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First came the bangs. Then a comedy sketch on NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Next, her unexpected presentation of the Oscar for Best Picture. Now, in April, she graces the cover of Vogue magazine, for the second time. Do we need any more confirmation of Michelle Obama’s apotheosis? Some of the intense interest in the first lady may be owing to the fact that she is now inviting it. The second term of her husband’s presidency gives her increased freedom to be herself, notes Jennifer Lawless, director of the Women & Politics Institute at American University in Washington, D.C....

CNN anchor Erin Burnett during an interview with former first lady Laura Bush that aired Monday posed a bit of a head-scratcher: Should we “accept” anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism “when we want to make change” in the Middle East? See for yourself [courtesy NewsBusters]: “An Egyptian woman, her name’s Samir Ibrahim, and she’s done a lot of things, courageous things. She’s also been criticized for sending tweets that are anti-Semitic, anti-American,” Burnnett said during a segment on the George W. Bush Institute’s Women’s Initiative Fellowship Program. “Does the U.S. need to accept that when we want to make change? You have...

I caught this story being posted, and asked for permission to blog it – it’s pretty harrowing: J.R. Salzman @jrsalzman I've had veterans tell me a very similar story: Kids forced to go hungry for hours during Michelle Obama media event http://dailycaller.com/2013/03/04/lets-starve-kids-forced-to-go-hungry-for-hours-during-michelle-obama-media-event/ … 5:12 PM - 04 Mar 13 J.R. Salzman @jrsalzman .@AZ_Susan She told the soldiers and caregivers from Walter Reed they were receiving an award and having a luncheon. Neither one existed. After considering whether to tell the story, J.R. relented: J.R. Salzman @jrsalzman In light of Michelle Obama using hungry school kids as props, let me tell...

WASHINGTON – At last night’s White House state dinner honoring former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, Vice President Biden managed to ignite a bit of a firestorm when he addressed the honoree and distinguished guests. After thanking Mayor Barry for his public service and congratulating him on his many accomplishments, the vice president strayed off-script and embarked on a bewildering oration that left some of the dinner guests uneasy and all of the guests confused. Mr. Biden’s discourse began to meander wildly when his subject matter shifted from Marion Barry to Mrs. Obama’s new haircut. “I’ve always been a big fan...

OPINION February 27, 2013, 7:29 p.m. ET Michelle Obama: The Business Case for Healthier Food Options In recent years, they have generated more than 70% of the growth in sales for packaged-goods companies. By MICHELLE OBAMA For years, America's childhood obesity crisis was viewed as an insurmountable problem, one that was too complicated and too entrenched to ever really solve. According to the conventional wisdom, healthy food simply didn't sell—the demand wasn't there and higher profits were found elsewhere—so it just wasn't worth the investment. But thanks to businesses across the country, today we are proving the conventional wisdom wrong....

Submitted for your consideration without further comment:     If that doesn’t do it for you, there’s much more:     I can’t do any more. You’re on your own ...Read the Rest here>>>

The corporate closure will eliminate not only jobs, but 33 bakeries, 565 distribution centers, 5,500 delivery routes and 570 bakery outlet stores in the United States. While some workers bucked threats from union bosses and returned to work, it was not enough. "The problem is we don't have enough crossing those lines to maintain normal production,” said Rayburn. So, this ends a company that has been in business since 1930 providing delicious treats to generations of customers. While it is a sad day for most Americans, one person who will be celebrating is First Lady Michelle Obama, who is the...

The franchisor-franchisee relationship can be a heated one, especially when corporate asks the operators to spend more money for one of their initiatives. At McDonald's (MCD), remodeling investments, marketing campaigns and discounting are touchy subjects right now. Mark Kalinowski, lead restaurant analyst at Janney Capital Markets, spoke with a bunch of McDonald's franchisees to gauge how they felt about what's going on, reports Scott Hume and Burger Business.

As the 2012 presidential race enters its final weeks, LIFE.com looks back at America’s First Ladies across six decades of the 20th century. Here is a glimpse—through classic photos, as well as pictures that never ran in LIFE—into the public and private lives of the members of an uncommonly exclusive club, before, during and after their years in the White House.

The owner of Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants is putting more workers on part-time status in a test aimed at limiting costs from President Barack Obama's health care law. ~~snip~~ But it's notable because Darden Restaurants has, in the past, cooperated with first lady Michelle Obama on her push to reduce calories in menu items and offer healthy alternatives. The first lady spoke with Darden chief executive officer Clarence Otis last fall at an Olive Garden in Maryland. She also dined at an Olive Garden in Fort Worth, Texas on a Let's Move tour.

