President Obama announces that he has accepted the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki during a press conference in the Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington
****
****
Deputy Veterans Affairs Secretary Sloan Gibson leaves the White House after being named by President Barack Obama to run the Veterans Affairs Department on an interim basis while President Obama searches for a replacement for Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki who resigned Friday.
****
****
President Barack Obama gives White House press secretary Jay Carney a hug after announcing that Carney will step down later next month, during a surprise visit to the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House. The president announced Carney’s departure in a surprise appearance at in the White House press briefing room Friday. He said principal deputy press secretary Josh Earnest will take over the job
****
****
****
Will miss my friend Jay Carney shown here on Air Force One this week. http://t.co/SNnPaAmUc4
—
(@petesouza) May 30, 2025****
Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest and White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, share the stage and a laugh during the daily briefing at the White House
President Barack Obama, flanked by Attorney Holder Eric Holder, Education Secretary Arne Duncan,and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker; speaks about a report from “My Brother’s Keeper,” an initiative to expand opportunity for young men and boys of color
****
****
President Barack Obama attends a hurricane preparedness meeting at FEMA Headquarters in Washington, DC
President Barack Obama speaks at a briefing at FEMA’s National Response Coordination Center to discuss the upcoming hurricane season while in Washington. (From L-R) are: Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, Obama and FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate.
NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan, White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, President Barack Obama, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator Craig Fugate, and White House counselor John Podesta attend a hurricane preparedness meeting at Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters in Washington
Google finally discloses its diversity record, and it’s not good:
….Women comprise just 17 percent of its global tech workforce, according to data Google published on its website and released exclusively to the PBS NewsHour. When it comes to leadership, women only account for 21 percent of the top positions in the company, which has a workforce of just under 50,000 people. Google, which has been under rising pressure along with other tech companies to release diversity data, also reported that blacks comprise just one percent of all tech employees in the U.S. Hispanics account for two percent of the tech workforce in the U.S. Asians account for 34 percent of the company’s U.S. tech workforce…..
“About a quarter of today’s pool of highly experienced software developers is female, and a company such as Google — which has its pick of the crop of new graduates as well as experienced engineers — should have far greater diversity,” Wadhwa wrote in a post for the NewsHour. Telle Whitney, the president and CEO of the Anita Borg Institute, a not-for-profit that works to foster a more welcoming culture for women in tech, said Google’s disclosure is a significant step. But she told the NewsHour in a statement, the numbers themselves are below what they should be…..
Just as the May 14 dismissal of New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson sparked a debate about gender roles in journalism, the ascension of Dean Baquet—the first African-American to run the paper’s newsroom—has renewed the focus on minority hiring in the news industry….
Yeh, but “newspapers”? What are those?
Howdy! :) What a day. . .
Oooooooh Nerdy, what would do without you? This is a perfect catch-up for an incredible day, thank you so so so much for your hard work.
Thank you, my friend. :)
Whaaaaat!!??!! Jay “Clark Kent” Carney??????
I think it’s he’s wanted to go a while. He’s served way longer than most Press Sec’s served and done a stellar job.
Good time to get it out there now along with the Shinseki announcement. Like ripping off a bandaid. Friday news dump.
He’s due a good rest. Then on to another great adventure.
As jaquelineoboomer suggested, he’d be great to replace that useless sack of GOP refuse currently hosting NBC’s Meet the Press right now.
Thanks for the mention, Dudette, but it was Bobfr’s brilliant suggestion about Jay’s hosting MTP! I’m just his cheerleader.
UT can you free me from moderation? TY
So Jay was always a cutie. Someone on the twitter feed said that they didn’t know he was from Dawson’s creek. :smile:
Jay was sporting a Blondish hair way back when…..in the 1990s?
Very stylish and might I add, distinguished as well.
Look at him - so young and cute. So apparently he’s always had that “Clark Kent” thing going. I like. :-)
Chips, I love that first picture…:”what the f are you trying to say”
Ah, the PERFECT caption, GGail!
Oh, I like Twitter’s new font - but they seriously need to darken it!
Whew…….thought I was on a “Pink Floyd” trip there for a second :cool: ……
:lol: I just thought it was my ‘puter acting up LP!
