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.