Watch the 87th Annual National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 9th at 5 pm ET

White House Tree

A Christmas tree is set up in the Blue Room of the White House on Dec 1, 2010. 'Simple Gifts' is the Christmas theme at the White House this year.

Court to hear arguments

The employer sanctions law was intended to diminish Arizona's role as the nation's hub for immigrant smuggling by requiring employers to verify the eligibility of new workers through a federal database. Employers convicted of violating the law can have their business licenses suspended or revoked.  The outcome in this case also could signal how the court would handle the controversial and more expansive Arizona immigration enforcement law, known as SB1070, that the administration challenged and a federal judge blocked key components this summer.
Dozens of business raids in metropolitan Phoenix during employer sanctions investigations have led to the arrests of 131 workers who are illegal immigrants on criminal charges, such as using forged documents or stolen identities to get jobs. The law intended to target employers has been used more often against workers.

US Involved

 

The U.S. military aircraft carrier USS George Washington sets sail from Yokosuka naval base, south of Tokyo, heading to Korean waters to take part in a joint military exercises with South Korea later this week.  

This is where we see what North Korea is going to attempt, because of the threats they have made. 

North Korea Attacks

 

South Korean marines stand guard near its military base on Yeonpyeong Island November 27, 2010. North Korea fired shells at the island off the peninsula's west coast on Tuesday, killing two civilians and two soldiers and destroying dozens of houses.

 

US General Walter Sharp, commander of the US Forces in Korea, listens to S.Korean military officers as he visits Yeonpyeong island, on November 26. N.Korea has staged an artillery drill within earshot of a S.Korean island shelled earlier this week, and warned that an upcoming US-South Korean naval exercise heightens the risk of war.

 

Aung San Suu Kyi

Suu Kyi, who was freed from house arrest Saturday amid a divided political landscape and days after widely criticized elections, made clear she faces a precarious position: maneuvering between the expectations of the country's pro-democracy movement and the realities of dealing with a clique of secretive generals who have kept her locked up for much of the past two decades.

  

I suppose there are many people who live a life without freedom.  I appreciate my American home and the benefits I am able to enjoy.

Happy 235th Birthday to the United States Marine Corps! We want to wish them a happy birthday  and share this message. We are so blessed that the Marine Corps serves our country.

State lawmakers preparing citizenship legislation

The efforts by the state legislators come amid calls to change the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, which grants automatic citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants. Supporters cite costs to taxpayers for services provided to illegal immigrants and their children.  lawmakers in at least 12 other states besides Arizona and Pennsylvania said they were making their own announcements about working on the citizenship legislation. Those other states: Alabama, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah. Legislators from a total of 41 states are involved in a Metcalfe-founded group concerned with immigration issues.  "We're going to address the issue of the unconstitutional declaration of citizenship to those born to non-citizens, "It is a violation of the 14th Amendment."

USS Cole

The lack of U.S. response to the Cole attack — under both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush — has re-emerged as a painful issue this week, as crew and family members gather at the U.S. naval base in Norfolk, Va., to mark the 10th anniversary of the bombing, which killed 17 U.S. sailors and injured 38.  Newly declassified documents show the frustrations of top White House counterterrorism officials over the U.S. failure to respond to al-Qaida’s October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole despite evidence that Osama bin Laden was reading poetry about the murderous attack and publicly taking credit for it.
At 11:15 a.m. on Oct. 12, 2000, the Cole — a billion dollar destroyer armed with the most advanced weapons in the U.S. naval arsenal — was docked off the coast of Yemen for refueling when it was approached by a small skiff packed with explosives and manned by two suicide bombers. The resulting explosion was a chilling precursor to the attacks on Sept. 11. It ripped a 60-by-40-foot hole in the ship’s hull, trapping the bodies of many of the dead crew members in the wreckage.
My son, served in the Navy and I remember the times, that I would worry for his safety, when he would be on a tour of duty.  My heart goes out to these families and friends of the USS Cole...........

The Greatest Threat to America

What?

Candidates are getting the message. Republicans called for a spending freeze in the party's recently released "Pledge to America," and President Obama is making budget control part of his message as he stumps for congressional candidates.  Maybe it's human nature to look for something — or someone — to blame when circumstances get difficult. But it doesn't make the solutions any easier. The other reality is that if you want to balance the federal budget, the ways you do that are very unpalatable to most people.  Anger is something of a constant in American politics and circumstances like high unemployment and a big, getting bigger deficit can heighten it. People are frustrated with the economy, frustrated that we're in two wars, frustrated that we can't seem to get out of this situation. American's are going to send a message in November.