vineri, 12 septembrie 2014

Teach Google About Your Entities by Using Topical Hubs - Whiteboard Friday

Teach Google About Your Entities by Using Topical Hubs - Whiteboard Friday


Teach Google About Your Entities by Using Topical Hubs - Whiteboard Friday

Posted: 11 Sep 2014 05:15 PM PDT

Posted by gfiorelli1

I'm not so sure it's correct to say—as is so common lately—that today's SEO is a new one, especially with regard to on-site SEO.

Many of the things that are necessary today were also necessary in the past: a well-designed information architecture, a great navigation structure, good internal linking, etc.

We should talk instead of a new emphasis we must give to some factors as old as SEO itself.

Today I'll talk about one of these factors—Topical Hubs—that, although it has been important in the past, is even more so today with Hummingbird and the increasing weight Google gives to semantics and thematic consistency of the sites.

[Disclaimer about my accent in the video: I swear, my English is not so bad, even if it really sounds Italian; just the idea that I was in Seattle shooting a WBF stressed every cell in my body].

For reference, here's a still of this week's whiteboard!

Video Transcription

Hola, Moz fans. I'm Gianluca Fiorelli. Finally, you are going to see my face and not just my picture or avatar.

I'm here not to talk about  how to snap faces, but about topical hubs. 

What are topical hubs? We are going to discover it. 

Why are we talking about topical hubs? We are going to talk about it because of Hummingbird. Hummingbird, we know that it's not a really well-known algorithm, but it has really changed how Google works.

One thing we know is that it is simplifying the results [SERPs]. 

One thing that is not working anymore, that was really, really a goldmine for SEO, was working on long, long tails. You can remember maybe many sites targeting millions of pages about every kind of long queries possible. This is not so anymore because Hummingbird has simplified [everything]. If query A, query B, and query C are the same when query D, Google will always show query D [SERPs].

In order to optimize your site for this kind of new semantic understanding that Google has of the queries - especially conversational query - we must understand that we have to think in entities and not in keywords. We have to think about the connection between the entities, and we have to be really sure about the context of the content that we are creating

All these three things then will guide our keyword research.

How can we do this?

We should start our job not from keywords but from entities. 

These are a few tools that we can use, like directly using the Freebase APIs, which is directly using a Google source (as Freebase is Google), or we can use the AlchemyAPI, which can make our job easier. 

There are also other tools, like  ConceptNetYahoo Glimmer, and Bottlenose. Bottlenose... I suggest it to you if you are going to create or craft a site about something which is really mainstream, but has concepts stemming especially from social. Bottlenose is really good because it's taking care also of entity recognition in social media. 

There is  RelFinder, which is a really nice tool for free. It is relying on the dBASE, the Wikipedia database.

From there, using these tools, we can understand, for instance, let's say we are talking about pizza because we are a pizzeria (I'm Italian). 

Using these tools, we can understand what the concepts are related to pizza: What kind of pizza (thin, crunchy, regular pizza, with tomatoes, without tomatoes, Neapolitan or Romana, so many kinds), but also the history of pizza, because Pizza Margherita was named from an Italian queen. 

We can discover also that pizza can be related to geography also because pizza is Italian, but the World Championship of Acrobatic Pizza (which is a sport) is Spanish. 

We can understand many, many entities, many, many facts around the concept of pizza that can populate our site about pizzas.

Let's say that we are a pizzeria. We have a local site, and we are maybe in Tribeca. We shouldn't just focus ourselves on the entity search of "pizzas," but we should start also thinking about entity searches for entities related to Tribeca, so New York Movie Festival, Robert De Niro, etc.

Once we have all of these entities, we should start thinking about the ontology we want to use, that we can extract from these entities, how to group them and create our categories for the site. 

The categories of a site substantially are our topical hubs.

Going to another kind of website, let's think of a classical real estate classified site. 

We usually have in every classified site the homepage, then the category and product pages. People always say, "How can we make our category pages rank?"

Consider them to be topical hubs. 

A good site for topical hubs could be a microsite. We have just to think of our site as if it was a composition of microsites all contextually connected

So the category page in this case should be considered as a new site all about, for instance, Tribeca or all about Harlem, or Capitol Hill in Seattle, or any other neighborhood if we are talking about real estate.

