December 15, 2005

Santa's Jigsaw
http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=ER13610552

Christmas Quiz (I missed one)
http://www.quizland.com/f2quiz.mv?f18+NOMUSIC

Coldest December since late 1800s?
December 13, 2005 Meteorologist's claim comes on heels of climate-warming summit in Canada.

A weather expert says December 2005 is on pace to become one of the 10 coldest in more than 100 years, despite claims at a global conference on climate change this week that the Earth is getting warmer.

Joe Bastardi, senior meteorologist with Accuweather.com, says present weather patterns across the country show below-normal temperatures in the single digits, with still colder air forecast in the coming weeks.

All told, he said, "the current look and pace may bring December 2005 in as a top 10 month for cold Decembers nationwide since the late 1800s."

..."The cold is widespread, with below-normal temperatures recorded from eastern Washington and Oregon south into Texas and into the Northeast," said the weather service.

And it could get worse. Accuweather.com "is forecasting another week of unseasonably cold weather, with the potential for another major snowstorm developing on Wednesday."
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47887

'Silent Night' gets reprieve
A Wisconsin school that had secularized the lyrics of the beloved Christmas carol "Silent Night" has now agreed to change the words back to the original after receiving countless phone calls and e-mails about the issue.

Liberty Counsel, the law firm working on behalf of parents upset about the secularization of the carol, says it was both public pressure and two letters attorneys sent to the school that prompted the change.

According to a statement from the organization, Debra Messer, administrator of the Dodgeville School District confirmed that "'Silent Night' will be sung. 'Cold in the Night' will not be sung."

...Courts have ruled that public schools may include religious songs as part of a teaching or performance program. The Supreme Court once noted: "Music without sacred music, architecture minus the cathedral, or painting without the scriptural themes would be eccentric and incomplete, even from a secular view." Religious songs along with other secular holiday songs are permissible.

"Silent Night" is the most recorded song in history. The carol was written by Franz Gruber and Joseph Mohr. Gruber led the singing of his new song for the first time during an 1818 Christmas Eve service in Oberndorf, Austria, accompanying the choir on guitar.
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47907

Is this the most miserable town in Britain?
As the festive season approaches, towns dust off the Christmas lights and prepare to twinkle. In Havant, they haven't.

They've decided to have a Festival of Lights instead, to avoid offending non-Christians. [if I'm not mistaken Festival of Lights is a Hindu celebration]

And they're getting rid of Father Christmas and his grotto while they're at it.

Yesterday, the decision to drop Christmas lights was greeted with amazement in a borough where 99.1 per cent of residents are white.

...But resident Pushpar Sanderscorr, 47, a Hindu, said there was nothing wrong with Christmas lights in the town.

"It is not offensive, quite the opposite. We should celebrate all cultures, including Christian."

John Willis, who runs a fruit and vegetable shop in Havant, said the town had failed its customers.

"Banning Santa's grotto and dropping the word Christmas is ludicrous. It will make for a miserable Christmas in Havant," he said.

A spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain said: "This sounds like a case of a local council taking it upon itself to decide what is offensive, rather than consult the community it serves.

"If the council took the trouble to ask local people what they thought, they would find that people of all faiths do not have a problem with this."
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=368752&in_page_id=1770

Supervisor who denounced mention of Jesus forced to apologize to citizens over outburst
December 10, 2005- ... a New York town supervisor who sharply rebuked a priest for invoking the name of Jesus during his traditional blessing of the community's Christmas tree lighting learned the real meaning of holiday – the hard way.

Jon Kaiman, a supervisor from the community of North Hempstead, was sitting behind Rev. Nick Zientarski as the Roman Catholic priest blessed the annual event held last week at the Manhasset village green. Zientarski chose to use a Catholic blessing over "something generic," saying that other faith traditions are represented each year, and because "this was a Christmas tree."

But even as the words left his mouth, Zientarski said, he could hear Kaiman angrily objecting: "This is inappropriate." Kaiman rose from his seat and addressed the 200 adults and children gathered there. "I just want to make it clear that this is in no way a religious ceremony," he told the stunned crowd.

...The uproar has gotten a stunned Kaiman's attention. "I overreacted and handled the situation poorly," he said. "I'm getting an education on this myself as I speak to a number of people in the community, and realize there really is a concern that the holiday is being diminished because people such as myself who gloss over the specific purpose of the holiday."

…Zientarski said he's accepted Kaiman's apology and sent out an e-mail to parishioners noting Kaiman's efforts to resolve the problem.

