Tuesday, April 14, 2009
President Obama's Economic Speech, From Georgetown University, April 14, 2009 (Video and Transcript)
Bo Obama has come home to the White House, to the Obama Family. (Video)
Sorry, I am a dog lover and Bo is a good looking animal.
The Bo Peep Show
NPR: Portuguese Water Dog May Leap In Popularity
And the notorious, Al Rodgers, pics and video with The Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan
From the White House Blog....See Barack laughing at Michelle, trying to handle Bo...Oh, boy....they are in for puppy mania!!!!!
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Hidden Unemployment Crisis, This Is Real Folks
Temporary workers, contract workers have always worked with no safety net, especially no health care, or if offered it is so expensive that it is unaffordable. The unemployment numbers are inflated with these workers. No jobs = no health insurance = more unpaid visits to hospitals = higher premiums, all around.
We need comprehensive health care in this country along with livable wages, like, yesterday.
Over the past decade, U.S. businesses increasingly have relied on contract workers as a way to keep a lid on health care and retirement benefit costs and to give them more flexibility to adjust payrolls as conditions change. Now, with the American economy flashing code red, companies from Wall Street to Silicon Valley are casting off temporary workers and freelancers left and right, typically without any severance pay.
While the ability to shed contingent workers helps protect corporate profits, economists say it's a net negative for the economy. That's because while companies may save on labor costs, they aren't likely to use those savings to boost investment with the economy so weak, preferring instead to rebuild their balance sheets.
Meanwhile, the people who lose their jobs will be forced to cut spending drastically, particularly because many of them earn below-average pay and thus have little savings to fall back on. The overall result is a decrease in demand, further depressing the economy. Says Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, president of the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.: "Clearly there is a macroeconomic impact. It begs the question of what our social safety net is all about."
‘Falling through the cracks’
Consider Lauren Bender, a 47-year-old Manhattan resident who for the past eight years has worked on and off developing investment tools for Charles Schwab. That work supplied about 90 percent of Bender's income, which she says kept her "very well compensated." But starting last summer, Schwab pulled the plug on the three projects she was planning to complete, and her income from the brokerage firm has dried up.
Bender is looking for other work so she can meet her monthly mortgage payments of about $3,400 for an apartment she bought two years ago. As a self-employed contractor, Bender is not eligible for unemployment. "It's scary," she says. "I'm at risk of falling right through the cracks." Schwab confirms that it has cut contract workers as part of a broader drive to lower operating expenses by 7 percent to 8 percent this year. read more here.....
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Bo Obama makes his official debut today. (Video)
Yes, all the dirt on the First Dog.
BO IS NOW IN THE WHITE HOUSE WITH THE OBAMA FAMILY, VIDEO
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Monday, April 13, 2009
Norm Coleman Case Dismissed.
Al Franken will be the NEXT senator from the great State of Minnesota.
Coleman does not have many options left and again, when you don't have the vote total in your favor, not much you can do.
After a trial spanning nearly three months, Norm Coleman’s attempt to reverse Al Franken’s lead in the recount of the U.S. Senate election was soundly rejected today by a three-judge panel that dismissed the Republican’s lawsuit.
The judges swept away Coleman’s argument that the election and its aftermath were fraught with systemic errors that made the results invalid.
“The overwhelming weight of the evidence indicates that the Nov. 4, 2008, election was conducted fairly, impartially and accurately,” the panel said in its unanimous decision.
In rejecting Coleman’s arguments, the panel said the Republican essentially asked it to ignore Minnesota election requirements and adopt a more lenient standard allowing illegal absentee ballots to be counted.
The panel also rejected Coleman’s comparison of Senate election problems to those in the 2000 presidential race in Florida.
Unlike Florida, Minnesota has statewide standards for absentee voting that are “uniform and explicit and apply in every county and city,” the panel wrote.
What next? Franken likely seated by May or June the latest. Coleman will appeal, but it will be swept quickly away finally by the Minnesota Supreme Court. By this time, Franken will be seated in the senate, remember the senate is not the courts. The only stinker is what Governor Pawlenty will do. If he has any aspirations for a higher office, he needs to accept the decision, sign the certificate along with the Secretary of State, and MOVE ON.
h/t Daily Kos
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Obama easing the rules on Cuba
Obama eases up on restrictions for Cuba.
President Barack Obama opened a crack on Monday in a decades-old U.S. embargo of communist Cuba, allowing U.S. telecommunications firms to start doing business there and relaxing other restrictions on the island.
As part of a major shift from the Bush administration's more hardline approach to Havana, Obama lifted limits on family travel and money transfers by Cuban Americans in the United States to Cuba.
The decisions unveiled by the White House do not eliminate Washington's trade embargo against Cuba set up 47 years ago, but it does hold out the prospect for improving ties between the two longtime foes.
