The G20 Summit held in London recently was an opportunity for the new players on the world scene to change the global financial landscape. Countries that do not subscribe to the United States' and Great Britain's free-wheeling economic model want to increase banking regulations and replace the dollar as the world's reserve currency.

My Dad worked in the coal mines of Novinger for seven years. Seven years is considered 14 years as the coal mine calculated it. Coal mining is notoriously arduous work, but Dad didn't mind. That's what kept food on his family's table.

My Dad's inability to read or write did not keep him from finding honorable work after the coal-mining years. Whether he was digging ditches, operating forklifts, tearing up concrete with a jack-hammer, or trading and selling animals to make ends meet, we never missed a meal.

The holiday of May Day is primarily celebrated in the northern hemisphere and occurs annually on May 1st. Modern day reasons for celebration of this day vary widely, as do the methods, but its origins are well known. Where did this celebrated day come from? Just who was the Queen of May? Should you take part in May Day traditions?

May Day was observed in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. The first day of May was also the first day of summer. It was celebrated in anticipation of the mid-summer solstice occurring on June 21st.

On October 7, 2008, we warned "American capitalism has failed. What next?"  But in his March 24, 2009 news conference, President Obama stated, "We will recover from this recession."  Which is true?

Before we answer these questions, let us quickly recap what is indisputable.

Not since the days of the Suez Crisis of 1956 have the ties that bind the "special relationship" between the United States and Great Britain been so strained.  Why? The reason is simple.  There is a new man in the White House.