There has been so much talk about her comments regarding the girls’ weight, her husband’s first year in office as POTUS and her iconic style.  It will be very interesting to see how Larry King dives into these areas and even more so to hear how she addresses the questions.  Stay tuned to MOW as we discuss the interview as well as Mrs. Obama’s childhood obesity program.  Posted by Bridgette of http://trailblazer-firstlady.blogspot.com

The blogosphere is all a buzz about Mrs Obama’s comments about the weeMichelles. I am sure that there will be many more remarks in the days leading up to the launch of her Childhood Obesity Initiative. Did she say too much? Was it appropriate? Only time will tell. I’m excited about the upcoming initiative and I hope that it will bring about healthy lifestyles changes, not only in children, but in the lives of adults as well.

Have a great weekend MOWatchers!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Posted by Aminah Hanan

“Matt Lauer will sit down with Mrs. Obama to get her thoughts on her family’s first year in the White House and also a new project that she is passionate about.”

I’m thinking her new passion has been the much talked about childhood obesity initiative that she is set to kick-off next week.

This afternoon First Lady will meet, at the White House in the Old Family Dining Room, with the Cabinet and Congressional members who are serving in leadership roles on childhood obesity policy. They will discuss combined efforts to create national awareness of the dangers of childhood obesity and the simple steps families, schools, the business and non-profit communities and all levels of government can take together to help combat the epidemic.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Senator Blanche Lincoln, D-AR, Agriculture Committee Chair, Senator Saxby Chambliss, R-GA, Agriculture Committee Ranking Member, Senator Tom Harkin, D-IA, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chair, Senator Mike Enzi, R-WY, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Ranking Member, Representative George Miller, D-CA, Education and Labor Committee Chair, and Representative Collin Peterson, D-MN, Agriculture Committee Chair will all be in attendance for today’s meeting.

Next Tuesday, February 9th the First Lady will unveil her childhood obesity initiative.

Posted by Aminah Hanan

The First Lady said that she had been warned by the family paediatrician that ’something was getting out of balance’ with her two children Malia 11, and Sasha, 8.

The article goes on to highlight what changes will be made to Sasha and Malia’s diet.

The girls then had to adhere to new ground rules – less burgers, low-fat milk, and fruits and water instead of sugary drinks; the change was significant, she said.

As a mother of a “husky” little boy, I try to watch portion sizes, sugar intake and add more fruits and vegetable to Biko’s diet.  I certainly can appreciate the First Lady’s campaign against childhood obesity.  I can’t wait to see what programs she initiates as a result.  My hope is  that our schools will pay close attention, especially the school cafeterias around the country.  Posted by Bridgette of http://trailblazer-firstlady.blogspot.com. Photo provided by AP.

***Blog Founder Comment***

Hey folks, this is Gina. Sorry to interject in Bridgette’s conversation, but as someone who was a morbidly obese child, I CRINGE at any public discussion of a child’s “weight” or “diet” in a public space. I’ve been on a diet since I was 6 year’s old. While I applaud First Lady Obama’s focus on childhood obesity, let’s leave her children out of it at this site.  Once people feel free to comment on a child’s weight/ diet, they don’t stop. All the skinny people commenting, including the First Lady, are well intentioned, but being an overweight child is HELL, let’s not A) indicate that children who clearly are not obese should be  on a diet likewise, treat fat kids with some compassion, they’re already torturing themselves and being tortured at school.  I just had to interject because it’s my worst nightmare that any child would be made to feel self conscious in anyway based on something posted on one of my blogs. I realize skinny people, including Mrs. Obama don’t understand or get this, but let’s leave her children, or anyone else’s children, out of the childhood obesity discussion on this blog.   At the end of the day, Mrs. Obama is another well meaning skinny person who can never understand the life of a fat child. I’m actually dreading this assault on fat kids. I still think she totally rocks, but I stopped taking weight loss advice from skinny people and I’m much happier. If you’re a fat kid, keep your head up. There is so much you can’t control about your life right now. When you get older, that will change, just hold on until then.

BTW Welcome Back Bridgette- We missed you!!!!!

***end Blog Founder Comment***

For those of you who do not know the 3rd Annual Blogging While Brown Conference will take place in Washington, DC June 18-19, 2010. Since we will be in Washington, DC, the home of the First Lady, it seemed only fitting that we should have a Michelle Obama Watch Meet and Greet. This is a chance for all of our Michelle Obama Watchers in the DC area to come out and meet each other. Of course Gina, Patty, and I will be there.

