The Inquisitr » Barack Obama

Miley Cyrus leaves Twitter and Barack Obama win Nobel Peace Prize

Dennis Bjørn Petersen — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:50:05 +0000

Last night’s trending topic on Twitter was: #mileycomeback. Yes Miley Cyrus has left Twitter! The 1.1 million followers Miley-fans has launched a Mileycomeback supportgroup campaign.

Noone really knows why she deleted her Twitter-profile, but perhaps there are some clues in her last tweet? “Liam Hemsworth (co-star in her upcoming movie The Last Song) has asked me to delete my profile for a good reason.” It’s the not exact wording, but you get what it means.

Common physics dictates: To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction. So today’s top trending topic on Twitter is: “President Obama” and “Barack Obama wins”.

It means that Barack Obama has just won the Nobel Peace Prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” The announcement has already sparked some controversy in some muslim countries.

German Chancellor to Address U.S. Congress, Meet With Obama

AHN — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:25:08 +0000

Berlin, Germany (AHN) – According to government officials German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be addressing a joint session of the U.S. Congress in a few weeks. They also reveal her visit entails meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama next month in Washington.

Merkel who heads the German government was re-elected in September, when her Christian Democratic bloc and a pro-business party between them won a majority.

Her appearance before Congress is slated for November 3 and will center on the 20th anniversary of the November 9, 1989 opening of Berlin Wall. Merkel was invited by speaker Nancy Pelosi and is also scheduled to discuss with American lawmakers the stance of European and U.S. Relations.

In a statement from Merkel’s U.S. Spokesman, Thomas Steg said, “It is a rare honor for a foreign guest to speak before both the Senate and the House of Representatives. ”

His statement highlights the fact that only one chancellor, Konrad Adenauer in 1957, has addressed the U.S. Congress.

Update: At U.N., Obama Warns Against Inaction For “Common Future”

AHN — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:20:26 +0000

NY, New York (AHN) – Before the U.N. General Assembly for the first time, President Barack Obama on Wednesday delivered a commanding speech calling on nations to take a share of the responsibility in keeping the world healthy enough for generations to inherit and be free of nuclear weapons, extremism and traditional divisions “irrelevant” to 21st century challenges.

“I took office at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust. Part of this was due to misperceptions and misinformation about my country,” Obama said. “Part of this was due to opposition to specific policies, and a belief that on certain critical issues, America has acted unilaterally, without regard for the interests of others. This has fed an almost reflexive anti-Americanism, which too often has served as an excuse for collective inaction.”

“In this hall, we come from many places, but we share a common future,” he added. “No longer do we have the luxury of indulging our differences to the exclusion of the work that we must do together. I have carried this message from London to Ankara, from Port of Spain to Moscow, from Accra to Cairo… the time has come for the world to move in a new direction.. our work must begin now.”

Obama, who is pursuing a foreign policy and an approach with the United Nations that is far different from his predecessor, sought to challenge other world leaders by touting the accomplishments of his young administration.

“Speeches alone will not solve our problems — it will take persistent action. For those who question the character and cause of my nation, I ask you to look at the concrete actions we have taken in just nine months,” he said. “On my first day in office, I prohibited — without exception or equivocation — the use of torture by the United States of America… Every nation must know: America will live its values, and we will lead by example.”

The American President proceeded to describe the progress his nation had made in ending the war in Iraq, seeking peace in the Middle East, working with Moscow for nuclear reduction, confronting climate change and overcoming the global economic crisis.

“We have set a clear and focused goal: to work with all members of this body to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its extremist allies,” he added. “We’ve also re-engaged the United Nations. We have paid our bills… This is what we have already done. But this is just a beginning… This cannot solely be America’s endeavor. Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world’s problems alone.”

White in New York, Obama met for the first time with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who was elected last month in a stunning defeat for the Liberal Democratic Party, which had ruled Japan for over five decades except for brief period in 1993.

