Reasons Why the Star Spangled Banner Was Created

The Star Spangled Banner is one of the significant symbols for America. It has lyrics with deep meaning and good melody. It gives inspiration to its citizens, so they would be reminded to constantly give honor to their country. Before the Star Spangled Banner became the official national anthem of America, there were other songs that were considered nationalistic as well. Some of them are "My Country" and "Hail, Columbia". Some people wonder the answer to the question, why the national anthem written and we can only answer this by reviewing the background of America's history

1. The first answer to the question why was the anthem written is because of the need to honor the country by showing patriotism. Singing the anthem properly is one of the best ways to show patriotism. One of the main goals fulfilled by having an anthem is evoking in a person a sense of pride for the rich history of the country. It is usually played during holidays, festivals and before the start of sport events like baseball and basketball games. During Olympics, the first place winner's national anthem gets played during the ceremony for the awards.

2. The second answer to the question why was the anthem written is because of the need to pay the ultimate respect to the rich history of the United States. When the flag is raised, all the citizens looking at it should observe proper decorum. They should stand straight and give the proper attention. You should even salute, remove your cap or hat and put the right hand on your chest.

3. The third answer to the question why was the national anthem written is because it was signed as a resolution by President Herbert Hoover. This formal adaptation happened in 1931.

4. The fourth answer to the question why was the national anthem written was because it became popular in 1916 when the president of the United States began using it. John Stafford Smith created the melody in the eighteenth century. Francis Scott Key was the one who thought of the lyrics.

The national anthem has inspired other artists to create other songs like Janet Jackson who created a song entitled "Rhythm Nation 1814". Other filmmakers also added this song to their movies like "So Proudly We Hail", which was made in the nineties. Other movies which added the national anthem were "Naked Gun" and "The Sum of all Fears".

Please click these links if you want to know more about why the national anthem written or why were fireside chats important in general.

By Kenny Leones

Disease & Death Came to Plains Indians From Europeans in the 1830s-'40s

One of the earliest documented disease pandemics in the history of the American West took place when Anglo-European settlers moving westward during the 1830s and '40s brought diseases to the Native American ethnic groups (tribes) of the Great Plains.

From earliest contacts, cultural differences and battles over land use and ownership took place between European settlers and Native Americans as explorers, pioneers, and settlers expanded westward across the continent. But the first documented evidence of the devastation smallpox would have on tribal groups in this region dates back to the 1830s and '40s.

Historian Paul H. Carlson in his excellent textbook, "The Plains Indians," said this smallpox outbreak was traced to contact between deckhands in an American Fur Company steamboat moving up the Missouri River and members of several tribal groups living along that river, a major early trade and emigration route into the Plains and Upper Midwest. By 1837, Carlson said, thousands of Arikara, Mandan, and Hidatsa people had died. He suggested that as many as half of the Arikara and Hidatsa population of 4,500 died in this 1837 outbreak. In addition, he estimated this smallpox outbreak killed "virtually all" of the 1,600 Mandans living in the Upper Missouri River region.

Diseases that came from Europeans and wiped out villages and large numbers of Native Americans were nothing new elsewhere in America, even as early as the 1830s. Some historians suspect, in fact, that some of the early Puritans' stories of mysterious, empty villages with full food stores which they encountered upon landing in New England were signs of smallpox and other disease epidemics that preceded the Puritans. These historians theorize that the villages were probably empty because the native people had been exposed to various European diseases by fishermen and others who had come before the recorded visits of English settlers. The villages may have been empty because the Native American villagers saw the Europeans coming and were fleeing the risk of diseases. (Historians know from fragmentary accounts and sketchy maps that Portuguese explorers and fishermen were in North American waters decades before Plymouth Colony.)

Perhaps the credit more pious Puritan writers gave to God for miraculously providing them with food and shelter was due to far grimmer circumstances, i.e., sickness and disease that killed or drove away the Indians of New England.

Later on in the history of the settlement of the Old West, during the years known to many historians as "the Indian Wars," accounts reveal some of the more horrible, dark side of European contact with Native Americans -- cases when white people intentionally infected Indian villages with smallpox and other diseases by means of abandoned blankets and clothing. Those were dark times filled with dark deeds by Europeans and Native Americans alike.

But one of the earliest traceable outbreaks of smallpox among the Plains Indians tribal groups came from the American Fur Company boat venturing up the Missouri River in the mid-1830s.

You can find out more about disease Great Plains Indian groups' battles with deadly diseases at my website, "Life in the Old West," located at http://www.lifeintheoldwest.com.

By Gary Speer

What Were the Guys Who Did the Shooting Called in the Days of the Old West?

If you were living back in the days of the Old West -- what would you call the guys famous for quick draws and dead-eyed use of their pistols? Would they be gunfighters? Or gunmen? Perhaps "pistoleros," if you lived the southwestern part of the country?

Most sources I've read suggest that you probably wouldn't have called these folks "gunfighters" or "gunmen" -- at least not early on. Those terms were used in the later periods of Old Western history and lore, probably after the 1870s or '80s, for someone who was also known as a "shootist." You know the people I'm talking about I'm sure. In our post-Western movie times, these were the guys (almost always guys) who had the pistols and were not afraid or hesitant at all to use them.

The terms "gunfighter" and related words such as "gunslinger" or even just "gunmen" are part of the way popular writers throughout the years have romanticized the realities and distorted the events of life in the Old West. In fact, most people's lives were a mixture of daily boredom and sudden, unexpected violence -- with little of the heroic battles the dime novels and modern-day Westerns made it out to be.

According to one very useful resource on the history and language usage of the Old West, writer Winfred Blevins' fascinating "Dictionary of the American West," "gunfighter" and "gunmen" as well as "gunfight" and "gunfighting" all came along in the late 1800s -- and there was never any distinction made between "gunfighter" as the sort of good guy or "gunman" as the bad guy, which seems sometimes true in a lot of television and movie Westerns. And interestingly also, Blevins suggests that such terms almost always referred to pistols rather than long guns, that is, rifles.

(Another term made famous in modern television and film Westerns is "shooting iron" in reference to handguns. Unlike "gunfighter" and its variations, "shooting iron" is pretty ancient, being found in literature written as long ago as 1787, according to Blevins.)

Apparently, the first use of "gunman" in print was done by a man who once was a gunman. It was in a 1903 New York newspaper article written by Old West lawman-turned-newspaper-sports-writer Bat Masterson. He also used the term "gunfighter" in his writings about his personal work and career as a lawman. The related term "gunslinger" really doesn't rate as a true "Westernism," having come from early 20th-Century writers, picked up, and quickly popularized by early Western movie writers and early pop fiction.

Another interesting and archaic term about those guys who carried and used their pistols is "gunsman," which Blevins says goes back as early as the American Revolution -- and probably wasn't limited to handguns, but included muskets (the "rifles" of their day).

Guns and an entire culture surrounding them were crucial to the history of the Old West. They were used to sustain life on the Plains and in the mountains of the West as people used them to hunt food. And they were used to take life in all the Western warfare. Those terms we associate with cold, killer individuals who specialized in drawing their weapons to take lives hold a sort of romantic draw for fans of the Old West. We call them "gunfighters" or "gunmen" and either vilify or popularize them.

In reality, what we know about those men (and sometimes women) who used their handguns to shoot at other people has been mostly distorted and romanticized by the dime novelists and others who wanted to turn the boredom and sudden violence of life in the Old West to their own advantage. They wanted to gain readers and make a buck.

For more on what the guys with the pistols were called in the Old West and other features of life in the Old West, visit my website at http://www.lifeintheoldwest.com.

By Gary Speer

The Top Ten Reasons I Wish I Were Jewish

I have been a greeting card professional since 1987. And I have lived in New York since 1981. I have watched with intense interest all of the wonderful Jewish festivals and Hanukkah is really a HAPPY HOLIDAY!

So as my continued commitment to "Celebrate Life" I am celebrating my first Chanukah this year. I created a online Hanukiah (Hanukkah menorah) which lights a new candle ever evening at sundown EST and an interactive dreidel game in preparation for my celebration. I got a fistful of recipes for latkes!

As far as I can tell it is okay for this old shiksa and a goyim from the Midwest to celebrate Hanukkah, and the research for the music and the production of the Chanukah menorah and dreidel surprised me and delighted me. So I really do wish I were Jewish and love that all of my Jewish friends are thrilled to allow me to celebrate with them.

Happy Hanukkah, Chanukkah, Chanukah, and Hanukah. However you spell it, enjoy every second, hour and "crazy Eight days" of this wonderful festival of lights!

The Top Ten Reasons I wish I were Jewish

Reason #10: I love clarinet music.

Reason #9: I love potato pancakes.

Reason #8: I love the Three Stooges.

Reason #7: To be really funny it helps if you're Jewish.

Reason #6: Yiddish is a form of poetry.

Reason #5: Santa is Jewish. HOra HOra HOra

Reason #4: I love everything Matzo.

