5,300+ Sites Join DEA Effort to Take-Back Prescription Drugs on April 30th
The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA’s) second National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is this Saturday, April 30th.
More than 5,300 sites nationwide have joined the effort that seeks to prevent pill abuse and theft. This is hundreds more sites than were established for the event last fall. The free event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time. Government, community, public health and law enforcement partners at these sites will be working together to collect expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs that are potentially dangerous if left in the family’s medicine cabinet.
Collection sites in every local community can be found at which connects to a database that citizens can search by zip code, city or county.
Saturday Apr. 30, 2011
All Times Eastern
Pres Obama receives the presidential daily briefing
8:00 AM
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10:00 PM
President Obama Speaks at 2011 White House Correspondents Association Dinner
Washington, D.C.
Apr 30, 2011
WhiteHouse.gov http://www.whitehouse.gov/live
10:00 PM EDT
President Obama Speaks at 2011 White House Correspondents Association Dinner
Washington, D.C.
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CNN http://live.cnn.com
8:00 PM EDT
White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner
President Obama will attend the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner and will speak at 10:00 PM EDT
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CSPAN http://www.cspan.org/
8:00 PM EDT
White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner
President Obama will attend the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner and will speak at 10:00 PM EDT http://www.cspan.org/Events/Live-Coverage-2011-White-House-Correspondents-Association-Dinner/10737421177/
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Middle East Protest
Al Jazeera – English http://english.aljazeera.net
Got Drugs?
Over 5,300 Sites Join DEA Nationwide Effort to Take-Back Prescription Drugs on April 30th
4/19/11 justice.gov
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA’s) second National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day is this Saturday, April 30th. More than 5,300 sites nationwide have joined the effort that seeks to prevent pill abuse and theft. This is hundreds more sites than were established for the event last fall. The free event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time.
Government, community, public health and law enforcement partners at these sites will be working together to collect expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs that are potentially dangerous if left in the family’s medicine cabinet.
Last September, Americans turned in over 242,000 pounds—121 tons—of prescription drugs at nearly 4,100 sites operated by more than 3,000 of the DEA’s state and local law enforcement partners. Also last fall, Congress passed the Safe and Secure Drug Disposal Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow users of controlled substance medications to dispose of them by delivering them to entities authorized by the Attorney General to accept them. The Act also allows the Attorney General to authorize long term care facilities to dispose of their residents’ controlled substances in certain instances. DEA is presently drafting regulations to implement the Act.
Collection sites in every local community can be found by going to http://www.dea.gov and clicking on the “Got Drugs?” banner at the top of the home page, which connects to a database that citizens can search by zip code, city or county. This site is continuously updated with new take-back locations. In addition, interested media can now go to: http://www.nationaltakebackday.com to download a public service announcement about the initiative.
For the entire article: http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/pressrel/pr041911a.html
Proper Disposal of Prescription Drugs
Office of National Drug Control Policy
750 17th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20503
p (202) 395‐ 6618 f (202) 395‐6730
October 2009
Federal Guidelines:
* Do not flush prescription drugs down the toilet or drain unless the label or accompanying patient information specifically instructs you to do so. For information on drugs that should be flushed visit the FDA’s website: http://fda.gov
* To dispose of prescription drugs not labeled to be flushed, you may be able to take advantage of community drug take-back program or other programs, such as household hazardous waste collection events, that collect drugs at a central location for proper disposal. Call your city or county government’s household trash and recycling service and ask if a drug take-back program is available in your community.
If a drug take‐back or collection program is not available:
1. Take your prescription drugs out of their original containers.
2. Mix drugs with an undesirable substance, such as cat litter or used coffee grounds.
3. Put the mixture into a disposable container with a lid, such as an empty margarine tub, or into a sealable bag.
4. Conceal or remove any personal information, including Rx number, on the empty containers by covering it with black permanent marker or duct tape, or by scratching it off.
5. Place the sealed container with the mixture, and the empty drug containers, in the trash.
Source: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/pdf/prescrip_disposal.pdf
Wow – great idea for prevention. I had no knowledge there was a take-back day last year, but I’ll pass the word on this one for Saturday.
Great new topic CR.
I think that it is important too.
Keeping expired prescription drugs is just asking for trouble of ingestion by error and improperly disposing of them may hurt a child, pet or animals/fishes in the wild and water sources.
How Do Medications Get into Our Water?
Drugs enter our water supply in several ways:
Many of us have medications that we no longer take, that have expired, or were used by someone who died. Most of these medications are flushed down the toilet or, in the case of liquids, poured down sink drains.
When we take a medication, our bodies absorb some of the drug. The remainder passes through us (in our urine or stool) and is flushed down the toilet.
In both cases, the wastewater is treated by our local sewage facilities before it is discharged into local reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Most of these water treatments do not remove the entire drug residue. Some of this water then may go to drinking water treatment plants and piped to our faucets.
