Posts tagged News

WHCD: President Obama, Jimmy Kimmel roast Secret Service, Washington elite, each other
The Ticket:


WASHINGTON, D.C.—Jimmy Kimmel and President Obama roasted the Secret Service, Washington’s political and media elite—and each other—at the 98th White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday night at the Washington Hilton.
And it seemed no one at the annual gathering of media, celebrities and politicians was off limits.
During his speech, Obama took a jab at the now-infamous Summit of the Americas that sparked the Secret Service sex scandal earlier this month. “Four years ago, I was locked in a primary battle with Hillary Clinton,” Obama said. “Four years later, she won’t stop drunk-texting me from Cartagena.”
“Jimmy got his start on ‘The Man Show,’” Obama noted of the evening’s host. “In Washington, that’s what we call a Congressional hearing on contraception.”
Last year’s dinner occurred on the eve of Osama bin Laden’s killing, and the anniversary proved to be fodder for several jokes.
“Who will it be this year?” Kimmel quipped. (The Navy SEALs, he said, should focus on the Kardashians.)
“We finally delivered justice to one of world’s most notorious individuals,” Obama recalled, as an image of Donald Trump appeared on a screen.
The president also made several jokes about his increasingly gray hair, predicting in four years he’ll look like Morgan Freeman. “That’s not even funny,” Obama said, laughing.
The president congratulated Arianna Huffington on the Huffington Post’s recent Pulitzer Prize. “There’s no one out there linking to the kinds of hard-hitting journalism that HuffPo is linking to every single day,” he said. “And you don’t pay them! It’s a great business model.” (“Yow,” Howard Kurtz, columnist for HuffPo rival Daily Beast, responded on Twitter.)

Obama then took a few mild swipes at his likely opponent in November. “It’s great to be here in the vast, magnificent Hilton ballroom,” Obama said. “Or what Mitt Romney would call ‘a little fixer upper.’” (“I was just relieved to learn this one wasn’t a GSA conference,” Obama said, pivoting briefly to the GSA controversy. “Unbelievable—not even the mind-reader knew what they were thinking.”)
“We both have degrees from Harvard,” he said of Romney. “I have one, he has two—what a snob.”
Obama also looked ahead to the next four years. “In the first term I sang Al Green,” he said. “In my second term, I’m going with Young Jeezy.” (First Lady Michelle Obama nodded in approval.)
“I have a lot of Secret Service jokes,” Kimmel said. “I told them for $800 I wouldn’t tell them, but they only offered 30.”
Kimmel pointed to Sofia Vergara, one of a swarm of celebrities in attendance.
“This is what women look like in Colombia,” Kimmel said. “What’s the Secret Service supposed to do?”
He continued: “If this had happened on President Clinton’s watch, those Secret Service agents would’ve been disciplined with a very serious high-five. Palms would be beet red.”

Kimmel, host of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” reflected on his path to entertaining the president: “If you told me as a kid I’d be standing on the dais with President Barack Obama, I would’ve said, ‘The president’s name is Barack Obama?’”
He also took a swipe at Obama’s weight. “You’re so skinny,” Kimmel said. “This is how you know how this country is in bad shape: Our president is starving. North Korea is sending him food aid.”
Speaking of weight, the comedian also skewered the other end of the spectrum.
“Look, it’s Chris Christie,” Kimmel told the first lady. “Get him!”
“Gov. Christie, you may be misunderstanding the [New Jersey] slogan,” he added. “It’s not the ‘Olive Garden State.’”
Kimmel defended fellow comedian Bill Maher in a bit about Rush Limbaugh.
“Is that slut Rush Limbaugh here?” Kimmel asked. “There’s a reason Rush Limbaugh said what he said: Percocet.”
“Just to clear things this up for the extreme right wingers, here’s the difference between Bill Maher and Rush Limbaugh,” Kimmel explained. “The people who watch Bill Maher know he’s an —-hole.”
Kimmel, though, threw a punches at Keith Olbermann.
“Under your seats, you’ll find a copy of Keith Olbermann’s résumé,” Kimmel said. “The thing about Keith Olbermann is, he’s so likeable. Olbermann’s burned more bridges than arsonists of Madison County.”
The former ESPN, MSNBC and Current TV host, who was not in attendance, fired back on Twitter.
“Funny that Jimmy Kimmel ripped me after his people desperately wanted me to fly to L.A, to be on his show this past Wednesday,” Olbermann wrote. “I’m not complaining about the Kimmel jokes—I’m fair game. I’m complaining about the revenge element. It reminds me of [Bill] O’Reilly.”

WHCD: President Obama, Jimmy Kimmel roast Secret Service, Washington elite, each other

The Ticket:

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Jimmy Kimmel and President Obama roasted the Secret Service, Washington’s political and media elite—and each other—at the 98th White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday night at the Washington Hilton.

