WHAT THE OBAMA’S HAVE BEEN SPENDING TO TRAVEL THE WORLD- ON YOUR TAXES

Michelle Obama, her daughters and her mother plan a week-long solo visit to China this month that includes meetings with China’s first lady and high school and university students – and that will likely cost U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars.
President Obama and his family have come under heavy scrutiny for the unprecedented high travel costs during his time in office – and a week-long trip to China for four members of the First Family, members of the Secret Service and other members of the White House staff will likely cost several millions of dollars.
The president’s pricey travels have become so controversial that Judicial Watch was forced to sue the Secret Service and Defense Department to get them to turn over records on the amount of taxpayer money used to fly the First Family all over the world – in many cases for vacations or fundraisers – over the last two years of his administration.

What the records show was startling.
According to Judicial Watch, it cost more than $11 million for the president and his wife to travel to Africa to attend Nelson Mandela’s funeral in December of last year. According to the New York Daily News, the Obamas were only in Africa for ‘less than 13 hours.’
But that trip was nothing compared to a 2013 visit the Obamas made to the Dark Continent, which reportedly cost tax payer more than $100 million.
On the 2013 trip, some of the reported expenditures include the stationing of a Navy aircraft carrier off the coast of Africa equipped with a fully staffed medical trauma center, military cargo planes to fly a fleet of 56 support vehicles to transport the Obamas – complete with 14 limousines and three trucks carrying bulletproof glass to cover the windows of the hotels where the Obamas were to stay – and fighter jets that flew in shifts to provide coverage over the president’s airspace for the entire trip.
In June, the first lady went to Ireland for a two-day trip. The cost to taxpayers: $5 million.
Michelle Obama reportedly stayed at a $3,300-per-night hotel in Dublin, and needed to book 30 rooms at the posh Shelbourne Hotel for her staff and security detail.
Expensive: Travel expenses for the First Family have cost U.S. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over the last two years alone
Expensive: Travel expenses for the First Family have cost U.S. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over the last two years alone
For two vacations the Obamas took in 2013 – one to Hawaii and one to Martha’s Vineyard – records show that it cost taxpayers a whopping $7,396,531 in flight expenses alone. That figure also includes travel expenses for the president’s trip to California to file the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
During an August trip to California, during which Obama attended a party held by Democratic fundraiser Jeffrey Katzenberg and again appeared on the Tonight Show, taxpayers paid more than $2 million in travel expenses for the president and his security detail.
The president will not be joining his family on what will be the first lady’s first visit to the Asian economic powerhouse.
In an announcement Monday on the White House blog, the first lady says a China visit is important because it is the most populous country in the world, with more than 1.3 billion people, and is an important world actor.
Mrs. Obama will travel from March 19-26, spending several days in the capital of Beijing before stops in the central city of Xian and the southwestern city of Chengdu, the White House said. Her schedule includes a meeting with Peng Liyuan, the wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Taxpayers footed the more than $2 million bill so Obama could appear on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Mrs. Obama missed meeting China’s first lady last June when the newly installed Xi, accompanied by his wife, traveled to Southern California for a summit with President Barack Obama. The presidential-level meetings were around the time of Sasha Obama’s 12th birthday, and the White House said Mrs. Obama stayed in Washington with family.
She wrote a letter to Peng Liyuan welcoming her to the U.S. and expressing hope that they would meet soon in China, the White House said.
In China, Mrs. Obama will focus on the power and importance of education, including in her own life, during visits to a high school and a university in Beijing, and a high school in Chengdu.
She recently began an effort to encourage America’s young people, including some of the most economically disadvantaged, to pursue a college education. On past trips outside the U.S., she also has made the same point to students from the host country. Mrs. Obama grew up in a poor Chicago family, but earned degrees from two of America’s best universities.
Africa: It cost taxpayers $11 million when the Obamas went to Africa for Nelson Mandela’s funeral. They were there for 13 hours
Africa: It cost taxpayers $11 million when the Obamas went to Africa for Nelson Mandela’s funeral. They were there for 13 hours
In China, she will be accompanied by daughters, Malia and Sasha, and her mother, Marian Robinson, who lives at the White House. President Obama will not be on the trip; he is scheduled to depart the U.S. later that week for stops in the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Saudi Arabia.
Mrs. Obama is encouraging American students to follow her trip on social media and the White House website, where she will post a daily travel blog. In preparation for the trip, she scheduled a visit Tuesday to a Washington charter elementary school with a Chinese-immersion, international baccalaureate program.
In her blog post, the first lady said countries today are no longer isolated and face many of the same challenges, whether it is to provide students with a good education, combat hunger, poverty and disease or address threats like climate change.
‘These issues affect every last one of us, so it’s critically important that young people like you learn about what’s going on not just here in America, but around the world,’ Mrs. Obama said. ‘Because when it comes to the challenges we face, soon, all of you will be leading the way.’
‘That’s why everywhere I go, whether it’s here in the U.S. or abroad, I meet with young people to hear about your challenges, hopes and dreams — and that’s what I’ll be doing in China as well,’ she said. ‘I’ll be focusing on the power and importance of education, both in my own life and in the lives of young people in both of our countries.’
History: First families going back to Richard Nixon have visited China on diplomatic trips, including the family of Bill Clinton, seen here
History: First families going back to Richard Nixon have visited China on diplomatic trips, including the family of Bill Clinton, seen here
Among recent first ladies, Laura Bush traveled to China with President George W. Bush, and Beijing was the place where Hillary Rodham Clinton made her now famous declaration at a United Nations women’s conference in 1995 that ‘women’s rights are human rights.’
Mrs. Obama’s trip will be a highly visible endeavor, but the fact that she’s taking the rest of her family suggests ‘she’s not going in search of a crusade of one sort or another,’ said Jonathan D. Pollack, a senior fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington. ‘The clear intent here is not to touch any particular hot buttons.’
Mrs. Obama’s previous solo travels outside the U.S. as first lady were to Mexico in 2010, and Botswana and South Africa in 2011.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2572615/Michelle-Obama-plans-pricey-trip-China-First-Family-criticized-spending-hundreds-millions-dollars-traveling-taxpayers-dime.html#ixzz2xIhTvEdc
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Michelle Obama plans pricey trip to China on the taxpayer’s dime | Mail Online.