We are asking our Michelle Obama Watchers who reside in the DC area to help us plan this event. We want to hear your comments and suggestions. What are your favorite restaurants and places to meet in our Nation’s Capital? The tentative dates for the meet and greet are Thursday, June 17 or Friday, June 18. We would love to do a happy hour, but we are flexible. So let us know your thoughts. As the time draws near we will post more information.

Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions and we look forward to meeting each and every one of you.

Posted by Aminah Hanan

The White House

Office of the First Lady

For Immediate Release January 28, 2010 Remarks by the First Lady at Event on Surgeon General’s Report

YMCA of Alexandria, Alexandria, Virginia

1:36 P.M. EST

MRS. OBAMA: As you know, from last night, I get embarrassed when people stand up and clap for me. (Laughter.) I don’t really know what to do.

(Laughter.) Do I wave, do I — it’s like, please, just sit down, everyone. (Laughter.)

Good afternoon. I’m thrilled to be here on the floor. (Laughter.) It’s a great floor. It’s kind of a warm floor, but it’s a good floor.

Let me begin by thanking the new First Lady in the room, Maureen McDonnell. We are going to have a great time working together. She is already very engaged and supportive of these initiatives. And since she’s so close I am counting on her to work alongside on some of these issues. We’re going to see you in a month at the governors gala, whatever they call it, so be ready to dance. (Laughter.) And welcome aboard.

MRS. McDONNELL: (Inaudible) — practice.

MRS. OBAMA: A little practice, absolutely.

Congressman Moran, again I want to thank you for all your work in this area. I look forward to working with you. Our staffs are already talking about some things that you’ve been working on for a very long time, so we’re grateful for your leadership and concern and focus.

Mayor Euille, again you have been a host to me in your great city, and you’ve done wonderful work in this area. I had a terrific time addressing the National Conference of Mayors, and I got a very good response from your colleagues. I know that the mayors in this country stand ready to work on this issue. They are seeing the effects of what everyone on this floor has talked about, in terms of childhood obesity, and they’re ready to make some changes.

Also, Dr. Palfrey, it is an honor for us to have you with us. As I’ve shared before, it was through our relationship with our pediatrician that we even began as a family to start thinking about these issues.

And it’s our pediatricians and our medical community that are going to work side by side with families throughout the country. So we’re grateful for your support. I know that this is not a new issue for you, and I hope that our attention to it makes your job a little bit easier.

I also want to thank all the folks at the Y for all you’re doing — Neil Nicoll, for your work as the national leader. But I know you know as a national leader the real work happens on the ground at these fine facilities all throughout the country. The Y has been a leader in ensuring that families and communities all over this country have access to places to play. Your mobile physical unit, your PhD unit, that came to the South Lawn helped me debut my hula-hooping skills. (Laughter.)

But I think the Ys are showing that they are thinking towards the next stage, you know. The room that we were in is the next generation of what Ys can be. The mobile unit is something that I didn’t grow up with, but you’re keeping up with the changes in cultures and communities in a way that is going to make a huge impact to the work that we have to do in our nation.

And finally I want to thank my buddy in crime, Secretary Sebelius, for her tremendous leadership and her tremendous friendship. We’re glad that you moved out of assisted living. (Laughter.) I know it’s hard — I know, I know, I’ll work on him. (Laughter.) But you can come over for dinner or something. (Laughter.) From your work with the CDC to the FDA, the Department of Health and Human Services is clearly at the forefront of addressing some of our greatest health issues, and it’s going to take their continued commitment. These grants that are coming out, we’ve been working with your department in getting them done. Your staff has been tremendous in moving very quickly on getting that money out, and I’m anxious to see what all that hard work leads to. So we are grateful not just to you but all of the thousands of people in your agency who make us all look very good.

And finally I want to commend our new Surgeon General Dr. Benjamin who I finally got to meet. (Laughter.) Three months on the job and we’re already making you crazy, right? (Laughter.) But you’re doing a terrific job just jumping right in. The report is not only timely but it’s right on point. And your perspective, your new way of looking at this issue, is refreshing, and again it’s right on point. It’s presenting both the dangers of inaction, and a vision for health for this country. It’s an incredible step in a long journey that we’ll have to take. So we want to thank you for your important work.