21st Annual Department of Energy National Science Bowl April 30 – May 2
April 25, 2011 energy.gov
110 High School and Middle School Teams from Across the U.S. to Compete for the National Championships in Washington D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu announced today that on April 30 through May 2 the DOE will host 69 high school and 41 middle school teams to compete for championship titles at the 21st annual National Science Bowl competition in Washington, D.C. The 110 regional championship teams – from 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands – will be quizzed on various science topics including biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, astronomy, and energy, as well as math.
“The U.S. needs the best and the brightest scientists and engineers to help solve many of our nation’s greatest challenges,” said Secretary Chu. “The National Science Bowl engages students in a fun and rewarding competition, and encourages them to direct their talents toward careers in science, mathematics, and technology.”
The middle school question and answer competition begins on Saturday, April 30th at the National 4-H Conference Center in Chevy Chase, MD, while high school students participate in hands-on science experiments, seminars and lectures. The high school question and answer competition will begin on Sunday, May 1st. On Sunday the middle school teams will be at the Bethesda Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, MD racing model hydrogen fuel cell cars that they have designed and built.
High school and middle school championship rounds will be held Monday, May 2 in the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. Secretary Chu will make remarks and present awards at the ceremony to follow.
For the entire article: http://www.energy.gov/news/10296.htm
Two California Schools Win the 21st U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl
Mira Loma High School and Gale Ranch Middle School Take Top Honors Out of 14,000 Students
5/2/11 energy.gov
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A high school team from Sacramento and a middle school team from San Ramon won the 2011 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Science Bowl today at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. Mira Loma High School defeated Montgomery Blair High School from Maryland in the high school national championship match by correctly answering a chemistry question. Gale Ranch Middle School defeated Shahala Middle School from Vancouver, Washington in the middle school national championship match.
The high school national champion will receive an all-expense-paid trip in July to the International Science School in Sydney, Australia. Members of the winning high school team are Russell Islam, Siddharth Trehan, Andrew Chen, Anish Khare, Sriram Pendyala and are coached by James Hill. Members of the winning middle school team are Saranesh Prembabu, Ayush Rath, Augustine Chemparathy, Rishi Krishnan, Ladislav Steffko and are coached by George Chemparathy.
At the awards ceremony, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu spoke to the more than 500 students and 100 teacher/coaches about the importance of science education to the Nation’s economic and technological future.
“These students represent the great promise and potential of America’s next great generation,” said Secretary Chu. “I have no doubt that the exceptional talent and hard work that earned them the Science Bowl championship will serve them well throughout their lives, as they help our Nation tackle the crucial scientific and engineering challenges we’ll face in the years ahead. America’s future will always be bright when we continue to invest in and support the young minds who will be tomorrow’s innovators, pioneers and leaders. That’s what the science bowl is all about.”
For the entire article: http://www.energy.gov/news/10304.htm
White House Correspondence Dinner
The WHCA’s annual dinner, begun in 1920, has become a Washington, D.C. tradition and is usually attended by the President and Vice President.[1] Thirteen presidents have attended a WHCA dinner, beginning with Calvin Coolidge in 1924. The dinner is traditionally held on the evening of the last Saturday in April at the Washington Hilton.
Prior to World War II, the annual dinner featured singing between courses, a homemade movie and an hour-long, post-dinner show with big-name performers.” In recent years the featured speaker has often been a comedian, with the dinner taking on the form of a roast, especially of the President.
This year’s White House Correspondence Dinner is on Saturday, April 30, 2011 at the Washington Hilton. Seth Meyers of “Saturday Night Live” will be the emcee. Media outlets compete to get Hollywood celebrities to represent their organizations.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Correspondents_Dinner
Hi, again, CR – I watch the WHCD every year. This year, however, the Washington Post invited Donald Trump to sit at their table. So, I was thinking of not watching – but I really want to hear how PBO speaks to the crowd, and I really like Seth Meyers, this year’s after-dinner comic entertainment. I’ve set my DVR and probably will make up my mind tomorrow.
My spirits brightened, however, when I saw one report of the invite to that creep: one news blog gave a list of the celebrity “faces” that were expected to attend, finishing with this great line: “and the two faces of Donald Trump.”
Then I noticed another news blog said Trump was “double booked,” since he was supposed to be at a wedding in Las Vegas on Saturday. [Reminded me of how John Boehner always seems to have 'another engagement,' when he's invited to the White House. The chickens.]
And some reporters are speaking up that having Trump there will be “an embarassment.”
Hmmm … maybe I’ll watch.
Hi Ms O’Boomer!
PBO and others are worth watching but the TeaBaggers/Reality Challenged need a time-out in the corner for spreading lies. Can DVRs fast forward over the icky stuff?
Ha! Yes, my fast forward will be fast forwarding a lot!
G’night. Have a great weekend!
Hi J O’B. I don’t think Trump will show. He supposedly has a wedding to attend.
Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Washington, DC
After the worst recession since the Great Depression, our economy is growing again, and we’ve gained almost 2 million private sector jobs over the last 13 months. But I also know that a lot of folks aren’t feeling as positive as some of those statistics might suggest. It’s still too hard to find a job. And even if you have a job, chances are you’re having a tougher time paying the rising costs of everything from groceries to gas. In some places, gas is now more than $4 a gallon, meaning that you could be paying upwards of $50 or $60 to fill up your tank.
