On This Day, 2014
****
Another scheduled moooOOOooorning, out and about again, see ya later.
27
Mar
15
127 Responses to “Early Bird Rise and Shine”
Leave a Reply
White House.gov
- Weekly Address: Protecting Working Americans’ Paychecks
- Week in Review: 5 Years of the ACA, Our Fifth Science Fair, and a Talk About the War on Drugs
- More than 4.41 Million Records Released
- West Wing Week: 03/27/2015 or, “The Magic Page”
- Taking Our Nation’s Daughters and Sons to Work
WH Tumblr
- "Good luck, Captain. Make sure to Instagram it. We’re proud of...
- Watch President Obama meet with the Boys & Girls Clubs of...
- If you’re a fan of The Wire, watch this: President Obama...
- The Affordable Care Act is improving the quality of health care...
- Water power! Corine Peifer and Kristian Sonsteby live near Lake...
The People’s View
- The Path We Are On: Barack Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize Nancy the Artist
- Fortune's Painfully Dumb Defense of Snubbing Obama for Greatest Leaders List Spandan Chakrabarti
- The TPP Education Project, IP: An Intelligent Look at Intellectual Property in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Spandan Chakrabarti
- The Netanyahu Paradox: How Obama is Using Bibi's Arrogance to Box in the Right and Promote Peace Spandan Chakrabarti
- Is Robert Reich a Republican by Trade? The Story of a Flip-Flopping Grifter Spandan Chakrabarti
Smartypants
- Odds & Ends
- The Effects of Epistemic Closure
- Odds & Ends
- Free Eric Holder
- What Minnesota and California Have in Common
A Writing Corner (LL)
- Mausoleum
- Afternoon music break – Oscar Peterson
- Tall Buildings
- Morning funnies
- Goodnight
Greg Sargent
- Sunday Open Thread
- Open Thread
- Happy Hour Roundup
- Scott Walker immigration mess captures GOP’s broader dilemma
- If conservatives really support ‘equality of opportunity,’ here’s an Obama proposal they can get behind
Steve Benen
- Week in Geek: Martian marathon edition
- This Week in God, 3.28.15
- Citations for the March 27, 2025 TRMS
- Soft spoken yet combative leader of Senate Democrats, Harry Reid, to retire
- Pilots' mental fitness a concern after crash
WH Flickr
|
Morning!
Good Morning Golden Lady! :-D
Good Morning! Thanks a lot for the lift of the soul
:-D {{{{{ globalcitizenlinda }}}}}
Morning Linda and all early TODers.
Good Morning!
Good photo to start the morning - two unaplogetic advocates for socio-economic justice
AMK, I wish we could all give Mike Lukovich an award for his brilliant toons. He knows how to hit the target right in the heart with his sharp arrows.
cool. thanks for spreading it around.
The pope will be coming to the US on my son’s birthday-September 23-which will make it an auspicious day on all fronts. I’ll bet he actually has fun at the White House and I can’t wait to hear what he has to say to Boehner, McConnell and our decidedly unChristian Congress.
Jackie that is my cousins bd too.
Good Morning Family! :-)
Morning, Dudette. Audra McDonald really is incomparable. I love her voice and I love the heart she puts into everything. What a great talent.
Hi jackieg! She truly is a treasure!
Gorgeous! I do love her voice.
She has such a rich gorgeous voice.
OMG, Dudette. Audra is absolutely on fire!!!! Mike Pence has got to be one of the stupidest, most short-sighted men in history if he thinks signing this hateful legislation is going to propel him into national prominence and forward his presidential plans. He’s going to end up standing in a lot of Indiana ruins before he even knows what happened to him. He’s a creepy, hateful little bigot who deserves every rotten thing he gets.
Spot on jg!
G’morning Chips & TOD! Happy Friday everyone; Congrats Linda on #1 :)
Great morning!
GM TODville.
NW outdid herself last night with her tweets post, just an amazing assembly of info.
Just heard this on the radio, and it’s on @nytimes homepage now; looks like Nevada is up for grabs in 2016:
Gracious, heartfelt statement from @SenatorReid.
It sounds like the accident he had in December put a lot of things into perspective for him. I’m partial to scrappy Westerners, and it’s hard to have a more Western story than to be born in Searchlight, Nevada.
Good luck to Senator Reid and family.
