Obama Dishonoring Vets Skipping Memorial Day at Arlington Cemetery
By RJ
YC/Staff
May 26, 2010
In a highly unusual move, President Barack Obama is going to skip the traditional Memorial Day event at Arlington National Cemetery to return home to Chicago for the long holiday weekend.
Obama sees it as addressing one of the great broken promises of his administration: his early pledge to return home to Chicago every six weeks or so, according to The Washington Post.
On Monday, Obama will make remarks at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery and miss the usual tradition of presidents speaking at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day.
Instead, Vice President Biden and his wife will appear in Obama’s place, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, as well as holding a breakfast for Gold Star families — families whose loved ones died in military service — at the White House earlier that day.
See the entire story at The Washington Post.
Source: Paul Reveres Riders
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. If you would like to comment on this story and you are haven’t problems logging in. Send your comment to dan@goldcoastchronicle.com and we will post it.
Obama Out to Change TX Textbooks to Socialism
By Fox Nation
May 22, 2010
Should history books refer to the president as Barack Obama, Barack H. Obama or Barack Hussein Obama?
Who’s more important: Christopher Columbus or John Smith?
Clara Barton or Ruby Bridges?
Ruby Bridges or Dolores Huerta?
Is the story of Nathan Hale too gruesome for first graders?
Will history books refer to the 44th American president as Barack Obama, Barack H. Obama or Barack Hussein Obama?
Late into the night, the Texas Board of Education considered these and other questions for the state’s social studies curriculum.
The debate has set off a culture war, pitting conservatives against democrats in a battle that attracted 40,000 e mails from parents, teachers and academics from around the nation.
The curriculum covers grades kindergarten through high school, and yet after 12 hours of debate the board had only just begun talking about its biggest challenge – high school standards – at 9 p.m. Thursday.
All day long the board dropped, added and swapped the names of historical figures and events into and out of the standards.
It began with 1st graders. John Smith was dropped, as was Nathan Hale, not because he wasn’t important, but because, according to one teacher, ‘the kids couldn’t get past the hanging.’
Despite deep political differences, the debate remained polite until the topic focused on President Obama. Then it got personal. Lawrence Allen, a black former high school principal from Houston offered a motion to enter President Barack Obama’s name in a section of the curriculum that recognized significant dates in U.S. History.
David Bradley, a white businessman from Beaumont, motioned that the president’s legal name should be used, Barack Hussein Obama.
“I think we give him the full honor and privilege of his full name.”
“I am getting pretty fed up with this,” said Democrat Mary Helen Berlanger. “You don’t have to be derogatory.
We don’t always put in Jefferson in William Jefferson Clinton.”
“The intent behind what you are doing I think is pretty obvious,” said Republican Bob Craig.
ALSO:
Conservatives make changes to Texas curriculum
TX Textbook: Before We Tackle History, A Little Math
Texas Textbooks: Is America Exceptional?
Texas Textbook Debates Lead to Death Threats
Atheists Fight to Change Textbook Standards
Source: Fox Nation
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
Soldiers Surprising Their Loved Ones: The “Best of” Mix
For Those Who Believe or Don’t Believe A Must See Video
By Dan Samaria
Publisher/GCC
May 20, 2010
I received this video from one of my readers Earle Scott Bushnell and I would like to share it with you.
America is going through a lot right now and we need to pray for it. If we continue to go in the direction that we are in now, we might not be able to go back.
There is only one person that can stop this that is GOD, he is allowing this to happan because we have gotten away from him.
Chron. 7:14 Reads:
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Please pass this around it should be shown in every Church this Sunday.
In the video the screen fills up with words, than the words tumble to the bottom and new words start up again at the top of the screen.
It has a beautiful powerful message of TRUTH!
We hope you enjoy it and will pass it on to your friends the message needs to get out.
Please send us a line and let us know what you think. We will post your comment good or bad. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
A Great Story!
May 19, 2010 by Dan
Filed under Encouragement
By Dan Samaria
Publisher/YC
May 19, 2010
I love getting e-mails from our readers, I just wish they would leave their names that way I could give them credit.
