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dreamsugar Tonky Hawk on location at my office today!! Nov 17, 2008 3:28 PM :woohoo: I don't know what he was filming -- but he was here!!!

dreamsugar Barack Obama: The 50 facts you might not know Nov 11, 2008 10:33 AM • He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics • He was known as "O'Bomber" at high school for his skill at basketball • His name means "one who is blessed" in Swahili • His favourite meal is wife Michelle's shrimp linguini • He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father • He is left-handed – the sixth post-war president to be left-handed • He has read every Harry Potter book • He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali • He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can't stand ice cream • His favourite snacks are chocolate-peanut protein bars • He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia • He can speak Spanish • While on the campaign trail he refused to watch CNN and had sports channels on instead • His favourite drink is black forest berry iced tea • He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president – he didn't • He kept a pet ape called Tata while in Indonesia • He can bench press an impressive 200lbs • He was known as Barry until university when he asked to be addressed by his full name • His favourite book is Moby-Dick by Herman Melville • He visited Wokingham, Berks, in 1996 for the stag party of his half-sister's fiancé, but left when a stripper arrived • His desk in his Senate office once belonged to Robert Kennedy • He and Michelle made $4.2 million (£2.7 million) last year, with much coming from sales of his books • His favourite films are Casablanca and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest • He carries a tiny Madonna and child statue and a bracelet belonging to a soldier in Iraq for good luck • He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard but was rejected by the all-female committee. • His favourite music includes Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Bach and The Fugees • He took Michelle to see the Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing on their first date • He enjoys playing Scrabble and poker • He doesn't drink coffee and rarely drinks alcohol • He would have liked to have been an architect if he were not a politician • As a teenager he took drugs including marijuana and cocaine • His daughters' ambitions are to go to Yale before becoming an actress (Malia, 10) and to sing and dance (Sasha, 7) • He hates the youth trend for trousers which sag beneath the backside • He repaid his student loan only four years ago after signing his book deal • His house in Chicago has four fire places • Daughter Malia's godmother is Jesse Jackson's daughter Santita • He says his worst habit is constantly checking his BlackBerry • He uses an Apple Mac laptop • He drives a Ford Escape Hybrid, having ditched his gas-guzzling Chrysler 300 • He wears $1,500 (£952) Hart Schaffner Marx suits • He owns four identical pairs of black size 11 shoes • He has his hair cut once a week by his Chicago barber, Zariff, who charges $21 (£13) • His favourite fictional television programmes are Mash and The Wire • He was given the code name "Renegade" by his Secret Service handlers • He was nicknamed "Bar" by his late grandmother • He plans to install a basketball court in the White House grounds • His favourite artist is Pablo Picasso • His speciality as a cook is chilli • He has said many of his friends in Indonesia were "street urchins" • He keeps on his desk a carving of a wooden hand holding an egg, a Kenyan symbol of the fragility of life • His late father was a senior economist for the Kenyan government Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/3401168/Barack-Obama-The-50-facts-you-might-not-know.html