Oh hell. This is not good news, Arapaho. I know nothing about the Democratic bench in Nevada, but I hope Harry Reid does and has someone in mind that he can push for.
Ignore the “Hillary” comment — just MSM shoving her “inevitability” down the throat of its audience:
From the article:
Reid’s decision, like the 2010 retirement of Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, may be one of the rare cases in which an open seat is easier for a party to defend than the incumbent. Nevada has been swinging strongly Democratic in presidential years, as the party’s machinery turns out Hispanic votes and wins by landslide margins in Clark County. Barack Obama won the state twice; even John Kerry had strongly competed for it, losing by only 2.6 percentage points.”
But I share your “Bundy Ranch” concerns — could Nevada be the new Idaho in attracting bigots like Mark Fuhrman inside their borders?
It seems that only Democrats know when to quit. But the GOPers remain in congress way past senility, and no one calls them out on it. Relics like John McCain & Mitch McConnell need to follow suit.
I wonder if the relics will take heed.
Not sure of the source of this quote:
Both McCain and McTurtle are an embarrassment to this country, McAngry especially.
Arapaho, I have always believed in the principle of retiring before everyone wishes you were gone and giggles about you behind your back. I took an early retirement from my career even though I could have eked out many more years with a generous salary because I knew I was not as sharp as I had been, I wanted to enjoy each day fully and I wasn’t addicted to the luxury that comes with a bigger paycheck. After many years, I can tell you that it was the smartest decision I made. Retirement for me was the beginning of a new and happy life and I have enjoyed every day, even when I feel grumpy about stupid things. We chose to live a simpler life in a less expensive and competitive area and it has had the very positive effect of giving us a new lease on life.
I believe that Reid did an outstanding job of keeping the Senate Dems together despite the obstruction of the GOP…most notably during the Debt Ceiling Debacle and the Government Shutdown….
even now…he has kept them together in the face of GOP led Senate….
he is to be commended for that…because to hold Dems together…is not a small feat…
i know that we must move on…and be ready for the challenges ahead….
getting myself ready for when it will be the President’s time to move on!…
Good Morning TODVille.
Sad news for me although the dear Senator Reid paid his dues and should be entitled to retire.
I am so grateful for his support of our POTUS everyday and particularly with the ACA and the stimulus.
Hopefruit, I do like your statement about many of those on Capitol Hill “in congress way past senility”. May I add that some of them come in to Congress with senility!
Indeed NCLB - many of these mentally unbalanced GOpers should have been screened before running for congress.
Feinstein needs to retire too. She is well past her sell date. I wish Boxer would stay but we are safe to get a Dem replacement in CA.
Yes, Feinstein needs to go as well, she has long since worked my last nerve.
Amen…BRAVO!
Sad about Harry Reid.
Harry knew the time was right. I felt the same way as jg did about retiring: retire when you’re on top, not when people start laughing behind your back. I retired at the right time…..took a year off, then went back to teach one class, which I love. I can handle one class very well, but could not juggle four classes, committee meetings, advising, etc. I look really good in my one class, but would not do well with four. We have to be realistic about our abilities and age. Good for Harry. McConnell and McCain are laughing stocks…..but are too dumb to know it or admit it.
This is why I think, that even if PBO was not term limited, he would not run for a third term. We do have a limit of effectiveness in any one job, then become stale and ineffective, which is hard to imagine for him, but he is a realist, as we all know. There is only so much energy to be given to the country, and he has given mightily. So has Harry……..it’s time for some young people to step up and take responsibility. Agree about Dianne F., too.
See you in about five years Indiana after your state has turned into some sort of madmax dystopian wasteland all because your Governor is a homophobic piece of shit. I hope every corporation leaves your state, I hope your state becomes a cautionary tale of how not to treat its gay citizens.
CNN just teased their next segment is going to be about this.
Cuomo said ” We debate, you decide ” which sounds very Fox like to me.
CNN and MSNBC are morphing into Fox
GM Don, the NCAA is headquartered in Indiana & the Final Four will be playing there soon. Mike Pence is disgusting!
Don, I share your wishes about Indiana, although my heart goes out to those in the state who must suffer under this right wing bigotry. Unless decent Indianans wake up and take back control of their government it will sink further economically and will become-like many sad states in the South-the place that no one will want to move to. Instead of a promising future, Indiana will become the state that might have been but wasn’t.
A great way to perk up your Friday.
