Hachikō and Tucker have arrived in Maine…. and Tucker looks right at home.
Wishing them both nothing but happiness and brighter, better days ahead.
Thank you again to all of you who helped make it possible for them to have this fresh start. You know who you are – you’re amazing.
Visitors brace themselves from the rotor wash of the Marine One helicopter as President Barack Obama lifts off from the South Lawn of the White House as he travels to Vermont and Maine for campaign fundraising events
President Obama shake hands with Marine Sgt Kristie Ness prior to Ness’ last flight mission on Marine One
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… with Hawa Abdallah Mohammed Salih of Sudan
…. with with Safak Pavey of Turkey
…. with Safak Pavey, the first disabled woman elected to the Turkish Parliament
Read about the 2012 Women of Courage here and here
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InsideHigherEd: … Roughly two-thirds of public and private college presidents say they plan to vote for President Obama in November, and only 1 in 10 believe the Republican candidates for the presidency have laid out a helpful vision for higher education.
…. 65.1 percent said that they planned to vote for the president this fall. Among sectors, support was stronger in public higher education (75 percent at public doctoral and master’s institutions, 85 percent at public baccalaureate institutions and 66 percent at community colleges). The lowest level of support was in for-profit higher education, where only 29 percent of presidents said they plan to vote for Obama this fall.
…. Only 10 percent of all college presidents believed that the Republican candidates have offered a higher education vision, but that figure is inflated by a high proportion of yes answers from for-profit higher education (44 percent). The figures are much lower for the rest of higher education – 4 percent among public doctoral institutions, 3 percent among public master’s institutions, and not a single private doctoral university president agreeing.
More here
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Steve Benen: The general trend on initial unemployment claims over the last few months has been largely encouraging, though there have been occasional setbacks. Today’s report appears to be one of them.
Though still low by recent standards, filings went up over the last week, a little more than expected: “Jobless claims in the U.S. rose to the highest level in five weeks, climbing by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 362,000…”
….. when these jobless claims fall below the 400,000 threshold, it’s considered evidence of an improving jobs landscape. When the number drops below 370,000, it suggests jobs are actually being created rather quickly. Though today’s report is disappointing, we’ve now been below 370,000 for five consecutive weeks, and six of the last eight weeks.
More here
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Charles Pierce: I have tried to avoid the mighty efforts of the heirs of Andrew Breitbart to make his name more of a synonym for “jackass” in death than it was when he was alive. So, instead, let’s just play a little Harvard bingo, shall we?
Barack Obama once went to the Harvard Law School. Derrick Bell once taught at the Harvard Law School.
…. In 1992, Derrick Bell thought that “none” was an insufficient number of minority faculty members at the HLS. He decided to make a little noise about it. At a rally, Barack Obama introduced him and, after doing so, hugged him….
…. This, of course, proves that Barack Obama is a lifelong coddler of, and sympathizer with, black radical revolutionaries.
Res ipse loquitur! QED! Scoreboard, bitches!
I expect a job offer from Big Something in the morning.
More here
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President Obama meets President John Evans Atta Mills of Ghana in the Oval Office, March 8
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TPM: President Obama enjoys massive leads in Maine, according to a new survey from Public Policy Polling (D) …. Obama leads both former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum by the same margin in the Pine Tree State, 58 – 35. Maine has voted for a Democrat for president in the last five elections, but that doesn’t mean Dems dominate the state – Republicans currently hold the governorship, both houses of the state legislature and the two US Senate seats (Snowe and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)).
More here
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ThinkProgress: Questions about women and womens’ health have dominated the political debate over the past weeks, and at least one female Republican lawmaker is unhappy with her party’s record. New York Assemblyman Teresa Sayward (R), who is retiring after serving a decade in Albany, told the New York political program Capital Tonight that she does not support any of her party’s presidential candidates, because of their stances on women.
She also took an apparent shot at Republicans’ opposition to President Obama’s birth control mandate, saying, “It’s disheartening for me to see our party move away from what it was always about and that is to stay out of people’s lives, let them live their lives, don’t impose their religion on anybody else.”
Asked which Republican candidate she supports, Sayward replied: “I do not have a favorite in the presidential race, if I had to vote today, I’d vote for Obama.”
More here
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Is this unfair to Chipmunks? 
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WH: The Federal Government is the largest property owner in the United States. But some 14,000 of its properties sit unused and unneeded, costing taxpayers millions of dollars a year in operating and maintenance expenses. To cut down on this wasteful and inefficient spending, the Obama Administration has taken unprecedented steps to reduce this stock of unused property and is on track to save $3.5 billion by the end of Fiscal Year 2012.
More here
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Tonight:
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Woot! GOP Tweedledum has fallen out with GOP Tweedledee 
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Firefox users? They’ve released an update today that seems to have improved things …. I’d almost given up and switched to a new browser. Let me know if it’s better for you.
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President Obama meets with Portugal’s President Aníbal Cavaco Silva in the Oval Office
July 22, 2010: “It’s always fun to observe how the President interacts with little kids, in this case the very shy daughter of Sen. Jack Reed who had brought his family by for an Oval Office visit.” (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Oct. 17, 2010: “Waiting backstage to be introduced, the President wrapped his arms around the First Lady before an outdoor rally in Columbus, Ohio.” (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Feb. 6, 2010: “Another snowstorm blanketed Washington for the second time in a few days. Because it was a Saturday, I hung around the White House thinking that the President might venture out in the snow with his daughters. Here they are playing in the Rose Garden in the midst of the storm.” (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
March 22, 2010: “The day after the health care bill passed, the President greeted Sen. Tom Harkin at the door of the Oval Office before a meeting with the Senate Democratic Leadership.” (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
July 17, 2010: “On a weekend trip to Acadia National Park in Maine, the President showed his daughters, Malia and Sasha, how to skip stones during a hike in the park.” (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
May 5, 2010: “After doing a series of posed photos, the President started joking around with the First Lady in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House before a Cinco de Mayo event.” (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Dec. 10, 2010: “The President had just met with former President Clinton late on a Friday afternoon. When they emerged from the Oval Office, the President said, “We’re going to the press briefing room.” I had walked ahead of them and, upon reaching the briefing room, found that the door was locked: the press office staff were all attending a White House Christmas party in the residence. So we went to find Robert Gibbs. “We’re looking for some reporters,” the President said, when we found Robert Gibbs in his office. Returning to the briefing room, the two Presidents waited until someone found a key, before doing an impromptu news conference.” (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Oct. 31, 2010: “It was Halloween at the White House for military families and the First Lady began dancing with some of the their children.” (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Sept. 11, 2010: “We were at the Pentagon to mark the ninth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. After the formal ceremony, the President stopped to shake hands with family members of victims attending the event. Here he is holding hands with a little girl.” (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Oct. 30, 2010: “The President has lunch with Sen. Bob Casey at the Famous 4th Street Deli in Philadelphia. I love the woman in the background on the phone, probably alerting her family about her lucky seat.” (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
From The Year in Photos on the White House Flickr site – lots more photos at the link
President Obama hikes along the coastline in Acadia National Park, Maine, July 17. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
