Is Obama Hiding His Grey ?

He was one of the youngest men ever to be sworn in as president of the United States.

Yet Barack Obama apparently believes he did not look youthful enough.

While his wife Michelle rises at 5.30am every day to hit the gym and maintain her toned arms, Obama seems to have adopted a new grooming routine of his own.

Before and after: Obama on the campaign trail in September last year, left, looks noticeably more grey than today, right

Recent photographs of the new president reveal almost jet black hair, while in pictures taken during the campaign trail Obama sports many grey hairs on the top and sides of his head.

Unless the president has discovered the fountain of youth in the Oval Office - or installed extremely flattering lighting - the change could only be down to the skills of a hairdresser or a home dye kit.While grey hair during the election campaign may have helped Obama refute Republican claims of inexperience, he could now be keen to a appeal to a younger audience.

Where's the grey gone? :) Obama smiles alongside British Prime Minister Gordon Brown during their meeting in the Oval Office.

The youth vote was instrumental in Barack's selection as Democratic candidate and eventual victory, so perhaps the 47-year-old feels the need to update his look to maintain his hold with the younger generation.

Obama, the 44th president, is the fifth youngest person to assume the office of president, behind Theodore Roosevelt , at 42, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Ulysses S. Grant and Grover Cleveland.

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Barack Obama Loosens White House Dress Code

Just over a week into his new digs, and Barack Obama is already shaking things up in the White House. He's changing up the dress code and having a small shindig for Congressional machers.

President Obama in a meeting last week in the Oval Office, where his predecessor required a coat and tie at all times.

He's ditched the jacket-and-tie-only rule for the Oval Office that his predecessor George W. Bush mandated , while also instituting a weekend business casual dress code for the White House staff. Time to open up that L.L. Bean catalog, Obama staffers, and pick out your perfect Saturday khakis.

Obama has also using the space to entertain a little. On Wednesday evening he held a cocktail gathering for some House and Senate movers and shakers of both parties he'll desperately need in the coming months was reportedly a success. According to Slate, he's part of a long tradition of presidents who gets things done by unhitching a notch or two in the evening hours :

" Harry Truman favored bourbon and branch water. (As vice president, Truman had just arrived to have a bourbon with House Speaker Sam Rayburn when he got the call that FDR had died.) When he was president, LBJ came to the Capitol on several occasions for an after-work drink with Senate Republican leader Everett Dirksen. [...] FDR won the presidency on a platform of ending Prohibition. Every evening, including during the war, Roosevelt mixed drinks in the Oval Office from behind his desk, before him a tray equipped with whatever he needed for the martinis or old fashioneds he was mixing. "

While it may be traditional, Obama is now taking some lumps for sipping libations while the economy burns. News that wagyu beef was served at the cocktail party has raced around the conservative blogosphere today, raising questions of why the president would serve something that can cost up to $100 per serving when hundred of thousands are losing their jobs. Typical is this comment from ThatSamIam at Michelle Malkin's blog :

" Anyone surprised? Of course they will spend big on everything. That’s what socialist progressive liberals do because they consider our money their money. "

If the Obama White House is going to be a more casual affair, could we suggest maybe something a bit more low-key for the next shindig? Some deviled eggs and one of the Safeway vegetable plates, perhaps.

Source

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The 12 Weeks Of Barack

Freeze and thaw ... a man passes by an ice sculpture entitled "Main Street Meltdown," in New York in 2008.

Diehard ... an elderly man holds a placard protesting against President Bush outside the White House in Washington on January 17.

Collector's edition ... people line up outside the Washington Post newspaper to purchase special election editions.

Welcome to the party ... an invitation and tickets to the presidential inauguration to be handed out to Congressional members on view at the Capitol in Washington, DC.

Keep your friends close .... Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was tapped by Barack Obama to lead the State Department after he defeated her in the Democratic primaries last year.

V for victory ... a doll of Barack Obama is displayed for sale ahead of his inauguration at a shop in Washington.

Under fire .. Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner looks on as Barack Obama meets members of his economic team at his transition office in Washington.

Family first ... Mr Obama with daughters Malia and Sasha as they meet at the Honolulu Zoo on December 30, 2008 .

Tarred by the same brush ... a Lebanese leftist protester, is seen between two anti-US posters featuring USPresident George W. Bush, and US President-elect Barack Obama.

On the shoulders of giants ... President-elect Barack Obama speaks at the Lincoln Memorial during an inaugural concert in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009 .

Crowd pleaser ... people listen and watch the "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration At The Lincoln Memorial" at the National Mall in Washington DC, January 18.