And it seemed no one at the annual gathering of media, celebrities and politicians was off limits.

During his speech, Obama took a jab at the now-infamous Summit of the Americas that sparked the Secret Service sex scandal earlier this month. “Four years ago, I was locked in a primary battle with Hillary Clinton,” Obama said. “Four years later, she won’t stop drunk-texting me from Cartagena.”

“Jimmy got his start on ‘The Man Show,’” Obama noted of the evening’s host. “In Washington, that’s what we call a Congressional hearing on contraception.”

Last year’s dinner occurred on the eve of Osama bin Laden’s killing, and the anniversary proved to be fodder for several jokes.

“Who will it be this year?” Kimmel quipped. (The Navy SEALs, he said, should focus on the Kardashians.)

“We finally delivered justice to one of world’s most notorious individuals,” Obama recalled, as an image of Donald Trump appeared on a screen.

The president also made several jokes about his increasingly gray hair, predicting in four years he’ll look like Morgan Freeman. “That’s not even funny,” Obama said, laughing.

The president congratulated Arianna Huffington on the Huffington Post’s recent Pulitzer Prize. “There’s no one out there linking to the kinds of hard-hitting journalism that HuffPo is linking to every single day,” he said. “And you don’t pay them! It’s a great business model.” (“Yow,” Howard Kurtz, columnist for HuffPo rival Daily Beast, responded on Twitter.)

Obama then took a few mild swipes at his likely opponent in November. “It’s great to be here in the vast, magnificent Hilton ballroom,” Obama said. “Or what Mitt Romney would call ‘a little fixer upper.’” (“I was just relieved to learn this one wasn’t a GSA conference,” Obama said, pivoting briefly to the GSA controversy. “Unbelievable—not even the mind-reader knew what they were thinking.”)

“We both have degrees from Harvard,” he said of Romney. “I have one, he has two—what a snob.”

Obama also looked ahead to the next four years. “In the first term I sang Al Green,” he said. “In my second term, I’m going with Young Jeezy.” (First Lady Michelle Obama nodded in approval.)

“I have a lot of Secret Service jokes,” Kimmel said. “I told them for $800 I wouldn’t tell them, but they only offered 30.”

Kimmel pointed to Sofia Vergara, one of a swarm of celebrities in attendance.

“This is what women look like in Colombia,” Kimmel said. “What’s the Secret Service supposed to do?”

He continued: “If this had happened on President Clinton’s watch, those Secret Service agents would’ve been disciplined with a very serious high-five. Palms would be beet red.”

Kimmel, host of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” reflected on his path to entertaining the president: “If you told me as a kid I’d be standing on the dais with President Barack Obama, I would’ve said, ‘The president’s name is Barack Obama?’”

He also took a swipe at Obama’s weight. “You’re so skinny,” Kimmel said. “This is how you know how this country is in bad shape: Our president is starving. North Korea is sending him food aid.”

Speaking of weight, the comedian also skewered the other end of the spectrum.

“Look, it’s Chris Christie,” Kimmel told the first lady. “Get him!”

“Gov. Christie, you may be misunderstanding the [New Jersey] slogan,” he added. “It’s not the ‘Olive Garden State.’”

Kimmel defended fellow comedian Bill Maher in a bit about Rush Limbaugh.

“Is that slut Rush Limbaugh here?” Kimmel asked. “There’s a reason Rush Limbaugh said what he said: Percocet.”

“Just to clear things this up for the extreme right wingers, here’s the difference between Bill Maher and Rush Limbaugh,” Kimmel explained. “The people who watch Bill Maher know he’s an —-hole.”

Kimmel, though, threw a punches at Keith Olbermann.

“Under your seats, you’ll find a copy of Keith Olbermann’s résumé,” Kimmel said. “The thing about Keith Olbermann is, he’s so likeable. Olbermann’s burned more bridges than arsonists of Madison County.”

The former ESPN, MSNBC and Current TV host, who was not in attendance, fired back on Twitter.

“Funny that Jimmy Kimmel ripped me after his people desperately wanted me to fly to L.A, to be on his show this past Wednesday,” Olbermann wrote. “I’m not complaining about the Kimmel jokes—I’m fair game. I’m complaining about the revenge element. It reminds me of [Bill] O’Reilly.”

