Today's edition of quick hits:
* Late this afternoon, the U.N. General Assembly approved an implicit recognition of Palestinian statehood, elevating Palestinians' U.N. observer status from "entity" to "non-member state."
* It was a 62-to-33, bipartisan vote: "Reflecting a war-weary nation, the Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday for an accelerated withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan after more than a decade of fighting."
* Now that's a picture calling out for a caption contest.
* Syria: "This morning, an entire country was effectively cut off from the Internet. Web traffic in and out of Syria dropped to zero abruptly, a drastic development more than a year into a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Cellphone service also appears to be partially down."
* BP: "The United States government has temporarily banned the British oil company BP from new federal contracts, citing the company's 'lack of business integrity.'"
* Housing recovery: "An index measuring the number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes in October jumped to nearly its highest level in almost six years. Steady job gains and record-low mortgage rates have made home buying more attractive."
* Given Mercury's proximity to the sun, it's amazing how much ice it has.
* Naming Paul Ryan one of the world's top 10 most important "global thinkers" strikes me as an example of profoundly poor judgment. Seriously, Foreign Policy editors, what were you thinking?
* Easily the greatest thing I've seen today: pictures of Vice President Biden going shopping at Costco.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
Leave a Comment:
Don't forget to stop by my secretary's desk on the way out to make sure you get your "gift" before you leave...
;)
Caption: That's right--this is MY house, bitch.
"It's called super glue Mr. President."
So Mitt, there is a BIG difference between sitting in the chair and talking to the chair.
First of all, Obama really should have invited Romney over for a tea party.
Second, the photo should be titled, "Leftover White Turkey For Lunch At The White House".
Obama: "Sorry, Mr. Romney, but it seems I ate your lunch a couple of weeks ago"
"Hey, Willard, $10,000 says Michele can take Ann in one round"
"If you were to spend $1.5 billion, I'm sure Biden would be dogmeat in 2016. Absolutely, you should go for it."
"Quarante-sept, quarante-sept, quarante-sept"
"Excuse me, I'll be right back. In the meantime, feel free to talk with this magnificent chair."
"So, are your tax people ready for January?"
"My apologies, but which one of you am I addressing today? I have such difficulty telling you all apart."
"What's your name again?"
"I'm sorry we couldn't be meeting under more pleasant circumstances. Hahahahahahahahaha, sometimes I kill me."
"How come all you Republicans just want to see the Monica alcove?"
Romney:
"$350 million to just walk away, but that's my final offer"
"I don't suppose you'd consider letting Ann and me and Rafalca have a half hour alone in this room, would you?"
"Well, on the bright side, neither of us have to go back to Ohio ever again."
I guess you could call Paul Ryan influential, inasmuch as his "thoughts" helped influence the 2012 election in favor of an Obama win.
Naming Paul Ryan one of the world's top 10 most important "global thinkers" strikes me as an example of profoundly poor judgment. Seriously, Foreign Policy editors, what were you thinking?
My feelings exactly. Paul Ryan, the math-denying budget writer. Definitely not a "global thinker"; more like a "global dunce".
You still have no clue as to what you say. STFU. Quit with the lies and insults. You lost. Get over it.
Larry, I have Jerold Nevada on "Ignore", so I don't have to read his rants (he and Shooter take up too much column space on the blog for me). I assume your reply is to him rather than to me. Was he being insulting as is his wont?
Mitt: !@#$%^^&*, thanks for lunch
Obama: !@#$%^&, Your welcome
Okay, just one of mine (the others are over on Lawrence O'Donnel's site):
"Your great-great grandfather was a polygamist? Hey, so was my dad!"
"Thanks for being such a dick, Mitt...enabling me to win big. Bye bye."
Good. Costco is a blue company and they are a million times better than Walmart.
"Really? Um... Sure Mitt. You can sit in the chair for a minute."
"Wow. So this is what an American feels like!"
"Hello Governor, and Good-Bye forever!"
''..oh yeah, Mitt, we're still cool.. But hey, how'd ya like that Al Green thing? ''
Made the pic as large as possible, and I notice Romney isn't wearing his USA flag pin anymore, and he's got that closed forced grin like he's gritting his teeth. Bet if it was a video we'd see accelerated blinking like when he got cornered in the 2nd debate.
Once again Obama refuses to lower himself to the level of a spoiled brat. He takes victory with grace and humility.
I have disagreements with some of his politics but dang if I can figure out how anybody can hate such a man.There is so much I would like to say about the glaring differences between Obama and those who attack him yet I see no point.
President Obama is the very essence of what is meant by ..lead by example.
Really good one. I would vote for you,but I haven't figured out how yet. Please be patient, I am over 40.
Alisa White, lower right corner of each post there's an arrow pointing up. click on it to vote someone up. too bad there's no down arrow it would be useful for the trolls. note: if you get five or more votes they give you a, tarnished green, gold star.
there is also an exclamation point, it's there to flag comments. a menu pops up and you can select why you wish to flag the post.
not to scare you, i'm over 60, but it's ok because i used to be an engineer.
The President: Let me show you around...this is my office over here...(as he walks over and sits in the "empty chair" thinking LOOOZERRRR!)
Romney: Azzhoel!
@NeedMoreCoffee Yea, that would have been a great selling point. I kept waiting for it but it never happened. I'm sure there was a good reason. My only theory is that maybe they didn't want to use his record as Gov or the fact that Obama overwhelmingly had Mass from the beginning was possibly because of the health care plan. If they called him on the crappy job he did as Gov then maybe the health care plan wasn't a good move either. Instead they were able to use the health care issue pointing out that ObamaCare, that Romney wanted to kill on day one, was originally RomneyCare and EVERYBODY loved it, including Mitt.
Good luck with the whole presidential thing Barry! I didn't really want to win anyway. Too much work!!! Heh, heh, heh.....I'm going to work for my sons private capital firm and do what I do best!! Buy companies, break 'em up, sell 'em piece by piece and make billions more than I already have!!!!! Heh heh heh heh!! If you're ever in the Cayman's be sure to stop in and say "HI".
If I were the president I'd be thinking, I'm so glad I'll never see you again. Frankly, as a citizen, I hope I never have to see Romney again! Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
I'm just wondering why the oval office of the president of the United States has such hideous couches...were those his from college?
Rachel:
I strongly believe that you are boring a large part of your audience to tears by your WAY TOO frequent segments about the subject of abortion.
Whether you believe it or not, the majority of your audience is NOT OBSESSED with abortiion rights .... the way you seem to be.
Puh leeez Rachel, give that topic a rest !
And by the way, there are a lot of us liberals who don't feel so "gung ho" about those "rights" as you do.
I'm quite sure you would say that you support human rights. Strongly.
There is a case to be made that fetuses are humans too. And, that they therefore have some human rights too.
Joe in Honolulu
Yeah Mitt, to show you I'm a nice guy I'll let you see my office in person.