Change Gov Luv

go ahead ask him

2012-01-23T12:11:00.000-08:00

On January 30, President Obama will answer your top-voted questions in a special post-State of the Union interview from the White House. To participate, visit www.youtube.com/whitehouse and submit your question. YouTube videos you submit will drive the interview and will be used to select a few lucky people to join a live Google+ Hangout with the President.The deadline to submit is January 28 at midnight ET.

This would be the greatest

2011-11-22T09:57:00.001-08:00

I believe this a great way for the President to mix with regular people. Yes, of course, they use it to generate donations but you don't even need to donate to get a chance. It certainly would be a once in a lifetime event.

Does Mitt Romney

2011-10-26T09:37:00.000-07:00

Does Mitt Romney get his tips from Ken?

politics on the moon

2011-07-07T13:08:00.000-07:00

Hey look Sam there's a carrot

2011-04-30T22:03:00.000-07:00

I love this kinda stuff. Don't know about you but it makes feel like these guys are more real.

a great duet for the show (last post)

2011-03-02T20:58:00.000-08:00

This was the best song IMHO.

Behind the scenes - white house

2011-03-01T14:59:00.000-08:00

Some great performers doing some great music.

Being that the theme is Motown, I initially thought all the performers would be African-American. Not so, and that says a good thing to me. The main thing should be the talent and music coming from the artist. The color of skin should play no role in it.

enjoyable interesting entertaining mix

2011-01-07T12:47:00.000-08:00

I have not posted anything up here for quite some time. I still find the videos on whitehouse.gov a great benefit. This video shows 5 great entertainers that were honored by the Kennedy Art Center. I watched the award show on TV a few weeks ago. I hope they rebroadcast it.

A hottie for President

2010-05-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

Lighten up people, this looked like a nice fun time to me. I think the lady has a great sense of humor.

I guess it's probably the technology of the times but I've never watched the President of the US (POTUS would be the short way of writing that) order fast food this many times.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Shows how to hike Appalachian Trail

2010-04-25T21:14:00.000-07:00

First thing - BRING YOUR WIFE.

President and First Lady did some hiking around Asheville NC.

from Asheville Citizen Times

Handlers moved the press out of view of the first couple, but White House spokesman Bill Burton said they encountered five hikers during their hour-long hike on a segment of the Mountains-to-Sea trail.

Remember how Gov. Sanford (R-SC) claimed to be hiking the Appalachian Trail but was attending to a mistress instead.

how many pens does it take

2010-03-24T13:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I watched on Cspan the historical signing of the health reform bill. As you might expect there was a big crowd gathered around the President as he sat down to sign it.

Here's the full video clip with speeches and the signing.

"On Behalf of My Mother"

But what surprised me was the number of pens he used to sign it. After searching around today I found the number to be 22.

Do you think that's a record number of pens?

No, LBJ used more that 75 to sign the Civil Rights Act. Here's where I found that - Times site.

Now I'm wondering what company makes those pens.

Here's a clip about the signing pens that the White House put out.

( Sure hope they never start using those difficult check-out electronic signing machines. Nobody can sign those dumb things.)

what if the news came as trailers

2010-02-07T10:30:00.000-08:00

government clean up

2010-01-17T17:39:00.000-08:00

photos from White House flickr page

If it were only this simple.

don't ask - just do it

2010-01-07T18:16:00.000-08:00

Maybe they get their advice from Nike - Just do it.

An organization and a clothing company both have used the Obama's in advertisements without permission. The other day I noticed a story about PETA using Michelle Obama for their no fur campaign. Today I see an article about President Obama being plastered on a Times Square billboard.

This story was also reported on the Huffington Post site.

I guess both groups got what they wanted - publicity. The news media coverage of it helps spread their names or brands. It's wrong for these groups to use cheap tricks to promote their brands. I think less of them because of it. If only it could backfire on them and then others might be discouraged from cheap tricks like this.

