Merry Christmas!

'Tis Christmas eve here at the Show and I likely won't be around tomorrow. Thus, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all who are in the bloggosphere for what an amazing experience this has been so far. I look forward to being with you all in the new year. (not that I won't be here between now and New Year's).
I would also like to take this opportunity to wish each and every single one of you a Very Merry Christmas...and for my Canadian friends, a happy Boxing Day!


"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and The Government shall be upon His Shoulder: and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty GOD, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His Government and peace there shall be no end, upon the Throne of David, and upon His Kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will perform this"
(Isaiah 9:6-7).


Luke 2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. 2:2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) 2:3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. 2:4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) 2:5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with Child. 2:6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.


2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son,
and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger;
because there was no room for them in the inn.


2:8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 2:9 And, lo, the angel of the LORD came upon them, and the glory of the LORD shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the LORD. 2:12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. 2:15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into Heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the LORD hath made known unto us. 2:16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 2:17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 2:18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 2:19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. 2:20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them. 2:21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the Child, His Name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before He was conceived in the womb.


Joy!
The Story of the Birth of Christ
As told through Matthew

Matthew 1:16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, Who is called Christ. 1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations. 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with Child of the Holy Ghost. 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 1:21 And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His Name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins. 1:22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the LORD by the prophet, saying, 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with Child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His Name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God With Us. 1:24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the LORD had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 1:25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn Son: and he called His Name JESUS.

2:1 Now when Jesus was born
in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king,
behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
2:2 Saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews?


for we have seen His Star in the east, and are come to worship Him. 2:3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 2:4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 2:5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 2:6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule My people Israel. 2:7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the Star appeared. 2:8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young Child; and when ye have found Him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship Him also. 2:9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the Star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.

2:10 When they saw the Star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Let us never forget the true meaning of this Glorious Season.
May God Bless and Keep You All,
-M. Sheldon

Happy Festivus!

With Christmas still two days away, I had to find an outlet for all of this pent up holiday anticipation. So, I've decided to throw a festivus celebration!
I have my pole

...and the non-holiday comfort food

So now for the rest...
We should all gather 'round the table (found in the comments section) and have the traditional festivus "Airing of Grievances"
Followed by a lovely tradition known as "Feats of Strength" in which we will all grab whoever is closest to the computer, and attempt to pin them to the floor.
May all your non-denominational holidays be wonderful and filled with the spirit of nothing!
-M. Sheldon

ACLU Never Satisfied.

Crossposted from Stop the ACLU,

Apparantly it isn't enough for the ACLU that the NY Times leaked classified information that we are spying on international phone calls of suspected terrorist. They now want all details released! Whether they are just plain stupid, or actually want the enemy to defeat us, the document fails to say.

Via ACLU

The requests submitted today seek all records about "the policies, procedures and/or practices of the National Security Agency for gathering information through warrantless electronic surveillance and/or warrantless physical searches in the United States …".... Information received by the organization will be made public on its Web site.

Rightwing Nuthouse says:

Words fail me at this point. The generosity of the ACLU to the deadly enemies of the United States is beyond belief. The only possible explanation for wanting to expose "all records about the policies, procedures and/or practices of the National Security Agency" with regards to the NSA intercept program is that the ACLU wishes to make it harder for the government to thwart a terrorist attack.

The reason I say this is because this FOIA request is not necessary if one wishes to take an absolutist position in defense of our Fourth Amendment rights. It's only purpose would be to sabotage the program. For once al Qaeda knows the details of how we keep track of them, it becomes much easier to develop communications strategies to thwart our attempts to monitor their activities.

If the ACLU is against warrantless searches, it is their duty to protest it in a responsible manner, one that would not harm national security so grievously. And please note there is nothing in the FOIA request that would seek to uncover who the government listened in on with the program. Doesn't that strike you as a bit odd? Rather than ask for the names of specific Americans who have been targeted, they instead seek to shut the program down by revealing its operational secrets.

I couldn't say it any better myself. There is no reason to release the details of the NSA program. Doing so would benefit no one but our enemies, and only endanger America further. This irresponsible position of the ACLU is reckless and crazy. But we have come to expect such traitorous behavior from the so called civil rights group. They oppose almost every effort our government has to fight terrorism with one hand, and defend our enemies with the other. I still can not understand why our government has not investigated the ACLU itself, they most definitely have probably cause to do so.

Isn't it ironic that the ACLU wants our government's secrets released so the enemy can see, yet they tell our enemies they have the right to keep their secrets from our interrigations?

Thank you ACLJ

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down the ACLU's insistance that the Display of the Ten Commandments on the Mercer Co., KY courthouse violates the Establishment cause of the Constitution.
The American Center for Law and Justice, or ACLJ argued that the Constitution didn't guarantee an unbreachable wall between church and state.
My favorite part of this story, however, is The Honorable Judge Richard Suhrheinrich's opinion that said the ACLU's "repeated reference 'to the separation of church and state' ... has grown tiresome. The First Amendment does not demand a wall of separation between church and state."

And: "The ACLU, an organization whose mission is 'to ensure that ... the government [is kept] out of the religion business,' does not embody the reasonable person."

And that any reasonable person that saw the display recognizes "the role religion has played in our governmental institutions, and finds it historically appropriate and traditionally acceptable for a state to include religious influences, even in the form of sacred texts, in honoring American traditions."

So, thank you Judge Richard Suhfeinrich, thank you ACLJ, and thank you Francis J. Manion, counsel for the ACLJ.
May God bless you all.
-M. Sheldon

Intelligent Design Shot Down in Court

Harrisburg, PA
A judge has ruled that I.D., or Intelligent Design, is too religious for children to learn in school. Poppycock. I.D. is just as scientifically feasible as "speck to life" evolution. The fact that this Judge decided to aggree with the utter jassery that is the "evolution may be only a theory, but it disputes creationism, so it should be law" crowd.
This judge is doing nothing more than echoing anti-religionism. By the same token that he states that I.D. being taught in schools is infringing on the immaginary constitutional "separation clause", I can equally argue that evolution being taught as the sole acceptable theory of the beginning of life is a clear example of State Sponsored Atheism.
Truly, U.S. District Judge John E. Jones deserves the "Asshat of the week" award.

President Bush Uses Common Sense.

Bush's approval rating has jumped to forty-eight percent, approval of his handling of the Iraqi theatre is up ten percent, all since November. Why? He's started using some common sense strategy that those of us on the Right have been calling for over the past three years. He's used some offense.
You see, for the past three or so years (actually, since his first innauguration) Bush has been put on the defensive by the kooks on the left time and time again. Finally, he's figured out that he needs to be aggressively promoting his policies and "calling out" his detractors on The Hill.
Why is this working??? Much like UCLA's beloved Bruins, they can score with their offensive strikes against those who oppose them, but if you run at them, they leak like a sieve. The cannot defend their rationale.
The only defense you will hear from a Democratic politician when they are called out is one of the following statements:

1-"That comment that I made was grossly misrepresented"
2-"The comment that I made where I stated how much I wish America would fail was taken out of context"
and finally, my favorite
3-"The Right-Wing media in this country has made me a target"

Check for yourself.
I will stand today and make a bold prediction:
Sometime just before or immediately after Bush's State of the Union adress, his approval ratings will be up to 53-54%. At which point you will hear a shrill scream eminating from somewhere you know not. Don't worry, it's just the liberals of America having a sudden massive coronary brought on by the fact that the rest of us are soooo stupid.