Wednesday, May 1, 2013

POTUS (President of the United States)

Click on the link to access the White House website. Spend a few minutes scouring the site and then post something you found that you thought interesting and then explain why that piqued your interest or curiosity. Posts must be done before start of class on Monday May, 6th. Write them well. Assignment is worth 10 points. Be sure yours is unique. There should be 65 posts when all done and there is plenty of info on this site so the chances of you posting the same as someone else should be slim. However the sooner you post the better.

Enjoy,
Mr. Thompson

57 comments:

  1. Ashley Weyer- Hour 4
    While I was "scouring" the website, right away I clicked on the pictures link. I found it really interesting that every day there is a picture, representing a topic currently being discussed, or an event taking place. For example, I saw a picture of Jill Biden on April 24, 2013 signing a pair of her running shoes in support of the people in Boston. It is also very helpful that they put captions so you know who is in the picture and what is going on.

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  2. Caitlyn Wheeler Hour:3rd
    I found it really interesting the President Obama takes such a personal interest in the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. I was looking at the picture of Obama and Victoria Soto who lost her sister who was a first grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary. He flew her to the White House to talk with her about her about remembering her sister. The president also talked with many of the parents who's children were lost in the shooting as well about the gun control battle.

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  3. Paul Holthaus-Hour 3
    While I was skimming the white house website I stumbled upon the virtual tour section. I thought it was interesting that the website took you on a virtual walk through all the rooms in the White House and provided pictures of each room. This was interesting to me because I always wondered what the inside of the White House looked like and this allowed me to enter the president's mansion.

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  4. Christine Gorman-Hour 4

    While I was scouring the White House website, I came across a section that talks about all of the first-ladies. I found it interesting how much the "first-lady" role has evolved, and although they might not receive much recognition, first-ladies play a vital, active role in this country. For instance, Michelle Obama launched a "Let's Move!" campaign to bring together community leaders, teachers, doctors, nurses, moms, and dads in a great effort to end childhood obesity.

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  5. Brian Omwange-5hr

    As soon as I arrived to the white house website, the first thing that jumped to me was the virtual tour. I was interested in this section because I felt like I was getting a personal tour of the white house. I was amazed by how interactive the virtual was picture, stories and different levels, everything was there.

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    Replies
    1. *virtual tour

      Delete
    2. Brian Omwange- 5hr

      http://www.whitehouse.gov/mobile
      The white house offers mobile apps for both android and apple devices. This wad interesting because im a tech guy.

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    3. Brian omwange-5 Hr

      The white house offers live streaming. So, next time the President has a public conference you can tune in online to watch it. This interested me because other countries watch our president working.

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  6. Dontorrie Chatman-3hr

    While on the White House website I found that President Obama and the presidents before him had a resort called Camp David. Camp David is normally used in the winter and summer for the president can have a place to relax with his family. Camp David was named after President Eisenhower's grandson.

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  7. Brittany Rotz
    Hour 5

    While I was looking through the White House website, the internship popped out at me. The White House Internship Program is for people who want to earn experience as a professional and gain leadership skills. They teach the young kids everything they need to know about the Executive Office and public service.

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  8. Ryan Holman
    Hour 3

    While looking through the White House website, the White House personal schedule for everyday jumped out at me. They post everything that is happening at the White House with the President everyday. I think this is cool because if you plan on visiting the White House someday you can look on their website to see what will be happening on the day you are there. I can also see this as a security issue that people know whats happening at the White House at all times.

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  9. Mackenzie Stock
    Hour 3

    When I was looking through the White House website, I noticed a link to information on the Oval Office. This interested me so I clicked on the link and began reading through it. I didn't know that the Presidents can decorate the Oval Office however they please while they are in office. This article says that the president may choose any new carpet to cover most of the floor, any new furniture, drapery, or other sorts of decorations of any kind they want. Also, they may borrow paintings or other sorts of artwork from any museum if they please, or go out and buy whatever they want. The Oval Office really reflects the President and who they really are because it is totally personalized by them. Even though it is the same Oval Office that every other president has worked in, it never does look the same as it did during the term president before.
    Another thing that interested me about the Oval Office is that it has four different doors leading out of the Office into different parts of the West Wing of the White House. This is so that the President can access the other sections of the White House or any member of his staff easily, and also allows him an easy retire back to the housing portion at the end of the day.

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  10. Alex Brady
    Hour 4
    The first thing i was drawn to as soon as i opened the white house website was photos and videos. Under this tab was a link to preformances at the white house. This came as a suprise to me, i did not expect the White House to be a musical venue for such artists as Stevie Wonder,Paul McCartney, and John Legend.