These decisions in creating ads using public officials just shows the lack of respect within those groups.

what you can learn on youtube

2009-12-03T13:06:00.000-08:00

Youtube - oddball, weird clips that typically have awful comments. That's true, but I have found some good and educational clips on youtube - like this one.

caption this

2009-10-23T18:10:00.000-07:00

Don't look now but President Obama is behind you!

Blow in my ear and I'll follow you anywhere.

I found this picture over at the Chicago Tribune site.

about blog another circus solar info link

there's an app for that

2009-10-21T12:09:00.000-07:00

President blocks - Reggie recovers evidence

2009-10-09T10:36:00.000-07:00

The right wing will call this a foul.

Here's the picture:

Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama

2009-10-09T06:54:00.000-07:00

(photo from AP)

I was surprised by this news this morning. President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize today for what the committee called "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

He didn't get the 2016 Olympics for the US but this is a greater worldwide recognition.

Obama is the third sitting U.S. president to win. Theodore Roosevelt, won the award in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson, won in 1919.

This shows that the world likes him more than some Americans. Isn't it good that the western world and other areas too, like him?

Some Americans will dislike anything and everything he does but I think we should be proud of this award. I am.

stand together film clip

2009-09-22T09:46:00.000-07:00

STAND TOGETHER: An "At the End of Slavery" Trailer from melissa mills on Vimeo.

This film was made by a former neighbor who's a friend of my daughter.

simple message

2009-09-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

inspiring speech to start school year

2009-09-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

Wow -
I don't know why (could it be that they just don't like him no matter what?) some were upset that the President decided to give a speech to students starting their school year.

He had a great message for our future generation - personal responsibility.

Here's a line that caught my attention:

"There is no excuse for not trying."

He gave some inspiring stories about real students.

What bothers me the most about the complainers is:
their stubbornness failed to allow them to give the Presidency the respect and trust it deserves.

It's OK to criticize the President's speech but I believe you should wait until the speech is delivered. It would be interesting to hear what part of this speech bothered them.

Now had Vice President Biden talked I could understand some being scared that it might lengthen the school day.

not a job I would want

2009-08-16T17:08:00.001-07:00

Looks like President Obama is having a good laugh over a picture of his press secretary, Robert Gibbs. With all the problems he faces everyday, I wonder how much he gets a good laugh.

I know I would not want to face the press daily and try to explain things to them.

Chicago Whitehouse

2009-08-11T09:29:00.000-07:00

Note the statue in the above picture is not at Obama's house, but it's not too far away.

It's the Statue of the Republic that was erected in 1918 as a reminder of the 65 foot 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in the Jackson Park area of Chicago. A great way to learn about that 1893 fair is through the book, "The Devil in the White City".

So last Friday, my daughter talked me into driving into Chicago for an outdoor concert. I thought I could make the trip more worthwhile by finding Obama's Chicago house. My daughter's schedule failed to give me much time to research before I was on the road. I knew what general area it was in and was able to pin it down to the Kenwood neighborhood.

So on a rainy Friday I started driving around looking for it. I knew the street was blocked off, so I just needed to find police cars and barricades.

I first turned off Lake Shore Drive (anyone call it LSD?) at Jackson Park and proceed north through the Univ. of Chicago campus (reminds me of France).

I found the closed off block on South Greenwood.

After the trip, with a little internet searching I found this on the hydepark.org site.

About the time of Mr. Obamas' run for the U.S. Senate, the Obamas bought 5040 S. Greenwood, a large house in the historic Kenwood Historic District, near Hyde Park Boulevard across Greenwood Avenue from landmarked Congregation K.A.M. Isaiah Israel. Information about the house, gathered from Jean Block's Hyde Park Houses and Construction News - May 28, 1910 includes: Original owner A. R. Clarke, a contractor who also owned and was the owner/architect. The architect was Bishop & Company. Built in 1910. 5040: A Historical Georgian revival home built in 1910 with four fireplaces, glass-door bookcases fashioned from Honduran mahogany, and a 1,000-bottle wine cellar…

You will be lucky to glimpse it and cannot take photographs. You have to keep walking on the other side of the street. The street is closed to through traffic and owners need special ID to enter. Those attending services or events at KAM and expecting to park in the lot must register a day in advance and have their names on a list. Traffic is also regulated on East Hyde Park Boulevard (5100) and when there is a motorcade or such, the street may be barricaded.

