December 7, 2013 - President Barack Obama along with former Presidents George W. Bush ,Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter will travel to South Africa to attend a memorial service for Nelson Mandala on December 10. Mandela who was President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999 died on December 5 at the age of 95.

An icon around the world, Mandela led the effort for decades to end the racial segregation policies of South Africa. In 1963 Mandela was convicted of trying to overthrow the government of South Africa and sentenced to life in prison. Mandela served 27 years in prison , experiencing particularly harsh conditions on Robben Island where he would spend 18 years before being moved to other prisons. Mandela would finally be released from Victor Verster Prison on February 11, 1990. His release from prison was broadcast around the world.

In 1993 Mandela and then South African President F.W. de Klerk would both be jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. On April 27, 1994 with the "one person one vote" rule now the law of South Africa Nelson Mandela was elected South Africa's first black President.

President Obama will be accompanied  by his wife Michelle. Former President Clinton will be attending with his wife former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Former President George W. Bush will be attending with his wife Laura. President Obama also extended an invitation for former President George H.W. Bush to attend but due to his health at age 89 he was not up to making the long trip.

December 4, 2013 - President Barack Obama launched a new public relations effort yesterday to high light the benefits of the Affordable Care Act know popularly as Obamacare. Since the program rolled out in October the web site has been plagued by problems that have prevented people from signing up. Obamacare also sparked further controversy when it was revealed that several million people would not be able to keep their current health care plans as those plans did not meet the minimum standard of coverage required under Obamacare.

Speaking at the White House President Obama said “for too long, few things left working families more vulnerable to the anxieties and insecurities of today’s economy than a broken health care system,” he said. “So we took up the fight because we believe that, in America, nobody should have to worry about going broke just because somebody in their family or they get sick.”

“Now that the website is working for the vast majority of people,” Mr. Obama added, “we need to make sure that folks refocus on what’s at stake here, which is the capacity for you or your families to be able to have the security of decent health insurance at a reasonable cost through choice and competition on this marketplace, and tax credits that you may be eligible for that can save you hundreds of dollars in premium costs every month, potentially.”

President Obama new effort on Obamacare came following a recent effort to repair the glitches that users were experiencing when they were using the web site.

November 30 , 2013 - The last surviving member of the crew that rescued future  President John F. Kennedy during World War II in the Pacific has died. This last living member of the PT-157 that rescued JFK and his crew of the now famous  PT-109 was Jack Gardo who passed away on November 27, 2013 at the age of 87.

On August 2, 1943, PT-109 was rammed by a Japanese destroyer off the Solomon Islands. Two crews members of Kennedy's crew died in the collision. JFK then led the remaining crew by swimming to a nearby island. Eventually Kennedy made contact with a native islander, who then carried a coconut   JFK had etched the coordinates of their location on to American forces. Later in 1963 , Hollywood made a film about the story of PT-109  that starred Cliff Robertson as the young JFK.

On his 1960 run for the White House , PT-109 became a symbol of Kennedy's heroism that  could frequently be scene by people sporting PT-109 lapel pins on their shirts and jackets.

November 27, 2013 - A new poll out for the important battle ground state of Ohio shows former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in a virtual tie. Clinton earns 42% followed by Christie with 41%. This poll continues the trend of Christie gaining ground on Clinton.  Last week, a poll for the state of Colorado showed Clinton trailing Christie by eight percentage points. Its not all bad news for Clinton though. She easily beats any other Republican in the Ohio poll including current Ohio Governor John Kasich , former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. In more Presidential news the Iowa Caucuses are only about 25 months away.