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  11. Tyler Richter
    Hour 5
    What I found interesting about the White House website was the wide depth and display of the many ideas of our President. It shows the main points of the Presidental thought process; leading to a deeper knowledge of our leader bringing more of a potoential to compromise in this fine nation.

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  12. Mirza Medar
    Hour 5

    While scouring the website, I noticed The White House has their own social media hub. From here, you can access The White House Facebook page, Twitter posts, and YouTube videos. This is interesting to me because i never knew The White House had any of these social networks. All that is posted is public information, so everyone can stay updated on what is going on each and every day.

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  13. Sopheak Heng, Hour 5

    While I was looking though the website, I went to the pay of Federal Taxpayer Receipt.It was interesting to find how the Government tax dollars are spent for.This section also include Federal Tax calculator.

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  14. Nicholas Price, Hour 5

    When i looked through the white house website the first thing that caught my attantion was the breifing room and in it "your weekly address". This is a video for the people from Obama to keep us informed about his weekly events and shares it with us every satuday. For example just yesterday he posted another video about "Fixing immigration and expanding trade in Latin America" In which he explains what he's doing in Latin America and how it will help us in the future. I found this all very interesting and think its nice to know our president is keeping us well informed about all the stuff he's trying to accomplish for our country.

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  15. Brooklyn Williams-Hour 5
    First of all, I went onto the President's website on my phone and what I thought was interesting was that when I went to the website, an option to download the White House app became available. I thought it was pretty cool that Mr. President had his own app. Anyways, while "scouring" I came across the "Issues" tab. I was expecting news stories or articles according to current issues being discussed, but instead, I found what Obama's goals are and what he is trying to do with each of the problems our country is facing.

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  16. Maddi Glaeser-Hour 3.

    Though it's not very educational I look at the activites that they partake in at the White House. I read that on every April 1st the President and family host a "Egg Roll" which is when people from all over the country participate in games, activities,and an egg hunt in the south lawn of the White House. I found it interesting that not only did they play games but Michelle Obama took the time to incorporate healthy eating techniques and excersice to incorporate in the families daily life. I found this interesting because this event shows the President in a less poloitical and more family/personal way.

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  17. Nhi Baltazar- 4th hour

    First of all, I went to look at the photo gallery of "Celebrating the Third Anniversary of "Let’s Move!" I found it really interesting because I can tell Michelle Obama very friendly throughout many photos in this gallery. Especially, she's smart and help her husband a lot during this time. She joined many activities and communicated the whole community together. In addition, the white house have it own app that people can download and get to know what they're doing in white house everyday.

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  18. Alysha Langford Hour 4

    When I first went onto the website, I had one thing in mind: economy. I went under the "Issues" tab, then hit "Economy." After that, I clicked on the brown tab for "Creating American Jobs." Then a blue box came up, it was a blueprint for our economy. This spiked my interest that the President even had a plan to fix our economy. I thought Congress had to come up with something and he would just approve or disapprove of the idea.Basically, his plan is to somehow create a bigger middle class. He wants to cut the deficit, make America a "magnet for jobs" which most likely can't happen very soon, and get better education and job training for younger people. So my question is, he has somewhat of a plan, but how exactly does he plan to make the plan happen? What is going to happen to us citizens while our government tries to fix our economy. Honestly, Obama's ideas for his "blueprint" just seem to me like every hard working American's wishlist for our economy.

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  19. Jordan Jensen 4th Hour

    When I was on the website looking for something interesting to learn about, I came across Air Force One. This "piqued" my curiosity because I've only known it to be the presidents personal way of travel. When I read a little bit about it, something that really surprised me was how big it really was. It said it has 4,000 square feet of floor space on three levels, it includes and extensive suite for the president, has its own medical suite, and its food preparation galleys can feed 100 people at a time.

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  20. Talyr Burt 4th hour

    When I first got to the website I was kind of intimidated by all of the information shown on just the main page. Then I saw the blog tab. I was automatically drawn to it, once I got to the blog page I was surprised that it listed so many things that Obama does or is involved with. I'm happy that the blog shows the activity's and about them so we can keep up and know whats going on on a daily basis.

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  21. Brendan Rasinski 3rd Hour

    When I first went to the site I saw the "briefing room" tab and I quickly went to it. When I hovered over it I discovered that you can see what is happening in legislation. You can keep up to date on what has been signed or vetoed in legislation; also you can see what is pending in legislation. This is very interesting because it keeps you updated on what is happening in legislation.