That above description is correct.

After driving by the barricades at both ends of the block, I decided I would venture on foot. Parking my car a house (the lots in this area are large) away from one of the parked police cars, I proceeded to walk up to the Chicago policeman guarding the north barricade.

Expecting he would just command me to move along, I was surprised he was willingly to talk to me. He confirmed that I could not walk down the block and noticing my camera told me where I could take some pictures. He also advised me that I would see mostly trees.

While I was talking to him, a young boy (guessing 11 yrs. old) came riding up on a bike. He was stopped and briefly questioned. Apparently, he was going to visit a friend on the block. He knew the right names and addresses so he was allowed through. It must be interesting living on that block.

Well the pictures I got are not that great. I suggest waiting until the leaves fall for a better picture. You can find better pictures than mine on the internet.

how would he report on Obama

2009-08-06T14:37:00.000-07:00

On Friday, July 17, 2009, Walter Cronkite made news one more time. Walter died at the age of 92.

It wasn't until I started to dislike our current news media and their focus on ratings and not the news that I realized how good it was to have news reported by Walter Cronkite. As it has been widely reported the man was a trusted source of news.

I noted Walter's death on my other blog "A Few Clowns Short", but realize he be should mentioned here too. His reporting of world events was honest. He first supported the Vietnam War but after a couple of visits, he came out against it.

I don't know if Walter publicly commented on Obama's presidency. President Obama had these words to say:

know anyone in Boulder?

2009-07-22T12:16:00.000-07:00

From wikipedia:

Boulder has the more widespread reputation as a pocket of liberal political views within its largely conservative state, garnering the oft-used nickname "The People's Republic of Boulder."

did you bring home anything from the meeting

2009-07-11T22:48:00.000-07:00

Looks like some countries got T-shirts from Brazil.

I wonder what they do with those nice chairs now that the meeting is over?

traveling Obama head

2009-06-18T13:03:00.000-07:00

While walking over to the Blues Fest in Chicago the other day, I spotted this head. I glad I had my camera this time.

It is headed to a place in South Dakota called President's Park. You can find more pictures on their site. They have all the Presidents on display at their park.

I don't know when I might be traveling in that area but it looks worth the stop.

Obama is quick

2009-06-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

I don't believe I'm that quick anymore. Being a young President has it's advantages. I wonder if it was a Republican fly?

if we could see his blackberry

2009-06-09T09:33:00.000-07:00

Hopefully you can read the fine print in the above pic I took from firstblackberry.com
(somebody was thinking to get that domain name).

I first noticed this in the Chicago Tribune a short while ago. Very funny chat sessions.
There's a book out titled "Obama's BlackBerry".

undisclosed burger location

2009-06-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

This is my second post about Obama and burgers - maybe this is going to be a trend?

Here's the other post (different burger joint).

Hey I wonder if he needs a Joint Chief of Burgers?

people ahead of software on Barack Obama

2009-05-18T18:04:00.000-07:00

photo from crunchgear

I don't know of any survey on this (probably is since they survey any and everything) but I suspect most people now know how to pronounce Barack Obama.

BUT there is some software that does not - the new Kindle device from Amazon has text to speech built in but it doesn't know how to say his name.

I checked the text to speech ability of my mac mini and it does an good job on his name. Here's more on the CNN blog.

(hmm is Apple more liberal than Amazon? - better check the political contribution list)

new page on whitehouse.gov

2009-05-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

Just to back up a bit - I didn't grow up on the internet or even personal computers. Have you ever seen the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey?

Well I always imagined computers to be the size of those mainframe things in that movie. As my engineering career advanced the computer size decreased as its complexity increased.

Today I easily do what I could not have imagined 40 years ago. Embed video clips of our President into my blog and watch live streaming video from most anywhere.

Check out the new page on whitehouse.gov for the Office of Public Engagement.