So as we’ve seen, the surge in obesity in this country is nothing short of a public health crisis, and it’s threatening our children, it’s threatening our families, and more importantly it’s threatening the future of this nation. Higher rates of obesity are directly linked, as you’ve heard, to higher rates of chronic illnesses like heart disease and cancer and diabetes. Even though type 2 diabetes is rare among young people, more than three quarters of those who have it are obese.

In fact, the health consequences are so severe that as the Secretary said, medical experts have warned that our children are on track to be less healthy than we are. And there’s never been a generation of young people who are on track to be healthier than their parents — or less healthy than their parents.

And truly, if we’re really honest with ourselves, it’s not hard to understand how this happens. I’ve tried to track this through my own life.

In some cases, it’s access. Parents have told me — I’ve seen it myself

– that they would love nothing more than to feed their kids more healthy foods, but if you don’t live anywhere near a place that sells fresh produce, it’s very hard to accomplish that goal.

In other cases, the issue is just convenience. At the end of a long day

– and more and more families are experiencing these long days with two parents working and busy schedules — you just get home and you’re tired and you pick up the phone and you order a pizza, or you go to that drive-thru. It’s just easier. Our modern-day life makes it very difficult for us to sit down and prepare that meal.

And a lot of times it’s affordability. In these tough economic times, buying healthy foods unfortunately feels like a luxury for too many families. They just can’t afford it. We’ve seen stories, we’ve heard stories, of people who know that buying that large gallon of juice is cheaper than buying a gallon of milk. They can’t afford to make different choices.

And then at schools and in our communities, oftentimes it’s budget cuts that make it more difficult. Recess and PE are gone for many kids in communities all across this country. Parks and playgrounds and after-school sports are few and far between in too many neighborhoods.

And for most people, the cause is really a combination of all of these things. It’s no one particular thing. It’s everything cobbled together.

And let’s face it: There are really just too many pressures on parents today.

And I understand those pressures. I talk about this all the time. It’s easy to live healthy when you live in the White House and you have staff and people who are cooking for you and making sure that it’s balanced and colorful, because I had a hard time doing it before I lived in the White House, and that wasn’t so long ago. Barack and I were like any working couple. I was a working mom with a husband that was busy, so many times I was the one balancing that load and wrestling with many of those challenges. And there were plenty of times, I tell you, that you’d come home tired, you don’t want to hear the kids fuss, and popping something in the microwave or picking up a burger was just heaven. It was a Godsend.

But we were fortunate enough to have a pediatrician, as I’ve mentioned, that kind of waved the red flag for me, as a mother, and basically cautioned me that I had to take a look at my own children’s BMI. Now, we went to our pediatrician all the time. I thought my kids were perfect — they are and always will be — (laughter) — but he warned that he was concerned that something was getting off balance, because fortunately he was a pediatrician that worked predominantly in an African American urban community, and he knew these trends existed, and he was watching very closely in his client population, his patient population.

So again, in my eyes, my children were perfect. I didn’t see the changes. And that’s also part of the problem, or part of the challenge.

It’s often hard to see changes in your own kids when you’re living with them day in and day out. As parents, we all know and will readily acknowledge broadly that kids in general — we will say we know they don’t eat right — right? — and we know they don’t get as much exercise as they should, generally. But we often simply don’t realize that those kids are our kids, and our kids could be in danger of becoming obese.

We always think that only happens to someone else’s kid — and I was in that position. We all want desperately to make the best choices for our kids, but in this climate it’s hard to know what’s the right thing to do anymore.

So even though I wasn’t exactly sure at that time what I was supposed to do with this information about my children’s BMI, I knew that I had to do something; that I had to lead our family to a different way.

But the beauty was that for me over the course of a few months we started making really minor changes. And I share this story because the changes were so minor.

We did things like, you know, limit TV time. My kids were already fairly active, but, you know, we cut TV time out during the week, and that helped increase activity, because they were just running up and down the stairs annoying me more. (Laughter.)

We paid more attention to portion size. Didn’t make a big deal out of it, but just sort of said, listen to when you’re hungry, and when you’re full, stop.

We reduced our intake of sugary drinks and instead encouraged our kids to drink more water. I just put water bottles in the lunch during the week, or we had low-fat milk. Again, didn’t make a big deal out of it

– just made the change.

We put more fruits and vegetables in our diets, again, trying to make for a colorful palate, but you’d slip some grapes in at breakfast time, and throw in an apple at lunch, and pester them about whether they actually ate the apple. (Laughter.) And then you try to balance it out with something at dinner time.