Bestseller ... Barack Obama's book The Audacity of Hope on display at a publishing house in Beijing on November 14, 2008, where young Chinese editor Han Manchun was responsible for the book's domestic release.

High flyer ... Barack Obama's stepmother Kezia Obama is presented with a birthday cake by Virgin Atlantic staff Candice and Sam as she leaves London's Heathrow Airport to travel to Washington where she will watch her stepson become the new President of the United States.

Law maker ... former US Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, President-elect Barack Obama's nominee to be Attorney General, is sworn in for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington January 15, 2009.

Popular culture ... this undated handout photo provided by Marvel Comics shows the cover of "Spidey Meets the President!" a five page story featuring Spider-Man and Barack Obama on inauguration day in "Amazing Spider-Man #583."

Double B ... Barack Obama's room is labeled on the Georgia 300, a private rail car owned by John "Jack" Heard, from Fernandina Beach Flag, Thursday, January 15, 2009, at the rail yard in Washington.

Headlong ... The brand new office portrait of Barack Obama.

Day one ... Barack and Michelle Obama get their daughters Sasha and Malia ready for their first day of school at Sidwell Friends in Washington, January 5.

World of thanks ... Mr Obama spoke by telephone with the leaders of nine US allies to express thanks for their congratulations .

The long walk ... days before handing the reins to Barack Obama, US President George W. Bush leaves after delivering his final farewell speech to the nation at the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 15.

Shatterproof ... Mr Obama waves as he makes his way onto the stage to address supporters at the War Memorial Plaza in Baltimore on January 17.

Safeguarding the future ... Barack Obama and Chicago Public Schools Chief Arne Duncan, his nominee for secretary of education, talk to school children at the Dodge Renaissance Academy in Chicago December 16, 2008.

Out with the old ... a wax figure of Mr Obama, right, is on display at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, as workers carry a wax figure of George W. Bush outside the building in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on January 15. Five days prior to his inauguration, Obama's figure was also unveiled at Madame Tussauds in London, Berlin, New York and Las Vegas.

Old ties ... USA Democratic Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton after they arrived for a Democratic debate at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

Centre of attention ... Mr Obama speaks to the media after a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and vice president elect Joe Biden at the US Capitol in Washington.

Historic words ... Barack Obama's speech on the great American conundrum of race bearing his signature, is on display at the new black history exhibit, "AmericaIAm: The African-American Imprint" at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

Life in miniature ... historic scene depicting Barack Obama taking the presidential oath of office on the steps of the Capitol in Miniland Washington DC, in Legoland park in Carlsbad, California.

Vision of the Future ... "Barack Obama," a mixed media collage by Shepard Fairey, is installed in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington. Fairey's large-scale, mixed-media stenciled collage was the central portrait image for the Obama campaign and was previously distributed as a limited-edition print and as a free download.

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Barak Obama's $9 Million Vacation Retreat

Here's the rental listing for the $9 million Hawaiian estate that President-elect Barack Obama is renting over the Christmas holiday. The five-bedroom estate rents for upwards of $3500-a-day and sits on an acre fronting Kailua Beach in Oahu.

The online listing was removed from the Hawaii's Best Rentals web site after the Associated Press yesterday reported details of the Obama vacation retreat, which was purchased earlier this year for $9 million by Kevin Comcowich, a 40-year-old Houston portfolio manager.
Check out the best pics of this amazing resort both exterior and interior.....

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George W Bush Establishes Marine Monuments In The Pacific

Parts of three remote and uninhabited Pacific island chains are being set aside by President George W. Bush as national monuments ..

They will be protected from oil and gas extraction and commercial fishing ...

The three areas, totaling some 195,274 square miles, will make up the largest marine conservation effort in history..

The areas include include the Mariana Trench, waters and corals surrounding three uninhabited islands in the Northern Mariana Islands, Rose Atoll in American Samoa and seven islands strung along the equator in the central Pacific Ocean ..

Each location harbours unique species and some of the rarest geological formations on Earth, from a bird that incubates its eggs in the heat of underwater volcanoes to a sulfur pool, the only other one exists on Jupiter's moon..

The areas will now carry the same status afforded to statues and cultural sites...

... however, recreational fishing, tourism and scientific research with a federal permit could still occur inside the three areas. The designations will also not conflict with US military activities
The move is a boost to the environmental record of a president who has been criticised for not doing enough against air pollution and global warming ..

The protection of the Mariana Trench comes a century after President Theodore Roosevelt first protected the Grand Canyon as a national monument in 1908

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