Blog Posts by Lylah M. Alphonse, Senior Editor, Yahoo! Shine

Also on Shine:

• How we've changed: 9/11, ten years later

• 5-year-old behind 9/11 charity grows up, speaks out

• What the world wanted to know on September 11, 2001

• After 9/11 family tragedy, a new life for retired firefighter

• How we've changed: Stories of a nation transformed

Also on Shine:

The best celebrity bodies of the year

Best and worst celebrity cookbooks

Best celebrity make-unders

Outrageous! Best celebrity parent quotes
25 best celebrity-owned restaurants

President Barack Obama addresses a Joint Session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol September 8, 2011 in Washington, D.C., to highlight his plan to create jobs for millions of out of work Americans. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque-Pool/Getty Images) Saying "There should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation," President Barack Obama presented members of Congress Thursday night with a bill that he said would create jobs and provide relief for small businesses immediately.

"The people of this country work hard to meet their responsibilities. The question tonight is whether we'll meet ours," President Obama said in his speech. "The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy; whether we can restore some of the fairness and security that has defined this nation since our beginning."

The American Jobs Act proposes $447 billion in job-creating measures including a "returning heroes" tax credit for businesses that hire veterans, deep payroll tax cuts, unemployment insurance reform, and the preservation of teaching, police, construction, and firefighting jobs-all without increasing the nation's debt. Instead, Obama said

There are several celebrities that people love to hate, like Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kim Kardashian, and Snookie. And then there are the politicians that seem to make viewers angry the instant they appear on the TV screen-former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, for some, and President Barack Obama, for others. Their points of view inspire ire, perhaps, or maybe their voices just grate on people's nerves. Whatever the reason, when they're introduced on news shows or featured in commercials, peoples' stress levels skyrocket.

Matt Richardson, a video producer for technology magazine Make, likes to keep the TV on in the background while he works but got irritated when certain celebrities came on the air. So he invented "The Enough Already," a device that let him put those bothersome blowhards on mute automatically.

"A while ago it was Charlie Sheen. And then it was Sarah Palin. And then it was Donald Trump," he told CNN.com. "And after a while I realized there's sort of always

Photo: Facebook.comWho knew that the son of God was so social-media savvy? According to AllFacebook.com, a site that tracks Facebook traffic, the most engaging person on Facebook is Jesus Christ.

Or, at least, his words and wisdom inspire plenty of interaction. The Facebook page for Jesus Daily-where Dr. Aaron Tabor of Kernersville, N.C., posts Bible verses, religious artwork, and inspirational messages-has spent 18 weeks in the number one spot for engagement, which includes the number of posts, likes, and comments a page receives.

"I just started it as a hobby," Tabor, 41, told ABC News. He also runs a diet business, which has a separate Facebook page. "I looked at a friend's page and there was a little Bible app at the bottom, and I thought people would want something more."

Thirty-one percent of U.S. Facebook users list a religion in their profile, as do 24 percent of users outside of the United States, and more than 43 million Facebook users are fans of at least one page classified as "religious",

Cherie Wood was juggling her career and parenthood for years before she decided to run for mayor of South Salt Lake, Utah. And she let voters know she would continue to do so if elected.

"I had so many people tell me that I wasn't going to win," she says. "Just because of the culture here in Utah, you know, there's some strong emphasis for women to stay home and raise their families."

"I have boys-12, 10, and 3-at the time they were a little younger than that," she says. "My opposition was saying that I should be home with my kids. And so I wrote a letter to all the women voters in South Salt Lake and said, 'You know, I've always been a working mom, and because of my situation I will always have to be a working mom, and my kids are my number one priority. … But I know that I can prioritize my daily schedule and still be a really effective mayor'."

Her persistence paid off. Not only is Wood now the first female mayor of South Salt Lake, she's also the first to rise through the ranks