Ann Coulter has done quite well for herself as a conservative commentator around the many news networks in this country. But considering her latest social media blunder, she may want to stick to the news and lay off the social media quips.

Coulter became the target of some serious ridicule when she responded to a social media campaign headed by Michelle Obama with a picture of her holding a piece of paper that read #BringBackOurCountry. The original campaign called for the return of nearly 300 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls via the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, a prominent story that has received a great deal of media attention.

Coulter’s insensitive response caught the attention of some Twitter vigilantes and an image began circling of Ann Coulter with a blank piece of paper, urging people to mock the right-wing correspondent in the funniest way possible. And Twitter did not disappoint. In a few short minutes, a number of hilarious images were popping up of Coulter complimenting Michael Sam’s relationship or inviting the country to #BringBack3DDoritoes.

Because most people are so skilled at the art of meme-making nowadays, this image continued to circle around the Internet. Some images showed Coulter holding pictures of animals playing instruments (or worse) but many took the opportunity to make her say out of character things. Here are some of the other gems: #BringBackMySoul, Please Pay Attention to Me, #BringBackTraditionalWhiteAmerica, and even “I’m a miserable person who peddles hate to make money off dumb Republicans.” All right, that last one got a little dark.

But the mockery at Coulter’s expense seemed to mostly be lighthearted. The Twitter Universe merely seemed like they wanted to point out that not everything has to be a stand.

A Gallup poll taken in November found 76 percent of Americans favor a national minimum wage hike to $9 per hour. House Speaker John Boehner told MSNBC that the president probably has the executive authority to raise federal wages, but Republicans will be watching closely for any abuses of power.

The White House also endorsed the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Representative George Miller (D-Calif.) last March. The bill would gradually raise the minimum wage for all workers until it reaches $10.10 an hour. It would also increase the minimum wage for tipped workers for the first time since the early 1990s, and give cost-of-living increases based on the Consumer Price Index.

The bill has little chance of getting through the House of Representatives. A minimum wage increase would put some needed extra cash in the pockets of millions of workers, but may disrupt gains in other areas.

The Economics

The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 6.7 percent in December, the lowest reading since late 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the gains stemmed more from workers dropping out of the labor force than from more people becoming employed. Companies added a mere 74,000 jobs total in December, the lowest one-month reading in three years, according to Time magazine.

Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics, an economic forecasting and bank stress testing firm, told AZ Star Net last year that a hike in minimum wage nationally would increase the price of labor, and discourage companies from hiring more workers. But the Chicago Federal Reserve believes the move would stimulate the economy by putting more money into the pockets of people who spend as opposed to save.

State and Municipal-Level Minimum Wage Hikes

Several states are following the president’s lead, refusing to wait for Congress to act on a minimum wage increase. California governor Jerry Brown signed a bill in September that will increase the state’s minimum wage in increments until it reaches $10 an hour in 2016.

Washington state has the highest minimum wage in the country, raising it from $9.19 in 2013 to $9.32 this year due to inflation. The minimum wage in New Jersey increased by $1 to $8.25 on January 1 due to a voter initiative that also calls for annual cost-of-living increases.

The White House said that 2014 will be an action-packed year, with the President putting the wealth gap and wage inequality at the forefront of his agenda. Carney told reporters that the administration will continue to explore options to get things done within the power it has.

Among the trending news of the moment on the internet is the selfie taken by the president Obama at Mandela’s Memorial service, together with Denmark’s Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameroon. The photo was posted on the Twitter account of the newspaper New York Post and it shows President Obama taking the shot with a Smartphone.

President Obama has declared in the past that because of security reasons he doesn’t have an iPhone. It is unclear who the owner of the Smartphone was. Probably it belongs to the Denmark’s Prime Minister Denmark’s Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt who can be seen holding the Smartphone. Maybe President Obama was just lending a helping hand.

The fact that Obama takes selfie at Mandela’s service is somehow awkward. The selfie is the symbol of everything wrong with our society, our internet, and our teens. For a funeral service, the selfie is a tragic irony reminding us of our connected age.

