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December 2015

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 25, 2015 2 Comments
Sometimes life gives you extra lifey years. 2015 has been that kind of year for me. Through it all, I've learned much, grown even more, and have gained a greater appreciation for the human experience. I'm blessed beyond measure; constantly amazed by the inordinate number of incredible people with whom I have the privilege of sharing a little bit of life with. Each of whom has taught me how to be a better me, how to love harder, laugh louder, embrace the suck, and squeeze every ounce of life out of every singe day. In this Season of Giving, of celebrating the single greatest gift given to mankind, I would like to share with you what this year has shared with me. Some lessons I've known, but came to understand differently. 1. Take the time to tell others how important they are to you.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 25, 2015 12 Comments
While the Christmas seasons is full of traditions that stem from the Victorian era, diseases of this past era are also now returning. England is reporting a rise in illnesses related to malnutrition:
Cases of malnutrition and other “Victorian” diseases are soaring in England, in what campaigners said was a result of cuts to social services and rising food poverty. NHS statistics show that 7,366 people were admitted to hospital with a primary or secondary diagnosis of malnutrition between August 2014 and July this year, compared with 4,883 cases in the same period from 2010 to 2011 – a rise of more than 50 per cent in just four years. Cases of other diseases rife in the Victorian era including scurvy, scarlet fever, cholera and whooping cough have also increased since 2010, although cases of TB, measles, typhoid and rickets have fallen.
While food poverty is one explanation, other factors must include immigration from third world countries and anti-vaccination adherents.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 25, 2015 9 Comments
When al-Shabab—an al Quada affiliate—terrorists boarded a bus in Kenya and ordered Muslims to separate from Christians so they could slaughter the Christians, the Kenyan Muslims refused. BBC reports:

A group of Kenyan Muslims travelling on a bus ambushed by Islamist gunmen protected Christian passengers by refusing to be split into groups, according to eyewitnesses.

They told the militants "to kill them together or leave them alone", a local governor told Kenyan media. At least two people were killed in the attack, near the north-eastern village of El Wak on the Somali border. The Somali based al-Shabab group says it carried out the attack.
The Muslims who refused to be separated from the Christians were undoubtedly aware of this terror group's MO: they separate the Muslims from the non-Muslims and then kill all of the non-Muslims.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 25, 2015 5 Comments
While the Friday afternoon data dump is a hallmark of the Obama Administration, the release of heavily redacted Benghazi emails from Hillary Clinton on Christmas days scores points for sheer audacity.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Thursday released 16 pages of sensitive documents related to the 2012 Benghazi terror attack. The documents, released ahead of the Christmas holiday, include mostly blacked-out emails and some press clippings about events in Libya after the attack on the U.S. embassy, which left four Americans dead. The event has become a central part of Republican criticism of Hillary Clinton's time as Secretary of State as she runs for president. A few of the heavily redacted emails discuss the drafting of an assessment of the threat level before the attack occurred. Congress had requested the assessment in the months after the attack.
The emails are redacted so much that they are as black as lumps of coal. Via Mediaite:

Posted by Miriam Elman on December 25, 2015 3 Comments
Drawing on the stories of the annunciation of the birth of Jesus, Christmas is viewed as a time of peace and goodwill to all. But for anti-Israel activists and organizations, the holiday season is a perfect occasion to conduct political warfare against the Jewish state.

NGOs, The PA, and The Hijacking

For years vehemently anti-Israel NGOs (non-governmental organizations), charities, and even church groups have been exploiting Christmas symbols, themes, and traditions in order to promote one-sided narratives of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Exploiting Christmas for anti-Israel These recast religiously-themed narratives situate Israel and Jews as the villains and omit any mention of terrorism, or Israel’s need to protect its citizens from harm. Palestinian Christians in these narratives are depicted as undeservedly maltreated by Israel. Special attention is given to how Palestinians are allegedly hurt by the security barrier surrounding Bethlehem and its adjacent communities.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 25, 2015 2 Comments

We first ran this video on Christmas Day 2010. Kathleen wrote: Merry Christmas everyone! There’s a viral video going around called ‘A Social Network Christmas.’ It retains the story, so ...

