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He could be the first among his kind to be a Star Wars look-a-like. But this dog is proving it's no wookie when it comes to copying the image of its favourite intergalactic beast. This pooch was caught bearing an uncanny resemblance to Star Wars favourite Chewbacca as it sat in the front seat of what could be a Ford Galaxy far, far away.

While local authorities kept mum, a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama confirmed Monday that the first lady is in the Willamette Valley this week to visit her brother, Oregon State University basketball coach Craig Robinson. An airplane carrying Michelle Obama — who is Robinson’s younger sister — touched down Monday morning at the Eugene Airport. Semonti Stephens, the first lady’s deputy communications director, said Obama is being accompanied on the trip by one of her two daughters. Stephens said she could not say which of the girls came to Oregon with her mother, or disclose the length of their planned stay....

First Lady Michele Obama today announced that several large grocery chains, including Walmart, will add 1,500 new grocery stores over the next five years in poor communities that lack access to fresh foods. The stores are expected to reach 9.5 million people. The First Lady called the initiative a "game-changer for kids and communities all across this country." "We can give people all the information and advice in the world about healthy eating and exercise, but if parents can't buy the food they need to prepare those meals because their only options for groceries are the gas station or the...

With her husband facing electoral oblivion at next week's mid-terms, Michelle Obama is clearly prepared to do anything she can to help. Whether showing off her dance moves on Ellen was a politically astute gimmick, however, remains to be seen. The First Lady appeared on the daytime chat show just hours after her husband went on The Jon Stewart Show in a desperate attempt to woo younger voters. The President has been attacked for appearing on a comparatively lightweight show hosted by a comedian. At one point Stewart even called him 'dude', the first time word has been used...

Need an excuse for time wasting that even your boss will accept? This link is from a fan of "Star Wars" and contains behind-the-scenes photos from ILM. http://250577.tumblr.com/ Also follow this link to a discussion on the creation of Chewbacca: http://binarybonsai.com/2010/09/18/george-lucas-stole-chewbacca-but-its-okay/#more-4534

Michelle Obama's nutrition bill fails in the House By ABBY PHILLIP | 9/30/10 4:31 PM EDT A bloc of progressive House Democrats resisted heavy White House lobbying and a 11th-hour push to broker a compromise on a child nutrition bill, ending chances that the legislation – a pet project of first lady Michelle Obama – would pass before the November midterm elections. At the root of the impasse: a proposed $2.2 billion cut in future funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food stamps for the poor. Despite personal appeals by the first lady, the Democrats balked at...

Over to you:

"Uncomfortable" was the word of the day at Morning Joe when it came to discussing Michelle Obama's decision to go on a luxurious vacation to Spain in the midst of a recession—and to miss celebrating her husband's birthday with him to boot. Chuck Todd didn't go into details, but NBC's clearly ill-at-ease political director suggested: that this was a "private decision" by the First Lady; that it wouldn't have made any difference what the Pres. Obama's political advisors would have said; and that "you get the sense here that there was something more to this" than pure politics. Joe Scarborough...

WASHINGTON--Michelle Obama and daughter Sasha returned from Spain on Sunday, a vacation at a lavish hotel on the Mediterranean coast that triggered her first controversy since becoming first lady. I'm told she made the trip because she promised one of her closest friends, a longtime Chicago pal who just lost her father, she would spend time with her. (snip) So why did Mrs. Obama go to Spain at this time? She's not tone-deaf politically. What was behind the "mother-daughter" vacation? A White House source told me that Blanchard's father passed away and Mrs. Obama was not able to make the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- First lady Michelle Obama plans to visit the Gulf oil spill region in the coming weeks. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday that the first lady will travel to the Gulf soon. He did not release the exact date.

"First lady Michelle Obama (L) balances a rubber ball on her head while working out with local students on the South Lawn of the White House on May 25"

Michelle Obama's stylist hates her. What else explains her wearing this gown for tonight's state dinner for Mexico that accentuates her floppy armpit and other body flab?AFP photo by Paul J. RichardsAn even better (or worse) take on the floppy armpit stylings of our First Lady can be found at this Daily Mail article.

First lady Michelle Obama said Tuesday the president's 2011 budget will include a record $8.8 billion to support military families. The largest sum, $1.9 billion, would be spent on counseling and other support services. An additional $1.3 billion would go for military child care.

The Obamas' marriage is profiled in the New York Times Magazine. Michelle Obama is on the cover of December Glamour. This can mean only one thing: the poll numbers. The words hedonistic and self-centered don't begin to describe this dynamic duo.

Barack and Michelle Obama are, among other things, husband and wife. And tonight, they celebrated their 17th anniversary, their first in the White House. The president and first lady went out. At 7:40 pm EDT, the presidential motorcade stopped in front of Blue Duck Tavern in the West End of Washington, between Dupont Circle and Georgetown. "Taste cannot be controlled by law,'' Thomas Jefferson is said to have said -- it says so at the Blue Duck Tavern's Web-site.

