Vice President Joe Biden In Athens

Early Bird Chat

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All Times Eastern

10AM: President Obama receives the Presidential Daily Briefing

12PM: Press Secretary Josh Earnest holds the White House Briefing

12:40PM: President Obama has lunch with Vice President Biden

2:55PM: President Obama awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom

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Happy birthday, Joe! The best @VP and friend I could have had alongside me these past eight years. https://t.co/kWH3L5uSFC

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President Obama (@POTUS) November 20, 2016

The President’s Day Two In Greece

President Barack Obama makes a speech at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens, Greece

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President Barack Obama walks from the Propylaia with Eleni Banou, Ministry of Culture director of Ephorate of Antiquities for Athens, during a tour of the Acropolis

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President Barack Obama tours the Acropolis Museum

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President Barack Obama arrives in Berlin, Germany

Early Bird Chat: The President’s Day One In Athens

President Barack Obama speaks with Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos before their meeting at the Presidential Mansion

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President Barack Obama shakes hands with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras prior to their meeting at the Maximos Mansion

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Early Bird Chat

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All Times Eastern

3:50AM: President Obama arrives Athens, Greece

6:50AM: President Obama meets with President Prokopis Pavlopoulos; Presidential Mansion

7:30AM: President Obama meets with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras; Maximos Mansion

8:55AM: President Obama holds a press conference with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras

12:25PM: President Obama attends a state dinner with President Prokopis Pavlopoulos

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#ThisIsACoup – Updates on Greece

As most of you know, I was hoping for a “Yes” vote in the Greek referendum, especially as the proposal which the Tsipras government put forth this week encompassed most of the demands which Greece’s creditors had been making.

The Syriza proposals were approved by the creditors, and sent to the Eurozone finance ministers. And then Germany got in the act.

In an act of suicidal hubris, Germany is demanding nothing short of humiliation for Greece. Even though I had hoped for a Yes vote, this petty revenge is unbelievable from a country which plunged Europe into two World Wars. It is Germany’s gambit to establish the EU as merely a Greater German Co-Prosperity Sphere.

Here is where we stand at the moment.

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Newspaper headlines.

Frankfurter Allgemeine

Translation: Trust has been lost; Doubts of Greece’s willingness to reform.

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Le Figaro

Translation: Greece has driven a wedge between France and Germany

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Liberation

Translation: What game is Germany playing?

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Wall Street Journal

A Tweet Or Two

Every day is #LoveYourPetDay. http://t.co/yxrIDz3gU6

—
Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 20, 2015

Puppy love. #LoveYourPetDay http://t.co/cFBJ3m1agn

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The First Lady (@FLOTUS) February 20, 2015

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Best buds. #LoveYourPetDay http://t.co/BvD1WTW8Y8

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The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 20, 2015

The U.S. economy has grown faster when the President of the United States is a Democrat rather than a Republican. princeton.edu/~mwatson/paper…

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  (@LOLGOP) February 20, 2015

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VP Biden strongly condemns the offensive by Russia-backed separatists in the Ukrainian town of Debaltseve. whitehouse.gov/the-press-offi…

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Vice President Biden (@VP) February 20, 2015

Portland raises minimum wage for city workers to $15 thkpr.gs/3625092

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ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) February 20, 2015

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Our education continues 🙂

#BlackHistoryMonth: Ruby Bridges was the 1st black child to attend an all-white public elementary school in the South http://t.co/JZg6CYqk2U

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Valerie Jarrett (@vj44) February 18, 2015

#BlackHistoryMonth: Madam Walker invented hair-straightening formula & the hot comb, and was the 1st self-made female millionaire in America

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Valerie Jarrett (@vj44) February 20, 2015

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whoever decided to have a photo booth at essence's 2015 black women in hollywood event is such a kind, generous human http://t.co/KF7f4VYgaS

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Hannah Giorgis (@ethiopienne) February 20, 2015

Jerry Lawson, a self-taught engineer, gave us video game cartridges engt.co/1zU62Ap http://t.co/mMgYcr6fto

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Engadget (@engadget) February 20, 2015

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Honoring the strength and power of Black women everywhere #BlackHistoryMonth huff.to/187F571 http://t.co/sSctXcqRZV

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HuffPost BlackVoices (@blackvoices) February 20, 2015

Nelson Mandela spent how many years behind bars resisting apartheid in South Africa? #BlackHistoryMonth #AfAmEdChat http://t.co/3zzyZJ87BS

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White House Af-Am Ed (@AfAmEducation) February 20, 2015