Reason #3: The Marx Brothers!

Reason #2: Did I say that to be funny it helps if you're Jewish?

and Reason #1: Hanukkah

Happy Hanukkah

Greetums are premium eCards made with loving care by a small team of writers, designers, artists, musicians, and actors lead by veteran greeting card designer Kat Caverly. Over 10 million greetings sold worldwide!

Kat Caverly is the Greetums lady and you can visit her at http://www.greetums.com

By Kat Caverly

The Top Ten Reasons I Wish I Were Jewish

I have been a greeting card professional since 1987. And I have lived in New York since 1981. I have watched with intense interest all of the wonderful Jewish festivals and Hanukkah is really a HAPPY HOLIDAY!

So as my continued commitment to "Celebrate Life" I am celebrating my first Chanukah this year. I created a online Hanukiah (Hanukkah menorah) which lights a new candle ever evening at sundown EST and an interactive dreidel game in preparation for my celebration. I got a fistful of recipes for latkes!

As far as I can tell it is okay for this old shiksa and a goyim from the Midwest to celebrate Hanukkah, and the research for the music and the production of the Chanukah menorah and dreidel surprised me and delighted me. So I really do wish I were Jewish and love that all of my Jewish friends are thrilled to allow me to celebrate with them.

Happy Hanukkah, Chanukkah, Chanukah, and Hanukah. However you spell it, enjoy every second, hour and "crazy Eight days" of this wonderful festival of lights!

The Top Ten Reasons I wish I were Jewish

Reason #10: I love clarinet music.

Reason #9: I love potato pancakes.

Reason #8: I love the Three Stooges.

Reason #7: To be really funny it helps if you're Jewish.

Reason #6: Yiddish is a form of poetry.

Reason #5: Santa is Jewish. HOra HOra HOra

Reason #4: I love everything Matzo.

Reason #3: The Marx Brothers!

Reason #2: Did I say that to be funny it helps if you're Jewish?

and Reason #1: Hanukkah

Happy Hanukkah

Greetums are premium eCards made with loving care by a small team of writers, designers, artists, musicians, and actors lead by veteran greeting card designer Kat Caverly. Over 10 million greetings sold worldwide!

Kat Caverly is the Greetums lady and you can visit her at http://www.greetums.com

By Kat Caverly

Breaking News, Emergency Meeting Called by the United Nations to Save Santa and His Cookie Addiction

With less than a week until Christmas the president of the UN, Ali Abdussalam Treki, has called an emergency session of the United Nations to meet this weekend in Hawaii. He is deploring all the leaders of the world to attend so that Christmas may be saved. He also noted that the weather this time of year on Oahu is just wonderful and the waves are breaking with some very nice tubes, in case any one wants to bring their surfboards.

The elves in the North Pole, at the Christmas complex, are starting to talk. One elf, Peter Pumpernickel, says they miss Santa tremendously and want him to come back. They have taken up a collection to help with the payback of the bailout money Santa has taken from the US government. They came up with $7.23. This does not seem like much, but they don't really make a lot of money as it is. They also say that when Santa returns to the North Pole he will be given all the support possible in order to kick his cookie addiction that put the First Bank of the North Pole into bankruptcy and led to this Christmas disaster.

The SCEP, Secret Cookie Elfin Project, is in talks with the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. It is thought that the talks are progressing well and the elves may lay down their candy canes and surrender to US forces any time now. This is great news and a major move forward in peace talks. The Christmas compound has been surrounded for the last week by US Marines. One marine, on condition of anonymity, says his troops just want to go home and celebrate Christmas with their family, but the President has asked them to do a job and they must obey orders.

Santa is still thought to be in the Cayman Islands in a rehabilitation clinic that specializes in food addictions. We got through to his counselor, who said Santa is progressing along nicely. He has been put on a diet of low fat cookies and 2% milk. Santa is stated as saying he is determined to get this cookie problem under control and have his finances in order before Christmas, so he does not let the children of the world down.

Just out, Barrack Obama, the President of the United States will be attending the emergency session of the United Nations in Hawaii. He says he thinks he has a creative idea on how this money can be paid back by Santa and a Christmas fiasco can be avoided.... More to come.

Most of my articles come from me and my wife's family site, http://sites.google.com/site/chrisandjoncook/. We are also developing a christian website, http://www.mybrosgotmyback.com. She grew up in Hawaii and I grew up in Connecticut. We are both Christians trying to raise a family with some sense of values, which is hard in these times. I have a daughter and a son from a previous marriage. My wife, Christine, is due in January 10' with my second daughter.

By Jonathan F Cook

The Great Eggo Shortage of 2009 - A Christmas Without Waffles

Oh no! The world is coming to an end, the sky is falling, we wont live much longer because of global warming, we will lose our houses in this foreclosure mess, our banks are going bankrupt, our car makers can't produce a profit, we wont have health care, and now there will be no Eggo's for Christmas. Because of a flood and a scheduled closing of the Eggo factory, Kellogg's says there is going to be a shortage of the breakfast treat, Eggo's.

I can just see it now, people will be running out to the store like there is a major winter storm on the way. They wont be just buying bread, milk, eggs, and toilet paper, they will be searching the cold case for Eggo's. There will be anarchy in the isles. Gramma's will be holding off soccer moms with their canes. "leg go my Eggo or I will cane you". People will be rolling around on the floor like a scene from the WWF. Watch out Hulk Hogan and Rick Flair!!!

People will become instant millionaires buy selling their boxes of Eggo's on E-Bay. Will your most cherished Christmas gift be a box of Eggo's? What will we do? We will have to eat turkey for Thanksgiving. Oh! The horror of it all. There will be no Eggo's to decorate the Christmas tree with. What will Santa put in his sack? What will the reindeer eat? Children will have to dream of sugar plums on Christmas Eve instead of Eggo's.

Maybe, Just maybe. We can go out to the grocery store, buy a box of Bisquick, come home, gather the family in the kitchen, make pancakes together, sit down at the dining room table, pour the maple syrup, and enjoy some time together for the holidays. Yes, Virginia, there is life without Eggo's.

Most of my articles come from me and my wife's family site, http://sites.google.com/site/chrisandjoncook/. We are also developing a christian website, http://www.mybrosgotmyback.com. She grew up in Hawaii and I grew up in Connecticut. We are both Christians trying to raise a family with some sense of values, which is hard in these times. I have a daughter and a son from a previous marriage. My wife, Christine, is due in January 10' with my second daughter. By Jonathan F Cook

Santa Claus LLC Out of Business Due to Obama Care Health Insurance Costs

Santa Claus knew this day was coming, and he put it off as long as possible, but as the CEO and Chairman of Santa Claus Inc., he had no choice but to file bankruptcy in November of 2009. You see, the commercial credit markets were tight, and he just couldn't make payroll, nor could he borrow the money until the Christmas season was over when the money would flow in again. Over the last few years health insurance and worker's compensation costs have skyrocketed.

The elves just haven't been happy, although Santa Claus has done everything he could to provide excellent health care for all of his employees, and even pet insurance for the reindeer. Geico stepped in to give them a discount thankfully otherwise they would have been out of business last Christmas. Things have been tough at the North Pole because they were expecting global warming which never happened, they were hoping to save on their heating bill and extra money was to go towards health insurance broker workers.

Unfortunately, Santa found out that global warming was not real, and the polar bears have increased in population at an alarming rate, and Santa Claus had to hire more security guards for the factories this year, because the vicious polar bear like eat the bite size elves for a snack. Too many of the elves have been maimed by the polar bears, and this has increased worker's compensation insurance, and cause many elves to file stress claims in fearing for their lives.

But the straw that broke the camel's back was the Care ObamaCare Health Insurance Plan, which raised costs to such a high rate, the company could no longer do its work in delivering toys this year. Santa said he was very sorry and did everything he could to hang on to the company, but it was no use, so "Christmas is cancelled, send your letters to Obama instead," he said.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes in humor to lighten the dialogue.

By Lance Winslow

Santa Claus LLC Filed For Bankruptcy Today

Indeed, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but there will be no Christmas this year. Unfortunately CNBC Business News is reporting that Santa Claus LLC has filed for bankruptcy today. The founders of Santa Claus LLC, Mr. Claus and Mrs. Claus said that they tried to run the business at a profit, but had difficulty due to over regulation and a multitude of hardships over the years.

Apparently, the last straw was the new Obama Health Care Costs for the elves. It turns out they had a pretty good health care program all along, but the healthcare insurance company had to raise rates, after the public health care plan came into existence. But there were other issues that cause the demise; it appears that the glitches in the Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control system were also a problem causing huge delays.

After the global economic crisis and meltdown the commercial credit markets were so tight, that Santa Claus LLC was unable to buy the parts inventory they needed to make all the toys this year's Christmas, that coupled with a recent labor strike made it nearly impossible to fill the demand of all the kids who wanted free toys. When Santa Claus Inc. put in for a stimulus package buyout, but the Obama Administration said "It's isn't too big to fail," and it isn't politically correct to support Christmas anymore.