Obama, who spoke before world leaders gathered at the U.N. on Tuesday for a climate change summit, also attended a lunch hosted by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for world leaders. He holds a bilateral with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel later in the day.

The General Assembly, the primary policy-making body of the United Nations, is meeting for its 64th session.

Libyan leader Muammar Al-Qadhafi, who is under fire for his warm homecoming this month for the Lockerbie bomber, addressed the Assembly after Obama’s remarks.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has resisted calls for denuclearization and again denied the Holocaust last week, speaks in the afternoon; as well as Medvedev and Chinese President Hu Jintao.

An open letter to President Obama – Stay out of the newspaper business

Steven Hodson — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:03:59 +0000

See that slippery slope over there?

That’s the slope you will slide down President if you even consider any legislation to “rescue” the newspaper industry. It is a never ending slope that will morph into a bigger albatross around your neck than even the healthcare debate and the war in Afghanistan. With each of those two things there is a definite end point that will be reached.

The healthcare issue will either be solved or it will disappear into Congressional and Presidential history as yet another attempt as it did with Clinton. The war in Afghanistan will end at some point with either the total removal of troops due to political and public pressure or because of some type of victory – limited or otherwise.

With newspapers there is no endpoint other than withering on the vine. The industry is in a battle of Darwinian evolutionary change and no amount of ‘government’ intervention can change that. Even now predictions still suggest that the money drain isn’t slowing as the industry looks to an additional drop in advertising revenue by 25% in the third quarter.

In an interview with the editors of the Toledo Blade you said

"Journalistic integrity, you know, fact-based reporting, serious investigative reporting, how to retain those ethics in all these different new media and how to make sure that it’s paid for, is really a challenge," Mr. Obama said. "But it’s something that I think is absolutely critical to the health of our democracy."

It is not the responsibility of the government President Obama to codify into law that journalistic integrity, fact-based reporting be supported by an increasingly outmoded method of delivery. Because that is all newspapers are Mr. President – they are delivery system for something we have been doing for hundreds of years. From the Town Crier to the first newspapers printed to the revolution of the Internet we have had a basic need to share the events of the day – except now we can do it as it is actually happening.

If you are concerned about what is critical to the health of your democracy don’t look to businesses that are resistant to change to the point that they are willing to doom their profit machines to the trash heap. Instead look to those companies that want to find new economic models that will support them as we grow into a new world of information distribution. Democracy is only as strong as the people and companies that flourish under it. When democracy relies on support from business that are dying from internal rot it can become just as infected.

Part of that innovation that strengthens your democracy are the cornerstones of the new media: blogs, Twitter, Facebook and news organizations that are truly trying to come to grips with the news ways of distributing news. Yet as Michael O’Brien quotes you in a post you seem to think those things are less important than ‘traditional news’

"I am concerned that if the direction of the news is all blogosphere, all opinions, with no serious fact-checking, no serious attempts to put stories in context, that what you will end up getting is people shouting at each other across the void but not a lot of mutual understanding," he said.

I find this dichotomy of thinking hard to understand given that it was your use of these very tools and services that helped propel you into the White House. Yet you would have us believe that blogs aren’t capable of doing the same, or better, jabs as newspapers do. Michael Masnick from Techdirt eloquently provides a counter argument:

First, it seems odd to lump the medium in with a certain type of reporting. There are plenty of "real reporters" who do plenty of "serious fact-checking" within the blog world too. Blogs are just a publishing medium. Yes, because there’s a lower barrier to entry, you do end up with a much larger absolute number of bloggers, many of whom are just giving opinion. But the idea that there aren’t blogging reporters is pure folly. In fact, I’d argue that the serious blogs on certain subjects to a lot more to "put stories in context" than your average newspaper reporter, who writes up a quick take and moves on to the next big thing. Topic-specific blogs are often much more accurate, much more detailed, and much more willing to focus on context than newspaper reporting.

