9:0 President Obama, Vice President Biden and First Lady Michelle Obama welcome South Korean President Lee and First Lady Kim to the White House
11:0 The First Lady invites the Republic of Korea’s First Lady Kim Yoon-ok to Annandale High School in Virginia
11:05 The President holds a bilateral meeting with President Lee and official U.S. and South Korean delegations
12:20 The President holds a joint press conference with President Lee
7:0 The President and First Lady welcome South Korean President Lee and First Lady Kim to the White House for a state dinner
November, 2009
The Obama Diary 
Thank you for sharing these beautiful photos, Chips! The way they look at each other is just dazzling.
The First Couple is class personified. I just love their poise, confidence, grace and style. They have peace. They have it all.They are plain awesome and not the least bit arrogant or conceited. They just ARE. I truly love these two and their children and the extended family. They have it together.
They are such a special couple and and it is great to see them happy and still smiling after all they have endured. I am still as proud of them as I was on election day and wish them well as they continue the good fight to serve us for another four years.
Hopefully, Salahi ain’t invited.
Ha!
I think they relive prom every time they get dressed up. When he looks at her there is NOBODY ELSE IN THE ROOM, NOBODY
I’m so looking forward to the events tomorrow, and I’m glad that Congress gave the President a win on the trade deal.
Chips – I hope you don’t mind me posting this trip down memory lane, but I found this old interview of Larry King interviewing Michelle Obama back in the campaign days – and it was so impressive. http://youtu.be/pyBc33UjvDU
I just re-watched that Theo, and it brought back memories. It also reminded me that both Obamas are intelligent, well-spoken and echelons above all the GOP candidates AND the current faux-journalists. Michelle O answered sincerely and frankly yet she didn’t put anyone down. A CLASS Act! Thanks for this memory lane visit, Theo.
California Governor enacts law streamlining solar-project permitting
Chris Meehan
OCT 12, 2011
Last week California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed into law SB 226, which can reduce permitting time for solar projects in California, particularly for urban infill projects and projects choosing to convert from solar thermal to photovoltaic technology. The law goes into effect in January 2012.
“The goal is to avoid duplicative review that is costly, both in terms of time and money, while retaining rigorous environmental review for projects, or project elements, that raise genuinely new issues,” said bill co-sponsor State Senator Joe Simitan (D).
The reduction in permitting or re-permitting time can be significant, leading to project cost-savings. For projects converting from solar thermal to photovoltaic (now that photovoltaic costs have fallen so dramatically) the time savings could be substantial.
“Time is money,” said California Solar Energy Industries Association (CalSEIA) Executive Director Mignon Meeks. “This aspect of SB 226 would likely save the power plant developer at least one year’s time, but probably more.”
The advocacy organization did not take a formal position on the legislation, she said.
Applications for large solar projects can take years as they work their way through the California Energy Commission’s approval process.
“Typically, applications to the Energy Commission take two years to prepare before they’re submitted to the Energy Commission. Then, the Energy Commission has to review the application and determine whether it’s data adequate—that is, complete,” Meeks said.
The review process adds another six months before public workshops begin, only then can the energy commission’s siting committee hold formal hearings on the project.
“Once a project application is deemed adequate, the siting process is supposed to be completed and a decision made within 12 months, but power plant developers—applicants—typically ask for delays in this schedule to allow them more time to resolve issues,” Meeks said. “A ‘yes’ decision that takes longer than 12 months is better than a ‘no’ decision received within the 12-month timeframe.”
The permitting process also requires an environmental impact report for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The new law also exempts CEQA review if the solar installations are on the roof of an existing building or parking lot.
The new law, however, already has some detractors in local governments.
Since it centralizes the approval process more—even if a project is changed from one technology to another—it gives local governments less voice in projects.
“We really believe that local control is critical. These solar projects will change the county’s landscape forever,” Riverside County Assistant County Counsel Katherine A. Lind told The Press-Enterprise.