Of course, while rising gas prices mean real pain for our families at the pump, they also mean bigger profits for oil companies. This week, the largest oil companies announced that they’d made more than $25 billion in the first few months of 2011 – up about 30 percent from last year.
Now, I don’t have a problem with any company or industry being rewarded for their success. The incentive of healthy profits is what fuels entrepreneurialism and helps drives our economy forward. But I do have a problem with the unwarranted taxpayer subsidies we’ve been handing out to oil and gas companies – to the tune of $4 billion a year. When oil companies are making huge profits and you’re struggling at the pump, and we’re scouring the federal budget for spending we can afford to do without, these tax giveaways aren’t right. They aren’t smart. And we need to end them.
That’s why, earlier this week, I renewed my call to Congress to stop subsidizing the oil and gas industries. Understand, I’m not opposed to producing oil. I believe that if we’re serious about meeting our energy challenge, we need to operate on all cylinders, and that means pursuing a broad range of energy policies, including safe and responsible oil production here at home. In fact, last year, America’s oil production reached its highest level since 2003.
For the entire article: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/04/29/weekly-address-taxpayer-subsidies-oil-companies-are-neither-right-nor-sm
Good Saturday morning everyone! I HOPE that you have a good day!
Good morning CR and everyone. HOPE you have a terrific Saturday.
Please join me in lighting a candle for our President, First Family and the Nation. Please also remember those affected by the tornadoes in the South.
http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=PBO
Good Saturday morning and thank you Jackie!
Done. 26 now.
The Other
April 28, 2011 By TIMOTHY EGAN – nytimes.com
To watch Mitt Romney these days, he of the creased blue jeans and family that looks like it came from a Betty Crocker mold, circa 1957, it’s hard to see a product of one of the most radical social and sexual experiments in American history.
But it’s true. White-bread Mitt is the great-grandson of a man who married five women. At the turn of the last century, Miles Romney was sent to Mexico by the bearded patriarchs of the Mormon Church, there to start a colony for those who thought it was divine right to have as many wives as they wanted. Romney’s father, George, was born in Mexico, a descendant of outlaws with harems.
I started thinking about the extraordinary family past of the possible Republican presidential nominee after reading part of Janny Scott’s fascinating new book, “A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mother.”
Scott, a former Times colleague, tells a story of family dislocation and fierce maternal independence. In Hawaii and Indonesia, young Barry Obama stood out like a redwood on the prairie, and was taunted for his skin color. The father he never knew was from a Kenyan goat-herding family, and the stepfather he barely knew was an Indonesian whose main passion was tennis. Obama was raised mostly by white grandparents from Kansas, and a free-spirited mother with a passion for education.
It’s a miracle of sorts, given the drift a boy with that background must have felt, that Obama’s own family with Michelle now seems so grounded — and normal. It’s also startling that Romney, whose ancestry includes six polygamous men with 41 wives, is now considered an icon for traditional family values. Mitt’s great-grandmother, Hannah Hood, wrote how she used to “walk the floor and shed tears of sorrow” over her husband’s many wives.
The background of both men is telling, in one sense: how success can emerge from the blender of American ethnicity and lifestyle experimentation. But it takes a generation, or more, for many people to get used to the novelty, as the long, despicable sideshow over Obama’s birth certificate demonstrates.
For the entire article: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/28/the-other/?hp
Report: Coalition, Afghans Making ‘Tangible Progress’
April 29, 2011 By Jim Garamone – American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON – The coalition and its Afghan partners have made “tangible progress” in Afghanistan over the past six months in not only arresting enemy momentum, but also reversing it in many key areas, a senior defense official said here today.
“We’ve wrested away areas the insurgents have had under control for years,” the official said, speaking on background on the Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan. Congress mandates the report.
The report covers the past six months and paints a far different picture of the country than the first report in January 2009. Then, the situation in Afghanistan was deteriorating. Taliban and other insurgent groups operated shadow governments across many provinces. Levels of violence were on the rise and insurgents operated not only from safe havens in the Federally Administered Tribal Area of Pakistan, but also from safe havens in Afghanistan –- most notably in and around Kandahar, the nation’s second-largest city.
The official said the “narrative arc” since the first report shows that “there was a real problem, the administration’s reviews identified that and the means necessary to reverse that, and not just reverse it, but push it back. Over the last year, as we put those forces into place, the situation on the ground is fundamentally changing.”
The change has to be measured over the long run, the official said. It is not a dramatic switch from bad to good, but the gradual improvement due to thousands of small acts to improve security. Insurgents will continue to launch “spectacular” terrorist attacks to reverse the progress, the official said. But those attacks, while horrible, have not stopped progress in the country.
“You need to look at the entire campaign, you need to look at the entire effort and, most importantly, you need to look at the results,” the official said.