The idea that newspapers are some sort of paragon of virtue and independence is ridiculous as we have seen with major organizations being hit by plagiarism and increasing polarization. To suggest that just because a single individual who devotes their time and energy in a particular news niche is of any less value or brings less to the table than any news organization is wrong. Blogs and even services like Twitter are the beginnings of a new news distribution and a re-alignment of the economics surrounding the reporting and delivery of the news.

For too long now ‘traditional’ news media have behaved as if they have some iron grip on the news when in fact their head in the sand approach to new technology has only hastened their demise that as Jack Shafer suggests started happening before the “new media” of the Internet began hitting its stride.

Remember, the decline of newspapers is multifactorial, and it didn’t start yesterday. As early as 1992, Warren Buffett was counseling investors against newspapers, saying they had already lost their economic advantage. This was a full three or four years before the commercial World Wide Web took off.

Just as you campaign on the idea of “a coming change” so to must the news industry finally realize that no amount of government help, non-profit classification, or instituting paywalls is going to stop the coming change that will sweep them up as well. Just as there is suppose to be a separation between church and state there also needs to be a separation between government and journalism.

Journalism will always survive and will continue to a cornerstone of democracy as you phrase it. It will survive because it is an integral part of our DNA – the desire to collect and share information – to let our fellow citizens know what is happening in our world. That desire has nothing to do with archaic delivery methods and no amount of intervention will change that.

So Mr. President do yourself, us, and the industry a favor – stay out of the newspaper business.

VIDEO: Obama on Letterman “…I was black before the election”

Kim LaCapria — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:06:55 +0000

Barack Obama appeared on David Letterman’s show last night, reminding everyone that FDR, JFK and Reagan experienced similar opposition during their presidencies- brushing off speculation that a lot of opposition to his policies is rooted in racial discord.

Bush thinks Obama doesn’t have a clue

Steven Hodson — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:05:00 +0000

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black but is seems that George Bush doesn’t have that much regard for President Obama.

In an interview in GQ the ex-president’s former speechwriter, Matt Latimer, talks about his book – Speech Less: Tales of a White House Survivor – and some of the more interesting tidbits to do with George Bush. Among them was this one about Barack Obama

Bush Didn’t Have Much Regard for Barack Obama: Continuing his assessment of Obama, Bush remarked, "This guy has no clue, I promise you."

[….]

Another time, talking about candidate Barack Obama, Bush said, "This is a dangerous world, and this cat isn’t remotely qualified to handle it."

Source: Daily Intel – Ten Things We Learned About George W. Bush From His Ex-Speechwriter

As well he seem to think that Hillary Clinton was fat

Latimer writes: "’Wait till her fat keister is sitting at this desk,’ [Bush] once said (except he didn’t say ‘keister’)."

I’m betting that keister wasn’t the actual word to describe Hillary’s derrière.

Obama calls West a jackass, Kelly Clarkson lashes out, too

Kim LaCapria — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:10:58 +0000

As a contrite Kanye West apologized to the nation on Jay Leno’s show last night, President Barack Obama dissed him off the record in an ABC interview.

Obama was just chatting with ABC’s reporters when he let slip his opinion of the rapper’s now infamous MTV VMA awards outburst during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech. Calling West a “jackass” wasn’t an official part of the interview, but ABC reporter Terry Moran let the comment slip on Twitter. And as we all know, what has been twote cannot be retracted, at least not after it hits all the major political gossip blogs and news aggregators.

ABC said in a statement:

“ABC News employees prematurely tweeted a portion of those remarks that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion of the interview.”

But Obama wasn’t the only one lashing out at Kanye harshly- former American Idol Kelly Clarkson penned a seething missive at the rapper on her blog:

What happened to you as a child?? Did you not get hugged enough?? Something must have happened to make you this way and I think we’re all just curious as to what would make a grown man go on national television and make a talented artist, let alone teenager, feel like sh*t. I mean, I’ve seen you do some pretty sh*tty things, but you just keep amazing me with your tactless, a*****e ways. It’s absolutely fascinating how much I don’t like you. I like everyone. I even like my a*****e ex that cheated on me over you…which is pretty odd since I don’t even personally know you. The best part of this evening is that you weren’t even up for THIS award and yet you still have a problem with the outcome. Is winning a moon man that much of a life goal?? You can have mine if it will shut you up. Is it that important, really??

