****
AP: Blocked by Congress from expanding gun sale background checks, President Barack Obama is turning to actions within his own power to keep people from buying a gun who are prohibited for mental health reasons.
Federal law bans certain mentally ill people from purchasing firearms, but not all states are providing data to stop the prohibited sales to the FBI’s background check system. A federal review last year found 17 states contributed fewer than 10 mental health records to the database, meaning many deemed by a judge to be a danger still could have access to guns.
The Obama administration was starting a process Friday aimed at removing barriers in health privacy laws that prevent some states from reporting information to the background check system…
More here
****
In this photo provided by the Hern family, first lady Michelle Obama visits with Aaron Hern, his parents Alan and Katherine, and sister Abby, all of Martinez, Calif., at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, April 18. Aaron Hern, 11, was among those injured by one of the bomb blasts near the Boston Marathon finish line
****
President Obama meets with Boston Athletic Association volunteers after attend the “Healing Our City: An Interfaith Service” at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross
****
TPM: A teenager said he is scared to go outside after he was portrayed on the Internet and on the front page of the New York Post as connected to the deadly Boston Marathon bombings.
Photos of Salah Eddin Barhoum, 17, and friend Yassine Zaime were posted on websites whose users have been scouring marathon finish line photos for suspects. The two were also on the Post’s front Thursday with the headline: “Bag men: Feds seek these two pictured at Boston Marathon.”
More here
****
A tremendous and painful amount of attention has been cast on our beloved Sunil Tripathi in the past twelve hours…. fb.me/QDwDVwjg
— Finding Sunny (@findingsunny) April 19, 2013
****
Oh, the media……. “how do you feel about America?’
The poor man:
****
Reuters: The Boy Scouts of America called to end a long-standing ban on openly gay members, a spokesman said on Friday, but the organization’s board must still vote in May on whether to ratify the resolution.
If the vote is approved, “no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone,” Deron Smith, the organization’s spokesman, told Reuters.
More here
****
Don’t think I posted these two, apart from in the comments:
****
****
More newsie stuff a little later
Hey
http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=PBO
wtg Mighty Pamela – Do you have a calculator for estimating/understanding “Chips Time”. My life will be complete when I can work out the soon…ish time scale. Maybe I should ask one of the CNN reporters? 🙂
Don’t go there. She can get vicious.
😆 She has you fooled japa21, There’s not a mean bone in her body, a sore knee, yes, maybe, but mean? Not our girl….. She is a darling! 😆
Did you see what she did to me yesterday?
UhOh, I must have missed something juicy… But I recall being told once that I was BANNED!, but Chipsticks turned a quiet eye when I continued to comment… Of course she did post ( mankini) which was kind of a group torture thingy, lots of folks were not too happy with me!
😆
Wait til you meet this angry bird at the altar….. be nervous.
Ooooooh. Anticipation. And remember what I said about kidding yesterday. Please.
Damn, I wish my work computer showed these things.
No, regret I do not, but I seem to have an intuitive sense of stillness when she has finally finished the preparation work she has been intensely involved with, and when checking my email I find a slower than usual download as the mass of data comes in. I’m not really that quick, so it must be occasional timing…. 🙂
Before I spotted this comment, I wished you a good sleep 99ts. I now withdraw that wish – like, completely.
20 min. Is is about two hours! 😉
soon-ish is akin to my husband’s ‘five minutes’.
Congrats, MightyPamela! WTG!
Weeks like this make me think I need to engage in Scream Therapy.
Weeks like this may prove to be pivotal to change and moving forward. Everyone with a functioning nervous system and even a semi-literate intelligence will be reaching the saturation point by now. PBO has laid the ground work for who has to make the difference, through our actions and our refusal to be intimidated and give up. It is a powerful time to be alive, the Earth herself is ramping up for serious change in an effort to protect herself. More people than ever are informing themselves and seeking to separate truth from hysteria. We will prevail. Change is upon us, be not faint of heart. Choose Love. Choose Life. God Bless you, and God Bless our President. He is the Man for this time, for our time.
Truth.
Beautiful.
Never have more true words been spoken MightyPamela. Thank you.
Beautifully said, Pamela. Thank you.
“PBO has laid the ground work for who has to make the difference, through our actions and our refusal to be intimidated and give up. It is a powerful time to be alive …”
Beautiful, cogent statement Mighty Pamela. Thank you.
THIS x100000000000000000000+
We are approaching an inflection point. Stand by for ACTION.
Soul in Action, meta…. As a conscious group we are reaching a level we have always believed was/is our potential…. Group Soul work is required to get us there, and beyond. We are well on the Way!