I mean, it was really very minor stuff. But these small changes resulted in some really significant improvements. And I didn’t know it would. It was so significant that the next time we visited our pediatrician, he was amazed. He looked over the girls’ charts and he said, “What on Earth are you doing?” And I said, “Really, not much, not much.” And that’s the good news that we want to share with families, particularly for kids: Small changes can lead to big results. They’re not destined to this fate, and they’re not really in control what goes into their mouths, usually.

So we know what has led to the obesity epidemic, you know. We know inside — I mean, we’re still learning — but we kind of know. And we know what we need to do to solve it. We just have to make the commitment to do it. We really — each and every one of us needs to make that commitment. We need to provide parents with better nutritional information so that they can make better choices. We need to give our kids healthier options at school, where many kids are getting most of their meals. We need to make sure they’re spending less time in front of the TV and playing videogames, and more time exercising and having fun and doing the work of children, which is play.

But we also know that the solution can’t come from government alone.

That’s something that we just have to remind ourselves. And for many, that’s a great relief. Everyone has to be willing to do their part to solve this problem, and everyone has to work together to turn this pattern around.

And that’s exactly what we hope to do through an administration-wide initiative on child obesity that I’m going to be launching in the next couple of weeks, along with a number of important partners.

We’re going to be bringing the federal government together, those resources in partnerships with business, non-profit and the foundation communities, all of whom are thrilled to be a part of this endeavor.

It’s just been refreshing to see so many people recognizing that this is the time to step up and make some changes.

We’re going to do a number of things — again, some of them small things. We want to create what we’re calling more healthy schools. And these are schools that are offering more nutritious meal options during the day. They’re providing nutritional information to children as part of the curriculum, and they’re ensuring that children are getting the increased exercise that we know that they need.

But we also have to focus on increasing the amount of exercise outside of school, and no place — like the Y knows that we need to make these changes.

We need to make healthy food options more affordable and accessible.

And that’s going to be probably one of the toughest things that we need to do. And we need to do this in all communities: urban, rural, everywhere. People have to have the information, they have to have access in order to make healthy choices. There is nothing more frustrating that will frustrate a parent more than to say that you’ve got to buy more fruits and vegetables — but to still see the cost out of kilter and see those goals out of reach.

So these are just some of the things that we hope to do through this initiative. But what we know is that we have to be ambitious; that the approach has to be ambitious. It can’t just be lockstep. It’s got to be something meaningful and powerful.

And the other thing that I will say — and say again and again and again

– this won’t be easy. So let’s begin with that. (Laughter.) This will not be easy and it won’t happen overnight. And it won’t happen simply because the First Lady has made it her priority. That in and of itself is not going to be enough. It’s going to take all of us. Thank God it’s not going to be solely up to me. (Laughter.) But it’s going to take all of us — parents, schools, communities — working together for a very long time, over a sustained period of time. Over generations of children will need to keep doing this.

But I have every confidence, based on the level of energy that I’ve seen, based on the willingness of people to deal with this issue across party lines, the willingness of the business community to be a part of the solution. Every sign that we’ve seen over the course of moving to this rollout has been nothing but positive.

And of course parents are ready and willing. We all want to make the best choices for our children. We just need to know how. And if we continue to do that, if we work with our physicians, if we work with our Surgeon General, if we’ve got the government, the federal government, working together, businesses ready to make the sacrifices, then we can tackle this problem. And we can do something really important for our kids. We can hand them the future that we know they’re going to need to be successful.

So I am excited. And I look forward to working with all of you over the next years to make this not just a dream but to make this movement a reality.

So thank you all for the work that you’ve done so far. And we have a lot more work to do. So thank you so much. (Applause.)

END

1:54 P.M. EST

Posted by Aminah Hanan

Dr. Jill Biden

Clayton Armstrong (Washington, DC) Clayton was a DC Scholar with the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs during the summer of 2009. He is currently a freshman at the University of Arizona. Clayton grew up in Southeast Washington, DC and graduated from Ballou High School where he was the captain of the football team.

Li Boynton (Bellaire, TX) Li is a 18-year-old senior from Bellaire, Texas whose passion for science and global health has led her to new and potentially ground-breaking methods for testing the quality of drinking water. Almost one billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and 3.5 million people die each year from water-related diseases. Observing the limitations and significant expense of conventional chemical-specific tests, Boynton saw a need for a broader, more efficient assay for testing – and developed a bacteria bio-sensor. Li’s work, which has the potential to be significant in improving public health worldwide, received the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair award for 2009.

