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Notes Nobody Will Be In The Oval Office Next Year!
Obama Tests Out Chairs in the Oval Office
By Charlie Warzel / @cwarzel
Sure, Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich could make a serious run at Barack Obama and win this coming October…but they sure as hell won’t be dishing out orders and posing for photos in the Oval Office. According to reports from The Washingtonian, the storied Executive office in the West Wing may be out of commission for a bit.
From the Washingtonian:
While the exterior of the White House has had a lot of repair work done and the press room underwent a thorough renovation, other parts of the West Wing are old, weary, and need to be upgraded.
And it could take some time, too. A source told the Washingtonian that renovations could take up to a year to get done. Further proof that when you do construction at the White House, you don’t mess around. The source also added that most of the West Wing aside of the Situation Room (how else will we hunt the terrorists?) will be out of play as well. Of course, White House liaison, Gregory Mecher made sure to be as vague as possible in a classic, robot-like email on the subject. ““As we have done since the project began, GSA will continue to keep the public abreast of this project as it moves forward.”
But hey…we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We still have a Republican Primary and a General Election to deal with. Mitt is excited about it. Are you?
Images: www.doobybrain.com
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Notes Working Lunch: Links While You Eat At Your DeskBy Charlie Warzel/ @cwarzel
INTHECAPITAL’S WORKING LUNCH: Here’s some stuff to make you smarter/less bored while you eat your lunch alone at your cubicle. Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.NOTHING SAYS ‘HOLIDAY SEASON’ LIKE A GOOD OLE FASHIONED CONGRESSIONAL STANDOFF! Good afternoon, DC. You’re almost there. Unless you work for a totalitarian dictator of sorts, this is probably your last day slaving away at the cube. We’re right there with you. Let’s see if we can’t get you through those next few hours, eh? Who are we kidding? You’re already drunk, aren’t you? Of course you are. That’s why we love you…BARRY TWEETS, YOU LISTEN: Obama tweeted last night. Figured you should know. “The @WhiteHouse: Everyone should see what #40dollars means to folks: groceries, daycare, gas, copays. Keep it going. I’ll talk abt this tmrw @ 12:15ET. -bo”OBSESSIVE WHITE HOUSE PRESS CORPS RUINS CHRISTMAS FOR FIRST FAMILY: The rabid White House press corps follows the President to Best Buy and completely spoils Christmas for Sasha and Malia. Come on, dudes. Not cool. BEST/WORST SNIPPET: The Associated Press reported the mystery game was “Sims 3: Pets.” (slams head against desk) http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/cutline/pool-reporters-obama-best-buy-ruin-sasha-malia-230014303.htmlBREATH OF FRESH AIR - A NEW HAMPSHIRE PAPER ENDORSES LEAST-CRAZY GOP CANDIDATE: Are Granite State residents starting to see the light with Huntsman? Probably not, but this only can only help, right? The former Utah Governor, seen last night tickling the ivories on Letterman, must be smiling this afternoon after getting an endorsement from the Concord Monitor.IMPORTANT SNIPPET FROM THEIR ENDORSEMENT: ”Huntsman, a consistent but never doctrinaire conservative, would present the greatest challenge to Obama.” Read the Rest here: http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/299756/huntsman-is-the-best-choice-for-gopBit o’ Tech…PETE CASHMORE’S PREDICTIONS ON 2012’s TOP TECH TRENDS: I’m not usually one for throwing out random predictions but Cashmore, founder of Mashable.com, nails it in my opinion. IMPORTANT SNIPPET:”Near Field Communication essentially lets you replace your credit cards with your phone: Wave an NFC-enabled phone near the credit card reader in a store (or taxi cab), and the money is deducted from your account.” http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/19/tech/innovation/top-tech-trends-2012/index.htmlTHE LIST OF COMPANIES THAT SUPPORT SOPA AND THEIR PHONE NUMBERS SO YOU CAN HARASS THEM: So, as you probably know, SOPA legislation will literally rape and murder the internet as we know it. So if you want to, you know, have an internet, maybe you should call one of these organizations and tell them they’re making a huge mistake. We’re admittedly a little biased seeing as we live and breath on the internets. http://www.businessinsider.com/all-the-companies-supporting-sopa-the-awful-internet-censorship-lawand-how-to-contact-them-2011-12BEST OF POLITICO’S PLAYBOOK (we read it so you don’t have to): via a direct copy/paste -ROMNEY — “Consultant wars: Mitt’s mad men,” by Ben Smith: “MittRomney’s campaigns for governor and president have employed perhaps the three signature political admen of their generation: Mike Murphy, Alex Castellanos and Stuart Stevens. … They hate each other. More precisely, Murphy and Castellanos, who worked for Romney in 2002 and 