Clarkson goes on to say that Kanye is “bitter” that Swift “outsold” him.

Charlie Sheen/Barack Obama fanfic, as written by… Charlie Sheen

Kim LaCapria — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:02:02 +0000

While nearly one out of three Americans question the 9/11 Commission Report and nearly one out of five think that the Bush Administration had a hand in the attacks, Charlie Sheen has taken questioning the official account of September 11th to a whole new level.

He’s written a fanfic about it. He doesn’t call it fanfic, but any of us who used to be addicted to Harry Potter fanfic know what fanfic is- we recognize it when we see it. Sheen has written a long- boy howdy, is it long- fantasy interview between himself and Barack Obama (abbreviated as PBO in the “interview”) in which much like an action movie star, he takes on America’s most charismatic man with the hard hitting questions. And being conceived and carried out totally in Sheen’s head, he pulls no punches.

As a native New Yorker who thinks the 9/11 Commission Report was an insult and that the previous administration is at least guilty of criminal negligence, I don’t begrudge Sheen his fervor on the subject. (And if I do, for a minute, all I have to bring up in my memory is landing in Newark on September 15th and watching the smoke billowing over half of my beloved home city in stunned silence.) However, Sheen’s mock interview is downright adorable in parts. I particularly liked the ending, although I think he’s being a bit of a Charlie-Sue:

(The Senior aide appears again beside the President whispering in his ear. He then quickly moves off).

PBO – Well Charlie I can’t say this hasn’t been interesting. As I said earlier you’ve showed up today focused and organized. Regardless how I feel about the material you’ve presented, I must commend your dedication and zeal. However, our time here is up.

(the President rises from his chair , I do the same).

CS – Mr. President! One more second!

(The President starts towards the door – I follow him quickly step for step).

CS – Mr. President, I implore you based on the evidence you now possess, to use your Executive Power. Prove to us all Sir, that you do, in fact, care. Create a truly comprehensive and open Congressional investigation of 9/11 and its aftermath. The families deserve the truth, the American people and the rest of the free world deserve the truth. Mr. President -

(He pauses. We shake hands).

CS – Make sure your (sic) on the right side of history.

(The President breaks the handshake).

PBO – I am on the right side of history. Thank you Charlie, my staff and I will be in touch.

(I watch as he strides gracefully out of the room, the truth I provided him held firmly by his side; in the hand of providence.)

[Via Gawker]

Amid Controversy, Obama Begins School Year With National Address To Students

AHN — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:15:29 +0000

President Barack Obama marks the new school year on Tuesday with an address to students highlighting the importance of taking responsibility for one’s education. The White House says the address is not a policy speech, and has posted the remarks online amid controversy over material for classroom activities that asked children to write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the President.

Obama delivers his national address at noon from Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia.

He plans to say, “At the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.” “That’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself,” the President will also say. “Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.”

The Education Department has provided educators with material listing activities for school children to “stimulate classroom discussions about the importance of education.”

One of the activities recommended for Pre-K – 6 has been changed by the White House after conservatives criticized Obama for “indoctrinat[ing] America’s children to his socialist agenda.”

The activity, listed under the after-remarks items, used to say, “Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals.”

It now says, “Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short?term and long?term education goals. Teachers would collect and redistribute these letters at an appropriate later date to enable students to monitor their progress.”

Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer had issued a statement last week warning parents about the speech.

“As the father of four children, I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama’s socialist ideology,” he said. “The idea that school children across our nation will be forced to watch the President justify his plans for government-run health care, banks, and automobile companies… is not only infuriating, but goes against beliefs of the majority of Americans, while bypassing American parents through an invasive abuse of power.”