Just lovely Pamela, just lovely. Thank you.
Powerful way of putting how many of us feel about our time and our stupendous President.
Oh, take advantage of our beautiful wine country instead. Screaming only makes your throat sore. 😉 Ms. LL? What is her background in employment? Sorry, I’m nosy.
Thank you Chips. The media continues to disgrace itself in the manner in which it confronted the suspects uncle. Disgusting
This week is rapidly becoming the week that will be remembered as when the US Media became totally irrelevant and Twitter became the source of news.
You took the words right out of my mouth japa. I haven’t looked at any new media during this whole ordeal.
US Media is also a danger to the security of this country with their reckless “reporting”.
Now I’m really depressed.
I hate to point out irony here, but…he became a citizen on Sept. 11. Am I the only one who thought wow?
You don’t choose your citizenship date. It is given to you. Others were also sworn in on the same day.
Note: I was NOT thinking Al-Qaeda; I was only thinking about the tragedy aspect of the date.
MSNBC is a disgrace. They’ve already linked the bomber to Al Qaeda, Islam, Osama Bin Laden, – I mean it’s just ridiculous. It’s interesting how the media never said a peep about Adam Lanza being a card carrying member of the NRA until months after the incident – and it was hardly discussed at any length in the media.
But now they are frantically trying to put together all sorts of disjointed and fragmented bits of random information to create a narrative about an Islam-related foreign terrorist group with this event.
yep and Richard Engle – who’s supposed to have some sense- is their resident expert. Heres the truth, maybe these young men do have connections, maybe they do have links to a ‘group’ But more importantly maybe they don’t. Maybe something personal triggered this. Maybe these two brothers are just two brothers who did an awful awful thing, no less than that Lanza kid in Sandy Hook. I really hate the speculation, hate it.
I’m with you on all that. All of it.
And as far as Richard Engle goes, he’s a war fanatic. It’s also been my impression that he has said nothing gracious about President Obama since day one, so I’ve pretty much given up on listening to him.
The current mainstream media is much worse than what used be called yellow journalism. Some of these media people are out to inflame people, and especially white people, to hate all Muslims and all foreigners who are not white Christians.
G’nite all – do hope some sanity returns while I sleep and Jake Tapper admits he would have been more useful to CNN if he had stayed in bed.
Stay safe – wherever you are.
Goodnight 99ts.
nite 99
Goodnight, 99ts! You are so right about Tapper. He really needs to be fired – he has nothing to offer in front of a camera. Cannot do extemporaneous speaking at all. Getting paid megabucks that some real journalist must deserve. As far as Tapper’s concerned, there’s no there, there.
He looks like a high school kid out of his league. Even if I didn’t know what a smarmy excuse for a journalist he is, he is awful on camera.
I agree. He looked dumbstruck when he was reporting overnight – and this morning.
Night 99ts, hopefully there’ll be less crazy days very soon. Sleep well, and thanks for all your comments.
I watched the interview with the uncle too. He was in the grip of great emotion. When he said “All Chechnyans were shamed,” he was responding as a member of what is known sociologically as a member of a “shame/honor” society. When one is shamed, the entire tribe or family is shamed. We do not operate that way. We would say…..oh, that was my crazy nephew. But to people in a shame society, everyone bears the responsibility and shame. This will be very hard on the uncle’s family.
There was a time in U.S. history when we operated on the shame idea. Think of the stocks in Williamsburg. People were put in those so they could be shamed, people could throw vegetables, etc. at them. BUT, for the most part it was the individual, not the family that was shamed. We changed. We consider an individual responsible…….UNLESS…..it is a person of a religious,ethnic, or racial minority. Then…..of course, responsibility is laid at the feet of all. But, this shame/honor tradition is very strong, and will affect this uncle and his family for the rest of their lives. I noticed a policeman went in the house with him.
I’m interested in their name, the first part, Tsar…..means king or emperor in Russia; as we know from Russian history, the rulers of Russia were called Tsars.
Well said, carolyn. Thanks for sharing that insight.
Andrea Mitchell displaying her derpiness. I don’t think one chooses their citizenship swearing-in days/dates. Others were sworn in also. Are they terrorists too? 🙄
Good God, what a ****ing idiot.
The desperation on MSNBC’s part to make this about Osama Bin Laden/Al Qaeda/Muslim/Islam is really making them look foolish now.
Apparently they need to appoint a “boogeyman.” Since “dark-skinned’ didn’t pan out we are at choice #2 “islamic terrorists.” it is depressing and maddening.
I only had to hear her say on MSNBC “I’m Andrea Mitchell” and I hit the remote. Used to like her, but I CANNOT STAND the thought of her, now. Their reputations have collectively gone down the drain, right before our eyes.
