hear MommaChips is improving. Take care of yourself while you care for her! You’re both in my prayers.
Happy Thursday to everyone!
Lovely photo to show off the day. She looks fantastic for someone over 100 years old.
Good morning, TOD. (((((Chips))))). Thoughts and prayers sent to you and your Mom.
On another subject…..and good news that I’ve been meaning to share: As of Tuesday, we have 23 Democratic women running for the Tennessee State Legislature! Of course, we know they won’t all get elected, but to have that many stepping out and running in this very red state is very encouraging. Getting names out there………getting experience………building! Same thing is happening in local Knox County offices. Gonna have more Dems on the ballot than in many years. We must give people a choice!
Great news, TN. You can’t win if you don’t run, so these women have a chance. Not only that, it’s encouraging to Democratic voters if there are people to vote for. The biggest complaint we get in our county from Democrats is that not enough people run, either because it seems hopeless or it costs so much. We’re doing better here.
Excellent. Go TN wimminz.
bravoooooooooo…this is what we need…election savvy young DEMs…..
Awesomeness!
That’s great! It’s heartening that more people are having the courage to run even though the cards seem stacked against them. We have to take the long view. The Tea Party didn’t happen in a moment really, I don’t think. The GOP had been focused for years on getting Republicans into jobs like school boards and municipal positions in elections that nobody pays attention to. Before you know it they’ve built a resume, they’re in your town council, the state legislature, and finally D.C. and that happened because we weren’t paying attention and didn’t want to expend resources on those small ‘unwinnable’ elections. I hope these women understand that, win or lose, they are contributing to our fight for the future and that they or others may have to run again and again until blockade is broken.
“Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.
-WINSTON CHURCHILL, speech at Harrow School, Harrow, England, October 29, 1941.”
Morning everyone:) Morning, Chips…glad to hear that MamaChips is on the mend! Take care of her…and YOU:) Nerdy is wonderful…nice to have Nerdy and the other BT’s to leave the place to….nothing like that peace of mind:) We even behave. Imagine that:)
But did the docs advise moving out? Listen to the docs, not mom.
To cheer her up, jtp’s new GF.
(No, not a toy… ok, a toy with real life. She is gonna be handful methinks. Another mouth to feed, sigh.)
It’s apparently called Shih Tzu (no kidding) and is 45 days old.
Cute!
Thanks. you want her?
No. I already have a Boxer and a Boxer/Dane mix. I think they would chew her up.
Thanks for the nightmare.
Yes! Please!!!!!!!!!
1000 bucks.
Done!
show me the money.
She’s adorable, AMK. I hope she and jtp get along well.
The
boypig is 24×7 drooling over her / smhShe’s so cute!! Now don’t feed her ALL THE TIME so that she begins to look at a little sausage with legs! She’ll have lots of energy to play and get “little” jtp off the couch and chase around the house! Problem solved:) Adorable baby…you did good!
but, but, … she is already
fatplump !!!that’s just baby plump…not the same thing as “OMG! The ham slipped off the counter! Here, jtp!!!”
😀
fyi, I don’t do ham.😀
I thought about that after I hit “POST”…but, anything can sub for the ham….the pie, the cake, the stew, the ???….If it’s not dog food…BAD for dogs! Have fun….keep us up to date with more pics:)
the ???
you mean single malt? the horror !!! think of the bucks.
Better not be single malt!
I doubt that you would let any drops of that fall anywhere other than your own gullet:) Btw….REALLY bad for dogs:)
my scotch. my gullet only.
Thought so:)
Words to live by!
Darn cute, amk!!
GE amk, congrats on your newest, such an adorable fluffball.
Like your second photo, where jtp (? Since I miss some TOD threads, am often befuddled by your acronyms😦 ) looks to be checking in on her new family member.
Did you see this 2 minute video that sherijr posted a couple of days ago?
“Puppies invaded a retirement home, preschool, and gym. Pure bliss ensued.”
http://www.upworthy.com/puppies-invaded-a-retirement-home-preschool-and-gym-pure-bliss-ensued?c=upw1
http://theobamadiary.com/2016/04/05/early-bird-chat-715/#comment-1518723
GM a. jtp - jack the pig. the other one - jenny the pig.
And no, I am not watching that vid. NO MORE PUPPIES.
MORE PUPPEEEEEESSSSSSSS!
What a cute lil’ thing!!
She WILL be more than a handful - great things come in small packages!
yeah, yeah, easy for you to say. grumble, grumble.
‘sup?!
😀
amk just adorable. And yes they can be a handful. Enjoy her.
Thanks R. She has already hooked jtp. smh.
cute..so cute.. smilin
Soooo cute! Love the pic with the two of them!
Whatever happened to the kitten from your S.A trip? Did you bring him/her home?