I’m positive this change will last 4 hours max….. and then suddenly return on random dates like their (ME)homepage currently does. I noticed the other day if you happen to be your on notifications screen……any DM/RT will pop up in the bottom right corner up screen(whole message) like the old AOL IM’s used too…hope I’m not the only one?
I’m flummoxed by it all LP, seems like there’s a new change every day now. The DMs bottom right are wacky!
Looks fine to me. Much better than the abomination we’ve had for the past couple of weeks.
I think it’s fine if you click on an individual tweet, but people’s TLs look a bit light to me??
They are a bit light. But I prefer the light to the clunky crap they had before.
::shakes my fist in revolutionary rage::
Very light, Chips. I just want to reach in and grab the “fixer.” Ha.
You are no longer my BFF!
:lol: You, me and LL have made it through several difficult years, lots of tough days and political heartache - and we part over Twitter’s font :lol:
Actually, it’s the whole constant twitter redecorating that’s got me in a snit.
I sowwy.
We can get through this Meta, although it will take a lot of healing #NewFontRocks
Ha! It’s back to the old font now! Thanks, Chips!!
It’s not for me! Maybe Twitter read our war of words and decided to give both of us what we want!!
OK, BFF!!
Eff that. They ought be kicked out of the damned Congress. They ain’t been doing their jobs for yrs.
Nerdy, you just have a gift for this blog tyrant thing, honey! It’s really freakin’ amazing how good you are at this! You’re a born curator.
Yet another excellent collection. That first picture just says it all!
Chips, thank you for letting her use her gift here. I’m in awe.
I thank you so very much for the kind words and the positive feedback.
It’s been an honor and a pleasure helping the wonderful Chips with TOD.
Nerdy, “helping” is the greatest understatement I have ever read in my entire and utter life!
:-D
THIS
HuffSnuff has an article about the ” Awkward ” hug between PBO and Jay……I guess it is being mocked on twitter.
People are disgusting .
Ditto on Mediaite.com too
What was awkward about it?
I thought Jay wanted one. So did POTUS and Jay didn’t expect POTUS to come out. Knowing that POTUS would be off to EU next week and Jay not travelling, POTUS, a Class Act, came out and gave some deserved praise to Jay “Clark Kent” Carney.
Linda, I shall leave HuffPuff alone, and 90% of the time I’m glad I am not on twitter. There was nothing awkward about the hug.
Wow…..POTUS had a Hectic Day on a TGIF
The hardest working POTUS in this 21st Century.
I’m glad POTUS can go upstairs and spend some time with FLOTUS and Malia and Sasha, Bo and Sunny. Maybe he and FLOTUS go sit on the Thurman balcony and just relax and talk.
Great Masterpiece Nerdy Wonka.
Fridays are usually casual and uninventive. Not at TOD where bts take it to a New Height.
>-I >-I >-I
Thanks guys. The Hits at TOD keep coming today ;)
Love that Nena! Happy Friday! {{ clink! }}
This president does more in a day than GWB did in a month! I loved the tweet and picture I saw yesterday about GWB: he was working 24/7: twenty four hours a week, seven months a year……yes, that about covered it, and that was generous.
The new acting Sec of VA looks like all business. I don’t think I’d like to get in his way! He owes nobody anything in the VA, and won’t be there long term, and can bust heads and fire at will…….
I will miss Jay, but I think he did the right thing for himself and his family. His job truly has been 24/7…….I think probably second only to PBO.
I just don’t understand why there was a report that Donald Sterling was declared mentally unsafe or whatever. We heard him speak and he was very articulate in his racist views including what he said about Black and White Jews in Israel.
He wanted to have Magic come to his defense. He lied and then tried to have V lie for him.
Ahem… Billionaires can buy whatever they want, including diagnoses. Sounds a legal ploy to me.
sounds like a legal ploy :roll:
Like that saying goes: Be careful what you ask, for you might just get it.
I also don’t understand if he is declared incompetent, why can he now turn around and sue?
That would be to keep others from suing him. I’m pretty sure he slandered Magic, when he said repeatedly in that Anderson Cooper interview that Magic has aids. Wouldn’t be a surprise if some other stuff is coming at him from out of the woodwork, now that a light has been shined on his ass-holery.