Pictured: Workers dig a trench for one of the arrays at the Blythe Solar Project. Image courtesy of Solar Trust of America.
Wind turbines towering as high as 750 feet could soon become fixtures on the Eastern Shore.
A joint venture between two renewable-energy firms plans to build one of the first testing facilities for offshore wind turbines in Northampton County, Gov. Bob McDonnell is scheduled to announce this morning.
Poseidon Atlantic LLC plans to spend roughly $9 million and begin construction by mid- to late-2012. The company is a joint venture between Real NewEnergy, a renewable-energy technology firm based in Rockville, Md., and Ecofys, a subsidiary of the Dutch utility company Eneco. Active in European wind-generated energy, Eneco has developed projects with more than 2,500 megawatts of capacity.
“The Poseidon Atlantic project is transformational for the future development of offshore wind technology, as there is currently a worldwide lack of facilities that are suitable for full-service certification testing of offshore wind turbine technology,” McDonnell said in a news release. “The establishment right here in Northampton County of the first-ever wind energy test facility is going to further Virginia’s progress as leader in the energy industry.”
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/10/wind-energy-testing-facility-set-eastern-shore
Jovie, do you live in Hampton Roads?
Virginia beach/Norfolk area. No- but I was at naval base, and it is pretty there!
Trying to dispel any ambiguity, in 10 words:
Our4thEstate Bobfr
@TheRevAl @lawrence @SenatorReid @NancyPelosi @pfeiffer44 @davidaxelrod @vanjones68 – GOP hates Obama & Will Trash America to prove it – Clear
#PRESSON
Brian Beutler | October 12, 2011, 2:14PM
Now that Republicans have successfully blocked debate on President Obama’s full jobs bill, Senate Dems plan to break it into pieces — force tough votes for Republicans on issues they’ve supported in the past like infrastructure spending and payroll tax cuts. But all those things cost money or deplete revenues, and in this austerity-obsessed Congress, nothing will pass unless its paid for. So Dems will present the GOP with a stark choice: side with the unemployed or side with rich people.
At his weekly Capitol press briefing Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid explained that the cost of each jobs proposal will be offset “with the tax that the vast majority of the American people support. That is, taxing just a little bit people making more than a million dollars a year.”
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/10/reid-individual-jobs-bills-to-be-paid-for-with-taxes-on-millionaires-1.php
The White House has named some of the first stops on President Barack Obama’s three-day bus tour of politically important North Carolina and Virginia.
The tour begins Monday with stops in the North Carolina areas of Asheville and Millers Creek. He will spend the night in the Greensboro area.
The trip will be similar to a three-day bus tour of Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois that Obama took in August.
The purpose of the trip is for Obama to continue pressuring Congress over his jobs proposal and he often does so in states that are key to his hopes of getting re-elected next year. North Carolina and Virginia are traditionally Republican states that Obama won in 2008.
Miami Herald-
Oh I love it when they dress up. Well, when Michelle dresses up. Men just shave and put on a suit.
Good explanation if Trade Deals:
http://m.miamiherald.com/mh/db_42928/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=ylKC9Lda
Beautiful!!! I love they way they look at each other. The way he looks at her with so much love. And FLMO just has a glow that I love so much.
I am so ready to see the state dinner photos and videos. Mostly because as usual they step out looking beautiful. I can’t see how FLMO can get any more gorgeous than she already is but I’m sure she will achieve just that.
Obama/Biden2012
Here’s a helpful article to help nip an annoying GOP talking point in the bud, namely, what about the 47% who don’t pay federal income tax?:
“In response to Occupy Wall Street’s protest slogan of “We are the 99 percent,” conservatives have started an online counterprotest called “We are the 53 percent” — a reference to the 53 percent of Americans who pay federal income tax, on top of the payroll, local, sales and other taxes that other Americans pay.