Indeed, this year's Christmas I guess we are all stuck with Chinese toys, that have lead based paint, but on a happy note Mr. and Mrs. clause are not bitter, and they are happy to get out of the cold and move to Florida because global warming just isn't happening fast enough as they had hoped in the North Pole. The Claus's want to wish everyone a great happy consumer Christmas, and they told me to wish all of you good luck.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes in capitalism as you probably figured out. By Lance Winslow

A History of Japanese Xenophobia

Japanese xenophobia should be understood properly prior to jumping to any reactive conclusions. Xenophobia is not really racism, although it can occasionally cross the line in Japan and both are occasionally evidenced. For Japanese society any xenophobia is more of a fear of the unknown and a fear of being overpowered by that which is unknown. In all honesty, many people in Japan are rather intimidated by other countries and also their relatively large people. It may sound silly, but it really does stem from the most basic things like physical size.

Due in part to historically taking the offense on xenophobia, the Japanese government has historically made some rather unwise choices internationally. The results of such choices have made the nation feel somewhat guilty and also somewhat worried about belated retaliation from its closer neighbors, in addition to simply feeling defeated. To go from a state of megalomania to a state of apocalyptic defeat is obviously rather shocking and, as a result, Japan is now much more cautious about its role on the world stage. The nation of Japan was also occupied after WWII and essentially had its entire culture exposed before a relatively judgmental Western perspective. Apparently as a result, some people in Japan also seem to fear exposure and being misunderstood or judged for their lifestyles.

Many things simply are drastically different in Western and Eastern culture. Japan is even quite unique in Eastern culture. To say one way of doing things is correct and one is incorrect would likely be primarily based on the cultural background of a viewer and thus it would be an inaccurate assessment. There are many things considered normal in most of Western society that are not generally considered acceptable in Japanese society, and also certainly many things in Japanese society which would not be acceptable in most of Western society. It is easy to understand why it could be somewhat more challenging to open up completely if there is a history of being judged for some of the most basic aspects of a society.

In addition to concerns about average physical size and a historical tendency for Western cultures to misunderstand and judge Japanese society, there are also basic differences in the general psychology of various societies. Japan has what is most likely the most obedient modern society in the world. There is no modern history of revolution and there are no riots in the streets. People are generally quite polite and Tokyo, although the most populated metropolis in the world, is possibly the safest city for a child to be in at any time of day or night. Purse snatching and the like are practically unheard of and are certainly uncommon. People will stand in herds at a street corner and wait for the light on the crosswalk to change to green, regardless of there not being a car in sight. It is understandable that there could be some concern over people from societies in which the cars don't even stop at stoplights, as is common even in other parts of Asia.

In a way, Japan is like a clock and Japanese society generally seems to like to keep things running like clockwork. Thankfully the introduction and adoption of new ideas is part of what makes has made that clock run so well, and so Japanese society is still quite open to careful introductions. It just isn't so game for any oversized unhygienic elephants to come trampling through its delicate clockwork.

The other writes for Travel-To-Japan.com, which has valuable information about Japanese historical sites.

By Jessica Spinner and Vincent Valentine

Modern Day Beggar

It is a matter all to its own, the act of starving one' self out of protest to all that is wrong. Could it be that society has twisted itself up in a knot that is unable to be undone, but to burn the knot, start over again, is that the answer? Yes I have taken the path into a life both regarded as low and unethical, of a modern day beggar caught on the stoop of a local coffee shop minding his own business and writing the day's activities. A tumultuous and creative life, filled to the brim with pain yet constant epiphany. What if I were to tell you that becoming homeless could instantly flip off the micro chips implanted in everyone's brain and delve them back to the last century. Most of all there won't be the walls that hold in heat or rain, no regular place to call your own; would the night hold you or let you rest peacefully?

Now a days it is a crime to be homeless, but historically, the issue has been in uproar. Vagabonds were known as unlicensed beggars. In 1381 AD a law was passed that gave authorities the right to find evidence to determine whether they were a vagabond, if they couldn't provide the evidence then they were jailed, and in the 1495 statute they were held for three days and three nights. In the 1500's they were whipped. In colonial America they told people who didn't come to work to leave, and in this could arrest them otherwise. But does anyone have time to acknowledge or that is give, or care? The medieval fairy tale was that beggars curse those who insulted a beggar or refused to give enough. They'd go door to door for bread and water.

Now that I am in fact not a bum anymore, not that the term ever truly fit me, it is actually a paradox in that most of the time I spent walking long distances, never has a bum the luxury to sit on the couch all day to watch TV, there are laws for loitering, one must always be transient outside, have you ever noticed that there aren't too many places left one can go to just attend without a justification of a permit or pass, and not worry about something closing for the night, or trespassing? After five months of being homeless It no longer was something I consider therapeutic, yes I was writing my book that took six months of living to write, but every time something crazy would happen it'd serve as the next chapter, and it kept going until I went insane. To truly be sensitive to little things everywhere as people move without the slightest mind, that is one thing about living outside, there exists a spirituality that develops in simple awareness to the earth, it shows up in conversation, music, art, writing, but also it can be a true handicap when the greed of another hems you in and slowly leaves you without the options of being human.

There are crazies out there, another thing is putting up with those energies, on top of yuppies, in between there is little space to move, from vehicular war zones; public places get to be off limits, where does one go? There are eighty thousand homeless people in L.A.; that is Chicago's and NYC's population combined, it is quite obvious that the climate is the sole contributor to this factor. But for a city that brings in millions of dollars internationally from cinema, they have a disgraceful sense of humanitarian value, a city on its last leg and every man for violence, or that is every gang. Somehow we have gotten twisted around; maybe we should then start all over again. My recommendation is to start a community with your friends that serves as a means to live as bohemians. Bohemianism is of French origins, but as an English word used in the nineteenth century it regards to one living an unconventional life style in Europe among like minded people through art, music, and literary pursuit and takes on an anti establishment point of view, and often indigent and poor. You get the best of both worlds as a bohemian. Take in mind, we have to find away to not be codependent on the indoor world, and all its illusions.

By Craig Bowman

My Visit to the King

My first official visit to the king, Taufa'ahau Tupou IV was in 1989. My husband had just been called as the new mission president over the small island kingdom of Tonga. Our mission office contacted the spokesperson for the King to arrange for an audience with His Majesty for us and for a group of our missionaries.

Our formal meeting would take place at His Majesty's Royal Summer Cottage. In order for our party to have this audience with the King, we were expected to prepare a meal for him and his royal family. The food we prepared in response to the King's request included turkeys, ham, potato salad, and trifle (The King's favorite dessert). We arrived with about twenty of our missionaries each carrying beautifully decorated culinary offerings.

We entered the receiving area, and His Majesty sat nearby on a large throne flanked on both sides by his royal spokesmen. My husband had informed me that I would have to crawl in to the King on my hands and knees, and then kiss the King's hand. Being from a democratic society, this tradition was very foreign to me, but wanting to be a good wife, I obeyed. Having worn nylons and a long dress, crawling on the large woven mat on the floor was a challenge, but I somehow managed to make it all the way across the floor to find myself at the King's feet.

The King held his hand out towards me. My little hand was swallowed up in his humongous ring-fingered hand. I gave the back of his hand a kiss, and he lifted me up and looked into my face. It was considered bad manners in Tongan custom for me to look into his eyes, so I looked down. In his low booming voice, he asked me if the man behind me was my husband, and I replied that he was. He then asked me to sit down beside him on the floor while he greeted my husband and our missionaries.

I was very nervous, but I enjoyed watching as each person in the party took their turn showing their honor and respect to the Tongan King. Afterward, we proceeded with the program we had prepared which included reading scriptures from the Bible and singing hymns. It was a very enjoyable experience and one I will always remember. I realize what a rare experience it was.

King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV had absolute rule for more than 40 years. It was in 1967 after the death of Queen Salote that the new King inherited the loyalty that the people had shown for his mother. As he would drive by in the royal vehicle, commoners would stop whatever they were doing to face the street and stand at attention while he passed. It was fascinating to see lines of school-aged children in their uniforms lined up to show their respect for their monarch.

The King was quite an athlete in his earlier days as a proficient pole-vaulter, cricketer, and rugby player. He was also credited with introducing surfing to his island home. However, at one time the King weighed over 400 pounds, and was told by doctors that he would not see his 50th birthday. He then led a National Get Fit campaign and his example was an inspiration to many as he rode his royal custom-built bicycle. Members of the Tonga Royal Defense soldiers would run beside him. He also would exercise in the harbor in Nuku'alofa, the nation's capital, by rowing a boat, paddling round and round in large circles. I personally witnessed him on his bicycle and rowing his boat.

The King had been the first Tongan to receive a law degree. He tried hard to lift the kingdom's educational standards. King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV died in 2006 after which his eldest son, George Tupou V, became the reigning King.

