March 20, 2012


Someone's Scrubbing the Internet of First Daughter's Taxpayer-Footed Extravagant Spring Break

BY PRUDENCE, ON MARCH 19TH, 2012
Malia Obama is 13 years old, and yet the American taxpayer is currently paying for her to jetset around Mexico with 12 friends and 25 Secret Service nannies—and no Mom and Dad. It’s bad enough that Michelle Obama seems to think her position as First Lady is so grueling that she deserves luxurious vacations every quarter—with at least one a year without her husband. But now we are forced to pay for a teenager to galavant around?
But what’s worse, the White House or someone with extreme power is attempting to scrub the entire news media of any mention of this outrageous expense.
At Google News, there are supposedly 26 “news articles” left online at this moment regarding Malia Obama’s vacation from her arduous life as a pampered teen attending an elite private school. But many of those articles have vanished:

Malia Obama, President Barack Obama’s Eldest Daughter, Travels To …

‎
Huffington Post - 3 hours ago
President Obama’s 13-year-old daughter Malia Ann joined thousands of American students as they crossed the border to Mexico for spring break this weekend.
The first article at the Huffington Post links to this URL:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/19/malia-obama-mexico-spring-break_n_1364063.html Go ahead. Click on it all you want. HuffPo has ripped the story from their site. You’ll just get redirected to their front HuffingtonPost.com page, where you will find absolutely no mention of your tax dollars footing the bill for a teen to lounge around south of the border. (Funnily, HuffPo may have thought they scrubbed their whole site, but I found a little remnant:
(click the image to see it full size)
The next link at the UK’s Daily Mail took great effort to get in good with the White House by putting part of their headline in ALL CAPS. They can holler that Malia was on a SCHOOL TRIP all they want, but no other remaining story on the internet says that. And the Daily Mail has since ripped their entire twisted story from their website as well. Go to their link (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2117288/Malia-Obama-heads-Mexico-SCHOOL-TRIP–brings-25-Secret-Service-agents-her.html) and you’ll get a lovely:
Sorry…
The page you have requested does not exist or is no longer available.
The next link in Google’s list is possibly the original English-language report of the trip, from Agence France-Presse (AFP). They are so proud of their enterprise reporting that they have scrubbed their site clean of any mention of it. Go ahead, click the link and see for yourself:http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h4JfjPbAYl7v365dwVpvnzBiOybA?docId=CNG.8f7cc725c3279ac9b2d78e3fccc4a792.121
The URL remains the same for some direct AFP story links showing it was originally about Malia (such ashttp://news.yahoo.com/obamas-daughter-spends-springbreak-mexico-145031176.html), but it now contains a Malia-free story about a musician (“Senegal music star Youssou Ndour hits campaign trail”).
I was late to the story, so I did not see the very original AFP story, but I believe I have found a copy of the original story at the Canadian Edmonton Journal:

Obama’s daughter spends spring break in Mexico

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSEMARCH 19, 2012
OAXACA, Mexico - The elder daughter of U.S. President Barack Obama is spending her spring break in the historic Mexican city of Oaxaca in the company of 12 friends, a state police official said.
The young tourists, including 13-year-old Malia Ann Obama, are staying at a downtown hotel in this city famous for its colonial architecture and well-preserved native American traditions, the official said.
“We are here to block access to the hotel by other people and escort the vehicles that are carrying the visitors to tourism sites,” the police official told AFP under the condition of anonymity.
Malia Obama and her friend are guarded by 25 U.S. Secret Service agents as well as Mexican police, the official noted.
The group, which arrived in Oaxaca Saturday, has already visited the architectural zone of Mitla and the tree of El Tule believed to have one thousand years.
The sightseeing plan also includes visits to Monte Alban known for its archeological research sites and Oaxaca’s famous artisan quarters.
Duplicates of this AFP story exist on the websites of the Canadian media group of which the Edmonton Journal is a part (Windsor Star, Regina Leader-Post, The Province, Star Phoenix, Ottawa Citizen,Vancouver Sun, Victoria Times Colonist, Calgary Herald, Montreal Gazette, and Canada.com times 2.
TurkishPress printed a shortened version of the AFP story (and at this moment still remains online). Nigeria’s This Day Live also carries the same AFP story. Note how both sites are well outside of the typical American’s reading list. So persons in Europe/Middle East and Africa will be privy to information that our own White House wishes to keep from US citizens.