The photo was added to the Tumblr “Selfies at Funerals’’ that is a collection of images from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram showing oblivious teens, posing for their iPhones at funeral services. In the recent years the act of taking selfies has become increasingly popular. A selfie is defined as self-photo, a photograph taken of oneself with a webcam or a Smartphone and uploaded to a social media network.

In a way, the selfie taken by President Obama is not as awkward as some critics would like us to believe. First, it is not clear that the President was the one who was taking the selfie and it appears more credible that it was the mobile phone of the Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. Second, it wasn’t technically a funeral service but a memorial service for the former President Nelson Mandela. Besides gossip, from a political point of view, more intriguing is the photo of President Obama shaking hands with Raul Castro, the brother of Cuba’s President Fidel Castro who has been an enemy of the US for long.

Obama’s uncle first came to the United States in 1963 on a student visa. He became an illegal immigrant when his visa expired in 1970. In 1992, a deportatation order was issued against him, but he ignored said order and continued to stay in the country. His illegal status remained undetected until his arrest in 2011 for drunk driving in Framingham, Massachusetts where he allegedly bragged about his White House connection. He denied saying this to the arresting officers.

During the hearing, his lawyer, Margaret Wong asked him whether he had relatives living in the United States. He replied that he had a nephew, two nieces and a sister. Probed further, he revealed that the nephew he referred to is President Barack Obama himself. But, Wong maintains that his powerful connections did not help his cause. In fact, it placed his applications under a microscope and delayed the case further. The 69-year old Onyango works as a manager of a liquor store.

According to another immigration lawyer, President Obama’s was given permanent resident status mainly because he qualified under the law and not because of his connections. Onyango only had to prove was that he has been in the country since 1972 or earlier and that he has behaved himself since then. This was confirmed by the judge who said that Obama was a gentleman and a good taxpayer, and thus his petition was granted.

Three years earlier, the same judge also granted an asylum to Obama’s aunt, Zeutuni Onyango, who was also staying in the country illegally.

There have been plenty of posts on Reddit since it was founded. Some have been very good and competing for the high ranking. Based on the popularity and comments, scores have been assigned to posts which decide their ranking.  The visualization shows the top-rated 200 posts on Reddit of all times.

This visualization represents the tree map i.e. the whole area has been subdivided into various rectangles. Area of each rectangle represents rating of the post. There is provision of checking the score as well as the comments made on the post.

The top-rated posts have been subdivided into various sub-categories for example funny, technology, blog and news etc. This visualization shows color coding for each post. The trend of posts can easily be determined by simple visual inspection of chart.

The overall rating of posts depends upon difference between up votes and down votes. For example, the second top-rated post of all time in terms of voting, “The Bus Knight”, got more than 21000 upvotes. However, it falls short in comments as compared to other popular posts as “I am Barack Obama, President of the United States”. Deep analysis of chart shows that sub-reddits of ‘pics’ and ‘funny’ dominate the top 200 posts.

There is provision of visualizing the chart with posts arranged according to the number of comments made. It provides an excellent data exploring opportunity for Reddit lovers. No need to put strain on your eyes as interactive version of this visualization provides all the minor details. Click through each posts to analyze its ranking.

This informative visualization has been made by James Trimble, student of Computer Science at University of Glasgow, UK. His exceptional skills have put plethora of Reddit’s secrets in a single place.

At first it was thought that Obama’s Twitter account was hacked after a shortened link sent users to a Syrian account, however it was found to be the URL shortened software that was hijacked instead.  By hijacking the URL shortener, they were able to redirect user’s to the link of their choice!

Obama campaign group Organizers for Action: “An account with our link shortener was hacked. [But] at no point did they have access to the Twitter handle.” Twitter has also confirmed to us that there’s no evidence the Twitter account was hacked. The tweet was up for 19 hours before the redirect was noticed, making it possible that the change happened only recently. Not long after, the link was fixed; it now sends readers to Barack Obama’s site.

We accessed many Obama campaign emails accounts to assess his terrorism capabilities. They are quite high #SEA pic.twitter.com/ARgGLX8IjN

— SyrianElectronicArmy (@Official_SEA16) October 28, 2013

“I told you I was going to do it!”  Obama shouted to someone just offstage. “The Sandman did not come out!”