Before first lady Michelle Obama set off for this Danish capital to lead the charge for Chicago's valiant -- but ultimately unsuccessful -- bid for the 2016 Olympics, she joked that the last-minute lobbying effort would be "a battle." "We're going to win," Obama said. "Take no prisoners." At a G-20 dinner in Pittsburgh, she teased Brazil's first lady, Marisa Leticia da Silva, that when the time came for the last-ditch arguments for the Olympic and Paralympic Games coming to Chicago -- over competitors Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Madrid -- the "gloves are off." Back in September, that all...

It's hard out there for a first lady of the United States. Take it from travel-weary Michelle Obama. On Tuesday night, she boarded a luxury 757 for Copenhagen. Think of the stairs she had to climb. Oh, the agony of the feet! Upon arrival, Mrs. O, her "chit-chat buddy," Chicago-based talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey, and Chicago powerbroker/interest-conflicted real estate mogul/senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett immediately embarked on a grueling, grip-and-grin campaign to secure the Olympics for their hometown. Our smile muscles ache in sympathy. You will be comforted to know that the gracious FLOTUS feels your pain for her...

Was that a $5,000 VBH alligator clutch that Michelle Obama was carrying in Italy? So the company bragged, absolutely certain it was theirs, until the White House responded that it was not the alligator but the patent, an $875 VBH clutch and not the more expensive model. To be honest, I didn't even know what VBH was until I saw the headlines about the $5,000 one Michelle wasn't carrying. I love handbags as much as the next girl, but I could never get my head around the idea of spending that kind of money on something that is bound to...

Hon. James David Manning, PhD speaks about Michelle Obama's appearance when she visited Pope Benedict XVI and says she should use Michael Jackson's plastic surgeon. This message comes from The Manning Report on 10 July 2009. Video at link

First Lady Requires More Than Twenty Attendants Dr. Paul L. Williams July 7, 2009 “In my own life, in my own small way, I have tried to give back to this country that has given me so much,” she said. “See, that’s why I left a job at a big law firm for a career in public service, “ Michelle Obama No, Michele Obama does not get paid to serve as the First Lady and she doesn’t perform any official duties. But this hasn’t deterred her from hiring an unprecedented number of staffers to cater to her every whim and...

She's wowed crowds in London and Paris but the trademark flamboyance of Michelle Obama, wife of the US president, was nowhere to be seen this week in Moscow, where leaders' spouses get little attention. After descending from Air Force One on Monday behind her husband and with their two daughters, Michelle Obama virtually disappeared from the public eye as Barack Obama filled Russian television screens, websites and newspapers. "Russian protocol apparently sought to contain news about Barack Obama's wife so as not to break with Russian political tradition," said Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a social and political commentator. "In contrast with the...

The way the Associated Press is fawning over Michelle Obama and her supposed sense of fashion, you would almost think they were talking about Carla Bruni who really does dress quite elegantly and oozes glamor. To add to this absurdity, the AP also went out of its way to paint the Russian First Lady as frumpy. Um, advice to AP personnel; don't expect the Russians to go out of their way to help you in your stories in that country after that gratuitous slam on the wife of their president. First let us watch the AP's Catrina Stewart act dazzled...

“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it” --Albert Einstein “In my own life, in my own small way, I have tried to give back to this country that has given me so much,” she said. “See, that’s why I left a job at a big law firm for a career in public service, “ Michelle Obama No, Michele Obama does not get paid to serve as the First Lady and she doesn’t perform any official duties. But this hasn’t deterred...

BARACK Obama will have few traffic problems getting to the Kremlin for his first summit with Russian president Dmitri Medvedev on Monday – the Obamamania that has swept much of the rest of the world is absent from Moscow; there will be no adoring crowds to greet him. A recent poll by Russia's Levada Centre found only 23 per cent of citizens believe the US president will "do the right thing in world affairs", with many doubting his promise of change will heal antagonisms between Russia and the West. A long listADVERTISEMENTof issues – from Nato's eastward expansion, to missile...

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's first lady Svetlana Medvedeva has taken Michelle Obama and her two daughters on a tour of the Kremlin. They toured the Kremlin as President Barack Obama held talks with Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev on arms control and other issues. The fortified Kremlin is a leading tourist attraction in Moscow as well as where the presidential offices are situated. Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha toured the Kremlin's Winter Garden and the Cathedral of the Assumption. They also visited the Armory, which boasts a large collection of imperial regalia, and the State Diamond Fund, home to...