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Pres. Obama to host town hall on #immigration on Feb. 25 with @jdbalart. on.msnbc.com/1zTfvb5 #ObamaTownHall http://t.co/DbSQ6U98J1

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Voto Latino (@votolatino) February 20, 2015

White House extending 2015 Obamacare enrollment for those who owe penalty for being uninsured in 2014. cnnmon.ie/1DArPon

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CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) February 20, 2015

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This is the horror that occurs when you don’t view people as human beings because of the color of their skin

James Jameson once bought a 10-year-old slave girl for six handkerchiefs so he could sketch cannibals eating her. modernnotion.com/james-jameson-…

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Saeed Jones (@theferocity) February 16, 2015

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James Jameson, heir to the Jameson Irish Whiskey company, once bought a 10-year-old slave girl for six handkerchiefs because he wanted to sketch the event as cannibals killed, mutilated, and finally, ate her According to a report from The New York Times, Jameson had a fascination with cannibalism and wanted to experience the act firsthand. Jameson was on a trip in Africa in 1890 when an opportunity to fulfill his sick fantasy presented itself because he and his translator happened upon a cannibalistic tribe. Jameson consulted the tribe’s chiefs who told him if he wanted to witness the event, he’d have to buy a slave girl to be killed. Jameson returned a few minutes later with a 10-year-old girl he bought from a nearby slave trader for six handkerchiefs. The translator then approached the chiefs and said, “This is a present from a white man who desires to see her eaten.” According to an eye witness report of the scene, the cannibals tied the girl to a tree and stabbed her twice in the belly. The natives then cut pieces off of her body as Jameson sat sketching in his notebook. Jameson and his translator then made their way to chief’s hut where Jameson finished his sketches in watercolor.

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The same holds true once again

America's Forgotten Mass Lynching: When 237 People Were Murdered In Arkansas thebea.st/1FRPXAC http://t.co/iGbncGnahV

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The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) February 16, 2015

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In 1919, in the wake of World War I, black sharecroppers unionized in Arkansas, unleashing a wave of white vigilantism and mass murder that left 237 people dead. The visits began in the fall of 1918, just as World War I ended. At his office in Little Rock, Arkansas, attorney Ulysses S. Bratton listened as African American sharecroppers from the Delta told stories of theft, exploitation, and endless debt. A man named Carter had tended 90 acres of cotton, only to have his landlord seize the entire crop and his possessions. From the town of Ratio, in Phillips County, Arkansas, a black farmer reported that a plantation manager refused to give sharecroppers an itemized account for their crop. Another sharecropper told of a landlord trying “to starve the people into selling the cotton at his own price. They ain’t allowing us down there room to move our feet except to go to the field.” No one could know it at the time, but within a year these inauspicious meetings would lead to one of the worst episodes of racial violence in U.S. history. Initiated by whites, the violence—by any measure, a massacre—claimed the lives of 237 African Americans, according to a just released report from the Equal Justice Initiative. The death toll was unusually high, but the use of racial violence to subjugate blacks during this time was not uncommon. As the Equal Justice Initiative observes, “Racial terror lynching was a tool used to enforce Jim Crow laws and racial segregation—a tactic for maintaining racial control by victimizing the entire African American community, not merely punishment of an alleged perpetrator for a crime.” This was certainly true of the massacre in Phillips County, Arkansas.

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Justice Department to seek emergency stay to allow immigration action reut.rs/1Eep37b

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Reuters Top News (@Reuters) February 20, 2015

An arrest has been made in last month's Colorado NAACP bombing. thebea.st/1EdQ4b1 http://t.co/F7n9o2j0Mp

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The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) February 20, 2015

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World Health Organization approves 15-minute test for detecting Ebola bit.ly/1AYNTqB

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Talking Points Memo (@TPM) February 20, 2015

UN team investigates Saudi surge in cases of deadly MERS virus reut.rs/1Gd36Vk

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Reuters Health (@Reuters_Health) February 20, 2015

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My column today on guns and "reasonable-person" tests, two terrible ideas for addressing rape on college campuses. on.tnr.com/1BqyTD0

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Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) February 20, 2015

Bills to legalize recreational marijuana introduced in House: ow.ly/JpJJk http://t.co/GI4ZWUl2AN

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The Hill (@thehill) February 20, 2015

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#BREAKING Dow, S&P 500 hit records after Greece earns bailout extension

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Agence France-Presse (@AFP) February 20, 2015