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  22. Tarek Abdelqader - 3rd hour
    I expected the White House website to give some general information about the workings of the executive branch. When I clicked on the "violence prevention" tab, however, I found an article about gun violence with clear liberal bias; it cited the grocery store shooting of Gabby Giffords and the Colorado movie theater shooting as evidence that guns are the biggest source of violence in the U.S. It seems that the website serves as a medium for the staff of the residing president to publicize their work and goals without bipartisan constraints.

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  23. Darrian Marshall Hr.5
    Through my search of The White House website, I clicked through a few links to find myself at a page called Security for the middle class. This page gives a brief description of what Obama has done during his term to help keep the middle class from falling into poverty. Along with this page there is a few links at the top for related topics like; Creating American Jobs, Reform and Fiscal Responsibilities, and Supporting American Businesses. What I found very surprising is that at the bottom of each of these pages are five things that the people of America should know, and I did not know most of these.

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  24. Fer Ayala 5th HourMay 5, 2013 at 9:29 PM

    When I went to the Whitehouse website I decided to take a virtual tour and get to see some parts of the inside of it.
    The Whitehouse is HUGE! I could barely keep it together during the tour. All the decorations are just as amazing as the White house. The fact that they can give you a virtual tour is really interesting and you really enjoy it with the comfort of your bed. I know it might be not as good as a real tour, but it's better than nothing. Mr. President has an awesome house but of course a huge job to take care of.

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  25. David Keith Hour 5
    When I got to the website I first saw the "Briefing Room" tab. When I clicked on it I was intrigued by the "remarks" section. It shows all of the President's speeches in text form. So let's say he told a joke you liked, as it's well known that the President has a good sense of humor. Well if you know what speech it was in you can simply read the speech and find it. Take for example the speech he gave at the opening of President George W. Bush's museum. He made a joke that talked about Bush's and maybe even his own kids pushing them not to run for President, saying "Dad, you're not as cool as you think you are," a joke that probably rings well with most kids. That's the humorous side of it, but if you need to quote him, say for a paper you have to write, its as easy as clicking on that tab and finding the right words.

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  26. Katrina Bennick hour 5
    While looking at the White House website the first thing that caught my eye was, President Obama’s Visit to Costa Rica. When I was reading this artical, I was suprised that President Obama arrived in Costa Rica on Friday and that it his first visit to the country. I read on to find out that he participated in a bilateral meeting and joint press conference with Costa Rican President Chincilla, as well as a working dinner. I also found out something i didn't know, over the last few years, under the Central America Free Trade Agreement, our trade with Costa Rica has doubled, creating more jobs for people in both of our countries. Our partnerships are creating more opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs, including young people and women.

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  27. Katie Tran - Hour 3
    Upon opening the website, I browsed the popular topics listed. Considering that I will be attending a post-secondary university, the topic "College Scorecard" caught my attention. After clicking the topic, a page with information regarding general education, pre-k education, as well as k-12 education and beyond. The College Scorecard, however, can be used to estimate a college's affordability and value in order for students to have a better idea of where they should or should not attend. Students are able to search by location, type of college, area of interest, and simply by popular criteria. Naturally, I searched for the college I will be attending this fall, the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, and the website gave me information regarding the following: costs, graduation rates, loan default rates, median borrowing, as well as employment. The website also gave me the option of finding more information; this website is a very useful tool for students pursuing post-secondary education!

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  28. Zach Winter hr. 5
    When I first went to the website I looked around and went over to the issues section on the website. Something that caught my eye was the immigration link. Upon entering the immigration section I saw the site talking about 21st century system for immigration. I continued reading and it just caught my attention with blue prints for reform, border security, strengthening enforcement, earned citizenship and streamlining immigration. It was just so informing about what Obama and the government are trying to change with the immigration laws and border control.

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  29. Kirsten Fieck hr.5
    As I went to visit the website I looked around for awhile I just could not find anything that caught my eye until I looked at the issues overview. I looked on the women and girls page I noticed a quote by Obama that stated "With passion and courage, women have taught us that we band together to advocate for our highest ideals, we can advance our common well-being and strengthen the fabric of our nation." It made me realize that our country was built with women and still succeed with woman. We help this country run and it means a lot to know that us as woman are starting to come forth and become more involved in our government then be just in our houses.

