President Obama Takes a Walk - Surprises the Heck Out of People

President Obama took a Springtime Stroll on the Washington Mall and surprised the heck out of tourists who kept asking him if he was real, and not made of wax, LOL. And now the video has gone viral with almost a million views on YouTube.

"The Bear is Loose!"

Happy Place Diversion ~ Batkid Saves San Francisco!

This is the cutest and most heartwarming story ever! AWWWWWW!

From USA Today

. . . pint-sized Miles Scott, 5. Miles is in remission from leukemia, and, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, managed to turn his obsession with comic book heroes into the real thing. Well, almost. There was no way Penguin was going to get away with anything on Friday.
. . . Miles, who lives in Tulelake in far Northern California, was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 18 months old, ended treatments in June and is now in remission.

His father, Nick Scott, thanked the Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation and the estimated 7,000 people who were helping make his son's wish come true.
"All the doctors, nurses and all the other parents that have to deal with the same thing we're going through. I hope they get a conclusion to their illnesses like we're getting," Nick Scott told KGO-TV.

#Exclusive photo from my source at "the bank" #SFBatkid stops the riddler! Busted. @abc7newsbayarea pic.twitter.com/zJMfvXEbAd

— Dan Ashley (@DanAshleyABC7) November 15, 2013

Too cute!!! => President Obama's message to #SFBatKid —> http://t.co/vHWSjSREcl

— Smarty Pants (@Smartypants60) November 15, 2013

#BatKid pic.twitter.com/nON0TInszJ

— Faith Restored (@FRestored) November 16, 2013

Happy Place Diversion ~ Ironic Rewrite of Alanis Morissette

"We changed your song so it finally makes sense.
We've got an editorial way of helping you out.
Helping you out."

And the Children Shall Lead Them

After the sad week we've had - with the unjust verdict of the Zimmerman Trial and grief for Trayvon Martin - this video of innocent kids without prejudice is a breath of fresh air. And it should give everyone hope for the future because the kids raised today understand the global community differently than any generation. And they are nearly colorblind and vastly more open-minded.

Forward.

Heartwarming Reunion After Oklahoma Tornado

This is a sweet video about a woman and her dog being reunited after the Moore, Oklahoma tornado. Originally from CBS News. I think the voice of the owner revives the pup.

Happy Place Diversion ~ Astronaut Sings "Space Oddity" IN Space

source: crunchiness

So enjoyable!

CHRIS HADFIELD SINGS SPACE ODDITY IN SPACE!“Hallo Spaceboy...”Commander Chris Hadfield, currently on... fb.me/24sZNW5ly
— David Bowie Official (@DavidBowieReal) May 12, 2013

How it all came about via David Bowie's Facebook:

It’s possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created and you may recognise the name of one of those involved in its creation.

We’re talking about Chris's fellow Canadian, the lovely Emm Gryner, who was a part of the Bowie live band in 1999/2000. Here’s what she said on her blog regarding her involvement:

“The task was in front of me. I came up with a piano part. i then enlisted my friend, producer and fellow Canadian Joe Corcoran to take my piano idea and Chris' vocal and blow it up into a fully produced song. Drums! mellotrons! fuzz bass! We also incorporated into the track ambient space station noises which Chris had put on his Soundcloud. I was mostly blown away by how pure and earnest Chris' singing is on this track. Like weightlessness and his voice agreed to agree.

And voila! And astronaut sings Space Oddity in space! I was so honoured to be asked to be a part of this. You wouldn't get too many chances to make a recording like this and not only that, to make music with someone who - through his vibrant communications with kids in schools to his breathtaking photos to his always patient and good-humoured demeanour - has done more for science and space than anyone else this generation. Planet earth IS blue, and there's nothing left for Chris Hadfield to do. Right. Safe travels home Commander! ”

From Guardian UK

A Soyuz space capsule carrying a three-man crew returning from a five-month mission to the International Space Station landed safely Tuesday on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

The Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, American Thomas Marshburn and Russian Roman Romanenko landed as planned south-east of the town of Dzhezkazgan at 8.31am local time on Tuesday. The Soyuz TMA-07M capsule slowly descended by parachute on to the steppes under clear, sunny skies. Russian search and rescue helicopters hovered over the landing site for a quick recovery effort.

. . . Hadfield, 53, an engineer and former test pilot from Milton, Ontario, was Canada's first professional astronaut to live aboard the space station and became the first Canadian in charge of a spacecraft. He relinquished command of the space station on Sunday.

Hadfield bowed out of orbit by posting a music video on YouTube on Sunday his own custom version of David Bowie's Space Oddity. "With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here's Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the World," Hadfield said via Twitter. It is believed to be the first music video made in space.