I received this one yesterday; anyone who has pets will really like this. You’ll like it even if you don’t and you may even decide you need one!
As I was reading this it brought tears to my eyes, reminded me that I once had cancer and it my pet Sheppard Buddy was always there for me.
Here is the e-mail I hope you enjoy it.
We would like to know what you think. Please drop us a line so that we can post your comment. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named ‘Lucky.’ Lucky was a real character.
Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy.
Inevitably, someone would forget and something would come up missing.
Mary or Jim would go to Lucky’s toy box in the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky’s other favorite toys.
Lucky always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his toys stay in the box.
It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer. Something told her she was going to die of this disease……in fact; she was just sure it was fatal.
She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders. The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky.
A thought struck her….what would happen to Lucky?
Although the three-year-old dog liked Jim, he was Mary’s dog through and through.
If I die, Lucky will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won’t understand that I didn’t want to leave him!
The thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.
The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks.
Jim took Lucky for his evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, whining and miserable.
Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital.
When she arrived home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn’t even make it up the steps to her bedroom. Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap…
Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn’t come to her when she called. It made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.
When Mary woke for a second she couldn’t understand what was wrong. Shecouldn’t move her head and her body felt heavy and hot.
But panic soon gave way to laughter when Mary realized the problem. She was covered, literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned!
While she had slept, the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life.
Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again, walking further and further together every day.
He had covered her with his love.
It’s been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free. Lucky. He still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.
Remember…..live every day to the fullest. Each minute is a blessing from God. And never forget….the people who make a difference in our lives are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards.
They are the ones that care for us.
If you see someone without a smile today give them one of yours!
Live simply… Love seriously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God.
All you are asked to do is keep this circulating, even if it is only to one more people, in memory of anyone you know that has been struck down by cancer or is still fighting their battle.
Dear God, I pray for the cure of cancer.Amen
Michelle Obama Talks to Kids about Illegal Alien Mom
By Fox Nation
May 19, 2010
Democrats and Republicans continue to trade barbs over the Arizona’s new, controversial immigration law and federal reform efforts, but First Lady Michelle Obama today saw the personal side of the debate, from the perspective of a child.
Obama today traveled with Mexican First Lady Margarita Zavala to the New Hampshire Estates Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland, where a second-grade girl asked her about how immigration reform would impact her family.
“My mom… she says that Barack Obama is taking everybody away that doesn’t have papers,” the girl said, sitting cross-legged on the gymnasium floor with her classmates, while Obama sat in a folding chair next to them.
A large blue banner hanging behind them, adorned with the American and Mexican flags, read, “Welcome, Mrs. Obama! Bienvenidos, Sra. Zavala!”
“Yeah, well that’s something that we have to work on, right?” Obama said. “To make sure that people can be here with the right kind of papers, right? That’s exactly right.”
The little girl continued, “But my mom doesn’t have any papers.”
Source: Fox Nation
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
Medal of Honor Recipient – Civil War Veteran 1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing
By Dan Samaria
Publisher/YC
May 19, 2010
Each week : We at the Chronicle will be honoring one of these true heroes.
We will call it Medal of Honor Recipient of the Week.
We hope you will join with us to honor these true heroes. Who have given us the greatest sacrifice that one could give their life, to save their fellow soldiers?
We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
This Week’s Hero: Civil War Veteran 1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing
by Dinesh Ramde
DELAFIELD, Wis. – Seven score and seven years ago, a wounded Wisconsin soldier stood his ground on the Gettysburg battlefield and made a valiant stand before he was felled by a Confederate bullet.
Now, thanks to the dogged efforts of modern-day supporters, 1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing shall not have died in vain, nor shall his memory have perished from the earth.
Descendants and some Civil War history buffs have been pushing the U.S. Army to award the soldier the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration. They’ll soon get their wish.
Secretary of the Army John McHugh has approved their request, leaving a few formal steps before the award becomes official this summer. Cushing will become one of 3,447 recipients of the medal, and the second from the Civil War honored in the last 10 years.
