Via Stop the ACLU, which also has posted its "ACLU Nativity Scene" and also sends this Carnival of Christmas blog.

Posted by: Ace at 01:12 PM | Comments (4)
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This is the first season since I don't know when that I haven't heard this.

Posted by: Ace at 01:00 PM | Comments (8)
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Yes, I do. The inlaws, the yammering, the bad cooking, the travel, the clucking and having to smile to that cousin who doesn't bathe and asks me for money all the time.

But, never fear, men! It seems some genius has figured out that the women are the ones who keep things together.

So, gents. Just suck it up, smile and let the women run the show. That is, unless you want to get the "cold shoulder" for at least two months.

Posted by: Open Blog at 12:40 PM | Comments (18)
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Cute thing for the kids.

All seems to be going fine so far but you just know when the old fat man gets to America the TSA is going to inspect the bag heÂ’s carrying and confiscate half of whatÂ’s in it. Hopefully youÂ’ve made other arrangements for your kiddies.

That said, theyÂ’ve been doing this for over 50 years but with the intertubes and Google, itÂ’s gone to a whole new level since I was a kid.

Posted by: DrewM. at 10:00 AM | Comments (15)
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But this hit me right in teh funnay.

For whatever reason, the formatting on Nice Deb's blog cuts off the right side of the video for me, so I'll put it under the fold so you can see it here if that's the case for you too. more...

Posted by: LauraW. at 09:38 AM | Comments (11)
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Merry Christmas!

I'm heading for the bus to see Mom so I won't be online again until later. Everyone can Open Blog if they like.

Snowglobe gif copyright Moons Designs.

Posted by: Ace at 09:09 AM | Comments (31)
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Not surprisingly, alcohol was involved.

The 18-year-old left motorists shocked as he removed his trousers and started to simulate sex on the footpath.

“This was bizarre,” Sheriff Drummond told the UK’s Sun newspaper. “Anyone who lies on the road in the daylight, is significantly intoxicated and is partially undressed has a problem.” Sheriff Drummond commented...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 08:24 AM | Comments (27)
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They're being quite dramatic about it.

Add it all up and you get Mitt Romney, a disquieting figure who sure looks like the next president and most surely must be stopped.

Eh. A limp-wristed attack at his "created" stature, calling him a wealthy, successful phony with no core principles. The same paper that endorsed John Kerry for '04, so don't turn on your irony meter if the warranty is up.

In the 2008 campaign for president, there are numerous issues on which Romney has no record, and so voters must take him at his word. On these issues, those words are often chilling. While other candidates of both parties speak of restoring America's moral leadership in the world, Romney has said he'd like to "double" the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, where inmates have been held for years without formal charge or access to the courts. He dodges the issue of torture - unable to say, simply, that waterboarding is torture and America won't do it

Which could mean, bear with me now editors, he a) thinks Guantanamo has been effective and produced actionable intelligence that prevented further attacks, b) he doesn't agree that waterboarding is torture, and c) if he's in charge America will still do it.

I'm pretty sure that's what he means. Not to sure he's all worked up about that whole "moral leadership" in the world thingy. Being the moral leader of a whorehouse doesn't really shine up a resume.

When New Hampshire partisans are asked to defend the state's first-in-the-nation primary, we talk about our ability to see the candidates up close, ask tough questions and see through the baloney. If a candidate is a phony, we assure ourselves and the rest of the world, we'll know it.

*couGh*johnkerry*COugh*

It's no surprise that a liberal rag like the Monitor would come out against a conservative candidate. It's a little surprising that Mitt bugs them so much they'd take it one step further.

It's almost a good example of misdirection, with extra clumsy thrown in.

The whole thing is here if you care. But I already did the hard work for you because it's Christmas and I'm a giver.

Posted by: Dave In Texas at 07:56 AM | Comments (76)
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A nice story for Christmas:

Capt. Scott Southworth knew he'd face violence, political strife and blistering heat when he was deployed to one of Baghdad's most dangerous areas. But he didn't expect Ala'a Eddeen.

Ala'a was 9 years old, strong of will but weak of body — he suffered from cerebral palsy and weighed just 55 pounds. He lived among about 20 kids with physical or mental disabilities at the Mother Teresa orphanage, under the care of nuns who preserved this small oasis in a dangerous place.

On Sept. 6, 2003, halfway through his 13-month deployment, Southworth and his military police unit paid a visit to the orphanage. They played and chatted with the children; Southworth was talking with one little girl when Ala'a dragged his body to the soldier's side.

...

Over the next 10 months, the unit returned to the orphanage again and again. The soldiers would race kids in their wheelchairs, sit them in Humvees and help the sisters feed them.

To Southworth, Ala'a was like a little brother. But Ala'a — who had longed for a soldier to rescue him — secretly began referring to Southworth as "Baba," Arabic for "Daddy."

Then, around Christmas, a sister told Southworth that Ala'a was getting too big. He would have to move to a government-run facility within a year.

"Best case scenario was that he would stare at a blank wall for the rest of his life," Southworth said.

To this day, he recalls the moment when he resolved that that would not happen.

"I'll adopt him," he said.

...

There were so many reasons why he couldn't bring a handicapped Iraqi boy into his world.

He had no wife or home; he knew nothing of raising a disabled child; he had little money and planned to run for district attorney in his home county.

Just as important, Iraqi law prohibits foreigners from adopting Iraqi children.

Southworth prayed and talked with family and friends.

His mother, who had cared for many disabled children, explained the difficulty. She also told him to take one step at a time and let God work.

Southworth's decision was cemented in spring 2004, while he and his comrades watched Mel Gibson's film, "The Passion of the Christ." Jesus Christ's sacrifice moved him. He imagined meeting Christ and Ala'a in heaven, where Ala'a asked: "Baba, why didn't you ever come back to get me?"

"Everything that I came up with as a response I felt ashamed. I wouldn't want to stand in the presence of Jesus and Ala'a and say those things to him."

And so, in his last weeks in Iraq, Southworth got approval from Iraq's Minister of Labor to take Ala'a to the United States for medical care.

Thanks to dri.

Posted by: Ace at 07:44 AM | Comments (11)
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A gang of drunken Santa's in New Zealand tore up a movie theater.

A gang of drunken Santas ran riot through a Christchurch cinema complex at the weekend, pushing families waiting to see the film Enchanted, ripping posters off the walls and shouting "Ho, f....... ho," a newspaper reported on Monday...

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 03:36 PM | Comments (27)
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