Personality Of The Week: A Very Young Version Of Barack Obama

Young Barack Obama smoking

Barack Hussein Obama II born August 4, 1961 is the 44th and current President of the United States, the first African American to hold the office. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, running unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives in 2000.
In 2004, Obama received national attention during his campaign to represent Illinois in the United States Senate with his victory in the March Democratic Party primary, his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July, and his election to the Senate in November. He began his presidential campaign in 2007, and in 2008, after a close primary campaign against Hillary Rodham Clinton, he won sufficient delegates in the Democratic Party primaries to receive the presidential nomination. He then defeated Republican nominee John McCain in the general election, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He was re-elected president in November 2012, defeating Republican nominee Mitt Romney, and was sworn in for a second term on January 20, 2013.


Early in his first term in office, Obama signed into law economic stimulus legislation in response to the Great Recession in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. Other major domestic initiatives in his presidency include the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often referred to as "Obamacare"; the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010; the Budget Control Act of 2011; and the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. In May 2012, he became the first sitting U.S. president to publicly support same-sex marriage and in 2013 his administration filed briefs which urged the Supreme Court to rule in favor of same-sex couples in two high-profile cases. In foreign policy, Obama ended U.S. military involvement in the Iraq War, increased troop levels in Afghanistan, signed the New START arms control treaty with Russia, ordered U.S. military involvement in Libya, and ordered the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.

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Personality Of The Week: Yao Ming

Yao Ming (born September 12, 1980) is a retired Chinese professional basketball player who last played for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). At the time of his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at 2.29 m (7 ft 6 in). Yao, who was born in Shanghai, China, started playing for the Shanghai Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), winning a championship in his final year. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, Yao was selected by the Houston Rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. Yao was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. He reached the NBA Playoffs four times, and the Rockets won a first-round series in the 2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. However, Yao missed 250 regular-season games due to foot and ankle injuries in his final six seasons. He is one of China's best-known athletes, with sponsorships with several major companies. His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, and he co-wrote, along with NBA analyst Ric Bucher, an autobiography titled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds.

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EXPLICIT PHOTOS: Girls Get Naked For The First Ever Naked European Football Championships

Female players show off their ball skills at the first-ever unclad European Championships.
There were more curves than a Beckham free-kick and more b**bs than England’s U-21 flops as teams from across the Continent gathered and got their kit off at the tournament in Germany.
There were no British representatives at the contest as teams from Italy, France, Sweden and Germany tussled in the buff on the astroturf at Berlin’s Palais am Funkturm.

Magnificient: Facebook pioneer, Sean Parker Marries Singer In Dramatic $9 Million Wedding (PHOTOS)

MARK SELIGER

Alexandra Helen Lenas and Sean Nicholas Parker pose for their wedding photo in a romantic, magical setting at The Ventana Inn in Big Sur, Calif.
He’s gone from Facebook to a wedding book.

Social media genius Sean Parker, who created Napster and was founding president of Facebook en route to amassing a $2 billion fortune, permanently friended Alexandra Helen Lenas Saturday, tying the knot in front of 300 close friends and family members in what one Parker associate described as a “romantic, magical” setting in a forest behind the Ventana Inn in Big Sur.

“People entered down a long trail and came to a big gate and entered this other world in a forest there,” says one insider of the $9 million affair attended by Sting and Trudie Styler, Sean Lennon, Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Farrell, Newark mayor Cory Booker and actress Allison Williams.
“It was almost out of a fairy tale,” another attendee gushed.

JASONNNNNN93 VIA INSTAGRAM

“Aftermath of Sean Parker’s Rehearsal dinner”

Sky-high redwoods served as a backdrop for the fancy fete, which was rumored to have been medieval-themed, though our insider assures us that was not the case at all. Instead, we’re told the entire ceremony was quite tasteful and elegant.

“It started late afternoon, then there was a sunset, then it went into dark,” says our spy. “There was extraordinary lighting. They made the forest come alive.”
The bride wore Elie Saab while the groom was outfitted by Academy Award winner Ngila Dickson, best known for her Oscar-winning work on “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.”

 

 

MICHAEL BUCKNER/GETTY IMAGES FOR SXSW

Sean Parker (left) has tied the knot with singer-songwriter Alexandra Helen Lenas at a magical ceremony in California.