Li has always had a passion for science and invention: in 5th grade, she designed a solar-distillation device after reading Life of Pi in case she ever got stranded in the middle of the ocean. Li is also an avid painter and participates in high school debate, which is where she originally developed her environmental interests.

Jeffrey Brown (Philadelphia, PA) Jeffrey Brown is the founder, President and CEO of Brown’s Super Stores, Inc., a growing ten-store supermarket chain trading under the ShopRite banner. As one of the leading supermarkets in the Philadelphia area, the company employs 2,300 associates who are committed to making a difference for their customers and the local communities they serve.

Brown graduated from Babson College, Massachusetts with a degree in entrepreneurial studies. He resides in southern New Jersey with his wife Sandy and their four sons Joshua, Alex, Lenny, and Scott.

Mayor Mick Cornett (Oklahoma City, OK) Mick Cornett became Oklahoma City’s 35th mayor on March 2, 2004, and was re-elected on March 7, 2006. In 2007, he was elected as a Trustee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Cornett is also the national President of the organization representing Republican Mayors and Local Officials.

Cornett is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, where he earned a degree in journalism, and after graduation embarked on a 20 year career in broadcast journalism. In 2001, Cornett was elected to City Council, where he served until becoming mayor.

Cornett was born and raised in Oklahoma City, and together, he and his wife Lisa have raised three sons – Michael, Casey and Tristan.

Tina Dixon (Allentown, PA) Tina is currently employed by Lehigh Valley Health Network as a Technical Partner Trainee, a job that she was able to secure through the EARN program (Employment Advancement and Retention Network – a program focused primarily on Paid Work Experience placement) at the Allentown, Pennsylvania CareerLink in preparation to re-enter the workforce after years as a stay-at-home mother to three girls, Olivia, Allison, and Lauren.

It was at CareerLink that Tina met President Obama on the first White House to Main Street Tour in December 2009.

Gabriela Farfan (Madison, WI) Gabriela is a 19-year old from Madison, Wisconsin whose passion for geology started at a young age – collecting rocks as a seven-year old with her father. In 2009, as a senior in high school, her hard-work and research won her one of the top awards in the Intel Science Talent Search, winning a scholarship for her independent research describing why certain gemstones appear to change color when viewed from different angles—a finding that directly affects the gemstone industry and may have applications in the nano and materials sciences. Gabriela is now in college as a freshman at Stanford University, and a declared geology major.

Gabriela is also a National Hispanic Scholar awardee, has two very proud parents, Abigail Farfan and Carlos Peralta, and has a real dedication to the arts: singing, drawing, painting, speaking French and Spanish, and following operas and musicals.

Julia Frost (Jacksonville, NC) Julia is a former Marine bandsman trumpeter, a wife of an active duty Marine, and current student at Coastal Carolina Community College. She served a four year term with the United States Marine Corps stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. Her husband, Sergeant Ryan Frost, is also a Marine bandsman, stationed at Camp Lejeune North Carolina.

With the aid of the GI Bill, Julia is currently enrolled in the Elementary Education program through a partnership between Coastal Carolina Community College and the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. Julia hopes to complete her associate degree this summer and bachelors in the spring of 2012.

Dr. Biden, a community college professor, first met Julia when she visited her campus last October as part of the Administration’s ongoing efforts to support America’s community colleges and their students.

Ping Fu (Chapel Hill, NC) Ping Fu co-founded Geomagic, a company which pioneers technologies that fundamentally change the way products are designed, engineered and manufactured around the world from automobiles to medical devices. Geomagic, under her leadership, has been an active participant in the SBA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Fu has led Geomagic to deliver broad-based economic impact to the US economy with tangible results – the company tripled its customer base and employment while achieving high growth and profitability. As such, the NSF awarded Geomagic the prestigious Tibbetts Award for exemplifying the very best in SBIR.

Fu has more than 25 years of software industry experience in database, internet technology, and visual computing. Before Geomagic, she was the Director of Visualization at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and is also, actively involved in promoting entrepreneurship and women in mathematics and sciences.

Janell Holloway (Washington, DC) Janell was a DC Scholar with the White House Domestic Policy Council during the summer of 2009. She is currently a freshman at Harvard University where she is a member of the Harvard College chapter of the American Red Cross, dances with the CityStep dance troupe, and is active in the Black Student Association. Janell is interested in the connection between child abuse and youth violence and has served as a volunteer at Safe Shores: DC Children’s Advocacy Center for more than three years. She is a native of Washington, DC and graduated from Benjamin Banneker Academic High School.

