Barack Obama Cuts Short Ireland Trip to Avoid Ash Cloud

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama arrives at Stanstead airport having cut short his visit to Ireland to avoid being grounded by volcanic ash.

The President was due to begin his state visit to Britain today but the huge plume of ash drifting across the Atlantic from Iceland forced him to amend his travel arrangements.

His schedule was hastily redrafted as the cloud from the Grímsvötn volcano drifted towards Scotland, leading to the cancellation of 36 flights.

The White House deputy press secretary, Josh Earnest, said: “Due to a recent change in the trajectory in the plume of volcanic ash, Air Force One will depart Ireland for London tonight. The schedule for tomorrow will proceed as planned.”

The three-day visit is launched with a joint newspaper article today in which Mr Obama and David Cameron rename the special relationship between Britain and America, the “essential relationship”, vital for world security and prosperity. » | David Millward, and Andrew Porter | Monday, May 23, 2011

Michelle Boogies to Beyoncé
It's not every day the First Lady of the United States is seen dancing to Beyoncé, but Michelle Obama made a surprise visit to the Alice Deal Middle School in Washington yesterday as part of her Let’s Move! campaign to curb childhood obesity
Watch The Daily Telegraph video, Michelle Obama dances to Beyoncé here | Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Michelle Obama Launches Breastfeeding Campaign
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Michelle Obama is to extend her campaign against childhood obesity by urging women to breastfeed and calling for the removal of barriers to nursing at work.

The Obama administration wants to introduce more flexible work rules and tax breaks on nursing equipment in order to encourage American women to breastfeed.

A recent study published in the journal Pediatrics found that babies who were breastfed for the first four to six months were less likely to be overweight or obese than children who were fed using formula and began eating solid foods before their fourth month.

The move risks fresh controversy for Mrs Obama after she was accused by Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, and others of trying to use government power to dictate private behaviour like eating habits.

Giselle Bundchen *, a famous model, created a furore last year when she declared: "There should be a worldwide law, in my opinion, that mothers should breastfeed their babies for six months." >>> Toby Harnden, and Liza Meckler in Washington | Tuesday, February 15, 2011

* Giselle Bundchen must be pretty stupid if she thinks that ALL mothers can successfully breastfeed!

Barack Obama Quits ... Smoking
THE GUARDIAN: Michelle Obama says husband has not had a cigarette in 12 months, though US president has yet to corroborate claims

President Barack Obama finally has kicked the smoking habit, Michelle Obama has revealed.

"Yes, he has," the first lady told reporters at the White House when asked whether her husband had finally done what millions of Americans cannot seem to do and quit smoking. "It's been almost a year."

She said she did not know exactly when he quit "because he never smoked a lot" and she never saw him light up. >>> Associated Press in Washington | Tuesday, February 08, 2011

My comment on this story:

First of all, what’s the big deal whether Obama still smokes or has given up? Personally, I couldn’t care less. I am no fan of Obama, but one thing I wouldn’t begrudge him is a few ciggies. If the president of a major country can’t enjoy a few puffs, then where are we?

I write as an ex-smoker, one who thinks that whilst smoking is not a healthy, good habit, there are far worse habits out there than puffing on a fag now and then. The world has gone slightly mad in its obsession with the evils of smoking. Smoking can be a very enjoyable habit, especially if one keeps it under control. I had years of pleasure from it, I willingly confess. And yes, as someone else has already stated, it can be cool, and it can be sexy too. (Sorry to all the health nuts and fascists out there. These are undeniable facts, I’m sorry.)

In my opinion, the world was a far better-run place when politicians puffed away, without paying any heed to the health freaks. In those days, politicians weren’t so obsessed by looks and image. They were far more interested in doing a damn good job in politics. As ex-Bundeskanzler Schmidt said recently, he wasn’t in politics to be a good rôle model for the young, but to do a fine job! I concur with the man’s assessment.

