Picture 1: GFWCPlantation Woman's Club members gather in front of the newly built   Williamsburg-style fountain in front of Deicke Auditorium, Plantation, for the dedication ceremony held on May 8, 2012.

Plantation Travel Club  is planning their sixth trip to benefit the Plantation Woman's Club , Plantation Historical Society, and Friends of the Plantation Library.  The fourteen day trip to Portugal is September 18 and does feature a few sights in Spain.  Thirty meals, international travel, and ten sight seeing tours are part of the package with Vantage. 

Contact Betty Cobb 954 581-6463 for details.

With so many friends and family between the social networks of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, MySpace, Meetup, Yelp and myLife, Brian Walsh has decided to stage another Facebook Friends and Family Meet-Up at Wings Plus in Coral Springs.

The first Facebook Family and Friends Meet-Up at Wings Plus on April 30^th went pretty well.  Despite four straight days of rain, three NBA playoff games, two NHL playoff games, an earlier Miami Marlins game, and Dancing with the Stars on ABC, they still managed to have 141 people turn out.

Many of their Facebook friends wanted to attend but could not because of the rain.  Many wanted the first event to be rescheduled.  

Despite the sports playoffs, television shows, and torrential downpours throughout South Florida, the event was not canceled but went on as planned. 

With that said, Wings Plus is planning a "make-up" event.  If you missed the first party on April 30th, please consider coming out on Tuesday, May 22nd for an even bigger event.  

Based upon the success of the May event, Brian Walsh is considering a monthly “Facebook Party” on the fourth Tuesday of the month through the election cycle and Christmas.

“I’m glad to see so many new faces,” said Brian Walsh, the longtime owner of Wings Plus.  “Between the local and national elections, we have certainly seen a lot of increased activity around here.” 

Wings Plus has hosted hundreds of state, local, and national candidates for public office in the last two decades. Numerous charity fundraisers also find a home at Wings Plus.

Generally known as the "The Cafe Versailles of Broward” or the place “where the politically elite meet," Wings Plus is the perfect Northwest Broward venue to stage a meet and greet for their social network of friends and family.

In recent months, Presidential candidates Herman Cain, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich have all visited Brian Walsh at Wings Plus.  Mitt Romney visited in 2008 and George W. Bush visited when he was President of the United States.

The Facebook Friends and Family Meet-Up will be held Tuesday, May 22nd from 6pm until 9pm at the Sample Road location of Wings Plus.  Please attend and meet your Facebook friends in person. 

Let's see if the power of social media is really effective and jam pack Wings Plus the evening of May 22nd.

To RSVP on Facebook, please go to: https://www.facebook.com/LivingFLA1#!/events/208703802580252

To learn more about the Wings Plus at 9880 West Sample Road in Coral Springs, please visit them at www.wingsplus.com.

“Don’t forget to bring the kids,” concluded Walsh.  “We have a surprise in store for them.”  The Facebook Friends and Family Meet-Up will be held Tuesday, May 22nd from 6 until 9pm at the Sample Road location of Wings Plus.

Now that I have your attention, the headline above is true. Paying to be popular has come to Facebook, the world’s largest social media platform.

With over 900 million members worldwide, the social networking giant has begun offering users a chance to be better noticed by their friends by testing a “pay-to-be-popular” option.

While “signing up will always be free,” has always been the Facebook motto, spotlighting your status now comes at a price in New Zealand as some users are being prompted with "Highlight" feature costing up to $2 when entering their status update.

The key phrase here: “Signing up” will always be free. Being “highlighted” to your friends comes at a price.

Recent studies show that only 12 percent of a Facebook user’s friends see the average status update. The Highlight feature promises to make a user’s post more prominent by allowing it to appear higher in the news feeds of friends as well as appearing in the news feeds of more friends.

The trial run is being quietly carried out on Facebook’s 1.4 million New Zealand users as a test to determine whether or not they are interested in the feature and whether they would be willing to spotlight themselves among friends for a price.

Originally reported in New Zealand’s Stuff magazine, the new feature was initially suspected to be a scam. However, it has been confirmed as a genuine feature by Facebook.