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At the Global Grind (“the world according to Hip-Pop”), which also promised PHOTOS of Malia’s trip (http://globalgrind.com/news/malia-obama-enjoys-spring-break-mexico-photos), alas, the same thing:

requested page not found

Of all the various original links to a story regarding Malia’s spring break, very few publications were brave enough to let them remain online for more than a few hours. Once such location, with an original story is International Business Times (they have since chickened out as well and deleted their story before I could even publish this post):
Amid Travel Warnings, Obama’s Daughter, Malia, Spring Breaks In Mexico With 25 Secret Service Agents
By MICHAEL BILLERA
March 19, 2012 12:33 PM EDT
President Barack Obama’s 13-year-old daughter, Malia Ann Obama, will be spending her spring break in the Mexican city of Oaxaca with 12 friends and 25 Secret Service agents.
The young tourists will be in a downtown hotel in the city known for its colonial architecture and native traditions, reported a state police official.
“We are here to block access to the hotel by other people and escort the vehicles that are carrying the visitors to tourism sites,” the police official told AFP under the condition of anonymity.
Along with the 25 Secret Service agents, Obama and her friends will protected by a slew of Mexican police officers, according to the AFP.
The group arrived in Oaxaca on Saturday and reportedly visited the architectural site of Mitla. They also visited the tree of El Tule, believed to be approximately 1000 years old. The group also plans to travel to Monte Alban, which is known for its archaeological research as well as the artisan sections of the city.
On Feb. 8, 2012, the State Department issued a travel warning to all potential tourists to the Mexican region.
“U.S. travelers should be aware that the Mexican government has been engaged in an extensive effort to counter TCOs, which engage in narcotics trafficking and other unlawful activities throughout Mexico,” wrote the State Department in a statement. “The TCOs themselves are engaged in a violent struggle to control drug trafficking routes and other criminal activity. As a result, crime and violence are serious problems throughout the country and can occur anywhere.”
However, while the State Department has issued travel warnings throughout the country, there is no warning in the Oaxaca region of Mexico.
To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail: m.billera@ibtimes.com
To contact the editor, e-mail: editor@ibtimes.com

In the time I was working on this piece, Essence removed their story at http://www.essence.com/2012/03/19/malia-obama-travels-to-mexico-for-spring-break/, even though they are renown for chronicling the activities of the First Daughters. (Just search their site for the keyword of Malia to see a galore of stories.) Clearly, someone told them to remove this one:

Sorry. This page was not found.

Please use the search above or view the sitemap below to find what you’re looking for
Mexico Today did not get the notice yet, apparently, as their Flickr account still has four photos of Malia (although one appears to be a stock photo taken by Annie Lebowitz for the White House, unless she has traveled to Mexico to photograph the trip too):
Malia In Mexico---from Mexico Today Flickr Account. If you don't see the photo, the White House has gotten them to scrub it.
Mexico Today’s caption:

Malia Ann Obama Vacations in Oaxaca, Mexico

Source: NOTIMEX/FOTO/HUGO ALBERTO VELASCO/HAV/POL/
Malia Obama and Middle School Friends Enjoy Mexico on US Taxpayer Dime. (If you don't see an image, the White House has gotten Mexico Today to scrub it. Let me know.)
Mexico Today’s caption:

Malia Ann Obama Vacations in Oaxaca, Mexico

Source: El Imparcial, Mexico
More of 13-Year-Old Malia Obama Jetsetting in Mexico Without Parents But 25 Secret Service Nannies and 12 Friends, Courtesy of Your Paycheck.
Mexico Today’s caption:

Malia Ann Obama Vacations in Oaxaca, Mexico

Source: Century21 Sun &Sand | C21Cancun

Some small blogs are also scrubbing their sites, such as:

Places that still have the story:
One of the original reporting resources, the Mexican site Milenio.com, still has their full story running: http://www.milenio.com/cdb/doc/noticias2011/215cf5be355aeb0b371d1f895d6db57d It was published on March 16, three full days ago, and tells where the group is staying and what they are visiting, providing further evidence that the scrubbing of the story from US and English-language websites is not for security concerns as the information is widely available outside of the US.
FoxNews.com (quoting the now scrubbed Telegraph story)
Breitbart.com (by Dan Riehl)
DeathBy1000PaperCuts.com (which notes the scrubbing began one full day after the Mexican news reported the information, so the cat’s already out of the bag as far as any security concerns would be addressed by covering up the trip. DBKP also found a Mexican site, Quien, with additional information, albeit en español, but with extra photos.)
StylistaKT.com (which features additional photos)
WeaselZippers.com (which captured the text of several big site stories before they were yanked)
TeaPartyAtPerrysburg (which has some cost estimates from the scrubbed Daily Mail story)
TheBlaze.com (which captured the Australian story with a photo of Malia at a ruins before it was scrubbed)
FireAndreaMitchell.com (from whose tweet I first learned about this story)
hard-core left-wingers DemocraticUnderground.com
a brief report on the Daily Caller
and yours truly, PrudencePaine.com.
If there are others refusing to let this story be covered up, let me know and I’ll add them to the list. Freedom of information must not be suppressed. The White House has no business forcing citizens to erase stories it finds inconvenient when the story has nothing to do with national security.