Congress had nothing better to do today than hold a hearing on the 25th Anniversary of Tianamen Square ?
So, I’ve been bummed, as we all have. But fuck it, I’m over it now. Hope to have an article ready for tomorrow on the idiocy which is running rampant in our Republic.
I’M STILL BUMMED AND I AM SICK AND TIRED OF THE REPUBLICANS FORCING ISSUES WITH THE WHITEHOUSE…THIS NEEDS TO CEASE AND I AM TOTALLY DISGUSTED WITH THE ENTIRE FIASCO!
The person who murdered my nephew got 23 years with no chance of parole. His accomplice got 9 years. They both took a plea deal.
Good grief Locke, I completely missed this - was this recent? I am so, so sorry.
It was actually almost 2 years ago. There were endless postponements and stall tactics.
I hope the sentences help with your pain.
Thanks L.L. I am conflicted. I want him to pay dearly, but I vacillate between being angry and recognizing that vengeance is pointless. I want him to pay dearly for what he’s done to my family, but sometimes see this as adding another lost life to the tragedy. He’s 23, assuming he lives the 23 years without getting killed or adding time to his sentence, he will be a 46 year old man with a record and little chance to salvaging what remains of his time in life. I know that I am supposed to be furious and wish all of the worst hell possible on him. Sometimes I do. But I don’t like to hate. He’s a bad person, I’m not.
At some point we have to take possession of our own lives. We can have lots thrown at us; how we react is up to us, though. Murder cannot be excused. He chose his path; you choose yours to not hate.
People that care - as you do - make our world such a better place. His family will always be changed by this tragedy but as you say below, the end of the legal events will hopefully allow them to move to a new life - albeit always sadder than they should have been.
Oh, locke. I must’ve missed that too. I’m soooo sorry about your nephew. What an awful, awful tragedy for your family to endure.
Thought it will never fill the void of your loss, I hope you all may eventually find some sense of closure and peace after this outcome.
I just want my sister and brother-in-law to be able to find some joy in life again. Hopefully, with the trial behind them they will be able to start healing some.
Indeed.
Belated condolences to you all.
Thanks Dudette
Oh, no, locke, I had no idea. What a painful sorrow.
It’s been difficult. He was the kind of guy that made everyone happier the moment he showed up. I know for sure that he would want us to be happy again. In fact, he wouldn’t have wanted us to be sad for even a moment. He was forever high spirited and wanted everyone around him to be too.
Must feel like a great loss of light. My sincere condolences to you and your family, locke.
Thanks meta. Time and love will conquer darkness.
So sorry for your family, locke. I sense that your choice to try to move past this, without the lingering hate, is a wise one. It does honor your nephew’s outlook on life, as you shared, I believe.
I am so sorry for your family’s loss locke. I am glad your family could see justice done and hope they can have a sigh of relief that these people will be locked up and can’t hurt others.
I know exactly how you feel. I lost two cousins who were murdered in the Los Angeles area no one has been caught. Both my cousins did not make 30yrs old. The first one was murdered while waiting outside a drug house our other cousin on my father’s side of the family. He was shot in the head and died instantly. He did not live in the area and therefore did not know how dangerous it was. The other cousin’s murder was thought to be an initiation murder. They gunned him down while he was walking home very late at night. He survived but died a week later from a blood clot. It was devastating to our family.
Ugh. Just helped a patron with his email. He subscribes to Heritage Foundation. I feel soiled.
Definitely GERMS.
Ew! I Poor LL. This is has been a rough week at the library, hasn’t it? You deserve a good stiff drink, Friend.
I hope you got his password so you can send an email to his lover to his wife instead.
A response from my real life librarian friend: https://twitter.com/slirt/status/472497220680314880
:-)
YOU are a bad, bad girl! This is why I love you! :-D
I would never have had such an evil thought before I met you and VC, you have corrupted my soul.
Eggsqueezme? I’un know what u talkin’ about. I am a LADY. Evil thoughts nevah enter my person or my pervue.
I don’t think I like your tone… I don’t like it at all :mad:
Thank you! I’ll take that as an apology, which I heartily accept.
