Look at that beautiful Black family!

The White House Photo Office released this official familiy portrait of President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and their young daughters Sasha and Malia Friday (Oct 23). This photograph was taken in the Green Room of the White House on September 1st 2009 by famed celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz.

It was announced Friday morning (Oct 9) that our very own President Barack Obama had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the year 2009. Barack Obama already made history by being the first African American president, so now he can add “fourth U.S. president to win the Nobel Peace Prize” to his ongoing resume and list of accomplishments. The White House learned of their big win just before 6 a.m. Friday morning.

Obama said he did not feel he deserved “to be in the company” of past Peace Prize winners, but would accept the prize while pushing for a broad range of international objectives, including nuclear nonproliferation, a reversal of the global economic downturn and a resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

He also acknowledged the ongoing U.S. conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, noting that he is the “commander in chief of a country that is responsible for ending a war and working in another theater to confront a ruthless adversary that directly threatens the American people” and U.S. allies.

“This award is not simply about my administration,” he said. It “must be shared” with everyone who strives for “justice and dignity.”

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The recipient of the prize wins about $1.4 million, but Obama says he will be donating the money to charity. Continue reading for a video of Pres. Obama’s speech!

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In response to Kanye West’s outburst Sunday night (Sep 13) at the VMA’s, our very own President Obama was recorded calling the rapper a Jackass! In an off the record conversation with ABC news anchor Terry Moran prior to an interview, the President said:

“I thought that was really inappropriate, you know? The young lady seems like a perfectly nice person, she’s getting her award. What’s he doing up there? He’s a Jackass…”

Obama and the people around him then laughed about his statement, referring to an incident a while back when PETA jumped on his case for killing a fly in an interview.

“Where’s the pool? C’mon guys, cut the President some slack! I’ve got a lot of other stuff on my plate. Because I know the last time was the fly thing. Was that PETA?”

Moran told his 1,000,000+ followers about this on his Twitter shortly after it happened. But now, TMZ has obtained a clip of Obama’s comment. Take a listen above!

Screencap Source

We’re not sure why people are up in arms about this back-to-school speech from President Obama, but this is definitely something school students of today need to see! People are always blaming teachers, administrators, parents and the government for the failure of the education system, when the majority of the responsibility lies within the students themselves.

The White House has released the entire speech in text-form. You can also check out the video when you continue reading.

Hello, everyone — how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through 12th grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.

I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.

I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday — at 4:30 in the morning.

Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, “This is no picnic for me either, buster.”

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Hip-hop genius (and we use that term loosely) Lil Wayne hit up Game One of the western Conference Quarterfinals Sunday night in Denver, CO as the Denver Nuggets took on the New Orleans Hornets.

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The day President Obama revealed his  $3.6 trillion budget to revive the economy, Republicans from left to right have been criticizing him for spending way too much with fears that his trillion dollar budget will dig us deeper into debt during a weakened economy. Democrats have been firing back defending the President stating that Republicans have offered no solutions but only criticism which will not help the situation get any better.

With criticism coming from the Democratic Party,  House Republicans on Thursday have come up with an alternate budget which they say  “shows a leaner budget, a budget with lower taxes, lower spending and lower borrowing.”

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President Barack Obama held a very interactive town hall meeting at the White House Thursday, which included questions from online users from all over the country regarding the state of our country. This was the first online town hall discussion ever hosted at the White House. The President answered questions concerning the mortgage crisis, education, healthcare, national service, and assistance for veterans. A live audience joined  Obama, while a TV screen revealed the online questions and video submissions from inquiring Americans.

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President Obama made a little joke last night when he made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. When he was talking to Jay about his bowling average, he made a comment comparing himself to a participant in the Special Olympics, and unsurprisingly, a lot of people made a big deal about it saying he was out of pocket for making such a comment, but not this one 21-year-old Special Olympian from Brentwood, CA:

Daniel Fletcher, 21, a Brentwood man who has bowled in the Special Olympics, has a message for President Obama: Get ready for some competition. Fletcher went online with his parents Friday afternoon to watch a recording of Obama jokingly likening his bowling style to that of competitors in the Special Olympics.

“I am willing to get a team to challenge him,” Fletcher said. He thought of an alternative: “I’d challenge him myself.”

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US President Barack Obama surprised the crowd when they spotted him at Friday night’s Washington Wizards vs. Chicago Bulls basketball game in D.C. This is the first time a President has attended a Wizards basketball game since 2000 when former President Clinton was in office. But you know President Obama was rooting for the Bulls. You have to rep your hometown, so I’m sure the Wizards weren’t too mad. They ended up beating the Bulls anyway with a final score 113 to 90. Continue reading for more photos of President Obama at the game.

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Well it looks as though President Obama is working hard to keep his word to finally bring much needed change to this country with his goal to cut America’s growing deficit in half by 2013. The president plans to cut spending on the Iraq war, eliminate wasteful public programs and raise taxes on the wealthy.

“The deficit this administration inherited was $1.3 trillion or 9.2 percent of GDP. By 2013, the end of the president’s first term, the budget cuts the deficit to $533 billion or 3.0 percent of GDP,” an administration official said on Saturday.

“Most of the savings will come from winding down the war in Iraq, increased (tax) revenue from those making more than $250,000 a year, and savings from making government work more efficiently and eliminating programs that do not work,” the official said.

The outline of the Obama administration’s first budget is set to be revealed on Thursday for the 2010 fiscal year. This budget is said to show huge increases in spending on public works that were part of the $787 billion stimulus bill that the president signed this week. Obama has also demanded the U.S. Treasury to implement tax cuts for 95 percent of Americans in hopes of bringing America out of the economic downward spiral.