The Obamas Wave Goodbye as They Depart D.C. Following Donald Trump’s Inauguration...PHOTOS

The Obama family ended their eight-year residency at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on Friday, as the former first couple bid a temporary farewell to the nation’s capital following Donald Trump’s swearing-in ceremony.

Immediately following President Trump‘s oath of office on the West front of the U.S. Capitol, former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, slipped through the building and out to its East front. On the steps, the former first couple shared embraces with former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, as well as Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen.

The Obamas stood with President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, before walking down in unison toward a Marine helicopter. The two couples exchanged pleasantries, before the Obamas boarded the helicopter for the quick hop to Joint Base Andrews, where daughters Malia and Sasha waited—along with the Air Force jet that, for the next four years, will only be known as Air Force One when Trump is on board.

Read What Barack Obama Said in Final Farewell After Donald Trump’s Inauguration

Former President Barack Obama delivered final remarks after President Donald Trump’s inauguration Friday, speaking briefly before leaving to vacation in California with former First Lady Michelle Obama.

“Our democracy’s not the buildings, it’s not the monuments, it’s you being willing to work to make things better and being willing to listen to each other and argue with each other and come together and knock on doors and make phone calls and treat people with respect,” Obama said. “And that doesn’t end.”

Obama, who joked that he had been “milking this goodbye thing,” thanked supporters and members of his staff for their work.

Here are his complete remarks from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland:

OBAMA: Hello, everybody.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, Michelle and I, we’ve really been milking this goodbye thing.

(LAUGHTER)

So, it behooves me to be very brief. Yes.

You know, I said before, and I will say again, that when we started on this journey, we did so with an abiding faith in the American people and their ability, our ability to join together and change the country in ways that would make life better for our kids and our grandkids, that change didn’t happen from the top down, but it happened from the bottom up.

OBAMA: It was met sometimes with skepticism and doubt. Some folks didn’t think we could pull it off. There were those who felt that the institutions of power and privilege in this country were too deeply entrenched.

And yet, all of you came together in small towns and big cities, a whole bunch of you really young, and you decided to believe. And you knocked on doors and you made phone calls, and you talked to your parents who didn’t know how to pronounce Barack Obama.

(LAUGHTER)

And you got to know each other. And you went into communities that maybe you’d never even thought about visiting. And met people that on the surface seemed completely different than you — who didn’t look like you or talk like you or watch the same TV programs as you. And yet once you started talking to them, it turned out that you had something in common.

OBAMA: And it grew, and it built. And people took notice. And throughout, it was infused with a sense of hope. And as I said in 2004, it wasn’t blind optimism that drove you to do all this work, it wasn’t naïveté, it wasn’t willful ignorance to all the challenges that America faces. It was hope in the face of difficulty, hope in the face of uncertainty.

You proved the power of hope, and throughout this process, Michelle and I — we’ve just been your front men and women. We have been the face, sometimes the voice, out front on the TV screen or in front of the microphone. But this has never been about us; it has always been about you. And all the amazing things that happened over these last 10 years are really just a testament to you in the same way that when we talk about our amazing military and our men and women in uniform, the military’s not a thing, it’s a group of committed patriots willing to sacrifice everything on our behalf. It works only because…

(APPLAUSE)

… of the people in it. As — as cool as the hardware is, and we’ve got cool hardware, as cool as the machines as weapons and satellites are, ultimately it comes down to remarkable people, some of them a lot closer to Malia’s age than mine or Michelle’s. Well, the same thing’s true for our democracy. Our democracy’s not the buildings, it’s not the monuments, it’s you being willing to work to make things better and being willing to listen to each other and argue with each other and come together and knock on doors and make phone calls and treat people with respect.

And that doesn’t end. This is just a — this is just a little pit stop.

(LAUGHTER)

This is a — this is not a period, this is a comma in the continuing story…

(APPLAUSE)

… of building America. So to all of you that have put your heart and soul not just into our campaigns, but into making schools better, making sure…

(APPLAUSE)

… our veterans got the care they needed, making sure that…

(APPLAUSE)

… we left behind a planet that is safe…

(APPLAUSE)

… and secure for our kids, making sure that hardworking people have a ladder of opportunity that can (ph) support families.

(APPLAUSE)

For — for all of you who have just done amazing, remarkable work, most of it unheralded, most of it without fanfare, most of it without you getting any word of thanks, we could not be prouder of you. I could not be prouder. This has been the privilege of my life, and I know I speak for Michelle as well, and you know, we look forward to continuing this journey with all of you and I can’t wait to see what you do next.

And I promise you, I’ll be right here with you, all right?

(APPLAUSE)

God bless you. Thank you, everybody. Yes we did, yes we can.

(APPLAUSE)

God bless America.


TIME

OBAMA ORDERS 300 TROOPS TO CAMEROON TO SUPPORT FIGHT AGAINST BOKO HARAM

                                 

President Obama on Wednesday, October 14, said he had ordered 300 troops to Cameroon to work with West African soldiers seeking to counter the Nigerian extremist group Boko Haram. In a letter to Congress, Obama said that the troops would provide “intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance” in the region.read more

From Aso Rock Comes A Report That President Jonathan Has Accepted Obama's Offer To Send US Security To Help Rescue The Kidnapped Girls In Chibok.