By Ruth Kongaika

Love Poems - 3 Short Steps to Romantic Love

These three love poems illustrate the progressive steps in the growth of a romantic love relationship. The first step is realization. There is usually a time period in which we move from not knowing we are in love to gradually realizing and accepting that we are.

Dream

I dreamed a dream
I know not why
I dreamed a dream of you.

I dreamed a dream
I now know why
I dreamed a dream of you.

It took a little time for me to realize that she was interested in me. I am referring to a girl at college who is now my wife. I would walk by her after wind ensemble practice as we were putting our horns away, and she would smile at me...just smile. I returned the smile but did not think much of it.

After some time it suddenly dawned on me. Was she interested in me?

Love seems to happen differently for everyone. For some it happens at first sight. I can honestly say I do not know personally of anyone that has met their husband or wife this way, but if I am to believe what I see and hear in movies, it happens.

But I think this poem depicts the more common experience of a gradual revelation.

Once we realize that we are in love, the second step begins...talking and spending time with one another.

Affections

The more I spend
My time with you
And talk and hear your voice,

My hopes, my dreams
Get focused in
And make my heart rejoice.

It is natural for people to fall in love while spending time together. Interacting with people through voice and eye contact as well as sharing in their work or activities leads to strong feelings of attachment. Emotions start flowing that can lead to matrimony.

Years of struggle shared together as we grow old cement our relationship. And, if we make it into our golden years, our love graduates to the final level of romantic love; wordless expression.

Dictionary

Our language is
Too limited,
Its words cannot express

The wonder of
My love for you,
True rapture, I confess.

It is after many years that a different form of communication transcends words. That form is body language. An understanding smile that says, "I understand you and enjoy sharing this moment with you" communicates deeply what words can only hope to express on a shallower and incomplete level. Expressions, movement, stillness, and silence fulfill our desire to communicate our love to the highest level.

While each of us desires to hear someone say, often, that they love us, those words cannot match the level of romantic expression communicated by love birds whose years of living together have fostered an understanding look, an anticipated action, and a smile of understanding.

Robert Ogden is a Christian school teacher living in Central Florida. More of his poems can be found at http://www.poemplaques.com

By Robert Ogden

Jackson is No More

Jackson is no more,
Singer at heart and at centre core,
Hundreds or thousands might have wept,
Glorious tradition maintained and lively kept,

Millions of stars may illuminate the sky,
Jackson was the only one and nobody could say why?
Poor boy on stage felt very shy,
Today world pays homage and countless may cry,

Every inch of his body was full of magic,
Shaking like rubber and making full of comic,
Entire face looks different with surgery cosmic,
It was guided by thoughts with reasonable logic,

Music flowed with new era and changing age,
Birth of new star as if set free from cage,
Riding high on craze with melodious waves,
So up in sky with catching emotional nerves,

Not single soul could remain far
World could witness emergence of star
Revival of peace with high hope on horizon,
Though sky was loosing charm with layer ozone,

Music as deep as body may dance,
Life time occasion to see him as chance,
Russia, America England or even France,
Fans all over globe waited to have glance,

Life's steady growth may sometimes blind,
New gossips and hidden secrets may way find
Rude comments and response may seem unkind,
Glamorous world may fascinate but won't it mind

We all danced and sang with music and speed,
Madness and craze created as cult or creed,
History may speak what this soul delivered,
Weeping hearts may sob and memory cherished

Life was seized with work and promises,
Millions may cry over his sudden demise,
Death came to many as shock and surprise,
Such noble Qualities nobody would comprise

World may have to wait for many more years,
Emergence of new star with good music to ears,
Star isn't born but descended from the heaven,
Loneliness and vacuum will remain for moments then

By Hasmukh Amathalal

Slippery Ground

Heavy showers make land surface slippery,
Cautious walk with alertness and worry,
Sudden fall causes injury and makes you sorry,
While Children play in street and make it marry,

We tend to forget soon the impact of ground,
Not heeding to advice even looks sound,
In heavy rain you should avoid drive and round,
Such joy and happiness may always be not found,

Life is such thrilling and so exciting,
Lovely butterflies around make it inviting,
Youngsters go for side track and easy walk,
Wearing rosy smile and romantic talk,

Life is more or less on slippery track,
Relation may grow fast and develop crack,
Easy joy sometimes lands you in trouble,
Love disappears fast as water bubble,

As rain appeals you to go for easy ride,
Romantic mood may appear which no one should hide,
Friends sometimes open up and freely confide,
Beautiful scenes can be pictures and taken in slide,

We may call it love or mere infatuation,
Momentary burst of laughter with little fluctuation,
Serious relations may not develop and out of question,
Going for ride is only for pleasure and not for attraction,

It looks easy and but still very hard way,
Further relations may grow and have its say,
Some relations may also progress and some turn sour,
It may come as rain with more water to pour,

We may tend to caution but definitely slip,
Strong urge may prevent no more fall or skip,
One may go for kill but in turn gets killed,
Finds only sorrows and joy never filled,

Both grounds are same and to be dealt with caution
Whoever comes out of it may not face question
You may feel so as if come out of cage
Certainly it is matters in case of age.

By Hasmukh Amathalal

The Moon is Full Again

The moon is full again,
whatever is staying lush, does...

The sun is seeing her through
eyelashes of glowing red onyx;
she realizes that the palm trees
have never ceased speaking
and envisioning themselves in her,
her in them...

She walks
and the ground wants it
to always be the first step,

As the word 'again' begins to
spread out its colors
through these experiences of her mind,

The Here that says 'here',
stays,
steadying her being herself,
no matter the commandments forgotten,
never read,
far fetched and solemn-erased
she is holy-continuance,

Detours through mist and flame
are what soul-yolk is made of...

All this,
though the spirit of soul-breath
means something else,
and cannot speak about itself,
with word,
with phrase,
with anything that resembles
less than that new sun's wink...

Is the rose as ready for lovers
as they are
for its unmistakable precision
in mirroring them,
their fragile pales
and their thorn-determinations?

Life lifts life,
an ancient settling-in happens
and we proceed out in front
of our emotions,
to clear some space
to tumble into the lungs of a god,
to make forgiving self-exceptions
so to try
and have exception with others...

A writer lies sometimes,
so that the truth can someday
erase all of his leaden pages
with one fire,
one orange cloak of forgiveness

and tender walking
with the sons and daughters
of a fantastic world
that is mysteriously changing
into commonplace,

through silver-hot puddles,
reflections that awe as they matte-
solidify into disks,
plates and coins...

An incredible world,
filled with such lucky flat objects,
that our shadows have to
lay down to stand up in them,
sometimes in reverse,
so to rest the eye from all this
fading,
in-depth-detail...

The regret isn't there for Beginnings,
it is immersion,
belonging to businesses
that do not belong to us
in the order of heart-priority,
here is where the Universe speaks,
saying, 'Here is a headache,
here is someplace you're trespassing
on by walking backwards into
leaving yourself for a dream
that doesn't wake to rustle you to
stand alive and well in your inner sun,
who shines to blossom itself relentlessly.'

At the author's home-to-be,
she's already sitting at the desk
before he does,
before pencils and pens
are understood as choices
to write what's right with,
before he's born
and far after
he's rattled this life's dance out,
singing it clean of the swamp-inheritances
that call themselves
by the names of thoughtfulness,
plentitude and offering,
though do not move out
of the protected perimeter
of the heart conversing,
and into where the music
isn't rhythm anymore,
where it becomes a new 'me', 'you',
or place where the self considers
this holy inhabitance as something more
than a sober-trance to play out
a willful romance
with pain and desertions,
turning to actual deeds
and apologies who've been waiting
longer than coalescing planets
to land their light into the human heart...

She's a muse of forgetfulness,
she's anonymous and too,
wears green celebrations,
entwining turtle songs and doveless arks
to skim safely over red coral reefs,
thick with prehistory and the living...

She's the engulfed gulf of unhatched eggs,
while he's the creator of her,
she's the recipient
of his untuned conscience,
of his itches that exist for the sake
of scratching what's on the outside
so to drown out the knocking-tingling
that's occurring at the doors within.

There are fingerprints
beneath the undersides of items
that normally the world would not
claim sides upon,
where what is lonely in a person
moves about like a deserted soldier,
his solid claim
to be that bird call
who reminded him
when as a child,
how right life could be
when what's wrong
would be shed away so quickly
by the open heart
of an eternally new lotus
in a very old Forever Pond
spread out over a sphere
of his looking at his new body,
radiant, sinless and called 'Earth.'

