As Obama has now spent his first 100 days in office, this video reflects on the worst first 100 days of some past American presidents.

The commentary is quite slow so you sould be able to understand this video.

 Michelle Obama will  plant a vegetable garden, the first at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden in World War II. It will be an organic garden : no pesticides will be used in this garden.

While the organic garden will provide food for the first family’s meals and formal dinners, its most important role, Mrs. Obama said, will be to educate children about healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables at a time when obesity and diabetes have become a national concern.

“My hope,” the first lady said in an interview in her East Wing office, “is that through children, they will begin to educate their families and that will, in turn, begin to educate our communities.

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Barack Obama’s presidential campaign was a technologically successful one : using Facebook to rally more supporters, using Twitter to keep in touch, sending emails to raise funds and social networks to share ideas.

But arriving at The White House was quite a disappointment for his staff …

“It is kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said of his new digs.

The team members, accustomed to working on Macintoshes, found computers outfitted with six-year-old versions of Microsoft software. Laptops were scarce, assigned to only a few people in the West Wing.

In many ways, the move into the White House resembled a first day at school: Advisers wandered the halls, looking for their offices. Aides spent hours in orientation, learning such things as government ethics rules as well as how their paychecks will be delivered. And everyone filled out a seemingly endless pile of paperwork.

After a long and hard-fought battle, Barack Obama will have a Blackberry and the compromise is : a limited number of contacts (only a select circle of people will have his address) and no forwarded emails.

read more about it here !

12h00 très précises le 20 janvier. Au moment où Barack Obama prononce les derniers mots de sa prestation de serment, le site Whitehouse.gov change de propriétaire. A la une du site présidentiel, c’est la photo officielle du 44ème président des Etats-Unis qui s’affiche, avec ces quelques mots : « Change has come to America », le changement est venu en Amérique.

Le changement est aussi venu sur Whitehouse.gov. La homepage s’anime avec sa Une tout en slides : quatre thèmes du jour s’affichent avec de larges photos. Un vrai coup de jeune après huit ans de page d’accueil verticale et monolithique.

La communication se veut en direct avec un blog équipé d’un flux RSS et une newsletter quotidienne pour ceux qui préfèrent recevoir ces informations par email. Whitehouse.gov veut mettre l’accent sur la transparence avec la mise en ligne des proclamations du président. Et innovation remarquée, un compte YouTube officiel de la Maison Blanche a été créé.

Plus traditionnel, la présentation de l’administration en place, le détail de l’agenda politique du président avec les droits civiques en tête de liste, une page d’histoire avec la présentation de la Maison Blanche, de Camp David ou encore des animaux présidentiels, avec un coup de cœur pour Socks, le chat des Clinton, posant sur la tribune présidentielle. En attendant la photo du fameux presidential puppy promis à Malia et Sasha Obama par leur père.

Read more about the redecoration of the White House (and what the former presidents did) here

A new era is coming to the White House. Obama is said to be a night-owl. He tends to stay up late to work, emaling late into the night and starting staff meetings as early as 6 ! Read more about it here

Would you like to work for Obama ?

Well, there are a few questions first , read this article from The Washington Post !