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FULL TITLE: Beijing hotel workers already 'fed up' with Obama entourage in 3400-square-foot, $8,350-per-night suite inconveniencing 'pretty much everyone' – and the first lady's mother is 'barking at the staff' Michelle Obama and three of her family members are staying in a $8,350-per-night Beijing presidential suite, but despite a 24-hour butler and other perks that come with the lodging, her entourage has inconvenienced 'pretty much everyone' and made the hotel staff 'fed up,' a well-placed hotel staffer has told MailOnline. The sumptuous pad at the Westin Beijing Chaoyang hotel – its website calls the room 'an oasis of comfort –...

First Lady Michelle Obama received an unscheduled greeting today from the President of China at the end of her first full day in the country, a place which President Obama has said he wants to “rebalance” US foreign policy. But the first lady is not engaging in any formal talks on issues such as human rights or global politics. Her trip to China is purely for cultural reasons. President Xi Jinping welcomed the first lady and disclosed he had spoken to President Obama by phone a few days ago and confirmed the two presidents are scheduled to hold a bilateral...

White House executive pastry chef Bill Yosses is resigning after First Lady Michelle Obama fundamentally changed his job duties to focus on healthier food. Yosses is leaving the White House in June to work on a new project focusing on “food literacy” and The New York Times says Michelle is “partly to blame.” The openly gay chef was hired by Laura Bush in 2007 to make his trademark cookie plates and sugar sculptures. Mrs. Obama took over in 2009 and ordered Yosses to make healthier plates in smaller portions. Yosses began replacing butter with fruit puree and sugar with honey...

ladimir Putin has put President Barack Obama’s vacation plans on hold. Obama’s headed to Coral Reef High School in the southern part of the city for an event about education and the economy Friday, which first lady Michelle Obama had been expected to attend as well. What hadn’t been known was that Obama’s daughters were planning to come with them, and that the four were going to extend the trip for a brief family getaway. Now the White House tells POLITICO that he’s reconsidering. “The president had planned to stay in South Florida with his family for the remainder of...

The federal government’s changes to school lunch menus have been disastrous, causing problems for cafeterias trying to comply with the rules and leaving the menu so expensive or unpalatable that more than 1 million students have stopped buying lunch, according to a government audit released Thursday. One school district told federal investigators that it had to add unhealthy pudding and potato chips to its menu to meet the government’s minimum calorie requirements. Other school districts removed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from their elementary school menus. Five of the eight school districts surveyed by the Government Accountability Office, the official...

Earlier this week President Obama and the First Lady hosted French President Francois Hollande at the White House for an official state dinner. It was quite the affair with caviar, quail eggs, rib-eye and chocolate-malted ganache. In case you don't remember, Hollande is a full blown French socialist who deeply believes the only way to help the poor is by demonizing and soaking the rich. Hollande is currently moving forward with his plan in France to tax millionaires 75 percent after receiving approval from a court. President Obama holds similar views and has repeatedly told the rich they need to...

Attention broken-hearted and lonely Americans: President Barack Obama feels your pain. He's happily married, of course, but in solidarity with the lovelorn--those victims of romantic inequality--he's spending Valentine's Day alone. Well, not entirely alone--he's set to enjoy a guys' weekend with Jordan's King Abdullah in Palm Springs--apparently without Queen Rania. Who knows what those boys will get up to, with Vegas nearby. The Obamas apparently had their Valentine's Day date on February 8. However, they have a habit of spending a good deal of time apart. In January, the president gave the First Lady a "birthday present" of allowing her...

Poverty and unemployment are at near-record levels, the economy is stalled, and a record 47 million Americans are on food stamps, yet aides for first lady Michelle Obama’s tweeted out a picture of her two dogs apparently dining at a table laid with crystal and china. “Bone appétit!,” the aides added to the insensitive tweet, using the language of France’s queen Marie Antoinette, who was executed by radicals in 1793. One dog appears to be wearing a jeweled necklace. The other is wearing a red ribbon. Obama’s media courtiers applauded the ostentatious display of canine luxury. “Bo And Sunny Obama...

I know there were much more dangerous and important things said in President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, but one relatively minor claim completely surprised and shocked me.But what I offer tonight is a set of concrete, practical proposals to speed up growth, strengthen the middle class and build new ladders of opportunity into the middle class. Some require congressional action, and I'm eager to work with all of you. But America does not stand still, and neither will I. (Applause.) So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families,...

First lady Michelle Obama is seeking $10 donations to protect Obamacare, her husband's troubled health insurance system. Just one day before he gives the annual State of the Union address, the first lady sent out a fundraising email to supporters hoping to use the speech to prompt donations to help Democrats in the midterm elections this fall. [Text of email]Friend — Earlier this month, because of what you did, it became illegal for insurance companies to discriminate against the up to 129 million Americans living with pre-existing conditions....

