On Obama’s Mexico trip, temptation is just around the corner for some
SAN JOSE DEL CABO, Mexico — Temptation, it’s everywhere! Right next door, for example.
As President Obama and his entourage arrived in Los Cabos for the Group of 20 summit, the White House press corps was put up for two nights in the Barcelo, a beach-side hotel in this resort town. But next door is the more luridly named Desire Resort & Spa, whose catch phrase is “Deliciously Erotic.”
The Desire Resort and Spa in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico.
(David Nakamura - The Washington Post)
The optics were a bit awkward considering this is Obama’s first foreign trip since he went to Cartagena, Colombia, in April — a trip perhaps best known for the Secret Service prostitution scandal. Leading up to the summit, agents received an e-mail from the agency’s managers instructing them to be on good behavior and requiring those going on the trip to attend mandatory training courses for a set of new road trip rules.
Here in Cabo, a road sign reading “TEMPTATION RESORT SPA” directs motorists points toward Desire, a blocky, tan-colored building without windows and a rock garden outside.
Desire is “infamous as a ‘Lifestyle-Friendly,’ Sensual — ALL-INCLUSIVE — Clothing Optional — Erotic Party Resort for adventurous couples,” the hotel’s Web site boasts.
Obama was staying at another hotel farther away, and perhaps not coincidentally, the Secret Service was not staying with the press at the Barcelo.
Also, fortunately, the Desire is available only to couples.
By 06:38 PM ET, 06/18/2012 |
Permalink |
Comments (
0)
Obama, Japan’s Noda hail security alliance after bilateral meeting
President Obama on Monday reaffirmed the United States’ defense commitment to Japan, calling the relationship the “linchpin” of security in the Far East.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda/
(KAZUHIRO NOGI - AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
Appearing with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda after their bilateral meeting, Obama hailed the recent agreement to relocate 9,000 U.S. Marines off Okinawa to other bases in the Western Pacific, saying the move will help allay concerns of Japanese residents of the island.
Obama pledged that the move will not compromise the long-time alliance at a time when the United States is rebalancing its commitment to Asia to counter China’s influence and renewed nuclear threats from North Korea.
Continue reading this post »
By 06:10 PM ET, 04/30/2012 |
Permalink |
Comments (
0)
Tags:
Japan, Yoshihiko Noda, U.S. Military, U.S. Marines
White House Correspondents’ Dinners in years past
This evening, Jimmy Kimmel will take a shot at skewering President Obama, media and celebs in the audience and, very likely, the Secret Service and GSA at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. But taking a look back at years past gives a quick reminder of what the hot issues and big targets of the moment were.
2011: Seth Meyers hosted last year and was tough on the early GOP presidential primary field (especially Donald Trump). Osama bin Laden was still the butt of jokes; remember, it wasn’t until the next evening that it was revealed he’d been killed by SEAL Team Six agents in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Memorable joke: “The president and Joe Biden were not invited to the royal wedding, and when Biden found out he immediately said to the president: You, me, Wedding Crashers 2. I’ll book us two Amtrak tickets to London.”
Continue reading this post »
By 02:58 PM ET, 04/28/2012 |
Permalink |
Comments (
0)
Obama signs executive order to protect troops from for-profit college deceptive practices
Presiden Obama stands with veterans as he speaks in the White House Rose Garden last year.
(Andrew Harrer - BLOOMBERG)
FORT STEWART, Ga.— Surrounded by thousands of uniformed members of the Army’s Third Infantry Division, President Obama Friday signed an executive order cracking down on for-profit colleges that prey on service members and veterans to collect tuition dollars without providing meaningful education in return.
Joined by wife Michelle Obama on a grassy parade field in front of the infantry division’s headquarters building on a sunny, warm Georgia day, Obama told soldiers that some for-profit schools swindle veterans, harassing them with repeated phone calls and e-mails and promising them job placement and counseling without delivering.
He told of one college recruiter, who visited a barracks at Camp Lejeune and signed up service members suffering from brain injuries.
“That’s appalling. That’s disgraceful. That should never happen in America,” he said.
The executive order, he said, will “make life a whole lot more secure for you and your families and our veterans and whole lot tougher for those who try to prey on you.”
The visit came as Obama concluded a week of courting young voters and their parents, touring university campuses to pressure Congress to pass a measure that would prevent student loan rates from doubling on July 1.
Continue reading this post »
By 02:00 PM ET, 04/27/2012 |
Permalink |
Comments (
0)
Tags:
for-profit colleges, higher education, military, veterans
Obama to Jimmy Fallon: A couple ‘knuckleheads’ shouldn’t detract from whole Secret Service
Is it too soon to joke about the U.S. Secret Service sex scandal?
Not if you’re late-night host Jimmy Fallon and President Obama is your guest.
In an interview with Obama at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Tuesday, Fallon joked with the president that he had been “having the best time hanging out with the Secret Service” over the past two days.
President Obama sits with Jimmy Fallon during a commercial break as he participates in a taping of the “Late Night” with Jimmy Fallon, Tuesday, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C.
(Carolyn Kaster - AP)
Obama was a bit more serious in his response.
“The Secret Service, these guys are incredible,” Obama said, according to the White House press pool report on the interview. “They protect me, they protect our girls. A couple of knuckleheads shouldn’t detract from what they do. What they were thinking, I don’t know. That’s why they’re not there anymore.”
The full interview will appear on Fallon’s “Late Night” show on NBC on Tuesday night.
So far, 12 Secret Service employees and 11 military service members have been implicated in the misconduct ahead of Obama’s trip to Cartagena, Colombia, two weeks ago. They are accused of heavy drinking, visits to strip clubs and payments to prostitutes.
Six of the Secret Service personnel have been dismissed from the agency, including two supervisors. Another has been cleared of serious misconduct but could face administrative action, while the other five remain on administrative leave. The military members have had their security clearances revoked.
On the final day of his trip to Cartagena, for an international economic summit, Obama said at a news conference he would be “angry” if the allegations against the men are true.
Continue reading this post »
By 04:00 PM ET, 04/24/2012 |
Permalink |
Comments (
0)