For the entire article: http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=63754
President Obama Visits KSC on This Week @NASA
Uploaded by NASAtelevision on Apr 29, 2011
Despite the scrubbed launch attempt of shuttle Endeavour, President Obama and family members visited and toured facilities at the Kennedy Space Center. The Obamas got an up-close look at orbiter Atlantis inside the Orbiter Processing Facility and met with STS-134 crew members at the Launch Control Center. Also, why Endeavour’s launch was scrubbed; NASA, USAID partner for solutions; Alan Shepard honored; spaceflight symposium; Voyagers continue on; and Pharell promotes STEM for students.
Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses Gets Married
April 30, 2011 obamafoodorama.blogspot.com
Forget the Royal Wedding. The big nuptial news stateside comes from the White House, where congratulations are due Bill Yosses, Executive Pastry Chef to President Obama and First Lady Obama. Yosses, 57, married his longtime partner Charlie Jandusay Fabella Jr., 38, on Tuesday during a ceremony at Moultrie Courthouse in Washington, DC.
Yosses has led the pastry shop at the White House since 2007, when he was appointed by First Lady Laura Bush, while Fabella has continued to live in New York City, where he is a a special education teacher and reading specialist at Public School 54 in Jamaica, Queens. Geneva Murphy, chief of the domestic relations branch of the family court at Moultrie Courthouse, officiated at the happy nuptials, according to the New York Times. Same-sex marriage became legal in the Nation’s Capital in March of 2010.
Yosses, an Ohio native, was one of the leading pastry chefs in the US, working at New York’s Montrachet, Bouley and Tavern on the Green restaurants before joining the White House team. He not only creates the fabulous desserts at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but has also adopted the Harriet Tubman Elementary School as part of Mrs. Obama’s Chefs Move to Schools program, along with assistant chef Sam Kass and Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford. Thanks to his exceptional White House pies, Yosses has been nicknamed “The Crust Master” by the President and First Lady.
For the entire article: http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2011/04/exec-pastry-chef-bill-yosses-gets.html
Congratulations to Chef Yosses and Mr Fabella!
Boy they must have had one awesome wedding cake!
You’re right — I would love to see that cake!
Barack Obama’s online army quietly gears up
4/30/11 Ben Smith – POLITICO
President Obama’s aides have quietly turned the key in the engine of the massive campaign-in-waiting that’s been operating under the name Organizing for America for the past two years, and will begin his reelection with the sort of online and field organizations most presidential campaigns would be glad to have 16 months from now.
The leadership of the field organization — with hundreds of employees, tens of thousands of volunteers and massive online assets (primarily, a giant email list) — is shifting from the Democratic National Committee to the new campaign in Chicago. And in mass emails and in a quiet series of one-on-one meetings with volunteer leaders, the group is resetting its relationship with its supporters.
And while many Democrats have complained that Organizing for America’s vaunted abilities began to sputter once Obama became president, people watching the organization closely say it has succeeded in what may have been its central mission all along: building an unparalleled reelection organization while staying under the political world’s radar.
“Nothing like this has ever happened this early or this big,” said Natalie Foster, a former DNC new media director.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53941.html
I just posted these videos on the last thread:
First Family Tours Kennedy Space Center http://propresobama.org/2011/04/28/endeavour/#comment-40954
President’s comments during tours of areas devastated by tornados http://propresobama.org/2011/04/28/endeavour/#comment-40894
President Obama Tours Tornado-Damaged Areas http://propresobama.org/2011/04/28/endeavour/#comment-40918
Remarks by the President at Miami Dade College Commencement http://propresobama.org/2011/04/28/endeavour/#comment-40946
Latest developments in Arab world’s unrest
4/30/11 By The Associated Press – 47 mins ago
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SYRIA
Syrian troops kill four people while storming a mosque that has became a focal point for protesters in the besieged southern city of Daraa, and security forces in Damascus keep dozens of women from marching on parliament to urge President Bashar Assad to end his crackdown on a six-week-old uprising.
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LIBYA
NATO powers reject Moammar Gadhafi’s call for a cease-fire and negotiations, saying they need “actions not words,” and aid ships are prevented from docking in a besieged coastal city while the alliance sweeps the port for mines.
Human Rights Watch says two mines have been destroyed by NATO forces combing the Misrata port while a third is being closely monitored. The alliance says the process will take time.
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YEMEN
Yemen’s embattled president backs away from a mediated deal that would have seen him step down in exchange for legal immunity, and his forces kill four people while pushing hundreds of anti-government demonstrators out of a square where they had been camped, witnesses say.
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BAHRAIN
Bahrain’s authorities take broad swipes at Iran, accusing Iranian-based hackers of trying to crack into a government website and urging a boycott of Iranian goods in retaliation for alleged interference in the island kingdom’s unrest.
Happy Saturday, CR and all friends!
>^..^<
Kat's Obama Administration Report, 4/30/11:
Part 1 features the President's Commencement Address at Florida's Miami Dade College.
"Rather than give in to the voices suggesting we set our sights lower, downsize our dreams, or settle for something less, we’ve chosen again and again to make America bigger, bolder, more diverse, more generous, more hopeful.