Ambassador Raymond Joseph In 1990 Raymond Joseph was called to be Haiti’s Chargé d’Affaires in Washington and his country’s representative at the Organization of American States. After helping with the first democratic elections in December 1990, he returned to the Haiti Observateur where he remained until he was called back to Washington in March 2004, where he is currently the Ambassador.

Joseph is a graduate pastor from the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, a B. A. holder in Anthropology from Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. He also has a Master’s degree in Social Anthropology/Linguistics from the University of Chicago.

Don Karner (Phoenix, AZ) Don Karner is the President, CEO, and Co-Founder of eTec (Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation). As President of eTec, Don provides strategic direction, conducts research and leads the company’s development of new products and services.

eTec received $99.8 million from the Recovery Act’s Battery and Electric Vehicle Grant program, which the company will match with another $99.8 million in locally raised funds. The funding will be used to manufacture and implement the charging infrastructure for an 11 city pilot program intended to research electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Cities involved are Phoenix, Tucson, San Diego, Salem, Portland, Eugene, Seattle, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. The award will create at least 50 new permanent clean economy jobs working directly at eTec, has already saved numerous positions, and will require construction workers across the country to implement the project.

Don participated in a Recovery Act roundtable discussion with Vice President Biden in Phoenix in November 2009 where they discussed the importance of the public/private partnership to a green economy.

Janell Kellett (Sun Prairie, WI) Janell has served as a lead volunteer within the Wisconsin Army National Guard for approximately six years, including during her husband’s fifteen month deployment from 2005-2006 and recent twelve month deployment from 2009-2010. Janell’s husband, Major Michael Hanson, serves with the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team and recently returned home to Wisconsin. During Major Hanson’s deployment, Janell served the 3,200 families of the 32nd Brigade and over 50 volunteers of the 32nd Brigade with dedication. Janell was honored for her service with a 2009 Wisconsin National Guard Volunteer of the Year award by the Wisconsin State Family Program. Under Janell’s leadership, the 32nd Brigade was selected for the prestigious Department of Defense Reserve Family Readiness Award in December 2009 for the Army National Guard. Additionally, Janell served as the Battalion Volunteer for the 2nd Battalion, 128th Infantry when it received the same award, the Department of Defense Reserve Family Readiness Award, in 2006.

Janell and Michael have two children, Jaclene and Lucas.

Rebecca Knerr (Chantilly, VA) Rebecca is representing her husband, Captain II Joseph Knerr, the Task Force Leader of Fairfax County’s Virginia Task Force 1 serving in Haiti. Having worked as a Fairfax County Firefighter for 15 years, Joe currently serves as Station Commander at Fairfax Fire and Rescue Station 18. He initially joined the USAR team in 1998 serving in a variety of operational capacities and now in leadership positions. Joe is also involved in the coordination, teaching and training of other international rescue teams. A former Fairfax County Firefighter and Paramedic herself, Rebecca works as an Emergency Physician’s Assistant in a Northern Virginia Hospital and for Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department developing and delivering emergency medical services education to uniformed personnel. Rebecca, 24 month old son Jackson, and 12 week old daughter Grace are eager to welcome Joe home.

Chris Lardner (Albuquerque, NM) Chris Lardner is a patient service manager at the New Mexico Heart Institute and her husband, Scott, owns a small family business. Together they have three children, two daughters in college at Regis University in Denver, Danielle and Caitlin, and a son in 7th grade, Sean. As a result of the economic downturn they resorted to paying for some of their daughters’ education with a credit card. Lardner realized she was close to reaching the card limit, so she contacted the college to change the card on file. The school mistakenly charged another payment to the original card, which then put her above the limit. In response, the credit card company more than tripled her rate to nearly 30 percent, despite of record of responsibility with her finances and payments. Lardner submitted a letter to the President online expressing her frustration with the rate hikes leveled as a result of the mistaken charge.

Chris shared her story when she introduced the President at a Town Hall in May 2009 – since that time her issue with the credit card company was eventually resolved; their rate was lowered to 7 percent and the company returned the over-the-limit fees that had been charged.

In May 2009, President Obama signed the credit card reform bill that bans credit card companies from unfairly raising interest rates on existing balances, protects against unfair fee traps (including requiring the consumer’s permission before processing an over-the-limit transaction), and increases accountability and transparency from credit card companies.