Hadfield sang often in orbit, using a guitar already aboard the complex, and even took part in a live, Canadian coast-to-coast concert in February that included the Barenaked Ladies' Ed Robertson and a youth choir.

"It's just been an extremely fulfilling and amazing experience end to end," Hadfield told mission control on Monday. "From this Canadian to all the rest of them, I offer an enormous debt of thanks."

Happy Place Diversion ~ What if God was One of Us?

The new Pope Francis from Venezuela is considered a "man of the people" who said the other day he wants a "Poor Church to Feed the Poor." And he is trying harder than any Pope within living memory to prove that early in his Papacy.

Pope Francis ditches bullet-proof "pope mobile" for open Jeep and frequent stops to embrace Easter week crowds. @thenation @hardball

— John Nichols (@NicholsUprising) March 24, 2013

Pope Francis will celebrate Holy Thursday mass in a juvenile detention center rather than the Vatican. @thenation @hardball

— John Nichols (@NicholsUprising) March 24, 2013

From USA Today - the Pope on Palm Sunday

The square overflowed with some 250,000 pilgrims, tourists and Romans eager to join the new pope at the start of solemn Holy Week ceremonies, which lead up to Easter, Christianity's most important day.

. . . Francis even climbed down from the vehicle, kissed a woman in the crowd and chatted briefly with her, and another man in the crowd leaned over a barrier to squeeze the pontiff on a shoulder — an unheard of familiarity in the previous pontificate of the reserved Benedict XVI.

. . . Francis said Jesus "awakened so many hopes in the heart, above all among humble, simple, poor, forgotten people, those who don't matter in the eyes of the world."
Francis then told an off-the-cuff story from his childhood in Argentina. "My grandmother used to say, 'children, burial shrouds don't have' pockets'" the pope said, in a variation of "you can't take it with you."

So lately I've been thinking about Joan Osborne's hit "What if God was One of Us?" When the song came out many people thought it was somehow sacrilegious, but I never understood that criticism. She is asking age-old questions about faith and belief that all real Christians consider. She sings about Jesus being a human, which according to scripture he was, which is the whole point of the New Testament and all his sermons. Jesus experienced human life and let his disciples ask him questions. He was a man of the people and went out amongst the sinners. He didn't shun the poor, the unwell, or the prostitutes (which the GOP would call "sluts"). He led by example. He never said a single thing about hating gay people, or black people, or anyone with a different religion. Yes, the Church has unfortunately had leaders who felt that way over the centuries, but that is not the message of Jesus or a reason to hate all Christians.



Gandhi said, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Exactly. Many so-called Christians have forgotten the actual teachings of Christ, just as many denominations that consider themselves Protestant have drifted away from the simplicity of Martin Luther. Some churches have became more and more ostentatious and outrageous as they try to out-do the churches down the street instead of using their tithes to help the indigent and feed poor children. Jesus threw the moneychangers out of the Temple, and I think he would have the same reaction to all the politics in the church today. For instance, the Tea Partiers are so focused on what they think is "right" about abortion and the unborn that they want to sacrifice those who have been born, who are already existing and need our help: the elderly, the poor, the sick, and the downtrodden.

Many so-called Christians have spent the last ten years preparing for Armageddon, or the Rapture, or the Mayan Apocalypse. And because they consider themselves to be "The Chosen" because of which church they followed, they became so self-absorbed with either death or survival that they just didn't care about anyone else. That is not what the church teaches at all.


They even made fun of it on the Simpsons several times: once in "Bart's Comet", when Ned Flanders builds a Bunker just large enough to save his family and his neighbors, but then the whole town shows up; and in Thank God It's Doomsday in which Homer is scared by the Left Behind movies and believes the Rapture is coming soon, but discovers he isn't much of a Prophet after all. Unfortunately for modern Christianity, Homer-as-Everyman isn't far from reality. And throughout history the church has dealt with "false prophets." An aunt of mine who recently died said people would frighten children with the same stories back in the 1920s, and my Grandmother told me years ago that Haley's Comet caused the same fear at the turn of the century. Human nature just doesn't change very much.

But I still think it's much more sacrilegious to pretend to be a Catholic, Protestant, Jew - whatever - and ask "What would Ayn Rand do?" Or even worse, "What would Grover Norquist do?" Ugh. The GOP cynicism they spout while expecting us to believe they are devoutly religious has nothing to do with God or Jesus. They are NOT "one of us," nor do they care anything about the slobs on the bus. Christianity did not "create" the Congress we have right now, but I'm happy to say the elections last year when the "people" spoke are a good first step in getting the hypocrite Pharisees out of our government.

Has Reality TV Jumped the Shark?

Do we really need 12 shows about Alaska? Or 3 shows about the Amish? And that's just the first letter of the alphabet!

Funny or Die asks the question . . .