Students boycotting school lunchesPublished: Oct. 6, 2012 at 4:46 PM NEW YORK, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Many U.S. high school students are protesting new, healthier school lunches, and a professor says it may take a while for students to accept healthier food. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 required public schools to follow new nutritional guidelines this academic year, providing fruits and vegetables and limiting fat, sodium, and calories, The New York Times reported Friday. "Before, there was no taste and no flavor," said Malik Barrows, a senior at Automotive High School in Brooklyn. "Now there's no taste, no...

PARSIPPANY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Students at Parsippany Hills High School held a strategy session on Thursday to discuss a potential lunch strike, on Friday, over what they have called inadequately sized meals. “This year you’re eating lunch and you’re like ‘Did I even eat?’ You’re not even full,” senior Brandon Faris told CBS 2′s Derricke Dennis. New federal guidelines stemming from first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign have resulted in limits on protein and bread, and an increase in vegetables and fruits. The changes have also come at an increased cost. All of it has also sparked a student...

It would be laughable -- if our school kids weren't hungry! By now, most everyone who pays attention, is aware of how our government, Big Nanny, has screwed-up school lunches so badly that our kids either won't eat the stuff or, they DO eat it and -- remain hungry. This is just more evidence of what happens when the government takes an active hand in "helping" Americans. Once again, I repeat my plea to the UIS government: "For God's sake -- stop helping us!" ABC News reports the following: "School lunch trays are a bit lighter this year after Congress-approved...

Growing up, I was always fat. Not as fat as I am now, but never, ever skinny. Never small. I was tall and athletic and big—I knocked stuff over, I blocked people's views, I was always in the way. Even if they made fashionable clothes in my size (which they didn't—OOH, MORE LOUD-PATTERNED SMOCKS, PLEASE), I didn't know how to make anything look good on my body. I was the girl the mean kids would target with the old, "See that guy over there? He likes you" gag. Good one, bros! In case you don't get it, the punchline is...

Rodeo clown was behind racist joke about Michelle Obama It was rodeo clown Mike Hayhurst of Barstow, not announcer Ed Kutz of Arroyo Grande, who made an offensive, racist joke about first lady Michelle Obama over the public-address system of the Creston Classic Rodeo, a rodeo board member confirmed Sunday. Spectators initially believed and reported that Kutz made the comment Saturday. Both he and Hayhurst were on microphones at the same time. Speaking Sunday on behalf of the rodeo’s nine-member board, Mike Barrett said the rodeo is not responsible for the joke and will ask Hayhurst for a letter addressing...

ROTTERDAM, N.Y. (AP) — One student complains because his cafeteria no longer serves chicken nuggets. Another gripes that her school lunch just isn't filling. A third student says he's happy to eat an extra apple with his lunch, even as he's noshing on his own sub. Leaner, greener school lunches served under new federal standards are getting mixed grades from students piling more carrots, more apples and fewer fatty foods on their trays.

In his gut, Kurt Myers knows when a student arrives at school on an empty stomach. He can see it on a cold Monday morning in the coat that remains zipped and the hat that stays pulled down, in the rush to eat school breakfast as if it's the student's first meal in days. And in the Reading School District, where 92 percent of students received free or reduced-price meals in 2011-12, Myers knows it doesn't take a food services director such as himself to realize that "when a student looks like he hasn't eaten all weekend, he probably hasn't...

Insist GOP Wives Need Her Fashion SenseThe fashionistas in the “objective” press displayed their favoritism by boosting Michelle Obama’s convention speech dress and quoted flagrant Michelle-boosters like Kate Betts, who insisted whatever stylishness the Republican women had they owed to the pioneering Mrs. Obama. On Wednesday, the Associated Press posted a story headlined, “Michelle Obama gets raves for Tracy Reese dress,” and out came the bare-arms worship: First lady Michelle Obama got rave reviews for the custom-made Tracy Reese pink and copper dress she wore while giving a tribute to her husband at the Democratic National Convention. The sleeveless dress...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — First lady Michelle Obama's Tuesday speech was written at a 12th grade level and was the most 'advanced' speech ever delivered by a presidential nominee's spouse, an analysis finds. The University of Minnesota's Smart Politics blog finds, using the Flesch-Kincaid readability test, that Obama's speech was delivered at a 12.84 grade level. That's in contrast with Ann Romney's speech last week at the Republican convention, which measured at a 5th grade level. The test — which does not factor in the message of speeches — judges readability by word syllables and sentence structure. President Obama, on the...

So, what I’m hearing is, it’s pretty much the same as the old agenda, except perhaps ramped up another nanny-state notch. In a yet another classic case of an inefficient, meddlesome bureaucracy attacking the symptoms instead of the disease (and causing a whole host of costs, inefficiencies, and waste in the process), the federal government via First Lady Michelle Obama has made it their business to “solve the problem of obesity within a generation.” In an audacious display of utter disdain for free-market signals, part of this effort includes nineteen separate government programs that aim to eliminate “food deserts” —...