Obama is said to have struggled with his smoking habit for thirty years. This is mere hype. To start with, in the early years of his smoking habit, he is highly unlikely to have bothered about the habit itself or its effects. Then it has been stated that he only ever smoked three to five cigarettes a day. Oh yeh? Who is he trying to kid? If he only ever smoked so few cigarettes, he is highly unlikely ever to have “struggled” with his habit. Giving up for him would probably have been a cinch.

I have seen photos of Obama smoking in the early days (they now appear to have been expunged from the Web – were they from Der Spiegel, I wonder?), and I can assure you that a ‘chuffa train’ wouldn’t have belched out more smoke than Obama did in those photos. Hardly the mark of a light smoker!

Michelle obviously has a bee in her bonnet about smoking. And Obama is obviously under the thumb, if only ever so slightly. I can’t help but feel that this story is riddled with Michelle’s wishful thinking. If she isn’t trying to kid us, she’s certainly trying to kid herself and her two daughters.

My advice to Obama: If you want a few puffs now and then, don’t torture yourself, go for it! But be man enough and bold enough to admit it. You might even go up in my estimation (and others’?) for having the balls to tell everyone to go sit on it. – © Mark

This comment also appears here

An All-American State Dinner for Chinese President
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: It was jazz on stage and a mix of Hollywood A-listers, big business types and prominent Chinese-Americans in the audience on Wednesday night as Michelle and Barack Obama threw a "quintessentially American" state dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao.

What was for dinner at the hottest event in town? Meat and potatoes, washed down with apple pie and ice cream for dessert, of course.

Singer Barbra Streisand, her husband-actor James Brolin and action film star Jackie Chan were supplying some of the celebrity star power for the A-list guest list.

Big business turned out in force, too, including Microsoft's Steven Ballmer and JP Morgan Chase's Jamie Dimon, among others. Other big names: fashion's Vera Wang, Vogue's Anna Wintour, artist Maya Lin, Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan, and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to add some gravitas. Bill Clinton made the cut, too. >>> | Thursday, January 20, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama welcomes Hu Jintao with human rights rebuke: Barack Obama issued a challenge to the Chinese president over the country's human rights record as he made his welcoming address at the White House. >>> Toby Harnden, in Washington | Wednesday, January 19, 2011


AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: China's Hu admits rights failings: At meetings with US counterpart, Chinese leader says "a lot still needs to be done" on human rights in his country. >>> Source: Al Jazeera and agencies | Wednesday, January 19, 2011

China on Equal Footing with US as Hu Jintao Visits Washington
THE GUARDIAN: China's inferiority in 'hard power' has turned to Beijing's advantage, and signs of its growing 'soft power' abound

Hu Jintao, accompanied by the US vice-president, Joe Biden, receives a red-carpet reception at Andrews air force base in Maryland. Photograph: The Guardian
The last time Hu Jintao arrived in Washington, back in 2006, he was given a White House working lunch, and by all accounts never forgave George W Bush for the perceived insult.

In contrast, it is highly unlikely China's leader could find fault with the welcome laid out by the Obama administration: a private White House dinner tonight to be followed later in the week by a full state banquet, a 21-gun salute and all the pomp and circumstance of a review of the troops.

The message is absolutely clear – these are the world's two leading powers meeting together as equals. It is that sense of equal status that distinguishes this Washington summit from earlier such encounters. >>> Julian Borger, Ewen MacAskill and Phillip Inman | Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Arizona Shooting: Barack Obama Leads Nationwide Silence
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama led a nationwide moment of silence to honour the victims of the Arizona shooting.


Mr Obama, the US president, and his wife Michelle, emerged from the White House, took a few steps toward the South Lawn and stood, heads bowed, the only sound the sombre ringing of a bell.

The silence was observed outside the Capitol building, with staff members gathering on the steps to honour the victims.

The 22-year-old man charged with attempting to assassinate a US congresswoman in a shooting spree in Arizona is due to appear in a federal court in Phoenix, the state's capital.

Jared Lee Loughner, 22, is expected to be charged with the attempted assassination of US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, two counts of murdering a federal government employee, and two of attempting to assassinate a federal government employee.

