Maine Welcomes Pres. Obama & Family (Much Need R & R)

Obamas Continue Busy Maine Holiday


The nation's coastlines have been good to President Barack Obama this week – first with news BP's gushing oil well is finally capped, then with a family vacation that got off to a spectacular start.

In the first day alone, the trip spanned the tallest mountain peak along the Eastern Seaboard, a bicycle ride beside a pristine lake and an exhilarating boat ride through a wind-whipped bay.

The vacation for Obama, his wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha continued Saturday with other planned activities centered on Acadia National Park, a 47,000-acre gem that brackets this upscale summer resort.

The weekend was an idyllic punctuation mark at the end of a good week for Obama.

On Thursday, Congress sent him the most sweeping overhaul of financial market rules since the New Deal. Obama plans to sign it next Wednesday.

Friday, BP confirmed it had closed the valves on the new cap fitted to its Deepwater Horizon well, meaning for the first time in 12 weeks, no oil was flowing into the Gulf. Obama called it welcome news, even though he noted it's a temporary fix, and even after the well's cemented shut a massive cleanup remains.

But after speaking to reporters about the spill Friday, Obama left those matters behind, flying to Bar Harbor for a short holiday in this famous summer refuge for the well-heeled and well-known.

Aides said they had prepared a menu activities for the first family to choose from during their stay, which ends Sunday. From the look of things, they checked "all of the above."

The Obamas began with ride along a secluded park bike trail next to Witch Hole Pond, then motorcaded up a switchback road to the summit of the 1,530-foot-high Cadillac Mountain to take in a breathtaking, sun-drenched view of Frenchman Bay.

After a stop for ice cream in Bar Harbor, the Obamas boarded a National Park Service boat for a tour of the bay, only to have it cut short when clouds and fog rolled in, and rain threatened.

But that just made the first family a little early for dinner at a harborside restaurant. A small crowd gathered along the seafront to watch the Obamas' boat chug up to the dock – the president seated in the stern, one arm around Malia, 12, the other waving at well-wishers snapping pictures on shore.


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Sources: WRAL, Google Maps

Obamas To Spend Their Vacation In Asheville, North Carolina

Obamas To Vacation In North Carolina


President Barack Obama is taking his family on a mini-vacation to Asheville, North Carolina, next weekend, the White House confirmed in a statement.

Obama had been planning to take his wife and two daughters on an official trip to Indonesia and Australia late last month that coincided with spring break for Sasha and Malia.

But the trip was scrapped because the health care debate kept the President pinned down in Washington, so First Lady Michelle Obama took the girls to New York for a few days instead. The entire family has not had a vacation together since the holidays in Hawaii.

Obama, who will vacation in Western North Carolina from Friday until Sunday, has sweet memories of the state dating back to the 2008 campaign.

The Asheville Citizen-Times reported Friday that Obama has not been in Asheville - a picturesque city nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains - since October 2008, when he prepped for a presidential debate with Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and spoke to a crowd of about 28,000 at a huge rally less than a month before the election.

Obama ended up carrying North Carolina in the general election, the first Democrat to do so since Jimmy Carter in 1976.


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Sources: Biltmore Estates, CNN, Wikipedia, Google Maps

Obamas Observe Easter At Allen Chapel In Poor, Black DC Community

Obama Attends Easter Service At Historic Black DC Church


President Barack Obama attended an Easter worship service on Sunday in one of Washington's poorest communities, making an appearance at a historic black church founded during the American Civil War.

Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia joined the 2,500-strong congregation at the Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in the mostly-black Anacostia area of southeast Washington.

The church was selected because it has more than 50 programs that help the local community, including after-school tutorials and food aid programs, The Washington Post reported Sunday, quoting White House officials.

The pastor at the church, which ministered to newly-free slaves at its creation, said Obama's visit came "at a critical time," following a drive-by shooting last week that left four people dead and five wounded.

"Just the fact that the president would still come brings so much calm and healing to southeast Washington," Reverend Michael Bell told the Post.

Last Easter, Obama attended Saint John's Episcopal Church, a short walk from the White House.






Obama Family Attends Easter Services At Allen Chapel AME Church In Southeast Washington DC Neighborhood


President Barack Obama and his family marked the Easter holiday by attending a music-filled service at a historically black Methodist church in southeast Washington, an area that was rocked by violence last week.

A boisterous crowd of more than 1,000 people welcomed the Obamas on Sunday at the Allen Chapel AME Church. Joining him at the service were his wife, Michelle, daughters Sasha and Malia, and his mother-in-law, Marian Robinson. Also attending were the mayor of Washington, Adrian Fenty, and his wife.

"Mr. President, you have no idea how much your presence has meant to us today," Allen Chapel's senior pastor, the Rev. Michael Bell, said after his sermon.

Bell said it was providence that the president would attend service at Allen Chapel so shortly after the shootings. It was heartening to know than southeast Washington has not been forgotten, he said, adding that Obama's presence at the church was "bringing healing and hope into this community right now."