I like Sen Reid. Greatful for his service and wish him well in his future life
Meant this comment for another place
Watched this video here yesterday - Aasif was brilliant & right on target
I have read here many people wondering how to make the media not divert our attention from the fact that we STILL have a POTUS who is trying to help ordinary people. No need to go on and on about 2016. I think that by focusing some of our outrage on the GOP budget, we can help PBO help us
Good morning, TODville.
Feeling sad about Senator Reid. He’s one of a kind, a real Senator. He knows the rules in his sleep. He’s an odd duck but in the end, I proud of the way he fought the extremists in his midst. Waiting for PBO’s statement……..
i agree Meta….
Good morning Ms. Chips, Danny and TOD family, I hope all is well with everyone this lovely Friday morning. Congrats GCL, on being first this morning.
To all, I hope you have a phenomenal day today. TGIF <3 <3 <3
Thank God that President Obama is still the President of The United States of America. ✩ ✩ ✩
Thanks. Have a great day
RanMan, I have come to look forward to your every morning greeting. Part I like the best? The last sentence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😄😄😄😄
Tnmtngirl, good morning. How are you and your family doing. You continue to be in my prayers.
Thanks Tnmtngirl. ✔ ✔ ✔ :)
Fun drive to work, accidents all over the place. I am now officially hating this winter, even though it is supposed to be spring.
Get here and check out may favorite source for all the news that matters, TOD, and see Senator Reid is going to retire. Saddens me, although I can understand why. When he was being criticized for not having a backbone, I defended him. He is one of the most progressive Mormons you are going to ever see and, like PBO, is very pragmatic.
Will be interesting to see if he has any more f**ks to give than PBO does at this point. Could be a very entertaining final 22 months.
Documents found in the apartment of Germanwings Flight 9525 co-pilot Andreas Lubitz indicate he had an illness he kept “secret from his employer and his professional environment,” official says.
Investigators found a medical leave note from a doctor issued for the co-pilot that included the day of the crash, the Dusseldorf public prosecutor’s office said.
The prosecutor’s office did not say if the medical leave note related to a physical or a mental health issue but said the co-pilot appeared to have been under treatment by a doctor for some time.
Investigators added that no goodbye letter, and no evidence of political or religious motivation was found, the prosecutor’s office said.
Get complete coverage of breaking news on CNN TV, CNN.com and CNN Mobile.
OH Gawd, no. Is Schumer next in line for the leadership of the Senate?
Durbin is number two right now and would be much better.
why is that japa?
The world can breathe a sigh of relief again. OMG.
GOOD MORNING TOD FAMILY…HOPE YOU ARE HAVING A BLESSED MORNING…………..:)
Morning Sue - hope you are having a blessed day :-)
Who wins and loses in Rahm’s TIF game?
Under Mayor Emanuel, most economic development funds are spent downtown while neighborhood investments lag behind.
By Ben Joravsky@joravben and Mick Dumke@mickeyd1971
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a huge scam to take dollars and allocate with no representation. This is how the black, Latino and working class neighborhoods have gone into serious decline. Daley and Emanuel have created a 21st Century version of Jim Crow communities. My Chicago brothers and sisters need to vote their interest and survival in this election.
Who wins and loses in Rahm’s TIF game?
Under Mayor Emanuel, most economic development funds are spent downtown while neighborhood investments lag behind.
In the first runoff debate, Mayor Rahm Emanuel conceded that Chicago struggles with economic disparity. But he argued that “it is a false choice to pit one part of the city of Chicago against another.”
Since Emanuel took office, though, the city’s primary economic development tool is doing just that—favoring gentrifying neighborhoods downtown over the rest of the city.
Nearly half of the $1.3 billion in tax increment financing funds allocated by Mayor Emanuel since 2011 have gone to the Loop and surrounding areas, according to city records.
It was much the same five years ago, when we examined the TIF program under former mayor Richard M. Daley. As a candidate for mayor in 2011, Emanuel promised to make it more fair.
But about 48 percent of what he has committed to spend in TIF funds over the last four years has gone to these same favored communities, an area stretching roughly from the Gold Coast on the north to McCormick Place on the south and from the United Center on the west to the lake.
Those neighborhoods account for about 5 percent of Chicago’s geographical area and 11 percent of its population.
