Barack Obama is the first president in more than 20 years to escape the confines of the White House and Camp David for x-mas. But when you are commander in chief, the White House has a way of finding you anyhow.

Barack Obama has no relatives remaining in Hawaii since his grandmother died last year and his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, moved to Washington, D.C., this year. But he has brought his family for this occasion nearly every Christmas since he and his wife, Michelle, had their daughters, Malia, 11, and Sasha, 8. This year, Obama brought his sister and close friends Eric Whitaker and Marty Nesbitt and their spouse.

Valerie Jarrett, another friend who currently serves as a senior White House adviser, also joined the relatives and friends staying in two neighboring rental houses in Kailua. Jarrett said the setting had a rejuvenate effect on Obama. "His visits allow him to reconnect with his roots and cherished childhood memories," she said.

President barrack obama and First Lady Michelle Obama spent about half an hour on x-mas shaking hands with about 100 Marines, military members and their families at Marine Corps Base Hawaii's Anderson Hall chow hall as they enjoyed a mid-day Christmas meal.

The presidential motorcade arrives at Anderson Hall at about 3:43 pm. The president was dressed in brown slacks and blue shirt sleeves when he entered the mess hall from a side door, greeting the family with "Hi guys, Merry Christmas."

The First Lady wore flats, a white sleeveless graceful dress that came to her knees, and gold hoop earrings. The two moved to dozens of tables, shaking hands, asking service members where they were from, and thanking them for being present. At one point the president obama said "I'm proud of you guys." The president also talks to a small child and signed an autographed picture. The motorcade left the base at 4:25.

One of the most important Christmas presents President Obama ever received was a basketball from the father who was largely absent from his life, the president told Oprah Winfrey.

Asked his beloved Christmas gift as a child, the president recalled a 10 speed bike and then said, "I do remember the one time I met my father he was visiting during Christmas and he gave me a basketball and - the degree to which I came to love basketball - it was not until much later in life that I realized, ‘Actually, he gave me that basketball.' I think there was some cause and effect there in conditions of the degree to which I just ended up taking up the sport as a kid who didn't know his dad."

This year U.S. President Barack Obama became the 120th receiver of the Nobel Peace Prize. President Obama's job toward a nuclear weapons-free world; his plans for combating climate vary; his insistence on multi-lateral diplomacy and maintain of the United Nations; and his ability to give new hope to people around the world, be some of the reasons that prompted the Nobel Prize Committee to award the Peace Prize to a man who had only just begun his term in office.

President Obama officially accepted the Nobel peace Prize with expressions of "deep gratitude and great humility," while acknowledging the seeming paradox of the commander-in-chief of a country fighting 2 wars being hailed as a peace maker.

Yesterday morning on December 19th, Michelle Obama made her way to the Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots Stafford County Distribution Center in Quantico, Virginia. She helps to deliver over 500 Christmas toys donated by the White House staff, during Mrs. Obama’s East Wing toy drive.

Delivering the toys, Mrs. Obama looked stunning in the always classy colors of white and black. She wore a checkered blouse adorned with black ties, a black trousers and black cardigan. To finish her look, Michelle obama kept warm with a salt and pepper tweed pea coat.

As she presented the toys, she stated "On behalf of the President, Malia, Sasha, Bo and Grandma, we wish everyone a happy holidays, Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukah, anybody who's out there celebrating anything: happy!"

Michelle Obama has also asked for extra toy donations from our country. She has informed us that the Marine Corps is lacking on present for older children, ages 11 to 14.

Nobel Peace Prize speeches are regularly filled with soaring rhetoric and grand humanitarian gestures. President Barack Obama will accept his prize Thursday with a speech that aims at historical resonance but is forced by his status as a new, wartime president.

Administration officials say the speech, which the president is sketching himself, will address the irony of receiving a peace prize a week after ratcheting up the war in Afghanistan, and the require for continued leadership on nuclear disarmament.

The prize is awarded not often to a sitting head of state; not in 90 years has it gone to a sitting U.S. president. Mr. Obama's nomination was based on his outreach to other nations and the Muslim world, his maintain for nuclear disarmament and election as the first African-American president.

For reporters covered President Obama, there’s only one party in town that matters: The White House Holiday Party is a rare opportunity to walk around parts of the White House and meet the president and first lady. In the past, the highlight of the event has been the chance to get your image taken with the president in the receiving line.

This year, however, the White House seems to be doing things a slight differently. The invites went out late – and didn’t include journalists who have been invited in the long-ago. And those who have been invited seem possible to be denied the traditional receiving-line photo.

US President Barack Obama faces the equal level of threat as that of his two predecessors, George W Bush and Bill Clinton, a senior Secret Service official has said.

"The threats (to Obama) right now and inappropriate interest that we are seeing is the same level as it has been for the earlier two Presidents at this point," the Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan said in response to a question at a Congressional hearing.

The US Secret Service is in charge for the protection of the first family of the United States.

"They are not," Sullivan said when Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton asked him if the threats to Obama were higher or not, during a inquiry by House Committee on Homeland Security on the security breach in the White House last week.

Former President Bill Clinton on Wednesday said he support President Barack Obama's plan to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan.

"I decided several weeks ago I would support whatever he decided," Clinton said to a standing ovation at the New Hampshire Democratic Party's yearly Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Manchester. The appearance marked the first time Clinton returns to the state since attending several rallies two days before the 2008 general election.

Clinton praised Obama for carefully studying options and strategy for Afghanistan, despite criticism he was moving too slowly.

The former president noted that many things have altered since he first became president, but one thing that has remained the same is the Republicans' criticism of Democratic policies. He urged the audience to fight false statements about the recent health care proposal before Congress and efforts to fight global warming by talking to friends and neighbors about Obama's policies.

The Obama family passed out turkeys, stuffing and other Thanksgiving favorites to peoples at a food pantry organization.

President Barack Obama tucked pumpkin pies into peoples bags at Martha's Table in downtown Washington on Wednesday evening and wished them a happy holiday.

Obama's two daughters, first lady Michelle Obama and her mother, Marian Robinson, worked next to the president, putting canned food, stuffing, and fresh vegetables into bags. Those in line also received cold turkeys.

Children who attend educational services at the association designed some of the bags.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrapped up a "very productive" state visit to the US with assurances of support from President Barack Obama on countering terrorism emanate from Pakistan, early completion of their landmark civil nuclear deal and allaying of concerns over Chinese role in South Asia.

A day after he held broad-ranging discussions with Obama to forge a "defining partnership of the 21st century", Manmohan Singh told the media on Wednesday he was sure that India and the US will "not only continue but strengthen the momentum of relations built up over the past few years".

At his first summit talks with Obama, Manmohan said they had decided on the early and full implementation of their landmark civil nuclear deal.