Because throughout our history, what has distinguished us from all other nations is not just our wealth, it’s not just our power. It’s been our deep commitment to individual freedom and personal responsibility, but also our unshakeable commitment to one another — a recognition that we share a future; that we rise or fall together; that we are part of a common enterprise that is greater, somehow, than the sum of its parts."
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/30/971742/-Kats-Obama-Administration-Report,-4-30-11,-Part-1
Happy Saturday and thank you Kat!
Hi, Kat – I’m a late arrival, but happy Saturday! Happy weekend to all!
>^..^<
Part 2 features:
- The First Family tours the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, with the latest NASA statement on the rescheduled launch of space shuttle Endeavour.
- The President and First Lady visit tornado-damaged areas in Alabama; the President's remarks in Tuscaloosa, with his promise that the Federal Government will help communities across the Southeast rebuild.
- FEMA contact information for disaster assistance in the affected states.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/30/971744/-Kats-Obama-Administration-Report,-4-30-11,-Part-2
>^..^<
Part 3 features:
- The President's Weekly Address, in which he renews his call to end the $4 billion-per-year subsidies for oil and gas companies and invest in clean energy.
- West Wing Week, 4/29/11
- President Obama and Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli discuss the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries.
- First Lady Michelle Obama takes questions from the children of White House staffers as part of Take Your Child to Work Day.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/30/971773/-Kats-Obama-Administration-Report,-4-30-11,-Part-3
Next Up…
8:00 PM EDT
White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner
President Obama will speak at 10:00 PM EDT
WhiteHouse.gov http://www.whitehouse.gov/live
CNN http://live.cnn.com
CSPAN http://www.cspan.org/Events/Live-Coverage-2011-White-House-Correspondents-Association-Dinner/10737421177/
“The President’s Speech” at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Posted by Kori Schulman on May 01, 2011
Last night, President Obama spoke at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. At the annual event, the President joked about the year in politics, but also in the movies — sharing that there is a sequel to the film the King’s Speech in the works that touches close to home.
Here are the full remarks:
My fellow Americans. (Laughter and applause.) Mahalo! (Laughter.) It is wonderful to be here at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. What a week. (Laughter.) As some of you heard, the state of Hawaii released my official long-form birth certificate. (Applause.)
Hopefully this puts all doubts to rest. But just in case there are any lingering questions, tonight I’m prepared to go a step further. (Laughter.) Tonight, for the first time, I am releasing my official birth video. (Laughter.)
Now, I warn you — (laughter) — no one has seen this footage in 50 years, not even me. But let’s take a look.
(“Secret Birth Video” plays.) (Applause.)
Oh, well. Back to square one. (Laughter.) I want to make clear to the Fox News table: That was a joke. (Laughter.) That was not my real birth video. (Laughter.) That was a children’s cartoon. (Laughter.) Call Disney if you don’t believe me. (Laughter.) They have the original long-form version. (Laughter.)
Anyway, it’s good to be back with so many esteemed guests. Celebrities. Senators. Journalists. Essential government employees. (Laughter.) Non-essential government employees. (Laughter.) You know who you are. (Laughter.)
I am very much looking forward to hearing Seth Meyers tonight. (Applause.) He’s a young, fresh face who can do no wrong in the eyes of his fans. Seth, enjoy it while it lasts. (Laughter.
Yes, I think it is fair to say that when it comes to my presidency, the honeymoon is over. (Laughter.) For example, some people now suggest that I’m too professorial. And I’d like to address that head-on, by assigning all of you some reading that will help you draw your own conclusions. (Laughter.) Others say that I’m arrogant. But I’ve found a really great self-help tool for this: my poll numbers. (Laughter.)
For the entire article: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/05/01/president-s-speech-white-house-correspondents-dinner
The President’s Speech Trailer
From: whitehouse | Apr 30, 2011
At the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, President Barack Obama jokes about a sequel to the film the King’s Speech that hits closer to home. The President offers a sneak peak of the parody at the annual event.
President Obama at White House Correspondents Dinner
From: whitehouse | May 1, 2011
President Obama at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, D.C.
Good evening CR and O friends. I am sure everyone is watching the WH correspondent’s dinner. People are being rude and ignoring the announcer.
Good evening COS! I missed it so I will have to wait for the CSPAN rebroadcast.
The President’s remarks were FABULOUS. Mrs. Obama looked unbelievably beautiful.
On the dark side, guess everyone saw the Trump takedown. Seth Meyers put the knife in Trump and twisted it (seemed like several hundred times). But for Trump’s actions to call attention to himself these last few weeks in such a horrendous, race-baiting way, I’d think Seth went too far.
But what goes around comes around.
I think Trump is toast, as are any of his so-called presidential ambitions. Too bad he took up all of our time – well, the media’s time, that is – for this long.
I just saw the CSPAN rebroadcast of POTUS’ speech and I agree, it was FABULOUS!!! I will watch Seth’s speech tomorrow.