In contrast, the south side received about 16 percent of the TIF haul, the northwest side 10 percent, the north side 9 percent, the west side 9 percent, the southwest side 4 percent, and the far south side—which includes some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods—just 4 percent.
Even some of the mayor’s council allies say it’s time to change the TIF program so that more resources go to struggling neighborhoods.
“Would I be much happier if I could get some of those dollars? Absolutely,” says Alderman Willie Cochran (20th). “Do the regulations have to change? I would be in favor of it.”
The TIF program was created to eradicate blight by subsidizing development in communities that would not be developed “but for” the assistance.
The irony, as Cochran points out, is that it’s governed by a formula that collects more money for rapidly gentrifying communities than anywhere else, including the city’s poorest, most blighted areas.
When the mayor and the City Council create a TIF district, they basically limit the amount of property taxes within that district that go to the schools, parks, county, and other taxing bodies. As property values rise, the increased property tax yield flows into a TIF account controlled by the mayor.
That means a community undergoing rapid gentrification—like the area around McCormick Place—will have more money flowing into its TIF coffers than poor communities like Woodlawn, which Alderman Cochran represents. Under state law, the city has little ability to move the funds from one part of town to the other.
In essence, the TIF program is like a competition for a limited amount of money. But it’s not a fair fight—it’s more like a 100-yard dash in which one guy starts at the 50 and everyone else is trying in vain to catch up.
For instance, Mayor Emanuel approved spending $87 million in the LaSalle/Central TIF district in the Loop—and nothing at all in the 126th/Torrence district on the southeast side. In fact, no money was spent in 23 of the 149 TIF districts across the city.
And more than half of the city isn’t in a TIF district, which means those excluded areas don’t receive any investment from the program either.
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/mayor-rahm-emanuel-tif-funds-downtown-neighborhoods/Content?oid=17009841
Mtmarilyn and others, Your support is so appreciated and needed. We are doing as well as can be expected. Our daughter is doing better than Dad and me, yet we all have our really bad moments. Otter44 here is amazing in her support and help. We have another very close attorney friend from our days in Fairfax so she knows the VA laws. It’s a one day at a time deal.
On a more positive note, I had my surgery Tuesday for interstim therapy (implant for bladder issues). Big improvement—60-65% right now and good thing is that the doctor can continue to adjust the setting for the lead wires and what nerves it goes to and that leads to further improvement. He thinks over time we can get 75-80% for sure.
Good to hear:) Glad you were able to hook up with otter44 and get the info she had for you….one day at a time….
I know you will have many good and bad days. Just know that all of this extended TOD community is here for support. So grateful your surgery was successful!!!!
Tnmtngirl, so glad to hear that you all are taking it one step at a time and not letting the sadness weigh you down so that you cannot see the future. Also happy to hear that your medical situation is improving. Keep up the good work!
<3
HOPE
Good Morning Everybody.
Good! I hope he gets some positive exposure.
I hope Gov O’Malley can get some points across. Georgie has a way of talking non-stop
I forgot to say Good morning JER. :-) Please forgive me.
Thank You!
A message from Senator Harry Reid announcing he will retire from the Senate at the end of his term. For more, visit: http://www.reid.senate.gov/
I wonder what is behind all the Warren mania….Now they are floating her for Sen Leader…..is she secretly giving consent to this while saying NAY in public…just wondering
I don’t get it either.
I don’t it. I really like her, but she needs to win over more of the centrist Dems to her way of thinking. And I don’t think she either wants or would necessarily be good at being Dem Senate Leader.
She is a darling of the progressive left which, as we all know all too well, only looks at what they consider the ideal and never, ever, look at the real world.
So true.
Good morning TODville. It is a beautiful day in Montana. My husband spent the day on the river fly fishing yesterday so spring is officially here.
Here in MT we have a horrid legislature and they are debating a bill almost like what Indiana just passed. Thank goodness we have a Democratic governor who will veto it. These Teapubs are crazy.
I am so thankful for each morning I wake up and Barack Obama is our President!!!!
Hmm… you know the UN is in New York!
I DON’T THINK SO…I THINK WE WILL BE SURPRISED AT THEIR NEXT MOVE!
I agree Sue. I don’t think NY is their next move.
Many places are wishing for PBO to retire in their midst. Remember PBO already lived in NYC. I think their choice will be unexpected
ME TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…:)
I thought maybe this was Photoshopped but no.
SICK INDEED!
