a-ok

Sasha, President Obama's youngest daughter, giving him a thumbs up after he was sworn in yesterday. Probably not the most popular moment of the inaugural, but the sweetest indeed.

a sign of good things to come

The Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC), which is, as the name says, organizing Obama's inauguration event, has created a site where you can see big chart detailing each and every contribution they have received.

The committee only accepts individual donations, and you can sort them by name, employer, amount, and location. "Unlike previous inaugural committees, the 2009 PIC does not accept contributions from corporations, political action committees, labor unions, current federally-registered lobbyists, non-U.S. citizens and registered foreign agents and does not accept individual contributions in excess of $50,000." You can see several well-known names there: several people from Google, Dreamworks, The Container Store ($25,000), Yahoo!, and the Soros family - who donated a total of $250K, being $150K under the Soros Fund Management employer name.

That's the thing about transparency: if information is available, people ARE going to make their way to it. It's really a simple and revolutionary idea.

who told him he could change the font?

Obama was a hip Gotham sans-serif during the campaign. It's not even January and he's become a serif. Oh, the disappointment.

almost true

[via Political Graffiti]

happy people

"As an African-American, unapologetically I say that if I weren't strapped down to this desk, I'd get out and lead us in a Electric Slide right here in the studio."

- Tavis Smiley, on NBC News [via]



(I couldn't help myself. I had to post this video by the other king of Chicago, Mr. R. Kelly. If you really know Chicago, you know what I mean.)

press for change

[link]

indiana

I can now say I lived 7 great years of my life in a blue state.

Congratulation, Indiana. You have done me proud.

gabi

This is a post I found on Facebook by Gabrelle German, my best friend's sister. She's a 21 year-old girl, born in Gary, IN, who clearly understands the huge symbolic impact that having Obama as a president is going to have in America. Gabi, I'm proud to know you and your sister. Love you both.

"My President is a competent, qualified, intelligent BLACK MAN, and now not only is he "MY" President of choice, he is the official President of the United States of America.

Why is it so relevant to me and everyone else in the Black Community that our President is Black? Why does race matter? It matters because this means that our ancestors, and our relatives came all the way from being seen as property in this country, to running this country. It matters because it means that those of us who died for us to have a fair chance in this country have not died in vain. It shows incredible progress in this country and I am proud of you America!

It means so much to us because the media has chosen for so many years to make the Black Male the "scapegoat" for all the things wrong with this country. Majority of the time you see a black man in the media its negative. Now we have the most positive media coverage possible. One of our own has been chosen, not just by Black America, but by America as a whole to lead this country.

It matters because people still clinch their purses when Black Men walk pass, they still lock their doors when they pass their cars, it matters because I still get followed in stores because I'm expected to steal something. So this moment is a moment of great hope that these things will soon be a thing of the past, and it is a moment of great pride that one of our own has made it so far.

The Obama Family is another WONDERFUL aspect of the pride we feel. The first family gives black families everywhere a model to look up to. The relationship between Barack and his wife is AMAZING, and their relationship with their children is as well. They are not displaying a broken family, an absent father, a male bashing mother, and we need to see something other than those things.

So this note is way too long I'll just close with this statement: I've always known that Black Men were just as capable as any other person to lead this country and do great things, but now those Black men that doubted it have proof that they can and a reason to work toward it. They have a role model in Barack Obama and Black families have a role model in the Obama family and that is AMAZING!"

the first day of the rest of our lives

vote for that one

by Matt May

Tee available here.

about the people on my sidebar

Quem realmente me conhece sabe que eu amo política. Eu leio sobre política diariamente, assisto na TV, leio nos jornais, coloco coisas aqui no blog e tenho várias opiniões. Geralmente não converso sobre isso, porque sinto que não sou muito boa em me expressar em termos políticos. Então, entre soar burra e não dizer nada, geralmente escolho a segunda opção.

O fato é que acho importante tentarmos ter algum efeito naqueles que nos lêem e nos acompanham de alguma forma. As pessoas que apoiamos, sejam elas em nossos círculos de amizades ou na esfera política, dizem muito sobre quem somos.