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Tuesday welcomed and accepted a definite offer of help from the United States of America in the ongoing effort to locate and rescue the girls abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok three weeks ago.

The offer from President Barack Obama which was conveyed to President Jonathan by the United States Secretary of State, Mr. John Kerry in a telephone conversation which began at 15.30 Hours today, includes the deployment of U.S. security personnel and assets to work with their Nigerian counterparts in the search and rescue operation.

Mr. Kerry assured President Jonathan that the United States’ is wholly committed to giving Nigeria all required support and assistance to save the abducted girls and bring the reign of terror unleashed on parts of the country by Boko Haram to an end.

Thanking Mr. Kerry for the call and offer of further assistance, President Jonathan told him that Nigeria’s security agencies who were already working at full capacity to find and rescue the abducted girls would appreciate the deployment of American counter-insurgency know-how and expertise in support of their efforts.

After speaking with the United States Secretary of State, President Jonathan today met with the Chief of Defence Staff, Service Chiefs and heads of national security agencies in continuation of the national efforts to find and rescue the abducted girls.

The President received updates on the ongoing search and rescue effort, and gave approval for recommended further actions.

Reuben Abati
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
May 6, 2014

Spot The Difference: Barack Obama And His Look Alike.

Barack Obama and (right) his lookalike Ilham Anas.

Indonesian Ilham Anas isn't President Barack Obama, but he plays him on TV. The magazine photographer bears a striking resemblance to the US commander-in-chief—he shapes his eyebrows to heighten the effect—and uses it to the delight of advertisers and event planners in Southeast Asia. Anas, says he feels lucky to resemble Obama.

read more

Terror Threats Forces U.S To Close Down Embassies In North Africa And Middle East.

 

The US says it will keep a number of embassies in north Africa and the Middle East closed until Saturday, due to a possible militant threat.Twenty-one US embassies and consulates closed on Sunday, reports the BBC.
The State Department in Washington said the extended closures were “out of an abundance of caution”, and not a reaction to a new threat.
US diplomat missions in Algiers, Kabul and Baghdad are among those which will reopen on Monday Washington said.

But diplomatic posts in Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Sanaa and Tripoli will remain closed until Saturday.
The state department also added African missions in Antananarivo, Bujumbura, Djibouti, Khartoum, Kigali and Port Louis to the list, meaning a total of 19 US embassies will be closed this week.
A state department global travel alert, issued on Friday, is in force until the end of August.
The department said the potential for an al-Qaeda inspired attack was particularly strong in the Middle East and North Africa.
Embassies closed on Sunday, a working day in the Muslim world, included Amman, Cairo, Riyadh and Dhaka.
The embassy closures and US global travel alert came after the US reportedly intercepted al-Qaeda messages.
It has been suggested that they were between senior figures talking about a plot against an embassy.
Referring to the Middle East, the state department said: “Current information suggests that al-Qaeda and affiliated organisations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August.”
The travel alert called for US citizens to be vigilant, warning of “the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure”.
An unnamed US official has said the threat could be related to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends this week.
Several European countries, including the UK, have temporarily shut missions in Yemen.
The UK Foreign Office said its embassy in Sanaa would remain closed until Tuesday.
On its website, the Foreign Office is advising against all travel to Yemen and is strongly urging British nationals to leave.
It says there is “a high threat from terrorism throughout Yemen” and “a very high threat of kidnap from armed tribes, criminals and terrorists”.

Professor Fired For Ordering Students To Sign A Pledge To President Obama In The 2012 Presidential Elections.

A Florida college professor has been fired after a school investigation found that she ordered students to sign a pledge to vote for President Obama in the 2012 presidential elections.

The Board of Trustees at Brevard Community College (BCC) voted to fire professor Sharon Sweet. “The board voted 3-1, with one member absent, to dismiss professor Sweet,” school spokesman John Glisch told Campus Reform Wednesday afternoon.

“The termination took effect immediately, ending pay and benefits for Sweet who had been suspended with pay under provisions of the United Faculty of Florida collective bargaining agreement with the college, pending the board’s decision,” the school added in a press release.
Sweet had been placed on leave without pay while the investigation was ongoing.
The school was alerted to Sweet’s actions after a Campus Reform exposé revealed the professor’s demands to support Obama and the Democratic party.

Times 3 Most Powerful And Influential Families.

Waooh this is so sweet......

Goodluck Jonathan Absent As President Obama Meets With African Leaders From Sierra Leone, Senegal, Malawi, And Cape Verde.

President Barack Obama meets with, from left, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Joyce Banda of Malawi, President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, and Prime Minister José Maria Pereira Neves of Cape Verde in the Cabinet Room of the White House, March 28, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama welcomed President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Joyce Banda of Malawi, and Prime Minister José Maria Pereira Neves of Cape Verde to the White House.  The United States has strong partnerships with these countries based on shared democratic values and shared interests.  Each of these leaders has undertaken significant efforts to strengthen democratic institutions, protect and expand human rights and civil liberties, and increase economic opportunities for their people. 

read more here http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/03/28/president-obama-meets-leaders-sierra-leone-senegal-malawi-and-cape-verde

Someone is missing here.. who?