A Christmas Eve Story

CNN has an upbeat story on two upbeat guys who are turning the Dem primaries into a bit of a buddy film.

'Genuinely friends': How Cory Booker and Andrew Yang bonded in competition

Or for something a bit darker, the WaPo adds to the growing "Elizabeth Warren is an opportunistic, say-anything phony" genre.

Warren embraced the high-dollar fundraiser circuit for years — until just before her presidential campaign

Fauxcahontas strikes again.

Comments

[Threadkiller]

Trading Last Places

[Threadkiller]

Merry Christmas Eve, TM. Thanks for the home away from home.

Merry Christmas JOMers.

[clarice]

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/475463-jim-comeys-damaging-legacy-at-the-fbi-must-be-undone

[Captain Hate]

Since TK's here, is it only that one loon that thinks that Comey is really really a MAGA plant or is that the loon herd opinion? Thanks in advance.

[MissMarple2]

Herbert Reed
@Herbert_L_Reed
·
2h
BREAKING
@realDonaldTrump
just now:
I'll consider it one of my greatest achievements some day to say I got rid of the dirty corrupt cops that have ruined the lives of many good people. What they did to Roger Stone & @GenFlynn was very unfair.
*Response after asked if he'd pardon

[JimNorCal]

Thanks for reposting that Gen Flynn tweet from the prev thread

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--New thread.

Ig, if you bring your link over maybe change "raise" to "raze?"

:-)--

Much better TK. Wish I'd thought of it.

[Jim Eagle]

Putting Christ back into Christmas: Stille Nacht, Hellig Nacht, Peter Alexander.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBPfl2nJUfk&feature=youtu.be

Here in Florida at our parish, a lady retired but her son is an opera singer in Vienna and every Christmas he comes over to visit his Mother. And every Christmas at the 10:00am Mass he steps out in front of the altar to sing Silent Night, O Holy Night and Adestes Fidelis. Not a dry eye in the house.

[Gentlejim]

As Jill Biden handed out tamales at the border, my wife delivered Christmas presents to American orphans in bags she embellished by hand.
Is it just me or did this quote from a MM post on the prior thread make anyone else ponder where one would go to get hand-embellished American orphans in bags?

Jane,
Does your crowd decorate your golf carts for a Christmas parade like they do for Independence Day?

MM,
Love the poem.

Love the photos on the prior thread.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah to my JOM family.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--Ig: "Here's main street of the little town I grew up outside of"

Personal question but if you don't mind sharing ... how did you become contemplative and intellectual growing up in a small town? Parents with encyclopedias or an inspiring 5th grade teacher or a mind unleashed by a charismatic Great Writer or ...?--

Hah! I'm not even slightly contemplative or intellectual, unless you count thinking about old guns, old cars and not old, but properly aged, women contemplative.
I'm kinda curious is all.

My fifth grade teacher was a disturbing weirdo missing half of one finger.
My first and sixth grade teachers were fairly hot so I guess I found them pretty inspiring.
I was inspired by Homer's Odyssey when I was about 12 but left it sitting on someone's car when I was about halfway through and never saw it again. Still don't know if ol' Odysseus of many devices ever made it back.

[JimNorCal]

Thanks, Ig. :) :)

"Still don't know if ol' Odysseus of many devices ever made it back."
SPOILER: he makes it back but the adventure doesn't end

[henry]

So Booker and Yang are dating?

[MissMarple2]

Gentlejim,

Merry Christmas, from one of your Hoosier pals!

=========================
I forgot to explain about the Scout Reindeer!

When we were kids, my folks bought a one-room cabin on 40 acres near a trout stream, 90 miles north of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Cast iron bun beds, 2 cast iron double beds, an actual ice BOX, no electricity, bottle gas stove. We would go up there and stay for a week or two at a time.

When my dad sold the cabin, he brought back the mounted deer head because it was one of our favorite things.

When I came home from West Berlin with my son, we lived with my folks for a couple of years. My brother decided that he would get my son to go to bed by taking the deer head and holding it up outside the window, turning it left and right so that it looked like it was looking around. In the dark with just the light from inside the house, it looked VERY realistic!

We told my son it was the Scout Reindeer and that it was flying in ahead of Santa and his sleigh to make sure all the kids were in bed. We did that with ALL the children of that generation (my son, nephews, daughter, and nieces). Believe you me, the kids in our family believed in Santa LONG after other kids gave it up! Why not? They had seen the Scout Reindeer!