Posted by New Neo on December 24, 2015 1 Comment
This small poetic effort of mine has become somewhat of a holiday tradition. Merry Christmas Eve to you all! 'TWAS THE BLOGGER'S NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the ‘sphere Bloggers were glad to see Christmas draw near. Their laptops were turned off and all put away The bloggers were swearing to take off the day. Their children were nestled all snug in their beds While visions of extra time danced in their heads With a father or mom not distracted by writing No posts to compose, and no links to be citing.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 24, 2015 12 Comments
On Christmas Day 2011, as part of our "Open" post, we noted the following:
What a bunch of kill joys, How to Discuss Climate Change With Your Uncle During the Holidays (because after racist relatives, climate change deniers are the biggest problem at family Christmas dinners).
The advice was from a guest contributor at Think Progress: http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/24/391548/discuss-climate-change-holidays/ Of the several pieces of advice, I liked this coaching on how to bolster your own credibility, because nothing says "genuine" like a preplanned strategy to bolster your own credibilty:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 24, 2015 2 Comments
The good folks at MRCTV have a new college campus video out that is cringe-worthy to the max. Dan Joseph, the MRCTV reporter behind the video writes:
Last week, I presented some college students with a petition urging radio stations to stop playing the holiday classic "White Christmas" because the song only focuses on "White" Christmases. This clearly makes it racially insensitive, since it completely ignores Christmases of other colors. Students were all too willing to check their privilege and take a stand against Bing Crosby's racially charged micro-aggression. Just watch.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on December 24, 2015 10 Comments
It's a peculiar tradition.  As Christians prepare to celebrate Christmas, the media churns out articles blaming Israel for Christian struggles in the Holy Land. The Foundation for the Defense of Democracy's Cliff May wrote about the phenomenon in 2007:
In this holiday season, there are journalistic conventions one comes to expect: stories lamenting the commercialism of Christmas; stories summing up the 12 months gone by and predicting the direction of the New Year; and stories blaming Israelis for the problems afflicting the Holy Land.
Back then, May debunked accusations the Israel prevented Christians from visiting Bethlehem. This year, USA Today reports that the 2,000 year-old Christian community in Gaza is disappearing. Instead of looking to Hamas, the Islamist, Specially Designated Global Terrorist Organization that controls Gaza, writer Matthew Vickery (previously with al-Jazeera) blames "[t]he ongoing Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip and the highest unemployment rate in the world."

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 24, 2015 2 Comments
Presidential candidate Donald Trump once briefly owned the Miss Universe pageant, which he purchased after years of owning the Miss USA franchise and turning it around fiscally in his signature style. He sold it as he began seriously pursing the GOP nomination, and the subsequent contest turned out to be historic...for the controversies. In one of the most painful moments ever televised or shared via social media to an international audience, the host named the wrong contestant Miss Universe.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on December 24, 2015 11 Comments
This year saw the destruction of some of the oldest continuous Christian communities in the Middle East. As predominantly Christian Europe braces itself to accommodate millions of new Muslim migrants this year alone, Christianity takes its last breath in region where it was first revealed to the world. Israel remains the only glaring exception to this dismal rule. The armed war against Christians is accompanied by a cultural war on Christmas. This year, Muslim countries like Somalia, Tajikistan and Brunei joined the long list of Islamic nations banning the Christian festival -- in many cases making Christmas celebrations even in private settings a punishable offence. With the rising tide Islamist terror, even in the Christian heartland of Europe the Christmas is now under siege.

Posted by New Neo on December 24, 2015 17 Comments
Trump has now scandalized people by using a Yiddish expression to describe what happened to Hillary Clinton at the hands of the Obama forces back in 2008:
She was favored to win and she got schlonged, she lost.
Now, for those of you who aren't especially up on Yiddish, "schlong" is one of the many Yiddish words used to describe the male member, as in genitalia. I won't bother to list the others; you can probably do it yourself. But, even as an ex-New Yorker, although I'm familiar with the word, I can't ever recall it being used as a verb before---which is the way Trump is using it here, as an equivalent of "screwed."
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