October 3, 2009

Michael E Angell

The Usefulness of Poetry in Psychotherapy

To me, poetry is the word transformed at the edge of experience. It works on a creative level to transport people to the borders of their interpretive struggles. Providing clients with a poem to read that is relevant to their presenting problems and/or asking them to write a poem about these problems are interventions that can be harnessed to help cope with and/or give new meaning to misery and suffering. Nothing is as important as touching pain at a level beyond intellect. Thus, in addition to clinicians' creation of written lists of symptoms and presenting problems, perhaps poetry, with its compression and speed and intensity, is an especially useful exercise for the therapist. Seeing intense family and couple interactions can stuff the therapist with countertransference that needs to be worked out with more than an intellectually based consultation. Reading and writing poetry can create a healing place not only for the elderly client who may be working on his/her life review, but also for the therapist. Paying attention to the way the poem looks on the page and being aware of rhyme and line endings can actually slow us down and make us listen with different ears. Poetry has the power to make us see the heart of the matter.

If a therapist is not one to enjoy creative writing, at the least, poetry should be on his/her professional reading lists. The synthesis of feeling captured in brevity is another lens through which to view all experience and, especially, ultimate concerns. The sounds and sense of words in a poem seem to touch our brains in a way that speaks to our spirits. Poetry has healing power. It speaks to emotions. It is experiential.

The use of metaphor has been recognized by mental health leaders such as Jung, Milton Erickson, Jay Haley, and Edward Friedman as a way to access the unconscious needs, wishes, thoughts, and fears of the human being. It follows that there probably is an important connection between suffering, recovery, and the writing and reading of poetry. It is a different way to talk to each other. There is something about condensed language and structure that seems useful in times of trauma, including the crisis of aging and dying. Maybe by reading or writing a poem, a client can gain some sense of control. It can tease out the nuances of symptoms, habits, feelings, and beliefs that can help guide the way forward. It may be part of the road leading into the unconscious. We can turn to poetry to repair some damage. In the aftermath of 9/11, I remember seeing an eruption of poetry. It seemed to be a common means of exchange during those traumatic months following the attacks. Discursive language did not seem able to touch the horror the way that poems could. Poetry is a powerful way to capture the subjective and spiritual core of experience. It can take us to places that our intellect cannot access. It can help us to process unresolved issues.

Dr. Barbara Cunningham

Heaven (A Poem About Everlasting Life)

Heaven

The pebble is worn smooth

Made small over time

A product of a cataclysmic force of nature

A fragment of mountainous sheets of rock

An accidental offspring of a boulder

But just a very small stone.

The pebble's place in our world

Is neither understood nor appreciated

But when thrown into a glassy calm pond

Its insignificance is transformed

Its meaning and purpose is unleashed.

The instant the pebble kisses the pond

Its signature of concentric ripples

Spiral outwards

Moving far beyond itself.

Gently affecting everything in its wake

Forever altering the smooth placid surface.

The pebble creates its worth and meaning

By unleashing its unimagined power

Into a dueling force of action and reaction

Creating karmic energy

Producing lasting and fluid impressions.

Aren't we all pebbles?

Feeling small and insignificant

But ultimately recognizing

That who we are meant to be

Can never be measured in isolation

on a path into ourselves.

It is true then:

Our everlasting future

Is created by the indiscriminate tossing of pebbles

Into the pond of life

Creating ripples

that leave unique mark on our world

Not because of thoughts

not because of well meaning plans

But because of actions.

Our life's prayers our answered

Because even the smallest pebble

No matter how seemingly insignificant

Changes the course of the lives

Of those we touch.

And when the icy winds of death

beckon our lasting attention

We will gently leave this life

With the knowledge that

because of that one pebble

The world will never be the same.

And then we have heaven ...

Ross Rosenberg

8/18/03

Great Moral Value in "PS I Love You" Movie

Death can suddenly comes to life of people and make their life also suddenly stop for a while when their beloved one is taken by the death. The movie entitled P.S. I Love You shows us that even though our beloved one meets the death, he would join us through the tough days in our life. In this case, at least he accompanies you from beyond the grave.

"Excellent" is a proper word to describe Cecelia Ahern, the author of P.S I Love You. In her very young age, 21, she succeeds to be the author of the best seller novel worldwide. Cecelia, whose father is Bertie Ahern, the prime minister of Ireland, describes a hard life of woman named Holly after the death of her husband, Gerry. The idea of death and happiness of life in this novel is so interesting so that finally P.S I Love You comes in movie with million audiences.

P.S I Love You tells about Holly Kennedy (Hillary Swank)'s life suddenly stops when her beloved husband, Gerry (Gerard Butler), develops cancer and dies. Holly is devastated and her best friends, Denise (Lisa Kudrow) and Sharon (Gina Gershon) try to cheer up her. But nothing seems pull Holly out of her mourning after the death of Gerry.

Mourning days that is faced by Holly finally turn to be cheerful because she receives some love letters from Gerry which he writes before his death. The letters gives her some stories and instructions about the things she have to do. After Holly has done the instructions one by one with the help of her friends and family, she has found out that Gerry has prepared those letters to make her survive after his death.

Many people think that P.S I Love You is one of the most romantic novels. This novel becomes more and more popular after it comes to movie. Best performance from Hillary Swank and Gerard Butler as Holly and Gerry in this movie completes the romantic side of P.S I Love You. It is a good movie that gives you a great value about love in life.

By Vance M David

Gothic Novel and the Development of the Genre in English Literature

Gothic Novel is a type of romantic fiction. It was predominant in English literature around the late 18th century to the first two decades of the 19th century. The setting for the fiction was usually a ruined Gothic castle. The typical story of such romantic fiction revolved around the suffering of an innocent woman inflected by a cruel villain. The writers used ghosts and other supernatural occurrences. The main intend of such novels was to evoke chilling terror by skillfully using mystery and horror.

The Term Gothic Applied for:

1. The Gothic novel was also considered as Gothic romance.

2. The term Gothic is also employed to designate narrative poetry or prose of which the major elements are horror, violence, and the supernatural.

3. The selection of the locale was usually a haunted castle with dungeons, underground passages, ghost-haunted rooms, and secret stairways that produced great amount of awe, wonder and fear.

The genre was nothing but a phase of the literary movement of romanticism in English literature. It was also the precursor of the modern mystery novel.

The Major writers of the Gothic Romance:

It was Horace Walpole who inaugurated the Gothic romance. He wrote The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story (1764). Other major writers were Clara Reeve, who wrote The Champion of Virtue (1777); Ann Radcliffe, who wrote The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794); Charles Robert Maturin, who wrote The Fatal Revenge (1807); and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley who wrote Frankenstein (1818).

The American professional novelist Charles Brockden Brown is known for his Gothic romances. Other American writers such as Henry James, William Faulkner, and Flannery O'Connor used Gothic elements in their fiction. The late 20th century American novelists Stephen King and Anne Rice in their works show the sustained influence and popularity of this Gothic form.

Rakesh Patel is an aspiring poet, freelance writer, self-published author and teacher. Read his blog http://englishliterature99.wordpress.com/

By Rakesh Ramubhai Patel

Psychological Novels - Some Major Novels

The psychological novel, as the name suggests, aims at revealing its characters' inner selves. As far as style is concerned, many psychological novels entail interior monologue and stream of consciousness. These are literary techniques facilitate the reader direct access to the inner most thoughts of characters.

The Catcher in the Rye (1951) by J. D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye (1951) written by American writer J. D. Salinger is one famous instance of a psychological novel. The novel is narrated by a 16-year-old boy Holden Caulfield who has just flunked out of his 3rd prep school. He is unwilling to remain at school until the end of the term. So, he runs away to New York City and drifts around the city for two days. At last, drawn by the love and affection for his younger sister Phoebe, he returns home. He reveals his idealism to Phoebe by telling that he would like to be "the catcher in the rye" meaning the defender of childhood innocence who would stand in a field of rye where so many children are playing.

Seize the Day (1956) by Saul Bellow

Many American writers in the mid-20th century tried their hands on writing powerful psychological novels. Saul Bellow wrote the novella Seize the Day (1956) which describes the character Tommy Wilhelm. He loses his job and is about to lose his wife too. He seeks help from his father but it's futile. He also goes bankrupt and is left penniless. By observing Tommy's pitiable condition and his world, the readers get an intimate sense of Tommy's struggles.

A Separate Peace (1960) by John Knowles

John Knowles wrote A Separate Peace (1960). The novel is about the relationship between two boys Gene and Phineas who meet at prep school. Phineas is a charming athlete who gains widespread respect and attention. Gene on the other hand is a more serious student. Though Gene enjoys friendship but becomes jealous of Phineas's athletic talent. The key incident in the novel is an accident that Phineas suffers. By depicting Gene's internal struggles over his role in the accident, Knowles shows Gene's character.

The Bell Jar (1963) by Sylvia Plath

American writer Sylvia Plath wrote The Bell Jar (1963). Through the shaky psychological condition of a character Esther, the novelist scrutinizes the challenges of being a young woman in America during the 1950s. Esther describes herself as being inside one and shows how she feels and experiences. She suffers a breakdown because of the limitations the society imposes on women. Though she is a strong scholar, she feels unhappy and attempts to commit suicide. Nevertheless, she recovers and her life moves on. There are strong biographical elements in this novel that roughly parallels events in Plath's life.