Okay this cracked me up :) :) :)
We can only hope for Karma!!!
So proud that is my governor :( :( :(
AY YI YI!!
With Dan Coats not running for senate & this moron probably running for President, at least i have Evan Bayh to look forward to in some form or fashion….god help me!!!! All joking aside, at least Andre Carson is my house rep.
OH LP, I haz a sad for you!
Meanwhile, CA’s Kamala Harris is fighting to have a judge stop this crazy RWNJ from Orange County from putting his “shoot the gays” petition forward.
Speaking of which:
MR. FOX NEWS EVAN BAYH…LIVING OFF OF HIS WIFE’S HUGE E BOARD INCOME!!!!!…HE AND THE CRUZ TWOSOME NEED TO GET TOGETHER FOR A BBQ ON TAXPAYER MONEY!
SHE IS ON THE BOARD OF MY FORMER HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY. HE ALSO HAS OVER $10 MILLION IN HIS CAMPAIGN COFFERS…THAT S.O.B DID NOT HELP ANY D’S SINCE HE RETIRED EXCEPT FOR SEN. JOE DONNELLY
HE LEFT BECAUSE HE WANTED TO GET AWAY FROM POSSIBLE FINANCIAL DISPUTES AND HEADED STRAIGHT OVER TO FOX NEWS AS A COMMENTATOR…TURNCOAT FOR HIDDEN BUCKS!
I am approaching my sabbatical from work. It’s a pretty cool benefit that we get. Every 7 years we get a 2 month paid sabbatical. I’ve scheduled mine to coincide with my wedding anniversary. We’ve been together for 16 years, but we married 10 years ago in Las Vegas. She is the most super awesome wife that ever was a super awesome wife. As such, I am taking her back to Vegas for the occasion. Well, I’ve just discovered that on the dates of our visit The House of Blues will be hosting one Mr. Carlos Santana! I am elated!
Congrats Lockewasright, enjoy Vegas!
Congratulations & happy anniversary Lockewasright. I hope you and your wife have a marvelous time in Vegas :-)
Wow, a 2 month paid sabbatical - awesome!
Enjoy your sabbatical Locke and Happy Wedding Anniversary!!! :) :) OOOhh….House of Blues visit will be a very memorable one for you… :)
President Obama’s statement on Sen. Reid:
Godspeed, Scott Kelly. Can’t imagine what this will be like for him and his family.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/26/us/nasa-one-year-mission-scott-kelly/index.html
GM DF, I know, I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that he will be weight-less for a whole year :shock:
I KNOW…I THINK ABOUT GABBY…BUT GOD WILL WATCH OVER HER AND I’M SURE THEY AGREED ON THIS…IT’S NO DIFFERENT THAN GOING OVERSEAS AS OUR SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN DO SO OFTEN…IT’S JUST WAY OUT OF RANGE FOR A CARE PACKAGE…YOWZA!
Sue, Mark, Gabby’s husband isn’t going into space. It is his twin brother, Scott. Here in Knoxville, we are following it closely and it’s in the news often because Scott is a graduate of University of Tennessee. This study they are doing on twins is fascinating-one in space and the other here on earth. Fascinating indeed!
I didn’t see your response to Sue, when I replied to her.
Tnmtngirl, I’m so glad that things are going well for you after your surgery, and that otter44 is able to offer you some help. I will continue to keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers.
Sue, it isn’t Gabby’s husband Mark that is going on the mission, it’s his twin brother Scott. Mark’s blood will be monitored and tested while he’s on the ground. Since they’re twins, NASA is going to test to see if there are any differences in how being in space may affect the blood.
Good lawd!
How much you want to bet that is a male dog with his head stuck under the fence.
Well, duh! You can clearly see that its mouth is shut! :-P
you better run, dood.
Just getting here to see this dangerous conversation. Locke - you are one brave (?) man with that comment. I’m surprised you’re still alive. Amk, too.
G=R=O=S=S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
UGH!!
If i remember…It was Durbin who encouraged then State Senator to give the address at the 2004 Dem Convention…i wonder why Harry is picking Schumer over Durbin
I WOULD RATHER HAVE DURBIN THANK YOU VERY MUCH…SCHUMER BENDS TOO OFTEN…….NOTTA!
Chat away, back in a bit!
http://theobamadiary.com/2015/03/27/chat-away-556/