I guess I should take that as a no?
grrrrr
Love! An excellent breed. So much fun!
Cuteness to infinity! 😍
Good morning TOD
Worth the read … especially since I know many of you are KW fans
Good morning Ms. Chips, Danny and TOD family, I hope all is well with everyone this lovely Thursday morning. Thanks for sharing your mom’s progress. Prayers and good health to your mom. 🙏 {{{{Chips and Mom}}}}
To all, I hope you are granted all your aspirations, desires, and wishes today. ❤ ❤❤
Thank God that President Obama is still the President of The United States of America. ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆 ⭐🏆
So glad that my trail of clues led you to the WashingtonMonthly piece yesterday:) I have NO idea how to post links from my phone….I’m gonna miss this man hard.
df, thanks again. I wound-up ready the whole article written by Nancy LeTourneau of Washington Monthly on February 17, 2016. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2016_02/barack_obama_on_the_john_rober059644.php#
President Obama is going to be surely missed as the leader of The United States of America. However, I’m looking forward to the Obama’s new chapter. 🙏👏
Thanks:) I’m going to miss him like crazy…but I look forward to what an untethered PBO can do!
Always want something for nothing….
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/07/these-grifters-inspired-trump-institute.html
Donald Trump needed some help in 2006. He was setting up Trump Institute, a series of seminars teaching the “way to wealth,” and was looking for expertise on how the conference business worked.
He turned to a pair with a troublesome legal history to give him a hand.
Mike and Irene Milin were known to law enforcement officials in a number of states for a host of get-rich-quick schemes and alleged real estate scams. They were prosecuted by the Texas attorney general for deceptive trade practices, and sued by the makers of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, to name just two of the Milins’ many legal entanglements. But Michael Sexton—then president of Trump University, which he said at the time included the Trump Institute seminars, as well as online courses—partnered with the Milins nonetheless, according to a report from The Sacramento Bee.
The Milins’ oft-investigated National Grants Conferences, in effect, became the blueprint for Trump Institute. The two seminar businesses used some of the same speakers and shared office space in Boca Raton. The ads for Trump University promised to make people “millionaires,” just as the National Grants Conference commercials told customers they’d make them rich from government money. And, most importantly, Trump Institute operated itself in much the same manner as National Grants Conferences: After a promise of easy riches and a free seminar, customers were cajoled into doling out more and more money to get the key to unlocking wealth.
The problem in both cases: The key never opened anything.
A brief statement about Senator Sanders …. me thinks #TheBern is about to face #theBURN like he has never experienced anytime before. HRC has, for months, been cutting him a lot of slack. During the past 48 h I sense that that is over.
back to work ….
“Nailing” Bernie can’t come a moment too soon. I am sick to death of his lies and bullying behavior. He’s a fraud who has nothing but a stump speech to offer.
I agree, jg, but at the same time that interview to me sounded so much like someone struggle with cognitive issues, trying to recall information previously known and string it together in a coherent way. He needs to be nailed certainly, but if it’s the case that his mental acuity is declining I hope someone near to him or some campaign person with a sense of self-protection finds a way to ease him out. This could also explain why he can only pivot to bits of his stump speech, his rigid thinking, and although it sounds like he’s always been crotchety and a my-way-our-the-highway kind of man, it could also explain his displays of temper when challenged and the aggressive finger pointing. It seems that even if that was your personality you could do a better job of hiding it while campaigning. I’m not really knowledgeable, it just reminds me of what I’ve seen in my own family and the families of friends as their parents and grandparents age.
Man, he came back at her late yesterday like Karl Rove is his campaign manager. She cannot let him get away with this. This man is dangerous.
He appears to have pissed this guy off pretty badly. This is just a sample.
“The senator has never bothered to stop by our aviation plant in Rutland, Vt. We’ve been investing heavily (some $100 million in recent years), hiring and turning out some of the world’s finest jet-engine components in Vermont since the 1950s. The plant employs more than 1,000 people who are very good at what they do. It’s a picture of first-rate jobs with high wages, advanced manufacturing in a vital industry — how things look when American workers are competing and winning — and Vermont’s junior senator is always welcome to come by for a tour…
“Elsewhere in Vermont, GE Healthcare employs more than 340 men and women in South Burlington. Yearly, GE does about $40 million worth of business with dozens of suppliers of parts and services across Vermont. Nationwide, we have 200 GE plants, including 15 that were built in the past five years — all with the aim of making GE the world’s premier industrial company…
“We are competing globally with foreign companies whose governments care whether they win and support them in innumerable ways. U.S. companies continue to wrestle with an outdated and complex tax code that puts them at a distinct competitive disadvantage. Sanders has stated many times that GE pays no taxes. Repeating a lie over and over does not make it true. We pay billions in taxes, including federal, state and local taxes. The U.S. tax system has not been updated in 30 years and isn’t designed for today’s economy, which is why we support comprehensive tax reform — even if it raises our tax rate.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ge-ceo-bernie-sanders-says-were-destroying-the-moral-fabric-of-america-hes-wrong/2016/04/06/8499bc8c-fc23-11e5-80e4-c381214de1a3_story.html
I can’t wait until this primary is over - for Sanders. His followers live in an alternate universe where they believe that it’s about time that HE took the gloves off with the “Hillary is unqualified to be president” crap, and he’ll be ahead in pledged delegates by the time California rolls around, so the supers will need to go his way.
