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Justin takes a Christmas Eve walk and meets Santa, who has a gift for him.

Most terribly cold it was; it snowed, and was nearly quite dark, and evening-- the last evening of the year. In this cold and darkness there went along the street a poor little girl, bareheaded, and with naked feet. When she left home she had slippers on, it is true; but what was the good of that? They were very large slippers, which her mother had hitherto worn; so large were they; and the poor little thing lost them as she scuffled away across the street, because of two carriages that rolled by dreadfully fast. One slipper was nowhere to...

Original poem by myself inspired by a photo taken by Frank Glick

The Sudden Deaths of Humanity's FittestWhy are so many young athletes suddenly dying? Scarcely a week goes by that we don’t see a report of the “sudden death” of a sportsman. Today (October 19, 2022) the Mississippi State football player, Sam Westmoreland, died at the age of 19. On September 30, world class Pakastani cricketer, Shehzad Azam Rana, died of cardiac arrest at 36. On September 18, the much loved (and extremely fit) Celina, Texas youth coach, Trey Boddie, died of a heart attack at 39. On September 4, Clark Yarbrough, a 21-year-old senior defensive lineman at Ouachita Baptist University,...

October Drag Story Hour has returned to Ithaca for the 2022 Fall season. Parents could bring their kids to Buffalo Street Books Sunday morning for a glamorous storytime experience. Miss Coraline Chardonnay and Miss Tilia Cordata have been doing Drag Story Hour for the last four years. Starting in the Fall of 2018, they read children's books to parents and kids throughout the Ithaca community and even held story time virtually during COVID. People were invited to come dressed in the costume of their choice. On Sunday, many did just that, kicking off the 2022 fall season's story hours. “We...

French author Annie Ernaux, who was awarded the Nobel Literature Prize this week, signed an open letter Sunday supporting a mass protest against President Emmanuel Macron called by the country's left-wing opposition. Organisers of the demonstration on October 16 accuse Macron of failing to tackle soaring prices for energy and other essentials, and insufficient action against climate change. "Emmanuel Macron is seizing this inflation to widen the wealth gaps, and boost the profits of capital, at everyone else's expense," said the letter in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper. "And this shock is allowing this government of the rich to open...

The ghastly event happened 70 years ago today, and teaches an important and timeless lesson. Power kills. Absolute power kills too many to count. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin spoke with personal authority on the subject when he famously said, “A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.” To write about any one or more massacres for which Stalin was responsible, one must first answer the question, “Which ones?” There are many. The slaughter of the kulaks during his collectivization campaigns of the 1930s. The Ukrainian Holodomor of 1932-33. The Great Purge of 1937. The killing of...

“The only mystery in life is why the kamikaze pilots wore helmets.” – Al McGuire “The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.” – Albert Einstein “War is God’s way of teaching Americans geography.” – Ambrose Bierce “It would be nice to spend billions on schools and roads, but right now that money is desperately needed for political ads.” – Andy Borowitz “At every party there are two kinds of people – those who want to go home and those who don’t. The trouble is, they are usually married to each other.” – Ann Landers “My...

When God wants to drill a man, And thrill a man, And skill a man, When God wants to mould a man To play the noblest part; When He yearns with all His heart To create so great and bold a man That all the world shall be amazed, Watch His methods, watch His ways! How He ruthlessly perfects Whom He royally elects! How He hammers him and hurts him, And with mighty blows converts him Into trial shapes of clay which Only God understands; While his tortured heart is crying And he lifts beseeching hands! How He bends but...

This is a good interview of Jim Croce's son, A.J. Croce. If your from an older generation you may remember Tham man who died just before his best album hit the charts. He was climbing and not quite there yet, but then he died in a plane crash. I was big fan of his. He only had a few songs that were hit, but nothing big yet. I was 17, stationed in Germany awaiting his next album when I heard he died in a plane crash. Cut down at the very dawn of his career. I still listen to his...

Fantastic Kid Rock Music Video! WARNING!!! F Bombs throughout!!!

P pathetic R reprobates I in D drag E everywhere

A quick recap: Amateur photographer Frank Glick was on his way to work when he drove through Fort Snelling National Cemetery early one morning. He spotted a bald eagle through the mist, perched on a gravestone, and snapped shots with his aging but ever-present camera. Nice shot, he thought. An acquaintance saw the photo and suggested that he see if the deceased soldier had any living relatives who might want it. Indeed, Maurice Ruch's widow was alive and well and delighted to receive a copy of the eagle watching over her beloved husband. Glick's friend called me. Nice story, I...

New album from The Steel Woods 'Old News' available now! https://ffm.to/oldnews Release Date: January 18, 2019 via Woods Music / Thirty Tigers [Lyrics Below] https://thesteelwoods.com OLD NEWS Written by Jason Cope © 2019. Rowdy Woods Music (SESAC). All rights reserved. You can hate all the others Because they hate you They hate the thought Of you hatin’ them too We can scream it all out ‘Til we're Red White or Blue But I'd hate to think That thinking is Old News

Well, here we go again...& am hopeful someone can point me in the right direction to find the last 2 lines or so of this short poem Ive looked everywhere online & cant find anything. I' ll post the first 4 lines & perhaps someone can discover last 2 lines and post the info you have found

title: Monsters of the ID here: https://youtu.be/Cdkf5tJ2yb4

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The White House has announced President Joe Biden will be skipping out on this year's State of the Union address, which will instead feature a 90-minute broadcast of a dumpster engulfed in flames. Both houses of congress are expected to assemble as usual as the raging dumpster fire roars into a microphone.House Sergeant at Arms William J. Walker will light the dumpster at the commencement of the address. Members of Congress are then expected to applaud in a partisan manner as the cathartic flames burn brightly into the night. According to sources, this is the first act of Biden's...

Christmas is long past. World-War-I stories were told this Christmas about an informal, Allied-Axis cease-fire, spontaneously breaking out among the line soldiers, though condemned by the Generals, during which both sides sang Christmas carols, came out into No-Man's Land to share food, cigarettes and even play soccer games. But, now, no one last Christmas dreamt that today we would be thinking about Russia & the Ukraine. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a very popular 19th century poet, had a very appropriate poem for this time, about the human cost of war, "I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day", but it was centered...

I'm playing through Fallout 76 (I highly recommend this game for people who enjoy this particular hobby), and I found this poem on a terminal within the game. I found it frighteningly accurate to what's happening today. We toiled in their fields, They let us starve.We filled their coffers with gold, They filled our lungs with sludge.We broke our backs, They broke our hearts.We told them of our pain, They hooked us on their painkillers.We voted, They stole our elections.We asked for fair wages, They bled us dry.We demanded safe work spaces, They took our jobs away.We wanted a normal...