There were a "few minor problems" relates to an agreement on reprocessing of nuclear fuel, he said, adding: "I am confident that we can sort out these things in the next few weeks."

Michelle Obama welcomed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Mrs. Gursharan Kaur to the White House Tuesday night and usher in the Obama administration's first official state dinner.

Though she's become known for her (sometimes controversial) high-fashion risk-taking, tonight Mrs.Obama choose a dress with a classic floor-length cut in a subdued gold fabric and paired it with a light shawl. Her makeup was kept to a minimum and her hair finished in a dignified updo. The whole ensemble seemed traditionally feminine and sophisticated, reminiscent of the first lady's more conservative predecessors.

Tonight's look may mark a sartorial departure for Mrs. Obama, a shift into more sophisticated, luxurious, and regal attire, accessible, rather than the playful, less-polished clothing she's worn thus far.

US President Barack Obama has given an award to a leading women's rights activist in Zimbabwe, labeling Robert Mugabe a "dictator" in the development.

Obama presented Magodonga Mahlangu and her association Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) with the 2009 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in a White House ceremony.

"Each time they observe Magodonga beaten back, beaten black and blue during one protest, only to get right back up and lead another, singing freedom songs at the top of her lungs in complete view of security forces, the threat of a policeman's baton loses some of its power," he said.

WOZA has united tens of thousands of Zimbabwean women in a campaign of non-violent struggle against rapes and other rights violations under Mugabe's regime, lasting brutal repression and repeated arrests.

"By her example, Magodonga has shown the women of WOZA and the people of Zimbabwe that they can undermine their oppressors' power with their own power, that they could sap a dictator's strength with their own," Obama said.

Ending a sometimes bumpy week-long tour of East Asia, Obama said the welcoming ceremony in Seoul - a glorious, flags and traditional garb, sun-drenched mingling of music - was the "most spectacular" he has seen in his travels.

In his talks with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, whose right-of-center government has embrace political cooperation with the United States, Obama also found much to his liking.

The two agreed on a general approach to North Korea, with Obama announcing that his special envoy, Stephen W. Bosworth, will travel to Pyongyang on Dec. 8 to try to persuade Kim Jong Il's government to return to stalled six-party disarmament talks in Beijing.

At a brief joint news conference, Obama was asked about Iran's indication that it could not ship some of its uranium to Russia for processing, which was to have been the core of an international solution to its nuclear ambitions. He responded that the United States has started to enlarge "a package of potential steps" to penalize Iran.

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday nudged Chinese President Hu Jintao allows the yuan currency to appreciate at a summit where they agreed to work to ease trade and economic frictions between the two giants.

Hu did not mention the yuan, China's currency policy or the dollar during remarks following a meeting with Obama in Beijing's Great Hall of the Peoples.

However, Obama referred fleetingly to an issue which has provoked testy exchanges in current days between U.S. and Chinese officials, with Washington arguing that an undervalued yuan is stoking global economic imbalances. The yuan has been successfully pegged against the dollar since the middle of last year.

In the South, opinion about First Lady Michelle Obama has lots to do with political affiliation, according to a new poll. Nearly 78 percent of Democrats had a favorable opinion of Mrs. Obama compared to only 26.2 percent of Republicans, according to the Winthrop University survey.

Independents favored Mrs. Obama by 55.4 percent to bring her on the whole favorable rating to 53.2 percent.

Among Democrats, only 18.2 percent were undecided about Mrs. Obama comparing with 51.1 percent for Republicans and 26.9 percent for independents.

The poll of 866 adults 18 years old and over was taken between Oct. 24-Nov. 7 in 11 Southern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. The poll included respondents with mobile phone and land lines. The margin of fault is plus or minus 3.33 percent.

Sesame Street is the longest-running children's programme on American television, and has brought us much loved characters including the Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch and the inseparable Burt and Ernie.

In an episode set to air later today, America's First Lady will help mark the show's great birthday, by palling up with Big Bird.

Previews show that Michelle and her feathered friend will bond over being the longest on the street, and club together to promote healthy eating and nutrition.

The episode, which was taped back in May, also sees the First Lady having a run in with that cheeky chappy Elmo, and planting vegetable seeds with a crowd of children.

‘I never thought I'd be on Sesame Street with Elmo and Big Bird, and I was thrilled,' ‘I'm still thrilled. I'm on a high!' she said on the day of shooting.

‘I think it's probably the best thing I have done so far in the White House,' she added. ‘We were there talking about healthy eating and nutrition, and it's just been a thrill.'

Michelle Obama becomes the subject of a new book that hails her style and wardrobe for influencing the fashion pages.

The Face of Fashion Democracy, published by Hachette, celebrates the US First Lady’s secret from the campaign trail to the White House.

The tome glances at the mum-of-two’s designer dresses to reasonable brands with more than 120 pictures, reports the Telegraph.

It also features interviews from some of Michelle’s favorite designers, such as Isabel Toledo, Jason Wu, Michael Kors, Maria Pinto and Isaac Mizrahi.

Simon Doonan, the British creative director of Barneys, the chic New York clothes store Barneys, also praised Michelle, often dubbed the First Lady of Fashion, saying. "Mrs Obama has a nuanced but inspired style of dressing. She is a connoisseur who knows how to go beyond a simply conventional approach and inject her style with a dash of idiosyncracy. Nothing great, always appropriate, but never boring or conventional."

A spokeswoman for the First Lady's office says Sasha & Malia Obama received their H1N1 vaccines last week after the immunizations were made obtainable to Washington, D.C. school children. The White House physicians apply for and received the vaccines through the DC Department of Health, "using the similar process as every other vaccination site in the District."

The President and the First Lady has not received the H1N1 vaccine, says the spokeswoman in a statement, "and they will wait until the needs of the priority groups identified by the CDC ... have been met.'

The Centers for Disease Control identifies that priority group as children and young people up to the age of 24, pregnant women, health care workers, and older people who have, “health conditions associated with higher risk of medical complications from influenza."

All four of the Obama's have received the regular flu vaccine.

President Obama has a competition at home. It seems Americans view his wife Michelle more favorably than him, indicating a reversal of fortunes since his election last November.

A latest poll shows a surge in positive views of the first lady even as her husband’s ratings have eroded.

Michelle Obama is now viewed more favorably than the president, and her standing is almost 50 percent higher than Vice President Joe Biden.

As the first anniversary of Obama’s election approach, the USA Today/Gallup Poll taken over the past week finds:

* Obama is viewed favorably by 55 percent, unfavourably by 42 percent.

Non-Hispanic whites are regularly split, 49 percent-49 percent, while his rating among blacks is overwhelmingly positive, 90 percent-9 percent.

The day after his election, on Nov 5, 2008, his overall favorable score was 68 percent-27 percent.

* Michelle Obama viewed favorably by 61 percent, unfavorably by 25 percent. Her status among non-Hispanic whites is 57 percent-30 percent; among blacks, it is 91 percent-5 percent.