“We’re constantly testing new features across Facebook,” said Mia Garlick, a spokesperson at Facebook. “This particular test is simply to gauge people’s interest in this method of sharing among their friends.”

The test includes several different methods of spotlighting a Facebook user. While some highlighted posts are very inexpensive, others cost up to $2 each. Payment can be made instantly via PayPal or credit card.

In the latest of a sequence of money-making efforts by Facebook, test participants will have the option to "highlight" a post after submitting it. Friends will then see the word "highlighted" under the post.

Based upon the need for attention and a user’s budget, the decision whether to “highlight” a specific Facebook post and to what extent is left to them.

A free option of Highlight is also available to limited test users.

Highlight comes as Facebook is gearing up for an initial public offering, something expected to value the social media giant at close to $100 billion.

The company's recent slowdown of growth has prompted Facebook to experiment and concentrate its efforts on making money. The company’s imminent stock market flotation has also added more pressure. Currently, most of Facebook’s money comes from advertising across the site.

Over the weekend, Facebook also unveiled an application store, where for the first time users must pay for some of the available apps.

With 5,000 friends and 35,922 fans on Facebook, I always wondered whether my “message” was being heard. Now I know the answer.

Highlight and “pay to be popular” is not yet available in the United States.

Bill Lewis is the principal of William E. Lewis Jr. & Associates and host of the Credit Report with Bill Lewis — a daily forum for business and financial news, politics, economic trends and issues on AM 740 WSBR in south Florida.

Living up to a campaign promise and his Eight Point Platform for the Broward Republican Party, Chairman Richard DeNapoli staged yet another successful fundraiser in Saturday’s Lincoln Day Gala.

Almost 500 Republicans attended the annual Lincoln Day Gala at the Hyatt Regency Pier 66 in Fort Lauderdale.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi was the featured keynote speaker at the Broward Republican Party event.  Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, Congressman Allen West (FL-22), and Republican National Committee co-chair Sharon Day were among special guest speakers in attendance.

Party Secretary Michael De Gruccio returned as the 2012 event chairman.

“It was my honor to return as chairman of the 2012 Broward County Lincoln Day Gala,” said De Gruccio. “We had an amazing keynote speaker followed by special guest speakers that not only honored the legacy of President Abraham Lincoln but our Republican elected officials.”

Prior to the dinner, BREC Chairman Richard DeNapoli hosted a VIP Reception for nearly 200 that included the Florida Attorney General, the state Chief Financial Officer, a prominent Congressman, the Republican National Committee Co-Chairman, a number of local, state, and federal officials as well as candidates for public office.

“The VIP reception offered an opportunity to chat one-on-one with Attorney General Pam Bondi, the keynote speaker and special guests CFO Jeff Atwater Congressman Allen West, and RNC Co-Chair Sharon Day” said DeNapoli. “Guests also had an opportunity to speak with candidates running for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, the Florida House and Senate, as well as local Broward County offices.”

Returning as auctioneer from appearances at both the 2011 Broward Lincoln Day Gala and the inaugural Grand Old Party BBQ was Highlands County Commissioner Don Elwell.  Standing tall above the crowd, Elwell successfully raised thousands of dollars for local Republicans through a live auction.

Attorney General Pam Bondi opened the evening as the featured keynote speaker with a feisty and dynamic speech on a variety of issues.  Bondi, who had just returned from a trip to New York and the taping of a segment on Sean Hannity, donated a pink tie - autographed by Hannity - for the evening’s live auction.

Still excited from her recent argument before the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of Obamacare, Bondi recalled some of her experiences concerning the case.

Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater followed stating that “you have the state of Florida and our federal government taking two very different paths.  In the great state of Florida where you have elected Rick Scott, where you have elected Pam Bondi, Adam Putnam, and a Republican legislature – this is what happens in a downturn. You get people that go to bat for you."

“Things in Florida are completely different from the federal government.  The federal government has raised your taxes, raised the debt, increased regulation. In the state of Florida the last three years has been the exact opposite - your taxes were reduced, regulation was reduced, and debt was reduced.”

Congressman Allen West fired up conservatives, telling Republicans to “find the enemy and fight them wherever they are.”  Like American paratroopers before the D-day invasion, West said they “must be like sharks that smell blood in the water.”