"As the investigation goes on, there may well be additional charges that will be filed," Robert Mueller, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, told reporters in Tucson. >>> | Monday, January 10, 2011

Michelle Obama Brushes Off Indonesia Handshake Row
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Michelle Obama has brushed off a row with an Indonesian minister who was reluctant to shake her hand.


America's First Lady visited southeast Asia's biggest mosque with her husband on Wednesday, a day after Indonesia's communications minister had told Twitter followers that he had reluctantly shaken hands with her at a formal reception.

Tifatul Sembiring, a conservative Muslim who refuses to touch women he is not related to tweeted: "I tried to prevent it with my two hands but Mrs Michelle moved her hands too close to me, then we touched."

Video footage of the meeting suggested otherwise, however, showing Mr Sembiring reaching out to shake Michelle's hand like the other dignitaries.

The Obamas much-anticipated visit to the Istiqlal Mosque in central Jakarta was one of the last stops on Mr Obama's twice-postponed visit to Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.

Grand Imam Haji Mustafa Ali Yaqub showed the Obamas around the massive domed structure, which was still being built when a young Mr Obama lived in the nearby suburb of Menteng as a child in the late 1960s. >>> | Wednesday, November 19, 2010

Flashback: Indonesian Mosque Obama Visited Greeted Ahmadinejad as a “Rock Star” Where He Called For The Destruction of Israel, Predicted Sharia Would Rule World >>>

HT: Pastorius of iBloga >>> Pastorius | Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Barack Obama Reaches Out to Muslim World in Indonesia
THE GUARDIAN: US president urges all sides to look beyond 'suspicion and mistrust' to forge common ground against terrorism

President Barack Obama arrives on stage to deliver a speech at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta. Photograph: The Guardian
In the Muslim nation that was his boyhood home, President Barack Obama acknowledged today that US relations are still frayed with the Islamic world despite his best efforts at repair. He urged all sides to look beyond "suspicion and mistrust" to forge common ground against terrorism.

Forcefully returning to a theme he sounded last year in visits to Turkey and Egypt, Obama said: "I have made it clear that America is not and never will be at war with Islam ... Those who want to build must not cede ground to terrorists who seek to destroy."

Beaming with pride, Obama delivered perhaps the most intensely personal speech of his presidency, speaking phrases in Indonesian to a cheering crowd of more than 6,000 mostly young people who claimed him as their own. "Let me begin with a simple statement: Indonesia is part of me," he said in Indonesian at the University of Indonesia.

He praised the world's most populous Muslim nation for standing its ground against "violent extremism" and said: "All of us must defeat al-Qaida and its affiliates, who have no claim to be leaders of any religion. This is not a task for America alone." >>> Associated Press in Jakarta | Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Guardian Photo Gallery: Barack Obama visits Indonesia: US president returns to Jakarta, where he lived for four years as a child, to meet the president and visit the country's largest mosque >>> | Tuesday, November 09, 2010

[Obama] said both sides have a choice: either "be defined by our differences and give in to a future of suspicion and mistrust" or "do the hard work of forging common ground and commit ourselves to the steady pursuit of progress." [Source: The Guardian]

Barack Obama Asia Trip: US President Reaches Out to Muslims in Indonesia
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama has acknowledged that US relations are still frayed with the Islamic world despite his best efforts and urged all sides to look beyond "suspicion and mistrust" to forge common ground against terrorism.

Speaking in Indonesia, where he lived from the ages of six to ten, he declared that "Indonesia is a part of me".

And he forcefully returned to a theme that he sounded last year in visits to Turkey and Egypt.

He said: "I have made it clear that America is not and never will be at war with Islam. ... Those who want to build must not cede ground to terrorists who seek to destroy."

Beaming with pride, Mr Obama delivered perhaps the most intensely personal speech of his presidency, speaking phrases in Indonesian to a cheering crowd of more than 6,000 mostly young people who claimed him as their own. It felt oddly like one of the campaign speeches Mr Obama had been giving in the US, with music blaring over speakers inside the auditorium.