About a year ago, in a USA Today poll taken Sep 5-7, 2008, her overall favorable rating was 54 percent-30 percent.

Both the Right and the Left in the United States have joined in disbelief at the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama. For the Right, the decision constitutes further proof of Europe’s moral decadence, for the Left, the award seems premature and complicates Obama’s position on the house front. In fact, the award signals a cry for leadership of a global civil society that is fitfully emerging, and which an American president, exactly because of his own country’s power, is best positioned to take on.

What is global civil society? It features an internationalist outlook that transcend individual state interests - encapsulating everything from media outlets like CNN International or the English-language version of Al Jazeera television, to United Nations agencies, and the worldwide movement of non-governmental organizations, or NGOs. It refers to the kind labors of any number of relief charities operating in poor or war-torn countries. It implies, in other words, an altruism that transcends national, religious, and ethnic borders to include humanity as a entire.

President Barack Obama danced salsa with Latina star Thalia last night, but Michelle Obama was not impressed!

Obama got on the dance floor in a special Fiesta Latina agenda at the White House to celebrate Hispanic Heritage month.

He shows off his moves for a few seconds, and when he returns to his seat and tries to speak to the first lady, she appears to give him the cold shoulder.

In his weekly address, President Obama said momentum is building for health care reform, but republicans are standing firm against the plans that are make their way through Congress.

With a serious vote on a key health care bill just days away, the president and his party seem confident they have the momentum and the votes on their side.

"Health insurance reform is a complex and critical issue that deserves a vigorous national debate, and we've had one," Obama said. "The approach that is emerging includes the best ideas from republicans and democrats."

The Finance Committee statement alone is estimated to cost $829 billion over 10 years. Republicans maintain the bottom line will be $1 trillion more than that.

"It is likely that the present proposal will increase your health insurance costs, not reduce them," Florida Senator George Lemieux (r) said. "At a time when Americans are stressed to make ends meet, and the country's debt continues to rise, we should not be raising taxes."

Ever since Barack Obama enter the White House nine months ago, some of his diehard political opponents seem determined to cause as more trouble for him as they can, sometimes using baseless and fabricated stories.

Now they have turned their attention on First lady Michelle Obama. In recent weeks, a group of conservative critics have used blogs, emails and chat rooms to launch an attack against the first lady accusing her of employing a "massive" staff with tax payers' money.

Of course, this is not the first time that first ladies have been criticized for such indulgences. But the current attack on Mrs Obama seemed mainly harsh given the fact that her staff is in no way bigger than previous first ladies.

As far as Michelle Obama's staff amount being "unprecedented" in modern times, this appears to be factually inaccurate.

President Barack Obama will welcome sky watchers to the White House Wednesday for an evening of stargazing with the first family.

A group of professional and amateur astronomers will place up more than 20 telescopes on the White House lawn during the presidential star party to mark the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009), a celebration of the 400th anniversary of famed astronomer Galileo Galilee's first use of a telescope to observe the night sky. President Obama, his family and a group of local middle-school students are probable to attend.

The White House star party will begin Wednesday night at around 8 p.m. EDT with a beginning address by President Obama to be broadcast live on NASA TV. It corresponds with World Space Week, which began Sunday and end on Oct. 10.

Less than two weeks ago, President Obama lament that he was too busy to go to Denmark to lobby for Chicago’s bid to host the Olympics. “I would make the case in Copenhagen personally,” he said, “if I were not so definitely committed to making real the promise of quality, affordable health care for every American.”

Obviously, his commitment to health care is no longer quite so time consuming. Mr. Obama announced Monday that he could fly to Copenhagen this week after all to lobby the International Olympic Committee for the 2016 Summer Games.

Mr. Obama changed his mind and decided to take a gamble no other American president has been taken at the urging of his close friend and senior adviser, Valerie Jarrett, who has been deeply involved in promoting Chicago’s bid. He hopes to trump the presence in Copenhagen of his counterparts from rival countries looking for the games - Brazil, Japan and Spain - and duplicate the success that Tony Blair of Britain and Vladimir V. Putin of Russia have had in recent years by personally lobbying for their nations’ bids.

US President Barack Obama told the United Nations on Wednesday that he will look for to wrap up a universal treaty to ban all nuclear testing and open talks on halting production of bomb-making fissile material in the next 12 months.

Neither announcement comes as a surprise to New Delhi, but the US President's statement that the "next twelve months could be pivotal in influential whether this compact will be strengthen or will slowly dissolve means India will have to create some tough choices in the coming year - notably whether to sign the comprehensive test ban treaty - at a time where there is immense argument at home about the scale of its nuclear avoidance.

In his first speech before the UN as US President, Obama draws a sharp contrast to his predecessor George Bush by reaffirming US commitment to the United Nations, while chastising the rest of the world for expecting Washington to solve all problems. But it was his firm resolves to address a nuclear proliferation issue that was most striking for New Delhi, given the uncertainties that have come to characterize its relationship with Washington on matters of nuclear cooperation and non-proliferation.

"Nobody's above the law," Mr Obama said in an interview with the American CBS television programme look The Nation.

The US Attorney General Eric Holder last month named as prosecutor to examine whether the CIA had gone beyond approved interrogation methods.

The former heads wrote to Mr Barrack Obama saying the probe would hamper CIA work.

They said the cases had already been investigate during the Bush administration and lawyers had declined to prosecute in all but one.

"This approach will seriously injure the willingness of intelligence officers to take risks to protect the country," their letter read.

"In our judgment, such risk-taking is imperative to success in the long and difficult fight against terrorists who continue to threaten us."

The former CIA chiefs serve under Republican and Democratic presidents.

In a bid to ensure the global spread of swine flu, US President Barack Obama has announced that his administration is prepared to make 10 per cent of its H1N1 vaccine supply available to other countries through the World Health Organisation.

"In recognition that diseases know no limits and that the health of the American people is inseparable from the health of people around the world, the US is taking this action in concert with Australia, Italy, Brazil, France, Norway, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the UK," White House said.

Under the plan, the US will create the H1N1 vaccine available to WHO on a rolling basis as vaccine supplies become available, in order to help countries that will not otherwise have direct access to the vaccine.

In a bid to ensure the global spread of swine flu, US President Barack Obama has announced that his administration is prepared to make 10 per cent of its H1N1 vaccine supply available to other countries through the World Health Organisation.

"In recognition that diseases know no limits and that the health of the American people is inseparable from the health of people around the world, the US is taking this action in concert with Australia, Italy, Brazil, France, Norway, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the UK," White House said.

Under the plan, the US will create the H1N1 vaccine available to WHO on a rolling basis as vaccine supplies become available, in order to help countries that will not otherwise have direct access to the vaccine.