Four people were killed and five wounded last Tuesday night when gunmen in a minivan sprayed a crowd with bullets. Southeast Washington is also beset by high unemployment and poverty.

Obama took communion at the end of the nearly two-hour service. He and his family have attended several churches since his inauguration but have not settled on joining a specific congregation.

Earlier in the service, Bell drew laughter and cheers when he described Obama as "the most debonaire, the most suave president of this United States of America." The pastor also praised Mrs. Obama's efforts at community outreach.

The Allen Chapel AME Church traces its roots to just before the Civil War when it ministered to free blacks in the Anacostia area of Washington. It is part of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.


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Sources: Allen Chapel AME Church, AP, AFP, Yahoo News, Huffington Post, Politico, Youtube, Google Maps

Obamas Feed The Poor On MLK's Birthday

Obamas Serve Lunch To Poor On MLK Day



President Barack Obama served plates of steaming hot lunches to the needy on Monday, one of several ways the nation's first black president paid tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. on the federal holiday that honors the slain civil rights leader.

Obama also scheduled a White House talk with black elders and their grandchildren about the movement for racial equality that King led until he was assassinated in 1968. The president also was to speak later Monday during a musical celebration of King's legacy at the Kennedy Center.

His outing was part of an array of holiday tributes. Worshippers at King's Ebenezer Baptist Church heard Princeton University scholar Cornel West deliver a passionate keynote address in Atlanta, urging them not to "sanitize" King's legacy.

In Washington, Obama spent the day with King observances.

"How are you sir? God bless you," the president said, greeting one man among the dozens of men and women who filed into the dining room at SOME, or So Others Might Eat.

The organization, just a short ride from the White House, provides the poor and homeless with food and other services. Obama handed them pre-assembled lunch plates of chicken, potato salad, mixed vegetables and bread.

He brought the whole family: first lady Michelle Obama, daughters Malia and Sasha, mother-in-law Marian Robinson and some aides.

Mrs. Obama poured hot coffee while 8-year-old Sasha tagged along and handed out packets of sweetener. Mrs. Robinson walked around serving danishes from a baking sheet. Malia, 11, walked among the rows of diners, chatting with them and shaking hands.

One woman asked Mrs. Obama if she had brought the family dog, Bo. (She did not.)

It was the president's second straight day of reflection on the legacy of King, whom Obama credits with paving the way for his 2008 election.

On Sunday, at a Baptist church founded by freed slaves, Obama spoke of his reliance on faith, recalled King's work and urged hundreds of worshippers to take heart in hard times and celebrate progress — however small.


Sources: MSNBC, Politico

Obama's Hawaiian Memories; He Didn't Miss White House

Obama Trying To "Mount an Hawaiian Coup"


On the last day of his Hawaiian vacation, President Barack Obama declared that he did not want to go home.

Asked during an after-hours tour of the Honolulu Zoo if he was ready to head back to Washington, Obama and his family replied in unison: "No!"

"Let's stay," first lady Michelle Obama joked to reporters. "We'll all stay. Are we all in? I'm trying to mount a coup."

The president spent some of the final hours of his 11-day trip at the zoo, on the golf course and visiting the cemetery where his grandfather is buried.

Obama's Sunday began in the way he started each of his vacation days: at the gym. Afterward, he played 18 holes on the Marine Corps Base Hawaii's Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course with his friends Marty Nesbitt of Chicago and Bobby Titcomb and Mike Ramos of Hawaii.

Obama's motorcade then headed to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl, where he spent about 10 minutes before heading over to the zoo to meet up with his wife and daughters, Sasha, 8, and Malia, 11.

Just as when they went to the movie "Avatar" and went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay and had a picnic on the beach, the first family had the zoo all to themselves as the sun set over the Waikiki tourist attraction.

Wearing a black polo shirt with dark olive slacks and sandals, Obama walked with Malia as they checked out the white-handed gibbon, ring-tailed lemur and Francois monkey, according to a pool report. The first lady walked with Sasha.

Obama returns to Washington Monday morning to face a packed agenda, after learning a lesson that numerous presidents have figured out the hard way, too: The holidays are rarely a time for total relaxation.

Last year, when Obama was president-elect, President George W. Bush was dealing with an outbreak of violence in Gaza. The year before, Pakistan was embroiled in conflict in the wake of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

During Christmas week in 1997, President Bill Clinton was in Bosnia, handling the volatile situation there, and Bush faced an international crisis the day after Christmas in 2004, when tsunamis wreaked havoc on Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India and Thailand.

As Gaza fell into violence in December 2008, Obama insisted the country had "one president at a time" — and it wasn't him just yet. But in the last two weeks, as commander in chief, Obama was forced to confront the most significant terrorism scare inside the United States in years.

He is set to hold a meeting in the Situation Room Tuesday with top national security and intelligence officials, following last month's attempted bombing of a Delta flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.