It’s an honor that’s 147 years overdue, said Margaret Zerwekh. The 90-year-old woman lives on the land in Delafield where Cushing was born, and jokes she’s been adopted by the Cushing family for her efforts to see Alonzo recognized.
“I was jumping up and down when I heard it was approved,” said Zerwekh, who walks with two canes. “I was terribly excited.”
Cushing died on July 3, 1863, the last day of the three-day battle of Gettysburg. He was 22.
The West Point graduate and his men of the Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery were defending the Union position on Cemetery Ridge against Pickett’s Charge, a major Confederate thrust that could have turned the tide in the war.
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was planning an invasion of the North; both sides knew how important this engagement was.
Cushing commanded about 110 men and six cannons. His small force along with reinforcements stood their ground under artillery bombardment as nearly 13,000 Confederate infantrymen waited to advance.
“Clap your hands as fast as you can — that’s as fast as the shells are coming in,” said Scott Hartwig, a historian with the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. “They were under terrific fire.”
The bombardment lasted two hours. Cushing was wounded in the shoulder and groin, and his battery was left with two guns and no long-range ammunition. His stricken battery should have been withdrawn and replaced with reserve forces, Hartwig said, but Cushing shouted that he would take his guns to the front lines.
“What that means is, ‘While I’ve got a man left to fight, I’ll fight,'” Hartwig said. Within minutes, he was killed by a Confederate bullet to the head.
Confederate soldiers advanced into the Union fire, but finally retreated with massive casualties. The South never recovered from the defeat.
The soldier’s bravery so inspired one Civil War history buff that he took up Cushing’s cause by launching a Facebook page titled “Give Alonzo Cushing the Medal of Honor.”
Phil Shapiro, a 27-year-old Air Force captain, said such heroism displayed in one of the nation’s most pivotal battles deserved recognition, even at this late date.
“We need to honor those people who got our country to where it is,” said Shapiro, of Cabot, Ark.
Zerwekh first started campaigning for Cushing in 1987 by writing to Wisconsin Sen. William Proxmire.
Proxmire entered comments into the Congressional Record, she said, and she assumed that was as far as it would go. But current Sen. Russ Feingold later pitched in and helped Zerwekh and others petition the Army.
After a lengthy review of historical records, the Army agreed earlier this year to recommend the medal.
More than 1,500 soldiers from the Civil War have received the Medal of Honor, according to the Defense Department. The last honoree for Civil War service was Cpl. Andrew Jackson Smith of Clinton, Ill., who received the medal in 2001.
The Cushing name is prominent in the southeastern Wisconsin town of Delafield. A monument to Cushing and two of his brothers — Naval Cmdr. William Cushing and Army 1st Lt. Howard Cushing — stands at Cushing Memorial Park, where the town holds most of its Memorial Day celebrations.
Shapiro, the Facebook fan, said he thought of Alonzo Cushing plenty of times last year as he faced a number of dangerous situations during a five-month stint in Iraq.
“I’d think about what Cushing accomplished, what he was able to deal with at age 22,” Shapiro said. “I thought if he could do that then I can certainly deal with whatever I’m facing.”
Source: Yahoo News CMHS
Hero of the Week – Wal-Mart Feeding American Families
By Dan Samaria
Publisher/YC
May 17, 2010
Editor’s Note: Each Week we will be Honoring people or groups that are making a difference in helping others especially during this tough times in America.
When we as Americans are put through a test, we come out in flying colors on the other side.
We would like to know what you think. And if you know someone or group that we can Honor. You can contact us at dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
This week we will be honoring: Wal-Mart. Here is his story:
By Emily Fredrix
AP
NEW YORK (AP) — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to significantly ramp up its donations to the nation’s food banks to total $2 billion over the next five years, the retail giant said Wednesday.
The company is more than doubling its annual rate of giving as the number of Americans receiving food stamps has risen to one in eight, and food banks are straining to meet demand.
Wal-Mart’s plan comes in two parts:
At least $250 million in grants over five years will go to efforts such as buying refrigerated trucks, which help fruits, vegetables and meat last longer to make it from store to charity, and programs to feed children during the summer when they’re not in school and receiving government meals.