US President Barack Obama extends 47-year-old trade embargo against Cuba for another year.
In a statement, Mr Obama said that it was in the US national notice to extend the Trading with the Enemy Act which covers the trade embargo.

It is mainly a symbolic step because the final decision rests with Congress.

Under legislation from 1996, the Helms-Burton Act, the embargo can only be lift when Cuba is deemed to have begun a democratic transition.

Cuba has been under a financial, deal and travel ban since 1962 - one of the last surviving remnants of the Cold War.

Critics see it as a missed opportunity to signal a further readiness to ease relations between the two countries.

Mr Obama has lifted some of the restrictions allowing Cuban-Americans to visit relatives whenever they need and send money home.

The Cuban authorities have describe these changes as little more than a cosmetic coat of paint, but the US administration continues to demand that Cuba must first show signs of reform before lifting the embargo.

NASA needs an extra $3 billion a year to send astronauts back to the moon or to deep-space flybys of Mars or asteroids and avoid an “unsustainable trajectory” of surroundings goals without adequate funding, a panel told President Barack Obama.

The space agenda “is perpetuating the perilous perform of pursuing goals that do not match allocated resources,” the U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee said in a summary of its report. The panel is lead by Norman Augustine, former chief executive of aerospace contractor Lockheed Martin Corp.

With the space shuttle program winding down, the U.S. is seeking a new mission for astronauts that might include a return to the moon, a goal set for 2020 by former President George W. Bush. Astronauts haven’t traveled beyond about 300 miles from Earth since the last Apollo mission to the lunar surface almost four decades ago.

Perform one set of tricep pushdowns using a straight bar attached to the high pulley of a cable station and then, without resting, go behind with a set of hammer curls using dumbbells. Immediately repeat the whole process until two or three sets of both exercises have been completed.

The information of Mrs. Obama's fitness routine came as part of a series of interviews by President Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama on health care and their personal fitness and nutrition habits.

Obama was interviewed by Men's Health; he also was feature in the magazine last November. Mrs. Obama gave her first interviews to Women's Health and Children's Health, an original magazine by Rodale Inc., publisher of the men's and women's health magazines.

Obama is again on the coat of Men's Health, while his wife graces the cover of Children's Health. She is joined by a few of the Bancroft Elementary School pupils who have been involved with the White House garden.

Obama said he works out six days a week: two cardio days and four weightlifting days split between the lower and upper body. He also discusses his effort to overhaul the U.S. health care system and his late mother's bout with cancer.

US President Barack Obama Wednesday spoke by telephone with Japan's incoming Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to congratulate him and his Democratic Party of Japan on a landslide election succeeds.

Obama said he looked forward to seeing Hatoyama at this month's United Nations General Assembly in New York and the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, which will blot the new Japanese leader's first steps on the world stage.

"President Obama and Mr Hatoyama stressed the importance of a strong US-Japan Alliance and their desire to build an even more effective partnership," the White House said in a statement.

Obama said he required to work with the new Japanese government on economic recovery, climate change, North Korea, in defeating Al-Qaeda and building peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.

The US President obama is on the American resort, island in Massachusetts for a family break.

Wearing a blue polo shirt, sunglasses and jeans he took his wife Michelle and their children to Nancy’s restaurant.

Michelle beamed from a behind a pair of designer sunglasses, while Sasha (8) and Malia (11) both enjoyed a Coke.

Obama played the kind father and ordered food for the family - and his love of burgers is already well known!

The first family settled in Sunday for their vacation on Martha's Vineyard not long after Hurricane Bill scampered away, leaving behind big waves and heavy rip current for the Obamas.

A hot storm warning was lifted just hours before President Barack Obama began his first vacation since taking office. The hurricane forced him to delay his departure from Andrews Air Force Base by only a few hours.

"He wants you to relax and have a good time. Take some walks on the beaches. Nobody is looking to make any news," Burton told reporters.

There are the probable trips for ice cream and salt water taffy, possibly a bike ride and plenty of quiet time at a secluded 28-acre private estate that rents for $35,000 a week. The Obamas played for their share of the vacation home; taxpayers are picking up the tab for security and White House staff, which is usual for all presidents.

Ahead of the trip, Obama and his aide asked for privacy for his daughters, 8-year-old Sasha and 11-year-old Malia.

The playground for the wealthy was a vacation spot for President Bill Clinton and President Ulysses S. Grant. Obama visited twice before. More classically he has vacationed in Hawaii, where he was born and spent time as a child.

President Barack Obama become visible in a back-to-school television special with singer Kelly Clarkson and basketball star LeBron James next month.

Obama is appearing in a 30-minute documentary that will air at 8 p.m. Sept. 8 on BET, MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, CMT, Spike TV and Nickelodeon, all of them Viacom networks.

In the program, the president says education is the key to citizens living out their dreams.

"So as this new school year begins, I urge you to set goals for your own education: to study hard and gets involved in your school, to try original things and find amazing you're passionate about," Obama says, according to a release issued on Wednesday.

In the special, Obama, Clarkson and James all are shown next to behind-the-scenes colleagues; Obama's is speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz, who talks about her time in school and current job at the White House. Also feature are Clarkson's music director, Jason Halbert, and James' marketer, Latesha Williams.

When people ask Michelle Obama to describe herself, she doesn't hesitate. First and foremost, she is Malia and Sasha's mom.

But before she was a mother — or a wife, lawyer, or public servant — she was Fraser and Marian Robinson's daughter.

The Robinsons lived in a brick bungalow on the South Side of Chicago. Fraser was a pump operator for the Chicago Water Department, and despite being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at a young age, he hardly ever missed a day of work. Marian stayed home to raise Michelle and her brother, Craig, skillfully managing a busy household filled with love, laughter, and important life lessons.

A product of Chicago public schools, Michelle studied sociology and African-American studies at Princeton University. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1988, she joined the Chicago law firm Sidley & Austin, where she later met the man who would become the love of her life.

After a few years, Michelle decided her true calling lay in encouraging people to serve their communities and their neighbors. She served as assistant commissioner of planning and development in Chicago's City Hall before becoming the founding executive director of the Chicago chapter of Public Allies, an AmeriCorps program that prepares youth for public service.

In 1996, Michelle joined the University of Chicago with a vision of bringing campus and community together. As associate dean of student services, she developed the university's first community service program, and under her leadership as vice president of community and external affairs for the University of Chicago Medical Center, volunteerism skyrocketed.

As First Lady, Michelle Obama looks forward to continuing her work on the issues close to her heart — supporting military families, helping working women balance career and family, and encouraging national service.

Michelle and Barack Obama have two daughters: Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7. Like their mother, the girls were born on the South Side of Chicago.

This is the moment our movement was built for.

For one month, the fight for health insurance reform leaves the backrooms of Washington, D.C., and returns to communities across America. Throughout August, members of Congress are back home, where the hands they shake and the voices they hear will not belong to lobbyists, but to people like you.