Was he the only person on that date Andrea ?
Further evidence of US Corporatist media treating tragedy and major danger as ‘reality TV’ entertainment:
Police shouldn’t even have to make this request. Sickening.
Good Afternoon TODers.
I have been looking for a song that might work……but Only one keeps ringing in my head.
Human Nature by MJ.
LOL!
So freaking true.
Just heard something that made me giggle. An ABC reporter in Watertown told about all the businesses in the relevant area being locked down. However, Dunkin’ Donuts had asked for an exception, so the policemen could come in for donuts, coffee and use the facilities. Dunkin’ Donuts started in Boston, not far from where I went to college. It is a Boston tradition, and of all places, they need to be open.
Just loved that little bit.
Love that! Go Dunkin’ Donuts!
Our son’s girlfriend lives in Mass. and as a result, we have Dunkin donuts cups, tree ornaments, etc. loved your comment!
America? Do better.
UGH. UGH. UGH.
WHY????!!!! No words.
Oh man…………….
Two days ago…..listening to the comments by pres Obama and later, I listened to Chris Matthews…..a man I generally disagrees with on such matters of importance……..I told two of my family that I suspect that when it is all said and done, especially with Putain then offering his help…..that this unfortunately would be tied with Chechen/Muslim. Yesterday morning, I repeated the same thing…..this time saying that if it is Not Chechen connection then Russian connection. Was I so shocked when I woke up at 2:44 AM CT turned the TV on so find out what have gone on. I read all the posts here. I went through a bunch of other website and at 4:45AM, I was truly sick to my stomach for what I had been afraid of became a nightmare in reality.
How do bright young men forfeit their God given talents and succumb to maiming and killing innocent people? I don’t get it with these two. I don’t get it with those who use guns to kill others. I just don’t get, period.
Forgive the re-post, but the past 24 hours have only further, and very sadly, highlighted the extent of bigotry and xenophobia that permeate nearly every US corporate media broadcast …
The issue of what Blitzer, King and all the rest of the #NEWSTAINER #whiteprivilege class were and continue doing has absolutely nothing to do with what the eventual ethnicity of the terrorist(s) is. Either of the suspects, when you trace their heritage for even a few generations, are likely to have genes from ancestors whose ethnicity are definitely not identical.
They wanted a black dude, a brown dude, whatever, preferably yelling Allahu Akbar …. and they will never be able to erase the vast record of their bigotry and xenophobia from the public record.
I don’t care what their ethnicity is. I don’t care if they are AQ, National Alliance, …. whomever did it needs to be caught and tried fairly. Period.
But, because of the #NEWSTAINER #whiteprivilege class a woman, and perhaps others by now, in Boston and elsewhere have been assaulted because they appeared ‘non-American’ ‘Muslim’ (aka WHITE). That’s what those loathsome creeps with broadcast bandwidth have incited before the smoke had barely cleared from Boylston St.
^^^(aka NOT WHITE)^^^
Bob, thank you for that. I have no idea who “Don” is, but he desrves an award! What a powerful piece of writing.
I honestly don’t know how much of this BS I can take anymore! “A regular American”. I literally feel nauseous. I’m sure a Native American appreciates that comment. My God, what is happening to my country? Are there really that many idiots out there? I don’t drink (anymore) but this may drive me to it. The ignorance is just stunning.
Jennifer, I have a good friend in Washington D.C. whose family tree goes as far back as 1619, in Jamestown, Virginia. Sadly, he is still not considered to be “A regular American.” He is a Veteran of the Vietnam War. His grandfather fought in WWI One of his sons went to a college where right wing white students put posters up asking Black students to “go back to Africa” because they had protested against racial profiling. To be honest, what’s going in the country is really nothing new. What may be new is the role that the supposedly respectable media are playing in inflaming people.
Here is the real protocol when an event happens.
Find any and all Former Bush Administration officials and ask for the expert opinion.
Ignore current Administration officials.
Embellish and make stuff up to make it seem current administration officials are incompetent.
Ask Republicans for advice…
Sources are kept from public, only that the sources are from the US Government. 😦
Be as racial as possible…
Plant seeds that Obama doesn’t know what he is doing, in over his head.
Etc.
It happens every time, maybe not all of above, but most if not all happen all the list above.
Every single rotten time!! 😦
” Find any and all Former Bush Administration officials and ask for the expert opinion. ”
Like Fran Townsend on CNN confirming an arrest had been made by her ” Federal Sources ” former Homeland Security Advisor to United States President George W. Bush appointed in 2004 .