For Mr Obama's standing abroad, the speech was closely watched and consequential, an update on America's "new beginning" with Muslims that he promised last year in Cairo.

"Let me begin with a simple statement: Indonesia is part of me," he said in Indonesian at the University of Indonesia. Read on and comment >>> | Wednesday, November 10, 2010

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Muslim minister defends shaking Michelle Obama's hand: A conservative Muslim government minister admits he shook hands with Michelle Obama, the US First Lady, in welcoming her to Indonesia but says it was not his choice. >>> | Tuesday, November 09, 2010

THE GUARDIAN: Barack Obama returns to Jakarta and confesses 'I barely recognise it': Vist to capital of Indonesia – home to US president in 1960s – stripped to diplomatic essentials >>> Toni O'Loughlin in Jakarta | Tuesday, November 09, 2010

NZZ ONLINE: Obama im Land seiner Kindheit: Wirtschaftliche Beziehungen im Vordergrund des Staatsbesuchs >>> afp | Dienstag, 09. November 2010

LE TEMPS: Barack Obama, grand admirateur de l’Indonésie: Le président américain a érigé ce mercredi en modèle de tolérance et de démocratisation ce grand pays méconnu sur la scène internationale qu’il voit «jouer un rôle important au XXIe siècle» >>> AFP | Mercredi 10 Novembre 2010

Bruni: Mrs. Obama Never Said Job Is Hell
CNN: French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy denies U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama ever said being first lady is "hell."

First Lady On Restaurant Food
CNN: Michelle Obama addresses the National Restaurant Association about the role restaurant meals play on children's health.

Carla Bruni's Rivalry with Michelle Obama Has Damaged US Relations with France
THE TELEGRAPH: French President Nicolas Sarkozy's wife Carla Bruni's alleged rivalry with Michelle Obama has strained relations between the French and US presidential couples.

Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy in June 2009. Photo: The Telegraph
The author of "Carla: A Secret Life" - a biography chronicling her transformation from an allegedly tempestuous man-eater into an apparent model spouse - suggests Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has become something of a political liability for her husband.

Besma Lahouri says Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy's image of distant, well-heeled perfection has kept her at arm's length from the French people.

At a time when the conservative president's popularity has plummeted, and he is being criticised for raising the retirement age and cracking down on Eastern European Gypsy immigrants, having a more accessible first lady might soften his image, she said.

"The French don't know their first lady, and her worries seem to them very far removed from their own," Lahouri. >>> The Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Laura Ingraham's Beef With Michelle Obama
FOX NEWS: Radio host takes issue with first lady's nutrition agenda

Obamas Head to Martha's Vineyard for 10-day Holiday
THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama and his family are about to set off on a 10-day holiday in Martha's Vineyard, an island hideaway favoured by the rich and well-connected, before returning to a busy autumn election season.

As they did this time last year, Mr Obama, his wife Michelle and their daughters Malia, 12, and Sasha, nine, are leaving Washington for the coast of Massachusetts.

"The president is definitely going to spend a little time recharging his batteries," said Bill Burton, the deputy White House press secretary.

No public events are planned and like last year, Mr Obama will work to perfect his swing at one of the island's golf courses, Mr Burton said.

"There will be some hiking, some time at the beach, some time at the ice cream store - all the sort of things you do when you're at Martha's Vineyard. You enjoy the people and the good food," he said. >>> | Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Media Over First Lady? : Press take note of Michelle Obama's lavish vacation in Spain

Limbaugh: Media Thinks Michelle Obama Can Take Fancy Vacations Because of Our 'Slave Past'

The Obama Presidency Increasingly Resembles a Modern-day Ancien Régime: Extravagant and Out of Touch with the American People
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – NILE GARDINER: What the great French historian Alexis de Tocqueville would make of today’s Obama administration were he alive today is anyone’s guess. But I would wager that the author of L’Ancien Régime and Democracy in America would be less than impressed with the extravagance and arrogance on display among the White House elites that rule America as though they had been handed some divine right to govern with impunity.