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Sources: Politico, Google Maps

No Christmas Church Service For Pres. Obama...Hawaiian Vacay Instead

No Churchgoing Christmas For The First Family


The Senate vote on final passage of health reform almost scuttled their plans, but it looks like the First Family will still make it to Hawaii for Christmas. They've had a whirlwind holiday season so far, starting with the lighting of the National Christmas Tree, through hosting more than 50,000 people for 27 parties and open houses, and ending with a visit by the First Lady, Malia and Sasha, and the family's dog Bo, to deliver cookies to the Children's National Medical Center. The Obamas have also started their own holiday traditions in their new home, adding a Christmas wishing tree to the decorations festooning the White House.

But there's one common Christmas practice not on the First Family's schedule: a visit to Christmas Eve church services.

Church, in fact, has been a surprisingly tough issue for the Obamas.

They resigned their membership with Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago in 2008 after Obama renounced the church's controversial former pastor, Jeremiah Wright.

And while the First Family intended to find a local church to attend when they moved to Washington, concerns about crowds and displacing regular Worshippers has prevented them from finding a new religious home during their first year here.

The Obamas have attended Sunday services in Washington three times this year — once at the predominantly African-American 19th Street Baptist Church, and twice at St. John's Episcopal Church across Lafayette Square from the White House.

Asked at Tuesday's White House briefing whether the First Family is still searching for a local church to join, press secretary Robert Gibbs responded: "The President has attended fairly regularly up at Camp David a church that he's comfortable in and has enjoyed attending."

The church at Camp David is Evergreen Chapel, a nondenominational body currently led by Chaplain Lieut. Carey Cash. Each week, regardless of whether the President is on-site, Evergreen Chapel holds Christian services open to the nearly 400 military personnel and staff at Camp David, as well as their families.

The Bush family spent eight straight Christmases at Camp David, in large part because of the retreat's privacy, and were regular attenders of the chapel's candlelight service on Christmas Eve. Other Presidents and their families have opted to stay in Washington for the holiday.

The Clintons traditionally went to midnight mass at the Washington National Cathedral and woke up in the White House on Christmas morning before heading south for vacation. President Reagan also remained in Washington over Christmas — reportedly so members of the Secret Service could be near their families — although Reagan didn't venture out to a local church service.

The Obamas have celebrated Christmas in Hawaii, where the President grew up, nearly every year since the girls were born. But while Obama can still visit his favorite shaved ice joint and body-surfing spots, he doesn't have a childhood church home to attend. His mother wasn't a churchgoer, and Obama writes in "Dreams of My Father" that his grandparents took him to church infrequently.

The one church in Hawaii with which Obama does have a family connection is unlikely to be the place where the First Family would worship on Christmas Eve. As a child, Obama occasionally attended Sunday school classes at the First Unitarian Church of Honolulu, and his family held a memorial service there for his grandmother last Christmas.

Conservative critics were quick to point out that the First Unitarian Church has a controversial history — in 1969, the church offered sanctuary to servicemen who refused to go to Vietnam. The refuge was brief, however, as military police invaded church grounds to arrest the soldiers.

During the Obamas' visit to the Children's National Medical Center this week, one young patient asked Sasha Obama whether anything would change for their first celebration of Christmas as the First Family. "I don't think anything will be very different," Sasha said. She may be right.

The Obamas spent a quiet Christmas in Hawaii last year, staying in their rented house on Christmas Eve and visiting with soldiers stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Christmas Day. They may miss singing carols and reading the Christmas story in the book of Luke, at least in a formal church setting, but after entertaining 50,000 house guests, all the First Family must really want for Christmas is some peace and quiet.



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Sources: TIME, MSNBC, Huffington Post, Google Maps

An Obama Christmas Greeting...They're In Hawaii

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Sources: Whitehouse.gov, Huffington Post, Google Maps

White House Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

Sources: Politico

Christmas At The White House...18-Ft Fir Tree Arrives

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Sources: White House.gov, MSNBC, Google Maps

"Michelle's Made More Sacrifices Than I Have"...Hula Hooping For Health

(Pres. Obama Compliments His Better Half: "Michelle's made more sacrifices than I have".)

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(First Lady Michelle Obama hula hoops for Kids Health)

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Hula hooping it up for health, first lady swivels

First lady Michelle Obama hooped it up for health — hula hooped, that is — managing to get in an impressive 142 swivels before her hula hoop hit the ground. Jumping rope double dutch? Not so much.

It was all for a good cause — encouraging kids to get more physical activity and eat better.

The first lady hosted a "healthy kids fair" on the South Lawn of the White House on Wednesday and invited about 100 children and parents from local elementary schools.

Chefs demonstrated how to make healthy-but-yummy snacks. And the first lady delivered a pep talk about eating right.

It wasn't all gloom, doom and nutrition.

Obama said it's OK to eat fun stuff sometimes — as long as you usually eat right.

"There's nothing that the first family loves more than a good burger, right?" Obama said. "And look, my favorite food in whole wide world are french fries. I love them. Dearly. Deeply. I have a good relationship with french fries and I would eat them every single day if I could."

"I tell my girls this: If you're getting the right foods for most of the time, then when it's time to have cake and french fries on those special occasions, then you balance it out."

