Nelson Mandela Has Passed Away

What a great man!

Sherry

 

The story about his relationship with his jailer shows the power of his convictions.

 

"There are too many of us who stand on the sidelines."

President Obama at Nelson Mandela's Memorial

Sherry

 

"Say Cheese!" - President Obama at Nelson Mandela's memorial



What a class act...

 

Even Michelle looks annoyed with his antics.

 

Is that Tom Arnold on the left?

 

Tacky for sure...

 

http://www.today.com/news/first-lady-not-peeved-says-photographer-who-caught-obama-selfie-2D11723566

 

This was the most telling line in that article:

“For me, the behaviour of these leaders in snapping a selfie (at a memorial service) seems perfectly natural,” he said.

What a sad commentary on the times in which we live...

 

Thanks for posting the link. I found it very interesting that the photographer wanted to set the record straight. I was wondering who the other people were in the photo and now know.

Sherry

"The photographer who captured the picture of President Barack Obama posing for a selfie during Nelson Mandela’s memorial wants to set the record straight.

First, the president really didn’t commit a funeral faux pas by posing for the selfie, the photographer said. And second, the first lady wasn’t as annoyed as she looked.

“Photos can lie,” AFP photographer Roberto Schmidt wrote in a blog post, “The story behind ‘the selfie.’”

Schmidt took the photograph of Obama smiling Tuesday for a self-portrait along with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt, who took the picture with her smartphone.

Although other photos showed First Lady Michelle Obama looking peeved over the display, “in reality just a few seconds earlier the first lady was herself joking with those around her, Cameron and Schmidt included,” the photographer said.

“Her stern look was captured by chance,” he said.

Many in the media, and online, had interpreted that “stern look” to mean disapproval of the president’s lighthearted behavior at a historic occasion. Schmidt addressed that, too.

When the Danish prime minister took out her mobile phone and took a photo of herself smiling with Obama and Cameron, she did so in a celebratory environment, he said.

“All around me in the stadium, South Africans were dancing, singing and laughing to honour their departed leader. It was more like a carnival atmosphere, not at all morbid,” Schmidt said. “The ceremony had already gone on for two hours and would last another two. The atmosphere was totally relaxed — I didn’t see anything shocking in my viewfinder, president of the U.S. or not. We are in Africa.”

Schmidt said he doubts anyone could have “remained totally stony faced” for the entire memorial, especially as thousands of people celebrated in the South African stadium where it took place.

“For me, the behaviour of these leaders in snapping a selfie seems perfectly natural,” he said."

 

Since when was a photographer the expert on etiquette at a Memorial service for an international hero?

Wonder what Miss Manners and Dear Abby think...

 

Shouldn't the political aspect be in the political forum? In any case the celebration was so loud they had to try to quiet the crowd to allow the speakers to be heard. It was far from the memorial service most would have here, but when in Rome one should do as the Romans do.

 

Well, here's what Miss Sherry/Dear Sherry thinks:

It was a unique memorial service. One where singing and dancing in the rain was not unusual. One where security was almost nill, while even almost a hundred heads of state attended.

In my humble opinion, Mr. Mandela would have laughed. He would have thought it wonderful that people were taking pictures of each other, one another.....even heads of state.

I think that's the type of man he was in life and now after.....

Sherry

 

Obama is once again shuckin' and jivin' on the world stage and Michelle appears to have the good sense to be peeved at his antics. Let the photog and the apologists say whatever they want. A picture is worth a thousand words.

 

So if it was such a joyous celebration why do the other heads of state (including our First Lady) appear to be acting with the proper decorum while Huggy Bear macks on a swede?



Make all the excuses you want, but this is a picture of a married man flirting with another woman and a wife who is ****ed off about it.

 

LOL,, right on..

 

I would say Urkel failed to score that evening other than scoring a spot on the couch.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/12/10/mandela-memorial-color/3953675/

JOHANNESBURG - South Africans gave the man they consider the father of their country a raucous and festive send-off that at times was part revival and other times seemed more like a soccer match.

The steady, cold rain kept many home, leaving entire sections empty in the open-air soccer stadium where the memorial was held. But those who came celebrated Nelson Mandela's life with relish.

By the thousands, they came dressed in the green, yellow and black colors of his political party, the African National Congress. They stomped until the bleachers shook. They chanted and sang so loudly an official begged the crowd to quiet down. And a brief shoving match ensued between supporters of rival political parties.

Many waved huge South African flags. Blacks and whites hugged in the spirit of reconciliation.

Rebecca Brown, 41, and her sister, Centric, 43, wouldn't have missed one moment of the goodbye.

"We are saying goodbye today to the person who died for us," said Rebecca Brown, 41. "We have to pay our last respects to Tata (father) and say thanks for everything. We will take it from here."

Two rows behind the sisters, sat Lesley Lesele, 41, who said, "This is such a great moment for us considering our history and where we've come from."

As he spoke, the crowd began the first of a series of chants that lasted throughout the almost five-hour service. They chanted, "Mandela, yo. My president." They sang freedom songs from the days of apartheid that are taught today to schoolchildren.

The crowd grew so loud that at several points, ANC official Cyril Ramaphosa exhorted the crowd to show discipline.

 

Considering it takes place in a whole other country, on a whole other continent, with a whole other culture...I would not be surprised that their memorial services can be quite different than what we see in the southern United States. I would also consider that the man's life's work was based on acceptance and should be celebrated and not mourned. Then I would finally consider that the photographer was actually there (as evidenced by the picture he took) and neither Miss Manners, Dear Abby, nor you for that matter, were, which makes him a tiny bit more of an 'expert'.

Sheesh.

 

As usual more BS from you,, DB