Michelle Obama is getting a new ally in her campaign to get kids to eat more fruits and vegetables. The first lady was expected to announce Thursday that the Subway sandwich chain will spend $41 million over three years to encourage finicky young eaters to eat more food that comes out of the ground or grows on trees. The announcement was being made at a Subway shop near the White House. Subway will only offer a kids' menu that mirrors federal standards for school lunches. That includes offering apples on the side and low-fat or nonfat plain milk or water...

First Lady Michelle Obama says Jane Fonda is one of her role models, and that she admires her political savviness. During an interview with People Magazine, Obama listed "Hanoi Jane," as one of the people she would like to look and live like when she's 70 or 80 years old. "There’s Jane Fonda, a beautiful, engaged, politically savvy, sharp woman," Obama said. The comment is likely to enrage Vietnam War veterans who still remember how Fonda, now 76, went to North Vietnam in 1972 and was photographed sitting on an anti-aircraft battery. Fonda denounced U.S. military leaders as "war criminals"...

In preparation for the first lady’s 50th birthday on Saturday, ABC News has served up a fawning list 50 ways to celebrate the occasion. It highlights Michelle Obama’s most memorable and glamorous moments. Below, ten examples from the list, which you can read in full here: Dance to Beyonce Move into a massive new house with your family and invite your mother to move in too Make the cover of Vogue Buy a Jason Wu dress Hang out with your friend, Oprah Roll your eyes at House Speaker John Boehner or the Danish prime minister Hug, kiss and fist bump the...

Michelle Obama entered the White House as a chimera. To some, she was emblematic of fully realized African American womanhood and an incomparable fashion icon. To others, she was the voice of racial grievance, the nanny state and Seventh Avenue vanity. She has proved herself to be neither vengeful nor the patron saint of activist feminism. Yet misperceptions linger. So as she celebrates her 50th birthday, here are a few facts in the face of persistent fictions. 1. Michelle Obama is the most fashion-friendly first lady. [Snip] 2. She is a food tyrant of Bloombergian intolerance. [Snip] 3. Her legacy...

*ar·is·toc·ra·cy noun \?a-r?-'stä-kr?-se, ?er-?-\1:government by the best individuals or by a small privileged class2 a:a government in which power is vested in a minority consisting of those believed to be best qualifiedb :a state with such a government3:a governing body or upper class usually made up of a hereditary nobility4:the aggregate of those believed to be superior(*From Merriam-Webster) It’s good to be the queen. Just ask Dennis Rodman, or perhaps his little friend Kim Jung Un. Better yet, consult with Queen Bee Michelle Obama and Countess Oprah Winfrey who are relaxing on a Hawaiian vacation together before the hectic, terrible...

Michelle Obama had the gall to tell supporters in New York City this week,“We don’t believe in handouts. We don’t think anyone should get a free ride,”What? That’s ALL they believe in is handouts and redistribution: ** Barack Obama has created two new food stamp recipients for every job created.** number of Americans on disability now exceeds the number of people in New York City.** Under Obamacare the Congressional Budget Office projects that nine million Americans would be added to Medicaid’s rolls in 2014.** 43% of Americans don’t pay income tax.** Under Obama the US government now redistributes two trillion...

When President Barack Obama suggested that his wife should spend extra time in paradise as an early birthday present, he was committing U.S. citizens to pay for the gift, whose costs will likely spiral into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The White House conceded on Monday that the federal treasury will foot the bill to fly First Lady Michelle Obama back to Washington, D.C. on a separate government aircraft after she finishes her extended vacation at the palatial 12-bedroom Hawaii home of talk show legend Oprah Winfrey. Dedicated vehicles, Secret Service costs, and security sweeps of the Winfrey estate...

President Barack Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha left their vacation in Hawaii on Saturday, but left First Lady Michelle Obama behind on the islands, according to news agency reports. The president reportedly let his wife stay on in Hawaii with friends as a "birthday present." Michelle Obama will turn 50 years old on Jan. 17.

Michelle Obama doesn't want jewelry or chocolates for her 50th birthday later this month. She wants to be alone. President Barack Obama returned to Washington Saturday after two weeks of vacationing with his family in Hawaii. He left with daughters Sasha and Malia. Michelle stayed behind. 'As part of her birthday gift from the president, the first lady will remain in Hawaii to spend time with friends ahead of her upcoming 50th birthday,' the White House explained in a statement. The First Lady turns the big 5 - 0 on January 17. The White House did not say how much...

Kudos to President Obama for giving his wife a birthday present we all can envy, indeed covet. CBS News reports: President Barack Obama is going to give his wife the birthday present that many parents can only dream of - time off, alone, without the children. The White House said on Saturday first lady Michelle Obama would stay in Hawaii, where the family has been on vacation for the last two weeks, rather than return home with her husband and their two girls. "As part of her birthday gift from the president, the first lady will remain in Hawaii to...