National Day of Prayer

Today is the 60th annual National Day of Prayer, traditionally held on the first Thursday in May.

It almost didn't happen this year. An eleventh-hour ruling by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals found only last month that this observance is indeed constitutional, allowing President Barack Obama, whose administration defended the day in court, to issue the traditional annual proclamation calling for a national day of prayer.

May the National Day of Prayer bring Americans a renewed sense of purpose and confidence, not only in our leaders, but in our promise as a nation. May it bring us the courage to judge each other with mercy and fairness, both at home and abroad. And may it bring us comfort from the tragedies of natural disaster and economic devastation. We also hope that the very act of the National Day of Prayer might bring the nation blessings as well. A moment in which people join together as a nation, setting aside disagreements and differences in order to come together to pray for the best interests of our nation, is sorely needed

We hope it will bring the nation perspective, peace and, as President Abraham Lincoln hoped, the ability to move forward with "malice toward none, with charity toward all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right." The reminder that all depend upon the mercy of one another, as well as on the mercy of God, is a welcome one.

In Christian and Jewish traditions, the Sabbath is observed as a periodic rest from labor, an opportunity to reflect and refocus. The National Day of Prayer offers a similar opportunity to pause from our labors and consider again who we are, what we believe, and who we want to be

Please stop for a moment, look upward, and pray.

Is it the End of the War after bin Laden's death?

The Taliban has lost control of Afghanistan and al Qaeda's leader is dead.

Is it time for the United States to declare victory and bring the troops home? The death of Osama bin Laden may prove to be a pivotal moment for both Democrats and Republicans exhausted by the conflict and seeking greater fiscal restraint in a new age of austerity, according to some political analysts.

Others, however, argue the successful raid on bin Laden's Pakistani compound will only strengthen the hand of a president who has so far proven largely resistant to popular sentiment on the conflict.

The U.S. war in Afghanistan has long been unpopular with the public. Forty-two percent of Americans supported the war in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released earlier this week. Fifty-two percent were opposed.

Obama has promised to start a withdrawal from Afghanistan in July and complete it by 2014. On Thursday, bipartisan legislation will be introduced requiring the president to submit a more specific timeline to Congress. The new timeline would, among other things, include dates specifying when the U.S. military will hand over security and military responsibilities to the Afghan government

It would also require the administration to file quarterly reports with Congress about the status and costs of the transition.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates "has already said we will be there until 2014. I think we ought to be out of Afghanistan in the next year or so," said Rep. Walter Jones, R-North Carolina, one of the bill's sponsors. "The leader of al Qaeda is now dead. There are no al Qaeda to speak of in Afghanistan.

 This is not a war. And it won't end. You can't win when the native people are supporting the opposition the insurgent the terrorist whatever you call them. A war is between two government not between government and people. One person's death won't change anything.

GMAIL boosts up to 25,000 contacts!

Gmail used to have a limit of 10,000 contacts. For most of us, this was way more than enough, but we heard from some of you who use Gmail to communicate with more than 10,000 people. We want you to be able to store all of your contacts in a single place, so starting today, we’ve increased the limit for all Gmail users, including all those of you who use Google Apps, to 25,000 contacts.

Also, previously an individual contact could be no larger than 32KB — big enough for most people, but not always sufficient for those who like to keep a lot of notes on individual contacts. Now, each contact may be up to 128KB in size, allowing you to store more information in the notes field.

"We want you to be able to store all of your contacts in a single place, so starting today, we’ve increased the limit for all Gmail users, including all those of you who use Google Apps, to 25,000 contacts," Helmick said.

I'm not a spammer but to those who are, this is a good news.

Prince William and Kate, As Pilot and Housewife

Billions of people worldwide celebrated their wedding on Friday. But things are a fair bit quieter this week, as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge settle into newlywed life in Anglesey, Wales. 

After enjoying a brief three-day mini-honeymoon – they're postponing a longer getaway until a later date, as yet unknown – Prince William and Kate returned to their rented farmhouse on Tuesday night, the Telegraph reports. 