Just eat those veggies

Obama also managed a spot-on imitation of kids whining about eating their vegetables.

"I don't wanna eat it. I don't like it. It takes bad. I don't want it,'" the first lady said in her best nasal whine.

Then she added: "We don't want to hear the whining. We want you to eat it. Just eat it."

That might not be such a hard sell if all healthy foods tasted likes the ones served up on the South Lawn: There was sweet and zesty popcorn made with peanuts and parmesan cheese, and zucchini quesadillas that the first lady declared tasted like pizza.

Obama was preaching to a tough crowd.

Lots of kids eagerly snapped up the treats. But one little girl didn't move a muscle when the first lady asked her to pledge that she'd try some new and healthy foods.

Hula hooping, jumping rope

After checking out the food demonstrations, Obama hiked up her belt and joined a crowd of young hula hoopers, keeping up with the best of them.

She didn't do so well when it came to jumping rope, but it wasn't for lack of trying.

The first lady made three unsuccessful attempts to jump into a round of double dutch — two ropes turning in opposite directions. Not giving up, she kicked off her flats and tried jumping into a single swinging rope. That didn't go much better.

So Obama moved on to an obstacle course, when she whizzed barefoot through a series of hurdles and back to the starting line.






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Sources: TIME, Essence, MSNBC, Google Maps

The Obamas Go To Church...Yes, Faith Is Important

(The Obamas walk home from Church.)

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The Obamas Go to Church

The Obama family attended services at St. John's Episcopal this morning, and the Secret Service even let them walk the two blocks across Lafayette Park on this gorgeous October day. It marked the first time the family has gone to church in Washington since Easter, when they also visited St. John's, although the Obamas have been worshipping at Evergreen Chapel at Camp David whenever they spend the weekend at the Maryland retreat.

It has also been three and a half months since the White House insisted that the First Family continues to look for a church in Washington to join. Few people would blame them if they decided it would be too disruptive to upend a local congregation--Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush all chose to largely avoid Washington churches for similar reasons, and conservatives defended their decisions to do so. It's all the more surprising then that the White House has chosen to dig in on this point and continue to maintain that the Obamas will choose a local church as their main place of worship. It only becomes a Church Watch if they make it one.



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Sources: MSNBC, TIME, Swampland, AP, Google Maps

Pres. Obama's Speech To Africa Urges Change, Responsibility & Promise (Video, Full Text)

MSNBC, Whitehouse.gov, Huffington Post-----

(President Barack Obama delivers a sobering, yet hopeful speech this morning to Parliament in Accra, Ghana.)

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FULL TEXT:

Good morning. It is an honor for me to be in Accra, and to speak to the Representatives of the people of Ghana. I am deeply grateful for the welcome that I've received, as are Michelle, Malia, and Sasha Obama. Ghana's history is rich, the ties between our two countries are strong, and I am proud that this is my first visit to sub-Saharan Africa as President of the United States.

I am speaking to you at the end of a long trip. I began in Russia, for a Summit between two great powers. I traveled to Italy, for a meeting of the world's leading economies. And I have come here, to Ghana, for a simple reason: the 21st century will be shaped by what happens not just in Rome or Moscow or Washington, but by what happens in Accra as well.

This is the simple truth of a time when the boundaries between people are overwhelmed by our connections. Your prosperity can expand America's. Your health and security can contribute to the world's. And the strength of your democracy can help advance human rights for people everywhere.

So I do not see the countries and peoples of Africa as a world apart; I see Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world - as partners with America on behalf of the future that we want for all our children. That partnership must be grounded in mutual responsibility, and that is what I want to speak with you about today.

We must start from the simple premise that Africa's future is up to Africans.

I say this knowing full well the tragic past that has sometimes haunted this part of the world. I have the blood of Africa within me, and my family's own story encompasses both the tragedies and triumphs of the larger African story.

My grandfather was a cook for the British in Kenya, and though he was a respected elder in his village, his employers called him "boy" for much of his life. He was on the periphery of Kenya's liberation struggles, but he was still imprisoned briefly during repressive times. In his life, colonialism wasn't simply the creation of unnatural borders or unfair terms of trade - it was something experienced personally, day after day, year after year.

My father grew up herding goats in a tiny village, an impossible distance away from the American universities where he would come to get an education. He came of age at an extraordinary moment of promise for Africa. The struggles of his own father's generation were giving birth to new nations, beginning right here in Ghana. Africans were educating and asserting themselves in new ways. History was on the move.

But despite the progress that has been made - and there has been considerable progress in parts of Africa - we also know that much of that promise has yet to be fulfilled. Countries like Kenya, which had a per capita economy larger than South Korea's when I was born, have been badly outpaced. Disease and conflict have ravaged parts of the African continent. In many places, the hope of my father's generation gave way to cynicism, even despair.

It is easy to point fingers, and to pin the blame for these problems on others. Yes, a colonial map that made little sense bred conflict, and the West has often approached Africa as a patron, rather than a partner. But the West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants. In my father's life, it was partly tribalism and patronage in an independent Kenya that for a long stretch derailed his career, and we know that this kind of corruption is a daily fact of life for far too many.

