LARRY ROIBAL

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An upset Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero postponed the United States - European Union Summit, scheduled to take place in Madrid because of Obama’s decision not to show.

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Speaking at West Point, the Commander in Chief President Obama informed the nation that he will increase US troops in Afghanistan by 30,000 but will begin to withdraw said troops in 18 months.

Ball point pen on the morning newsprint

President Obama continues to be a president of firsts. Yesterday he appeared on CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, and Univision network to talk about his health care proposals. The five interviews marked the most talk show appearances on a single Sunday by a president. Conspicuously absent from the lineup was Fox News.

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The Prime Minister of the Italian Republic, Silvio Berlusconi is hosting the G8 Summit. This doodle goes out to my son Andrew, who is studying abroad and today is probably baffled by all the traffic and congestion being he’s in Rome, Italy along with eight of the most powerful men on the planet. Enjoy Capri this weekend Andrew!

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President Obama is in Moscow talking to Putin’s puppet, Dimiri Medvedev.

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President Obama’s Education Secretary Arne Duncan supports merit pay for teachers by linking raises and bonuses to student performance. The former professional basketball player said “To somehow suggest we should not link student achievement to teacher effectiveness, is like suggesting we judge sports teams without looking at the box score.”
That seems logical. So, why hasn’t it been done before?…Well, in Washington, lobbies and interest groups have always trumped logic, and there is no lobby more powerful than the teachers union, who opposes merit pay…That’s Change.

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On the eve of a major speech President Obama will deliver to the Muslim world from Cairo Egypt, Obama was hosted by Saudi King Abdullah. The King praised the president and presented him with the King Abdul Aziz Order of Merit, the kingdoms highest honor.

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The Obama administration moved towards the inevitable this morning. One hundred year old company and number one auto maker in the world for 77 years in a row, will file for bankruptcy at 8:00 am this morning. All the bailout money in the world could not fix it’s broken business model.
Let’s hope he’s not the same as the old boss.

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President Obama nominates Sonia Sotomayor to replace retiring Justice David Sutor. If confirmed she will be the first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court. Sotomayor was born in the Bronx, New York and was raised in a housing project just a few blocks from Yankee Stadium. She earned her A.B. from Princeton University, graduating summa cum laude, and obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School where she was an editor of the Yale Law Journal. In 1991 Sotomayor was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and 1n 1997 she was nominated by President Bill Clinton to the US Court of Appeals.

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In a young presidency already filled with tough challenges, North Korea may prove to be the toughest.

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….nough said.

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President Barack Obama received an honorary doctor of laws degree Sunday during the commencement ceremony at Notre Dame University. While a small number of pro life protesters were arrested for trespassing, the majority of students and faculty at the Catholic University welcomed the president. Obama acknowledged the irreconcilable differences of opinion on the abortion debate, but urged both factions to stop demonizing the other and begin to work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies.

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President Obama is committed to reviving the Arab-Israeli peace process. Yesterday, King Abdullah II of Jordan came to the White House to present the Arab position. The meeting marked the fist time an Arab leader has had an audience with a US president.

Abdullah attended school in England at St. Edmund’s School , and Eaglebrook School and Deerfield Academy in the United States. His university training was at Pembroke College, Oxford. In 1980, Abdullah left Pembroke and entered the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom as a cadet. He joined the 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary’s Own) upon commission as a Second Lieutenant. In 1987, he completed an advanced studies and research program at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He took command of the Jordanian special forces in 1993 as Major General and became King in 1999, upon the death of his father King Hussein.

Also… In light of Earth Day, I’d like to point out that no trees are sacrificed to maintain this blog. Today, as always, I completed my morning drawing on recycled newspaper.

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The G20 leaders meet in London this week amidst protesters. The world economy is in shambles and most agree that little will be accomplished at the summit besides grandstanding. The UK unemployment rose to levels not seen since 1971 and the Bank of England policy maker David Blanchflower called for more stimulus as Prime Minister Brown’s rescue package has failed to stop the downturn….Stay tuned…

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The issues and problems are omnipresent for our new president, but I for one am comforted by Obama’s command of the facts and eagerness to engage. It’s a stark contrast from our previous chief executive.

A side note: Five of the last seven US Presidents have been left handed: Ford, Bush the elder, Reagan, Clinton and Obama, what’s more, no matter who won the previous election, we were destined to put another lefty in the White House since both Obama and McCain are left handed. Other lefty notables: Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Angelina Jolie and my daughter Alyssa. Check out this web site of famous left handers.

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President “O”Bama is fighting mad over bonuses and retention packages given to the employees of AIG Financial Products Division responsible for derivatives that brought the giant insurance company to it’s knees and triggered a taxpayer bailout.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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Its gonna take time, A whole lot of precious time. Its gonna take patience and time, ummm To do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it right.
George Harrison

That was the message from President Obama’s Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag this weekend…minus Harrison’s hip, melodic delivery and eastern philosophy vibe.

Note to Congress: He purposefully skipped over the second verse about how it’s gonna take plenty of money.

Some remain skeptical on how we as a nation can borrow and spend record amounts and cut the deficit simaltaniously.

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I remember the anxiety I felt when I signed the mortgage for my home. The numbers may seem minuscule in comparison, but everything is relative. It’s a risk to borrow against future earnings to invest in building your present life. No matter how good the intentions or fiscally sound the plan, it’s impossible to predict all the variables. I felt the same anxiety when Donna and I had our two children, when we bought our first car or built my studio. But used responsibly, debt can be a great tool to build a future. Now, will generations of lawmakers be disciplined enough to do the legislative equivalent of staying home on Saturday nights, stretching an extra year out of that old coat or eating pasta five nights a week to pay down this 787 billion dollar mortgage? Stay tuned.

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Yesterday it seemed everyone was a VIP.

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Yes We Did!

Unfortunately I can’t stop to savor the moment because I have two early morning photo shoots in NY…. I wish I had time to do a better drawing or wax poetic, … I did this 5 am doodle and I’m off to catch a train, but feel free to wax to your hearts content, I’d like to here your thoughts on this historic day.