But the President on Monday received the support from an unlikely quarter: former First Lady Laura Bush.

She told CNN, It’s “really important for everyone to respect the president of the United States… I think there is a place for the president … to talk to schoolchildren and encourage” them.

The same day, the Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters, “It’s a sad, sad day that the political back and forth has intruded on anyone speaking to schoolchildren and teachers and parents about the responsibilities that they have as we enter a new school year. If one kid in one school hears one message and goes from being a D student to a C student, then the speech is worth it. If one kid decides not to drop out of school, then the speech is worth it. Right now nearly three in 10 kids in school will not walk across a stage and get a high school diploma… It’s a sad state of affairs that many in this country politically would rather start an ‘Animal House’ food fight rather than inspire kids to stay in school.”

The President aims for the United States to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020, a goal he first announced during his address to the joint session of Congress a month after being sworn into office.

Obama delivers his national address at noon from Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia.

The Education Department has provided educators with material listing activities for school children to “stimulate classroom discussions about the importance of education.”

One of the activities recommended for Pre-K – 6 has been changed by the White House after conservatives criticized Obama for “indoctrinat[ing] America’s children to his socialist agenda.”

It now says, “Write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals. Teachers would collect and redistribute these letters at an appropriate later date to enable students to monitor their progress.”

Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer had issued a statement last week warning parents about the speech.

But the President on Monday received the support from an unlikely quarter: former First Lady Laura Bush.

She told CNN, It’s “really important for everyone to respect the president of the United States… I think there is a place for the president … to talk to schoolchildren and encourage” them.

Text of Obama’s school speech released

Kim LaCapria — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:27:49 +0000

US President Barack Obama’s speech to American students has been the subject of much hand-wringing and drama as Americans argue as to whether the President speaking to our snowflakes is appropriate and encouraging, or an attempt to “indoctrinate” students into some kind of nebulous socialist plot.

Many parents are terrified, and one spoke to a CNN affiliate:

“Thinking about my kids in school having to listen to that just really upsets me,” suburban Colorado mother Shanneen Barron told CNN Denver affiliate KMGH. “I’m an American. They are Americans, and I don’t feel that’s OK. I feel very scared to be in this country with our leadership right now.”

Although some right-leaning parents are threatening to keep their kids out of school that day, the US President addressing schoolkids is hardly a modern development. Former POTUS and Republican demi-god Ronald Reagan had some much more partisan remarks to make twenty-one years ago:

In November 1988, President Reagan delivered more politically charged remarks that were made available to students nationwide. Among other things, Reagan called taxes “such a penalty on people that there’s no incentive for them to prosper … because they have to give so much to the government.”

CNN has a PDF of Reagan’s speech to students available on their site. Still on the fence about allowing your kids to go to school tomorrow? Below is the full text of President Obama’s speech to schoolchildren as prepared in its entirety, from the White House’s website:

Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama

Back to School Event

Arlington, Virginia

September 8, 2009

The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, “This is no picnic for me either, buster.”

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.

I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.

Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.

So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall.

And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work — that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, “I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

The President: Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, “This is no picnic for me either, buster.”

So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.

Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.

I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.

I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.

I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.

But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.

Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.

And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.

And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.

You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.

We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.

Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.

I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in.

So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.

But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.

Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.

But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.

Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.

That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.

Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.

I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall.

And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.

Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same.

That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.

I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work — that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.

But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, “I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.

No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.

And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.

The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.

It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?

Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

“I Pledge” Obama video gets right-wing panties in a twist

Kim LaCapria — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:18:26 +0000

A video being circulated (and shown in some schools) is rubbing righties the wrong way.

“I Pledge,” a video featuring myriad celebrities pledging all kinds of things to improve American society, such as civil service and selective toilet flushing (thanks, Jason Bateman!), is making the right-wing web rounds. Most notably, Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers pledges to serve Barack Obama, which is really not sitting well with many bloggers and many parents.

