Obama Girls visit Harry Potter set in London

They are on the move!!! They are popping up in London and surprising everyone!!

An evening meal of fish and chips at a pub rounded off an eventful day in London for First Daughters Malia and Sasha Obama.

The youngsters — ages 10 and 7 — dined with mom Michelle Obama at The Audley on Mount Street in Mayfair on Monday evening in a move that caught bar managers by surprise.

The children chose the fish supper while their mother opted for sirloin steak, say the pub's owners, Punch Pub Company.

[snip]

Earlier in the day, the girls also visited the set of the new Harry Potter movie at North London's Pinewood Studios and the Houses of Parliament, where they checked out the historic clock tower and its Big Ben bell, according to the BBC.

Mrs. Obama also met with Sarah Brown, the wife of Prime Minster Gordon Brown — someone she got to know well during her last visit to London back in April, when she accompanied her husband on a royal visit.

Source

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Obama Girls in London (Video)

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Fundraiser for UK Ambassador

Not surprised.

President Obama will nominate key Democratic fundraiser and investment banker Louis Susman to be the country's ambassador to the Court of St. James. Susman bundled $300,000 in donations towards Obama's inauguration, and was a major fundraiser for Senator John Kerry's campaign as well. Susman, 71, retired in February from his post as vice chairman of Citigroup. Ambassadorships are frequently meted out as rewards to a successful campaign's high-rollers. Obama said in January that he would probably appoint some top donors as ambassadors: "It would be disingenuous for me to suggest that there are not going to be some excellent public servants but who haven't come through the ranks of the civil service," he said.

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President Obama Addresses the G20 Summit (Video)

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Takes Obama to smooth things over with France and China

Can anyone imagine or see former President Bush doing the following?

The exchange between Sarkozy and Hu got so heated, said a source -- who is not a member of the Obama administration -- it was threatening the unity of the G-20 leaders' meeting.

"They were going through the revised draft," a senior Obama administration official said.

The issue: Sarko wanted "a list of non-compliant jurisdictions," tones that allow tax havens, he senior official said. "Other countries wanted it too, but (Sarkozy) was the most outspoken."

Sarkozy specifically was pushing for a list from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to be included in the G-20 Leaders' Statement.

Headquartered in Paris, the OECD has 30 member countries -- all capitalist democracies.

China opposed any such list being included in the final Leaders' Statement.

"China tends to have a problem endorsing the documents of organizations like the OECD that they're not a party to," the senior administration official said.

But Mr. Obama, according to this account, stepped between the two men, urging them to try to find consensus, and giving them a "pep talk" about the importance of working together.

The senior adminstration official said that Mr. Obama pulled Mr. Sarkozy aside, took him to a corner, "and discussed possible alternatives," the senior official said.

Once they arrived at one, President Obama "sent a message to the Chinese" that a counter-offer was on the table. The Chinese spent some time considering the offer. But they took a few minutes.

So Mr. Obama, with the assistance of translators, suggested that he and Mr. Hu have a conversation as well. They, too went to the corner to talk. After a few minutes, Mr. Obama called upon Mr. Sarkozy to join them.

"Translators and sherpas in tow, they reached an agreement," the official said. "There was a multiple shaking of hands."

President Bush just was not that into foreign affairs, unless it was about the Iraq or Afghanistan Wars. He never tried consensus or tried to find that one something to bring folks together, sorry he just did not. And after seeing the mastery of Obama, one wonders how in the hell did George W. Bush ever get elected president? It is damn refreshing to have someone of intellect, one who understands people in the White House. President George W. Bush is a reminder of what we never should have as a leader in charge of this country ever again.

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First Lady Michelle Obama is the new "Princess Diana" (Pictures, Video)

A friend of mine's called me today while I was at work. She talked about Michelle Obama. How the London school children LOVED HER.



The fascination with our First Lady has skyrocketed like a shooting star. She is the star, she is our, American, Princess Diana.

I would not state this, but as my friend was talking, she could not stop but compare Michelle and Diana. I always felt that way about Michelle. The nastiness of the GOP trying to paint her this past election made many stomachs turn, but to look at her now brings tears to my face. She is glamorous, approachable, humble, smart, athletic, svelte, practical, and beautiful. She is the woman we all are, but she is on the national stage. She represents all of us, the working women with children, a husband and home. She has shown and proven that we can tackle the huge issues down to the little ones, just like us, ladies do it every single day.

I am proud of Michelle Obama, she surely makes each one of us proud to have her as the First Lady of the United States, and Barack Obama is damn lucky.

FLOTUS Visit to London Girls School

School Girls in London LOVE Michelle, it will touch your heart

Al Rodgers great pictures of Barack and Michelle Obama, with Michelle being mobbed by the London school children

More Obamas in London pics w/The Queen and G20 Dinner






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Obama's Press Conference in London, England, April 2, 2009 (Video and Transcript)

President Obama's Press Conference from the ExCel Center, London, United Kingdom

Transcript

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Michelle Obama's Faux Pas? The Real Faux Pas Was Prince Philip.

There is much ado about nothing, in my mind, about First Lady Michelle Obama briefly touching the Queen after the Queen first touched her.

The rules are set in stone, and so the eagerly watching British media sputtered when the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, briefly put her hand on the back of Queen Elizabeth II as the two chatted at a reception. Etiquette is quite stern about this ("Whatever you do, don't touch the Queen!").

