Rise and Shine

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Today (All Times Eastern):

9:05 AM: President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama depart the White House en route Joint Base Andrews

9:20: Depart Joint Base Andrews

11:15: Arrive in Orlando, Fla.

12:0: President Obama delivers remarks at the Disabled American Veterans National Convention in Orlando. He will be introduced by the First Lady.

1:05: President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama depart Orlando

3:30: Arrive Cape Cod, Mass.

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President Obama walks out of the East Room after holding a news conference, August 9

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https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/366017490179989504

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The People’s View: President Obama Slays Edward Snowden’s “Whistleblower” Myth

The president also hit the nail on the head on head when he called out the canonization of a traitor (Edward Snowden), by pointing out the fact that he and not Edward Snowden had called for a review of the surveillance programs and their transparency – and that Snowden’s only contribution to that process was to disrupt it and hurt the actual debate by generating heat rather than light, as well as the fact that it was the president that provided safeguards for whistleblowers within the intelligence community.

If Edward Snowden actually believed himself to be a whistleblower acting in the interest of his country rather than for the political benefit of himself and the global attention whores like Glenn Greenwald, he would have noticed that President Obama has, since taking office, been the strongest advocate for whistleblowers that has ever occupied the oval office. He took pains to stop agency retaliations against whistleblowers. Just a few examples

More of this fantastic MUST READ here

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@PPact

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RT and help me spread the word! On Oct. 1, 30 million w/out health insurance can signup for affordable quality care: https://t.co/DDwz6oF9t8

— Kathleen Sebelius (@Sebelius) August 9, 2013

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You have to check out Tommy’s timeline from last night. 140 characters never looked and felt so good

YES! The solution here is to give POTUS a congress that will fix this bullshit, not fuck us in the midterms with this "WORSE THAN BUSH" shit

— Tommy moderna-vaX-Topher (@tommyxtopher) August 10, 2013

You can *have* my phone number. I type "What" in google, it knows I'm about to ask "the fuck is the name of that cartoon about the shark?"

— Tommy moderna-vaX-Topher (@tommyxtopher) August 10, 2013

He's an authentic coward. MT @ritaag: Snowden is a phony coward. In 09, he called for the execution of NYT reporters who published leaks

— Tommy moderna-vaX-Topher (@tommyxtopher) August 10, 2013

More here

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Cape Cod…..

2009:

…. touring the Gay Head lighthouse in Aquinnah while on vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, Aug. 27, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)

… with lighthouse keeper Joan LeLacheur

….. with his young niece, Savita, Martha’s Vineyard, Aug. 25, 2009 (Pete Souza)

….. during a round of golf at Farm Neck golf course, Martha’s Vineyard, Aug. 24, 2009 (Pete Souza)

….. waving to an onlooker while playing golf, Martha’s Vineyard, Aug. 24, 2009 (Pete Souza)

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2010:

Pete Souza: “On vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, the President was golfing at the Vineyard Golf Club. I switched my digital camera to the black-and-white setting to capture the ominous clouds.” Aug. 22, 2010

…… at Mink Meadows Golf Club in Vineyard Haven, Aug. 25, 2010 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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2011:

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Who’s the Red Tie Guy?

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Student Mikhail Hendricks, 16, embraces first lady Michelle Obama after she answered students’ questions at the University of Cape Town, June 23, 2011

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The speech Mikhail Hendricks attended on Sunday:

South Africa: The Day in Images

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The message left by President Obama in the Robben Island guestbook today: pic.twitter.com/0xIxg36sJ4

— TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) July 1, 2013

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Arriving in Cape Town

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Visiting Robben Island – The rock quarry labor camp where Nelson Mandela was forced to work as a prisoner

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The First Lady: Today, our family visited Robben Island for an experience we will never forget. Robben Island is located off the coast of South Africa, and from the 1960s through the 1990s, this Island housed a maximum security prison. Many of the prisoners there – including the guide for our visit, a man named Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada – were activists who worked to bring down Apartheid, the South African government’s policies that discriminated against people of color.  Under Apartheid, people of different races were separated in nearly every part of South African society.  They were forced to attend separate schools, live in separate neighborhoods, even swim at separate beaches – and in nearly every case, the neighborhoods, schools and other facilities for black people were much worse than the ones for white people.

More here

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… with their tour guide, Ahmed Kathrada, a former prisoner with Nelson Mandela

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President Obama at The University of Cape Town

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12:15 PM EST: The President delivers remarks at the University of Cape Town

White House Live * CBS * Reuters

On to Cape Town

….. leaving Waterkloof Air Base for Cape Town this morning

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Coming up today – all times US Eastern

8:20 AM: The First Family tour Robben Island

10:20 AM: The President tours the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation Youth Centre with Archbishop Desmond Tutu

12:15 PM: The President delivers remarks at the University of Cape Town

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Live streaming links:

White House Live * Reuters * CBS (UStream) * CBS (Widget) * eNCA (South Africa)

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Arriving in Cape Town

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From yesterday ….

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MoooOOOooorning early birds!!

This, That and the Other

President Obama waves as he walks from the Oval Office to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, May 14 (Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

President Obama arrives at Andrews Air Force Base. Well, okay, maybe not. But VC reckoned she spotted a cape today, so….

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Tuesday

10:55: PBO delivers remarks at the National Peace Officers Memorial

2:15: Welcomes Major League Soccer champions, the LA Galaxy, to the White House

3:0: Michelle Obama hosts a Let’s Move! soccer event with students from across the country and the Major League Soccer champions, the LA Galaxy, in the State Dining Room

7:0: PBO and Michelle Obama host a dinner for the Combatant Commanders and spouses at the White House, VP Biden also attends

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President Obama makes his way to board Air Force One before departing for DC from JFK Airport

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Cagle

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Cagle

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par for the course

Vineyard Golf Club in Edgartown, Mass., Aug. 19

booked

President Obama shakes hands the crowd after he and his daughters visited the Bunch of Grapes Book Store during their vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, August 19

Thanks for the video ChristiMtl 😉

afternoon massachusetts

The Secret Service stands guard as the Lynch triplets – Cameryn, Nora and Corinne – sleep on the tarmac after Air Force One touched down at Air Station Cape Cod

Eleanor Lynch hands one of her triplets to President Obama. Eleanor’s husband is a Marine who flies with the Marine One detail

Part of a convoy of helicopters bringing President Obama to Martha’s Vineyard Airport in Vineyard Haven, Mass

President Obama arriving at Martha’s Vineyard Airport in West Tisbury

President Obama’s motorcade turning into Blue Heron Farm after arriving in Chilmark, MA

cape town, thursday

First lady Michelle Obama stands with her mother Marian Robinson and daughters Sasha and Malia as they listen to former resident Noor Ebrahim on a visit to the District Six museum, in Cape Town, South Africa. Founded in 1867 as a mixed community of freed slaves, merchants, and immigrants, the apartheid government in 1965 declared it “white” and forcibly removed 60,000 residents and bulldozed their homes

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First lady Michelle Obama reacts to a student’s question at the University of Cape Town

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First lady Michelle Obama meets with Archbishop Desmond Tutu at Cape Town Stadium

First lady Michelle Obama does push ups with Archbishop Desmond Tutu

First lady Michelle Obama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu bump fists after they participated in youth activities raising awareness for HIV prevention at Cape Town Stadium

Pictured left to right: the First Lady’s niece Leslie Robinson; daughter Malia Obama; Archbishop Tutu, Mrs. Obama; daughter Sasha Obama, and nephew Avery Robinson.