President jokes - we listen

2009-05-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

Please note this is longer than I thought it would be. It's more like Vice President, Biden, length. It's worth the listen.

President Obama takes some good shots at most everyone, including his staff and himself. My favorite is him saying that he will finish the next 100 days in 72 days and on the 73th day he will rest.

Some good stuff - but I would not want him to give up his day job.

Obama and Biden for burgers reminded me

2009-05-06T21:31:00.000-07:00

That last post reminded me of this old SNL skit. I wonder if they will do one about President Obama's visit to Ray's Hell Burgers place.

Bail out burgers with Biden

2009-05-06T10:33:00.000-07:00

"...Can you vouch for your fries?"

Sounds like Ray's Hell Burger doesn't offer regular fries. I don't know how their business was before but I bet this sure gave them a boost.

Remember that SNL skit about Clinton stopping in Mickey D's and eating other people's fries?

I picked this video up at the Chicago Tribune site - it comes with ads on top.

=====update====
The video from the Chicago Tribune site stopped playing (??) so here's a version from youtube.

===yet another update===
It's happened again, my posted video clip was taken down.
This is a different hamburger joint but maybe this clip will stay up.

Presidency on flickr

2009-04-30T10:29:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite picture from the White House album on flickr.

The White House has a collection of pictures posted on flickr.

Maybe if you grew up on the internet this is not surprising. But for one that lived when the President got his first jet aircraft (Eisenhower 1959) this is amazing.

I found this while browsing the White House blog (oh you didn't know about that either). The older fellow not looking so helpful is Vermont Governor Jim Douglas.

Barack Blackberry Obama is well connected in our wired internet world. I like the openness and internet sharing of this White House but I hope they don't start twittering. That might be too distracting. They do have some work to do besides moving furniture.

if you forgot to count don't worry

2009-04-29T21:36:00.000-07:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

How to Judge a Guy in 100 Days

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

First 100 Days

100 day's into the Obama administration - Forgot to count? Don't worry the media has been counting for you (also developing report cards).

I like Jon Stewart's take on the media.

funny take on Obama from the north

2009-04-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

pretty funny - eh?

Check out my main blog
A Few Clowns

I would like a ticket to St. Louis

2009-04-17T21:34:00.000-07:00

This idea is long overdue here. I think the airline industry has been too strong in killing it in the past.

An over 100mph train would make sense between many US cities. It's not just keeping-up-with-the-Jones in the world competition but most of us know about high speed rail in Japan and France.

I didn't know about China before I read the whitehouse.gov blog. Here's a piece:

"...China, where service began just two years ago, may have more miles of high-speed rail service than any other country just five years from now..."

I would use it for Chicago to St. Louis.

funny picture needs good caption

2009-04-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

Secretary of Cow

2009-04-13T15:24:00.000-07:00

While I was reading about the new first dog, Bo Obama. I found this slideshow of presidential pets at the Chicago Tribune site.

Very interesting picture and pet during the Taft presidency.

finally the first dog

2009-04-13T09:46:00.000-07:00

White House photos by Pete Souza

It's a a six-month old Portuguese water dog and a gift from Senator and Mrs. Kennedy to Sasha and Malia.

His name is Bo which works well with the last name, Obama. I suspect we will be hearing some rhyme or song with Bo and Obama in it.

This is probably bigger news than the President's recent G20 meeting. The build-up was interesting and I think positive. I suggest they add a new pet every year. Next year a bird would be good.

Obama's now dropped from Christmas exchange

2009-04-01T20:39:00.000-07:00

Bringing gifts to the Queen of England when you arrive for tea at the palace - good.

Choice of gift for the Queen - Ipod - not so good.

So based on this and learning that they gave out a DVD box set to another head of state, I am dropping the Obama's from my Christmas gift exchange.

Now gift giving is not a very important part of the Office of the President, but I expect something better than an Ipod for an older women. Not that I can think of anything at the moment. Any suggestions?

Here's the story covered at Politico.

Also what's with the purse in the above picture? Does she carry the key to the crown jewel case in that purse?