“Don’t worry, Rev. I cannot sing like you,” he joked. “I just wanted to show my appreciation.”

This upcoming election season is going to  heavily engaged with social media – Twitter and Facebook leading the charge.

But in a recent news release from President Barack Obama’s reelection staff, the President will actually be writing his own updates on Facebook and Twitter.  And you’ll be able to identify the tweets coming from President Barack Obama himself because his updates, the ones he writes personally, will be signed “-BO”.

And of course, the BO references will be getting much late night talk show attention with jokes about how President Barack Obama’s tweets smell!

You can tell by the looks on their faces that what they are either hearing or watching is some serious stuff – especially the look on Hilary Clinton’s face which is near shock at whatever she sees or is hearing.

It’s intense my friends:

(From Flickr)  President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, along with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011. Seated, from left, are: Brigadier General Marshall B. “Brad” Webb, Assistant Commanding General, Joint Special Operations Command; Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Standing, from left, are: Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; National Security Advisor Tom Donilon; Chief of Staff Bill Daley; Tony Binken, National Security Advisor to the Vice President; Audrey Tomason Director for Counterterrorism; John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Please note: a classified document seen in this photograph has been obscured. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

via flickr

For President Barack Obama, his Presidency was all about “Change”!  Change that needed to come to Washington, “Change” that was going turn around the unemployment rate, and “Change” that was, once and for all, end the politics that plagues our capital.

But with the new budget crisis, and the fact that our Federal government was about an hour away from complete shut down, does this bode well for President Barack Obama’s message of “Change”?

I have to believe, no wait… I’m convinced, that the GOP is already  fully capitalizing on this opportunity to hammer the President for his lack of leadership in Washington.

And it’s really just a matter of time – and perhaps it’s already there and I just haven’t seen it yet – before YouTube fills up with GOP attacks on the President.

So is this a reflection of Barack Obama’s lack of leadership as the President?

I believe so, yes…

While He (the President) should have been in Washington leading from the White House as the President of the United States, he was in Philadelphia talking with energy workers.  And while he should have been leading from the front with a budget for the Federal Government, he was planning a vacation with his family.

But is it all the President’s fault?

Of course not… the congress is as much to blame.

I’m just saying that it doesn’t look very good on a President who campaigned, and was elected, on the message that “Change Would Come” – when clearly it hasn’t.

image from NYTimes

Somebody did some good Photoshop hacking to produce this bad boy…

It’s President Barack Obama and Sarah Palin cutting it up on Dancing With The Stars.

The conversion around President Barack Obama’s economic policy has just been taken to the web via two videos released by White House Chief Economic Advisor Austan Goolsbee.

Mr. Goolsbee, who is the young CEA to President Obama and occasional stand up comedian, makes his pitch as to why the Bush tax are bad for the economy, and bad for the American people.

The two videos are simple – you have Mr. Goolsbee with a marker and white dry erase board explaining perhaps one of the biggest issues around current economic policy – the expiration of the Bush tax cuts which are scheduled to expire at the end of this year.

Here’s the two videos from White House Chief Economic Advisor Austan Goolsbee:

Citizen Tube has launched another interview of a President, this time it’s former President Bill Clinton. Previously, YouTube, through the Citizen Tube channel, interviewed President Barack Obama.

This interview of President Clinton comes directly on the heels of Clinton’s Global Initiative annual meeting in New York.

You can view the entire 24 minute interview below where President Clinton takes questions submitted via video from all over the world:

President Barack Obama had to replace Christina Romer as the top economic adviser to the President. And today Obama announced that Austan Goolsbee will be the new chair of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President. This is a high office and high position for anyone economist to hold. President Obama went on to say that, “Austan’s been one of my good friends and close economic advisers for many years,” the President said during his remarks this morning. “He’s not just a brilliant economist. He’s someone who has a deep appreciation of how the economy affects everyday people and he talks about it in a way that’s easily understood… I have complete confidence he’s going to do an outstanding job.”

via CBSNews

In what is becoming one of the most controversial issues to confront the The White House and President Barack Obama, the President made it clear that he “supports the freedom to practice religion in America” as his reason for supporting the plan.

