I'm all in and I'll raise you one birth certificate.  I can TRUMP that!

 OOH!  I fold.....Me too!  Me too!

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President Obama has a peculiar talent for enraging his critics while deflating the enthusiasm of his friends, on full display in the Manhattan mosque controversy.

His first intervention, at a White House dinner for Ramadan on Friday, was an unqualified defense of both religious liberty and religious tolerance, implying that opposition to a mosque near Ground Zero violated both. In his second intervention, in an unplanned exchange with a reporter on Saturday, he insisted that he was not commenting "on the wisdom" of building the mosque, merely affirming the right to a construction permit. It was not a contradiction, but it was a marked change in tone. Obama managed to collect all the political damage for taking an unpopular stand without gaining credit for political courage.




But being hapless does not make the president wrong.

Though columnists are loath to admit it, there is a difference between being a commentator and being president. Pundits have every right to raise questions about the construction of an Islamic center near Ground Zero. Where is the funding coming from? What are the motives of its supporters? Is the symbolism insensitive?

But the view from the Oval Office differs from the view from a keyboard. A president does not merely have opinions; he has duties to the Constitution and to the citizens he serves -- including millions of Muslim citizens. His primary concern is not the sifting of sensitivities but the protection of the American people and the vindication of their rights.

By this standard, Obama had no choice but the general path he took. No president, of any party or ideology, could tell millions of Americans that their sacred building desecrates American holy ground. This would understandably be taken as a presidential assault on the deepest beliefs of his fellow citizens. It would be an unprecedented act of sectarianism, alienating an entire faith tradition from the American experiment. If a church or synagogue can be built on a commercial street in Lower Manhattan, declaring a mosque off-limits would officially equate Islam with violence and terrorism. No president would consider making such a statement. And those commentators who urge the president to do so fundamentally misunderstand the presidency itself.



An inclusive rhetoric toward Islam is sometimes dismissed as mere political correctness. Having spent some time crafting such rhetoric for a president, I can attest that it is actually a matter of national interest. It is appropriate -- in my view, required -- for a president to draw a clear line between "us" and "them" in the global conflict with Muslim militants. I wish Obama would do it with more vigor. But it matters greatly where that line is drawn. The militants hope, above all else, to provoke conflict between the West and Islam -- to graft their totalitarian political manias onto a broader movement of Muslim solidarity. America hopes to draw a line that isolates the politically violent and those who tolerate political violence -- creating solidarity with Muslim opponents and victims of radicalism.

How precisely is our cause served by treating the construction of a non-radical mosque in Lower Manhattan as the functional equivalent of defiling a grave? It assumes a civilizational conflict instead of defusing it. Symbolism is indeed important in the war against terrorism. But a mosque that rejects radicalism is not a symbol of the enemy's victory; it is a prerequisite for our own.

The federal government has a response to American mosques taken over by advocates of violence. It investigates them, freezes their assets and charges their leaders. It does not urge zoning decisions that express a general discomfort with Islam itself.

Here again, this debate illustrates a gap in perspective. A commentator can speak with obvious sincerity of preventing American hallowed ground from being overshadowed by a mosque. A president not only serves Muslim citizens, not only commands Muslims in the American military, but also leads a coalition that includes Iraqi and Afghan Muslims who risk death each day fighting Islamic radicalism at our side. How could he possibly tell them that their place of worship inherently symbolizes the triumph of terror?

There are many reasons to criticize Obama's late, vacillating response to the Manhattan mosque, and perhaps even to criticize this particular mosque. But those who want a president to assert that any mosque would defile the neighborhood near Ground Zero are asking him to undermine the war on terrorism. A war on Islam would make a war on terrorism impossible.

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DEAR PRESIDENT OBAMA, HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY.......

FOR ANOTHER FOUR WE CERTAINLY HOPE YOU'LL STAY! 
                                   
                              HAPPY BIRTHDAY

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This is the first time in the history of the United States that a sitting President not only hosted a Diwali ceremony but was also present at the function.Indian government and Indian people are very happy on this Diwali as the American president Barack Obama himself celebrated the Indian lights festival.

"This coming Saturday, Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists, here in America and around the world, will celebrate this holiday by lighting diyas, or lamps, which symbolise the victory of light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance," said Obama at a ceremony in the East Room.

Obama said at his ceremonial speech in white house. It was previous president George .W Bush who actually started that tradition but he never took part himself but now Obama has taken a step ahead of litting the lamp and of taking part in ceremony by himself. Obama went to Indian treaty room and lit lamp with a candle then he listen the speech of “pandit” who was reciting from the sacred book Upanishads. Obama also had a “tilak” on his head.