Now my brother has it as he has 2 young grandkids and a grandbaby due any day. So he and his sons-in-law can carry on the tradition over in Cincinnati.

[Threadkiller]

CH, there are quite a few members of The Sleuthers inner circle that believe that Comey is the Whitest hat of all. Over the years he went from MAGA plant to Separate but Equal Good Guy and back to MAGA plant. I believe at the moment he is a Lone Wolf of Justice right now. But like most Lone Wolves, he had the help of someone. They point to Mueller as his key guy.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

It takes a Jew to raise raze™ a Christian village idiot;
Dennis Prager dismantles and destroys Christianity Today editor's call for Trump to be impeached.

™Trademark registered to Threadkiller Esq.

[MissMarple2]

https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/dec/23/black-voters-abandoned-democrats-warm-donald-trump/

This is a good article. I found it especially interesting that they found over 40 rap songs in which Donald Trump was mentioned favorably.

Contrast this with Brokaw sniffing about how Trump isn't "presidential."

I think he is doing just fine, as president of ALL the people. (I sure would like to see a survey of those same people and Liz Warren. HA!)

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

A prog believes the job of a Republican president is to keep the seat warm while twiddling his thumbs until the next prog is elected to continue dragging America over the cliff.
So, any Republican who does more than twiddle his thumbs is by definition "not presidential".

[lyle]

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all JOMerz. God Bless you all. And, of course, Happy New Year. 🥂

Now I’ll retire to my “wine cave” and perhaps crack open one of those $900 bottles that are all the rage (!) on the commie left these days...

Cheers!

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Don't turn your back on any little elves named Pete you might find lurking in your wine cave, lyle.

[Buckeye]

Mrs. Buckeye sent me out for Belgian Endive. I only had to drive 27 miles and hit 4 stores before I found some.

We will have our family gift exchange first thing in the morning, breakfast (eggs, pancakes, grilled smoked sausage, OJ) and then head to my sister's for the rest of the day.

Her husband is 100% Sicilian decent, so at least three pasta dishes along with the traditional ham and trimmings.

He is also the Mopar guy, so we will probably have to take a ride in his 700+ horsepower Hellcat and turn tires into smoke:)

[Jim Eagle]

How many remember when they found out that there was no Santa Claus?

I do.

I was 10 when I noticed Santa’s handwriting on the packages to-from tag was the same as my Mother’s. She had remarkable penmanship. She wouldn’t qualify as a doctor:). It was at my Aunts house where spent our first Christmas back stateside.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Brilliant, somewhat subtle allegory of today's politics recalling the the 75th anniversary of The Battle of the Bulge, from VDH.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--How many remember when they found out that there was no Santa Claus?--

WHAT!?!?!?

[lyle]

I have my man-servant sweep the cave for buttplugs before I enter, Ig.

[Buckeye]

Merry Christmas Lyle!

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

LOL, lyle.
Must be a more common problem than I thought.
Merry Christmas!

[matt - deplore me if you must]

Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah to ll, and Jeffrey Epstein didn't kill himself!

[John S]

I don't know when i realized Santa was not real. I do remember that i was at grandma's house on Christmas eve, and Santa came storming into the room to give us all a little gift and say merry Christmas. he looked a lot like my uncle Louie. So I was confused, but i wasn't alert enough to run outside and look for the reindeer.

[Narciso]

Merry christmas lyle.

Its like domald glover amd the giy from the hangover?

[Narciso]

Donald glover (he wishes) and the guy from the hangover.

[henry]

Older brother showing how smart he was, don’t remember which year.

[John S]

It was my job in the late '50s and early '60s to put the bubble lights on the Christmas tree. Does anyone remember them? ours were old, from the late '40s. I just looked on Amazon, and they still have them!!

[anonamom]

Lyle, I really, really, really miss your menus.
What's for dinner??

[jimmyk]

WHAT!?!?!?

There should have been a spoiler alert.

But who's going to tell all those grown-ups that climate doomsday is a hoax, as are all the charges against President Trump?

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas to all.

[MissMarple2]

I remember them! Constant discussion at my house about which were preferable! My grandad liked the bubble lights because they reminded him of the candles his folks put on their tree at the turn of the 20th century!