Dickson also dressed the flower girls and Parker and Lenas’ 5-month-old daughter Winter. The ceremony was officiated by Unitarian Universalist minister John A. Buehrens and coordinated by a team including celebrity party planner Preston Bailey — who made headlines in February when he got married in a “King Kong”-themed ceremony that took place atop the Empire State Building and was presided over by Joan Rivers.
Parker, 33, and Lenas, 24, had been engaged for two years before officially changing their status to married. The pair maintain a residence on W. 10th St., but insiders say they were intent on marrying in Big Sur, where one of their wedding speakers, a local resident, thanked them for breathing needed revenue into the local economy.
TATUM DATUM: THEY’RE PARENTS
People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” is now also the sexiest dad alive. Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan-Tatum became proud parents on May 30 in London according to rival Us Weekly. Tatum, 33, and Dewan-Tatum, 32, reportedly met on the set of “Step Up” in 2006 and married in 2009. The mag was unable to confirm the newborn’s gender Sunday and reps for the pair didn’t respond to our request for comment.

KHLOE TRIMS HER SAILS
Why does Khloe Kardashian look so fit, trim and happy these days? We’re going to assume it’s due to a healthy diet of Confidenti@l. Sure we question her sister Kim’s bizarre “maternity wear” from time to time (as in almost every single day), but her big sis didn’t seem to hold any grudges May 29 while reading our Kimsanity! item about Kim K retweeting old photos of herself that were submitted by fans.

WE’RE SURE THERE WAS PUNCH
British boxing champion Amir Khan and his fiancée, Faryal Makhdoom, got hitched in New York Saturday in an extravagant wedding where guests were banned from taking photos. Sources tell Confidenti@l that all cell phones were confiscated when guests entered the Waldorf-Astoria for the $1 million ceremony. Khan wore a gold robe and carried a gold sword. He was later seen pulling the sword out to show boxing promoter Richard Schaefer. The couple will return to England for a second wedding before flying out to Kuala Lumpur for their honeymoon.

NO HORSING AROUND
New York’s beautiful set flocked to New Jersey for Saturday’s Sixth Annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic, which polo stud Nacho Figueras co-hosted, but couldn’t play, due to a recent injury. “It’s tough but so is life,” he told Confidenti@l. Adding sobriety to injury, Figueras couldn’t drink the sponsor’s free Champagne either. Citing his crutches, the Argentine jock joked, “I have to stay awake.” Matthew McConaughey, Ashley Olsen and Rosario Dawson were among the crowd of 7,000 that crossed the Hudson.

 

She Just Won't Stop! Kim Kardashian Plans To Eat Her Placenta To Look Younger!!!

Kim O' Kim. Kim Kardashian  is proving just how far she’ll go to keep that youthful glow.

She is all about keeping up with the trends and has taken many liberties in the name of staying young and beautiful.
Read further after the cut....


From acupuncture needles in her face to a vampire facial, this time the 32-year-old reality star said she’s interested in eating her placenta.

She made her intention known on the family show when she asked her Doctor: 
“Don’t you think it makes you look younger?” she asked her doctor on the “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” season 8 premiere. “I really want to do it.”
Following stars like January Jones and Holly Madison, who also ate their placenta, Kardashian wants in on the after-birth practice that’s becoming increasingly more common.

The practice also reportedly helps with fighting postpartum depression and increasing milk production.

In her final phase of pregnancy, Kardashian also revealed that she’s having a baby girl with boyfriend Kanye West.

“I’m so excited I’m having a girl,” she said. “I know that’s really what Kanye wants — he wanted a little girl.”
Kardashian shared the good news at her “garden brunch” star-studded baby shower with celebs like Melanie Brown, Kelly Osbourne, Nicole Richie, Nene Leaks and Maria Menounos in attendance.

It’s A girl! See Inside Kim Kardashian’s Star-Studded Baby Shower (PHOTOS)

Kim Kardashian celebrated impending motherhood with a star-studded baby shower in Beverly Hills on June 2, 2013. With celebrity friends, and the entire Kardashian brood on hand, the 32-year-old reality TV star partied with a “garden brunch.” The mom-to-be, who revealed on her show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” she is expecting a girl, mingled at the party in an ivory, flowing maternity dress.

 

 

 

Ashanti And Her Sexy Black And White Trend: Delicious And Provocative!

Ashanti

 

Ashanti clearly got the memo that high contrast ensembles are all the rage. The Grammy Award-winning singer was spotted outside MTV Studios in New York City on Monday rocking black-and-white from head-to-toe.
Ashanti,who just landed a role on Lifetime’s “Army Wives,” teamed a striped, floral Balmain top and matching harem pants with a pair of checkered Givenchy open-toe booties for a getup that’s more eyesore than elegant.
Although we love the graphic “color” combo and live for a mixing print moment, this is a classic case of too much of a good thing gone bad. And sadly this seems to be a reoccurring issue for the 32-year-old star (see: this and that).
Are you a fan of this extreme black-and-white look or is the whole thing too much on the eyes?