The audience applauded and cheered throughout his 19 minute speech, as West appeared before Broward Republican’s for a final time.

West concluded with words from the farewell speech given by Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson when he was promoted by Robert E. Lee.

"He said to his brigade they would always be first in his heart," said West.  "Broward County will always be first in my heart, and I will never forget you," he told the standing room only crowd.

Special guest and Republican National Committee co-Chair Sharon Day was also encouraged by the work of the Broward Republican Executive Committee and stated so in an interview following the event.

“It was great to see so many Broward Republicans together in such a Democratic stronghold. Taking back the White House and the Senate is the only way we can save America.”

“Lincoln Day was an overwhelming success,” former Plantation Councilman and BREC Executive Director Rico Petrocelli stated. “It was encouraging to see many new faces from throughout Broward.”

Clicking the “Like” button on Facebook does not qualify for First Amendment protection, a United States District Court judge ruled, dismissing claims that a Virginia sheriff improperly monitored the virtual support of several now former employees.

As the November election approached in 2009, Sheriff B.J. Roberts, of Hampton, Va., learned that six of his employees were actively supporting retired chief deputy Jim Adams for sheriff. These employees had expressed their support for Adams by clicking "Like" on his campaign Facebook page and by attending a barbeque fundraiser on his behalf.

Following a successful re-election bid, Roberts fired several employees, including three uniformed deputies and three civilian workers who supported Adams.

Bobby Bland, Daniel Carter, David Dixon, Robert McCoy, John Sandhofer and Debra Woodward sued Roberts in the Eastern District of Virginia for violating their First Amendment rights.

According to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court, Roberts allegedly called an agency meeting in which he advised sheriff’s office staff to get on the "long train" with him, rather than ride the "short train" with Adams.

In a motion for summary judgment against the complaint, Roberts countered that some of the employees were fired because of their poor work performance or because he wanted to replace them with sworn deputies. The uniformed deputies were terminated because their actions “hindered the harmony and efficiency of the office.”

In his order, U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson ruled that "liking" a Facebook page does not qualify as protected speech. While public employees are typically allowed to speak as citizens on matters of public concern, simply clicking the “Like” button did not constitute free and expressive speech.

"The sheriff's knowledge of the posts only becomes relevant if the court finds the activity of liking a Facebook page to be constitutionally protected," Jackson wrote in his opinion. "It is the court's conclusion that merely 'liking' a Facebook page is insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection. In cases where courts have found that constitutional speech protections extended to Facebook posts, actual statements existed in the record."

The legal matter enters a vaguely interpreted area of the law as previous cases have dealt with actual written postings on social networks such as Facebook and not the mouse click of a “Like” button.

Nationally recognized constitutional attorney and law professor Bruce Rogow disagreed with Jackson's ruling.

“A communicative act is a form of free speech and while clicking ‘like’ on Facebook is a minimal act, it is a form of communication thus protected under the First Amendment,” Rogow advised. “Although simply a mouse click, you are clearly conveying a message of support to others.”

But in his ruling, Judge Jackson added, "Simply liking a Facebook page is insufficient. It is not the kind of substantive statement that has previously warranted constitutional protection. The court will not attempt to infer the actual content of Carter's posts from one click of a button on Adams' Facebook page."

Jackson also ruled that Roberts is entitled to qualified immunity, even if the plaintiffs had posted written statements supporting Adams on Facebook.

"In a case where the plaintiffs have asked the court itself to engage in extensive guesswork, an objectively reasonable official in the sheriff's position cannot be expected to engage in that same calculus," he said. "A balancing which has been difficult for multiple courts to engage is difficult more so for a sheriff attempting to ensure his actions do not impede upon the constitutional rights of his employees."

"Taking the facts in the light more favorable to the plaintiffs, Sheriff Roberts is entitled to qualified immunity," the court concluded.

Roberts, a law enforcement professional with over four decades experience, was unavailable for comment when contacted.

“By going to a candidate’s Facebook page and liking it, you are making a political statement,” concluded Rogow. “This is a form of protected speech.”