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Great analogy at PJM by a guy dubbing himself billc;

The Never-Trumpers are essentially the Alec Guiness character in the movie Bridge on the River Kwai....so blinded by what they see in themselves, that they are more than willing to help the enemy of freedom win.....Guinness played Colonel Nicholson, a British POW who is helping the Japanese build a vital bridge...he does so because it is his self image as the perfect British officer that drives him to build the perfect bridge...even though it helps the Japanese army.....Trump is the William Holden Character....a guy with very loose morals who is forced to help a commando mission to blow up the bridge.....at the end of the movie, the Never-Trumper ends up getting the william holden character killed in order to protect the bridge....those who have seen the movie will understand...

Let's hope real life doesn't mirror the movie too much, though Guinness does accidentally complete Holden's mission.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

I remember them dimly from the past. Might have used them a few times when I was just a pup.

[anonamom]

Santa---I was seven. Asked my mom "You are really Santa, right?" and she said YES!
Child abuse!

[Marlene]

Christmas Eve greetings from Florida! We've had a little Christmas miracle in my family. My sister texted to tell me that Mom is accepting that she will need to go to a skilled nursing facility. She is still in rehab and is making slow progress. All six of us are in agreement about her care,so she probably thinks fighting us is futile. :)
We're going to restaurant at the beach with the daughter and son-in-law tonight.

[clarice]

GOOD NEWS, MARLENE

[anonamom]

How Charles Schultz got the gospel past the CBS prog execs:

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/scott-whitlock/2017/12/24/how-creator-charlie-brown-christmas-got-gospel-past-cbs-execs

[anonamom]

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth, peace and goodwill towards men.’

“That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”

[sbwaters]

How many remember when they found out that there was no Santa Claus?

It still pays to believe.

I do recall at 8, with my older brother, 10, setting up a pressure switch under the rug in front of the fire place, wired to a buzzer in our upstairs room.

For some reason it didn’t buzz.

[Jane]

"Does your crowd decorate your golf carts for a Christmas parade like they do for Independence Day?"

Yup the parade starts at 5:00. Cocktail party at 4. This year I will watch the parade, not participate, because all my golf cart has is Trump signs.

What did Gen Flynn say? I couldn't find it.

[Jim Eagle]

In Re: Bubble lights. The liquid is Methalyne Oxide and poisonous even a carcinogenic. Do.Not.Use.Them. especially if children are a round.

This is Public Safety Announcement from the JOM Christmas and Bicycle Education Office.

[Barbara]

How many remember when they found out that there was no Santa Claus?

I was not quite 8 years old and a smarty pants classmate announced it to us during lunch time. I've never forgiven her:)

[Neo]

If the Democratic leadership had been guided by extraterrestrials, they never would have had these problems with impeachment.

Ancient Astronaut Theorists agree.

I'm not saying it was aliens, but they certainly had no extraterrestrials.

[Stephanie Nene Not Your Normal Granma]

Merry Christmas all!

I realized it when my Barbie doll house was only 1/2 assembled and overheard my parents grumbling about being awake til 5 trying to put the damn thing together. After that, I got to participate being Santa and helping put together the younger brother's stuff. Mom and Dad got to bed much earlier after that!

[John S]

When one of my daughters was about six or seven, she asked my wife "is Santa real?" It was clear she was figuring out that there was something fishy. My wife said "do you really want me to tell you?" and daughter answered "no." She wanted to keep the magic a little longer.

[henry]

Yes, crush the false idol.

@MZHemingway

Seeing Tom Brokaw trending reminds me of his significant role in the defamation of hero security guard Richard Jewell -- it's portrayed in the movie about that horrible yet timely story about the media and FBI power and malfeasance that you should go see. It's so good.

[anonamom]

I got a Barbie house too that year. ;-)

[James D.]

Ig @ 2:34

That is a great analogy. Except I’d argue that none of the never trumpets ever had anything like the record of accomplishment and heroism that I’ve always assumed Alec Guinness’ character had prior to getting captured.

[MissMarple2]

I just sort of had it come over me one year, don't remember when.

I think it was when I noticed that all of the toys (like that train I got when I was 4 and the Robert the Robot also that year or the next) ere toys advertised on TV with brand names. (I was an early reader.)

[Marlene]

I was probably about 8 years old and one afternoon a week before Christmas,Dad picked me up after school. We drove downtown and he went into the Sears parking lot and backed the station wagon to the loading dock. The warehouse guy loaded the back of the station wagon with boxes.
"So,Dad.Does this mean Sears is Santa Claus?" :)

[Jim Eagle]

Inside the wine room, our selection for Christmas brunch tomorrow:

A Morenita Cream Sherry, Billecart-Salmon Champagne, A 1999 Vieux Chateau Certan and a Cockburn's Special Reserve Port.