Of course, we also know that is not the whole story. Here in Ghana, you show us a face of Africa that is too often overlooked by a world that sees only tragedy or the need for charity. The people of Ghana have worked hard to put democracy on a firmer footing, with peaceful transfers of power even in the wake of closely contested elections. And with improved governance and an emerging civil society, Ghana's economy has shown impressive rates of growth.

This progress may lack the drama of the 20th century's liberation struggles, but make no mistake: it will ultimately be more significant. For just as it is important to emerge from the control of another nation, it is even more important to build one's own.

So I believe that this moment is just as promising for Ghana - and for Africa - as the moment when my father came of age and new nations were being born. This is a new moment of promise. Only this time, we have learned that it will not be giants like Nkrumah and Kenyatta who will determine Africa's future. Instead, it will be you - the men and women in Ghana's Parliament, and the people you represent. Above all, it will be the young people - brimming with talent and energy and hope - who can claim the future that so many in my father's generation never found.

To realize that promise, we must first recognize a fundamental truth that you have given life to in Ghana: development depends upon good governance. That is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many places, for far too long. That is the change that can unlock Africa's potential. And that is a responsibility that can only be met by Africans.

As for America and the West, our commitment must be measured by more than just the dollars we spend. I have pledged substantial increases in our foreign assistance, which is in Africa's interest and America's. But the true sign of success is not whether we are a source of aid that helps people scrape by - it is whether we are partners in building the capacity for transformational change.

This mutual responsibility must be the foundation of our partnership. And today, I will focus on four areas that are critical to the future of Africa and the entire developing world: democracy; opportunity; health; and the peaceful resolution of conflict.

First, we must support strong and sustainable democratic governments.

As I said in Cairo, each nation gives life to democracy in its own way, and in line with its own traditions. But history offers a clear verdict: governments that respect the will of their own people are more prosperous, more stable, and more successful than governments that do not.

This is about more than holding elections - it's also about what happens between them. Repression takes many forms, and too many nations are plagued by problems that condemn their people to poverty. No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or police can be bought off by drug traffickers. No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top, or the head of the Port Authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end.

In the 21st century, capable, reliable and transparent institutions are the key to success - strong parliaments and honest police forces; independent judges and journalists; a vibrant private sector and civil society. Those are the things that give life to democracy, because that is what matters in peoples' lives.

Time and again, Ghanaians have chosen Constitutional rule over autocracy, and shown a democratic spirit that allows the energy of your people to break through. We see that in leaders who accept defeat graciously, and victors who resist calls to wield power against the opposition. We see that spirit in courageous journalists like Anas Aremeyaw Anas, who risked his life to report the truth. We see it in police like Patience Quaye, who helped prosecute the first human trafficker in Ghana. We see it in the young people who are speaking up against patronage, and participating in the political process.

Across Africa, we have seen countless examples of people taking control of their destiny, and making change from the bottom up. We saw it in Kenya, where civil society and business came together to help stop post-election violence. We saw it in South Africa, where over three quarters of the country voted in the recent election - the fourth since the end of Apartheid. We saw it in Zimbabwe, where the Election Support Network braved brutal repression to stand up for the principle that a person's vote is their sacred right.

Make no mistake: history is on the side of these brave Africans, and not with those who use coups or change Constitutions to stay in power. Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.

America will not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation - the essential truth of democracy is that each nation determines its own destiny. What we will do is increase assistance for responsible individuals and institutions, with a focus on supporting good governance - on parliaments, which check abuses of power and ensure that opposition voices are heard; on the rule of law, which ensures the equal administration of justice; on civic participation, so that young people get involved; and on concrete solutions to corruption like forensic accounting, automating services, strengthening hotlines, and protecting whistle-blowers to advance transparency and accountability.

As we provide this support, I have directed my Administration to give greater attention to corruption in our Human Rights report. People everywhere should have the right to start a business or get an education without paying a bribe. We have a responsibility to support those who act responsibly and to isolate those who don't, and that is exactly what America will do.

This leads directly to our second area of partnership - supporting development that provides opportunity for more people.

With better governance, I have no doubt that Africa holds the promise of a broader base for prosperity. The continent is rich in natural resources. And from cell phone entrepreneurs to small farmers, Africans have shown the capacity and commitment to create their own opportunities. But old habits must also be broken. Dependence on commodities - or on a single export - concentrates wealth in the hands of the few, and leaves people too vulnerable to downturns.

In Ghana, for instance, oil brings great opportunities, and you have been responsible in preparing for new revenue. But as so many Ghanaians know, oil cannot simply become the new cocoa. From South Korea to Singapore, history shows that countries thrive when they invest in their people and infrastructure; when they promote multiple export industries, develop a skilled workforce, and create space for small and medium-sized businesses that create jobs.