Anita Maltbia (Kansas City, MO) Anita Maltbia is a native of Kansas City, Missouri, and has over 30 years experience in city government, and community activism. In August 2009, at the request of Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II, Anita assumed the director position of the Green Impact Zone. This initiative works with the residents of a 150 square-block area in the urban core of Kansas City to raise the quality of life environmentally, economically and socially. Energy efficiency and environmental conservation, including home weatherization and energy upgrades are critical goals as is job training and acquisition.

The Green Impact Zone in Kansas City, Missouri is an urban success story that reflects President Obama’s national urban policy vision of breaking down silos and building strong communities of opportunity that will, in turn, contribute to the economic prosperity and the sustainability of cities and metropolitan areas.

Kimberly Munley (Killeen, TX) Kimberly was born and raised in North Carolina. In 1999, she completed Basic Law Enforcement Training and began her career in law enforcement. Kimberly spent the next 11 years working as a University of North Carolina, Wilmington undercover vice/narcotics agent, a Wrightsville Beach uniformed patrol officer and beach patrol officer, a Special Police Officer for New Hanover County Regional Medical Center, a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Operations Specialist Soldier in the United States Army, and is currently a federal police officer serving on the Special Reaction Team for the Fort Hood Police Department in Fort Hood, Texas.

Cindy Parker-Martinez (Belle Isle, FL) Cindy is a mother of two young children, who shared her story of the problems her family faces with the current health care system at a Health Care Community Discussion held at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, one of thousands of discussions held nationwide in December 2008. In April 2008, Cindy, her husband, and her son were all denied insurance coverage on the individual insurance market because of pre-existing conditions. Her 11-month old daughter was also denied coverage due to an insurance company age requirement of 12 months. Both Cindy and her husband are currently uninsured because they cannot afford the insurance offered at her husband’s employer. Although they previously paid their premium, they could not afford to keep up the monthly payments after receiving thousands of dollars in medical bills from her husband’s unexpected 6-day hospital stay for pneumonia. Their family’s income is too high for them to qualify for Medicaid. Cindy and her husband currently have no insurance and have thousands of dollars in medical debt.

Deborah Powell (Hugo, OK) Deborah Powell is a Native American Development Specialist for the Housing Authority of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Having earned only a high school diploma, Powell built her experience outside of college and soon became interested in accounting and finance. After spending 43 years of her life in her hometown of Flagstaff, Arizona, she moved to Oklahoma in April 2004 for a change of pace and is currently working on a project funded by the Recovery Act. A member of the Choctaw Nation, she is currently helping to track budgets and ensure bids for independent elderly homes. This project, which is still under construction, will provide homes for more than 86 elderly people in the Choctaw Nation. Powell is recently remarried, and enjoys hunting, fishing, and spending time with her family.

Sergeant First Class Andrew Rubin (Savannah, GA) Sergeant First Class Andrew Rubin entered the Army in 1997 from Boston, Massachusetts and completed One Station Unit Training, Airborne Training and Ranger Assessment and Selection at Fort Benning, Georgia before becoming a Ranger assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment.

Andrew has spent his entire military career serving in the 75th Ranger Regiment in positions of increasing responsibility. He is currently assigned to 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, headquartered in Savannah, Georgia, which recently redeployed from a combat tour supporting operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in December 2009.

SFC Rubin currently leads 45 Rangers as a Rifle Company Platoon Sergeant. In the Regiment, he has also served as an anti-tank gunner, sniper, sniper team leader, sniper section leader, and rifle squad leader, Ranger Assessment and Selection Instructor, and Rifle Platoon Sergeant.

SFC Rubin has served four combat tours in Iraq and two combat tours in Afghanistan. He has been involved in countless fire fights, was wounded on two separate occasions and has received two awards for Valor. During his recent deployment to Iraq, he was shot by enemy forces while risking his life to save one of his Rangers who lay wounded and immobilized in the streets of As Sadiyah, Iraq during an intense firefight. For that action, he received the Bronze Star with Valor and the Purple Heart. Previously, he was wounded in Afghanistan when he was hit by a rocket propelled grenade during an enemy ambush.

SFC Rubin and his wife Megan have three children, Michael, Joseph and Kendal.