"The president has directed that a series of steps be taken to reach out to the Cuban people to support their desire to enjoy basic human rights," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. "These are actions he has taken to open up the flow of information."
Administration officials said Obama hoped the new measures would encourage Cuba's one-party state to implement democratic reforms long demanded by Washington as a condition for removing sanctions imposed after Fidel Castro took power in 1959.
Shares of companies that stand to gain from a thaw in U.S. ties with Cuba soared on the news, led by Canadian mining and energy company Sherritt International, a major player in Cuba's nickel and oil industry, whose stock rose 24.5 percent.
Source
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White House Easter Egg Roll (Pictures and Video)
I don't care what anyone says, President Obama looks like he is having a BALL!!! After viewing the schedule, I wish I WAS THERE!!!! And more celebs, I mean TOP CHEF celebs.....
Fergie singing the National Anthem
Transcript
Fergie performing at the Easter Egg Roll (Hunt)
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Yes, a victory for Obama
I can not reiterate enough all of the "he is not strong enough, he does not know enough, he is weak on national security", well all that "he is not" was totally shut up, yesterday as it emerged that Obama ordered the take out of the pirates and the rescue of American Captain Richard Phillips.
For President Obama, last week's confrontation with Somali pirates posed similar political risks to a young commander in chief who had yet to prove himself to his generals or his public.
But the result -- a dramatic and successful rescue operation by U.S. Special Operations forces -- left Obama with an early victory that could help build confidence in his ability to direct military actions abroad.
On the Sunday news shows, all that was talked about is what Obama was not doing about those pirates and how he was not ready. Well, again the Republican talking points are moot. AGAIN.
Throughout the past four days, White House officials played down Obama's role in the hostage drama. Until yesterday, he made no public statements about the pirates.
In fact, aides said yesterday, Obama had been briefed 17 times since he returned from his trip abroad, including several times from the White House Situation Room. And without giving too many details, senior White House officials made it clear that Obama had provided the authority for the rescue.
"The president's focus was on saving and protecting the life of the captain," one adviser said. Friday evening, after a National Security Council telephone update, Obama granted U.S. forces what aides called "the authority to use appropriate force to save the life of the captain." On Saturday at 9:20 a.m., Obama went further, giving authority to an "additional set of U.S. forces to engage in potential emergency actions."
A top military official, Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, commander of the Fifth Fleet, explained that Obama issued a standing order that the military was to act if the captain's life was in immediate danger.
"Our authorities came directly from the president," he said. "And the number one authority for incidents if we were going to respond was if the captain's life was in immediate danger. And that is the situation in which our sailors acted."
The bold emphasis is mine.
What have we learned about Barack Obama? It is easy as poker. He knows when to show 'em and knows when to fold 'em. He showed this tenacity throughout the Democratic primaries and throughout the general election, yet, folks still underestimate him. Again, from the media to the right wingers, they come up EMPTY or in other words given a cup of STFU.
Yesterday was a good day for President Barack Obama.
He got Bo, the new First Dog; he went to church for Easter Sunday, as he and his family are continuing to find a spiritual house; and he came out looking like the leader we voted for November 4, 2008.
Yep, a good day.
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Sunday, April 12, 2009
Obama approved special forces to free captain from pirates
Well, some right wingers will explode in shock. Remember, we heard from the primaries through the general election that Barack Obama is not tough enough. Well, obviously many forgot that he said he would protect this country and its citizens. Today the pirates went down and the captain was saved.
A senior US official tells me that President Barack Obama approved a recommendation by Defense Secretary Bob Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen to dispatch special forces to the US scene on Friday.
These special forces were authorized to take action "in extremis" against the Somali pirates holding Maersk Captain Richard Phillips, 53, hostage on a motorized lifeboat off the coast of Somalia.
A senior official tells me that when the fourth Somali pirate was on the Bainbridge ship, Phillips moved to side of the lifeboat to relieve himself.
At that point, U.S. special forces saw their opportunity and took other three pirates out.
Captain Phillips is now safe aboard a U.S. vessel.
It's "going to make a great movie," a U.S. official adds.
Nuff said on that one.
OFFICIAL
ABC
Huffington Post
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Meet the Press, April 12, 2009, (Video and Transcript)
A special holiday weekend roundtable: How has the Obama administration fared on crucial foreign policy tests abroad and under political scrutiny back home? We're joined by The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg; NPR's Michele Norris; Robin Wright, author of the book "Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East"; and The Washington Examiner's Byron York.
Transcript
MTP Take Two, Webcast
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The Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan's advice to the Obamas for Bo
Yes, I watch Cesar Millan's show The Dog Whisperer. It is amazing what tips you can get from this show to correct your own spoiled pet, Lord knows he has helped us in that department.