The word is out that the Obamas will be spending part of their summer vacation in Martha's Vineyard. "Many blacks from Oak Bluffs are elated that the Only One-in-Chief may be joining them. "People are going to lose their minds!" Tonya Lewis Lee says. At the same time, there's also a bit of wariness among the wealthiest ones, an uncertainty whether Obama will affirm them. "Obama is more a man of the people," says a Vineyarder who's part of black high society. "He doesn't seem to identify with affluent black people. His wife definitely doesn't; she is basically a ghetto...

The Washington Post had an interesting article on June 25 headlined, “A First Lady Who Demands Substance.” .....(snip)..... it ended up revealing a Michelle Obama that is an angry, arrogant, martinet that isn’t aware that “first lady” is an honorary title that has no proper, Constitutional role and is not an elected position with legal, legitimate powers of its own.

If it weren’t for the National Enquirer’s outstanding work on the John Edwards “Baby Mama” story, this new story would easy to laugh off. But nobody’s laughing. Especially Barack Obama. ...

The Washington Post had an interesting article on June 25 headlined, "A First Lady Who Demands Substance." I think it was meant to highlight that fact that Michelle Obama is more than a mere first lady but is a strong, substantive person -- which is, by the way, without question. Unfortunately, though, it ended up revealing a Michelle Obama that is an angry, arrogant, martinet that isn't aware that "first lady" is an honorary title that has no proper, Constitutional role and is not an elected position with legal, legitimate powers of its own. The story penned by Lois Romano...

When President Obama came to office he told the nation that a shared sacrifice was key to America's recovery. He urged Americans toward self-reliance and thrift. In those early days the idea of reviving the "victory garden" concept of WWII became an idea whose time had come... again. So, let's tell a fairy tale of one upper class Midwestern Mommy, shall wee. With Obama's example to the nation before her, this mother decided to take the President up on his suggestion and began her own victory garden in her upscale neighborhood. She was initially excited about her contribution to that...

'Star Wars' Memories: A long time ago, in a Fourplex far far away ... http://www.parade.com/features/touchstones/070514-star-wars-memories.html http://tinyurl.com/yo8ocn TOUCHSTONES By Jim Gorant Published: May 14, 2007 It was a blazing day in June 1977 when my aunt and cousin came to visit. I was 10, my brother 8, our cousin 6, an awkward playgroup to start with, and to make it worse, our house in northern New Jersey was not air-conditioned. The adults encouraged us to play outside. We made a humid and soggy attempt at wiffleball, but it was no use. We were hot. They didn’t care. We were bored. They...

When Christine York's house in Brown's Valley burned down in an electrical fire on Feb. 19, she thought God had given her more ordeals than she could bear. On Friday, she changed her mind. On a stretch of burned wallpaper inside her house, York noticed what she thought looked like an image of the face of Jesus Christ. "I thought I was going crazy," York said. "I called the guys who were helping me clean up, and they were completely blown away by the image." To 63-year-old York - a German Catholic - the soot-stained wallpaper is a sign God's...

A man dressed as Chewbacca was arrested after police said the street performer head-butted a tour guide operator in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Frederick Evan Young, 44, of Los Angeles was booked Thursday for investigation of misdemeanor battery, police Lt. Paul Vernon said. Police said the 6-foot-4 street performer was seen arguing Thursday afternoon with a tour guide who had expressed concern the wookie impersonator was "harassing and touching tourists" in violation of city law. The city passed ordinances last year seeking to crack down on the colorful assortment of actors who perform outside the landmark theater....

In honor of the festive season upon us I offer this.

How's this for chilling -- the night before she was shot in Berkeley over the summer, Dartmouth College student Meleia Willis-Starbuck handled the very gun that was used to kill her. That's the story Willis-Starbuck's friend and accused killer Christopher Hollis is telling authorities, and it's one of several new details emerging from the tragic shooting. The 19-year-old Willis-Starbuck, who graduated from Berkeley High School and had just finished her freshman year at Dartmouth, was arguing with a group of UC Berkeley football players and their friends on College Avenue early July 17 and reportedly used her cell phone to...

WASHINGTON - A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a Wookiee named Chewbacca growled and howled his way through "Star Wars" movies. On Monday, the actor who played him will take the oath to become an American citizen. British-born Peter Mayhew will be among 441 people from 77 countries who will become naturalized Americans in a ceremony in Arlington, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Mayhew, 60, played the fur-covered warrior Chewbacca in the original "Star Wars" trilogy of the 1970s and 1980s, and the latest movie, "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith." "I got married to a...

'Star Wars' Faves Back for Prequel Sun Apr 27,10:15 PM ET By Sheigh Crabtree LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - George Lucas (news) is bringing back the classic characters Chewbacca the Wookie, C-3PO and R2-D2 for the upcoming "Star Wars Episode III." The director has already hired actors Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniel and Kenny Baker (news) to reprise their respective roles as sprightlier versions of their characters for the prequel in preproduction. All three actors have donned costumes in past "Star Wars" episodes, and in the case of Daniel and Baker, the thespians have loaned their voice talents to puppet and...