Obama then lit the traditional lamp with a candle as a Hindu priest with a three-forked tilak on his forehead chanted "Asatoma Sadgamaya" (Lead us from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to liberation) from the Upanishads.

Obama listened intently as the priest ended his invocation with "Om Shanti Shanti", returned the priest's namaste with folded hands and then shook his hands before leaving with greetings of "Happy Diwali and Saal Mubarak" to everyone.

"Thank you Mr President for being the first president to come to the Diwali ceremony," a journalist called out to Obama. "Yeah, isn't that something?" the president shot back.

Obama's White House also did not forget to leave the traditional box of Indian sweets on some 150 chairs for the guests.

The half-hour East Room celebration was attended by a crowd of Indians and other Asians. India's Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and Ambassador Meera Shankar dropped by, and several Indian-Americans in administrative positions in Washington attended.

The brief ceremony began with a performance by the well-regarded Hindi a-capella group Penn Masala.

The White House kept it light and simple. A box of Indian mithai (sweets) was placed on some 150 chairs that filled the East Room but there was no food fest or song and dance.

After his remarks, much of which was devoted to the Asian-American initiative, there was a single lamp that Obama lit from a candle. The Siva-Vishnu temple priest, dressed in ceremonial togs with an enormous three-forked tilak on his forehead, kept his invocation short -- chanting ''Asatoma Sadgamaya'' (Lead us from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light, from death to liberation) from the Upanishads.

Obama, having lit the White House diya (a word he handled with aplomb) and wished everyone a ''Happy Diwali and Saal Mubarak,'' listened intently as the priest ended with ''Om Shanti Shanti.'' He returned the priest’s Namaste and then shook his hands before striding out to attend to the business of war.

''Thank you Mr President for being the first president to come to the Diwali ceremony,'' a gadabout journalist called out to Obama. ''Yes, how about that,’’ the President shot back.

Also, the event was always held in the Indian Treaty Room at the Old Executive Office Building, which is adjacent to the White House, and serves as an administrative office of the White House.

Indian Ambassador Meera Shankar and visiting Commerce Minister Anand Sharma were special guests of the White House at the event.

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Alex Queral carves famous faces out of unwanted phone books.

Sculptor Alex Queral, 51, from Philadelphia, US, has hand crafted some of the world's most famous faces...

President Obama

Jack Nicholson

Bob Dylan

the artist got his idea and started chipping away when he noticed piles of unused phone books just lying around

Phone Book art of The Dalai Lama called "Free Tibet"

The resourceful artist now produces up to two new impressions every month and has been crafting his works for 14 years.He begins by selecting his famous face and copies it by freehand sketching.His drawing is then placed over the phone book as a template and he uses an artist's scalpel or basic razor blades to patiently slice away at the thousands of pages inside the famous book.

He said: "Every year when the new phone book comes out you see just piles of the old ones lying
around waiting for collection.

"It can be quite tense work sometimes because it takes a long time to finish and when you cut something away you can't get it back again"

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President Barack Obama has awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, to 16 people who have made a difference in the nation and the world.

"They remind us that we each have it within our power to fulfill dreams, to advance the dreams of others, and to remake the world for our children," Mr. President said.

President Barack Obama presents the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom to Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi banker and economist and a global leader in anti-poverty efforts who pioneered the use of micro-loans to provide credit to poor individuals

President Barack Obama presents the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom to Pedro Jose Greer Jr., the assistant dean of academic affairs and Florida International University School of Medicine, founder of Camillus Health Concern, an agency that provides medical care to over 10,000 homeless and low-income patients each year in Miami

President Barack Obama presents the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom to Billie Jean King, known for winning the famous 'Battle of the Sexes' tennis match, and championing gender equality issues 

President Barack Obama presents the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom to Dr. Janet Davison Rowley, M.D., who discovered the first consistent chromosome trans-location in a human cancer

President Barack Obama presents the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom to Joseph Medicine Crow

US President Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu

President Barack Obama presents the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom to Sidney Poitier

U.S. President Barack Obama presents the Medal of Freedom to renowned physicist Stephen Hawking

Retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, well known champion of human rights, world renowned physicist and author Stephen Hawking and Mary Robinson, Ireland's first female President and a former U.N. high commissioner for human rights were also honoured.

Among the four foreign winners was Bangladesh's Muhammed Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, who pioneered a way to lift people out of poverty through a community banking programme that gives small loans to entrepreneurs with no collateral.

The list of recipients includes activists, scientists, actors, humanitarians and athletes. They are all agents of change, Obama said at a White House ceremony on Wednesday.