dreamsugar Keith Olbermann on Prop 8 Nov 11, 2008 6:52 AM

dreamsugar Stinging Talk About Obama? Never Mind Now -- Palin: "God Bless Barack Obama"... And other Hypocrites Nov 8, 2008 1:00 PM That whole anti-American, friend-to-the-terrorists thing about President-elect Barack Obama? Never mind. But there she was on Wednesday, after narrowly escaping defeat because of those comments, saying she was “extremely grateful that we have an African-American who has won this year.” Ms. Bachmann, a Republican, called Mr. Obama’s victory, which included her state, “a tremendous signal we sent.” :jawdrop: And it was not too long ago that Senator John McCain’s running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, accused Mr. Obama of “palling around with terrorists.” But she took an entirely different tone on Thursday, when she chastised reporters for asking her questions about her war with some staff members in the McCain campaign at such a heady time. “Barack Obama has been elected president,” Ms. Palin said. “Let us, let us — let him — be able to kind of savor this moment, one, and not let the pettiness of maybe internal workings of the campaign erode any of the recognition of this historic moment that we’re in. And God bless Barack Obama and his beautiful family.” :jawdrop: There is a great tradition of paint-peeling political hyperbole during presidential campaign years. And there is an equally great tradition of backing off from it all afterward, though with varying degrees of deftness. But given the intensity of some of the charges that have been made in the past few months, and the historic nature of Mr. Obama’s election, the exercise this year has been particularly whiplash-inducing, with its extreme before-and-after contrasts. The shift in tone follows the magnanimous concession speech from Mr. McCain, of Arizona, who referred to Mr. Obama’s victory Tuesday night as “a historic election” and hailed the “special pride” it held for African-Americans. That led the vice president-elect, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., to get into the act. During the campaign, Mr. Biden said he no longer recognized Mr. McCain, an old friend. Now, he says, “We’re still friends.” President Bush, in turn, also hailed Mr. Obama’s victory, saying his arrival at the White House would be “a stirring sight.” Whether it all heralds a new era of cooperation in Washington remains to be seen, and it may be downright doubtful. But for now, at least, it would seem to be part of an apparent rush to join what has emerged as a real moment in American history. The presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin said she was hard-pressed to find a similar moment when the tone had changed so drastically, and so quickly, among so many people of such prominence. “I don’t think that’s happened very often,” Ms. Goodwin said. “The best answer I can give you is they don’t want to be on the wrong side of history, and they recognize how the country saw this election, and how people feel that they’re living in a time of great historic moment.” Others in the professional political class were not so sure. Some wondered whether simple pragmatism was the explanation. “My experience is, it’s less an epiphany and more a political reality,” said Chris Lehane, a former Democratic strategist who worked on the presidential campaign of Al Gore. “I’m thinking they will continue in this direction so long as the polls indicate it’s a smart place to be.” There are notable exceptions: Rush Limbaugh has given no quarter. And while his fellow conservative radio hosts Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham have noted the significance of his victory — on Wednesday, Ms. Ingraham said “Obama did make history” and “It’s not the time to vilify him” — they seem to be in line with Bill O’Reilly of Fox News. Relishing his new role in the opposition camp, Mr. O’Reilly said, “The guy is still a mystery, so our oversight will be intense.” Some lawmakers also do not appear inclined to give up the fight. Representative John A. Boehner, the House minority leader, has already criticized Mr. Obama’s choice of Representative Rahm Emanuel, Democrat of Illinois, as his chief of staff. But other people who opposed Mr. Obama, like Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, have good reason to try to make up with the winning ticket. As an ardent backer of Mr. McCain, Mr. Lieberman angered the Democrats, who in 2000 nominated him as their vice-presidential candidate. After losing a Democratic primary challenge in 2006 and then winning as an independent, he still continued to caucus with the Democrats. Attending an event with Mr. McCain in York, Pa., in August, Mr. Lieberman said the race was “between one candidate, John McCain, who has always put the country first, worked across party lines to get things done, and one candidate who has not.” As a speaker at the Republican National Convention, Mr. Lieberman went further than Democrats expected by criticizing Mr. Obama for “voting to cut off funding for our troops on the ground.” (Mr. Obama voted for bills that included plans for withdrawal from Iraq and against others that did not.) This week Mr. Lieberman, who has been asked by the Democratic Senate leadership to consider giving up his position as the chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, released a statement congratulating Mr. Obama for “his historic and impressive victory.” It continued, “The American people are a people of extraordinary fairness.” Marshall Wittmann, a spokesman for Mr. Lieberman, said that as far as the senator was concerned, “It’s over, and it’s genuinely time to find unity and move forward behind the new president.” And what about that whole bit about Mr. Obama not always putting his country first? “He believes that President-elect Obama — and, then, Senator Obama — is a genuine patriot and loves his country,” Mr. Wittmann said. “The only point he was making in his campaign was about partisanship.” Mr. Obama is apparently ready to bury the hatchet with his new fans. “President-elect Obama has made it clear that he wants to put partisanship behind and work together to solve the many challenges confronting the country,” said Stephanie Cutter, a spokeswoman for the Obama transition team. “We’re pleased that others do as well.” (FORGIVE -- but don't forget Mr. President) Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate majority leader who will ultimately decide Mr. Lieberman’s committee assignment, sounded less ready to forgive, at least when it came Mr. Lieberman’s support for Mr. McCain. “Joe Lieberman has done something that I think was improper, wrong, and I’d like — if we weren’t on television, I’d use a stronger word of describing what he did,” he said on CNN Friday. Egg on face and open wide to insert foot. Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/us/politics/09memo.html?partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

dreamsugar WE WANT OBAMA: Calls for inauguration tickets through the roof Nov 8, 2008 12:54 PM There have been calls from forgotten childhood classmates, from long-gone girlfriends and boyfriends, and even from the widows of deceased Chicago icons. In the three days since the election of Barack Obama, the demand for tickets to Inauguration Day events has been unprecedented, local congressional officials said. "It's crazy," said Sharon Jenkins, spokeswoman for Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.). "We're in a unique moment in U.S. history. Every day under Obama's administration is a first, and people want to be a part of it." Tickets to inaugural events are free of charge and distributed through members of the incoming Congress. The ceremonies are coordinated by different committees, and the tickets to the events are distributed differently. Events include a morning worship service, a procession to the Capitol, a swearing-in ceremony, an address, a parade and balls. Jenkins said Rush's office received about 400 phone calls from residents about the Wall Street bailout package over a two-week period. But in the three days after Obama's election, the office logged more than 1,500 phone calls from people seeking tickets. Residents should beware of anyone claiming to sell tickets, inaugural officials said, because tickets will not be distributed until January and the members of the House and Senate do not know how many they will receive. It's not illegal for recipients to resell tickets, but it is strongly discouraged. Jason Tai, a spokesman for Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.), said, "We have not calculated final numbers, but it's safe to say there's been a lot of demand." At the office of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), officials are adjusting their Web site to handle the demand because the volume of calls has been so overwhelming. "Constituents want to be in Washington and witness history," said Kenneth Edmonds, a spokesman for Jackson. "No one should be surprised. It's a reflection of the extraordinary enthusiasm President Obama's candidacy has unleased." Edmonds said he hopes organizers will consider accommodating many more people than they have in the past. "This is going to be an inauguration like no other," he said. "Everyone that can get here and get the time off from work is probably going to get here. Anyone who has a muse to get here is going to find a way." Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-obama-tickets-08-nov08,0,1861618.story

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Tonky Hawk on location at my office today!! Barack Obama: The 50 facts you might not know Keith Olbermann on Prop 8 Stinging Talk About Obama? Never Mind Now -- Palin: "God Bless Barack Obama"... And other Hypocrites

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Sugar Residence, The Presidential Election 2008 is here -- Who did you Vote for???? Do you think McCain choose Palin for her looks Did a New McCain Mailer Push Palin As Ticket-Head? What do you think? Does Powell's endorsement boost Obama?

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