By Rakesh Ramubhai Patel

The Egyptian Napoleon - Thutmosis III

Though a lot of Pharaoh's kings of the 18th and 19th dynasties were martial chiefs, but "Thutmosis III" was absolutely one of the greatest leaders through the ancient Egyptian history.

He was the son of "Thutmosis II" and a queen called Isis. After the death of his father, he became the king at the age of 2 or 3 years old. Because he was evidently still young to resign, he was married to his stepmother "Hatshepsut", the widowed Great Regal Wife of "Thutmosis II".

He spent his childhood and teenage years training in the army, until the death of "Hatshepsut" in year 22 of their reign. At this time, he took over the throne as a fully grown adult and military leader. When she died, he was still only 24 or 25 years old and took over the rule of Egypt as the legitimate king.

At the beginning of his sole rule, he started re- definition to the borders of his land and control that Egypt had over the Near East, starting with a great campaign to "Megiddo", territory of the Hittites. With great bravery, he marched into there via the most difficult way, catching the Hittites off guard. The Egyptians, however, lost their advantage when they stopped to spoil the Hittite camp. The Hittites were able to withstand the Egyptians for more than seven months, and the Egyptians eventually returned home.

He didn't give up though. During his 50 years or so of sole rule, he made 17 additional campaigns into Syria, as well as further campaigns into Nubia - some when he was in his 80s. Through his efforts, he firmly re-established Egypt as a power to be reckoned with.

Archaeologists often refer to him as the Egypt's Napoleon because he spent most of his life fighting and claiming land in the name of Egypt. He left some very detailed military records in the Hall of Annals at Karnak temple, telling of the glorious deeds in Syria that earned him this title.

Muhammed Khaled is an assistant lecturer in a civil engineering college, he is concerned about Egyptian culture and history, and writes in Egyptian Panorama blog where you can discover and see more about Egypt through a collection of informative and simple articles and reviews about every interesting you may like to know on both ancient and modern Egypt.

By Muhammed Khaled

How Can a Comedy Booking Agency Help You Make Your Event Unforgettable?

Belonging to the corporate world doesn't mean that you can not have any fun. All work and no play and all of that stuff, means that fun should be incorporated in the workplace from time to time. Everyone likes to laugh and have fun. The work that the employees of your company work hard to make it successful. Showing appreciation by having a night of entertainment is a great way to show appreciation. After a wonderful presentation of your corporate plans and details from the previous year, you should consider using a performer from a Comedy Booking Agency to end the evening on a memorable and positive note. You can book comedians, hypnotists, mentalists and other good, clean entertainment for your event. You can find a super act that fits within your budget and wows your employees with an evening that they will not forget.

A Comedy Booking Agency can supply you with a perfect match for your planned event. They should go the extra mile to make the presentation match perfectly to the type of audience you will have there. A good high tech interactive event to help with team-building, or a magician that wows them and leaves them wondering, "How did he do that?" Anything is possible and you can be rest assured that the entertainment will be appropriate for the event you have planned.

If you have a booth set up at a trade show and want to draw people in your direction, then a Comedy Booking Agency can help by providing you with game show games for those perusing the premises to participate, a photo booths, slot car entertainment, putting greens and many other fantastic ideas to draw people to see your product or service.

If you are interested in finding entertainment for your company picnic, a Comedy Booking Agency can help with all of the fine details of fun, clean entertainment for the whole family. For example, everyone loves carnival game rentals. Inflatable stations can also be set up to provide fun for all ages. The Comedy Booking Agency can even set up a station of arts and crafts. The Company picnic can become one of the most entertaining and enjoyable events of the year. There are many ideas that can be handled by a trusted Comedy Booking Agency. You call, tell them what you are looking for and they will be sure to have it for you.

By John Yoder

Why Are Funny Video Clips So Popular?

The one thing that is for sure in this world is that comedy ad things that are funny, silly, or sexy really get people's attention ad stand out in their minds. Why do you think that advertisers use content that is really funny, pretty silly, downright stupid and/or irritating or a bit on the sexy/steamy side? It is because these things really get the viewer's attention and stick in their minds if this material is in the form of a commercial on the radio or television or the internet. The question of why funny video clips are so popular and funny is subjective. What we mean by this is that the reasons people find something funny all depends upon the individual in question.

Think about this topic this way: what you might find pretty funny, say you like watching video clips of people getting pranks or practical jokes pulled on them; someone else might look at and say that is not really that funny. They might feel that what you think is really funny is actually pretty ridiculous to them. This is basically what we mean by the statement that the actual definition of what is funny and what isn't is subjective. We have seen instance of people posting free funny video clips that they really thought were funny, like the aforementioned example of people having pranks pulled on them, only to have people look at these and say that they really were not as funny as the person shooting the video thought it was.

The main reason that funny video clips really are so popular is that they provide a means of escape for a short time. If you are looking for something to get your mind off of whatever is bothering you, mist of the time you will want to watch something funny. This is precisely why there are so many funny videos clips out there on the internet. People are always looking for something that is new and different to watch and to laugh at.

There are so many people that really want to just forget what is bothering them for a little while and have a good laugh. You know what they say about Laughter being the Best Medicine? Well, it turns out that this little bit of wisdom is actually right on the mark when it comes to helping people keep their lives as balanced as they possibly can. This is also part of the reason that so many people are watching free funny video clips online. They simply want something that will help them make their lives a little bit lighter and better. Why do you think that websites like YouTube and its siblings/offshoots are so blessed popular worldwide? It is because people can find just about anything that they are looking for in the way of videos and video clips. You really cannot say enough about what people really think is funny; except that videos are not going to be going anywhere too soon.

Bring up that laughter in you with funny video clips and free funny video clips. You are bound to cheer up after watching these funny videos.

By Kelly Hughes

Adventures With a Taxi Driver

I'm a commuter, something I'm not ashamed of. Among other things it gives me free time to write this blog. Most mornings I catch a taxi to the station. I'm not much of a talker in the morning, but some of the drivers fail to appreciate this. It is a major achievement that during a seven minute journey the driver can tell me the complete story of his life down to the most minute and personal detail. After such a journey I know why he has been divorced three times, how much alimony he plays and the amount of abortions he has had to finance.

Another interesting incite is the fact that taxi drivers all belong to a heavily persecuted minority group. The police force, IRA and local municipalities all have it in for them.

It might interest some of my more ignorant readers that many taxi drivers suffer from the rare disease known as nocbumperania. The symptoms are easily recognizable but sadly incurable. Drivers suffering from this ailment are unable to see pedestrian bumps or crossings. Some experts believe this is often due to an overdose of trial rides taken on Space Mountain.

If all this wasn't enough to make their lives miserable, many of the taxi drivers also suffer from being completely tone deaf which is clearly obvious when they accompany the songs that are blasting at full pitch from the car radio.

It is with all this bearing in mind that I pray that the next time you meet up with one of their kind you open your wallet generously and please remember - no large bills.

Steve Taite - The Taite Gallery Blog http://taitegallery.blogspot.com By Steve Taite

10 New Ways to Be Rid of Annoying People

So that annoying neighbor, colleague, relative or acquaintance does not get the hint that they are driving you crazy? The simple solution is to be direct, honest and politely ask them to leave you alone, but where is the fun in that? Use any or all of these techniques to your advantage during your next encounter. Your annoying acquaintance will most likely think you are crazy, leave you alone and tell all of his/her annoying buddies to steer clear. It's a win-win all the way around the horn.

In my experience here is the best way to approach the situation. The next time, "Bob" comes up to you and says, "Have you heard about my cat's eye infection? You better sit down for this." or "So are you going to get serious about buying some life insurance from me?" just reply:

Hey Bob:

1. Don't you think the government should reclaim Indian reservations from the Native Americans? We could use the gaming revenues from their casinos. These folks have had an easy ride for too long, the party's over. Let's call our state representative right now, I'll tell her you're in favor of this movement too. How do you spell your last name again?

2. Bob, I'm collecting money for a new charity I just started. It an Anti-Arson Fund. It helps recovering arsonists like myself to suppress their urges. In completely unrelated news, if you are having a hard time selling your house, I can make that problem disappear for a small fee. Oops, there I go again. Why am I so fascinated with fire? (twitching helps to really helps in making this one convincing)

3. Bring up the movie "Brewster's Millions" as a response to any question he/she asks. Example, "So, can you watch my cat this weekend and put in her eye drops 6 times a day?" Response, "Do you think Brewster still has any of his millions left over? Brewster is the coolest guy ever. Brewster, Brewster, Brewster!"

4. Interrupt their question/comment by asking them a simple math question. "8 x 4?" Uh, 32, why did you say that? "Oh, I guess you're not as dumb as I had thought." Repeat this process for as long as they are willing to tolerate.