I Can't Believe These Are All TV Shows - watch more funny videos

SNL takes on Rubio, the Pope, Nugent and Fox & Friends

*LOL*






. . .
Thanks to the official "SNL" website for posting the full list of corrections from this week's "Fox & Friends."

• At no time did our military fight a war against Cobra.
• The "T" in BLT does not stand for "terrorism."
• Meteors are not coming to take your guns.
• It is not Roe vs. Dwayne Wade.
• Zero Dark Thirty is not a diet soda.
• The Vatican is not accessible through a wardrobe.
• Food stamps are not used to mail food.
• Armadillo is not Spanish for "arms dealer."
• Navy Seals are not actual seals with laser beams on their heads.
• "That's not a knife, this is a knife" is not the Australian National Anthem.
• At no time did the passengers on the Carnival Cruise ship become zombies.
• Beyonce cannot hypnotize animals.
• "Adele" is a singer. "A Dell" is a computer.
• February is a month.
• Marco Rubio did not bring pasta back from China.
• The Staten Island Ferry will not give you money for teeth.
• The real Abraham Lincoln lived longer than 3 hours.
• More people died from gun violence last year than from walking into elevator shafts.
• The Constitution did not "write itself."
• Bruno Mars is from Earth.
• There are no Americans in the Bible.
• The tie goes to the runner.
• Not all amputees kill their girlfriends.
• Zumba is not a secret form of Santeria.
• North Korea is not a Cloud City.
• A "pin code" and a "pine cone" are two different things.
• The kid on Modern Family did not start out in porn.
• Joe Biden's teeth are real and do not pick up radio waves.
• Polar bears are rarely "asking for it."
• Kobe beef is not meat from the flesh of Kobe Bryant.
• A "period piece" is not a movie that only plays during one week of the month.
• Plants are alive, but they cannot watch TV.
• A transgender is not a car that can be driven by men and women.
• Kate Upton is not dating a glacier.
• God does not sneeze electricity.
• The similar names of the North Dakota and South Dakota are not a coincidence.
• Even black people love Raymond.
• Mumford's daughters are not in foster care.

Happy Place Diversion ~ Percy Faith Retro

Enjoy these retro instrumentals from my play list. Serenity Now!

Happy Holidays

To all my readers and viewers in the United States and Everywhere, I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season! Thank you for making this blog a success!

Merry Rube Goldberg Christmas!

This is one of the best Rube Goldberg set-ups I've ever seen.
(If you don't know who that is, look Here)

Happy Place Diversion: Peace on Earth

At one time most people in our country could agree that the winter holidays were a time for contemplating Peace on Earth. Nowadays, I guess not, thanks to the NRA.

But I'm going to do it today anyway with this extended Happy Place Diversion. No guns today. Serenity Now!

SNL Paints Boehner as Bullied by Tea Party

source: gifs from last night

Obama agrees to not raise taxes over the fiscal cliff because he takes pity on John Boehner, depantsed by GOP bullies in the ladies restroom, then pelted with rotten eggs in a burned-out warehouse.

The President: "Leave this poor orange man alone!"

Ha! :)

Nate Silver Mentioned in Doonesbury

To quote Chris Matthews: HA!

Nate Silver's 538 Blog



Via Political Carnival

Tulsa, Oklahoma Reporter Explains the Best Route to Canada

CBC Manitoba

On Tuesday, many Americans tweeted about moving to Canada if their candidate didn't win the presidential election. Below is a video of Jeff Brucculeri, a Tulsa, Oklahoma traffic reporter, who takes it one step further by answering the special request with directions to Winnipeg from Tulsa!

Romney AutoTune and Gangnam Style Parody

CollegeHumor's Favorite Funny Videos

Happy Place Diversion: Obama Works It Dance Video

Peace

Seems like a good time for this song. Here's hoping for better news tomorrow about the strife in the Middle East.


Now I've been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is
Why must we go on hating, why can't we live in bliss

Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again

Happy Place Diversion: Obama Shenanigans in Florida

source: gifsfln
The Obama shenanigans have nothing to do with voter suppression, thank goodness! He was just seen having some fun with ordinary citizens this weekend.

This guy in Florida apparently got permission from the Secret Service before he gave President Obama a bear hug inside a family pizza restaurant on Sunday.

The hug has gone viral on Facebook and Twitter.

Can you imagine Mitt Romney getting a hug from anyone? Not so much.


A Bear Hug for Obama by reuters

This follows another incident in which Obama asked a small Hawaiian boy "Do You Have a Birth Certificate?



source: gifsfln
Story via Marketwatch

. . . he stopped at Gator Dockside, a sports bar in Orlando.
At one table, he met Andre Wupperman, who turns 7 next week, and was informed that he was born in Hawaii.
“You were born in Hawaii?” the president asked. “You have a birth certificate?” The table burst out laughing.