A complete list of the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom:

1. Nancy Goodman Brinker
2. Pedro José Greer, Jr.
3. Stephen Hawking
4. Jack Kemp
5. Sen. Edward Kennedy
6. Billie Jean King
7. Rev. Joseph Lowery

8. Joe Medicine Crow – High Bird
9. Harvey Milk
10. Sandra Day O’Connor
11. Sidney Poitier
12. Chita Rivera
13. Mary Robinson
14. Janet Davison Rowley
15. Desmond Tutu
16. Muhammad Yunus

The Medal of Freedom is awarded every year to individuals that are decided to have made a contribution to the security or national interestes of the United States, whether in peace, cultural or other public or private matters.

These awarders are 'agents of change' said the White House as they achieved accomplishments in sports, science, and medicine, among others.

"These outstanding men and women represent an incredible diversity of backgrounds," President Obama said in a statement, while calling their accomplishments "tremendous." "[Y]et they share one overarching trait: each has been an agent of change. Each saw an imperfect world and set about improving it, often overcoming great obstacles along the way," he added. "Their relentless devotion to breaking down barriers and lifting up their fellow citizens sets a standard to which we all should strive. It is my great honor to award them the Medal of Freedom."

                                                                                                                               Source: bnonews.com

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Obama's birthday treat

Barack Obama sings 'Happy Birthday' to reporter on own birthday

On his own 48th birthday, US President Barack Obama turned the spotlight on a reporter also celebrating her special day.

Mr Obama sang "Happy Birthday" and presented Helen Thomas, the doyenne of the White House press corps, with cupcakes and a single candle to celebrate her 89th birthday, before planting a kiss on her cheek.

The outspoken Thomas, who has covered every president since John F Kennedy, spoke quietly to Mr Obama, who ignored reporters' shouted questions about his own birthday and ex-president Bill Clinton's mercy mission to North Korea.

"Helen wished for world peace, (and) no prejudice, but she and I also had a common birthday wish," Mr Obama said.

"She said she wishes for a health care reform bill," Mr Obama said, referring to his signature domestic reform legislation, working its tortuous way through Congress.

Thomas, a former UPI wire service reporter who now works for Hearst Newspapers, has a place of honour in the front row of the White House briefing room, and first worked the White House beat in 1961.

Mr Obama celebrated his own birthday by largely avoiding reporters, and holding a lunchtime meeting with a 57 of the 60 Democratic senators and independents who largely control the fact of his domestic agenda in Congress.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that Mr Obama celebrated his birthday at the weekend with a trip to the Camp David presidential retreat surrounded by family and friends.

The president indulged his passion for basketball, and even had a game of tenpin bowling – scoring a 144 – a much better showing than his widely ridiculed attempt to bowl during an embarrassing 2008 campaign photo-op.

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Louis Tussaud's Waxworks in Blackpool unveiled a life-size model of Barack Obama on the promenade of the Lancashiretown to promote the latest entry to their 200-strong collection of celebrity lookalikes

Some people have posted unflattering messages on the internet saying it looks more like shamed US football star OJ Simpson, Michael Jackson's father Joe or even Tony Blair with a tan.. but what you say ?? i need to know :)

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It is the most widely anticipated appointment of Barack Obama’s new administration and today, after months of fevered speculation, the White House welcomed the new First Dog.

With one hand round his youngest daughter Sasha, the President used his other hand to pet Bo, a six-month-old Portuguese Water Dog, as the First Lady Michelle and their other daughter Malia looked on.

The lucky canine is a gift from Senator Edward Kennedy and his wife Victoria to the President's daughters.

The dog was bred at the kennels in Texas and sold to someone who returned it.

The First Pet is here: President Barack Obama pets Bo, a six-month old Portuguese Water Dog, as the First lady Michelle Obama (L), and daughters, Sasha and Malia (R) look on in the White House in Washington, DC

A source said: ‘The dog is six months old, a boy and a mass of black curls. His former owner decided they couldn’t cope with such a boisterous animal. He was originally called Charlie.’

Ever since Mr Obama announced on election night last November that he would be buying his daughters a dog, America has been obsessed by the type of puppy the family would choose.

The Obamas opted for a Portuguese Water Dog because their eldest daughter Malia, ten, suffers from allergies and, rather than fur, the breed has hair it does not shed.

Its distinctive curly coat is similar to a poodle’s and needs trimming every couple of months, particularly around the eye area.

Sasha and Malia now have a new friend in the White House.

In an interview with People magazine in February, First Lady Michelle Obama confided she favoured the Portuguese breed and that a dog would be moving in after the Easter holidays.