5. Respond to any question that they ask with a quotation from an incorrect source. Oscar Wilde once said, "It aint over, till it's over." Does that answer your question? Increase your crazy factor by getting both the person and the quotation wrong. Winston Churchill once told the people of England, "Ask not what you can do for country, but what your country can do for you." Does that help you with your situation, Bob?

6. Argue that unemployment is high because people are simply lazy. Deny any recession and follow up with, "What are you going to tell me next, that the moon landing wasn't staged? You gullible fool!"

7. Speak in the narrative. "As Bob approached me, I couldn't help but hide my disappointment. Not only was he extremely annoying, but his breath smelled of week old Indian food."

8. Tell Bob that you have come down with a bad case of narcolepsy. Close you eyes and start snoring immediately.

9. Ask if Bob has any input on the fan letter you are preparing for Bernie Madoff. Explain that he needs our support now more than ever.

10. Openly proclaim that child support should be optional. Nobody has the right to tell me how to spend my money. If I don't live there any more, I am not responsible, right Bob?

Guy Bellefonte is a comedy writer and a regular contributor to My Pet Groundhog.

By Guy Bellefonte

The Greatest Sacrifice of This Earth - Still He is Disliked by Everyone

"Man "O" Man" when I first read about him. I could not sleep properly for many nights. I could not digest that how one could do such a brave acts at such a young age! He did what he thought. No one could break his rock-Hard determination. He sacrificed his life for country when he was just 23years old. Most of historians call it the greatest sacrifice. He also sat on hunger strike unbelievably for 3 mouths just for his country men. At that time he was only 21.

I'm talking about the legend "Bhagat Singh". He was the freedom fighter of India and from a rich family. His father opened a dairy for him and also chose one beautiful girl for him to marry when he was 19. He could have grasped this wonderful opportunity for his bright and safe future but he thought otherwise he opted to sacrifice his life for country's bright future.

He said after his sacrifice there would be revolution in the country and Indians would kick Britishers out of the country. But it did not happen even he did not get the death in proper way. After his death Britishers cut his dead body into pieces then burnt his body pieces with the kerosene and threw it into the river so that people could not find his body.

A very sad end indeed still we are not taught about him in the text books. We just find biographies of Gandhi and Nehru in all the text books because they were congressmen. After the Independence congress ruled the India and did nothing for India.

But at least this great freedom fighter needs to be remembered.

This is Rocky Saggoo, I hope that all of you will like my articles and please feel free to comment.

For More Visit Indo Diaries.com

By Rocky Saggoo

How Gold Prospectors Lived During the Gold Rush

A gold rush is a period when a lot of workers migrate to the areas where there have been commercial discoveries of gold. Gold rushes have taken place in various parts of the world throughout history such as, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Brazil.

The gold rush was a time of great optimism in which many people tried their luck in order to become wealthy. It was also a competitive time, with people trying to out run each other in the prospect of finding gold. They also helped spur cultures in the cities by initiating economic growth.

Gold rushes usually start with the discovery of gold by an individual that becomes popular. Gold is usually found in streambeds, sand or gravel, requiring only simple skills and instruments to be cleared. When the gold rush started, simple instruments such as pans were used. However, over the period, proper mining techniques were introduced such as hydraulic mining, which allowed mining on a larger industrial scale.

Many people travelled to areas where gold was discovered, to try their hand at it. People left behind families and loved ones in search of wealth. During the California Gold Rush, which was one of the most famous gold rushes in history, around 300,000 gold prospectors travelled to California. Many faced serious hardships on the way as there were no modern methods of travelling, and some even died during the journey. Some of them even faced various deadly diseases on their way, such as cholera and chicken pox.

As with all the gold rushes, the sudden increase in population was a burden on the infrastructure of the city and many people remained homeless. The living conditions were undesirable and people usually lived in tents or wood shanties. If there was an announcement of gold discovery in an area, people used to collaborate with each other and used to build tents or camps there. There were no proper sanitation or garbage disposal systems, and toilets were merely holes in the ground.

According to historical records, the social atmosphere in these camps was quite adverse. Stealing and looting was the norm, and so was drinking and gambling. Fights often used to break out between prospectors, which often lead to death. The prices were very high in these areas, and people could not afford to buy good food, let alone indulge in luxuries.

Since gold prospecting was not a stable business that could bring in money everyday, many women used to go to work while their husbands were out in the search of gold. As women were not allowed to work as gold miners, many became businesspersons, entrepreneurs, or held low-level jobs. A number of women were widowed during this time, as they lost their husbands to mining accidents.

The gold rush came as a good time for some people and bad for others. A few people were able to earn a fortune, and became wealthy; many ended with only a little more than what they had started with.

Jack Wagon is a gold investment expert. Learn how to buy gold in the times of recession. For more information visit his recommended website at http://www.goldmadesimple.com/.

By Jack Wogan

The Story of A Golden Discovery - Tutankhamun's Tomb

If you think that the golden mask of Tutankhamun which you always see in the tourist posters is just a monument like any other one..then take a while to know the importance of that mask and all the other treasures which had been discovered on that young pharaoh's tomb.

Tutankhamun's tomb is one of the most famous and monumental finds in the history of Egyptology, because it is the only undisturbed royal tomb found in Egypt. All the other royal tombs were robbed in antiquity, and indeed so was Tutankhamun's. Luckily, these burglaries were small, and the majority of Tutankhamun's goods were found intact.

In 1914, Egyptologist Howard Carter and his benefactor Lord Carnarvon started excavating in the Valley of the Kings, just after another excavator, Theodore Davis, who had worked in the area for some time, claimed that 'The Valley of the Tombs is now exhausted.' How wrong can one man be?

Carter and his team did uncover a number of tombs in the Valley, and in 1917 Carter began to search for the missing tomb of Tutankhamun (a number of objects had been discovered showing the existence of a tomb in the area).

However, by 1921 the team still had not discovered the tomb, and Lord Carnarvon considered withdrawing his funding. After much debate, Carter convinced him to fund one final season. Luckily for Carter this final season was a cracker. On 4 November 1922 his team uncovered the first stone step of Tutankhamun's tomb. The next day they cleared the steps to reveal the door, complete with ancient seals showing the tomb was intact.

The first doorway was opened on 23 November 1922, and the second doorway within the tomb on 26 November. At the opening of this door, Carter and Carnarvon saw for the first time the wonderful objects hidden for three millennia. These include solid gold coffins, gilded shrines, scores of pieces of golden jewelery, and the famous solid gold death mask.

The first chamber was officially opened on 29 November, and the burial chamber on 17 February 1923. The cataloguing of the objects started, and on 28 October 1925 the team finally opened the coffin and gazed at the face of the king who lived and died so long ago. Cataloguing and recording all the artefacts in the tomb was finally completed on 10 November 1930, eight years after the discovery.

Muhammed Khaled is an assistant lecturer in a civil engineering college, he is concerned about Egyptian culture and history, and writes in Egyptian Panorama blog where you can discover and see more about Egypt through a collection of informative and simple articles and reviews about every interesting you may like to know on both ancient and modern Egypt.

By Muhammed Khaled

Use Flash Photo Gallery to Showcase Your Image Works Online

If you are a photographer or artist with many digital photo and image files for displaying to your potential clients online, a website photo album is the best way for you showcases your talents and sell your art.

There are many online photo album and portfolio services that allow you to upload your digital photos, and create your online image gallery or photographer showcase. Many of these sites offering their service for free, as they generate their revenue from banner advertising or sponsorship.

Many People use these services because they don't need to bother with paying for a domain name, or buying hosting space. Fiddling with photo gallery software might sound difficult for non-programmers. Also many people don't have the time to learn, hence these free online photo portfolio and album services seems to offer easy solutions.

However, there are few problems with this approach. Although the photos are yours, the website is not, which means that your online photo portfolio's availability is depending on the website and the service provider. And when you want to switch to another hosting company, you would have to manually backup all the images from your existing online image portfolio, or all your work will be lost. Many online photo album website also state in their terms and conditions, that they will have ownership of the photos once they are uploaded to their server. Which means you might lose the ownership and copyright of your photos as soon as your photos are uploaded, and they might be sold or distributed without your awareness.

If you are serious about your online photo image portfolio, it would be best for you to have your own domain name and hosting, build your own website, and use a photo gallery software to establish your very own photographic image portfolio. This way all images are kept on your own PC, you can upload the portfolio to any server of your choice, and you can avoid any potential copyright issues.

You might have question about how to add an online photo gallery to website. Gone are the days when you had to learn html and php coding just to add an online photo album to your website. Now you can upload and create your own photo gallery easily using available photo gallery software tools, you can even make your entire website a photographic image portfolio, with multiple flash photo galleries.

Store the photo albums on your own web server means that you are not depending on another company to keep them online for you, and they are much safer as well. You keep the full ownership and copyright of the images. People can no longer easily download your photos using their browser, because flash gallery automatically disable the mouse right-click button. Your pictures are safely stored on your own host and you can update and upload new images anytime from your own PC.