Roast Beef (off the bone but attached by butcher string), Yorkshire Pudding, Root Veggies, Mince Pies and Christmas pudding with Brandy Butter.

We will be eating that roast for at least 3 days. 6#'s.

Merry Christmas.

[Jim Eagle]

narc,

If you don't have plans, you are welcome to join us up the road in The Hammock.

[anonamom]

A bright crowd, JOMers!

No pulling that Santa Claus stuff, or the kind of crap the Ds try to pitch, over on us! We know what is real, and what just can't be so!

And right on topic, from my local paper:

As Christmas draws near, parents of young children the world over face the same question: When should we tell the little ones the truth about Santa Claus? It was December 1979 when I learned the truth, although my parents informed me in a rather unorthodox way.

School had just let out for the holiday, and my younger brother Jack and I, our minds respectively unburdened by first and third grade thoughts, ran about the house like a pair of sugar-addled spider monkeys. It was Dec. 24, and all that stood between us and Santa’s bounty was Christmas Vigil Mass.

We dutifully put on itchy gray-flannel slacks and matching sweaters with our names emblazoned on them. It was the kind of outfit that made a mother happy on Christmas Eve, but invited a playground beating every other day of the year. Somehow we managed to sit still throughout the liturgy.

We got home and took off our church clothes as quickly as if they were NBA tear-away warmers. After dinner it was time to get dressed for bed, not that we had any intention of sleeping. We just needed to throw our mother off the trail.

Jack and I faked slumber in our shared bedroom as its old door creaked open. Mom usually turned in after dad, and when the hallway light from her bed-check hit my face, I knew we were ten minutes or so from safely commencing our first-ever Santa stakeout.

The two of us hadn’t even tip-toed out of the front hall when we knew something was amiss. A noise was coming from our basement, which was strange, since no chimney led down to that level.

Perhaps Santa was setting up a larger gift downstairs, we reasoned. After all, we had behaved fairly decently that year. My brother and I pressed on.

It was almost too good to be true: Jack and I were on the cusp of visual confirmation of St. Nick! Half-way down the basement stairs, our ears alerted us to something that stopped us dead in our tracks.

It was a banging worthy of Hephaestus, the kind you wouldn’t expect from someone as proficient in last-mile toy assembly as Kris Kringle. Worse still, Father Christmas cursed like a sailor, with a voice too deep for an elf, and an odd preference for some of our dad’s favorite maledictions. We snuck back to our bedroom, silently processing all we’d learned.

On Christmas Day, after all the upstairs presents were opened, dad led us down to the basement. It was a ping-pong table, the gift whose assembly had given my old man — I mean Santa – such grief the night before.

Did early discovery deprive me of precious childhood moments? Perhaps. A father of five now, though, I never fail to smile on Christmas morning when I recall my dad, nobody’s handyman, cursing his way through solitary assembly duties. Even if it’s a scene Norman Rockwell never quite felt compelled to paint.

[MissMarple2]

Boris reciting the Iliad from memory. In ancient Greek.

Your move, Labour.pic.twitter.com/hm8x0HAtoD

— Old Holborn ✘ (@Holbornlolz) December 24, 2019

Video at link. Wouldn't it be funny if the President could recite it, too! Or even better, all of the properties he has built and the costs!

[Melinda]

@kcjohnson9

Historians' rationalizations for not challenging weak historical argments so as not to threaten the greater ideological good from this @AdamSerwer article provide a depressing, if unintentionally revealing, commentary on the state of the profession.

https://twitter.com/kcjohnson9/status/1209284012373618689?s=21

(On thé 1619 “project”)

[Narciso]

Ah adam serwer, bah humbug,

[Narciso]

We had our portion of other white meat, plantains and carrots.

[MissMarple2]

https://bongino.com/corporations-brought-back-1-trillion-from-overseas-due-to-trump-tax-plan/

This article has figures and charts. I knew some money was coming back, but I didn't realize it was over $1 trillion!

[Narciso]

No colonel nicolson was astubborm martinet who insisted on continuing a foolhatdy project.

[Jim Eagle]

Colonel Nicholson is a metaphor for stubborn dedication to duty. He missed his position as commander of men and actions. How could he survive when his men wanted to be free but he wanted them to be under his thumb. The most fallible human who just can't a dapt to being someone else's private.