Home is where we're strongest. We didn't win last year's election together at a committee hearing in D.C. We won it on the doorsteps and the phone lines, at the softball games and the town meetings, and in every part of this great country where people gather to talk about what matters most. And if you're willing to step up once again, that's exactly where we're going to win this historic campaign for the guaranteed, affordable health insurance that every American deserves.

There are those who profit from the status quo, or see this debate as a political game, and they will stop at nothing to block reform. They are filling the airwaves and the internet with outrageous falsehoods to scare people into opposing change. And some people, not surprisingly, are getting pretty nervous. So we've got to get out there, fight lies with truth, and set the record straight.

That's why Organizing for America is putting together thousands of events this month where you can reach out to neighbors, show your support, and make certain your members of Congress know that you're counting on them to act.

But these canvasses, town halls, and gatherings only make a difference if you turn up to knock on doors, share your views, and show your support. So here's what I need from you:

Can you commit to join at least one event in your community this month?

In politics, there's a rule that says when you ask people to get involved, always tell them it'll be easy. Well, let's be honest here: Passing comprehensive health insurance reform will not be easy. Every President since Harry Truman has talked about it, and the most powerful and experienced lobbyists in Washington stand in the way.

But every day we don't act, Americans watch their premiums rise three times faster than wages, small businesses and families are pushed towards bankruptcy, and 14,000 people lose their coverage entirely. The cost of inaction is simply too much for the people of this nation to bear.

So yes, fixing this crisis will not be easy. Our opponents will attack us every day for daring to try. It will require time, and hard work, and there will be days when we don't know if we have anything more to give. But there comes a moment when we all have to choose between doing what's easy, and doing what's right.

This is one of those times. And moments like this are what this movement was built for. So, are you ready?

Please commit now to taking at least one action in your community this month to build support for health insurance reform:

http://my.barackobama.com/CommitAugust

Let's seize this moment and win this historic victory for our economy, our health and our families.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

Members of Congress have been home for just a few days, and they're already facing increased pressure from insurance companies, special interests, and partisan attack organizations that are spending millions to block health insurance reform.

These groups are using scare tactics and spreading smears about the President's plan for reform, trying to incite constituents into lashing out at their representatives and disrupting their events.

The goal of these disruptions is for a few people to get a lot of media attention and hijack the entire public discourse. If they succeed, all Americans -- Democrats, Republicans, and Independents -- will continue to struggle under the broken status quo.

It's up to us to show Congress that those loudly opposing reform are a tiny minority being stirred up by special interests, and that a huge majority strongly supports enacting real health insurance reform in 2009.

Can you call your representative's local office in your state? Let the person who answers know that you're a constituent. Then tell them: "Please fight for real health insurance reform in 2009."

Calling should only take a few minutes, but it's a huge help. These local offices serve as the main connection between a member of Congress and voters in the district. And with representatives home on recess, the staff there are in daily contact with your member, keeping them updated on how many calls they receive that are for or against reform.

Once you've called, please be sure to report your results. Knowing how many calls are coming in from all around the country will help us better plan our campaign -- and help us show that the American people overwhelmingly want health insurance reform this year.

Thanks,

Mitch

Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America

I am pleased and deeply gratified that the Senate has voted to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor as our nation’s 111th Supreme Court justice.

I want to thank the Senate Judiciary Committee, particularly its Chairman, Senator Leahy -- as well as its Ranking Member, Senator Sessions -- for giving Judge Sotomayor a thorough and civil hearing. And I thank them for doing so in a timely manner so that she can be fully prepared to take her seat when the Court’s work begins this September.

The members of our Supreme Court are granted life tenure and are charged with the vital and difficult task of applying principles set forth at our founding to the questions and controversies of our time. Over the past 10 weeks, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate have assessed Judge Sotomayor’s fitness for this work. They've scrutinized her record as a prosecutor, as a litigator, and as a judge. They've gauged her respect for the proper role of each branch of our government, her commitment to faithfully apply the law to the facts at hand, and her determination to protect our core constitutional rights and freedoms.

And with this historic vote, the Senate has affirmed that Judge Sotomayor has the intellect, the temperament, the history, the integrity and the independence of mind to ably serve on our nation’s highest court.

This is a role that the Senate has played for more than two centuries, helping to ensure that "equal justice under the law" is not merely a phrase inscribed above our courthouse door, but a description of what happens every single day inside the courtroom. It's a promise that, whether you’re a mighty corporation or an ordinary American, you will receive a full and fair hearing. And in the end, the outcome of your case will be determined by nothing more or less than the strength of your argument and the dictates of the law.

These core American ideals -- justice, equality, and opportunity -- are the very ideals that have made Judge Sotomayor’s own uniquely American journey possible. They're ideals she's fought for throughout her career, and the ideals the Senate has upheld today in breaking yet another barrier and moving us yet another step closer to a more perfect union.

Like so many other aspects of this nation, I'm filled with pride in this achievement and great confidence that Judge Sotomayor will make an outstanding Supreme Court justice. This is a wonderful day for Judge Sotomayor and her family, but I also think it's a wonderful day for America.

If you’ve been following the health insurance reform debate, you probably have a number of questions about how health insurance reform will help you and improve the quality of care you receive. With all the talk about health insurance reform, it can be difficult to sort out fact from fiction.

We want to be sure you have the facts and answer your questions. Today, I’ll be moderating a webcast with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and other top HHS officials where we’ll discuss how health insurance reform will benefit all Americans and take on some of the myths you may have heard. The webcast will begin at 1:00 PM EDT and you can watch it at www.healthreform.gov. You can also watch and discuss using the White House Facebook application.

During the webcast, we’ll be answering your questions. Questions can be emailed to hhsstudio@hhs.gov or submitted via Twitter by using the hashtag #HCRQ.

Newly elected President Barack Obama is very conscious of the latest financial and job situation in the country leaves and that it leaves many homeowners nervous about the future. Home prices have fallen to record lows and foreclosures are also climbing to all time highs, bringing neighborhood home values by as much as 15%. Property and home values have fallen so steep that numerous homeowners now owe far more on their mortgages than their home is actually worth or will be worth in the next two decades. Because of these problems, the President Barack Obama has presented the housing and homeowner stimulus plan as the fix all for Americans who are close to losing their homes.

The Making Home Affordable plan was announced in February 2009 and has been running with very questionable results since then. Many borrowers no longer have any equity let alone the 20% equity that is often needed for mortgage refinancing these days. The stimulus or Making Home Affordable plan, from Pres. Obama is supposed to make it easier for homeowners to refinance or modify their current primary mortgage and receive lower monthly payments helping many homeowners temporarily avoid foreclosure.