Moody's downgrades Russia sovereign debt to junk » cnb.cx/1Ln2iQC http://t.co/XCkcyLqNKr

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  (@CNBC) February 20, 2015

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.@AlfreWoodard hosts Oscar's sistahs soiree variety.com/2015/scene/awa… http://t.co/uMjdAFK2vV

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  (@Variety) February 20, 2015

Teaching Ferguson: How colleges are incorporating race cases in the classroom wapo.st/1vl7gZY

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Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 20, 2015

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Rudy during meltdown: "This isn’t racism. This is socialism or possibly anti-colonialism.” nyti.ms/1FAuUFs

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Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) February 20, 2015

The most EPIC take down of Rudy. EVER. m.nydailynews.com/wayne-barrett-…

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Goldie Taylor © (@goldietaylor) February 20, 2015

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Read @jbouie's fascinating look at the assertion by Rudy Giuliani that President Obama doesn't love America. slate.me/1BvcgNM

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Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) February 20, 2015

White House spokesman: "I feel sorry for Rudy Giuliani" huff.to/188FlSY http://t.co/1W13r1Tf2P

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HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) February 20, 2015

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Our first-ever Chief Data Scientist wrote a memo to Americans on unleashing the power of data. Read it on @Medium → WhiteHouse/unleashing-the-power-of-data-to-serve-the-american-people-198534d009a2"> medium.com@WhiteHouse/un…

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Kori Schulman (@ks44) February 20, 2015

If you’ve recently bought a Lenovo Windows laptop, READ THIS. Preferably, on a different computer. slate.com/articles/techn…

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Phil Plait (@BadAstronomer) February 20, 2015

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Amidst all the noise, a very smart take from Fareed Zakaria washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-l…

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Ben Rhodes (@rhodes44) February 20, 2015

Legal move limits AG Ken Paxton's options to void Travis County same-sex marriage: statesman.com/news/news/lega… #ssm #gaymarriage

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Chuck Lindell (@chucklindell) February 20, 2015

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“American Sniper” is not a war movie: It’s a revisionist western about "frontier masculinity" slnm.us/XwbZPeC

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Salon.com (@Salon) February 20, 2015

Britain says Libya needs unity government before arms embargo change reut.rs/1EbHysT

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Reuters Top News (@Reuters) February 20, 2015

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That no Republican of any stature feels compelled or feels the need to forcefully condemn Giuliani is disgraceful. wapo.st/1w5EGN2

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Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) February 20, 2015

How can America tolerate Rudy Giuliani when he says moronic and offensive things like this? politico.com/story/2015/02/… http://t.co/8JYMpNxf6O

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Jim Roberts (@nycjim) February 19, 2015

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Obama’s Economic Report Focuses on Income Inequality nyti.ms/1Ebrrvz

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NYT First Draft (@nytpolitics) February 20, 2015

Bill O'Reilly's Falkland Island war story is being called into question: mm4a.org/1BrVAHd http://t.co/BTKeKHdkUD

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Media Matters (@mmfa) February 19, 2015

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*GROWL* Comic books come to life

There is only one true King. #unitetheseven http://t.co/RDFG8jbuI6

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  (@ZackSnyder) February 20, 2015

I hope you enjoy my new book "Rudy Giuliani is an Asshole and Other Things We've Known For 20 Years"

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billy eichner (@billyeichner) February 20, 2015

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Never change, Canada

Canadian politician says tight, cheap underwear caused him to miss anti-terror vote: apne.ws/1GcFtfA

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The Associated Press (@AP) February 20, 2015

Fifty shades of grey is romantic only because the guy is a billionaire. If he was living in a trailer it would be a Criminal minds episode.

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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ (@IostinheII) February 20, 2015

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Relationship status: I shout "PIZZA'S HERE" so the delivery guy doesn't think I'm eating two pizzas by myself.

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Slightly funny Jew (@Dani_Feld) August 29, 2014

put a wig on the dog and frightened the crap out of the postman. http://t.co/CkReJX0jfU

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Steve Joy (@AnnoyedWasp) February 16, 2015

hey, happy greek independence day! (video added)

President Barack Obama looks on as Archbishop Demetrios, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, speaks at an event commemorating Greek Independence Day in the East Room of the White House, March 25

greece is the word

President Obama helps Archbishop Demetrios, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church of America, with his speech papers during a reception in the East Room of the White House, March 9, 2010

Morning people. The only public event listed (so far) for the President today is a reception for Greek Independence Day at 4:35 (live here)

Two years ago….

obamander the great

Greek Independence Day, March 2009