Posts Tagged ‘Obama’
Thanks to Wikicommons.
KABOOM! Volcano erupts in Indonesia forcing 11,000 to flee homes.
Still down but definitely not out. Obama pledges to support New Orleans recovery after Katrina until the job is done.
Buying friends at $1 MILLION a week! British Petroleum begins massive add campaign.
Brother, can you spare some unemployment benefits? (Courtesy of NYPL.)
You’re not trying to be a journalist when you grow up, are you? This article from the NYT might change your mind…:
Such is the state of the media business these days: frantic and fatigued. Young journalists who once dreamed of trotting the globe in pursuit of a story are instead shackled to their computers, where they try to eke out a fresh thought or be first to report even the smallest nugget of news.
The new GOP campaign slogan: “Ahhh, remember those sunny days when G.W. Bush was in the Oval Office?”
Courtesy of Minnesota Public Radio.
Extending unemployment benefits: Making people lazy or helping out down-and-out folks? You’ll never guess what President Obama thinks.
Thanks to Wikicommons.
In case you weren’t following last weeks news there has been a major (or should we say general) change of command in Afghanistan. The head of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has resigned his position.
Why?
In a new article in Rolling Stone Magazine, titled appropriately “The Runaway General”, some of McCrystals’ unflattering opinions about higher ups leaked out.
The general first encountered Obama a week after he took office, when the president met with a dozen senior military officials in a room at the Pentagon known as the Tank. According to sources familiar with the meeting, McChrystal thought Obama looked “uncomfortable and intimidated” by the roomful of military brass.
The Rolling Stone article that got General McChrystal fired does a great job of preempting on why he got fired:
Although McChrystal has been in charge of the war for only a year, in that short time he has managed to piss off almost everyone with a stake in the conflict. …read more.
Thanks to the AP.
That’s bull! No, really, that’s a 12-year-old bull fighter!
Wait, can you say that on TV? Obama wants to know something, and clearly he’s not dancing around it. (Click through for video.)
And another video of Obama in an awesomely classic song… (Pay attention at 1:01.) [Click through to check out this craziness!]
JUST KIDDING! Sorry. But to be fair, for a hot second yesterday, people really did think that the Prez made a cameo…
content.usatoday.com
With hundreds thousands millions gazillions of barrels of oil spilling into the Gulf (who really knows how much it is?) the damage is now spilling into the political arena.
We at USDemocrazy think it is shallow to play politics with a disaster… but like it or not it appears that the politics of disaster are getting as slimy as grade A crude. And Americans don’t like it.
A new Gallup Poll says that America is giving bad marks to every one across the board.
BP does the worst with an disapproval rating of nearly 73%. Obama does the best with 53% disapproving.
Some are suggesting the Gulf spill is Obama’s “Katrina”. If you remember, President Bush took a lot of heat for the catastrophe following the hurricane that hit New Orleans. …read more.
Obama orders more troops! But this time, it’s to protect the US-Mexican border.
The War on Drugs has many casualties… in Jamaica.
Assault by vomit?! Watch out the next time you’re at a baseball game!
A while ago, President Obama revealed his new plan for Afghanistan. For those of you who don’t remember (Okay, I’ll admit it. We need a refresher too!), the plan included aid that would help Afghanistan’s development.
Some of the aid money goes directly to local tribal elders, who then disperse it in the community.
Back in the 1990s, when similar outlays of cash were made available to the tribal elders, the Taliban would go to the elders and demand the money. Today, the newly resurgent Taliban is trying the same trick.
However, now, some tribal leaders are standing up to the Taliban.
Their actions come with consequences. Recently, elders who have refused to give money to the Taliban have been shot.
This is a shocking reminder of the dangers that threaten progress in Afghanistan.
Still, the resolute opposition by some tribal elders to the Taliban’s demands is an interesting new development.
It could indicate that Obama’s strategy for civilian aid might be working. What do you think? Is Obama’s plan wise?
Cover your eyes! It's getting pretty racy. Courtesy of NPR.
After the state seal controversy in Virginia, this blog headline says it all: “Do Not Look At These Dirty, Filthy State Seals.” (Do it.)
Is it really so uncommon to have a lost wallet returned? Slate examines this.
Up early? Up late? Either way — get back in bed!
Sleeping consistently for less than six hours a night may cause an early death.
That’s no typo… Phoenix will see “Los Suns” on the court! (And President Obama’s a fan.)
On July 20, 1969, Man first landed on Tranquility Base, aka: the moon.
That historic achievement stands as one of the most memorable events for the post war generation.
And now, our generation gets to experience something just about as epic…
Welcome to Star Wars 2010 to 2035! The race to put the first human being on Mars! …read more.
You know, just some warheads. Courtesy of Wikicommons.
Have you had a drill in school where you curl up under your desk and hope that the Soviets don’t drop a nuke on you?
Believe it or not this was a standard practice in US schools not long ago. Clearly American school desks were once quite robust if they could protect children from nuclear annihilation.
With poorer school desks available today, we were relieved to learn that the Russians and the Americans have agreed to reduce their arsenals of nuclear weapons. (Check the link for our explanation.)
Today, President Obama and Russian President Medvedev are set to sign the “new START” (START = Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) in Prague, signaling a new wave for American nuclear policy. To go along with this big meeting, the Obama administration just released the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR).
Fretting over getting accepted to your college or grad school of choice? Still resentful of getting rejected from your dream school? Don’t worry — these people got turned down and ended up successes!
The Daily Beast asks, “have you heard the one about health care?”
Pro-health care reform Democrats are being threatened! But Obama’s not being threatened as much!
We here at USDemocrazy are not exactly history experts (too short of an attention span), but we were pretty sure that the Cold War was over. But then yesterday there was all of this news circling around about Russia and nuclear weapons and treaties and stuff.
So, we began to wonder — did we get sucked into some kind of “Back to the Future” plot?
Turns out no. (Would have been fun.) Actually, as we know, nuclear weapons are still a huge deal in foreign policy post-Cold War, and so the U.S. and Russia’s nuclear relations are getting more lip service over the past few days.
Basically, the United States and Russia have reached an agreement that would reduce their nuclear arsenals and would replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991 (START), which expired last year. Exciting! …read more.
So the Democrats gotta be feeling pretty good after passing health care reform. There were parties, dancing, cake, hats and. . . boxing
“So I threw my right then jabbed with my left and piggy went ‘wee wee wee all the way home’” we are sure that’s what was said. What do you think? Click the pic above and leave your suggestion of a punchy punchline for the Pres.
With all of the talk of health care reform flying about (seriously, check any news-related website) one issue is often glossed over: what changes will the health care reform bill actually generate?
Well, we at USDemocrazy have taken the noble task of rounding up wisdom from across the ‘net in order to enlighten you on the what the Democrats’ magnum opus will actually do when it is signed into law (most likely sometime today).
We’d like to pretend we understood everything that was going on in the House over the past two days… But, well, we didn’t. (Hey, you try explaining parliamentary procedure!)
So, we’re here to show you what we’ve been reading to educate ourselves on just what happened yesterday when the House (well, the House Democrats, really) voted to pass this historic health care reform legislation. …read more.