OBAMA’S TOP FEAR IS MANHATTAN GETTING NUKED

WASHINGTON — President Obama dissed Russia as a “regional power” on Tuesday and said his bigger worry is a nuclear weapon going off in Manhattan.

Obama’s comment came at a press conference in the Netherlands, where he was asked if 2012 challenger Mitt Romney was right that Russia is the United States’ No. 1 political foe, in light of its absorption of Crimea.

“Russia’s actions are a problem. They don’t pose the No. 1 national security threat to the United States. I continue to be much more concerned when it comes to our security with the prospect of a nuclear weapon going off in Manhattan,” the president said.

Obama called Russia a “regional power that is threatening some of its immediate neighbors, not out of strength, but out of weakness,” while speaking with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte after a nuclear security summit in The Hague.

The president claimed the Russian seizure of Crimea is “not a done deal” — but then added he had “no expectation that they will be dislodged by force.”

Obama called for the international community to require Russia to pay costs for its action, both to deter any further incursions and to punish its behavior, indicating the policy could be effective.

“History has a funny way in moving in twists and turns and not just in a straight line,” he said.

He said there would always be “bad things” going on in the world, and noted that the US hadn’t gone to war with Russia. He said Russia had a legal right to build up forces on its own territory, although he has discouraged escalation and called for talks with Ukraine.

“We’re not recognizing what has happened in Crimea,” he said.

via Obama’s top fear is Manhattan getting nuked | New York Post.

GIULIANI SLAMS DE BLASIO, SAYS HE HAS ‘REAL DISAGREEMENTS’ PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT LEAVING NYC

Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani slammed Mayor Bill de Blasio Wednesday, saying he has some “real disagreements” with the man now occupying his former desk at City Hall.

As CBS 2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported, de Blasio has been in office about 85 days – two weeks shy of the 100-day mark. But that is enough time for Giuliani to make a judgment – and to take the gloves off and unload on the current mayor.

“I know the economy of the city is going in the wrong direction,” Giuliani said. “People are talking about moving out of the city because they’re afraid of high taxes.”

It was a bald reference from the two-term former mayor, a Republican, to the Democrat de Blasio’s oft-stated desire to raise taxes on the rich to pay for universal pre-kindergarten.

Legislative leaders in Albany will not approve the new tax, but it is just one of several issues where the two part company – or as Giuliani described it, have “some real disagreements.”

Until this week, Giuliani refused to criticize de Blasio. But now, the two have apparently parted ways on the economy, charter schools, and the mayor’s desire to ban horse carriages.

Giuliani confessed that he himself thought about a ban on horse carriages in 1994 when he began his tenure as mayor, but quickly changed his mind after meeting the drivers.