The Tumblr blog offers helpful suggestions to the other 47 percent, including “quit whining,” “get off your duff” and “suck it up you whiners.” But who are these mysterious people who don’t pay income tax — besides roughly half of the United States’ taxpaying population? More importantly, how do they manage to do it?
31: Percent of nonpaying American households making $10,000 or less per year in 2010 (PDF link to study). An American household of any size making this amount of money, including just one person, is automatically under the poverty threshold.
61: Percent of nonpaying American households making $20,000 or less per year.
87: Percent of nonpaying American households making $40,000 or less per year.
http://news.yahoo.com/numbers-47-percent-pay-no-income-tax-look-170500327.html
So conservatives do you really want to switch places with the 47%? If so you’re going to need to take a considerable pay cut.
Flotus skin is so flawless!
Whew! Busy day for them; but they’ll handle it with their usual aplomb. Glad the trade bills passed. Can’t wait for the State Dinner after the important business of the day is over of course; FLOTUS is going to look AMAZING! and POTUS is going to be DASHING! The way they look at each other with love and friendship just makes me go awwwwwwwwwwww.
We raised more than 70 million ….woohoo..trying to find a link other than huffcrap
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-raises-more-70-million-104310360.html Yup Yup Yup…made my morning
President Obama and Vice President Biden have this uncanny way of lowering expections. Which is why when both said they were underdogs I felt good. Thanks so much for posting this news; now let’s see if the media will go ga ga over these numbers or try to put a but at the end.
Obviously the media will not go gaga over these numbers because they are not 9 9 9-lolololol
They already did put a “but,” saying it isn’t as much as last time even though the president had the debt ceiling crisis to deal with and had to cancel fundraisers and the media was beating him over the head every day. They’re saying he’ll need to raise more each quarter to meet his fundraising goal, ignoring Messina’s point that he has more donors at this point than he did in 2008. Of course, they neglect the fact that millions of people are not paying attention right now and the bulk of contributions come when the races kick into high gear. If a Repub candidate got this much, they would declare him king and bow before him.
Fuck the media. Fuck’em all. He did this despite their 247 noise against them.
Go Obamabots. Great job.
Who introduced the term Obamabots? Is this an expression of endearment or did someone drop this on diehard Obama supporters as a nasty little innuendo. I am now and forever an Obamacrat.
The pl dropped this an insult and we proudly wear that badge.
that’s pretty good.
Thanks LOL for the great news. LOL.LOL. LOL @ pretend left/poutraged left.
Any news about donna ?
Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in an e-mail to supporters that more than 600,000 people donated to the campaign in the most recent quarter, more than the previous three months. He said more than 980,000 people have given money to the campaign, and in the most recent quarter, 98 percent of the donors gave $250 or less, with an average donation of $56.
/
Messina said the campaign was using the money to build its operation. He said the campaign has opened up three new field offices every week during the past three months, and volunteers and organizers have made 3 million phone calls and in-person visits to voters.
“We’re up against a Republican Party and special interest-funded groups that will spend hundreds of millions of dollars spreading any message that they believe will defeat the President and roll back our efforts to build a fairer economy that rewards hard work and responsibility, not large corporations,” Messina said.
Close to a million donors. woo hoo. GOBAMA.
WOWZERS!! That’s FANTASTIC!! Local efforts are very precise. Every contact is obsessively tracked and entered into a db. Organizing is really tightening up. This is really great momentum.
mittmentum is dead.
they look wonderful
That dress needs to go down in the Hall of Fame! It’s one of my favorites and FLOTUS wears it so beautifully.
I just love that picture of FOTUS and POTUS.
Wow. That may be one of the best gowns FLOTUS has worn to a state dinner so far. She is looking more svelt and gorgeous every day! I guess getting kids to MOVE is doing as much for her as it is for them! So proud she is our First Lady. She’s got more class in her pinky finger than any First Lady since Jackie O. A much better marriage, too!