But, for Bo Obama and the Obama Family here are some Cesar tips:
1. Bo is going to be the world's most famous dog with nearly every bark and misbehavior chronicled. What are the most important training tips for a dog getting all that attention?
Establish leadership from day one! Start off with a nice, long walk. This is the best way to bond with the new dog. Make sure Bo is next to you or behind you. Canine pack leaders walk in front. Establish rules, boundaries and leadership right from the start, and be consistent. Don't send Bo a mixed message. Then, at the end of the day when he is in resting mode, you can share all that affection you've been storing up!
By starting off right, the family can help prevent bad behavior down the road, such as excessive barking, leash-pulling or biting White House reporters.
2. Bo is new, but the house is old and rich in history. How can the Obamas make sure that this new dog doesn't rough up the Lincoln bedroom or the new White House vegetable garden?
Set rules, boundaries and limitations. Let Bo know that certain places are off-limits by claiming the area. Use your body, your mind and your calm-assertive energy to create an invisible wall that the dog is not allowed to cross.
If the family decides an area is off-limits for the dog, the dog should always be supervised in those areas. He should never be left alone there, especially in the first six months.
3. What does Barack Obama's style of leadership as a president tell us about how he'll be as a pet owner?
President Obama is a calm and assertive leader. If he applies those skills to his relationship with Bo, he'll be on the right path and a great role model for the world!
4. The president and first lady have made a point of saying that their daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, will have responsibilities for walking and cleaning up after Bo. Is that realistic?
Absolutely! It is important for the whole family to be involved, and walking is one of the best ways to bond with Bo. It can also help the dog to see the girls as pack leaders, and of course, it is the humans' responsibility to clean up after the dog. The girls are definitely old enough to respect an agreement to walk Bo and clean up afterwards. I would keep the routine very simple and playful.
5. If the Obamas only took one piece of advice from you about raising Bo, what should it be?
Never work against Mother Nature, always work with her. I received this piece of advice from my grandfather, and I keep it in mind every day. Animals need a balanced pack leader, and when they live with us, we can all be balanced pack leaders!
I am telling you that having a puppy is a blast!! They yearn and learn, they get it from us the owners. They can lose their little minds, at times, but there is nothing like having a loving pet, who loves you. To Barack and Michelle, this is a learning curve for you because I think Malia and Sasha, just may have you beat.
Source
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The First Dog, "Bo", will make his official debut at the White House on Tuesday
Bo is a Portuguese Water Dog given to the Obama Girls as a gift by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA).
This secret was slipped out over the weekend and to be honest, this is the one story everyone has been sniffing around for.
The identity of the first puppy -- the one that the Washington press corps has been yelping about for months, the one President Obama has seemed to delight in dropping hints about -- leaked out yesterday. This despite White House efforts to delay the news until the big debut planned for Tuesday afternoon.
The little guy is a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog given to the Obama girls as a gift by that Portuguese water dog-lovin' senator himself, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. The girls named it Bo -- and let it be noted that you learned that here first. Malia and Sasha chose the name, because their cousins have a cat named Bo and because first lady Michelle Obama's father was nicknamed Diddley, a source said. (Get it? Bo . . . Diddley?)
Bo's a handsome little guy. Well suited for formal occasions at the White House, he's got tuxedo-black fur, with a white chest, white paws and a rakish white goatee.Clearly, the identity of the dog was information too big to contain. A mysterious Web site called First Dog Charlie published a picture of a Portie yesterday morning, complete with a Q and A with the dog, which it said was originally named Charlie. The celebrity gossip Web site TMZ.com linked to the picture. So much for the big White House unveiling.
For an Obama team that ran a famously tight-knit press operation during last year's presidential election campaign, it was a sign of how tough it can be to keep a leash on information in Washington.
It's not for lack of trying, though. Bo's story starts sometime around the Ides of March. Word on the street was that the White House was going to plant a vegetable garden. Health gurus had been pushing the Obamas to plant seedlings for months, hoping it would set a good example for children everywhere.
A Washington Post food reporter was making calls, probing, pushing. But the White House was mum. Word filtered out that the exclusive had been promised to the New York Times. But the White House offered The Post, the newspaper that cracked Watergate, a mollifier: A puppy exclusive.
These kinds of arrangements get made all the time in Washington. For a while, the puppy deal seemed to be holding up. Sure, reporters here and there nipped at the story. There were hints that the puppy was a gift. There were reports that the Kennedys were involved -- but the senator's press people professed no knowledge. read more here....
Bo, looks like my Havanese, Snoop, only with curly hair. Congrats, Obama Family, you have named your pet, he has taken pictures with you, he is now an "official family member", love him and cherish him.
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