Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the White House:

Obama's Speech to Joint Session of Congress

Part 1


Part 2

Stay in School, Work Hard, Ask Questions

President Obama's speech to kids today was held in a Virginia public school and the message was clear. Work Hard; Set Goals; Ask Questions and Stay in School:

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President's Row

Earlier today at Teddy Kennedy's funeral:

HIV travel ban closer to being lifted

The Obama administration has taken the first step in lifting the regulatory ban preventing HIV-positive foreign nationals from entering the United States.

The Office of Management & Budget posted a notice on its web site stating the Department of Health & Human Services finished Friday the research that was needed to start the process of lifting the ban.

Steve Ralls, an Immigration Equality spokesperson, said the notice means a regulation leading toward repeal of the ban would be published Monday.

After the regulation is issued, there will be a 45-day period in which the department takes public comment. After another period of time, during which HHS will review the comments, a final regulation will be issued. Ralls said this second period could take up to 60 days.

"We are hoping that the ban will be lifted … by the end of the year," Ralls said.

— Full Story by The Washington Blade via the South Florida Blade

What a Hoot!

I don't know which is funnier ... the Obama advisors getting dunked ... or that music!

East Room Reception for Gays at The White House

As advocates for gays and lesbians intensify their criticism of the White House, President Obama has invited some of their leaders to an East Room reception next Monday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, the 1969 Greenwich Village demonstrations that gave birth to the modern gay rights movement.

The White House has not publicized the reception, and officials did not respond to e-mail requests for comment. But gay leaders from here and around the country said they had received either telephone calls from the White House or written invitations to the event, and were told Mr. Obama is expected to speak.

Full New York Times Story

Law Penalizes Soldier Spouses

When soldiers move, their preferred state of residency remains the same. But nothing is constant for a military spouse, meaning a host of new documents, like a drivers license, with each relocation.

Hillary to have surgery.

Washington (AP) June 18, 2009 — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expects to have surgery soon to repair a broken elbow suffered at the State Department headquarters, her spokesman said Thursday. (June 18)

GM joins Chrysler in Chapter 11; International Partnerships Form

General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection the morning as part of the Obama administration's plan to shrink the automaker to a sustainable size and give a majority ownership stake to the federal government.

GM's bankruptcy filing is the fourth-largest in U.S. history and the largest for an industrial company. The company said it has $172.81 billion in debt and $82.29 billion in assets.

As it reorganizes, the fallen icon of American industrial will rely on $30 billion of additional financial assistance from the Treasury Department and $9.5 billion from Canada. That's on top of about $20 billion in taxpayer money GM already has received in the form of low-interest loans.

GM will follow a similar course taken by smaller rival Chrysler LLC, which filed for Chapter 11 protection in April. A judge gave Chrysler approval to sell most of its assets to Italy's Fiat, moving the U.S. automaker closer to a quick exit from court protection, possibly this week.

The plan is for the federal government to take a 60 percent ownership stake in the new GM. The Canadian government would take 12.5 percent, with the United Auto Workers getting a 17.5 percent share and unsecured bondholders receiving 10 percent. Existing GM shareholders are expected to be wiped out.

Albert Koch, who helped Kmart Corp. through its Chapter 11 reorganization, will serve as GM's chief restructuring officer.

— NPR.org Story

In related International News:

Germany has agreed a deal with Magna International, a Canadian car parts maker, to take over Opel, part of the European wing of US carmaker GM.

Talks in Berlin continued into early Saturday before Germany's finance minister announced the rescue deal.

The German government is expected to provide an immediate loan facility of 1.5bn euros ($2.1bn, £1.3bn).

The Magna deal should protect Opel if GM files for bankruptcy protection in the US on Monday, as is expected.

The Canadian company has said it will put more than 500m euros ($700m; £435m) into Opel, which employs more than 25,000 people in Germany.

Significant numbers of workers are also spread around Spain, Belgium, Poland and the UK, where Opel cars are branded as Vauxhall for British customers.

Magna's bid was backed by Russia's state-run bank Sberbank and Russian magnate Oleg Deripaska's truck firm Gaz. The consortium hopes to see GM expand its reach into the Russian market.

— BBC News

Inside The Obama White House

NBC Special: Brian Williams takes viewers behind-the-scenes for an insider's look of the Obama White House on Tues., June 2 and Wed., June 3. Both nights will be broadcasted at 9 p.m. ET.

Below is a preview from yesterday's Meet The Press with David Gregory

— Special's Website

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Our First Lady on TIME Cover

Michelle Up Close is the featured article in this week's TIME Magazine. This story and a photo essay is available in full (and in more detail) online.
Story
Photo Essay.

Excerpt:

It was just two days after the Inauguration when an e-mail went around to Michelle Obama's staff, instructing everyone to be in the East Room of the White House at 3 that afternoon. The First Lady's advisers arrived to find the room filled with ushers and plumbers, electricians and maids and kitchen crew gathered in a huge circle, and Michelle in a T shirt and ponytail, very casual and very much in charge.

"This is my team that came with me from Chicago," Michelle said, pointing to her communications staff and policy people. "This is my team who works here already," she went on, indicating the ring of veterans around the room. Many of the household staff had served for decades; some had postponed retirement because they wanted to serve an African-American President. And so the two groups formed concentric rings and spent the next hour or so making sure that everyone had a chance to meet everyone else. I want you to know that you won't be judged based on whether they know your name, Michelle had warned her advisers. You'll be judged based on whether you know theirs.

... Few First Ladies have embedded themselves so quickly in the world's imagination. And none have traveled so far, not just from Chicago's South Side to the East Wing, but from the caricatured Angry Black Woman of last spring to her exalted status as a New American Icon, as if her arrival will magically reverse eight years of anti-American spitballing, elevate the black middle class, promote family values, give voice to the voiceless and inspire us all to live healthier, more generous lives.

The Obama's Bring Back the Victory Garden

I have really enjoyed my "Victory Garden" this season. I commonly call it my winter garden, but whatever you call it, having fresh veggies just a few steps from the back yard has really changed my eating habits. And for the good, I might add.

In fact, right now, I have a nice bean and vegetable soup in the slow cooker and it cost pennies to make. While the strawberries have finished producing for the time being and the lettuce has gone to seed, I still have pak choi, turnips, onions and kohlrabi still ready to use; watermelon, green beans, cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes freshly planted and potatoes that are ready to bloom and should produce about 65 pounds (from one, average Publix-purchased potato).

To top that off, I will have plenty of Mangoes in June, if the blooms are of any indication and my Avocado tree is covered with blooms (I think Avocados will be ready in August).
So you can just imagine my thrill that the Obama's have decided to put in a "Kitchen Garden" at the White House, with the help of neighboring school children, to provide fresh food to the White House kitchen and to feed the homeless.

— White House blog entry.