I thought the spot was less than sinister, and could definitely speak to kids who, because of socio-economic status or other challenges, might benefit from this kind of inclusive statement. What do you think? Inspiring lecture about being a good citizen or ZOMG Socialist indoctrination? Video below:

Obama Hosts Tuesday Dinner To Celebrate Ramadan

AHN — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:04:17 +0000

Back in Washington but still with a light schedule, President Barack Obama hosts a dinner Tuesday to mark Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar during which the Koran is believed to have been first revealed.

In the event set for 8:00 pm ET at the State Dining Room of the White House, Obama will continue his outreach efforts to the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims as well as highlight the contributions of American Muslims.

The President returned to the White House on Sunday, after a week-long family vacation at Martha’s Vineyard that was interrupted by an announcement reappointing Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman, and marred by the death of of his staunchest ally in the current healthcare debate, Ted Kennedy.

The dinner comes nearly two weeks after Obama issued a video message marking Ramadan.

“I know this to be a festive time,” he had said. “A time when families gather, friends host iftars, and meals are shared. But I also know that Ramadan is a time of intense devotion and reflection, a time when Muslims fast during the day and perform tarawih prayers at night, reciting and listening to the entire Koran over the course of the month. These rituals remind us of the principles that we hold in common, and Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings.”

The President, who had a Muslim father and a boyhood spent in Indonesia — the nation with the world’s largest Muslim population — had also outlined his administration’s push to mend relations with Muslims. He said many Islamic organizations joined other faith-based groups at the forefront of his “Summer of Service” program to encourage Americans to volunteer in their communities.

“Beyond America’s borders, we are also committed to keeping our responsibility to build a world that is more peaceful and secure,” he added.

“That is why we are responsibly ending the war in Iraq. That is why we are isolating violent extremists while empowering the people in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan. That is why we are unyielding in our support for a two-state solution that recognizes the rights of Israelis and Palestinians… And that is why America will always stand for the universal rights of all people to speak their mind, practice their religion, contribute fully to society and have confidence in the rule of law.”

Obama is the first American president to use the word “Muslim” in an inaugural speech. He had also given his first TV interview after assuming office to Al Arabiya, saying, “My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy.”

In March, he issued a video message to all Muslims celebrating Nowruz or the Iranian New Year. He followed this up with a trip to Ankara, where he addressed the Turkish Parliament with reminders that his own father was Muslim, and held a town hall with Turkish and international students.

He was in Cairo early June for his first visit to the Middle East as president. His visit, marked by two welcome messages from al-Qaeda calling him a “criminal,” culminated in a speech that cited “civilization’s debt to Islam” and called for “a new beginning” with the Muslim world.

Two weeks ago, Obama picked up from where he left off in Cairo.

“This new beginning must be borne out in a sustained effort to listen to each other, to learn from each other,” he said. “I believe an important part of this is listening, and in the last two months, American embassies around the world have reached out not just to governments, but directly to people in Muslim-majority countries. From around the world, we have received an outpouring of feedback about how America can be a partner on behalf of peoples’ aspirations.”

“We have listened,”he added. “We have heard you. And like you, we are focused on pursuing concrete actions that will make a difference over time.”

Barack Obama, Angelina Jolie booted out of Second Life

Chris Greenhough — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:40:56 +0000

From next month, Second Life publisher Linden Labs is set to ban all celebrity avatars, with its new guidelines using Barack Obama and Angelina Jolie avatars as specific examples of content that will be dropped.

Also for the chop is First Lady Michelle Obama, pictured above draped over her husband’s virtual lap, and … well, every celebrity out there who doesn’t authorize their likeness to be used in Second Life. Real-world brands, cars, artwork, and copyrighted fictional characters (Darth Vader, for example) will be forbidden as well. That’s a helluva lot of prohibited content.

This move has likely come about because of a trademark lawsuit brought against Linden Labs. After stun gun manufacturer TASER, Inc. discovered a virtual copy of its weapon was being sold as content in Second Life, it planned to sue. The lawsuit was later dropped, but LL is clearly keen to cover its back. Hence, we can wave goodbye to Barack and Angie.