But the bulk of the donations will consist of more than 1.1 billion pounds of food that doesn’t sell or can’t be sold because it’s close to expiration dates, for example.
About half will be fresh fruit, vegetables, dairy and meat — items that food banks say they’re seeing more demand for.
The company estimates the food will provide 1 billion meals. Store employees will even offer assistance to food banks to help run their operations more efficiently.
The move extends Wal-Mart’s sharp increases in donations in recent years.
In 2009, the company spent $21 million on hunger relief and donated 116.1 million pounds of food, up from $12 million in cash and 42.7 million pounds of food in 2008.
The donations may also represent Wal-Mart playing a bit of catch-up with other grocers.
The nation’s second-largest supermarket chain, Kroger Co., donated 50 million pounds of food in 2009.
Certainly, Wal-Mart’s donations are small compared with the rising need. Some 39.7 million people received food stamps in February, an increase of 22 percent from the same month last year.
Wal-Mart’s donation would be enough to feed everyone now on food stamps only about five meals a year.
“As we laid out the case for need over the last couple of years, I think it became clear that this was something that Wal-Mart, as the largest grocer in the country, needed and wanted to do,” Wal-Mart Foundation President Margaret McKenna said in an interview.
St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix, Ariz., has nearly doubled the amount of food it distributes in two years to keep up with the rising need.
First-timers are easy to spot, said St. Mary’s Food Bank President Terry Shannon.
“They walk in the door, their eyes are down on the ground. They’re embarassed to be there.
They don’t know what else to do,” said Shannon, who will help make the announcement at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday.
The food bank now picks up about 1,000 pounds of food per week from each of 53 area Walmart and Sam’s Club stores.
Wal-Mart also plans to use its logistics expertise to help food banks operate on a larger scale and run more efficiently.
Company experts will help food banks make tweaks such as installing heavier shelving to hold more food or set up their locations more like stores so they are easier to navigate, McKenna said.
Although there are signs of economic recovery as companies make more profits and the stock market rebounds, job creation is still weak.
That means needs will remain high, said Vicki Escarra, CEO of Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief charity.
“I think people are recognizing as recovery takes place, middle-income jobs are becoming more and more scarce, and so I think this is certainly a crisis in America,” she said.
Wal-Mart has been one of the country’s biggest corporate givers for at least the past decade, but the $2 billion commitment is a “huge gift,” said Steven Lawrence, director of research at the Foundation Center, a national authority on philanthropy.
Food assistance typically goes overseas, so this announcement could inspire more foundations and companies to shift priorities.
“I think it’s sending a message to the grant-making community and to the world that the economic crisis is not over,” he said.
Source: Yahoo News
Jupiter Loses Some Rings
By Fox Nation
May 17, 2010
Jupiter has lost one of its iconic red stripes and scientists are baffled as to why.
The largest planet in our solar system is usually dominated by two dark bands in its atmosphere, with one in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern hemisphere.
However, the most recent images taken by amateur astronomers have revealed the lower stripe known as the Southern Equatorial Belt has disappeared leaving the southern half of the planet looking unusually bare.
The band was present in at the end of last year before Jupiter ducked behind the Sun on its orbit.
However, when it emerged three months later the belt had disappeared.
Source: Fox Nation
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com
Schools Pulls Obama Painting
May 15, 2010 by Dan
Filed under One Person's View
By Fox Nation
May 13, 2010
HALLSVILLE — Art teacher Brittany Williamson said her student simply wanted to “get a reaction” with his painting that depicted President Barack Obama with a hammer and sickle symbolizing communism.
“That’s the whole purpose of art — to get a reaction,” Williamson said.
Although Williamson thought the Hallsville High School sophomore’s painting was “an amazing piece,” it received not-so-amazing critiques from some school staff and visitors who complained to Williamson and Superintendent John Robertson.
The painting was taken down Monday after being displayed for nearly two weeks.
Robertson said the piece was removed because it could have been construed to reflect an official position of the school district.
Source: Fox Nation
Editor’s Note: We would like to know what you think. dan@goldcoastchronicle.com