Enough of his run. His coalition is a combination of young, ignorant voters who don’t understand how the system works and older voters who OUGHT to know better but don’t.
BWD nails Bernie’s supporters on this. It’s all about him and they could careless about all the other aspects of governing. Revolution my foot!!!
Bernie voters could care less about the Democratic party, gerrymandering or good governance. A significant portion of Bernie’s vote in WI came from Republican leaning Independents who could vote in a Dem primary with no problem. This will not be the case in the closed primary states that come up in late April. In PA you have to register ONE MONTH ahead of time to vote in an election, so it’s already too late for party switchers.
GM DonnaDem, good to see you back in the saddle.
So sorry to hear of your recent illness - pneumonia is very serious and puts your entire body in “combat this illness” mode, which am glad your family insisted on letting your body have the time and rest it needed to heal.
Berniebot dudebro emoprog Dems are infuriating — they are all talk and no action.
What has happened in Wisconsin re: voter ID laws is an abomination, yet Dems weren’t motivated by this assault on democracy to cast their ballot (since most emoprogs are white, doubt they would suffer any inconvenience to vote).
Can’t find the link now, but it was Wisconsin state supreme court that allowed Wisconsin to impose draconian voter id laws which revoked the voting privileges of people who have voted in previous elections.
Here’s some examples of impact of Wisconsin state supreme court action — I know there are far more egregious ones out there.
yup, it’s literally a one-man ‘show’.
Good Morning, Everyone
Good for these students. They nailed Cruz with all his ugly bigotry and contempt for anyone who doesn’t fit his cookie cutter image of morality. Of all the people running-even Trump-Cruz is the most obnoxious and nauseating.
I think we should each write a letter to the school commending the actions of these students.
LOL…thanks. BJ!
Sorry if its already posted…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/04/05/9-things-bernie-sanders-shouldve-known-about-but-didnt-in-that-daily-news-interview/
Can’t be posted often enough. He is a complete fraud.
But he managed to pull a Karl Rove yesterday, and turn the attack back on Hillary. He is a nasty piece of work. Even at Hillary’s nastiest in 2008, we knew she was a Democrat and she wouldn’t let the party come apart. What do you do when that is BS’s express purpose and those of his rabid cultists?
Thanks Obama! More proof that President Obama has been great for our economy.
dem ‘establishment’ needs to uneff the things they have effed up this season.
no more indies get a dem label. let them go 3rd party and let’s see where they end up.
closed primaries only. no more open primary bs.
get rid of caucuses, if possible.
definitely needs to be on the docket for discussion..
This!!!!!
Hell yeah, amk, if someone wasn’t to go the indie route well then they should do it on their own dime.
seriously. Do they HEAR themselves???
I don’t see much difference between bs and donald dreck at this point.
different sides of the same coin, to me
It’s not just Wisconsin…. this was the plan all along though.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/todd-allbaugh-voter-id-wisconsin-gop
Ex-Staffer: Wisconsin GOPers Cheered Voter ID Bill For What It ‘Could Do For Us’
I love this video too:
HOW “BRAIDS,” LUPITA NYONG’O’S VOGUE SHORT, CAPTURES PEAK BLACK WOMAN AWESOMENESS
Shamira Ibrahim, 4/6/16
…………….
Beyond all reason, however, the other day I moseyed my way onto Mark Zuckerberg’s social media cesspool. Fortunately for me, I was rewarded for my adventures in the form of a fantastic two-year-old original short film with Lupita N’yongo from Vogue.
Called “Braids,” the Austin Peters-directed spot was peak Black woman excellence. You’d be hard-pressed to find a Black woman who doesn’t identify with having a long-term relationship with her hair, and Lupita and her friends manage to capture a multitude of ways that hair can be a defining moment of a Black woman’s life.
Attention 99ts! Hope she sees this; she was looking for ideas for braiding (her grandbabies?) hair a little while back.
Fun video! Cool to know this about her. Thanks Rikyrah!