As Africans reach for this promise, America will be more responsible in extending our hand. By cutting costs that go to Western consultants and administration, we will put more resources in the hands of those who need it, while training people to do more for themselves. That is why our $3.5 billion food security initiative is focused on new methods and technologies for farmers - not simply sending American producers or goods to Africa. Aid is not an end in itself. The purpose of foreign assistance must be creating the conditions where it is no longer needed.

America can also do more to promote trade and investment. Wealthy nations must open our doors to goods and services from Africa in a meaningful way. And where there is good governance, we can broaden prosperity through public-private partnerships that invest in better roads and electricity; capacity-building that trains people to grow a business; and financial services that reach poor and rural areas. This is also in our own interest - for if people are lifted out of poverty and wealth is created in Africa, new markets will open for our own goods.

One area that holds out both undeniable peril and extraordinary promise is energy. Africa gives off less greenhouse gas than any other part of the world, but it is the most threatened by climate change. A warming planet will spread disease, shrink water resources, and deplete crops, creating conditions that produce more famine and conflict. All of us - particularly the developed world - have a responsibility to slow these trends - through mitigation, and by changing the way that we use energy. But we can also work with Africans to turn this crisis into opportunity.

Together, we can partner on behalf of our planet and prosperity, and help countries increase access to power while skipping the dirtier phase of development. Across Africa, there is bountiful wind and solar power; geothermal energy and bio-fuels. From the Rift Valley to the North African deserts; from the Western coast to South Africa's crops -Africa's boundless natural gifts can generate its own power, while exporting profitable, clean energy abroad.

These steps are about more than growth numbers on a balance sheet. They're about whether a young person with an education can get a job that supports a family; a farmer can transfer their goods to the market; or an entrepreneur with a good idea can start a business. It's about the dignity of work. It's about the opportunity that must exist for Africans in the 21st century.

Just as governance is vital to opportunity, it is also critical to the third area that I will talk about - strengthening public health.

In recent years, enormous progress has been made in parts of Africa. Far more people are living productively with HIV/AIDS, and getting the drugs they need. But too many still die from diseases that shouldn't kill them. When children are being killed because of a mosquito bite, and mothers are dying in childbirth, then we know that more progress must be made.

Yet because of incentives - often provided by donor nations - many African doctors and nurses understandably go overseas, or work for programs that focus on a single disease. This creates gaps in primary care and basic prevention. Meanwhile, individual Africans also have to make responsible choices that prevent the spread of disease, while promoting public health in their communities and countries.

Across Africa, we see examples of people tackling these problems. In Nigeria, an Interfaith effort of Christians and Muslims has set an example of cooperation to confront malaria. Here in Ghana and across Africa, we see innovative ideas for filling gaps in care - for instance, through E-Health initiatives that allow doctors in big cities to support those in small towns.

America will support these efforts through a comprehensive, global health strategy. Because in the 21st century, we are called to act by our conscience and our common interest. When a child dies of a preventable illness in Accra, that diminishes us everywhere. And when disease goes unchecked in any corner of the world, we know that it can spread across oceans and continents.

That is why my Administration has committed $63 billion to meet these challenges. Building on the strong efforts of President Bush, we will carry forward the fight against HIV/AIDS. We will pursue the goal of ending deaths from malaria and tuberculosis, and eradicating polio. We will fight neglected tropical disease. And we won't confront illnesses in isolation - we will invest in public health systems that promote wellness, and focus on the health of mothers and children.

As we partner on behalf of a healthier future, we must also stop the destruction that comes not from illness, but from human beings - and so the final area that I will address is conflict.

Now let me be clear: Africa is not the crude caricature of a continent at war. But for far too many Africans, conflict is a part of life, as constant as the sun. There are wars over land and wars over resources. And it is still far too easy for those without conscience to manipulate whole communities into fighting among faiths and tribes.

These conflicts are a millstone around Africa's neck. We all have many identities - of tribe and ethnicity; of religion and nationality. But defining oneself in opposition to someone who belongs to a different tribe, or who worships a different prophet, has no place in the 21st century. Africa's diversity should be a source of strength, not a cause for division. We are all God's children. We all share common aspirations - to live in peace and security; to access education and opportunity; to love our families, our communities, and our faith. That is our common humanity.

That is why we must stand up to inhumanity in our midst. It is never justifiable to target innocents in the name of ideology. It is the death sentence of a society to force children to kill in wars. It is the ultimate mark of criminality and cowardice to condemn women to relentless and systematic rape. We must bear witness to the value of every child in Darfur and the dignity of every woman in Congo. No faith or culture should condone the outrages against them. All of us must strive for the peace and security necessary for progress.

Africans are standing up for this future. Here, too, Ghana is helping to point the way forward. Ghanaians should take pride in your contributions to peacekeeping from Congo to Liberia to Lebanon, and in your efforts to resist the scourge of the drug trade. We welcome the steps that are being taken by organizations like the African Union and ECOWAS to better resolve conflicts, keep the peace, and support those in need. And we encourage the vision of a strong, regional security architecture that can bring effective, transnational force to bear when needed.