2008, respectively, have proven unable to disguise their loathing for Stevens, his current guru and frequent traveling companion. … [W]hile Stevens makes the campaign’s ads and travels with the candidate, Murphy is widely seen as waiting in the wings. … ‘Murphy wouldn’t come back in unless they agreed to shoot Stu in the head,’ said a prominent Republican consultant who knows all three well and who, like many who spoke to POLITICO, spoke anonymously for fear of becoming involved in a dangerous feud. …http://bit.ly/tUZtAVWELCOME TO CUSTOMS, WOULD YOU LIKE TO DECLARE THAT 9 LBS OF HEROIN?: Yesterday it was 6-inch daggers in a hollowed out book. Today…yep, you guessed it, just $315k of heroin stashed inside old soccer clothes. What tipped them off? Probably that he was coming back from 17 days in Bolivia… http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/crime-punishment/2011/12/315k-heroin-found-dulles-travelers-soccer-clothes/2024276the fun stuff….30 CRAZIEST STORIES INVOLVING FACEBOOK IN 2011: Example: 1 in 5 women would choose ‘Facebooking’ over sex. Plus other zany stories. Courtesy of the soon-to-be-newsy, Buzzfeed. http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-craziest-facebook-stories-of-2011DOLLAR MENU BE DAMNED! ORDER OFF-MENU AT FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS (h/t Marc Pitarresi): Guess what? All your favorite artery clogging fast food restaurants have secret menus. Next time you go to Chipotle you’re gonna be soooo VIP. FAVORITE ITEM: McDonald’s Chicken and Waffles (McGriddle sandwich with chicken in the middle)http://blog.couponsherpa.com/secret-restaurant-menus-revealed/25 BEST DC-RELATED VIDEOS TO SQUASH THAT LAST REMAINING BIT OF PRODUCTIVITY: Because you are probably the only person at your office right now.Until next time, folks. -
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Notes Working Lunch: Links While You Eat At Your DeskBy Charlie Warzel/ @cwarzelINTHECAPITAL’S WORKING LUNCH: Here’s some stuff to make you smarter/less bored while you eat your lunch alone at your cubicle. Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.ONE YEAR UNTIL DOOMSDAY…or so the Mayans would have you believe. According to a select few who take their cues from the Mayan Calendar, we have exactly one year until fire and brimstone and the end of days. This news, more than anything else, could potentially explain the stalemate in Congress. After all, who needs tax breaks when the sky falls and every volcano on earth erupts in concert? Well played, House GOP…well played.
But in case you’re actually worried, here is a link to assuage your fears about the apocalypse: http://www.livescience.com/17572-doomsday-world-2012.htmlWSJ OP-ED SMACKDOWN: ‘Who’s down with GOP?’ Here’s a hint: Not the WSJ editorial board. This morning they effectively pantsed the House Republicans. Have a look via our Important Snippet: ”The GOP leaders have somehow managed the remarkable feat of being blamed for opposing a one-year extension of a tax holiday that they are surely going to pass…Republicans have also achieved the small miracle of letting Mr. Obama position himself as an election-year tax cutter, although he’s spent most of his Presidency promoting tax increases and he would hit the economy with one of the largest tax increases ever in 2013. This should be impossible.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204791104577110573867064702.html?mod=djemEditorialPage_t…This segues nicely into our BEST OF ‘POLITICO’S PLAYBOOK’ (We read it so you don’t have to):“—A TOP DEMOCRAT EMAILS: “Boehner has lost the WSJ ed board. The only question now is, how quickly does the Speaker wave the white flag.”” via a direct Copy/Paste.Next, a spot of local news…LUNCHTIME IDEAS FOR YOU…via Best Bites Blog @ Washingtonian: Food Truck CITY in Metro Center and Farragut North today. Check it out.AN OCCUPY DC CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!: Looks like the folks at Occupy DC won’t be coming home for the Holidays…“As other camps are shut down, D.C. Occupiers are seeing an influx of new protesters arriving in the nation’s capital, some from as far away as Wisconsin and Florida”.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/2011/12/occupy-dc-among-last-camps-standing/2021221#ixzz1hBTOTFigNO LIQUID CONTAINERS OVER 3 OZ. AND NO—OH SWEET LORD! ARE THOSE THROWING DAGGERS?!!: TSA at Reagan National confiscated some 6 inch daggers off a guy that were found in a hollowed out book. I will now promptly shut up about the line going through security on my way home this week… http://dc.sunne.ws/2011/12/20/tsa-stops-man-with-book-containing-daggers-at-reagan/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitterBits of Tech/Media…ADAM SAVAGE OF MYTHBUSTERS RAILS AGAINST SOPA: Important Snippet - ”These bills aren’t simply unconstitutional, they are anticonstitutional. They would allow for the wholesale elimination of entire websites, domain names, and chunks of the DNS (the underlying structure of the whole Internet), based on nothing more than the “good faith” assertion