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  30. Alex Lovett Hr 5
    In looking at this website, I chose to look under the Issues overview and I clicked on Seniors and Social Security. This was an interesting article that talked about how social security is a major source of income for older people and this makes me think of my grandma. She is 78 and gets social security and without it she might have a hard time making her monthly payments. It also talks about how President Obama is working at making the social security program better and will help people save for their retirements.

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  31. Zoe Masterpole hour 3
    Upon shortly arriving at the White House website, I found myself reading a post by Valerie B. Jarrett that was very relatable. This post was found under the Council on Women and Girls labeled “What’s New.” The title of Valerie’s post, Today’s Girls Are Tomorrow’s Leaders, is what caught my eye because of how relatable it was to my age group and gender. It started out by introducing the Equal Futures Partnership which was launched last September under the Obama Administration. The main goal of this partnership is to break down economic and political barriers that many females face. I enjoyed reading about efforts being put forth to develop the involvement of women in legislation all the way to ensuring equal pay.

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  32. Jamie Hanly hour 3
    After scanning the White House website for a few minutes, I came across a link for Camp David. After reading about Camp David I found it very interesting. It is a camp in Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland. I think it is interesting that aside from the White House, that the president has an entire camp he can go to to relax. Along with a place to relax, the camp can also be used to host foreign leaders.

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  33. Jamie Hanly hour 3
    When you first get to the White House home screen, if you scroll down you see a social media link. It is surprising to me that not only does the White House has a twitter account but also the information it gives off. The account tweets things like "Air Force One ready for take off" and other information that I would have assumed to be classified.

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  34. Austin Rousu Hour 3
    When i first opened the white house website, the first thing that caught my eye was the photos and video section. I am a big visual type of person, but what surprised me was that most of the photos were not even taken at the white house! Most of them were pictures of the president at different events all around the world. What I like about it most was the fact that you get to see Presdient Obama doing what he loves. Which is interacting with all the differetn cultures and different places around the world! Thats what jumped out to me!

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  35. Jake Nemgar Hour 3
    When you first get to the White House home screen there is a tab that says issues I scrolled over that and it brought up a bunch of the issues that the president is dealing with. I clicked homeland security and then clicked on the new U.S./Mexico Border initiative that the president has proposed. It talked about the steps that need to be taken and about the new ways that both countries will try and regulate the issues at the border

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  36. makayle brennan Hour 3
    When i opened up the White House page i went to homeland security. And there it described Obama's plans to protect America and the 21st century people. It'll insure that we'll keep our nuclear weapons secure and other's to be safe with them an undercontrol. Also our borders will be heavily controlled to keep our nation safe an away from attack.

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  37. Xavier Robinson Hour 5
    As i was searching through the White House website something I found interesting was how they have the personal information about the president and all the people around him. Obviously this is a credible source so I think this is a resource I can use in the future if at any time I and doing a report on any of the people that were mentioned.

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  38. Ellie Rowland Hour 5
    While scouring the White House website I came across Dr.Jill Biden's information page. I read it and I was amazed at all the facts about the second lady! It seems that no one really knows what she does, but if people knew how tirelessly she works she wouldn't be so underappreciated.Dr. Biden has been an educator for more than three decades. Prior to moving to Washington, D.C., she taught English at a community college in Delaware, at a public high school and at a psychiatric hospital for adolescents. She also has two Master's Degrees — both of which she earned while working and raising a family. She now teaches English full time at a community college outside of Delaware. Dr. Biden also stresses the importance of detection and awareness of breast cancer towards young women.

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  39. Toan Tran - Hr.5
    While I was scouring the White House website, I found out that the president has a place to work which is called the oval office. I have heard of this office many times, but this is my first time to read and explore about it. I didn't know that the office had caught on fire in the most secure place in the world. The orther interesting thing is the president can choose his own furniture or carpet in the oval office to suit his personal taste.

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  40. Alex Welsh Hour 5
    While looking on the White House website, I noticed they had an internship program.I thought that was interesting especially for students interested in government. I was curious about what was required to be an intern for the White House. I found that it was basic requirements. The intern has to be at least 18, a graduate from at least a community colleg, then i saw you had to serve in armed forces for at least two years. The last requirement suprised me.

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  41. Diana Gomez- Hr 5
    While I was looking around on the White House website, I decided to go to the issues link. I came across the Immigration page which I found quite interesting because there is a section where the website explains how Obama is trying to fix our broken Immigration system. This part of the website also explains how there are around 11 million undocumented people living in the US. Some other facts on the Immigration page was the border security and how the government has strengthen law enforcement and communication along the border. They also had other methods of fixing this broken Immigration system.