Mark Todd (Killeen, TX) Mark Todd was born and raised in San Diego, California. Todd enlisted in the United States Army as a Military Policeman in 1985. He was selected to attend Military Working Dog Handlers Course and later assigned as a K-9 handler at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, Fort Polk, Louisiana, and Wurezburg, Germany. Later he was assigned as a K-9 Trainer and Instructor at Lackland Air Force Base Texas. Todd earned an Associate in Applied Science – Instructor of Technology and Military Science from the Community College of the Air Force in 1997. His last two assignments were Grafenwoehr, Germany and Fort Hood, Texas. In 2007, he joined the Directorate of Emergency Services and is currently the Lead Police Officer, Military Working Dog Branch – Acting Chief at Fort Hood Texas. Todd is married to Lisa Dalton and together they have three children; Jennifer, Mark Jr., and Kristyn; and two grandsons.

Army Specialist (ret.) Scott Vycital (Ft. Collins, CO) Specialist Scott Vycital served as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. Vycital spent 8 months deployed in Iraq as a Specialist with 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 3-505 Parachute Infantry Regiment and was medically retired due to injuries received in defense of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On February 15, 2004, while on patrol of suspected mortar sites, his fire team was engaged by enemy fire and he sustained gunshot wounds on the right side of the face, neck, and shoulder. As a result of his injuries, the right side of SPC Vycital’s face has been paralyzed and he lost the hearing in his right ear. After spending some time rehabilitating from injuries, SPC Vycital returned to school and with the assistance of the VA and the Army Wounded Warrior (AW2) program. He completed his degree in Business Administration with an Accounting concentration from Colorado State University in December 2008. Following graduation, with the help of his AW2 advocates SPC Vycital landed a position within the Federal Highway Administration. He has since been promoted to the position of Programs & Planning Financial Specialist and will have been with the Agency for one year in March. The President’s executive order on employing Veterans in the Federal Government has made employing Veterans like Vycital a priority. Vycital resides in Fort Collins, CO with his wife of 7 years, Jarah, and has a 4 year old son, Breccan, and a 17 month old daughter, Micah.

Trevor Yager (Indianapolis, IN) Trevor Yager began his career in 1995 while in college by founding TrendyMinds, a full-service advertising/public relations firm. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Anderson University and went on to work with various motor sports sponsors, team owners and sanctioning bodies. Today, at TrendyMinds, Yager provides strategic planning, business development, marketing and technology guidance and support to various local, national and international clients. In 2009 the agency grew by more than 200 percent, doubled the number of employees and gained 15 new accounts. Yager credits President Obama’s welcoming climate for small businesses, including the many initiatives under the Recovery Act, for this success.

He is also passionate about helping non-profits and TrendyMinds is committed to giving back to the community by donating in-kind services to organizations throughout Indiana.

Yager resides in Indianapolis with his partner of seven years, Tyler Murray. The two have recently started the process of adoption and look forward to adding a new member to their family.

Juan Yépez (Lawrence, MA) Juan Yépez, and his brother Luis, are Ecuadorian-natives, who in ten short years, have built a successful and growing commercial real estate company in addition to growing Mainstream Global, a worldwide distributor of computer products, consumer electronics, and electronic components, in mills once inhabited by earlier generations of immigrants.

The Yépez brothers were the recipients of the 2009 Small Business Administration Phoenix award for recovering from a major flood that destroyed almost $400,000 of inventory while still managing to flourish in the midst of an economic downturn. They believe that doing business in an area hit by 17 percent unemployment is more than just giving back and that hiring first generation Americans like themselves who want to work and contribute to society is the cornerstone of long-term success.

Phil Schiliro, Assistant to the President and Director, Office of Legislative Affairs

Tina Tchen, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director, Office of Public Engagement, Executive Director, White House Council on Women and Girls

 Posted by Aminah Hanan 

2010 is the dawn of a new decade and we here at Michelle Obama Watch have big things brewing and we are looking to expand our team. Michelle Obama Watch is now hiring Washington, DC Correspondents. If you have a flexible schedule and experience writing and creating vlogs we would like to hear from you. Please send all queries to the Managing Editor at aminahhanan@sbcglobal.net. Please be advised that you will be required to submit a writing and video sample.

For only $40 the ladies dined on fresh spinach salad, tarragon marinated breast of chicken with a béarnaise sauce, whole green beans and julienne red & yellow peppers topped with toasted almonds, oven roasted red bliss potatoes, triple chocolate charlotte with raspberry drizzle, and of course wine. There was also a vegetarian menu option. Wonderful menu selection and they got to hear from the First Lady. Sounds like a steal to me.

 Posted by Aminah Hanan