She said the family had discussed names with Malia and her seven-year-old sister Sasha but had rejected Moose and Frank.

Senator Kennedy has owned three Portuguese Water Dogs, including his current dog Cappy – short for Captains Courageous.

The 77-year-old, who is battling brain cancer, is said to have persuaded the Obamas that the breed was ‘perfect’ for the White House.

Political Animal: Cappy, Senator Kennedy's dog - the perfect breed for the White House, he said

The source said: ‘Senator Kennedy got his dogs from the same kennels and they have been robust, healthy and very good-natured animals.

‘They are excellent with children but do need lots of exercise which is good because the President is a fitness buff.’

The speculation about the arrival of the First Dog reached fever pitch after a public event in the new White House vegetable garden last Thursday.

David Frei of the Westminster Kennel Dog Show, America’s Crufts, said: ‘I’m not surprised by the intense interest in the First Family’s pet. It’s something everyone can relate to.’

Previous White House pets have become mini celebrities. George W. Bush’s dog Barney, a Scottish terrier, even had his own website.

Meanwhile, it was revealed yesterday that a British ancestor of Mr Obama left 12 pence to his son in his will.

Farm labourer Peter Blossom, from Stapleford, near Cambridge, left the sum – equivalent to £7.66 today – to his son, Thomas, who sailed to America around 1620, writing, ‘I can give unto him no more.’

Historian Alan Bullwinkle, 88, from Stapleford, who collected the will from his local record office, said: ‘I don’t think leaving him 12 pence was a snub. He gave what he could.’

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A new site, badpaintingsofbarackobama.com, collects terrible portraits of the American president. Here are some of our favourites....

The president portrayed as though he were in a Boyz II Men video ..

While his boyband are on a US tour, Barry poses in his white suit outside the White House.

Barack Obama puts his mansion where his mouth is...

This has to be our favourite. A Mexican tribute to the President of the US, with a taco on his head and, um, a pair of undies in his hand..

The third eye traditionally symbolises enlightenment. Here, it just scares us ..

The artist responsible for this one created a very good likeness of the president... and then decided to 'improve' on it by making him glow and painting the Earth on his forehead. And we don't know what those veins are about...

This isn't Barack Obama - it's Bill Cosby, surely?

Someone sat on the Shepard Fairey portrait. See more at badpaintingsofbarackobama.com

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He was one of the youngest men ever to be sworn in as president of the United States.

Yet Barack Obama apparently believes he did not look youthful enough.

While his wife Michelle rises at 5.30am every day to hit the gym and maintain her toned arms, Obama seems to have adopted a new grooming routine of his own.

Before and after: Obama on the campaign trail in September last year, left, looks noticeably more grey than today, right

Recent photographs of the new president reveal almost jet black hair, while in pictures taken during the campaign trail Obama sports many grey hairs on the top and sides of his head.

Unless the president has discovered the fountain of youth in the Oval Office - or installed extremely flattering lighting - the change could only be down to the skills of a hairdresser or a home dye kit.While grey hair during the election campaign may have helped Obama refute Republican claims of inexperience, he could now be keen to a appeal to a younger audience.

Where's the grey gone? :) Obama smiles alongside British Prime Minister Gordon Brown during their meeting in the Oval Office.

The youth vote was instrumental in Barack's selection as Democratic candidate and eventual victory, so perhaps the 47-year-old feels the need to update his look to maintain his hold with the younger generation.

Obama, the 44th president, is the fifth youngest person to assume the office of president, behind Theodore Roosevelt , at 42, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Ulysses S. Grant and Grover Cleveland.

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Jamaal Young was watching Barack Obama and his family greet an ecstatic crowd in Chicago, Illinois, on Election Night when he realized that something seemed wrong.


Obama didn't shout at his wife, Michelle, to shut up. The first lady didn't roll her eyes and tell Obama to act like a man. No laugh track kicked in, no one danced, and no police sirens wailed in the background.

Young had tuned in to celebrate the election of the nation's first African-American president. But he realized that he was witnessing another historic first. A black family was being featured as the first family, not the "problem family" or the "funny family."

"They are not here to entertain us," says Young, a New York Press columnist. "Michelle Obama is not sitting around with her girlfriends saying, 'My man ain't no good.' You're not seeing this over -sexualized, crazy black family that, every time a Marvin Gaye song comes on, someone stands up and says, 'Oh girl, that's my jam.' "

The nation didn't just get a glimpse of its new first family when Obama and his family waved to the crowds on Inauguration Day. The Obamas are offering America a new way to look at the black family, Young and other commentators say.