Thanks for bringing this here, rikyrah:) Took me back to my childhood, actually…..to sitting in my best friend’s tiny home…while her mother braided her beautiful hair with love and care…I used to watch the both of them, she getting her hair braided, and her mother, parting and tugging and slathering pomade…I can still smell that to this day:) It was like a special ritual and I was trusted to share in that with them…I didn’t realize this at the time, but I do now….so, thanks for this…made me smile.
Yep, I have that same memory of hanging out at a friend’s house on a Saturday afternoon and watching his mother braid his sister’s hair. A simpler time.
Definitely a simpler time:)
That is so cool.
Aung San Suu Kyi says her new government in Myanmar will work towards freeing all remaining political prisoners within the next two weeks.
It is her first announcement in her new role as “state counsellor”, a position similar to prime minister.
She is barred from the presidency but leads the National League for Democracy party which has a huge majority in both houses of parliament.
The move could affect up to 500 prisoners in jail or awaiting trial.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35987069
Wow! What a difference from her ’08 campaign to this one, huh? I think she’s got some of PBO’s people with her this time, plus, I think being a grandmother, losing in ’08, being Sec of State in PBO admin, all those things ended up making her a better candidate and more prepared for the job. It’s like she’s all out of Fks to give, just like PBO and she’s being herself this time.
O.k. off to work…
I think 8 years on she is out of the shadow of Bill. It feels more like her own campaign. I don’t mean to disregard her lifelong accomplishments. It’s partly my perception that’s changed, because in ’08 and even when it was first speculated that she and Bush would run this year, it felt like a political dynasty and I did not like that idea. I saw lots of people commenting at first that she was a ‘twofer’ and it was a way to get Bill Clinton back in the White House, which I found very offensive on her behalf. I don’t hear that anymore. Now with the passage of time and another long string of accomplishments I perceive her without all that baggage. She’s in more of a ‘stand alone’ frame for me.
Such a diplomatic and collected response. The focus has to be on keeping Republicans out of the White House and flipping the Senate (and perhaps the House). This infighting is mind numbing.
Important Read.
http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2016/04/07/3766448/rep-don-beyer-dapa-dinner/
Bernie Sanders has thoroughly jumped the shark. He’s losing and he’s emotionally incapable of doing so in such a way that is not destructive.
Yep, the only thing Bernie is missing is his suicide vest.
OOPS!
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2016/04/07/ivanka-trump-china-made-scarves-recalled.html
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka came under fire Wednesday after the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced 20,000 of her branded scarves are being recalled over flammability concerns. The CPSC said the Chinese-made scarves “pose a burn risk,” but no injuries have been reported. The “Beach Wave” and “Brushstroke Oblong” styles have been affected by the recall. A spokesperson for the Ivanka Trump collection said in a statement they were “disappointed” by the recall, but “relieved that immediate action is being taken.” Ivanka Trump’s father has lambasted companies like Apple and Ford for taking manufacturing jobs overseas, while media outlets have noted both he and his daughter also manufacture products—like the scarves—abroad.
Making their bank accounts great again by hiring cheap, overseas labor!
You know, I think Sanders and others should give up on stoking this “bring manufacturing jobs back” theme, or change the emphasis. They sound like they can bring back the 40s and 50s but some manufacturing left this country in the 70s (TVs and other electronics, for example) and I don’t think that’s going to get rebuilt. And even if we could bring back a lot of these things, it wouldn’t be the same because trade agreements weren’t the first and only cause of the problem. Robotics has advanced to the point where most of the processes of many industries would be almost totally outdated. So people like Sanders who keep pushing this idea are really deceiving their listeners. They should be talking about developing new industries and technologies that are harder to off shore and about retraining people in the newer technical knowledge that will be required, or for more manually adept people, construction and serving in areas like wind farms and other infrastructure.
Good Morning Everybody.
COMING UP: Bernie Sanders at AFL-CIO convention - http://www.msnbc.com/live-online/watch/coming-up-sanders-at-afl-cio-convention-660775491683
Gooooood Morning Family!
With all the mean & ugly floating around the interwebs today, I know it’s shallow, but I really needed this!
[deep swooning sigh]
Yer welcome! 😍
Thanks:)
isn’t the dood on the right from south?
wut?
Mexico is considered North America. Then Central America. Then South America.
If you mean South of the Border, sure. But uhh, Me-hi-co is part of North America. Thought you had book-lurnin’ dude!
That’s “Meh-hee-koh”!
I missed the class on phonetic spelling. Sue me! 🙄
Me-hi-co is part of North America.
not if the great wall of murka is built.
1) Drumpf ain’t gonna be presidenting my country
2) His damn wall wouldn’t create a new continent.
sez you.
More mean and shallow:
Compare and contrast with Sanders, Trump. UGH UGH UGH.
I believe this is true.
New post.
http://theobamadiary.com/2016/04/07/chat-away-807/
9th Circuit, baby!!