It sounds like a nightmare to moderate this stuff, and New World Notes predicts that enforcing the new guidelines may prove problematic:

“I would think avatar imitations of celebrities, especially political figures, would fall under the parody safe harbor of fair use. In the real world, you can still buy an unauthorized Barack Obama mask for Halloween. Not so in Second Life very soon…”

[New World Notes, via GamePolitics]

(Video) Obama checking out Mayara Taveras’ Booty Remix

Kim LaCapria — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:13:42 +0000

Before you judge him, what if all your “back that ass up” moments were preserved in history?

No related posts.

Helen Thomas calls Obama administration out on social media smokescreen

Kim LaCapria — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:53:11 +0000

Chip Reid and Helen Thomas gave White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs a four-minute chunk of grief over trying to “control the press” in a way Thomas said was worse than even Richard Nixon.

Thomas, who has been covering White House press briefings I think since Taft was in office, has had a bit of internet fame due to her part in Stephen Colbert’s epicly awesome GWB send-up during the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in 2006. If you recall, Thomas chased a terrified Colbert around in his fantasy of being the White House Press Secretary, badgering Colbert about the reasons behind invading Iraq.

Thomas proved that her biting critique showed no partisan leanings yesterday when she and Reid laid into Gibbs for ridiculous executive branch policies that actually use social media to limit and “tightly control” the content of Townhall meetings and press briefings. The debate begins when Gibbs insists that Reid submit questions via Facebook and Twitter to be answered “tomorrow” rather than just opening the forum to on-the-spot questions.

Gibbs plays dopey, telling Reid to “get on his e-mail address” while Reid tries to explain how refusal to answer questions isn’t open or transparent. Gibbs giggles throughout the exchange in a way that makes you want to slap him, and really only proves the two annoyed reporters right by dancing around answering questions.

Two minutes in Thomas brings it, saying, ”I’m amazed… I’m amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency,” and cites a pattern of “controlling the press.” She tells Gibbs that the Obama administration’s “formal engagements are prepackaged,” and says that “calling reporters the night before, telling them they’re going to be called on- that’s shocking.” When asked if she sent in a question, she goes all grandma-don’t-play-that by snapping, “I don’t have to email it- I can tell you right now!”

Indeed, the exchange raises some interesting questions about the role of social networking and new media in the Obama administration. With all the Obama love being spread thickly and freely around the blogosphere, we kind of took it for granted that this presidency would use the technologies we all embrace- Facebook, Twitter, e-mail- to advance communication between press and the executive branch, or even your average dude and the White House. I’ll go a step further- we were lead to believe that. Obama sends me Facebook updates more than my best friend.

But is the Obama administration now using our “friend status” to filter valid questions and create an illusion of rapport with the press and by extension, the people? Bill Maher called Obama out early on for mocking the most popular question at one of the first Townhall meetings he had as president. In the meeting, Obama laughed at “the internet” for wanting to know if he had plans to consider legalizing and taxing marijuana to create jobs and create some desperately needed capital. Maher fumed:

“For Obama to mock, ‘I don’t know what’s going on the Internet,’ well excuse me…the Internet is America now. That sounded like John McCain.”

Well yeah, I want to know to- do they not know what’s going on on “the internet” or do they not care?

Is Barack Obama a nerd by John Hodgman

Dennis Bjørn Petersen — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:34:13 +0000

Actor and writer John Hodgman (known from The Daily Show and Apple ads) was the headline speaker at the Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C last Friday.

The theme of his speech was “nerds” and how President Obama could qualify as a nerd. There is no doubt that John Hodgman qualifies as a nerd. His speech last 14 minutes, but its worth every second. His speech is hilarious!

Jib Jab’s new Obama video

Kim LaCapria — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:15:00 +0000

He’s real good at the internets!

No related posts.