It is the kind of impunity that has been highlighted on the world stage this week by Michelle Obama’s hugely costly trip to Spain, which has prompted a New York Post columnist Andrea Tantaros to dub the First Lady a contemporary Marie Antoinette. As The Telegraph reports, while the Obamas are covering their own vacation expenses such as accommodation, the trip may cost US taxpayers as much as $375,000 in terms of secret service security and flight costs on Air Force Two.

The timing of this lavish European vacation could not have come at a worse moment, when unemployment in America stands at 10 percent, and large numbers of Americans are fighting to survive financially in the wake of the global economic downturn. It sends a message of indifference, even contempt, for the millions of Americans who are struggling just to feed their families on a daily basis and pay the mortgage, while the size of the national debt balloons to Greek-style proportions. >>> Nile Gardiner | Saturday, August 07, 2010

Michelle Obama’s super-glitzy holiday with Sasha in Marbella is probably costing the American taxpayer at least one million dollars. Any estimates which are less than this are risible.

To any person with sound judgement, this is an incredible sum to spend on a holiday in these austere times, especially for someone in public office. The average American is hurting, and hurting badly. How sensible is it, then, for the Prez, or his wife, to go on such an extravagant trip abroad? The fact that it can be done doesn’t mean that it should be done.

Excuse me for asking, but what was the purpose of the trip? Was it to take Sasha on a nice short break? If it was, then Obama and Michelle are guilty of giving their children false values. As the leader of a nation which is broke, and in deep depression, neither he nor his wife should spend taxpayers’ money as though there’s no tomorrow; because at this rate, there really will be no tomorrow!

In times of severe economic hardship, people in public office should show solidarity with the people that put them into office: They need to suffer a little too. That way, they gain in support and respect. The way that the Obamas are doing things, all they do is lose in popularity and increase people’s contempt for them. Obama will surely pay a heavy price at the next election. – © Mark

Related >>>

Michelle Obama Meets Spain’s King
First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughter Sasha were greeted by Spain’s King Juan Carlos on Sunday on the resort island of Mallorca. Photograph: The New York Times
THE NEW YORK TIMES: PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain (AP) -- U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and daughter Sasha had lunch with Spain's king and queen on Sunday at the royal family's holiday retreat on the resort island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean.

Mrs. Obama and her daughter arrived at Marivent palace shortly before 1 p.m. and were greeted at the front door of the residence by King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia and Princess Letizia.

The king, a keen yachtsman, has for decades spent August vacations at the palace with its dramatic cliff-top views of the sea on the Balearic island's southwestern coast near Palma de Mallorca.

Lunch was Andalusian-style chilled gazpacho soup, chargrilled turbot, veal escalopes with mustard, Oriental rice with sauteed mushrooms, a Mallorca-style vegetable ratatouille and sliced fruit with ice cream, accompanied by wines from the northern regions of Rueda and Rioja, the palace said. >>> The Associated Press | Sunday, August 08, 2010

While Obama Preaches Sacrifice, His Family Frolics in Spain
Sasha, daughter of U.S. first lady Michelle Obama, bathes in the Mediterranean Sea in Estepona during their vacation in southern Spain. Photo: The Age
THE AGE: AS THE US economy endures high unemployment and a jittery stock market, President Barack Obama has preached sacrifice and fiscal discipline. But the pictures coming out of a sun-splashed Spanish resort may be sending a different message.

First lady Michelle Obama is in the midst of a five-day trip to a luxury resort along with a handful of friends, her younger daughter, aides and Secret Service. Her office said the Obamas would pay for personal expenses, but would not reveal the taxpayer cost for the government employees.