“I feel kind of emotional about that, because I got to know the people. I was probably inclined to want to do it, and I went and visited the stables; met the people,” Giuliani said. “These are mostly hard-working legal immigrants. They rely on horse to feed their children. They take very good care of that horse.”

Giuliani said it would be a crime to put the horses out to pasture, because they like to work.

“They’ve got to find work for the horses, because the horses become depressed,” Giuliani said. “I hope the mayor changes his mind about it.”

A de Blasio spokesman issued a statement about Giuliani’s comments.

“We’re proud of the agenda we’ve set on public safety, education and income inequality,” the statement said. “Those are priorities that will benefit everyone, Rudy Giuliani included.”

Giuliani did agree with de Blasio on some issues, among them the choice to re-hire his old police commissioner.

“I’ve also seen in the new mayor a tendency to correct things. I thought he made a good choice in Bill Bratton,” Giuliani said. “He got himself into a lot of trouble over charter schools; he seems to be correct himself.”

Kramer asked Giuliani if he ever considered running for the job again. He said he is not, but is instead thinking about running a horse operation.

via Giuliani Slams de Blasio, Says He Has ‘Real Disagreements’ « CBS New York.

AL-QAEDA MAGAZINE: STRIKE NY, DC WITH CAR BOMBS

New issue of ‘Inspire’ lists specific targets in America, Britain, France — with a bizarre emphasis on tennis matches

By Lazar Berman March 19, 2014, 1:12 pm

America is al-Qaeda’s primary target for car bombs, specifically Washington, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, according to the latest issue of Inspire, a slick online English-language magazine published by the global terrorist organization.

In a section entitled “Car Bombs inside America,” instructing readers how and where to carry out car bombings, a writer going by the name of “AQ Chef” writes that “America is our first target, followed by United Kingdom, France and other Crusader countries.”

“As for the field target for the car-bomb, you have places flooded with individuals, e.g. sports events in which tens of thousands attend, election campaigns, festivals and other gathering [sic]. The important thing is that you target people and not buildings.”

The article then lists specific sites in the US and other target countries.

Washington, DC, is seen as a ripe target both for its “symbolic importance” and the 347,000 federal employees working there. Inspire instructs its readers to target on weekends restaurants and bars in the trendy Georgetown neighborhood, and DC suburbs Arlington and Alexandria.

Followers are urged to strike during election seasons, and on Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

Somewhat bizarrely, the author instructs followers to attack tennis stadiums, of all places, as they “are visited by thousands of people, and high profile people, especially the US Open.”

New York is listed as a target because of its economic and cultural importance for the United States. Northern Virginia is presented similarly because of the many government agencies and military bases in the area. Commercial hubs Chicago and Los Angeles are also presented as desirable targets.

Soccer matches in the UK are recommended targets, especially as fans file out after games. Horse races and, again, tennis matches, in the country are also seen as vulnerable. London’s Savoy Hotel warrants a highly specific mention, which includes a recommendation to detonate a car bomb at about 10 p.m., as “businessmen and high profile targets leave the hotel.”

France is described as an enemy of Islam in the article: “It does not even use pretexts to invade Muslims. What happens in the Central African Republic is enough evidence. It invaded the country to help the Christian militia fight the regime Army for its relation to Islam.”

Train stations, the Musee du Louvre, and Bastille Day Military Parade are among the recommended targets in France.

Around the borders of the article, graphics include helpful hints for the reader about car bombing: “This type of car bomb is used to kill individuals and NOT to destroy buildings. Therefore, look for a dense crowd.” “Be creative in your Jihad. This is ‘Open Source Jihad.’ Surprise the enemy, don’t follow a particular protocol.” “US, UK and French police for are not used to a frontline-type war. They cannot withstand a bang of a grenade, let alone a full car bomb.”

The article ran in the 12th issue of Inspire, a magazine put out by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. In addition to a cover story about 9/11 and the collapse of the American empire, the issue contains several features on ‘Open Source Jihad,’ actions by lone wolf terrorists with no formal training or connection the Al-Qaeda groups.

“Inspire Magazine’s goal is to empower Muslim youth,” the author writes. “And what is empowerment without being strong, powerful, and intelligent? In this section, we give you strength, power and intelligence. Believe me, using car bombs gives you all that.”

The articles instruct jihadists on the home construction of car bombs. “AQ Chef” explains how to use household items like garage remote, nails and gas cylinders to craft a bomb designed to maximize civilian deaths.

Israel was not listed as an al-Qaeda target country.