Eu sempre tive um selinho do Obama no fim da coluna à direita, mas acabei ignorando o fato de que esse ano também é ano de eleições no Brasil. Não é algo tão grande quanto nos EUA, já que são eleições municipais, mas mesmo assim estamos elegendo pessoas que supostamente nos representarão. É tudo muito importante.

Eu apoio as três pessoas na minha sidebar – Jô Moraes (para Prefeitura de Belo Horizonte, onde moro), Soninha (para Prefeitura de São Paulo) e Obama (para presidência dos Estados Unidos). Tudo bem, eu sei que só posso votar em BH, mas isso não significa que eu não sigo o que está acontecendo em outros lugares ou que eu não tenha opiniões sobre quem está concorrendo por aí. Tenho tentado seguir a trajetória dessas três pessoas, e se pudesse votar em todos os lugares, eles teriam o meu voto. Como mencionei antes, não sou boa falando de política, mas te dou minha palavra de honra que sou uma menina inteligente, sei ler e escrever com total habilidade, estudei, me formei, tento ser bem “antenada” e ter bastante bom senso na maior parte do tempo – ou seja, fiz meu dever de casa.

No final das contas, são só pessoas: eu, você, minha família, sua família, a família do seu vizinho, a família do primo do meu amigo, etc e tal. Seremos todos afetados por quem for eleito, seja ele(a) Prefeito(a) ou presidente, aqui ou lá.

Essas são as pessoas que apóio. Eu acredito em suas propostas, acho que elas representam uma perspectiva nova e apoiá-las diz algo sobre o mundo em que quero viver. Você, obviamente não tem que ter as mesmas opiniões que eu, mas, definitivamente, você deveria ter uma opinião. Nem que seja o oposto da minha. O que não podemos fazer, nessa altura do campeonato, é ficarmos aqui ocupando espaço e não acreditarmos em nada.

Jô Moraes para Prefeita de Belo Horizonte.

Soninha para Prefeita de São Paulo.

Obama for President of the U.S.

++++++++++++++++++

People who really know me know that I love politics. I read about it daily, I watch it on TV, I post about it, and I have way too many opinions. I don't talk too much about it, though, because I often feel like I'm not really good at expressing myself the way I would like to in political terms. So between sounding dumb and not saying anything at all, I usually chose the second option.

But the fact is that I think it's important to put ourselves out honestly and try to have a positive effect on the people we surround or who take the time to come read our blog. The people we support, whether it's in our close circle of friends or politically, says a lot about who we are.

I've always had the little "Obama" stamp on the bottom of my sidebar, but I ended up ignoring the fact that this year is election year in Brazil too. It's not a huge year like it is in the US – we are voting for mayors and other positions on city-level – but nevertheless those are people that supposedly are there to represent us, so yes, sir – it is very important too.

I strongly support the three people on my sidebar – Jô Moraes (for Mayor of Belo Horizonte, the city where I live), Soninha (for Mayor of São Paulo, the biggest city in Brazil), and Obama (for president of the U.S.). I know, I can't vote in São Paulo or in the United States, but that doesn't mean I don't follow what's going on t there or that I don't have an opinion about who's running. I have tried to follow those three people closely and if I could vote in all of the three places, they would all have my support. As I mentioned before, I'm not good at talking about politics, but I can give you my word that I'm a smart girl – I can read and write proficiently, I went to school, I try to be well-rounded and have pretty damn good common-sense most of the time – so I've done my homework.

At the end of the day, it's all about people: me, you, my family, your family, your neighbor's family, my friend's cousin's family, and so on. We'll all be affected by whoever is elected mayor or president, here or there.

Those are the people I support. I believe in what they do, I think they represent a new perspective and supporting them says something about the world I want to live in. You obviously don't need to have the same opinions as be, but you should definitely have one. Even if it is the exact opposite. What we cannot do, at this point in time, is take up space and stand up for nothing.


Jô Moraes para Prefeita de Belo Horizonte.

Soninha para Prefeita de São Paulo.