There are various photo gallery templates available to use, with different skins designs and features such as thumbnail, scrollable photo description and slideshow function. Presenting your online portfolio or exhibition in a fancy, sophisticated and professional way is all about making you stand out from the crowd. A photo gallery software with suitable templates will allow you do that just that with no effort or time involved at all in doing so. You will be able to create and upload your own web photo gallery to your own hosting a/c with just a few clicks. You can add an unlimited number of images and photos in each album, so if you have photos on various topics such as holiday, wedding, professionally portraits, etc, you can create multiple photo album and add your photos to them very easily and fast.

Godfrey Ko, website designer and software author. Develop software including a website builder and flash photo gallery.

By Ko Fai Godfrey Ko

The Unique Answer to a Common Problem

What's the common problem all photographers face?

You can pick almost any photography segment for this illustration, but I will pick on High School Senior Portraits as an example. Randomly choose 10 Senior portrait photographers from an area of about 100 miles from your front door. These should be professionals with a reasonable amount of success. In other words, they produce good work. Now, these 10 professional senior photographers all have images on their website. They will show a variety of poses, styles, artistic effects, etc. There will be a mix of studio and outdoor images. As you look over these images what do you notice?

We are naturally wired to notice what is unique.

The images that you will remember are going to be different. The rest will fade into a blur after a few moments. Imagine these photographers creating one image each of a high school senior girl leaning against a tree. Nine of these girls are all similar. Blonde hair, yellow shirt, leaning against a large oak tree. The only thing we have to do as photographers to be noticed is to be different. Let's reveal the final image (the one you have created) of the group. Fire engine red haired young lady wearing a shirt that was just as red as her hair. Instead of leaning against a tree, she's leaning against a telephone pole, with a rustic alley in the background. Out of all these images what gets noticed?

Sometimes image quality doesn't matter.

What if your pose isn't perfect, or the lighting is off just a hair. Does it matter? Not in this example it doesn't. Everyone believes that to succeed in photography, you need the best images. It's just not true. You need unique images. When every photographer in your area is getting ready to Zig, you need to Zag. Being different means getting noticed.

Are you afraid to be different?

It can be scary to go your own way. I firmly believe that it's worth the emotional risk. When you are different, you share something personal with others. I know that's risky, but the result is worth it.

Okay, so what's the result?

That little bit of difference will resonate with a percentage of people who will love it and with a percentage that hates it. Before you realized the power of being unique you will be passed over by a lot of clients. Clients that would mesh well with your style and your personality. These clients would love the results you produce, and love working with you. Unfortunately, they don't choose you, because you didn't stand out enough to get that second glance.

Add a little difference in your area of expertise, and those clients will start looking your way, seeing the difference between you and every other photographer you compete against.

What's the common problem all photographers face?

You can pick almost any photography segment for this illustration, but I will pick on High School Senior Portraits as an example. Randomly choose 10 Senior portrait photographers from an area of about 100 miles from your front door. These should be professionals with a reasonable amount of success. In other words, they produce good work. Now, these 10 professional senior photographers all have images on their website. They will show a variety of poses, styles, artistic effects, etc. There will be a mix of studio and outdoor images. As you look over these images what do you notice?

We are naturally wired to notice what is unique.

The images that you will remember are going to be different. The rest will fade into a blur after a few moments. Imagine these photographers creating one image each of a high school senior girl leaning against a tree. Nine of these girls are all similar. Blonde hair, yellow shirt, leaning against a large oak tree. The only thing we have to do as photographers to be noticed is to be different. Let's reveal the final image (the one you have created) of the group. Fire engine red haired young lady wearing a shirt that was just as red as her hair. Instead of leaning against a tree, she's leaning against a telephone pole, with a rustic alley in the background. Out of all these images what gets noticed?

Sometimes image quality doesn't matter.

What if your pose isn't perfect, or the lighting is off just a hair. Does it matter? Not in this example it doesn't. Everyone believes that to succeed in photography, you need the best images. It's just not true. You need unique images. When every photographer in your area is getting ready to Zig, you need to Zag. Being different means getting noticed.

Are you afraid to be different?

It can be scary to go your own way. I firmly believe that it's worth the emotional risk. When you are different, you share something personal with others. I know that's risky, but the result is worth it.

Okay, so what's the result?

That little bit of difference will resonate with a percentage of people who will love it and with a percentage that hates it. Before you realized the power of being unique you will be passed over by a lot of clients. Clients that would mesh well with your style and your personality. These clients would love the results you produce, and love working with you. Unfortunately, they don't choose you, because you didn't stand out enough to get that second glance.

Add a little difference in your area of expertise, and those clients will start looking your way, seeing the difference between you and every other photographer you compete against.

By Jason H. Crowe

Take Photos With Your Digital Camera - Then Sell Your Digital Photos Online

If you are like me, you have been taking pictures for a long time. With the revolution of the Digital Camera and Digital Photos there are pictures everywhere. Anyone who likes to take pictures can take as many as they choose and do so for virtually no money. So why not turn your digital photos into an extra income online. With a little time and some good advice you can turn your Digital Camera into a cash machine.

First: You will need to organize your photos into files using only the best photos. A good file organizer is helpful and can be very useful to continue keep your bulk photos organized. I have been using Picasa for a long time and it has served me quite well. There are other photo programs that are similar and will serve the same purpose. What I like about Picasa is you can separate each section of photos into dates then you can add a title to these dates and even where the event took place.

For instance, if you shoot several different settings over a period of several days or weeks when you download them into your computer you can then split each event at the change of each date. Or even picture by picture. You can then separate your photos into categories of class and quality. It is simple and it is free.

Second: You are going to have to find web sites where you can post your digital photos. There are several sites that will accept your photos. You will have to sign up to get started. These are all free. They will give you their suggestions on what to look for when picking your digital pictures to submit to their online site. They will tell you what subject matter sells best. They will also tell you what type of material you should avoid using.

If you like taking a lot of pictures of a variety of different subjects you probably have a number of quality digital photos that will sell online. Just think when you are looking at photos on a given web site you will be looking at your very own. The ones you took with your digital camera. They are there for the world to see and it did not cost you a thing to put them there. Well, just a little time.

At AlbertsDigiCameraCash.com you will find all the information you need to get started on submitting your digital photos online. This is an eBook that tells you what type of subject matter is best and how to use the subject matter you already have. This eBook is also free and you can download it immediately. Go check it out and see for yourself how you can take digital photos with your digital camera and sell them online. Click Here Now.

By Austin Baker

Is Michael Jackson Really Dead?

I was shocked and amazed to hear that Michael Jackson had died, it seemed so incredible that someone who is just about to make a comeback would drop dead 2 weeks before the first concert. So I asked myself a couple of questions!

What was Michael Jackson's life really like?

What is the outcome of his death?

And the answers I got made me think of Elvis Presley and his "death". You see, Michael Jackson was clearly a very unhappy and trouble man. Anyone who reads the press about him or reads about the type of life he had cannot help but feel that his life was far from what most people would really want. And in the last few years his emotional problems had become increasingly public.

But it is not just his emotional problems that have hit the headlines, his financial problems have also been well publicised as he spent massive amounts of money on his "Neverland" range and oddball lifestyle; all taking him into massive debt and a clearly unhappy life. No, he did not have a happy life, certainly not one that most people would want. He had money problems, his time was not his own and he lacked simple freedom in his life - the three things that all humans need to some degree in order to feel a minimum of happiness.

So what is the outcome of his death?

Well in recent months there has been a massive upsurge in interest in Michael Jackson because of his massive sell-out comeback concerts in the O2 arena in London. The press has been full of it, radio and TV stations have massively pumped it up, to the point where tickets were being resold for hundreds of times there face value. Expectation was rising, people were talking constantly, sales of his music had gone through the roof. Money was pouring in to his banks and the banks of the promoters and all concerned with the concerts. But was Jacko up to the challenge of the 50 concerts? Could he do it again having been off stage for so long? Or was this just a set-up? Did Michael Jackson really die in his LA home on the 25th of June as we are being told?

If he was doing a massive comeback tour, then it is almost certain that his life has recently been insured for massive amounts of money to cover any losses by the promoters and everyone else involved in the comeback. I am sure Michael Jackson has recently probable increased his own life insurance recently in light of his upcoming tour.

How much money will his estate make in the coming months from the global upsurge in his music sales, the covers of his songs that are bound to be released by other artists and the insurance pay-outs that will happen?

Has Lisa-Marie's ex-husband followed her father? It has long been speculated that her father Elvis Presley did not die as reported but instead sought to start a new life out of the lime-light, could Michael Jackson have done the same?

The recent up-sales in his music, the insurance pay-out, the up-coming sales of his music - future income from turning Neverland into a museum or theme park! It is clear that he will make more money after his death than he has before it.

Is Michael Jackson really dead?

By Chris J Ball