U.S. to relinquish remaining control over the Internet

U.S. officials announced plans Friday to relinquish federal government control over the administration of the Internet, a move that pleased international critics but alarmed some business leaders and others who rely on the smooth functioning of the Web.

Pressure to let go of the final vestiges of U.S. authority over the system of Web addresses and domain names that organize the Internet has been building for more than a decade and was supercharged by the backlash last year to revelations about National Security Agency surveillance.

The change would end the long-running contract between the Commerce Department and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a California-based nonprofit group. That contract is set to expire next year but could be extended if the transition plan is not complete.

“We look forward to ICANN convening stakeholders across the global Internet community to craft an appropriate transition plan,” Lawrence E. Strickling, assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information, said in a statement.

The announcement received a passionate response, with some groups quickly embracing the change and others blasting it.

In a statement, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) called the move “consistent with other efforts the U.S. and our allies are making to promote a free and open Internet, and to preserve and advance the current multi-stakeholder model of global Internet governance.”

But former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) tweeted: “What is the global internet community that Obama wants to turn the internet over to? This risks foreign dictatorships defining the internet.”

The practical consequences of the decision were harder to immediately discern, especially with the details of the transition not yet clear. Politically, the move could alleviate rising global concerns that the United States essentially controls the Web and takes advantage of its oversight position to help spy on the rest of the world.

U.S. officials set several conditions and an indeterminate timeline for the transition from federal government authority, saying a new oversight system must be developed and win the trust of crucial stakeholders around the world. An international meeting to discuss the future of Internet is scheduled to start on March 23 in Singapore.

The move’s critics called the decision hasty and politically tinged, and voiced significant doubts about the fitness of ICANN to operate without U.S. oversight and beyond the bounds of U.S. law.

“This is a purely political bone that the U.S. is throwing,” said Garth Bruen, a security fellow at the Digital Citizens Alliance, a Washington-based advocacy group that combats online crime. “ICANN has made a lot of mistakes, and ICANN has not really been a good steward.”

Business groups and some others have long complained that ICANN’s decision-making was dominated by the interests of the industry that sells domain names and whose fees provide the vast majority of ICANN’s revenue. The U.S. government contract was a modest check against such abuses, critics said.

“It’s inconceivable that ICANN can be accountable to the whole world. That’s the equivalent of being accountable to no one,” said Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice, a trade group representing major Internet commerce businesses.

U.S. officials said their decision had nothing to do with the NSA spying revelations and the worldwide controversy they sparked, saying there had been plans since ICANN’s creation in 1998 to eventually migrate it to international control.

“The timing is now right to start this transition both because ICANN as an organization has matured, and international support continues to grow for the multistakeholder model of Internet governance,” Strickling said in a statement.

Although ICANN is based in Southern California, governments worldwide have a say in the group’s decisions through an oversight body. ICANN in 2009 made an “Affirmation of Commitments” to the Commerce Department that covers several key issues.

Fadi Chehade, president of ICANN, disputed many of the complaints about the transition plan and promised an open, inclusive process to find a new international oversight structure for the group.

“Nothing will be done in any way to jeopardize the security and stability of the Internet,” he said.

The United States has long maintained authority over elements of the Internet, which grew from a Defense Department program that started in the 1960s. The relationship between the United States and ICANN has drawn wider international criticism in recent years, in part because big American companies such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft play such a central role in the Internet’s worldwide functioning. The NSA revelations exacerbated those concerns.

“This is a step in the right direction to resolve important international disputes about how the Internet is governed,” said Gene Kimmelman, president of Public Knowledge, a group that promotes open access to the Internet.

Verizon, one of the world’s biggest Internet providers, issued a statement saying, “A successful transition in the stewardship of these important functions to the global multi-stakeholder community would be a timely and positive step in the evolution of Internet governance.”

ICANN’s most important function is to oversee the assigning of Internet domains — such as dot-com, dot-edu and dot-gov — and ensure that the various companies and universities involved in directing digital traffic do so safely.

Concern about ICANN’s stewardship has spiked in recent years amid a massive and controversial expansion that is adding hundreds of new domains, such as dot-book, dot-gay and dot-sucks, to the Internet’s infrastructure. More than 1,000 new domains are slated to be made available, pumping far more fee revenue into ICANN.

Major corporations have complained, however, that con artists already swarm the Internet with phony Web sites designed to look like the authentic offerings of respected brands.

“To set ICANN so-called free is a very major step that should done with careful oversight,” said Dan Jaffe, executive vice president of the Association of National Advertisers. “We would be very concerned about that step.”