The Republican Party is hammering President Obama saying he is “detached from the American people” because of his support of the Mosque being built.

Here’s a  news clip where the President shares his views on the construction of a Mosque near Ground Zero, and of Republicans expressing their thoughts about the President:

President Barack Obama was on The View?

It’s true, his appearance shocked the television audience and the Youtube video search for the episode has spiked to unheard of levels.

So what did President Barack Obama talk about today on The View?

The big question of the day presented to Barack Obama was this:

Were you invited to Chelsea Clinton’s wedding?

And guess what his answer was?

You’ll have to watch the video below to find out.

Of course you know that Obama is going to be criticized for showing up on The View and doing a talk show. The critics will hammer him because “they” think he should be spending his time more productively like standing on the sandy shores of Louisiana, or some other pressing issue.

Here’s President Barack Obama on The View (Youtube Video):

The ongoing saga continues around the Google spies and Google “keyword” cover up story. It’s just this time the story is starting to hit the mainstream of search phrases and people – the people of the web – are starting to become fascinated with the concept of Google removing, or otherwise manipulating search results based on bias and subjective direction from the US government.

Man, what a great spy or conspiracy story this is.

Google, the world’s largest and most influential search engine, purposely covering up (or removing) government bias search results that may reveal potentially damaging information about our country, politicians, or major corporations.

It’s a great story line, but one I’m sure we will never hear Google respond to directly.

Read more about the ongoing Google spies story.

Is Google controlling the search results subjective according to Government influence and dictation from the very highest office in the land – The White House?

The video below called The Obama Deception, although playing here in its entirety – nearly 2 hours long – the video was reportedly removed from Youtube on Friday. Not only was the video no longer found in the search results, or anywhere else on Youtube, but the search term the obama deception was also nowhere to be found, except perhaps on page 50 or greater in Google.

Here’s the full length video of The Obama Deception:

Here is what Prison Planet is reporting about the potential that Google is manipulating search results according to the United States government’s direction:

As we reported Friday, the term ‘Obama Deception’ had surged to number one on the Google trends rankings, above Lindsay Lohan, the BP Oil Spill or the death of George Steinbrenner. What’s more, the viewcount grew by nearly 100,000 in that same single day, demonstrating the accelerated attention the film has been receiving.

Then suddenly the version of the documentary that had 6.5 million views and was linked to from all over the Internet was deleted, presumably by someone at YouTube or Google who had overriding access to the user account.

Now, the term isn’t even in the top 500 trends –  it doesn’t even register when searching.

As a response Alex Jones asked his readers and listeners to search the term ‘obama deception censored’. Extremely quickly that term also hit the top spot, with links to Prisonplanet and Infowars articles we had written covering the news.

However, that term now also no longer registers on Google trends.

Is Google in the government’s back pocket?

This raises a very interesting question and that is, is Google in the back pocket of the government? Google is far and beyond the #1 search engine globally. And the search data would obviously be highly influential in government research (CIA, FBI, terror threats, etc…).

But is it possible that Google will alter the search results if something is showing that could be potentially damaging to the Obama administration?

Google ultimately has control over their own search engine. And they could, I suppose, control whatever they wanted since they own the search property. However, if Google begins altering the search results then the quality and reputation of Google will start to decline and ultimately, in an extreme case, Google’s relevance would be irrelevant.

LeBron James Update – VP Biden Says “Lebron James Will Stay in Cleveland”

(From NY Times) – Vice President Biden told a Cleveland audience Wednesday that NBA superstar LeBron James would remain with the hometown Cavaliers. The comment came at a fundraiser the vice president attended on behalf of Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, who is running for the open U.S. Senate seat in Ohio.

“LeBron James is coming back, and Lee is going to Washington,” he said, according to a pool report from the event.