by a single party that the website is infringing on a copyright of the complainant. The accused doesn’t even have to be aware that the complaint has been made”.MythBuster Adam Savage: SOPA Could Destroy the Internet as We Know It - Popular MechanicsTHE WHITE HOUSE TAKES TO TWITTER OVER PAYROLL TAX CUT, SHARES RESULTS ON STORIFY: If the payroll tax cut isn’t passed, it will cost Americans $40/ paycheck, according to the White House. But you don’t need to hear it from me…just check out their take.REALLY SWEET PHOTO OF MARINE ONE APPROACHING WHITE HOUSE FROM THE AIR: Pretty much summed it up in the headline…it is awesome though.TO KILL TIME TODAY AND TOMORROW WHEN YOU ARE REQUIRED TO SIT AT WORK, BUT HAVE NO WORK TO DO:Longreads.com’s Top 10 Longreads of 2011.GOP 2012 HUBRIS OF THE DAY: From The Iowa Caucus’ Flavor of the Hour, Ron Paul: Important Snippet: ”“I’m on the verge of saying it’s in the bag,” the Texas congressman told the Herald, referring to the Granite State’s Jan. 10 primary. “Iowa has something big to do with it. If we win or get a close second we can build our credibility. There’s this thing that’s very real in politics called momentum.” http://www.bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/view.bg?articleid=1390091CRAP YOU CAN DO AROUND TOWN THAT’LL GET YOU ‘IN THE SPIRIT’: The Downtown Holiday Market is today at 8th and F st., NW…only two days left to go to it. http://www.downtownholidaymarket.com/But methinks you’ll probably just go get bombed with your coworkers at 5pm instead. T’is the season for awkward corporate mingling!!TO CLOSE, MEME GRAPHIC THAT ILLUSTRATES HOW EVERYONE FEELS ABOUT CONGRESS: It’s aptly titled, 2012 is coming.Okay folks, that’s it until tomorrow. Hope we made your afternoon just a little more bearable. -
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Notes National Menorah Lighting Ceremony Tonight, Xmas Trees Can Suck ItBy Carl Pierre / @carlpierre
As most people know, it’s easy to grow weary of the dizzying over-stimulation that is Christmas. From the horrible Hallmark jingles that seem impossible to forget to the throngs of shoppers fighting to the death for a singing Elmo doll, it’s easy to catch what I call “Christmas Fatigue”. Christmas Fatigue has one sure-fire remedy.
Other holidays.
There is a smorgasbord of holidays to choose from, including my all-time favorite Hanukkah.
As it so happens, the National Menorah Lighting Ceremony starts today. Here are three solid reasons to check it out:
1. It will be lit more than once.
Every year there is an over accumulation of hype over the National Tree being lit; people taking pictures in tacky sweaters, busting out thermoses of their home-made hot chocolate, and general Christmas-related tomfoolery. But once the button is hit and the lights go on, it’s all over. With the National Menorah there are nine beautiful candles to be lit, so if you happen to miss a lighting, there are several more to check out. Why witness a touching lighting ceremony once, when you can relive it again and again?
2. The food is damn delicious.
Whether you’re part of the tribe or not, it’s hard to say no to hot latkes and donuts. Did I mention they’re free? That’s right, oh snap. Indeed sir.
3. It’s fun for all you Goys (no, not a misspelling) and Jewish People
For those not familiar with Hanukkah or who were not lucky enough to grow up with a Jewish Deli in their neighborhood, it’s a fantastic way to connect to a new tradition. Having been to a few menorah lightings myself, it’s a heartening ceremony that includes live music, guest speakers, and free menorah kits (for those who put off buying that menorah until the last minute).
The lighting of the first candle starts this afternoon at 4:00pm EST near the front of the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue. Come by and nosh!
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Internet Companies are Different
The Internet has changed the way the world works. A culture of sharing has risen around its creation. In fact,...
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“oh you are extra preening in this one.”
Champagne and shoes in DC. Life does not suck.
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On building out a viral network beyond a group of friends
knudgeme asks: so how do you build your network out in a way to make it viral?
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So a meth lab exploded in a luxury Dupont apartment building Wednesday night…
More from In The Capital:
It seems as if the show Breaking Bad has gained some traction with some residents of Dupont Circle, as DCPD and the fire department were called out last night to
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Cool picture (by Laurent Bourrelly) of a Newton MessagePad 130 owned (at some point) by NASA.
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GQ at the Super Bowl
Tonight is party night for GQ in Indianapolis. Anyone wanna shoot some pool? We’ve also got foosball, air hockey, Questlove on...
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