Barack Obama
Rock

A Promising Week

Well, on Tuesday morning I said I’d see you on the other side. And here we are. And you know what? The other side is a good place! On January 20th, Barack Obama will be sworn in as 44th president of the United States.

Granted, this country is in a mess, and our new president has an enormous series of tasks in front of him, but to know that we’ll have an intelligent, coherent, rational, calm presence in the White House is so refreshing to me.

And to think also that this nation – a country that still has a looong way to go with its race issues – elected an African American to the highest office in the land… I find it profoundly encouraging. And so does most of the country and the world. I can’t understand how anyone can fail to be deeply moved (in a very positive way) by the events of the last week. But everyone sees different things in different ways. Hopefully Obama will help ease the doubts, fears, and in a lot of cases, the hatred and the venom among his detractors.

For this white American dude, his African-American bride (born in Kenya, raised in Seychelles), and our two gorgeous girls, this week was like a burst of sun through the clouds.

Bob Marley & the Wailers – Coming in From the Cold

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SHORPY – An Amazing Web Site

If you’re a history buff like me, you will love this site. Dave regularly posts high resolution photographs from times long gone, which offer vivid, often breathtaking views into the past.

Here are a few examples. Click them to see the high res versions… Seriously, look at the high res images. Stunning.

1914. “White House tent in Rose Garden.” A view of the executive mansion from over the West Wing looking east past the Treasury and along Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative.
March 4, 1913. Inaugural ceremony, East Front of Capitol. Woodrow Wilson being sworn in as 28th president of the United States.
March 4, 1913. “Inaugural ceremony, East Front of Capitol.” Woodrow Wilson being sworn in as 28th president of the United States.
Spring 1943. Romeroville, near Chacon, New Mexico. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by John Collier for the Office of War Information.
Spring 1943. “Romeroville, near Chacon, New Mexico.” 4×5 Kodachrome transparency by John Collier for the Office of War Information.

Visit Shorpy: History in HD

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