James, a native of nearby Akron, Ohio, is testing the free-agent waters this off-season and fielding offers from several teams, including the Miami Heat, the New York Knicks and President Obama’s favored Chicago Bulls. But even the president, perhaps with an eye on the Buckeye State’s critical electoral votes, said in an interview that he’d like to see James remain with the Cavs.

“He’s from Ohio. That’s a town that has had some tough times. For him to say, I’m going to make a commitment to this city, you know, I think would be a wonderful thing,” he told Larry King.

(From ESPN) – Sometime in the next few days, Los Angeles Clippers general manager Neil Olshey will make a convincing pitch to LeBron James.

He’ll tell LeBron to look at all the Clippers’ young, talented players. He’ll tell LeBron thatBlake Griffin projects to be better than anyone he’s ever played with. He’ll tell LeBron that he can become a global icon under the bright lights of Los Angeles.

(From NYTimes Blog) –

Halstead Makes Its Own Pitch to LeBron James

If it isn’t enough that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is on a screen in Times Square beseeching the N.B.A. All-Star LeBron James to forsake his Ohio roots for the Big Apple, Halstead Property has now joined the campaign to lure Mr. James to New York.

In a video posted on a Web site Halstead created that is called EveryKingNeedsACastle.com, Halstead says it will help Mr. James — known as King James to his fans — find a home in New York and offers to donate Halstead’s commission to his favorite charity. Mr. James, who has played for the Cleveland Cavaliers since graduating from high school in Akron, Ohio, becomes a free agent on Thursday. Hence, the big sell. The New York Knicks, after all, haven’t reached the playoffs since 2004.

According to the New York Times, General David H. Petraeus  got sick during a Senate testimony on Capital Hill and had to be rushed out of the Senate hearing.

(Source: NYTimes.com) – The commander of American forces in the Middle East, Gen. David H. Petraeus, appeared to swoon or faint briefly during an intense period of questioning by senators Tuesday on whether the military can fulfill President Obama’s orders to begin pulling troops from Afghanistan in July of next year.

Gen. David H. Petraeus was surrounded by staff after appearing to faint briefly on Tuesday while testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

General Petraeus, a long-distance runner, pitched forward toward the microphone where he was seated, and was escorted from the Senate hearing room as the session was adjourned by Sen. Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who is chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

Senator Levin announced a few minutes later that General Petraeus appeared to be feeling better, and was eating and drinking water.

General David Petraeus returned about 30 minutes later and was greeted with applause from those in the audience.

Earlier today, I posted the video of North Carolina Democratic Representative Bob Etheridge attacking a couple of college students who were doing some citizen journalism with their video device.

In the video, Representative Bob Etheridge was walking down the street when a couple of college kids approached Bob Etheridge to ask him some questions. One of the questions was “do you fully support the Obama agenda?” At this, apparently Bob Etheridge took offense to the question and all of a sudden snapped and actually grabbed the kids that were holding the camera.

Later today, Representative Bob Etheridge issued an apology for his actions by saying this:

“I have seen the video posted on several blogs,” Etheridge said in a statement. “I deeply and profoundly regret my reaction and I apologize to all involved. Throughout my many years of service to the people of North Carolina, I have always tried to treat people from all viewpoints with respect. No matter how intrusive and partisan our politics can become, this does not justify a poor response. I have and I will always work to promote a civil public discourse.”

Here’s the video of Representative Bob Etheridge attacking the camera man:

Has the Democratic Representative from North Carolina Bob Etheridge completely lost his mind? The video below is quite frankly unbelievable, and in my opinion a disgrace.

Representative Bob Etheridge, Democratic from North Carolina went off on a couple of college students that were making a video as Bob Etheridge was walking down the street.

As Rep. Bob Etheridge walked down the street in Washington, a couple of college kids with a video camera approached him and simply asked “do you fully support the Obama agenda?”

And then Bob Etheridge turned around, got in the face of the guy holding the camera and then it looked like he actually slapped the camera guy, along with is camera.

Then Bob Etheridge started to grab the kid, squeezing his arm and then squeezing his neck.

The two people will only identify as students and say they are “just here for a project.” In the video, the face of the student in the shot with Ethridge is blurred.