[lurkersusie]

Marc Lotter - Text TRUMP to 88022
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

@marc_lotter
.
@TeamTrump
today launched a new website designed to help
@realDonaldTrump
’s supporters win arguments with liberal friends, relatives, and snowflakes they encounter during the holidays.

How to Win an Argument with Your Liberal Relatives
snowflakevictory.com

[lurkersusie]

Link
https://snowflakevictory.com/

[sbwaters]

Our former editor who has passed on recalls the Christmas of his childhood. We rerun it every year. Fritz Updike knew every one of our six generations of publishers of the Rome Sentinel

[lurkersusie]

I could add a few more to this list

The 2019 Lump of Coal Awards – American Greatness

t’s a good thing President Trump is making big, beautiful coal great again because Jolly Old St. Nick is going to need an ample supply this Christmas Eve. (See 2016, 2017, and 2018 for comparable supply-and-demand needs.)

This year’s naughty list is overflowing with bitter Foggy Bottom bureaucrats, silly female soccer players, a globetrotting teenaged climate change propagandist, a “squad” of freshman House Democrats, an anonymous “whistleblower,” sleepy prison guards, a TV celebrity hoaxster, and a native elder.

But since Santa is a busy guy, let’s help guide his coal-packed sleigh to 2019’s most deserving recipients:

https://amgreatness.com/2019/12/23/the-2019-lump-of-coal-awards/

[clarice]

You don't have to out yourselves, but how many of us pretended we still believed when we knew better? Rogues!

[James D.]

Elite universities are nothing of the kind and serve little if any positive purpose, part the Nth:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/12/23/how-star-wars-reinforces-our-prejudices/

(the author is a Ph.D student in history at Stanford)

[lyle]

I’m not cooking tonight, a-mom, but I smoked a turkey breast Saturday and am taking the sliced meat to the MiL’s house at 5. I made a stock from the bones for tomorrow’s meal: crown roast of pork with roasted garlic gravy, twice-baked potatoes, harcourt vertes. The appetizer is fresh ahi tartare, lime avocado, and sliced mini tomatoes that have been marinated in soy sauce and sesame oil and served with sriracha and wasabi (and toast points.) I’m hoping the guests don’t like raw ahi, if you catch my drift...😬

Happy Holidays, everyone!

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

A trillion repatriated bucks makes a nice stocking stuffer.

[Jim Eagle]

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONNER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!

The poem was first published anonymously in the Troy, New York Sentinel on 23 December 1823. Another Sentinel in New York:)

[anonamom]

My youngest sister is 12 years younger than I, so I had to "believe" til I was 20 or so!

[Momto2]

Merry Christmas to my dear friends at JOM!

I was 6 or 7 when I spied the box that contained my brother's rocking horse from Santa. His gift had appeared, fully assembled in our den on Christmas morning. The tell-tale box was in my grandmother's basement who lived about 30 minutes away. The year before I discovered the box, Santa had even left some chimney soot on the plate and napkin after enjoying his cookies. Although I heard rumors from other kids and started to waiver, that soot secured my belief... until I saw the box.

I've enjoyed reading everyone's poems, stories, and memories of Santa.

[MissMarple2]

Happy Christmas Eve!

My mouse was acting up so I am posting from my phone. We have stopped ar the Kroger because although my daughter said she had everything, she did NOT get the crackers and soda we were supposed to bring. She meant all of the presents. So am sitting in the parking lot. Also it is 56 degrees!!

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

A Christmas Card Scene Encompassing the World; Bruegel's Hunters in the Snow.
He says the bird in the center is a crow. I'm not sure what it is. A dragon?

[Jim Eagle]

Then to make it hip we have Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run":)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqVtqbzTdVs

Sorry for the entry ads. But It is still the best blues/rock Christmas song ever.

[Melinda]

I like Straight No Chaser's arrangement that they call "Run Run Rudolph":https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCnpGwkKj6U
(They're A Capella, so, just mikes and amps.)

My personal favorite though is Steve Allen's Cool Yule as done by Pops:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxTSxQcCWLI

[GUS]

Jack my "rock" band has played in many Christmas parades. YES!!! Here in the frigid north.
We always played Run Run Rudolph. Usually 8-10 times in a long parade!!!!