MSNBCtv:

Report: #Live Stream: #POTUS discussing the Economy and the Buffet Rule at @FlaAtlanticU http://on.msnbc.com/HGBTxp #politics #breaking 

positive-press-daily:

Photo Gallery: The 2012 White House Easter Egg Roll

After nearly 12 hours of fun and excitement, another successful Easter Egg Roll has come to a close. The day featured live music, a dance party, opportunities to participate in tennis, basketball and yoga, cooking demonstrations, and story time.
If you weren’t able to join us on the South Lawn this year, check out the gallery of images from the day and videos from many of the performances, readings, and demonstrations will be available on our YouTube channel.

positive-press-daily:

Photo Gallery: The 2012 White House Easter Egg Roll

After nearly 12 hours of fun and excitement, another successful Easter Egg Roll has come to a close. The day featured live music, a dance party, opportunities to participate in tennis, basketball and yoga, cooking demonstrations, and story time.

If you weren’t able to join us on the South Lawn this year, check out the gallery of images from the day and videos from many of the performances, readings, and demonstrations will be available on our YouTube channel.

Congressman Removed From House Floor For Wearing A “Hoodie”

Photos from LOVE Park

@Graisinbrand:

About 1,000 people gathered for a vigil in remembrance of Trayvon Martin in Philadelphia’s LOVE Park Monday evening. The teenager was shot to death by a neighborhood watch member in Florida last month.

dailydot · Storify:

JetBlue pilot creates controversy in the air and on the ground

youngmanhattanite:

keyanastevens:

nyulocal:


Join young journalists, bloggers and media enthusiasts from all over the Northeast in New York City for a day of panel discussions on New York media and the changing landscape of journalism.
Last year’s YMW was a lot of fun and this year’s event is set to be even better. On April 21st, we will host two panels — one focusing on the current state of the media in general and one on data journalism – in NYU’s brand new Center for Spiritual Life. There will be an after party and details are forthcoming.
You need to RSVP for the young media event of the year! Here’s the RSVP for the data panel and here’s the RSVP for the general panel.



Why hasn’t Krucoff made fun of us yet? (Seriously tho, come.)


I read it in a book, it was underlined.

youngmanhattanite:

keyanastevens:

nyulocal:

Join young journalists, bloggers and media enthusiasts from all over the Northeast in New York City for a day of panel discussions on New York media and the changing landscape of journalism.

Last year’s YMW was a lot of fun and this year’s event is set to be even better. On April 21st, we will host two panels — one focusing on the current state of the media in general and one on data journalism – in NYU’s brand new Center for Spiritual Life. There will be an after party and details are forthcoming.

You need to RSVP for the young media event of the year! Here’s the RSVP for the data panel and here’s the RSVP for the general panel.

Why hasn’t Krucoff made fun of us yet? (Seriously tho, come.)

I read it in a book, it was underlined.

thepoliticalnotebook:

Occupy Wall Street: “Stand Up For Your Rights.” Taken by Justin Weinrich at an Occupy rally in Manhattan a few months ago.
Follow Justin here on Tumblr!
You can view the rest of The Political Notebook’s project to gather photography, documentation and experiences from the OWS movements nationwide. (I love photos of protest signs…) Check out the Call for Submissions page and email your photos to me at torierosedeghett@gmail.com!

thepoliticalnotebook:

Occupy Wall Street: “Stand Up For Your Rights.” Taken by Justin Weinrich at an Occupy rally in Manhattan a few months ago.

Follow Justin here on Tumblr!

You can view the rest of The Political Notebook’s project to gather photography, documentation and experiences from the OWS movements nationwide. (I love photos of protest signs…) Check out the Call for Submissions page and email your photos to me at torierosedeghett@gmail.com!


The Crackdown By Paul Glastris, washingtonmonthly.com
For many coun­tries in the Mid­dle East, the Arab Spring has proved to be a long and incon­clu­sive sea­son. Pop­u­lar insur­rec­tions in Egypt, Yemen, Syria, and even Libya have yield­ed deeply ambigu­ous results. But there is one upris­ing whose…

RT @longform: “The Crackdown” A report from Bahrain and the Arab Spring’s most ill-fated uprising: http://t.co/R7msMx14 (@kellymcevers, new @washmonthly)

The Crackdown
By Paul Glastris, washingtonmonthly.com

For many coun­tries in the Mid­dle East, the Arab Spring has proved to be a long and incon­clu­sive sea­son. Pop­u­lar insur­rec­tions in Egypt, Yemen, Syria, and even Libya have yield­ed deeply ambigu­ous results. But there is one upris­ing whose…

RT @longform: “The Crackdown” A report from Bahrain and the Arab Spring’s most ill-fated uprising: http://t.co/R7msMx14 (@kellymcevers, new @washmonthly)

Justice Department, FBI to probe shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin

MSNBC:

In the wake of spreading public outrage, the Justice Department and the FBI have opened an investigation into the shooting of a black teenager by a Florida neighborhood watch captain who escaped arrest.

