Posted by John Morgan on Nov 14, 2009 - 06:12 PM
![Air Force One pulls out of a tarmac at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 14, 2009. [AP Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_1114_obama_airforceone_m.jpg)
I come from an airline family.
My parents both worked for Pan American World Airways, and so ever since I was a little kid, I have been fascinated by planes. When we would go to visit family in Europe for vacations, nothing was more exciting to me than getting on that 747. Sometimes I was allowed to visit the cockpit and ask the pilots what all the instruments were for. We lived near the airport, and by the age of ten I could identify any aircraft flying overhead by its tail colors. As I child I had always dreamed of seeing Air Force One flying overhead, but never had the chance.
In some ways that fascination with airplanes has stayed with me. So when I was asked to be the airport site officer for President Obama’s…
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Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Nov 14, 2009 - 03:02 PM
![President Obama delivers remarks at Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 14, 2009. [AP Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_1114_obama_tokyo_m.jpg)
"So I want everyone to know, and I want everybody in America to know, that we have a stake in the future of this region, because what happens here has a direct effect on our lives at home. This is where we engage in much of our commerce and buy many of our goods. And this is where we can export more of our own products and create jobs back home in the process. This is a place where the risk of a nuclear arms race threatens the security of the wider world, and where…
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Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Nov 13, 2009 - 03:19 PM
![President Obama and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama at press conference, Tokyo, Nov. 13, 2009. [AP]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_1113_obama_japan_m.jpg)
"We have to understand that the future of the United States and Asia is inextricably linked. The issues that matter most to our people -- issues of economic growth and job creation, non-proliferation, clean energy -- these are all issues that have to be part of a joint agenda. And we had very productive discussions about these issues this…
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Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Nov 05, 2009 - 06:39 PM
![Fish swim above deep coral reef at Pearl and Hermes Atoll, undated photo. [AP Photo/ NOAA]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_1105_coral_reef_m.jpg)
Senior officials from the six nations of the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security adopted the Coral Triangle Initiative regional governance structure at the fourth Senior Officials…
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Posted by Sumreen Mirza on Oct 26, 2009 - 01:05 PM
![Wind turbine blades in China June 24, 2009. [AP video]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/china_energy2_m.jpg)
The U.S. and China met this week in Beijing to review progress achieved in the second year of the U.S.-China Ten Year Framework (TYF) on Energy and Environment Cooperation. This framework encompasses action plans for collaboration on five existing priorities: clean, efficient and secure electricity production and transmission, clean water, clean air, clean and efficient transportation, and conservation of wetland ecosystems and nature reserves. In addition to identifying new activities under existing action plans, the Joint Working Group made significant progress in finalizing a draft action plan for energy efficiency collaboration. Read more about…
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