From there, once we have decided our categories, we can start doing the keyword research, but using a trick, we must credit Dan Shure for the tip, which is to find keywords related to the entities

Now Dan Shure is suggesting to us to do this: going to Keyword Planner and instead of putting a few keywords to retrieve new ones, use a Wikipedia page of the entity related to the content that we are going to optimize. Goggle will start suggesting us keyword groups, and those keyword groups are all related to a specific subset of the entity we are talking about.

So we can start optimizing our page, our content hub, with the keywords Google itself is extracting from the best SERPs of entities (Freebase or Wikipedia). In doing so, we are creating a page which is really well optimized on the keywords side, but also on the entity side, because all of those keywords we are using are keywords that Google relates to specific entities.

But that's not all, because when we talk about topical hubs, we have to talk, again, about the context, and the context is not just writing the classic, old SEO text. It's also giving value to the category page.

So if we have done a good audience analysis, maybe we can understand that in Capitol Hill, there is a certain demographic. So we can organize the content on the hub page focusing on that demographic, and we know that we will have our text talking about the neighborhood, but we also have our initial listings. Maybe we can see, for instance, if a neighborhood is really appreciated, or if the demographic is young families with two kids and so on. Maybe we can add values, like Zillow is doing: has school close to or in the neighborhood, or parks close to the neighborhood, or where to go to eat in the neighborhood, or landmarks in the neighborhood.

All of this content, which is adding value for the user, is also adding contextual value and semantic value for Google.

One tip. When you are optimizing a page, especially category pages, let's say you have the category page Capitol Hill, Seattle for your real estate site. Tag it with the Schema.org property sameAs, the Capitol Hill word, and link that sameAs to the Wikipedia page of Capitol Hill. If it doesn't exist, write yourself a web page about Capitol Hill. You are going to tell Google that your page is exactly about that entity.

So when we have all of these things, we can start thinking about the content we can create, which is contextually relevant both to our entity search (we did a keyword search related to the entities) and also to the audience analysis we did.

So, returning to my pizzeria, we know that we can start doing recipes and tag them with recipe micro data. We can do videos and mark that them with a video object. We can do short forms, and especially we can try to do the long forms and tag them with the article schema and trying to be included in the in-depth article box. We can start writing guides. We can start thinking about UGC and Q&A.

We can try especially to create things about the location where we are set, which in my pizzeria case was Tribeca, creating a news board to talk and discuss about the news of what's happening in Tribeca, what the people of Tribeca are doing, and if we are lucky, we can also think to do newsjacking, which we know is really strong.

For instance, do you remember the Oscar night when  the guy with the pizza was entering on the stage? Well, maybe we could do something similar in Tribeca, because there's a movie festival there. So, maybe during the red carpet show our person goes to all of the celebrities and starts giving pizza to them, or at least a Coke?

So doing these things we are creating something which is really, really thought about in a semantic way, because we are really targeting our site to all of the entities related to our micro-topic. We have it optimized also on a keyword level, and we have it optimized on a semantic search level. We have created it crossing our search with the audience search.

We're creating content which is responding both to our audience and Google

And doing so, we are not going to need to create millions of pages targeting long, long tails. 

We just need really strong topical hubs that stem content, which will be able to respond properly to all the queries we were targeting before.

I hope you enjoyed this Whiteboard Friday.

And, again, I beg your pardon for my accent (luckily you have the transcript).

Video transcription by Speechpad.com


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Seth's Blog : The launch meeting

 

The launch meeting

You've probably been to one. The organization is about to embark on something new--a new course, a new building, a new fundraising campaign. The organizer calls together the team, and excitement is in the air.

Choose which sort of meeting you'd like to have:

The amateur's launch meeting is fun, brimming with possibility and excitement. Everything is possible. Goals are meant to be exceeded. Not only will the difficult parts go well, but this team, this extraordinary team, will be able to create something magical.

Possibility is in the air, and it would be foolish to do anything but fuel it. After all, you don't get many days as pure as this one.

The professional's launch meeting is useful. It takes advantage of the clean sheet of paper to address the difficult issues before egos get in the way. Hard questions get asked, questions like:

  • What are the six things most likely to go wrong?
  • What will lead us to go over budget? Over schedule?
  • How will we communicate with one another when things are going well, and how will we change that pattern when someone in the room (anyone in the room) realizes that something is stuck?