William is expected to return to his search-and-rescue squadron in the Royal Air Force later this week, while Kate settles into the role of housewife, taking care of business at home and supporting her husband in his official duties. 

Catherine has a small number of official engagements this month, and is expected to watch William compete in one or two Polo events. 

But St. James's Palace is said to want her primary role in the immediate future to be that of an officer's wife.

I hope they will have a joyful personal life. And have handsome and gorgeous children.

Kenneth Branagh about "Thor"

British actor and director Kenneth Branagh is best known for his deft handling of Shakespearean material.

So the choice of Branagh to direct the hotly-anticipated comic book movie "Thor," which makes it U.S. debut on Friday, came as something of a surprise.

Branagh, 50, spoke to Reuters about why he was drawn to the project and the pressures of working on a big budget Hollywood movie.

Q: What possessed you to direct "Thor"?

A: "The surprise of it was a big factor. Its immensity, the degree of difficulty, which I thought would be massive (and because) the challenge would take me out of my comfort zone ... This immense figure in epic landscapes and mountains, and men with horned helmets and this wild, unpredictable quality which I loved because superheroes can sometimes be terribly smooth. The fact that Thor is a God, and an unrestrained God -- that kind of unpredictability and danger, I thought would be unusual and maybe distinctive."

Q: The pressure must have been immense. Obviously you had tight control over your previous films. With this I imagine there was a lot of studio interference, a lot of commentary.

A: "Let's call it collaboration. They have this unique cinematic plan to interweave these characters and these stories into 'The Avengers' (movie) next year. I knew what I was getting into. The impression I had was they want a strong point of view. They would argue with me and they would strongly produce me ... But they wanted a director. They didn't want just a shooter -- someone to come in and walk away and leave it to them."

Q: They wanted to make sure it made money -- it being a $150 million budget and all?

A: "Yes and no. Without remotely diminishing the vast chunk of change that is, I had almost no control over that ... I kept my focus very narrow and in the end, I don't know what the toys look like, I didn't have any say in that. I don't know about the commercial tie-ins, who paid what for what. I had plenty to do, just start with what's on the page and then how we realize a single story."

Q: One of the challenges you might have faced was how to make this Norse God stand above the fray because there have been a dozen superhero franchises before.

A: "Already it stands apart because, as Stan Lee put it when he started writing about it, he'd gone as far as he could with humans. Now he wants to use Gods ... Here we have a superhero with those powers, a God indeed, who has to lose everything and engage with our audience. Really, the key is having him lose everything ... enjoy going on the journey with him -- him getting his comeuppance, him losing everything in order to understand what he's worth, family, friends, home.

"That's already a story in reverse that gave you fish-out-of-water comedy, and also potentially in terms of romance, allow a Romeo and Juliet possibility with the Jane Foster character."

Q: So would you do it again? Would you direct a massive, big-budget, 3D, effects-laden summer popcorn flick?

A: "It didn't seem as big right at the start. It got bigger the further I got into the woods ... At this end of things, I must note somehow I've got to stop for a little bit and have a think and process it all ... That's the point at which I'm at. That question (of doing another) -- if it arises, and it hasn't arisen yet -- because as thrilled as we are with the way it seems to be going now, it will be a few weeks before we understand the financial and creative fate of the move. There are a thousand tales to tell, we'll wait and see."

                                              -REUTERS

What can I say about "Thor" -------  STUNNING..

What are you waiting for? 

GO WATCH IT

Bin Laden Movie..

Kathryn Bigelow, the Oscar-winning director, has revealed that she is working on a movie about the hunt for Osama bin Laden and has, in fact, been for some time.

The film, currently casting under the working title ‘Kill bin Laden’, is based on an earlier unsuccessful mission to assassinate the Al Qaeda leader who was killed by Navy SEALs (Sea, Air and Land) in Pakistan on Sunday (May 02,2011).

Royal Wedding Themes for Windows 7...

You can download it HERE