More than 435,000 people, many alerted by tweets from celebrities such as movie director Spike Lee and musician Wyclef Jean, signed a petition on Change.org, a social action website, calling for the arrest of the shooter, George Zimmerman.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the FBI announced on Monday that they have opened an investigation into the shooting in Florida of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was unarmed when he was killed.

“The department will conduct a thorough and independent review of all of the evidence and take appropriate action at the conclusion of the investigation,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

The campaign to draw attention to the case is the third largest in Change.org’s history, and surpassed a petition of about 300,000 signatures credited last year with persuading Bank of America to drop plans for a $5 debit card fee, said Megan Lubin, a Change.org spokeswoman.

The victim’s family lawyer, Ben Crump, said public pressure was behind an earlier promise by the Justice Department to review the case. And some Florida legislators are moving to consider a change in the law to prevent a recurrence.

Demand for an arrest
“People all over the world, more than 400,000 people, said we demand you make an arrest. That’s what is building pressure to look at it,” Crump said.

The shooting occurred February 26 when Zimmerman spotted Martin walking home from buying candy and iced tea at a convenience store.

Zimmerman, patrolling the neighborhood in his car, called the 911 emergency number and reported what he called “a real suspicious guy.”

“This guy looks like he’s up to no good, or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about,” Zimmerman told dispatchers, adding, “These @!$%#s. They always get away.”

The dispatcher, hearing heavy breathing on the phone, asked Zimmerman: “Are you following him?”

“Yeah,” Zimmerman said.

“Okay, we don’t need you to do that,” the dispatcher responded.

But several neighbors subsequently called 911 to report a scuffle between Zimmerman and Martin. While some of the callers were still on the phone, cries for help followed by a gunshot can be heard in the background.

“I recognized that (voice) as my baby screaming for help before his life was taken,” Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, told Reuters.

“(Zimmerman) was reacting to the color of his skin,’’ Fulton, said Monday on NBC’s Today show. “He committed no crime. My son wasn’t doing anything but walking on the sidewalk, and I just don’t understand why this situation got out of control.’’

‘Stand your ground’
Police declined to arrest Zimmerman, and turned the case over to prosecutors where it remains under review. Police cited Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, enacted in 2005 and now in effect in at least 16 other states.

Dubbed “Shoot first (ask questions later)” by opponents, the Florida law allows a potential crime victim who is “in fear of great bodily injury” to use deadly force in public places.

The landmark law expanded on legislation, known as the Castle Doctrine, that allowed use of deadly force in defense of “hearth and home.” Passed under former Florida Governor Jeb Bush in 2005, it overturned a centuries-old doctrine that required the potential victim to retreat and avoid confrontation if possible, according to Ladd Everitt, spokesman for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, a Washington-based advocacy group.

“No one could argue that Zimmerman could not have safely retreated and avoided this conflict, and I think that is the critical element here and why these laws are so dangerous,” Everitt said. “He (Zimmerman) does not have a duty to retreat in Florida.”

Crump said Zimmerman should not be protected under the Stand Your Ground law. “It’s illogical, you can claim self defense after you chase and pursue somebody,” he said. “That’s a courtroom defense. That’s not something the police accept on the side of the street.”

Five years after Florida’s Stand Your Ground law was enacted, a 2010 review by the St. Petersburg Times found that reports of justifiable homicides had tripled, and a majority of cases were excused by prosecutors or the courts. Meanwhile, the petition drive, started by a friend of Trayvon’s mother, has been signed by people across the globe from Canada to Thailand, Lubin said.

Celebrity tweets over the weekend made #Trayvon a trending topic on Twitter, she said. Additional celebrities tweeting and posting on Facebook about the case include singers Clay Aiken and John Legend, film director Michael Moore and actress Mia Farrow.

Mr. Maleficent: Trayvon Martin Exclusive: Friend on Phone with Teen Before Death Recalls Final Moments

mrmaleficent:

In the last moments of his life Trayvon Martin was being hounded by a strange man on a cell phone who ran after him, cornered him, and confronted him, according to the teenage girl whose call logs show she was on the phone with the 17-year-old boy in the moments before neighborhood watch…

thedailyfeed:

Writer and actor Andrew McCarthy set out to find the best, most authentic, most truly “Irish” pub in Dublin. But as native Dubliner Connor Smith said, “The problem with a pub crawl in Dublin is that instead of checking pubs off the list, the list just keeps getting longer.”

nationalpost:

The words of a dictator: The rhetoric of Bashar al-AssadA year of protest and killing in Syria has resulted in the deaths of about 9,000 people. Activists show no signs of backing  down, as President Bashar al-Assad has said on many occasions.

nationalpost:

The words of a dictator: The rhetoric of Bashar al-Assad
A year of protest and killing in Syria has resulted in the deaths of about 9,000 people. Activists show no signs of backing  down, as President Bashar al-Assad has said on many occasions.