Tennessee Senator’s aide caught sending racist Obama e-mail

Kim LaCapria — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:54:16 +0000

Sherri Goforth, an aide to state senator Diane Black, was given a “strong letter of reprimand” after embarrassing the GOP by sending a mass e-mail with a racist picture attached mocking President Barack Obama.

Following racist humor related debacles originating in Tennessee such as “Barack the Magic Negro,” Goforth forwarded a “historical keepsake photo” of all 44 US Presidents in a mass e-mail. Obama’s photo, however, was just a large pair of white eyes peering out from a black background. Stay classy, Tennessee!

Perhaps most troubling is the still-employed staffer’s attitude regarding the shameful action. From Nashville Is Talking:

When I asked her if she understood the controversial nature of the photo, Goforth would only say she felt very bad about accidentally sending it to the wrong list. When I gave her a second chance to address the controversial nature of the email, she again repeated that she only felt bad about sending it to the wrong list of people.

The Tennessee Democratic Party is calling for senior staffers to fire Goforth, saying in a press release:

“I am calling on Sen. Black to reject this racist smear and fire this staffer who, on state government time, on state government computers, using a state government email account, launched this bigoted attack on our president,” Forrester said. “Keeping her on the staff would send the message that this type of behavior is condoned by the Senate Republican Caucus.”

“Ms. Goforth does not seem to understand what she did wrong. She has apologized for ‘sending [the email] to the wrong list of people.’ I believe that any list of people would have recognized this email as offensive and hateful. The fact that a state employee would not understand that indicates that she is not fit for employment by the state of Tennessee.”

“We have hundreds of state employees facing the possibility of losing their jobs due to the budget deficit and no fault of their own. I think we could save at least one of those jobs by firing Sherri Goforth.”

Barnes and Noble: Obama-Monkey Display Was a ‘Hate Crime’

JR — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:35:35 +0000

Barnes and Noble is repudiating recent photos showing a monkey book within one of its stores’ presidential displays. The book chain says the incident was the result of “a malicious act.”

The Barnes and Noble Obama Display

The photo (above), which has circulated widely over the Internet, shows the animal book in the middle of a Barnes and Noble window display focused on books related to Barack Obama. The misplaced book is entitled Monkeys: A Captivating Look at These Fascinating Animals.

Barnes and Noble says a customer placed the book in the display at its Coral Gables, Florida location, then snapped the photo. The company says its associates removed the book as soon as it was noticed, insisting claims that Barnes and Noble had intentionally positioned the book within the display are completely false.

“This malicious and despicable act is nothing short of a hate crime, which should be punishable under federal statutes,” Leonard Riggio, founder and chairman of Barnes and Noble, said in a statement.

Barnes and Noble E-Book Acquisition

The news comes right as Barnes and Noble is announcing new steps in its move into the e-book market. The company acquired Fictionwise for $15.7 million late last week. It intends to launch a Barnes and Noble e-bookstore later in 2009 but has indicated it will keep Fictionwise as a separate business unit, with its current team remaining in charge.

Mariah Carey’s Diva Demands Revealed

Meieli Sawyer — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:51:16 +0000

Mariah Carey managed to whip out her diva ways even during a huge moment in history, reports Page Six. Sources say that she was “furious” when she found out that she was not going to be seated with the Obama family during the inauguration (erm, duh?). Yes, a source claims that she just as delusional as most of us suspected:

“Mariah was in the VIP area, where every celebrity, like Jon Bon Jovi, Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys and Bruce Springsteen, was seated. But somehow she thought she’d be up with the Obama family. When she realized she wasn’t, she bailed.”

Supposedly Mariah wasn’t the only one who was pissed about placement. Sean Combs was also rumored to be irritated when he discovered that his presence wasn’t as big of a deal as Jay-Z’s, although his rep said that “It was one of the greatest moments of his life. Sean was invited to the inauguration and was seated third row, with Jay-Z, at the ceremony.”

Get over yourselves!