America has a responsibility to advance this vision, not just with words, but with support that strengthens African capacity. When there is genocide in Darfur or terrorists in Somalia, these are not simply African problems - they are global security challenges, and they demand a global response. That is why we stand ready to partner through diplomacy, technical assistance, and logistical support, and will stand behind efforts to hold war criminals accountable. And let me be clear: our Africa Command is focused not on establishing a foothold in the continent, but on confronting these common challenges to advance the security of America, Africa and the world.

In Moscow, I spoke of the need for an international system where the universal rights of human beings are respected, and violations of those rights are opposed. That must include a commitment to support those who resolve conflicts peacefully, to sanction and stop those who don't, and to help those who have suffered. But ultimately, it will be vibrant democracies like Botswana and Ghana which roll back the causes of conflict, and advance the frontiers of peace and prosperity.

As I said earlier, Africa's future is up to Africans.

The people of Africa are ready to claim that future. In my country, African-Americans - including so many recent immigrants - have thrived in every sector of society. We have done so despite a difficult past, and we have drawn strength from our African heritage. With strong institutions and a strong will, I know that Africans can live their dreams in Nairobi and Lagos; in Kigali and Kinshasa; in Harare and right here in Accra.

Fifty-two years ago, the eyes of the world were on Ghana. And a young preacher named Martin Luther King traveled here, to Accra, to watch the Union Jack come down and the Ghanaian flag go up. This was before the march on Washington or the success of the civil rights movement in my country. Dr. King was asked how he felt while watching the birth of a nation. And he said: "It renews my conviction in the ultimate triumph of justice."

Now, that triumph must be won once more, and it must be won by you. And I am particularly speaking to the young people. In places like Ghana, you make up over half of the population. Here is what you must know: the world will be what you make of it.

You have the power to hold your leaders accountable, and to build institutions that serve the people. You can serve in your communities, and harness your energy and education to create new wealth and build new connections to the world. You can conquer disease, end conflicts, and make change from the bottom up. You can do that. Yes you can. Because in this moment, history is on the move.

But these things can only be done if you take responsibility for your future. It won't be easy. It will take time and effort. There will be suffering and setbacks. But I can promise you this: America will be with you. As a partner. As a friend. Opportunity won't come from any other place, though - it must come from the decisions that you make, the things that you do, and the hope that you hold in your hearts.

Freedom is your inheritance. Now, it is your responsibility to build upon freedom's foundation. And if you do, we will look back years from now to places like Accra and say that this was the time when the promise was realized - this was the moment when prosperity was forged; pain was overcome; and a new era of progress began. This can be the time when we witness the triumph of justice once more. Thank you.



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Sources: MSNBC, Whitehouse.gov, Huffington Post, Google Maps

Ghana Welcomes President Barack Obama...Leader Of The Free World!

MSNBC, TIME, Huffington Post----

(There is much excitement on the streets in Ghana as the African nation prepares for a visit from President Obama.)

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

CAPE COAST, Ghana - From the rampart of a whitewashed fort once used to ship countless slaves from Africa to the Americas, Cheryl Hardin gazed through watery eyes at the route forcibly taken across the sea by her ancestors centuries before.

"It never gets any easier," the 48-year-old pediatrician said, wiping away tears on her fourth trip to Ghana's Cape Coast Castle in two decades. "It feels the same as when I first visited — painful, incomprehensible."

On Saturday, Barack Obama and his family will follow in the footsteps of countless African-Americans who have tried to reconnect with their past on these shores. Though Obama was not descended from slaves — his father was Kenyan — he will carry the legacy of the African-American experience with him as America's first black president.

For many, the trip will be steeped in symbolism.

"The world's least powerful people were shipped off from here as slaves," Hardin said Tuesday, looking past a row of cannons pointing toward the Atlantic Ocean. "Now Obama, an African-American, the most powerful person in the world, is going to be standing here. For us it will be a full-circle experience."

Built in the 1600s, Cape Coast Castle served as Britain's West Africa headquarters for the trans-Atlantic slave trade, which saw European powers and African chiefs export millions in shackles to Europe and the Americas.

Nearly two centuries later, misery still lingers:

The slave trade ended here in 1833, and visitors can now trek through the fort's dungeons, dark rooms once crammed with more than 1,000 men and women at a time who slept in their own excrement. The dank air inside still stings the eyes.

Visiting for the first time, Hardin's 47-year-old sister Wanda Milian said the dungeons felt "like burial tombs."

"It felt suffocating. It felt still," said Milian, who like her sister lives in Houston. "I don't know what I expected. I didn't expect to experience the sense of loss, the sense of hopelessness and desolation."

Those who rebelled were packed into similar rooms with hardly enough air to breath, left to die without food or water. Their faint scratch marks are still visible on walls.

Down by the shore is the fort's so-called "Door of No Return," the last glimpse of Africa the slaves would ever see before they were loaded into canoes that took them to ships that crossed the ocean.