Right here, in this room, one where there's nothing but possibility and good vibes—here's your moment to have the difficult conversations in advance, to outline the key dates and people and tasks.

By all means, we need your dreams and your stretch goals and most of all your enthusiasm. But they must be grounded in the reality of how you'll make it happen.

       

 

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joi, 11 septembrie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis


RBS, 4 Other Banks Warn of Relocation to England if Scots Vote Yes; Catalans Stage Mass Protest for Independence

Posted: 11 Sep 2014 11:12 PM PDT

Tale of Two Countries

Fearmongering in Scotland hits fever pitch as RBS and four other banks threaten to leave the country if Scotland votes "Yes" for independence.

In Spain, Catalans staged a huge protest in favor of independence. The Spanish government hopes Scotland will vote "No" even though it seeks to halt a Catalan vote altogether.

Let's take a close look at these stories starting with Scotland.

RBS, 4 Other Banks Warn of Relocation to England if Scots Vote Yes

On the fearmongering front, RBS warns it would relocate to England if Scots vote Yes.
Royal Bank of Scotland led a host of banks employing more than 35,000 people in Scotland who warned that they would relocate their headquarters south of the border in the event of a Yes vote in the Scottish independence referendum next week.

"RBS believes that it would be necessary to re-domicile the bank's holding company and its primary rated operating entity (The Royal Bank of Scotland plc) to England," it said in a statement on Thursday.

The move, which followed a similar announcement from Lloyds Banking Group on Wednesday, was swiftly echoed by Clydesdale Bank, TSB Bank and Tesco Bank, which all individually confirmed they would set up London-based entities if Scotland voted to leave the UK.

The recently floated TSB Bank, which has more than a quarter of its loans north of the border, said it planned to move its main high street banking subsidiary's domicile from Edinburgh to London. TSB's parent company and head office are already all in London, but it has more than 2,000 staff in Scotland, out of a total of 8,000.

"Although the implications of Scottish Independence remain unclear, it is likely that in the event of a Yes vote, TSB will establish additional legal entities in England," it said, adding that it expected there to be enough time between a Yes vote and the start of independence to implement any changes.

With some polls showing the two sides neck-and-neck a week before the vote, business leaders have become more outspoken about the impact of a Yes vote. Retailer Next said on Thursday it feared that independence would push up prices in its stores north of the border.

Sir Charlie Mayfield, chairman of John Lewis, said independence could force the retailer to adopt a different pricing regime in Scotland due to potential currency and tax changes.

The announcements came after a co-ordinated effort by the Better Together campaign, the Treasury and Number 10 to persuade businesses to speak up in favour of the union. On Thursday morning, more than 100 Scottish business leaders jointly signed a letter organised by Better Together urging Scots to vote No, arguing that the economic risks of separation were not worth taking.

Standard Life, the FTSE 100 insurer that is one of the largest employers north of the border, said on Wednesday that it was planning to shift large parts of its business out of the country if Scotland voted for independence. "This transfer of our business could potentially include pensions, investments and other long-term savings," it said.
20 Point "No" Lead Vanished

This one is close. Hopefully Scotland does the right thing and votes for independence. In the wake of a fever-pitch fearmongering effort by Cameron, banks, and others, it's hard to say.

The only reason Cameron allowed this vote in the first place is because he thought it was a guaranteed proposition. The "No" voters once had a 20-point lead in the polls.

Mass Protest in Barcelona

Meanwhile, in Spain, Catalans stage mass protest in Barcelona to back referendum
The Catalan independence movement held a mass rally in Barcelona on Thursday as part of an intensifying campaign in support of a planned November referendum on the region's future political status.

Dressed in red and yellow, the colours of the Catalan flag, hundreds of thousands of protesters assembled on Gran Via and Avenida Diagonal, two of the city's main arteries. Seen from the air, the rally formed the shape of a giant V, described by organisers as a symbol of Catalonia's desire to vote.

The Catalan demonstration was staged a week before Scotland's independence referendum, and less than two months before the planned plebiscite in the Spanish region. The Spanish government has said repeatedly that it will not allow the Catalan vote to go ahead, arguing that the country's constitution allows no space for regional self-determination.

The constitutional court is set to rule on the issue in the weeks ahead, and is widely expected to side with Madrid. Catalan leaders will then have to decide whether to press ahead with their ballot or comply with the court ruling and develop an alternative strategy.