ORIGINAL

Austin woman, man from the Netherlands killed in crash at SXSW

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Rashad Charjuan Owens, 21, the driver in a deadly downtown wreck who police suspected of driving drunk, was charged with capital murder after the car he was driving plowed through a crowded street full of people waiting for a South by Southwest concert.

An Austin woman riding on the back of a moped and a man from the Netherlands on a bicycle were killed when the car hit a crowd of people outside Mohawk. More than 20 others were taken to the hospital.

The Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office said 27-year-old Jamie West of Austin was killed after Owens’ car slammed into a moped she was riding on.

According to a post on MassiveMusic.com, one of the victim’s was 35-year-old Steven Craenmehr. “This is an irreplaceable loss for the MassiveMusic family and we are grateful for the years we spent with him,” the statement said. Craenmehr was on a bicycle at the time of the crash.

Two people remained in critical condition, and three others had serious injuries and were being treated at area hospitals, Austin-Travis County EMS Chief of Staff James Shamard said.

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Caught On Video: Irate Man Walks Along Venice Boardwalk With Chainsaw

VENICE (CBSLA.com) — It played like a scene in a movie: police were called to the Venice boardwalk Tuesday when a man started walking around with a chainsaw, yelling at passersby.
A local shop owner saw what was happening and whipped out her camera to shoot video. Viviane Robertson, who’s been doing business on the boardwalk for 20 years, says police had their guns drawn and were yelling at the man to drop the chainsaw.
“It was very scary,” Robertson said. “Somebody walking around with a chainsaw. You don’t expect that.”
The chainsaw was not turned on but police told CBS2/KCAL9 reporter Brittney Hopper that the blades were so sharp they could have hurt someone.
“The police came up in their cars, and just started drawing their guns in my direction, so I was really panicking,” the shop owner said.

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2 DEAD, DOZEN MISSING AFTER EXPLOSION COLLAPSES 2 NYC BUILDINGS

A huge explosion rocked two East Harlem buildings Wednesday morning, causing them to collapse.

Police said two women are confirmed dead and at least 16 others were injured.

At least 12 people are still unaccounted for and the death toll could rise, law enforcement sources said.

The two buildings affected are a piano shop with apartments above and a building that houses a church, both located at 116th Street and Park Avenue.

The MTA has stopped Metro-North trains from entering and leaving Grand Central Terminal.

via 2 dead, dozen missing after explosion collapses 2 NYC buildings | New York Post.

Dalai Lama opens Senate session with prayer

Senators bowed their heads as the Dalai Lama prayed. Staff filled the back rows of the chamber and visitors observed from the gallery above. The opening session drew more people than a typical start to the Senate day.

Before his prayer, Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, a Buddhist, had greeted the Dalai Lama, and the two clasped hands. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and the Dalai Lama bowed heads and touched briefly.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., thanked the Dalai Lama for his prayers and words of encouragement.

“The Dalai Lama is well-known throughout the world as a spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and for spreading the gospel of peace and compassion and love of our fellow human beings,” Reid said.

READ ORIGINAL

44-YEAR-OLD FETUS: DEAD ‘STONE BABY’ FETUS FOUND IN 84 YEAR OLD BRAZILIAN WOMAN

A 44-year-old fetus was found by doctors inside of an elderly 84-year-old Brazilian woman who had checked herself into the hospital on Feb. 7 in the central Brazil state of Tocantins. The woman complained of “intense stomach pains,” which were later found to be caused by an unborn child which had developed outside of her womb.

Fox News reported today that doctors initially thought the woman had gastrointestinal concerns, but after taking an MRI, discovered the 84-year-old had suffered from lithopedion, also known as a “stone baby,” a condition in which a fetus dies during an abdominal pregnancy and calcifies because it is too large to be reabsorbed by the body.

The woman says she became pregnant more than four decades ago, but because of intense pain during her first trimester visited a “HEALER” for assistance. He gave her some sort of homeopathic concoction, which the woman thought resulted in her baby being aborted.

The woman was transferred to Porto Nacional Hospital near Palmas for more tests. A gynecologist at the hospital said tests on the decades-old fetus revealed “the face, the bones of the arms, of the legs, the ribs, and the spine.”

Despite the death of the fetus, Dr. Saraiva Kratka from Porto Nacional said the woman is refusing to have the dead fetus removed, for reasons yet unclear. Dr. Kratka said she was hoping to change the woman’s mind in order to prevent further health complications from developing in the future.

via 44-year-old fetus: Dead ‘stone baby’ fetus found in 84 year old Brazilian woman – Long Island Top News | Examiner.com.