“I have a right to know who you are,” the congressman says, holding one man’s arm. The pair refuse to tell him where they are from and repeat that “all we are is students.”

This video is unbelievable – so check it out below.

And post your comments and thoughts below.

Rep. Bob Etheridge attacks kids with video camera:

The rumors of BP suspending their stock dividend are growing as the oil continues to gush from the broken BP oil pipe, and President Barack Obama relates the crisis to that of 9/11.

As you can tell from the BP live oil feed video below, it appears that BP is capturing more of the gushing oil from the broken pipe. The amount of oil being collected from the gushing oil pipe is increasing as BP today announced that:

“The lower marine riser package (LMRP) containment cap, installed on June 3, continues to collect oil and gas flowing from the MC252 well and transport them to the Discoverer Enterprise drillship on the surface.

In the first 12 hours of June 13 (midnight to noon), approximately 7,720 barrels of oil were collected and 16.9 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared. On June 12, a total of approximately 15,000 barrels of oil were collected and 32.9 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared. The total volume of oil collected by the LMRP cap system since it began operation is approximately 127,000 barrels. A further approximately 22,000 barrels of oil previously had been collected through use of the Riser Insertion Tube Tool and stored in the Discoverer Enterprise.”

[source, BP.com]

President Barack Obama calls oil spill equivalent to 9/11 attacks.

President Barack Obama said in a White House interview by Politico that the BP oil spill is comparable to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center as it relates to the impact that it is having on our nation.

The President said that, when looking at the fact that the BP oil spill crisis came out of nowhere, and was unexpected, and that the crisis will have a long term impact on our country – long after the crisis has passed – these events are comparable to the 9/11 attacks.

“I think he’s off-base,” said ex-FDNY Deputy Chief Jim Riches, whose son died at the World Trade Center. “These were terrorist attacks, these 9/11 murders, not something caused by people trying to make money” – according to the NYDailyNews.com.

Will BP Suspend their stock dividend

Finally, it is being discussed on CNBC this morning that BP is apt to suspend their stock dividend. The cost, and the global impact of the oil spill, is having a dramatic impact on BP’s bottom line. And obviously, this is literally billions of dollars that BP was not expecting to pay out.

The BP suspension of their dividend is not expected to happen today.

BP Oil Spill Live Video Feed

The Republican part is wasting no time whatsoever to start leveraging the massive oil spill that is ongoing in the Gulf of Mexico. A video was released today that is targeted at none other than President Barack Obama, and the video is designed to do one thing – and that is attack President Obama and put the blame of the oil spill, and the oil spill response, directly on his back.

The video shows President Barack Obama has being very detached from the Gulf oil spill crisis. The video shows various senators, and TV talk show hosts hammer Barack Obama on his entire disposition during this crisis.

The video is of an ad created by his political opponents, and begs to ask the question “is this the type of change you had in mind.”

The ad really puts a negative spin on the administration, showing a variety of news clips from the last 52 days.  James Carville, a Democratic strategist even speaks out against the administration – and it’s his party!

Here’s the negative ad blaming Barack Obama for the BP oil spill crisis in the Gulf:

BP CEO Tony Hayward said via Twitter today that BP will pay all legitimate claims filed against them in this BP oil spill disaster.

One thing is obvious in these turbulent times with the BP oil spill in the gulf, and that is BP is clearly not burying their head in the sand when it comes to communicating with as many people as possible about everything that is happening in the spill containment efforts.

Just today, CEO Tony Hayward posted via a company Twitter account that BP is committed, and has been committed since the beginning of this oil spill mess, to meet and pay all legitimate financial claims associated with the oil rig explosion and the following oil pipe leak.

According to Huffington Post, Hayward did not explain what prompted his online posting. But on Friday, Obama said during a trip to Louisiana that he didn’t want BP “nickel-and-diming people.” The president said the federal government would make sure that BP paid the claims.

BP does not seem too concerned about its ability to pay any and all legitimate claims, as stated by BP CEO Tony Hayward. So obviously, in BP’s board meetings and financial planning sessions, the cost for claims are being calculated methodically, and obviously realistically.