The ultimate goal of the Making Home Affordable Plan is to help over 9 million homeowners keep their homes and avoid foreclosure or defaulting on their loan until the depression is over as most loans are short term fixes only. This is done by giving incentives to mortgage lenders to use new government guidelines for approving mortgage refinances. So with only a small incentive and slightly less risk to mortgage lenders some are choosing to be more compromising on who can refinance.

We believe the projected number of 9 million homeowners helped will be closer to 1 million as some lenders appear to be balking at governments incentives.

With the Making Homes Affordable program, the final mortgage payment will still not be allowed to exceed 38% of the homeowners gross monthly income. This is great news for a lot of homeowners who are fighting to make their monthly mortgage payment. A lot of homeowners currently pay 50% or more of their income towards making the mortgage payment. A 12 - 20 percent reduction would add up to a lot of saved money every month, but still leave homeowners with a house now worth hundreds of thousands less then they owe on their mortgage.

Refinancing your home can either save you thousands or cost you thousands. Predatory mortgage lenders will take advantage of you every chance they get. Learn how to properly refinance a mortgage and walk away with more money and a smile.

Newly elected President Barack Obama is very conscious of the latest financial and job situation in the country leaves and that it leaves many homeowners nervous about the future. Home prices have fallen to record lows and foreclosures are also climbing to all time highs, bringing neighborhood home values by as much as 15%. Property and home values have fallen so steep that numerous homeowners now owe far more on their mortgages than their home is actually worth or will be worth in the next two decades. Because of these problems, the President Barack Obama has presented the housing and homeowner stimulus plan as the fix all for Americans who are close to losing their homes.

The Making Home Affordable plan was announced in February 2009 and has been running with very questionable results since then. Many borrowers no longer have any equity let alone the 20% equity that is often needed for mortgage refinancing these days. The stimulus or Making Home Affordable plan, from Pres. Obama is supposed to make it easier for homeowners to refinance or modify their current primary mortgage and receive lower monthly payments helping many homeowners temporarily avoid foreclosure.

The ultimate goal of the Making Home Affordable Plan is to help over 9 million homeowners keep their homes and avoid foreclosure or defaulting on their loan until the depression is over as most loans are short term fixes only. This is done by giving incentives to mortgage lenders to use new government guidelines for approving mortgage refinances. So with only a small incentive and slightly less risk to mortgage lenders some are choosing to be more compromising on who can refinance.

We believe the projected number of 9 million homeowners helped will be closer to 1 million as some lenders appear to be balking at governments incentives.

With the Making Homes Affordable program, the final mortgage payment will still not be allowed to exceed 38% of the homeowners gross monthly income. This is great news for a lot of homeowners who are fighting to make their monthly mortgage payment. A lot of homeowners currently pay 50% or more of their income towards making the mortgage payment. A 12 - 20 percent reduction would add up to a lot of saved money every month, but still leave homeowners with a house now worth hundreds of thousands less then they owe on their mortgage.

Refinancing your home can either save you thousands or cost you thousands. Predatory mortgage lenders will take advantage of you every chance they get. Learn how to properly refinance a mortgage and walk away with more money and a smile.

Newly elected President Barack Obama is very conscious of the latest financial and job situation in the country leaves and that it leaves many homeowners nervous about the future. Home prices have fallen to record lows and foreclosures are also climbing to all time highs, bringing neighborhood home values by as much as 15%. Property and home values have fallen so steep that numerous homeowners now owe far more on their mortgages than their home is actually worth or will be worth in the next two decades. Because of these problems, the President Barack Obama has presented the housing and homeowner stimulus plan as the fix all for Americans who are close to losing their homes.

The Making Home Affordable plan was announced in February 2009 and has been running with very questionable results since then. Many borrowers no longer have any equity let alone the 20% equity that is often needed for mortgage refinancing these days. The stimulus or Making Home Affordable plan, from Pres. Obama is supposed to make it easier for homeowners to refinance or modify their current primary mortgage and receive lower monthly payments helping many homeowners temporarily avoid foreclosure.

The ultimate goal of the Making Home Affordable Plan is to help over 9 million homeowners keep their homes and avoid foreclosure or defaulting on their loan until the depression is over as most loans are short term fixes only. This is done by giving incentives to mortgage lenders to use new government guidelines for approving mortgage refinances. So with only a small incentive and slightly less risk to mortgage lenders some are choosing to be more compromising on who can refinance.

We believe the projected number of 9 million homeowners helped will be closer to 1 million as some lenders appear to be balking at governments incentives.

With the Making Homes Affordable program, the final mortgage payment will still not be allowed to exceed 38% of the homeowners gross monthly income. This is great news for a lot of homeowners who are fighting to make their monthly mortgage payment. A lot of homeowners currently pay 50% or more of their income towards making the mortgage payment. A 12 - 20 percent reduction would add up to a lot of saved money every month, but still leave homeowners with a house now worth hundreds of thousands less then they owe on their mortgage.

Refinancing your home can either save you thousands or cost you thousands. Predatory mortgage lenders will take advantage of you every chance they get. Learn how to properly refinance a mortgage and walk away with more money and a smile.

Newly elected President Barack Obama is very conscious of the latest financial and job situation in the country leaves and that it leaves many homeowners nervous about the future. Home prices have fallen to record lows and foreclosures are also climbing to all time highs, bringing neighborhood home values by as much as 15%. Property and home values have fallen so steep that numerous homeowners now owe far more on their mortgages than their home is actually worth or will be worth in the next two decades. Because of these problems, the President Barack Obama has presented the housing and homeowner stimulus plan as the fix all for Americans who are close to losing their homes.

The Making Home Affordable plan was announced in February 2009 and has been running with very questionable results since then. Many borrowers no longer have any equity let alone the 20% equity that is often needed for mortgage refinancing these days. The stimulus or Making Home Affordable plan, from Pres. Obama is supposed to make it easier for homeowners to refinance or modify their current primary mortgage and receive lower monthly payments helping many homeowners temporarily avoid foreclosure.

The ultimate goal of the Making Home Affordable Plan is to help over 9 million homeowners keep their homes and avoid foreclosure or defaulting on their loan until the depression is over as most loans are short term fixes only. This is done by giving incentives to mortgage lenders to use new government guidelines for approving mortgage refinances. So with only a small incentive and slightly less risk to mortgage lenders some are choosing to be more compromising on who can refinance.

We believe the projected number of 9 million homeowners helped will be closer to 1 million as some lenders appear to be balking at governments incentives.

With the Making Homes Affordable program, the final mortgage payment will still not be allowed to exceed 38% of the homeowners gross monthly income. This is great news for a lot of homeowners who are fighting to make their monthly mortgage payment. A lot of homeowners currently pay 50% or more of their income towards making the mortgage payment. A 12 - 20 percent reduction would add up to a lot of saved money every month, but still leave homeowners with a house now worth hundreds of thousands less then they owe on their mortgage.