Zientarski, surprised to have been thrown into this season's culture war over Christmas, is overwhelmed by the support he's received. "Between yesterday and today, I've gotten 150 to 200 e-mails personally to me, all of it expressing support. And it's not just Catholics. I've heard from Jews, Greeks, people from other Christian denominations."

Now he's encouraging the parishioners on his e-mail list to join the effort to reclaim the Christian holiday. "Call your stores and encourage them to say, 'Merry Christmas' (and Happy Hannukah too)," he wrote. "Look for those Nativity scenes! We should all be proud to be Christians who believe in the Lord, Our Savior, and we should encourage ALL faiths to be people of 'faith,' not 'holidays' and the secular."
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=47846

Target Includes 'Christmas,' AFA Drops Boycott
American Family Association (AFA) has announced that it is ending its boycott of Target because the company has announced that it will include Christmas in their advertising and in-store promotions.

"We are pleased to learn that Target has heard our concerns and decided to use Christmas in their advertising and marketing efforts. Since the company has responded positively, we see no need to continue the boycott,” said AFA Chairman Donald E. Wildmon.

Nearly 700,000 people had signed up to join the Target boycott at afa.net on the AFA website. Wildmon said that many companies have decided to drop their ban on Christmas.
http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/12/9/134058.shtml

Billboard's Arab Images Spark Accusation of Racism
(I believe James Zogby and his brother John do the Zogby polls...)
Some Arab-Americans are insulted by an anti-terrorism campaign that includes a billboard showing an Arab man holding both a hand grenade and a driver's license, USA Today reported.

...However, James Zogby, president of the Washington-based Arab American Institute, says the billboard planned by Bowman's group is “bigoted" "... I think the motivation is anti-immigrant,” Zogby says. “They are creating fear … over Arabs. The message is very clear: ‘Arabs are dangerous, Arabs should not get driver's licenses.”

The billboard shows a man wearing a traditional Arab head scarf called a kaffiyeh and holding a grenade and a driver's license. The image planned for the Raleigh billboard is imposed over a North Carolina landscape with the slogan “Don't License Terrorists” above it. The Coalition for a Secure Driver's License is spending about $50,000 each in North Carolina and New Mexico to lease the billboards, according to the coalition....
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20051214/a_billboard14.art.htm

The Truth On the Ground
When I told people that I was getting ready to head back to Iraq for my third tour, the usual response was a frown, a somber head shake and even the occasional "I'm sorry." When I told them that I was glad to be going back, the response was awkward disbelief, a fake smile and a change of subject. The common wisdom seems to be that Iraq is an unwinnable war and a quagmire and that the only thing left to decide is how quickly we withdraw. Depending on which poll you believe, about 60 percent of Americans think it's time to pull out of Iraq...

...Open optimism, whether or not it is warranted, is a necessary trait in senior officers and officials. Skeptics can be excused for discounting glowing reports on Iraq from the upper echelons of power. But it is not a simple thing to ignore genuine optimism from mid-grade, junior and noncommissioned officers who have spent much of the past three years in Iraq.... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/13/AR2005121301502.html

Recruiting Rates Up Militarywide
Dec. 12, 2005 – Both the active Army and Army National Guard continued reversing a springtime recruiting slump, exceeding their November goals at 105 and 110 percent, respectively, defense officials announced today.

The active Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force also exceeded their November goals, reporting rates of 102, 105 and 101 percent, respectively. The Marine Corps Reserve and Air Force Reserve achieved 100 percent of their November recruiting goals as well, officials reported…
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Dec2005/20051212_3616.html

Perception vs. Reality on the U.S. Economy
By Jon Kyl December 13, 2005

Even after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and the resulting spike in the cost of energy, the U.S. economy is doing remarkably well by virtually every statistical measure. So why, one might wonder, do we so often see negative headlines in the news?

· More than 215,000 jobs were created in November, and 4.5 million since May of 2003. “To put the November increase in perspective,” noted Kathleen Utgoff, commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “from January through August of this year, payroll employment growth averaged 196,000 per month”;

· The nation’s unemployment rate, at 5 percent, is stable and lower than the average of the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s;

· Gross Domestic Product for the 3rd quarter was higher than expected - 4.3 percent - and has been growing near that average for more than two years;

· Sales of new homes reached an all-time high in October, as did minority ownership; and

· According to the Department of Labor, the productivity of American workers rose at an annual rate of 4.7 percent over the summer. Productivity is the key to raising living standards, as increases allow employers to compensate their workers more without having to raise the price of the products they sell (which would fuel inflation)…. More at:
http://realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-12_13_05_JK.html

Why Preserve the Patriot Act
http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/frankjgaffneyjr/2005/12/12/178831.html