Elected officials - Democrats and Republicans - were reluctant to weigh in, not wanting to appear critical of the President's wife. But the trip provided fodder for television news shows, talk-show hosts and bloggers. Critics portrayed the foreign getaway as tone-deaf to the deep economic anxiety back home. Every first family takes vacations: the criticism aimed at Mrs Obama is that she chose to visit a foreign country rather than remain in the US and support its fragile economy. >>> Peter Nicholas and Katherine Skiba, Washington | Sunday, August 08, 2010

Related >>>

Material Girl Michelle Obama Is a Modern-day Marie Antoinette on a Glitzy Spanish Vacation
First Lady Michelle Obama smiles while she visits Marbella, southern Spain. Photograph: New York Daily News
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Sacrifice is something that many Americans are becoming all too familiar with during this economic downturn. It was a key theme in President Obama's inaugural address to the nation, and he's referenced it numerous times when lecturing the country on how to get back on its feet.

But while most of the country is pinching pennies and downsizing summer sojourns - or forgoing them altogether - the Obamas don't seem to be heeding their own advice. While many of us are struggling, the First Lady is spending the next few days in a five-star hotel on the chic Costa del Sol in southern Spain with 40 of her "closest friends." According to CNN, the group is expected to occupy 60 to 70 rooms, more than a third of the lodgings at the 160-room resort. Not exactly what one would call cutting back in troubled times.

Reports are calling the lodgings of Obama's Spanish fiesta, the Hotel Villa Padierna in Marbella, "luxurious," "posh" and "a millionaires' playground." Estimated room rate per night? Up to a staggering $2,500. Method of transportation? Air Force Two. Continue reading and comment >>> Andrea Tantaros | Thursday, August 05, 2010

Great comment by Yeaman:

Greetings from the Outback, in my case Texas. Secession talk is heating up. 33% of Texans want to bolt. In Arizona, the number is higher. Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahomans are increasingly fed up with the Indonesian in Chief and the Worst Lady. Laugh all you want libs, but we have the oil and the food. You need what we export far more than we need what you export, which is dirty bankers and vitriol. God Bless the Free Republic of Texas! Viva Tejas! [Source: NY Daily News]

Hotel Villa Padierna, Marbella


Hotel Villa Padierna, Marbella


Michelle Obama’s super-glitzy holiday with Sasha in Marbella is probably costing the American taxpayer at least one million dollars. Any estimates which are less than this are risible.

To any person with sound judgement, this is an incredible sum to spend on a holiday in these austere times, especially for someone in public office. The average American is hurting, and hurting badly. How sensible is it, then, for the Prez, or his wife, to go on such an extravagant trip abroad? The fact that it can be done doesn’t mean that it should be done.

Excuse me for asking, but what was the purpose of the trip? Was it to take Sasha on a nice short break? If it was, then Obama and Michelle are guilty of giving their children false values. As the leader of a nation which is broke, and in deep depression, neither he nor his wife should spend taxpayers’ money as though there’s no tomorrow; because at this rate, there really will be no tomorrow!

In times of severe economic hardship, people in public office should show solidarity with the people that put them into office: They need to suffer a little too. That way, they gain in support and respect. The way that the Obamas are doing things, all they do is lose in popularity and increase people’s contempt for them. Obama will surely pay a heavy price at the next election. – © Mark

Sarah Palin Attacks NAACP Over 'Racist' Tea Party Motion
THE TELEGRAPH: Sarah Palin has attacked a prominent civil-rights organisation which has officially branded the American tea party movement as racist, a day after Michelle Obama delivered the keynote speech at the organisation

The former US vice-presidential candidate urged President Obama and his wife Michelle, to "repudiate" the allegation and "set the record straight".

The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) has passed a motion condemning the tea party movement – which is closely linked to the right wing of the Republican Party – for being racist.

In its motion, the NAACP says the movement has engaged in "explicitly racist behaviour" and calls for people to "stand in opposition to [the tea party's] drive to push our country back to the pre-civil rights era." However, Mrs Palin has hit back at the allegation.

"The charge that Tea Party Americans judge people by the colour of their skin is false, appalling, and is a regressive and diversionary tactic to change the subject at hand.," she said. >>> Robert Winnett in Washington | Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Related article here