Refinancing your home can either save you thousands or cost you thousands. Predatory mortgage lenders will take advantage of you every chance they get. Learn how to properly refinance a mortgage and walk away with more money and a smile.

Newly elected President Barack Obama is very conscious of the latest financial and job situation in the country leaves and that it leaves many homeowners nervous about the future. Home prices have fallen to record lows and foreclosures are also climbing to all time highs, bringing neighborhood home values by as much as 15%. Property and home values have fallen so steep that numerous homeowners now owe far more on their mortgages than their home is actually worth or will be worth in the next two decades. Because of these problems, the President Barack Obama has presented the housing and homeowner stimulus plan as the fix all for Americans who are close to losing their homes.

The Making Home Affordable plan was announced in February 2009 and has been running with very questionable results since then. Many borrowers no longer have any equity let alone the 20% equity that is often needed for mortgage refinancing these days. The stimulus or Making Home Affordable plan, from Pres. Obama is supposed to make it easier for homeowners to refinance or modify their current primary mortgage and receive lower monthly payments helping many homeowners temporarily avoid foreclosure.

The ultimate goal of the Making Home Affordable Plan is to help over 9 million homeowners keep their homes and avoid foreclosure or defaulting on their loan until the depression is over as most loans are short term fixes only. This is done by giving incentives to mortgage lenders to use new government guidelines for approving mortgage refinances. So with only a small incentive and slightly less risk to mortgage lenders some are choosing to be more compromising on who can refinance.

We believe the projected number of 9 million homeowners helped will be closer to 1 million as some lenders appear to be balking at governments incentives.

With the Making Homes Affordable program, the final mortgage payment will still not be allowed to exceed 38% of the homeowners gross monthly income. This is great news for a lot of homeowners who are fighting to make their monthly mortgage payment. A lot of homeowners currently pay 50% or more of their income towards making the mortgage payment. A 12 - 20 percent reduction would add up to a lot of saved money every month, but still leave homeowners with a house now worth hundreds of thousands less then they owe on their mortgage.

Refinancing your home can either save you thousands or cost you thousands. Predatory mortgage lenders will take advantage of you every chance they get. Learn how to properly refinance a mortgage and walk away with more money and a smile.

Barack Obama has repeatedly told Americans that they need to sacrifice for the good of the country. Then he set the example of sacrifice hopping on a jet for an expensive date in New York City paid for by those sacrificing taxpayers.

He signed an executive order that has the United States paying for abortions throughout the world, then declares that our country does not believe in torture.

He claims the United States is not a Christian nation, then says we are the biggest Muslim country.

For whatever reason, he feels he has to apologize for the United States wherever he goes, choosing to overlook the goodness of my country.

Clinton Obama Ticket

The newly updated Obama grants for moms to return to school has resulted in more mothers deciding that going to college is a great way to set the stage for a secure and exciting future.

The main grant that I am speaking of is the government's Federal Pell Grant. When Obama was sworn into office, one of the first actions he took was to increase the amount of the Pell Grant.

The maximum available for the 2009-2010 year is $5,350. The grant will increase to $5,400 by 2012. This money provides a huge help to low income people who wish to go to school.

The Pell Grant is a needs-based grant so it is only awarded to people who meet specific criteria and this is usually in the form of being in a low income family. You will normally have to demonstrate financial need for the grant, so if you are a mom who is considered to be low income then the Federal Pell Grant is perfect for you.

Naturally this can put you in a difficult position if you don't meet the requirements. But that certainly does not mean you should give up! There are so many other grants and scholarship opportunities for mothers out there - and it doesn't take long to find and apply for them.

Scholarships can help pay for:

- Your college books
- Stationary like notebooks and pens
- Laptop and computer software
- College tuition fees

College costs can add up to into the thousands, so I strongly suggest that you look into the Obama grants for moms and see if you are eligible for the Federal Pell Grant. If not, simply start applying for other scholarships until you finally get that money you want for college!

On October 24, 2008, word got out that key Congressional Democrats had held hearings about the possibility of federalizing Americans' retirement investments, phasing out the current 401k's and other 400-series retirement plans.

Note the date, because it makes a difference both politically and economically.

Ten days before the election and right at the stock market's nadir, the conservative pundits put out the word that the 401k and Obama had come to the brink of breaking-up. According to conservative pundits, Obama and Company planned to end privatized retirement plans, wresting control of Americans' futures out of their employers' hands and putting it, maybe, in the government's hands. The 401k and Obama were on the rocks.

A little perspective on the 401k and Obama
Given that the best hiding place is the most obvious place, two significant facts deserve attention: First, "hearings about the possibility" don't exactly make it a done deal. And, second, Democrats simply were responding to the heavy price American workers had paid for Wall Street's woeful deflation. In fact, the Congressional Democrats, noting that 401k's had, on the average, lost 40% of their value in the stock market's collapse, wanted to protect average working people from further plunder. Thinking about the 401k and Obama as a certified change-agent, Congressional Democrats welcomed any and all suggestions. The one set of hearings focused on a hybrid plan-employee contributions matched by government funds and invested at the employee's discretion. The plan numbered among several others up for examination when the proper time and circumstance rolled around.

The "buzz" on the 401k and Obama

In his October 24 article, which spread across the internet like wildfire across Australia and with only slightly fewer casualties, Mark Impomeni wrote, "Congressional Democrats miss the point that under current law, Americans have control over their retirement savings, where and how it is invested, and when and how much they contribute... [Democrats] want control of Americans'' retirement to reside in Washington, DC, not on Main Street, all in the name of 'retirement security'."

Once it gets written down, a rumor gets elevated to the status of fact, and then it evolves into a threat. Warning that the 401k and Obama could not peacefully co-exist, Impomeni unfortunately missed the fact that Americans' corporate employers have control of their retirement investments. The corporations establish and administer 401k s, and they determine whether or not they will match employees' contributions. Historically, many companies often had delivered their matches in the form of company shares; and, sometimes, they delivered nothing at all. In the downturn, 401k matches always has numbered among the first benefits cut. Congressional Democrats believed the 401k and Obama could do better.

401k and Obama in the cold light of day
Yes, workers determine, up to a point, where their 401k funds are invested, but they cannot choose real estate, commodities, or futures. And, yes, American workers determine how much and when they contribute, but they face stiff penalties for going over the limits, and "when" isn't quite as flexible as Impomeni makes it seem: once an employee authorizes a payroll deduction for a 401k, corporate and IRS regulations stipulate how long he must continue the deduction. The average working guy cannot show up on Tuesday and tell accounting to drop five bucks into his retirement, betting it all on Exxon.

401k's took a beating when the stock market headed south. Democrats took the initiative to explore ways for protecting Larry Lunchbox from further loss. Of course, from the oblique angle of the very far right, this initiative means the 401k and Obama have taken the first step down the slippery step toward hard-core socialism.