One thing is for sure here, lawyers are probably starting to circle like hungry sharks getting their cases prepared.

Memorial Day Poem – In Flanders Field

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Here is a collection of some of the most famous Memorial Day quotes and sayings:

• War is too serious a matter to entrust to military men. -Georges Clemenceau
• Freedom of speech and freedom of action are meaningless without freedom to think. And there is no freedom of thought without doubt. -Bergen Evans
• Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue. -Senator Barry Goldwater
• Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves. -William Pitt
• Chance has never yet satisfied the hope of a suffering people. Action, self-reliance, the vision of self and the future have been the only means by which the oppressed have seen and realized the light of their own freedom. -Marcus Garvey
• In war, there is no prize for the runner-up. -General Omar Bradley
• So long as there are men there will be wars. -Albert Einstein
• I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. -Albert Einstein
• The cost of liberty is less than the cost of repression. -Web Dubois
• The purpose of all war is ultimately peace. -Saint Augustine
• And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free, and I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me and I’ll proudly stand next to him to defend her still today, ‘cuz there ain’t no doubt I love this land, god bless the USA. -Lee Greenwood
• Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. -John F. Kennedy
• Future years will never know the seething hell and the black infernal background, the countless minor scenes and interiors of the secession war; and it is best they should not. The real war will never get in the books. -Walt Whitman
• As I approach the gates of heaven;
  St. Peter I will tell;
  One more soldier reporting sir;
  I’ve served my time in hell. -Mark Anthony Gresswell
• The story of America’s quest for freedom is inscribed on her history in the blood of her patriots. -Randy Vader
• The dead soldier’s silence sings our national anthem. -Rev. Aaron Kilbourn
• When we say “War is over if you want it,” we mean that if everyone demanded peace instead of another TV set, we’d have peace. -John Lennon
• Peace is more important than all justice; and peace was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace. -Martin Luther
• I think that, as life is action and passion, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of his time at peril of being judged not to have lived. -Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
• Soldier, rest! Thy warfare o’er,
  Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking,
  Dream of battled fields no more.
  Days of danger, nights of waking. -Sir Walter Scott
• The greatest glory of a free-born people is to transmit that freedom to their children. -William Havard

Here are some more Memorial Day Quotes:

On thy grave the rain shall fall from the eyes of a mighty nation!

~Thomas William Parsons

Although no sculptured marble should rise to their memory, nor engraved stone bear record of their deeds, yet will their remembrance be as lasting as the land they honored.

~Daniel Webster

With the tears a Land hath shed
Their graves should ever be green.

~Thomas Bailey Aldrich

Are they dead that yet speak louder than we can speak, and a more universal language?  Are they dead that yet act?  Are they dead that yet move upon society and inspire the people with nobler motives and more heroic patriotism?

~Henry Ward Beecher

Green sods are all their monuments; and yet it tells
A nobler history than pillared piles,
Or the eternal pyramids.

~James Gates Percival

Is’t death to fall for Freedom’s right?
He’s dead alone who lacks her light!

~Thomas Campbell

Senators, Congressmen, Governors, and Celebrities – who’s next?

Nikita Khrushchev, the former premier of the USSR, made a provocative statement that seems to be coming to fruition in our country today.  He said that they, Russia, would bury the capitalist and that it would be done without firing a shot.

“You Americans are so gullible. No, you won’t accept Communism outright; but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of Socialism until you will finally wake up and find that you already have Communism. We won’t have to fight you; we’ll so weaken your economy, until you fall like overripe fruit into our hands.” (Excerpts from a speech by Secretary of Agriculture under the Eisenhower Administration, Ezra Taft Benson – attributed to Khrushchev)

The way things are going, it’s not going to be Communism that we have to worry about.  It’s not going to be “socialism” that takes this country down.  It’s going to be “immoral-ism”…

The Republicans are pointing fingers at the Democrats and the Obama Administration for heading the country toward that socialistic government that Khrushchev mentioned.  The war cry of the Republican Party is that we need to get out the vote and replace the current administration and Democratic controlled congress.