I don’t think I gave anything away by what I said about Seth – he went for the jugular but you’d have to watch it yourself to really feel it!
Guess I’ll say goodnight. Glad there’s nothing showing on the President’s calendar for tomorrow! One day off at least.
Seth Meyers was BRUTAL and I loved it!
Sunday . May 1, 2011
All Times Eastern
Pres Obama receives the presidential daily briefing
8:00 AM
9:00 AM
10:00 AM
11:00 AM
12:00 PM
1:00 PM
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
4:00 PM
5:00 PM
May 1, 2011
WhiteHouse.gov http://www.whitehouse.gov/live
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CNN http://live.cnn.com
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CSPAN http://www.cspan.org/
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Middle East Protest
Al Jazeera – English http://english.aljazeera.net
Sunday talk show tip sheet
By DIANNA HEITZ | 4/29/11 5:55 PM EDT
(Excerpts)
This Sunday’s television talk shows focus on the pressing fiscal issues confronting Congress when it returns from its two-week spring recess Monday…
NBC’s “Meet the Press” features former White House senior adviser David Axelrod, who’s now helping organize President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign in Chicago; New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican; and freshman Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a tea party favorite.
“Saturday Night Live” head writer Seth Meyers also stops by, fresh off his Saturday night gig at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington.
On CNN, “State of the Union” hosts Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.); Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee; Stephen Hadley, who was a national security adviser in the George W. Bush White House; and former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), who now directs the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, stop by as well to discuss the challenges facing the nation’s education system.
Bloomberg TV’s “Political Capital” also has Van Hollen to discuss the nation’s fiscal issues, particularly the imminent need to raise the debt limit.
TV One’s “Washington Watch” has Van Jones, the former Obama environmental adviser who’s now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.
And, finally, C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” hosts Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn and New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Jack Kimball. They’ll be questioned by POLITICO’s David Catanese and ABC’s Jonathan Karl.
For the entire article: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53953.html
Lei Day in Hawaii
May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii
By John Fischer, About.com Guide
In early 1928 writer and poet Don Blanding wrote an article in a local paper suggesting that a holiday be created centered around the Hawaiian custom of making and wearing lei. It was fellow writer Grace Tower Warren who came up with the idea of a holiday on May 1 in conjunction with May Day. She is also responsible for the phrase, “May Day is Lei Day.” If you are ever on Oahu on May 1, you’ll get to experience this Hawaiian holiday first-hand for yourself.
The first Lei Day was held on May 1, 1928, and everyone in Honolulu was encouraged to wear lei. Festivities were held downtown with hula, music, lei making demonstrations and exhibits and lei making contests.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported, “lei blossomed on straw and felt hats, lei decorated automobiles, men and women and children wore them draped about their shoulders. To the city Kamehameha’s statue extended a garland of maile and plumeria, which fluttered in the wind from its extended hand. Lei recaptured the old spirit of the islands (a love of color and flowers, fragrance, laughter and aloha).”
In 1929, Lei Day was made an official holiday in the territory, a tradition which was interrupted only during the years of World War II, and which continues today.
On O`ahu, Lei Day festivities are centered in Queen Kapi`olani Park in Waikiki. As is tradition, the dozens of entries in the annual contest are placed at the Royal Mausoleum in Nuuanu the next morning. The City & County of Honolulu, Department of Parks & Recreation has details of the 2011 Lei Day Events and on the 2011 Lei Queen and her court.
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The Hawaiian song, “May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii” was composed in 1927 by Ruth and Leonard “Red” Hawk.
President Obama is photographed with (starting from the outer leis first) a Maile, White Ginger, Crown Flower with Ti Leaf leis on .
The King Kamehameha Statue across from ʻIolani Palace is draped in huge leis on Lei Day and King Kamehameha Day.
Beautiful, CR! Happy May Day / Lei Day!
MAHALO!
Happy May Day / Lei Day Ms O’Boomer!
I love the photograph of the statue!
Good Sunday morning CR and O friends. I must say that PBO and Seth did not disappoint. I am sure that “The Donald” regret accepting that invitation from WAPo.
In manny countries, May Day is knows as ” Workers’ Day” or “Labour Day”, a day of political demonstrations.
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Workers demand better jobs, pay on May Day
5/1/11 CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA and SELCAN HACAOGLU, Associated Press – 25 mins ago
ISTANBUL – Activists flooded a central plaza in Turkey’s largest city Sunday and marked international workers’ day around the world with marches demanding more jobs, better working conditions and higher wages.
About 200,000 workers gathered in Istanbul’s Taksim Square in the largest May Day rally there since 1977, when 34 people after shooting triggered a stampede. Turkish unions weren’t allowed back until last year.
In South Korea, police said 50,000 rallied in Seoul for better labor protections. They also urged the government to contain rising inflation, a growing concern across much of Asia, where food and oil prices have been spiking and threatening to push millions into poverty.
Thousands of workers also marched in Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Philippines to vent their anger over the rising cost of living and growing disparities between the rich and poor.
Chinese holidaymakers flocked to Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to watch the daily flag-raising ceremony.