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  42. I went to the US Gov website and there was a lot of information. One interesting thing is you can take a tour inside the White House. There are pictures, and videos to watch of the White House the one that I watched was of Michelle Obama and the White House chef Sam Kass telling the story of the first garden on White House grounds since Eleanor Roosevelt's time. Michelle Obama wants to supply fresh produce for her family and the White House guests. I was surprised to find out that kind of garden in the Withe House and I didn't thought that the First Lady would care about the garden.

    Arwa Alnajarani Hour 4

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  43. you should play this in class http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/waste-four-easy-cuts-save-us-27-5-113433142.html?vp=1

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  44. Alec Ziegler Hour 3
    Well this is a little late and I'm pretty sure I wont get credit for this (just let me know in class if there is anything I can do to make this assignment up).
    Anyways, something interesting i found was that there was a list of 1264 appointments and nominations the president made. Some positions he nominated people for are chairmen, judges, ambassadors.

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  45. Claudia Guerrero, 4th Hour
    As I was browsing the White House website I saw something that caught my attention it was at the bottom of the main page under issues. Technology, as I have a passion for robotics and engineering I curious as to what kind of issues there seemed to be with their technology.I found that it was not really issues they were having but more as in their goals and projects in inspiring the "entrepreneurial spirit". One of their examples of progress was Bringing Technology from “Lab to Market” where Obama signed the America Invents Act to help federal agencies to commercialize their newest novel technologies.

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  46. Elpida Nela, 3rd Hour
    When I was looking through the White House website, I found out people can apply for a White House Internship. This is a hands-on program for young men and women to serve the White House, interns have many daily assignments such as conducting research, attending meetings, writing out memos and staffing events. Applicants must be a US Citizen 18 years old and enrolled in college. The application is currently open and will close on May 12, 2013.

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  47. Mitchai Tankhamvang hr. 3

    When i was looking through the white house website, i was clicking on a bunch of links. one thing i found interesting was that the website shows issues that the government is dealing with. one issue that i clicked on was "jobs" and it said that the middle class are having a break out moment. Also i found out that businesses have created 5.4 billion private sector jobs.

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  48. When I went on the White House website, one of the headlines sparked my interest. It stated "President Obama’s Visit to Costa Rica"
    This captured my attention because I've always been interested in travel especially in countries with hispanic backgrounds. And it also made me wonder why the president would be visiting there. After reading the article I found out it was his first time at Costa Rica. Many Americans share ties with Mexico, which is why the president arrived to Costa Rica to reinforce the deep cultural, and economic ties. -A.A

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  49. Tia Aljets Hr 4

    Upon scouring the White House website, I came across a section called 'Most Recent News'. After reading about Obama's whereabouts, it piqued my interest because most of the headlines had Obama in a different place. Ohio, Denmark, South Korea, and Costa Rica are just a few of the places he has traveled among many others. It made me wonder how he balances his job as President, and his job as a husband and father when it seems like he is always in a different place. I wonder if he considers the ability to see the world as a perk of the job, or a burden.

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  50. Abdikadir Muhumed Hr 3
    I went on the white house website, one of the most interesting articles was called "The Execitive Branch". It was inerstsing becuse it was about the constitution and I like reading about the constitution because I like how it explains the powers governtment has.After reading this I know that the persident to enfore the laws by that congress passes.

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  51. Haley Lenz Hr 3
    I went on the White House website. What caught my eye most was the education piece that was right on the front, so it shows its kind of a big deal. It also caught my eye because you see pictures and storys about Obama actually going to elementary schools and talking to them. It also shows him in a graduation gown speaking to students about more afforable college.

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  52. P.K.,Lai Hr 3
    Playing around with the White House website, one thing caught my attention : the white house schedule. It contains the location/time of what the president going to do which makes me wonder about the security in the White House. Why would that information release in public? Should they ( whoever post that on the website) concern that it could be a risk to the safety of the president (ex. terrorists attack, assassination...)

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  53. Merna Al. Hr:3
    I went over the First Ladies section of the White House. I found some photos of the First Lady Michell Obama celebrating mothers day with the Forces Military. She helped the children making Mothers Day cards for their moms in the State Dining Room of the White House. It is interesting because I didn't think that the first lady herself would help children creating gifts for their mothers.

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  54. isaac levorson hr 5
    when i went to this web site i was looking at the home page and saw something that said air force. one of my friends is going into the air force so i decided to check it out. it took me to a page that had alot of information about air force one. i was suprised with how much information was on there about the plane itsself. but what was really cool was reading the history of air force one which was right on the same page.

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