The problem is that Republican chances of making a dent in the legislative process is dwindling one Senator/Congressman at a time.  This time it was another Republican leader who could not control his sex drive.  Seems like every time we turn around another Republican is having to resign their position.  Their reason is either publically announced immorality or an obscure reason that they “don’t want to talk about.”

The Democrats aren’t blameless.  They have their congressional failures in controlling their passions.

If the Republicans don’t stop shooting themselves in the foot, they can kiss their chances of party-majority reversal good-bye.  Although not “without sin” most Republican voters are conservative in their politics and their morals.

If the voters begin to feel that those Republicans in office or running for office don’t have the same values and morals that should be exemplified in the public arena – they will look else-where for their candidates.

President Obama was joined by Pearl’s widow Mariane and their son Adam, 7, in the Oval Office as he signed the law in honor of the slain Daniel Pearl. The law will single out foreign governments that “shackle” press freedoms.

The president said the law “sends a strong message from the US government and the State Department that we’re paying attention on how foreign governments are operating when it comes to the press.”  “This legislation, in a very modest way, puts us clearly on the side of journalistic freedom.”

Pearl, 38, was the South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal when he was kidnapped in Karachi on January 23, 2002 while researching a story about Islamist militants.  He was later killed by his kidnappers.

Mariane Pearl was pregnant with their son (now 7) when her husband was murdered.

A  video showing his decapitation was delivered to the US consulate in the city nearly a month later.  Al-Qaeda’s alleged mastermind kingpin Khalid Sheikh Mohammed — who claimed responsibility for beheading Pearl and is now in US custody.

How much would you pay for a Portuguese Water Dog?

Most of the breed runs from $2000 to $3000, if it is of champion bloodline.  The dog values are based on the dog’s bloodlines and whether its parents are Champions (high-quality bloodline), among other factors.

According to financial disclosure forms released by the White House this week, Bo Obama, a Portuguese Water Dog is valued at $1,600.

He was a gift from Ted Kennedy who purchased Bo from the breeder.  Bo had been returned to the breeder, and because he was not purchased as a pup, he wasn’t as valuable.  But there is nothing wrong with him.

“It’s hard to get a puppy from a reputable breeder for $1,600,” says Lisa Wiley, a Portuguese water dog breeder in Bethany, Conn. “I would be wary of any puppy less than that.”

Grown dogs do not demand as much as puppies, unless the dog is of champion bloodline and is purchased for breeding.

Armed Forces Day 2010 on Third Saturday of Each May. Armed Forces Day 2010 will celebrate on Third Saturday of Each May. America’s Armed Forces represent the very best of our national character. Armed Forces Day 2010 have answered the call to defend our Nation, and their service and sacrifice humble us all. On Armed Forces Day, we pay tribute to these patriots who risk their lives, sometimes givingtheir last full measure of devotion, to preserve the vision of our forebears and the freedoms we enjoy.

Talk about Armed Forces Day 2010, today we have the greatest military force in the history of the world because we have the finest personnel in the world. Wherever they are needed, from Iraq and Afghanistan to right here at home, they are serving and protecting our Nation.

We owe our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen more than our gratitude; we owe them our support. That is why my Administration is committed to ensuring they have the strategy, clear mission, and equipment they need to get the job done, and the resources they deserve when they come home. We are also increasing support for military spouses and families who must deal with the stress and separation of war.

President of the United States of America, and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces 2o10f the United States, continuing the precedent of my predecessors in office, do hereby proclaim the third Saturday of each May as Armed Forces Day.

I direct the Secretary of Defense on behalf of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and the Secretary of Homeland Security on behalf of the Coast Guard, to plan for appropriate observances each year, with the Secretary of Defense responsible for soliciting the participation and cooperation of civil authorities and private citizens.

America’s Armed Forces represent the very best of our national character. They have answered the call to defend our Nation, and their service and sacrifice humble us all. On Armed Forces Day 2010, we pay tribute to these patriots who risk their lives, sometimes giving their last full measure of devotion, to preserve the vision of our forebears and the freedoms we enjoy.