Speaking hours before the demonstration, Artur Mas, the Catalan president, renewed his calls on Madrid not to stand in the way of the November vote. "The message [today] is, 'We want to vote. We are a nation. We want to decide our own political future.'"
Let the Voters Decide

Why shouldn't the Catalan voters, like Scottish voters, get to decide their own fate?

The only apparent answer is Spain knows full well they would vote for independence. Had Cameron realized the vote in the UK would have been this close, I rather doubt he would have allowed it.

Yet, as I have stated before, it's far better to settle such issues by vote than by civil war.

For further discussion, please see Will Tears and Promises Save the Day for the "No" Vote for Scotland? Lesson for Ukraine: Voting is Better than Civil War.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Fishing for Trout With Rope and Mashed Potatoes; Mentality of Jackasses; Gas Pains

Posted: 11 Sep 2014 01:46 PM PDT

The EU stepped up its sanctions today after forcing all the ducks in line with the position of president Obama. Russia immediately responded in kind with actions on cars, clothes, and energy.

The Financial Times reports Russia Threatens to Cap Western Car and Clothing Imports.
Russia threatened to escalate a growing trade dispute between the Kremlin and the EU, saying it could cap western car and clothing imports.

The fresh warning came as EU diplomats ended a week-long deadlock on Thursday over a new round of sanctions against the Kremlin, and agreed to trigger measures to block Russia's largest state-owned oil companies from raising money on European capital markets.
Forcing Ducks In Line
The measures were due to go into effect at the start of the week, but several EU countries balked, arguing they needed more time to assess whether the Kiev-brokered ceasefire would take hold.

Diplomats said the decision by EU ambassadors to press ahead came after Herman Van Rompuy, the European Council president, held a conference call on Thursday with the leaders of the four European countries in the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations – Germany's Angela Merkel, France's François Hollande, Britain's David Cameron and Italy's Matteo Renzi – to finalise the measures.
Russia's Response
Speaking after the EU announcement, Vladimir Chizhov, Russia's permanent representative to the EU, told Russian newswires: "Russia has no other choice but to go for certain countermeasures."
Russia Tightens Gas Supplies to Poland

Also consider Russia Tightens Gas Supplies to Poland.
Poland's state gas group PGNiG said on Wednesday that Gazprom had delivered 20 per cent less gas on Monday and 24 per cent less gas on Tuesday than it was contracted to supply. Kiev confirmed Poland had been forced to stop re-exports to Ukraine in response to these cuts.

Igor Prokopiv, head of Ukraine's gas pipeline operator, confirmed the knock-on effect in Ukraine.

"At 2pm Poland stopped reverse gas flows to Ukraine which had been in the range of 4m cubic metres," he told journalists in Kiev. "Today Poland put in an order for 11 mcm a day, and Russia confirmed orders for 7mcm. Those 4mcm are our reverse flows." 

Energy supplies are one of Ukraine's most serious vulnerabilities. It is one of the world's least efficient energy consumers and its supply crunch is being compounded by falling coal production in the Donbass region, which has been affected by conflict. Ukraine needs to import about half of its consumption of about 50 bcm annually and analysts reckon it would be hard to weather the winter without imports of 5bcm to 10bcm

The volumes of reverse-flows are modest in comparison with Ukraine's needs. Slovakia is exporting some 21 mcm/d, Hungary can supply 16 mcm and Poland can send 4 mcm.
Priorities vs. Solidarity
Ukraine complained last month that reverse flows were running at far less than potential capacity; Hungary for example is sending only about 3 mcm, because its priority is to fill its own storage facilities in readiness for a stand-off with Russia.
Gas Pains

The above statements sum up the position quite nicely, don't they? In essence it's a big F*You to Ukraine.

Better Ukraine to be totally without gas than for the rest of Europe to suffer from any gas pains.

Sanctions Never Work

As a result of previous sanctions, and counter-sanctions fruit is rotting in the fields, and European GDP is under pressure. Please consider


Small Price Theory

Who cares if history says sanctions don't work? Who cares if a recession ensues? Not to worry, it's a "small price to pay" say sanction supporters.

I encourage everyone to read my previous discussions on the absolute silliness of the "small price" theory.


Air Flight Restrictions

On September 8 I noted Russia threatens to block commercial air traffic over Russian airspace. Costly re-routes on the way. See EU Threatens New Sanctions; Russia Responds with Threats on Natural Gas and Airspace Flight Restrictions.