A lady needs a hug every now and then! :-)
Yea, what ‘thought’? You simply ACTED out the evil. Now D-ette and I at least make you stop and think about it. :grin: :grin:
Let’s try that again:
Bwahahaha!
It was actually almost 2 years ago. There were endless postponements and stall tactics.
Two years of agony, I’m sure. {{{{{ lockewasright }}}}}
locke….. I am your sister …. I lost my nephew to murder also……
He was only 25. I feel your pain……and it has been 20 years . The killer, his former employee got $76.00 .
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1994-09-10/news/9409090747_1_fred-riley-iii-robbery-getaway
I’m sorry that you have had to feel this way Linda.
Josh was murdered over $80.00. They went to go steal his prescription and sell the pills on the street. The cops said that’s how much the pills were worth. When they found Josh at home, he tried to shove them out the door and lock it. He was shot point blank in the back.
Thank you and a big Hug to you.
I just finished reading the article. It’s terrible what parents go through. Hearing graphic accounts of their child’s murder, waiting for a jury that might crush your heart. I don’t think I will ever get over watching my brother-in-law listen to the story as that piece of shit told it to the court.
It was horrific. On the front pages of the paper everyday. There is a picture of my sister at the funeral holding a picture of her son that was above the fold. 200 police attended and were in the motorcade. They ate at his Subway shop every day.
Sniff, sniff … :-(
This was extracted from desertflower post on the last thread:
Ha! My whining made it to the storify about twitter’s new look.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/mother-of-vet-who-committed-suicide-i-would-have-preferred-shinseki-stay/
“For me, I have some concerns,” Jean Somers said, citing the “learning curve” that President Obama predicted in his announcement of the change. “I would have actually preferred that Shinseki stay,” she continued, “and maybe have a White House person alongside him to continue working on the problems.”
//////
Just a heart wrenching letter from a soldier who ended his life.
War is HELL……..those who advocate for war are either careless or clueless.
War is Hell. That is why you don’t rush into to every war situation just because you think you are the biggest and baddest. Exactly what POTUS said. If McCain and those war loving Republicans had there way we would have started another war or two by now.
don’t know about how others here feel.
but for me this has been one of those weeks when I
(1) feel the heavy weight of those who GENUINELY choose public service and
(2) wonder at the source of their daily motivation in the face of those who only seek to use government to (a) destroy the common good, (b) exploit and oppress the vulnerable (c) and look for all possible ways to reward their own/backers with resources jointly owned;
Wow, what a burden genuine public servants carry on behalf of all of us
as public servant try to do their jobs, there is a bunch that is always undermining them and whining about the work that has to be done
Hel-llololooo, Nerdy W!
I like this ‘new’ “The President’s Day” feature. I was in and out today so It’s cool, and impressive, to get this overall glimpse of our tireless President’s actions in one post. It’s a gift to us to see how you terrific TOD-BTs always find little ways to make info more accessible. /palms together, and slight head bow/ WE THANK YOU(s) ;) , we really do!
Nice pictures
Chat away:
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/05/30/chat-away-381/
Horrifying news from New Orleans today about the last public school closing. All Private For-Profit charter schools now.
Unionized experienced teachers fired. Low paid young private employees brought in. A few years in and they will be replaced by newer and cheaper teachers.
Discipline is harsh in charter schools. The curriculum is test-taking and discipline. Rah-rah cheerleading directly out of Orwell—“I’m glad I am not an A. B’s are much better than A’s” and so forth.
Profit and the producing of an obedient work force that will serve the 1%.
This is what we are facing all over the country. Privatization does real harm to real folks. It is not simply an ideological stance.
It is the very few taking more and more from the rest of us.
What a day. I need some escapist film tonight.
Everything the GOP does is about $$$ - undoing the good that their forebears fought for. In 1800s education was only available to the privileged few. The GOP wants to roll everything back to 1850 when rich white men ruled their world. The demise of public education is a huge step towards this goal.
So moving….
We meet, We grow together. We walk the paths of goodness together. We show mutual respect, and We know when our paths cross again, our hearts will be just fine, just fine because we traveled together shoulder to shoulder for the good of the most sacred in life; giving our best to the best, our veterans. Two good and decent men moving in step with their core. Thank you, President Barack Obama, and Secy. Eric Shinseki. 05-30-2014. HZ