Horrible history contrasts with present:

Today, the door opens onto a different world: a gentle shore where boys freely kick a white soccer ball through the surf, where gray-bearded men sit in beached canoes fixing lime-green fishing nets, where women sell maize meal from plates on their heads.

Behind them is Africa's poverty: smoke from cooking fires rises from a maze of thin wooden shacks, their rusted corrugated aluminum roofs held down by rocks. Children bathe naked in a tiny dirt courtyard.

"I just can't wrap my mind around this," said Milian, who works at a Methodist church. "If it weren't for all this" — for slavery — "I wouldn't be standing here today. I wouldn't be who I am. I wouldn't have the opportunities I do. I wouldn't practice the religion I do."

Milian also grappled with the irony that fort housed a church while the trade went on, and that African chiefs and merchants made it all possible, brutally capturing millions and marching them from the continent's interior to be sold in exchange for guns, iron and rum.

"It's mixed up," Milian said. "It's not an easy puzzle to put together."

Though slavery in the U.S. ended after the Civil War in 1865, its legacy has lived on. The U.S. Senate on June 18 unanimously passed a resolution apologizing for slavery and racial segregation.

"This is part of our history," said Hardin, who first visited Ghana in the late 1980s and later married a Ghanaian engineer she met in the U.S.

Her 15-year-old son was along for the first time. "I want him to understand what his liberty really means, who he really is," Hardin said.

But racism, both sisters agreed, would not end with Obama's visit.

"Let's not be naive. When your skin is darker, you are still going to be treated differently," Hardin said. But Obama's trip "will be a turning point, not just for America but for the world."

Milian said Obama's journey would also bear a message to those who organized the trade.

"It will say they failed, it all failed," she said. "The human mind is capable of horrible things, but the fact that we're standing here, the fact Obama will be standing here, proves we are also capable of great resilience."


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Sources: MSNBC, TIME, Huffington Post, Google Maps

Pres. Obama Uses White House Luau For Bi-Partisan Congressional Team Building Retreat (Photos)

MSNBC----

WASHINGTON - Straw huts, hula dancers and kids playing with hula hoops were all on display Thursday evening in the White House's backyard — not the typical congressional picnic.

President Barack Obama wanted it this way for the annual picnic for members of Congress and their families.

"I just want to say to all the members of Congress, you've been working hard. I wish I could give you all trips to Hawaii," Obama said in his brief remarks. "But I figured since, given our budget crunch we can't do that, that we'd at least bring Hawaii to you."

The Obama White House turned its first congressional picnic into a Hawaiian luau, in celebration of the president's home state. Tents were set up on the South Lawn, tiki torches lined the perimeter, and potted palm trees were brought in. More than 2,000 guests, many wearing leis and sipping drinks, were scattered on the South Lawn under the blue sky.

Traditional Luau foods on menu:

All wearing leis, the president, first lady Michelle Obama, and their daughters 10-year-old Malia and 8-year-old Sasha along with Vice President Joe Biden walked from the White House to meet the crowd. Before Obama shouted an "aloha" to guests, he and Sasha could be seen boogying to the music.

On the menu were traditional luau foods like kalua pig and lomi lomi salmon prepared by famed Hawaii chef Alan Wong.

Wong said he's been discussing the menu with the White House for more than a month. In addition to luau fare, he was flavoring the menu with some picnic favorites_ but with a twist, like wasabi potato salad.

Wong first met Obama several years ago, when the then-senator ate at one of his Hawaii restaurants. Wong said the president is showing his guests great respect by throwing a luau.

"To do a luau in Hawaii is a special occasion," Wong said. "You throw a luau for your child's first birthday, or you throw a luau for a wedding."

Hawaii has seen its profile raised in Washington since its native son moved into the White House. In January, the 50th state held its first state inaugural ball — also a luau — and the marching band from the president's high school, the Punahou School in Honolulu, performed in the inaugural parade.

Hula dancing as part of entertainment:

In addition to a Hawaiian meal, the White House said traditional island entertainment was being offered, including a performance by Tihati, a group featuring members from each of the Hawaiian islands.

Darlene Morikawa, of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, said they offered a blend of Polynesian and traditional hula dancing.

Morikawa said she wouldn't be surprised to see the president get into the act. "He seems to be a good sport," Morikawa said.

Also proving to be good sports? White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, who took his turn in the dunk tank.

Many members of Congress and other top figures sent their RSVPs for the luau, including Democratic Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka of Hawaii; Roberta McCain, the mother of the 2008 Republican presidential candidate; House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio; and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.

"I hope everybody's got their Hawaiian shirts and their muumuus for our luau tonight," Obama told lawmakers gathered at the White House Thursday for a meeting on immigration.

Before the luau, the Obamas put some members of Congress to work in their ongoing effort to promote community service. Five representatives joined the Obamas at Fort McNair, where they assembled 15,000 backpacks for children of military families.

The event was part of the president's ongoing effort to promote community service. He launched a new service initiative, "United We Serve," aimed at getting people to tackle problems in the areas of education, health, energy and the environment and community renewal.

Sources: MSNBC, Today Show, Huffington Post