Mentality of Jackasses

In the above article I commented ...
Why EU and US economic-jackasses think sanctions will accomplish anything positive or change Russia's behavior one bit is at first glance a bit of a mystery.

However, economic-jackasses by definition are going to do stupid things, so we should expect more and more of the same failed tactics.
Reader Terry responded "I'm astounded that you, a libertarian, belittle the EU for economic sanctions. The EU has nothing but economic sanctions to make Russia pay any kind of price for invading its neighbors."

Sanction Irony - Putin's Popularity Hits 87%

I am amused by the silliness of Terry's comment. For starters, no Libertarian would ever be in favor of sanctions. 

Invariably, the average citizen ends of paying the price. And that holds true for both sides.

Time Magazine explains how sanctions really work: Putin's Popularity Soars to 87% in the Face of Adversity

Expect Putin to cave in on account of sanctions? Think again. The bigger the sanctions, the greater the hardships on those who impose them.

Nonetheless, the EU and President Obama want to "do something". So they do. And to get support, they flash the "patriotism card". Unthinking sheep fall in line every time.

Fishing for Trout With Rope and Mashed Potatoes

In spite of the fact that sanctions are counterproductive, the "EU has nothing but sanctions to try" so that's what they do. Next, mainstream media parrots fall in line. Ultimately,  and under the guise of patriotism, the sheep and ducks fall in line as well.

The sanction approach is similar to fishing for trout with rope and mashed potatoes because that's all you have to fish with.

Actually, sanctions are far worse.

Fishing for trout with mashed potatoes and rope only wastes time and potatoes. Sanctions waste more time, a tremendous amount of money, and the bigger the sanctions, the greater the loss of jobs and economic output.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Don't Like the Rules? Then Ignore Them: Shoot First, Ask Questions Later

Posted: 11 Sep 2014 12:01 PM PDT

In politics, if you don't like the rules, you ignore them. This philosophy only works if you are big enough and powerful enough to get away with it. I have some recent examples.

Shoot First Ask Questions Later

The Guardian comments Obama's Legal Rationale for Isis Strikes: Shoot First, ask Congress Later.
For expanded Isis strikes, president relies on legal authority he disavowed only a year ago. Obama said he would welcome congressional support but framed it as optional, save for the authorisations and the $500m he wants to use the US military to train Syrian rebels.

Yet one of the main authorities Obama is relying on for avoiding Congress is the 2001 wellspring of the war on terrorism he advocated repealing only last year, a document known as the Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) that few think actually applies to Isis.

Taken together with the congressional leadership's shrug, Obama has stripped the veneer off a contemporary fact of American national security: presidents make war on their own, and congresses acquiesce.

The constitution envisions the exact opposite circumstance. 
More Obama Examples 

Changes on the fly to Obamacare? Hey, why not? Who is going to stop him?

Immigration rule changes? Why not?

It matters not that Obama would be overstepping his bounds in a matter that should be left to Congress. It matters not that Only 26% in Favor of Obama's Amnesty Plan for Illegal Immigrants.

Republicans and Democrats Alike

It's not just Obama. Bush and Cheney wanted a war with Iraq so they lied to get one. Some $3 trillion later, many warmongering fools still think Bush was correct. Yet, we are now fighting in Iraq for the third time as a result.

FDR Burns Crop, Confiscates Gold

FDR confiscated everyone's gold and burned farmers' crops, two of many blatantly illegal, even treasonous acts by FDR. He is revered by Keynesian economists for breaking the law because he got away with it and they believe it worked. (It didn't).

End analysis says that if presidents think they can get away with it, they do what they want. Constitution be damned.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

53% of Chinese Expect War With Japan

Posted: 10 Sep 2014 11:59 PM PDT

Even with battles over energy, disputed islands, and recent militarism by Japan, one might not have expected this polling result: Majority in China Expect War with Japan.
China and Japan are heading towards military conflict, according to a majority of Chinese surveyed on ties between the Asian powers in a Sino-Japanese poll.

The Genron/China Daily survey found that 53 per cent of Chinese respondents – and 29 per cent of the Japanese polled – expect their nations to go to war. The poll was released ahead of the second anniversary of Japan's move to nationalise some of the contested Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

Relations between Japan and China have soured since Japan bought three of the tiny islands – which China claims and calls the Diaoyu – in 2012. Japan defended the move as an effort to thwart a plan by the anti-China governor of Tokyo to buy them, but China accused it of breaching an unwritten deal to keep the status quo.