America has often viewed the black family through the prism of its pathologies: single-family homes, absentee fathers, out of wedlock children, they say. Or they've turned to the black family for comic relief in television shows such as "Good Times" in the '70s or today's "House of Payne."

But a black first family changes that script, some say. A global audience will now be fed images of a highly educated, loving and photogenic black family living in the White House for the next four years -- and it can't go off the air like "The Cosby Show."

A new vision of black intimacy :

The new first family could inspire some of their biggest changes within the black family itself, some say

In 1965, the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Democratic senator from New York, warned the nation about the rise of fatherless black families. He concluded that many black families were caught in a "tangle of pathology." The pathology persists. The U.S. Census Bureau said that 69 percent of black women who gave birth in 2005 were unmarried (it was 31 percent for white mothers).

The relationship between Obama and his wife may help untangle some of that pathology, some black commentators say.

It could start with black intimacy. The American public is routinely exposed to sexually charged relationships between black men and women. "Street lit" books with titles such as "Thugs and the Women Who Love Them," and "A Project Chick" now crowd bookstores and public library shelves.

Yet the new first couple offers America an example of a black, passionate, marital relationship, says Jennifer Brea, a writer for EbonyJet.com.

"They are the most natural and accessible first couple this country has ever had," Brea says. "You see a politician give a peck on his wife's cheek after a speech and often it looks staged. When you look at them, you feel like that there's this chemistry and spark."

Several black women actually sighed as they talked about how much Obama seems to touch his wife and exchange soulful glances with her in public. They said Obama will show young black men how to treat women -- and young black women how they should be treated.

"We don't get to see black love," says Heidi Durrow, the prize-winning author of the forthcoming novel, "Low Sky Dreaming."

"But every time you see them [the Obamas] on stage, it's been super," she says. "It's an amazing image to see these dynamic, smart, progressive people just openly affectionate. I'm all for it."

Obama's apparent closeness to his wife may help untangle another pathology -- the preoccupation with skin color and "looking white," Bowles, president of Jack and Jill, says.

Bowles says some powerful black men marry women who are white or fair-skinned. Obama's decision to marry a darker-skinned woman like Michelle Obama shows black women that black can indeed be beautiful.

"Too often successful black men look for other things ... a white woman or someone who is light, bright and darn near white," Bowles says. "She [Obama] is a true sister, and she makes no bones about it."

Source

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OBAMA IN KENYA, AFRICA

US President Barack Obama befriends a camel in the animal market of rural Wajir during a visit to Kenya in 2006.

Obama has visited Kenya three times and met many of his paternal relatives for the first time in 1988. His estranged late father was Kenyan.

Kenya is home to some of the best safaris in the world and has an array of spectacular wildlife.

OBAMA IN KAILUA BEACH, HAWAII

Obama looks at ease as he enjoys a relaxing stroll down on the sand with friend and campaign treasurer Marty Nesbitt, at Kailua Beach in Hawaii during a family vacation last year.

Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1961 and it has remained close to his heart.

Renown for its surf beaches, Hawaii is the ideal destination if you're looking for some fun in the sun.

OBAMA IN AMMAN, JORDAN

Barack Obama travelled to the Amman Citadel in Amman, Jordan, last year for a press conference, and he was greeted with a spectacular backdrop.

Amman is a fascinating city with a unique blend of old and new and is situated on a hilly area between the desert and the fertile Jordan valley.

OBAMA IN INDONESIA

A charter boat off the coast of Mentawai Island, Indonesia.

Obama spent four years in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta as a young boy with his mother and stepfather.

Indonesia is a popular getaway and you'll find a variety of well-known surf beaches at your fingertips.

OBAMA IN PHILADELPHIA-WASHINGTON, US

Barack Obama and wife Michelle enjoy some sightseeing onboard a vintage train bound for Delaware.

The symbolic ride tracked Abraham Lincoln's historical journey in 1861 from Philadelphia, where the Constitution was written, to Delaware, where it was ratified, and finally to Washington. It's a must-see route for tourists passionate about American history.

OBAMA IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, US

Obama at Columbia University, where he majored in political science and graduated in 1983.

He went on to graduate from Harvard Law School in 1991, where he was the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review.

Columbia University is one of the top academic research institutions in the world. Plus there's plenty to see and do in New York.

OBAMA IN WASHINGTON DC, US

The Obamas now call the White House in Washington DC home. Previously the Obamas lived in a condominium in Hyde Park, Chicago, before moving to a $US1.6 million house in nearby Kenwood in 2005.

The White House has 132 rooms and is more than 51 metres long. So go on, check out the White House for yourself and get a dose of US history!

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