For the entire article: http://yhoo.it/iSTQSr
NATO strikes command and control facility in Tripoli
1 May. 2011 nato.int
NAPLES — NATO continued its precision strikes against Qadhafi regime military installations in Tripoli overnight, including striking a known command and control building in the Bab al-Azizya neighbourhood shortly after 1800 GMT Saturday evening.
“All NATO’s targets are military in nature and have been clearly linked to the Qadhafi regime’s systematic attacks on the Libyan population and populated areas. We do not target individuals,” said Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, Commander of NATO’s Operation Unified Protector.
The strike was part of NATO’s coherent strategy to disrupt and destroy the command and control of those forces which have been attacking civilians.
“I am aware of unconfirmed media reports that some of Qadhafi’s family members may have been killed,” Lieutenant-General Bouchard said. “We regret all loss of life, especially the innocent civilians being harmed as a result of the ongoing conflict. NATO is fulfilling its UN mandate to stop and prevent attacks against civilians with precision and care – unlike Qadhafi’s forces, which are causing so much suffering.”
For the entire article: http://www.nato.int/cps/en/SID-1E315975-AE7F78E6/natolive/news_72972.htm
Happy May Day / Lei Day everyone! I HOPE that you have a good day!
FEMA and Federal Partners Continue Supporting Recovery Efforts in Southeast
Last night, President Obama Signed Major Disaster Declarations for Mississippi and Georgia
April 30, 2011 fema.gorv
WASHINGTON–Since the deadly tornadoes first struck parts of the country earlier this week, the federal government has been in constant contact with all of the impacted states as they responded to and began recovery efforts from these devastating storms.
Yesterday, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate joined the President and the First Lady in Alabama to tour damaged areas and to meet with Governor Robert Bentley and other state and local officials and families affected by the devastation. FEMA’s Deputy Administrator Rich Serino was on the ground with Georgia Governor Nathan Deal on Thursday, and was in Mississippi with Governor Haley Barbour yesterday.
Tomorrow, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Administrator Fugate, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills will join state and local officials on the ground in Alabama and Mississippi to survey the damage and recovery efforts underway. More details on that trip will be released today.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Jane Lubchenco will also be on the ground in Birmingham today.
Last night, the President signed major disaster declarations for Mississippi and Georgia, in addition to the Alabama major disaster declaration signed on April 28, which make federal assistance available to individuals who suffered personal property damages or losses, and for public infrastructure, such as schools, fire stations and libraries. Damage assessments are ongoing, and additional counties may be designated to receive assistance as they are completed.
“Our top priority is to support the states and communities affected by this as recovery efforts are underway,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “We will continue to work with our federal, state, local and private sector partners — as well as the American public — to support the affected families, neighborhoods and communities as they work to rebuild and recover, for as long as it takes.”
For the entire article: http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=54602
Top officials tour storm-ravaged South
5/1/11 Peggy Gargis – Reuters
PRATT CITY, Alabama (Reuters) – Top government officials planned to survey the devastated landscape left by tornadoes in the South on Sunday as President Barack Obama’s administration tries to show it is on top of the deadliest U.S. natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina.
Storms and tornadoes killed about 350 people across seven states last week, reducing entire neighborhoods to rubble and causing damage that will likely run into billions of dollars.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Craig Fugate, were to visit Pratt City, Alabama, and Smithville, Mississippi.
Obama’s predecessor, President George W. Bush, was sharply criticized over the federal rescue effort after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 tore up the Gulf Coast and flooded New Orleans.
Alabama was the worst-hit state in last week’s storms, with 250 killed. An additional 101 people died in Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, Virginia and Louisiana.
About 1,700 people were injured in Alabama alone and others were missing after tornadoes crushed homes, flipped cars upside down and tore children from their parents arms.
The state’s Republican governor, Robert Bentley, praised the federal response and said Alabama’s deep culture of self reliance and community help had made a huge difference.
“When you see local, state and federal people cooperating like this it really makes a difference,” Bentley said Sunday on the CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
For the entire article: http://yhoo.it/inN2se
Latest post from The People’s View:
Nate Silver: Obama is no Republican http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2011/04/nate-silver-obama-is-no-republican.html#disqus_thread
Good morning CR and everyone. HOPE you have a wonderful Sunday!
Only 18 candles lit this morning. Please join me in lighting a candle for our President, First Family and the Nation. Please also remember those affected by the tornadoes in the South.
http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=PBO
Good Sunday morning and thank you Jackie!
Buffett remains solid on the American economy
5/1/11 By Ben Berkowitz – 2 hrs 43 mins ago
OMAHA, Nebraska (Reuters) – Warren Buffett is no analyst, but he still has a “strong buy” rating on America.
Tens of thousands of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders who descended on Omaha this weekend for the conglomerate’s annual meeting got one unmistakable message from Buffett — no matter how bad the economy, or the deficit, or the political divide, the United States is as good a place to live and work as ever.
“I don’t see how anybody can be other than enthused about this country,” Buffett told Berkshire shareholders on Saturday.