According to the poll, 38 per cent of Japanese think war will be avoided, but that marked a nine point drop from 2013. It also found that a record 93 per cent of Japanese have an unfavourable view of their Chinese neighbours, while the number of Chinese who view Japanese unfavourably fell 6 points to 87 per cent.
Energy Production

Given global restraints on the production and use of energy, my view is that it is impossible for China to keep growing 7% a year as most expect.

I believe China will be lucky to grow 3% on average for the next decade.

Questions of the Day

  • If China attempts to maintain 7% growth for another decade, where will the energy resources come from?
  • If China doesn't maintain high growth, what about mounting Chinese unrest due to lack of jobs?
  • What happens when Abenomics fails?
  • What about US, EU, and Japanese pushes for higher inflation even though wages don't keep up?
  • What about Ukraine and the US-EU feud with Russia?
  • What about ISIS?
  • What abut Syria?

My point? The global economy is a tinderbox, waiting for a catalyst to explode.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Damn Cool Pics

Damn Cool Pics


The X-files Celebrates Its 21st Birthday

Posted: 11 Sep 2014 12:09 PM PDT

Today the X-Files turns 21 years old. Mulder and Scully look a whole lot different in 2014 than they did in 1993. 

1993



2014

One Of The Last Pictures Taken At The World Trade Center

Posted: 11 Sep 2014 10:49 AM PDT

On September 10th 2001, this family was one of the last families to stand at the top of the World Trade Center. The picture is now haunting knowing what would happen the next day.

















When Evolution Goes Wrong

Posted: 11 Sep 2014 10:09 AM PDT

Are these things getting better or worse? You be the judge.























Gouy Zhingzhing Tests The Firmness Of Her Breasts

Posted: 11 Sep 2014 09:40 AM PDT

A website in China challenged fitness model Gouy Zhingzhing to test the firmness of her breasts. It turns out, those things are pretty damn strong.





































"We Will Only Grow Stronger"

 
Here's what's going on at the White House today.
 
 
 
 
 
  Featured

"We Will Only Grow Stronger"

Thirteen years ago today, our nation was irrevocably changed by horrific acts of terror that took the lives of thousands of innocent people. Across the country, Americans pay tribute to their memories and honor all those who have made great sacrifices in service to our country.

At 8:46 a.m. ET this morning -- the time that the first plane hit the World Trade Center -- President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden joined Americans in observing a moment of silence.

The President and First Lady then joined Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, servicemen and women, survivors, and the families of victims at the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon. At the memorial, the President spoke to all who lost loved ones that day, and who have inspired a nation with their determination to carry on and live lives worthy of their memories.

See more from today's events commemorating the 13th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

Learn more about the President's remarks today.

President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, and Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, listen to the national anthem during the September 11th Observance Ceremony at the Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, Va., Sept. 11, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)


 
 
  Top Stories

President Obama: "We Will Degrade and Ultimately Destroy ISIL"

In an address from the State Floor of the White House last night, President Obama spoke to the nation about ISIL -- and our comprehensive strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group.

READ MORE

AmeriCorps: Changing Lives, Changing America

Twenty years ago, our nation started a new chapter in our proud tradition of citizen service. AmeriCorps represented a new way of getting things done: passionate citizens making an intense commitment to solve problems and improve the lives of others while expanding opportunity for themselves.

READ MORE

Vice President Biden Marks the 20th Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act

This week, Vice President Biden marked the 20th Anniversary of the landmark Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) -- a landmark law that empowered women and children to expose and prosecute domestic violence. The signing of the law marked the end of an arduous road to pass the legislation, and put our society on the path toward effectively combating such heinous crimes.

READ MORE


 
 
  Today's Schedule

All times are Eastern Time (ET)

8:45 AM: The President, Vice President, First Lady, and White House staff observe a moment of silence to mark the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks

9:30 AM: The President and First Lady attend the September 11th Observance Ceremony

12:30 PM: The President and Vice President meet for lunch

1:00 PM: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Josh Earnest

2:55 PM: The President and Vice President meet with Secretary of Health and Human Services Burwell

5:20 PM: The President and First Lady participate in a service project


 

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