Obama for President of the U.S.

convincing old jewish people to vote for Obama

The Great Schlep aims to have Jewish grandchildren visit their grandparents in Florida, educate them about Obama, and therefore swing the crucial Florida vote in his favor.



Barack is a hebrew word; it means"lightning". And I would much rather have a president whose name means "lightning" than a president named John whose name means "toilet" or "a guy who fucks hookers". (...) He's circumsupersized!

hey, john – i got a question

So McCain stood David Letterman up, claiming he's rushing back to Washington, "getting in a plane immediately", to save the economy (like "Economy" is a 20-some year old girl hanging from a building). In the middle of the taping David gets word that McCain was, in fact just down the street being interviewed by Katie Couric.



You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves. I think someone's putting something in his Metamucil.

He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second string quarterback, Sarah Palin. Where is she?

What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We've got a guy like that now!

Hey John, I got a question – you need a ride to the airport?

[via]

dinossaur "love juice"

t-shirt by ThreadPit

How exactly the oil industry lobby the Mineral Management Service? For oral you get to drill within 150 miles. Oral AND cocaine will get you within 100 miles. To get within 50, you've to pull what is called the "Greasy Sanchez".

i want one

fuck off sarah palin

another brilliant moment of Craig Ferguson

"If Walter Cronkite could see these brain-dead morons yapping about flag pins and hair styles he'd turn over in his grave. Which is weird because Cronkite is alive and well and he lives in Martha's Vineyard... but if he were dead, he'd be furious!"

"Shame on you, you manipulative hypocrites. I'm talking to both sides: Obama, McCain, Palin, the other one... I'm talking to all of you."

"Are we so lost we have to be sold our own democratic right?"

i would be scared too

I'm not a big fan of celebrities trying to express their opinions on politics. I would usually put this video under the "thingsthatannoyme" category here, but I happen to agree with everything he has to says. It's a scary thought the idea of Palin becoming president. And this should be brought up lot more often.

i'm embarrassed but i must tell

Below is the screen shot of the summary of a lawsuit filed with a Electoral Court in Brazil. The site might be down because the huge number of visits today's incident caused:


"PT, BRAZIL WORKERS PARTY (the President's party!), WANTS TO TAKE TWITTER OFF THE AIR.

The Story
Somebody created a fake profile of Luiziane Lins, one of PT's candidates standing in the election for Mayor of Fortaleza, Ceará. She filed a lawsuit in order to remove the profile from Twitter – which is a legitimate right she has.

But she went beyond.

As if removing that specific profile wasn't enough, she filed a lawsuit in order to TAKE TWITTER OFF THE INTERNET. That's right: the WHOLE site. Something like taking the whole MSN Instant Messenger system down, or even Facebook, Myspace or Orkut because of one fake profile.

Sickening.

To make matters worse, that lawsuit was combined with the lack of "internetical" knowledge of a magistrate, causing what we saw today: an approved order to take TWITTER OFF THE AIR.

The Absurdity

- The lawsuit asked the justice system to take the WHOLE site down, not just one profile;

- They approved such request;

- The Regional Electoral Court of the state of Ceará took off the air a BLOG WHICH SUBJECT MATTER IS TWITTER, not Twitter itself. It's bizarre not only that they actually went forward with the lawsuit request, but they also suspended a BLOG.

- Twitter is not a national site. Because of that, the order of the Court in Ceará will never reach its servers. Just like it happened with Youtube once in Brazil, maybe the "solution" is to determine that EVERY SINGLE NATIONAL INTERNET PROVIDER should remove forwarding service to Twitter's URLs - check out the size of the problem."

Beautiful, huh? Being from here is so fucking embarrassing sometimes.

[this post was translated from this post here, of Imprensa Marrom. I wish you all knew portuguese, because he's brilliant]

+++++++++++++

The imature 13 year-old kid that lives inside of me couldn't be stopped. So here it is:

LOSER!
(she said it, not me)

Joe Biden? Hell no! JOE BUDDEN!!

Obama + Budden? Now that's change I can believe in.

[Since in a week from now the trick of the day will be to photoshop budden's head on biden's body, I decided to go ahead and get it out of my system. Was I the first?]