Buffett, often called the “Oracle of Omaha,” is one of the world’s richest men and leads a conglomerate that owns railroads, insurers and ice cream parlors.
The comments echo those Buffett made in February in his annual shareholder letter, but the words still may encourage investors looking sideways at the country, particularly after Standard & Poor’s put the U.S. government’s critical “AAA” credit rating on a negative credit watch.
Buffett told Reuters Insider that S&P’s move was premature, given the U.S. government issues debt only in dollars and can simply print more money to pay debt if absolutely needed.
“The United States is not going to default on any obligation,” Buffett told Insider in an interview after the annual meeting. “We are not a credit risk, believe me.”
For the entire article: http://yhoo.it/js0JgM
I’m going to step out of the “office” and go to a Native American Fair! See you when I get back!
I bought some really nice silver jewelry with feathers and squash blossoms detailing!
Latest developments in Arab world’s unrest
5/1/11 By The Associated Press – 11 mins ago
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SYRIA
The Syrian military intensifies its assault on Daraa, the besieged city at the center of the country’s uprising. Defiant residents who have been pinned down in their homes for nearly a week struggle to find food, pass along information and bury their dead.
Syrian tanks shell the city’s old quarter as reinforcements roll in. Snipers nesting on rooftops and hiding in high mosque minarets keep people cowering in fear inside their homes.
The death toll has soared to 545 nationwide from government forces firing on demonstrators.
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LIBYA
Angry mobs attack Western embassies and U.N. offices in Tripoli after NATO bombed Moammar Gadhafi’s family compound in an attack officials said killed the leader’s second-youngest son and three grandchildren. Russia accuses the Western alliance of exceeding its U.N. mandate of protecting Libyan civilians with the strike.
The vandalized embassies are empty and nobody is reported injured, but the attacks heighten tensions between the Libyan regime and Western powers, prompting the United Nations to pull its international staff out of the capital.
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YEMEN
A deal to end Yemen’s political crisis nears collapse after the country’s embattled president refuses to personally sign it, leaving a deadlock that threatens to plunge the impoverished Arab nation and key U.S. ally deeper into disorder and bloodshed.
The opposition says it will not sign it unless Saleh does too and the loose alliance of oil-rich Gulf Arab nations sponsoring the deal indefinitely postpones the signing ceremony, blaming Yemen’s president for the impasse.
Under the deal, President Ali Abdullah Saleh would step down within 30 days in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Happy Sunday and Happy May, CR and all friends.
>^..^<
A short Kat Report at Daily Kos — the President's terrific remarks at the WH Correspondents' dinner, video and transcript.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/01/971982/-Kats-Obama-Administration-Report,-5-1-11
Happy Sunday and thank you Kat!
OSAMA BIN LADEN IS DEAD.
PBO to speak shortly.
Watch here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/live
THANKS KAT!
Guardian, 5/2/11:
Osama bin Laden is dead, Obama announces
Osama bin Laden, the criminal mastermind behind al-Qaida and the world’s most sought-after terrorist since the attacks of 11 September 2001, has been killed by a US operation, President Barack Obama will announce late on Sunday night.
Osama’s body is in possession of the US, having been killed in Pakistan as the result of a US special forces and CIA operation, according to the first leaks of reporting from the US television networks.
President Obama is to make a highly unusual Sunday night live statement to announce the news, around 11pm eastern time.
The news comes eight years to the day that President George Bush declared “Mission accomplished” in Iraq. As president, Bush declared he wanted bin Laden “dead or alive” – but it is now the unlikely figure of Barack Obama who announces the final triumph as the US commander in chief….
As a candidate, during the 2008 election campaign Obama repeatedly vowed: “We will kill Osama bin Laden.” And so it proved.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/02/osama-bin-laden-dead-obama
Thank you Kat!
Wall Street Journal, May 1, 2011:
Osama Bin Laden Is Dead
…. Because he has been so difficult to find for more than a decade, the killing of Mr. bin Laden is a major victory for Mr. Obama, who demanded an aggressive expansion of Predator drone strikes in Pakistan.
In a recent book on Mr. bin Laden, Michael Scheuer, former chief of the Central Intelligence Agency’s bin Laden unit, wrote that the al Qaeda leader’s goal was to attack the West, and then to move on to Arab states and Israel, but that “he has given no indication that he expects to live long enough to finish the job.”
Instead, Mr. Scheuer wrote, Mr. bin Laden “has anticipated a war of attrition, one that might last decades,” so he began passing the torch to younger al Qaeda activists.
President Barack Obama will make the announcement late Sunday at the White House.
The development capped a manhunt of more than a decade for the architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that left 3,000 people dead and dramatically altered U.S. foreign policy and the nation’s sense of security.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704569404576297941397558496.html
I am so excited!
!!!!!
We. Have. A. Great. President!
Of course, we knew that!
Short video of the President’s televised announcement:
Adamosis, May 1, 2011:
Osama Bin Laden CONFIRMED DEAD by President Barack Obama
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New post coming soon!
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