[snip]

On Wednesday, Michelle Obama put her hand on the Queen only after the Queen had placed her own hand on the First Lady's back as part of their conversation. So there is room for theological argument as to whether the American reciprocity of touch was allowable given the social dynamics of the situation. (Less explicable was when President George W. Bush winked at the Queen.) Still, the sight of anyone apparently touching the Queen with anything more than a limp handshake is enough to send the British (or traditionalists in the old Commonwealth) twittering.

OK, Queen Elizabeth touched Michelle, first, but the British are talking about this, or are they?

I am American and I am not a study of knowing all protocol, but I do know if someone touches you out of endearment it is human nature to reciprocate. I saw the tape and Her Majesty did not look shocked, in awe, shuttered or tried to run away, in fact she smiled as if nothing happened. And from looking at all the tape that has been run on television, it appears that the Queen and Prince Philip liked the Obamas.

The Michelle faux pas is nothing in my book and most Americans, to be honest, don't care. I am not trying to be harsh on British protocol, but there is just too much other things like the economy and job loss to get riled up about a touch.

The real faux pas was Prince Philip.



And are you even caring about that?

Cross-posted @ Daily Kos

Time Magazine

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Obama Accepts Invitation to Visit China in the Fall (Video)

President Barack Obama will visit China this year after being invited by Chinese President Hu Jintao today, and both leaders agreed to set up regular talks.

Obama and Hu agreed to establish a “U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue” to discuss financial, trade and other issues between the two countries, the White House said in a statement. Both sides vowed to combat protectionism that may be arising amid the global recession.

“The relationship between the U.S. and China has become extremely constructive,” Obama said. “Our economic relationships are very strong.”

Obama and Hu met at Winfield House, the residence of the U.S. ambassador to the U.K., where Obama is staying. Obama, Hu and other leaders of the Group of 20 developed and emerging economies are in London to discuss a unified response to the global financial crisis.

“Good relations with the U.S. are not only in the interests of the two peoples, but also beneficial to peace, stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region, and the world at large,” Hu said, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Bloomberg

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President Obama and Russia President Dmitry Medvedev Ready to Talk Nukes and Obama Accepts the Invitation from Medvedev, Russia Bound This Summer

The United States and Russia committed Wednesday to resetting strained relations, as presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev issued sweeping statements on global cooperation, including a headline-grabbing agreement to quickly negotiate a new treaty to limit nuclear weapons.

As they sat down for their first face-to-face meeting, Obama and Medvedev declared in their joint statements that the "era when our countries viewed each other as enemies is long over."

While agreeing to work overtime to negotiate a replacement for the seminal 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, which expires at year's end, the two leaders vowed at the same time to jointly confront other perceived threats. They specifically mentioned the nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea and al-Qaida militants who have found refuge in Pakistan.

I hope they can work together and work it out because Putin was not one to be trusted and Russia, always have one eye on your back dealing with them.

Both men directed their negotiating teams to finish the task of setting broad outlines for a treaty to replace START by the end of July. That conceivably would leave time to get the new treaty approved in the U.S. Senate by the December expiration of the current agreement. But arms control experts say December is not a hard deadline so long as there is progress.


"The parties have gone from words to action," said Sergei Rogov, the head of USA and Canada Institute.

RIA Novosti reported that Rogov believed quickly reopening arms-control talks "offers a real prospect that a new treaty will be signed before the year's end."

Rogov said that arms-control talks will help create "favorable conditions for reaching agreements on a host of other issues, including the Iranian nuclear problem and cooperation in fighting the Taliban and al-Qaida."

Currently, the United States has 2,200 strategic nuclear warheads deployed; Russia has 2,800. Under the subsequent 2002 Treaty of Moscow, a plan negotiated under the Bush administration, the two sides committed to reducing their nuclear warheads to between 1,700 and 2,200.

But that treaty did not establish its own system for verifying compliance; instead it said verification would rest upon the existing provisions of the START treaty. But if START expires in December without a replacement in place, the Moscow Treaty would be left with no legally binding system for verification.

Obama has declared his belief that the United States and Russia should take the lead in ridding the world of nuclear weapons altogether. Russian and American arms-control experts believe that the START replacement treaty would seek initially to cut strategic warhead arsenals to 1,500 on each side.

And Obama will visit Russia this summer

President Barack Obama says he has accepted an invitation from Russia President Dmitry Medvedev (dih-MEE'-tree med-VYEH'-dyev) to visit Moscow and will make the trip in July.

Obama was hailing a new agreement between the two leaders to reach a new nuclear arms deal before the existing treaty between the countries expires in December.

Source
AP

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Long Live the Queen!!! The Obamas meet Queen Elizabeth II and Reception, G-20 Dinner Pictures, Too....

Obamas, Browns @ 10 Downing Street, London, Pictures








Arrival at Buckingham Palace

G20 Summit Dinner













The First Wives Club

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President Obama and Prime Minister Brown Full Press Conference, London, England (Video and Transcript)

Transcript



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FLOTUS, Michelle Obama visits a cancer center in London

Michelle Obama wished a cancer care center a happy first birthday on Wednesday during her first full day in London before the G20 summit.

The U.S. first lady, who visited the center with Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, blew out a single candle on a chocolate-frosted sponge cake, and then joined others for tea.

"This is pretty amazing," Mrs. Obama said of the Maggie's Cancer Caring Centre, which Mrs. Brown opened last year.

"It's an oasis, an oasis that's necessary for people who are struggling. The building actualizes their journey in so many ways," he said. read more here......

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Obamas, Browns @ 10 Downing Street & London (Pictures)

The Obamas are in London











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