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For the president’s sake, let’s hope that this Thanksgiving, supporters can stop the whinging long enough to be thankful for the progress they’ve made. By any objective measure, Obama has had a successful first year. He inherited an economy on the brink of depression; 10 months later, the economy is recovering, even if the job market is lagging. His economic plan has helped avert a series of disasters—from the automobile, housing, and financial industries going out of business to state and local government going into default. He has signed new laws on national service, equal pay, hate crimes, and many other overdue concerns; made real strides on energy; and launched a quiet revolution in education.
Not least, Obama’s top legislative priority, health reform, is now almost close enough to smell the Rose Garden. After six presidents have tried, health reform may be just six weeks away from finally happening.
Not least, Obama’s top legislative priority, health reform, is now almost close enough to smell the Rose Garden. After six presidents have tried, health reform may be just six weeks away from finally happening.
- Why Obama supporters ought to count their blessings. - By Bruce Reed - Slate Magazine
(via mikehudack)
The government is already using technology to talk to citizens. But we’re going to make technology that helps government listen to them.
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Anil Dash
Dash to D.C.! Tech Guru Will Head Gov’t Incubator, Digitize Democracy | The New York Observer
(via fred-wilson)
(via amber-rae)
This second education doesn’t work the way the scholastic education works. In a normal schoolroom, information walks through the front door and announces itself by light of day. It’s direct. The teacher describes the material to be covered, and then everybody works through it.
The knowledge transmitted in an emotional education, on the other hand, comes indirectly, seeping through the cracks of the windowpanes, from under the floorboards and through the vents. It’s generally a byproduct of the search for pleasure, and the learning is indirect and unconscious.
From that first night in the winter of 1975, I wanted the thrill that Springsteen was offering. His manager, Jon Landau, says that each style of music elicits its own set of responses. Rock, when done right, is jolting and exhilarating.
- David Brooks, The Other Education
This sweet man.
He whispered in my ear. He told me how his wife thinks he looks like an old man with a cane, so he brought a long umbrella with him instead. He leaned gently on it the entire time.
And then while he showed me an old photograph of him and his buddies, all at age 19, he recounted the time that they ran into Hitler outside of Rome and how it made him feel.
And then he asked me if when he dies, whether my generation will step up to take care of his homeless veteran friends. I told him that we would.
I don’t even know his name.
Tiger Woods "Car Crash" Melodrama Now Completely Absurd
The latest report from the AP (5:48PM EST):
Tiger Woods sustained facial cuts in a car accident early Friday when his SUV hit a fire hydrant and a neighbor’s tree as he was leaving his mansion in a gated waterfront community near Orlando, Fla.
Windermere Police Chief Daniel Saylor said Woods’ wife used a golf club to smash out the back window and helped get the golfer out of the car.
Saylor said Elin Nordegren told officers she was in the house when she heard the accident and came outside. Saylor says officers found Woods lying in the street with his wife hovering over him.
Saylor said Woods was in and out of consciousness when his officers arrived, and that he had cuts on his lips and blood in his mouth. He says his officers gave him first aid until fire rescue came about 10 minutes later.
So, as Elin was running out of the house, she grabbed a golf club in case of emergency. Then, she was worried the car was going to explode after hitting a fire hydrant and tree at minimal speed, so she broke the back window instead of opening the car door to help Tiger out of the car after his near brush with death. Totally logical! (But the Orlando Sentinel reported that there was no visible damage to the Escalade.)
Or, how about this crazy theory: They were squabbling about Tiger’s alleged affair with Rachel Uchitel and when he decided to leave, Elin, in a fit of anger, grabbed a 3 metal, chased after him and smashed the window as he was attempting to drive away. He was distracted by the ruckus, causing him to lose control of the car.
That’s just speculation. But it doesn’t seem so preposterous now. According to TMZ, multiple law enforcement sources told them Elin and Tiger were fighting right before his accident:
We’re told Elin told cops about the argument at the scene of the accident and Tiger gave the same story to authorities at the hospital where he was treated.
One Florida law enforcement official called it “a domestic issue.”I’d like to see how Team Tiger cleans up this mess. Good luck. I can’t wait for the next installation of the soap opera. Stay tuned for updates as this breaking story continues to unravel.
/Making popcorn.
He could have sat there all night, with serious-not-serious facial lacerations and possibly drowned. That’s why she smashed the back window of the SUV — the gallons of water violently gushing into the vehicle could have killed him instantly had she gone through the front windshield or tried to, you know, get Tiger to unlock the driver’s side door. She needed to climb through the back, grab her 200lb. husband by the collar and drag him to safety. Time was of the essence.
And it’s just entirely coincidental that the Woods house is so fraught with melodrama on Thanksgiving night the day after reports of an affair surface.
- AJ Daulerio, Tiger Woods “Accident” Story Just Gets More Preposterous By The Hour
Official White House photo of State Dinner party crashers Michaele and Tareq Salahi meeting President Barack Obama.
Tapper: White House party crashers met President Obama..
It turns out the couple who crashed the White House State Dinner got a lot more access than previously thought. Michaele and Tareq Salahi met with President Barack Obama in a receiving line before guests sat down to dinner. The exchange was brief, and likely included an official photo. No word on whether the Salahis met with the Indian Prime Minister, the guest of honor that night, though it is standard protocol at a state dinner for the President to introduce guests in the receiving line to the visiting head of state.
The great talents are all wonderful people; it’s the mediocre talents who are nightmares.
- B.J. Novak quoting what someone told him when he first started acting and referencing the great experience of working with Brad Pitt and Steve Carell. (via mrmattspangler)
Amy Poehler and Casey Wilson as Tegan and Sara
Holiday cooking tips from Anthony Bourdain.