[henry]

@realDonaldTrump

187 new Federal Judges have been confirmed under the Trump Administration, including two great new United States Supreme Court Justices. We are shattering every record! Read all about this in “The Long Game,” a great new book by @senatemajldr Mitch McConnell. Amazing story!

[Momto2]

Another really sweet Christmas ad: (Dad & son)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PH88aAL7hU

[GUS]

Merry Christmas to all of mine/our JOM Christian friends and loved ones. Happy Hannakah (sp) to all of our Jewish friends.
All the best to you and love from GUS.

[Jim Eagle]

Momto2,

Thank you for that 5:52 link. Martin Bougyues and I are long time friends and competitors, partners, and associates. He runs a great company even if it is part of France, Inc. You will never meet better people, happy, sense of humor, competitive but fair. That advert represents him and his family, company to a T.

[clarice]

Thanks, Gus--keep recuperating, IT'A NOT THE SAME WITHOUT CAPS!! XO

[mike in houston]

Belief in Santa Claus? remember this:

Dear Editor,

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say that there is no Santa Claus. Papa says "If you see it in the Sun, it is so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia,

Your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds.

All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to our life its highest beauty and joy.

Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus? You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your Papa to hire men to watch all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove?

Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see.

Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders that are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, or even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernatural beauty and glory beyond.

Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else as real and abiding.

No Santa Claus? Thank God he lives and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, maybe 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the hearts of children.

Written by Francis P. Church in 1897

[GUS]

Clarice, I've seen you comment on me, over the last month or 2, and I am glad to have the opportunity to THANK YOU, and to tell you how much I love you and value your friendship. I got George FIVEman while hunting. You shall have some venison this year!!! You are special, and I thank you for your kindness.

[clarice]

Wow--just concentrate on getting healed for now though. Package posting can wait. XO

[GUS]

Thank you. I am healing, and in the process, I've gotten slimmer and healthier.

[henry]

Calls to California.

FORMER NEW YORK CITY mayor and multibillionaire Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg used prison labor to make campaign calls

https://theintercept.com/2019/12/24/mike-bloomberg-2020-prison-labor/

[GUS]

Henry, the Tom Steyer Commercials blow my mind. He is spending MILLLLLLLLLLLLLLIONS in Wisconsin alone.
His issues??? Term limits and DEFEATING CLIMATE CHANGE.

The dude is NUTS.
He is suggesting that CORPORATIONS don't want term limits, and he says "TOO BAD". He has NO idea.

[Buckeye]

Speaking of hunting, I read an account of an ancestor who was a Virginia longhunter in the 1740s.

They would either head out on their own or a couple of guys and be gone for 6 months or so. Mostly collecting pelts which frequently were ripped off by Indians.

These were the Europeans who first explored much of what is now parts of Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio, and were the people who helped Daniel Boone with maps and the like.

The Pieter Bruegel's painting reminded me of these longhunters.

[clarice]

Gone for 6 months--you can bet all they're bringing home is pelts unless they found a yet unheard method of freezing the meat.

[henry]

Gus, Steyer does appear to be losing his mind. The impeachment he was running on happened, so now term limits? Who runs his operations, Begala?

[clarice]

Our old pal Isikoff--still promoting IC garbage:https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/12/isikoff_hosenball_and_the_mediadeep_state_war_on_truth.html

[Mystic]

Just returned from dinner out at David’s in Fernandina Beach....nom, nom, nom. Tomorrow we head to Tally for Christmas with the grands where they each will get their first set of golf clubs, not from Santa, but from grand mother! I didn’t start playing until I retired a few years ago...wish I had learned the game as a youngster.

Merry Christmas from a daily lurker...you guys keep me sane and I thank you for that.

Happy 2020.

[cathyf]

When WonderBoy was of an age to doubt the existence of Santa Claus, we explained the Christmas version of Pascal’s Wager:

You believe in SC and SC exists: you get good presents from SC.

You believe in SC and SC doesn’t exist: you get good presents from your parents.

You tell WonderGirl that SC is make-believe: your parents are pissed, SC is pissed, one way or another no presents for you!

[Jim Eagle]

Mystic,

Merry Christmas from Hammock Dunes. A set of clubs is the best present ever. And David’s is a delight.

[clarice]

LOL, cathy.
Waving to Mystic.

[GUS]

Steyer, is a rich white guy. He is deluded. Term limits. Not an executive job. He wants to declare an EMERGENCY on CLIMATE CHANGE on DAY ONE.

He's around the bend deluded.