Now I understand

2009-03-25T21:33:00.000-07:00

St. Patrick's Day and White House

2009-03-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

If you look closely the fountain is green. Interesting, but maybe not that surprising given the Obama-Chicago connection and Chicago's tradition of green dye in the Chicago river. Of course the river was done this past weekend (Saturday) for the big parade.

Thanks to the Chicago Tribune site I discovered the green at the White house.

They also mention that President Obama was presented with a bowl of shamrocks by the Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach).

I don't know how long the bowl of shamrocks have been a tradition but I recall former President Bush getting a bowl of them. After a little searching a I found a picture of President Clinton getting a bowl too.

A reminder, I posted an earlier note about Obama being Irish.

(Tribune photo by Abel Uribe / March 14, 2009)

Please play all the way through

2009-03-06T16:03:00.001-08:00

I just hope everyone "plays" these words out in the right direction.

oh canada eh

2009-02-24T13:46:00.000-08:00

If you have not heard, President Obama went north recently.

Don't you just love those hats?

How did she get through the security? Breakfast looks tasty.

Speaking of food - WHERE IS IT? EMPTY PLATES?

dim the light save some power

2009-02-23T17:51:00.000-08:00

Earth hour - Chicago page

Obama love

2009-02-16T12:40:00.000-08:00

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Moment of Zen - She Loves Obama

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Funny Political News
Joke of the Day

Obama mia

2009-02-16T09:14:00.000-08:00

He didn't just get voters votes. He has FANS!

I wonder if these girls will do an updated version now that he's prez.

do you see what I see

2009-02-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

What's this on page A04 in yesterday's (Feb. 05, 09) of the Chicago Tribune paper? I did a double take upon seeing this picture of President Obama.

He looks like he has grown angel wings.

I'm wondering if other readers noticed those angel wings. You know he is an inspiration and maybe a God sent.

picture by ZBIGNIEW BZDAK/TRIBUNE

needs to improve bowling

2009-02-02T19:55:00.000-08:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

nice dance

2009-01-27T20:42:00.001-08:00

When I first got the idea for this blog, I mistakenly thought the change.gov site was going to stay. Well it's still there but it's not active.

The whitehouse.gov site was switched over immediately but the interaction that change.gov offered is not up and running yet. You can only leave short comments on the site for now.

President Obama has certainly been busy and I imagine they are working on getting the interaction with the public going.

some behind the scenes

2009-01-21T10:41:00.000-08:00

I like this one because of the behind the scenes. Maybe those stage directors (I guess that would be the term) get use to directing famous stars around, but to tell the next President (now President) when and where to go would make me nervous.

I hope the change.gov team which transferred over to the whitehouse.gov keeps these videos up on youtube.

oh those irish eyes

2009-01-21T10:21:00.000-08:00

I didn't heard anything about them playing this song at the inaugural balls - but they should have. I think the first couple would have enjoyed it.

Bono during his U2 concert on Sunday referred to this somewhat unusual fact. Of course around St. Patrick's Day everyone becomes Irish for at least a day. I'm looking forward to this upcoming St. Patrick's Day for something special from O'bama.

What would you say if I told you I vote for Barack Obama because he was Irish?

nuts bolts and renewable energy jobs

2009-01-18T13:43:00.000-08:00

I think renewable energy jobs are the best type of jobs to create. This video clip makes you realize that nuts and bolts need to go into these renewable energy projects.

Another example

2009-01-16T20:27:00.000-08:00

You can find these at change.gov or youtube. But if you go to change.gov you will find much more than the videos. It's a chance to interact with the transition team.

the citizens briefing book

2009-01-16T20:18:00.000-08:00

The Obama team certainly knows how to communicate and be open. Also, they know the web and social networking apps. They have an interesting youtube channel.

Coming soon starts Sunday

2009-01-16T19:02:00.000-08:00

The Inaugural gets going on Sunday. HBO is broadcasting (for free) a concert. From the above video it looks like Disney and ABC are getting involved in some events too.

A favorite of mine will be performing: