Wednesday on a challenge

Debbie Challenged us to

 And now - the challenge is to include a news report or document in your blog post. I've included a press release and a screen shot of twitter from our recent windstorm.

And so my contribution is an article from the Melbourne Age

Obama to address Federal Parliament

ARI SHARP, CANBERRA

March 4, 2010 - 12:09PM

US President Barack Obama will address a joint sitting of the Australian Parliament on March 23, the government said today.
The speech will come on what is expected to be the second day of the President's three-day trip, his first official visit to Australia.
The Parliament will be reconvened for the speech, which will be delivered to a joint sitting of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The government also announced that Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would address a joint sitting next Wednesday.
"The visit of President Barack Obama will of course generate a great deal of interest from the Australian public and indeed we will be honoured by his presence in Canberra that day," Anthony Albanese, the manager of government business in the House, told journalists in Canberra this morning.
President Obama's visit comes during what was meant to be a non-sitting week, but the government will reconvene the houses on March 22 for an ordinary sitting day.
"The cost of recalling Parliament - I don't think there would be any Australian who would think that it was inappropriate for the Parliament to hear from the President of the United States," Mr Albanese said.
"The United States is our most important friend and ally. President Obama will be a very welcome guest in our country."
Other details of Mr Obama's visit, including the timing of his speech to parliament, have not been revealed in part for security reasons.
Asked about whether he expected a repeat of the behaviour of Greens senators, who in 2003 interrupted speeches by then US president George Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao, Mr Albanese said: "That's up to the Greens to determine how they behave."
"It is appropriate in my view that will any visiting dignitary visits this nation that the Australian parliamentarians both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate treat that visiting dignitary with respect."
The last visit by a sitting US president was Mr Bush's 2007 visit for the APEC summit in Sydney.
For Dr Yudhoyono's visit, the Parliament will suspend at noon next Wednesday ahead of a 2pm address. The Parliament will resume normal business at 4pm, with no Question Time that day.
The details of Mr Obama's trip were released as reports surface in the US that his drive to get health-care legislation passed in the next few weeks is bumping up against his planned visit to Australia and Indonesia, raising concerns among members of the US Democrats about the trip’s timing.
Mr Obama’s top aides have discussed whether to postpone the overseas travel in case the timing for a vote on the President’s signature legislative priority slips, according to a person familiar with the discussions. For now, the trip is on.
Mr Obama is tentatively set to leave Washington March 18 and be overseas for a week. Congress is scheduled to begin a two- week Easter holiday recess on March 29.
White House staff have discussed the schedule with Congressional Democrat leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and ‘‘we are on schedule to finish health-insurance reform in the House on time, so there’s been no change in our trip plans,’’ Mr Obama’s spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said.

A bit of hometown reporting and links to my new home.
Cheers