Looking at conservatives' treatment of the 401k and Obama, objective observers had to wonder: published just ten days before the election, had the conservatives' rhetoric mightily exaggerated the reality? Was there, maybe, a little more on the agenda than just the 401k and Obama?

Although he never lived in Africa, Senator Barack Obama - fully in the race for the American presidency - is half Kenyan by descent. He has a Kenyan father and an American mother. Rumors say Obama still is a Muslim. What are the facts?

Barack Obama's Parents

Obama's father, Barack Hussein Obama Sr., was born in a poor town in Kenya's western Nyanza province as the son of a cook in British service. It was the kind of small village where chicken roam freely and children in rags wander around the streets. The family was from the Luo tribe. The Senator's father "grew up herding goats and went to school in a tin-roof shack", as the Senator himself wrote in his book "Dreams of my Father" (1995, reissued 2004).

But the father was a smart and hard-working young man, and when John F. Kennedy launched a program to offer American scholarships to promising Kenyan students, the father grabbed the opportunity with both hands. He was able to enter the University of Hawaii that way. There he met and married Senator Obama's mother, Ann Dunham who was a fellow student at the same university. She was a full-blooded American from Kansas, coming from a blue-collar family.

Senator Obama was born there in 1961. However, the marriage only lasted until 1965. The father went on to study at Harvard, and after that returned to Kenya to work for oil companies. He went on to become an economist in the government of Jomo Kenyatta, the first Kenyan president after independence in 1963. He died in a car accident in 1982.

The mother remarried an Indonesian oil manager, Lolo Soetoro, and together with Barack Obama (who was then 5 years old) the couple moved to Jakarta in Indonesia. When Obama was ten, he returned to his grandparents in Hawaii because of the better opportunities for education there. His father came to visit him there. It would be the last time he saw him. Eventually, after Occidental College and Columbia University, Obama would enter Harvard University just like his father did.

Two Visits To Kenya

Before enrolling in Harvard, Obama visited his relatives in Kenya for the first time. His second visit in 2006, the latest to date, was an official one. Joined by his wife Michelle and his two daughters, he was received by US Ambassador Michael Rannesberger at the aiport of Kenya's capital Nairobi. From there, a tour went through the city with thousands of Kenyans - proud that somebody 'from them' made it to the US Senate - cheering along the streets. A real Obama mania swept the country.

Obama also visited his 85-year old grandmother in her little village of Nyangoma-Kogelo. She cooked a traditional ugali meal for him. She didn't buy a new dress for the occasion, saying that Obama would hug her anyway, as he had done before. She doesn't speak English, so they talked through an interpreter.

Obama A Muslim?

Especially on the internet, the rumor still goes that Obama is a Muslim. That seems to be without basis in fact. Obama's grandfather converted from Christianity to Islam as a young man and added the Arab-style 'Hussein' to his name. The Senator inherited that middle name from his grandfather and father: the Senator's full name is Barack Hussein Obama like his father. Also 'Barack' has an Islamic background, meaning "blessed" in African-Arabic (East-African languages have a lot of Arab words .

But Obama's father had already abandoned Islam before he met Ann Dunham in Hawaii, becoming a skeptic, atheist person at a young age like Obama's mother. Obama's stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, was nominally a Muslim but considered religion as of little importance. The Senator himself was also leaning towards skepticism until he heard a sermon delivered in . He became a Christian and in 1988 joined Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

But political opponents keep circulating rumors about Obama being a closet Muslim. Even the Hillary Clinton camp fed into this by circulating a photo from Obama's Kenyan visit in 2006, with Obama wearing a traditional Somali (Muslim) costume. However, this seems to have been nothing more than Obama showing respect to his hosts and trying on the clothes that he received from them as a gift.

"In no other country on earth, is my story even possible"

During his keynote speech at the Democratic Convention in 2004, Obama drew comparisons between his background and his vision of an America with equal opportunities for all. "In no other country on earth, is my story even possible", he said, pointing to the fact he made it to the US Senate as the son of a poor black immigrant.

There's an irony in that. In Kenya, the Kikuy tribe dominates both politics and the economy. They keep out the other tribes through favoritism and even corruption. For a (half)-Luo like Obama, it would be extremely hard to become the President of Kenya. Indeed, the election violence in Kenya of December-January 2008 precisely has this background. There's evidence that sitting President Kibaki, a Kikuyu (as well as virtually his entire administration), stole the elections of his Luo opponent Raila Odinga. This sparked the riots, as the Luo as well as other smaller tribes saw this as again a signal that the Kikuyu will conspire to keep any Luo out of office.

So Kenyans are now telling each other the joke that a Luo will sooner become the President of the United States than the President of Kenya.

President Barack Obama has introduced many ideas and programs in efforts to provide guidance and aid to the millions of struggling homeowners in this country. The sub prime mortgage crisis, fueled by the greed and often negligence of the lending industry's major players has left millions of homeowners facing the worrisome prospect of losing their homes. On February 18, 2009, President Obama introduced the nation to his housing plan.

This plan involves several programs which are designed to help over seven million families potentially facing foreclosure to avoid the grief and stress of a foreclosure by giving them options. These options will include either refinancing or modifying their existing mortgages in hopes of ultimately making those mortgages become affordable and bearable once again. Additionally, Obama's program intends to reinforce and revitalize the federal government's commitment to Government Sponsored Entities, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, leaders in the secondary mortgage market.

On March 4, 2009, President Obama's administration released news and information that detailed the intricacies of the program and provided guidance on the Making Home Affordable Program.

While there are several characteristics and facets of this program, the main points for homeowners to know are listed below.
1. The Home Affordable Refinance Program. Under this program, eligible borrowers may refinance loans that Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (the government sponsored enterprises, or GSEs) own or guarantee. The program can help homeowner-occupants who are current in making loan payments and have loan-to-value ratios (LTVs) above 80 percent but not more than 105 percent. Cash out refinancings are not permitted. The program ends in June 2010.
2. The Home Affordable Modification Program. This is a $75 billion program with lender, servicer, investor, and borrower incentives to make it work. The program is limited to homeowner-occupants who are at risk of default or already in default and who have loans at or below the maximum GSE conforming loan limit of $729,750 (or higher for 2-, 3-, and 4-unit properties). Loan modifications under the program may be made until December 31, 2012.
3. More Support for the GSEs. President Obama also announced more support for the GSEs, including doubling of potential Treasury investment from $100 billion to $200 billion for each GSE, to maintain their positive net worth. The plan also raises the cap on mortgages that the GSEs may hold in their portfolios by $50 billion to $900 billion.
Ultimately, this program intends to set this country back on the path to growth, profitability and success. Hopefully, with the government's continued support and diligence on the part of homeowners, we, as a nation, will begin to see the signs of recovery soon.