Which high school will get Obama as graduation speaker

Pretty weird since I've seen a couple places (can't remember where) that he's headed out to Kalamazoo for this. Guess we'll wait and see. Update- See, it is Kalamazoo.

(CNN) - Students at one high school will learn Tuesday if the president will be their commencement speaker.

The White House asked Americans to help pick a winning high school from a list of six finalists. The list was cut to three recently, the White House said.

"The race was neck and neck all the way to the end with all six schools within half a point of each other," a White House statement said. "Thank you to the more than 170,00 people who weighed in and rated the six finalist schools."

The top three schools in the White House's annual initiative, the High School Commencement Challenge were:

· Clark Montessori Junior High and High School (Cincinnati, Ohio)
· Kalamazoo Central High School (Kalamazoo, Michigan)
· Denver School of Science and Technology (Denver, Colorado)

President Barack Obama will choose the winner from these schools.

Video- CNN: Frum and Cottle slam right-wing attacks on Obama's West Point speech

Video- Matthews: Obama "went to maybe the enemy camp tonight" at West Point

Japanese learn English from Obama speeches

By GottaLaff

::clears throat:: Konnichiwa! Madam Speaker, Vice President Biden, members of Congress, and the American people... When I spoke here last winter, this nation was facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression....

If you're going to learn to speak English, learn from the best:

The speeches of U.S. President Barack Obama have become the favorite way of Japanese students to learn the English language, sales figures show. [...]

[A] compilation of Obama's speeches has sold even better at 500,000 copies, turning the president into Japan's most popular teacher of the English language, The New York Times reported Monday.

The Times said the CDs, released by Asahi Press, a Japanese publisher of language books, are leading a host of Obama-themed language learning products, including such titles as "Speech Training: Learning to Deliver English Speech, Obama Style"; "Learn English Grammar From Obama"; and "Yes, I Can With Obama: 40 Magical English Phrases From Presidential E-mails."[...]

[S]tudents say Obama is a good teacher because his English pronunciation is easy to understand.

Imagine if they listened to audio of Barbie McLipschmutz. They'd speak in run-on garble with buckets of fake Alaskan folksiness.

Michelle Obama at health care town hall: "Women are being crushed"

By GottaLaff

I managed to jot down a few key quotes as a very heartfelt Michelle Obama spoke about health care reform at a town hall meeting:

Women are being "crushed... crushed" by the current health care system.

"This is the face of the fight."

"We're hurting" in this country right now.

"We're part of the 'sandwich generation' who cares for both our children and our parents."

"Sasha could have lost her life if we hadn't had insurance."

"My father's illness [multiple sclerosis] could have put is into bankruptcy."

"These are the thoughts that run through my mind as I watch this debate."

"Women are charged more, but earn less, so they put off needed care, because they can't afford it."

"The current situation is unacceptable... it is unacceptable."

"No one should be treated that way... it's not fair. It's not right."

"The status quo is unacceptable. It is holding women and families back."

Then she went on to explain her husband's health care plan:

"If it's good enough for Congress, it's good enough for the people who vote them in."

"My husband believes that if you're fighting an illness, you shouldn't have to fight your insurance company at the same time."

And finally, she asked us to channel our passions into action, to call our representatives and to volunteer, etc.:

"We get into a comfort zone, even when things aren't working [paraphrased]. Change is hard."

"I'm standing before you as First Lady of the United States because I didn't settle for the world as it is."

Powerful words from a caring, compassionate, brilliant, and yes, powerful woman.

Obama Will Make Major Speech in Egypt

They also confirm the trip to Germany that I mentioned earlier.

President Obama will make his promised speech to the Muslim world from Egypt, according to the Washington Post.

"Obama pledged during the campaign to address the Muslim world from a Muslim capital within the first few months of taking office. Picking a site proved challenging for a range of reasons -- from diplomacy to security -- and the decision took longer than expected, with Obama commissioning options from a research team."

Barack Obama's Speech at the 2009 Lincoln Banquet

Part one above, part two below.

"We've seen this movie before, and we know the sequel is always worse than the original."

Saw it in a Fox News story (won't link) and Biden just said it. Nice line. People understand bad movie sequel metaphors. Biden is banging it home, "If all you do is walk the halls of power, then all you know is the needs of the powerful". Wow. Good stuff. The whole damn thing is good,I'll have the vid up soon.