Or Tom ridge?
Spot on. I’ve stopped watching because of this very thing. Where is Jay Carney this morning? Been waiting to hear from him.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/boston-bombing-suspect-spent-six-months-in-russia
The thing is, the media may be wrong and they may be right, but they are jumping the gun, so to speak. With no proof!
That’s what gets me.
Oh here we go; Lady Greenspan just congratulated Tom Ridge for coming up with the useless color-coded warning system.
Changing the subject some. Instead of watching all the speculation about Boston, I’ve been watching some of the budget hearings this week. I have to say the cabinet members (DOJ, HHS, DOD, etc) have come into their own and are standing up to the Republican bullies.
The House is a complete waste of time and money with all their grandstanding. Based on my observations, I see no purpose for their existence at this time. They make the government look very bad.
The cabinet members defend their positions and display how hard they have been working to fix the mess they found when they came in 4 years ago. We should thank these people for all the hard work they do for the President and on behalf of the American people. It is so sad the Rs display such petty attitudes and don’t seem serious about the work they are elected to do. The people of this country really, really need to make some changes in 2014.
The Aunt is saying a lot here – wants evidence: http://boston.cbslocal.com/live-video/
She is on CNN right now…..
Trending on Twitter? #TMZReports
Really, people, try to do better.
It’s trending because TMZ was spreading rumors and crap about the events currently happening and I think CNN used one of their reports so people are mocking them.
It’s a hilarious hashtag.
I see that now.
God, I need a stiff drink. And it’s not even noon yet.
GA, Chips, TOD quick lunch break….hope to catch up w/ every1 tonight. Couple of items…
This man lost his son a Marine in 2004 in Iraq, was handing out flags….when the bomb went off. The man in wheelchair woke up from double amputation, in a drug induced state, asked for a pen and paper and I.D.’ed the bomber….. HERO’s
Justin Edelmen of the N.E. Patriots and Bradley Cooper filming in Boston visited Mr. Bauman yesterday.
So “false flag” seems to be a meme
The Uncle is not the only proud Chechen….apparantley he is better off getting caught by the FBI.
Powerful, under the circumstances….
yea, and here’s his and terry nichols (another devout christian) results:
“The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19 children under the age of 6,[1] and injured more than 680 people.”
and he was a republican/libertarian anti-government ranter, just like all of them today saying the exact same things. a little of the hell brought into the world by these republican/libertarian nutjobs and the mainstream media who repeat their lies daily for them and call it “the news:”
notice no matter what the motivation is or where they come from, it’s always some whiny-baby males who feel the world has “done them wrong,” so naturally it’s okay in their minds to kill innocent children, babies, and anyone else nearby to do, i don’t know, something. i think they deep down know they couldn’t build a political movement and get what they want, which is what the constitution says to do, and they act like any other whiny-baby and throw a tantrum instead. unfortunately now as adults they have the knowledge to turn their tantrums into death and destruction. that’s all this crap is.
In the midst of this crazy day, This hashtag “TMZ Reports” is so needed. The media is horrible. https://twitter.com/search?q=%23TMZReports&src=tren
I apologize if someone has already posted this…
========
“Obama acts to strengthen gun background check system”
By Roberta Rampton | Reuters
President Barack Obama, moving swiftly after the Senate rejected a measure to expand background checks for gun buyers, acted on Friday to patch holes in the existing database dealers use to ensure they are not selling weapons to criminals or the mentally ill.
The Health and Human Services Department will issue a formal proposal on Friday to make sure one of its privacy laws does not prevent states from reporting information to the background check system.
“While this background check system is the most efficient and effective way to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals, it is only as effective as the information that is available to it,” an administration official said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/19/us-usa-guns-database-idUSBRE93I0S720130419
David Corn is getting on my nerves. Now he posts a series of hand-picked tweets from what is allegedely the bomber’s Twitter account, including retweets that are pro-PBO winning the election, etc This is irresponsible and inflammatory.
Good God.
My conspiracy hat here. NO WAY a radicalized young man who has interest in Al-Quaida is pro-Obama. President Obama is the one who ordered the operation that killed OBL; the drone strikes have killed a big number of Al-Quaida operatives.
Sorry I don’t believe those tweets originate from the bomber. Somebody is playing games here.
All I see in the David Corn article is that he re-tweeted a general “You made this possible” tweet from PBO the night of the election and a re-tweet, “WTF – Romney is winning”. I have no intention of pouring over this nut job’s twitter account, but if he had generated pro-PBO tweets him self, we’d know about it.
New post:
https://theobamadiary.com/2013/04/19/from-syria-to-boston-with-love/