Free Republic

stole all their Christmas presents left three children heartbroken and their mum suffering a heart attack from the shock. Kate Baker came home from Christmas drinks with friends about 10pm on Sunday to find her children and young grandchildren sobbing and inconsolable over the mean-spirited crime. The shock triggered a heart attack that led to the single mum being rushed to Cairns Base Hospital that night, before being released yesterday afternoon. Just three days out from Christmas, the family now has to come up with the cash to buy all the presents again.

(Hawaii – 12/23/08) – In informal discussions today with reporters during his holiday in Hawaii, Barack Obama said that people having to work during Christmas week is yet another example in a long line of failed Bush policies. “I find it hard to believe, during the week of the biggest holiday during the year, people have to actually continue working in order to afford the things they want. According to reports, this has been the worst Christmas season in years, and the problem is, you know, people can’t get to stores because they have to work. It’s a testament to...

BBC has got a Muslim trying to rewrite historic Jewish Jesus from Judea (attempting -- to no avail -- to "Arabize"& confuse JUDEA with Arabia...). Accompanied with a typical Islamic-bigotry's bombarding propaganda of the "bad" Israelis that dare to try fight the Arab Muslim (invaders) that terrorize the Jews (with security checkpoints). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7784227.stm BBC's Aleem Maqbool: The road to Bethlehem

I'm one of those smug bastards who has finished his Christmas shopping. Probably will not get the wrapping done until 'eve though. Love these knives:Warther Kitchen KnivesHe started making knives because he was a whittler.

SACRAMENTO, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- A California man used a 2-foot decorative lawn candy cane to beat and subdue a neighbor who allegedly attacked guests with a knife, police say. Sacramento, Calif., Police Department spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said the candy cane-wielding man confronted neighbor Donald Kercell, 49, who had allegedly become intoxicated and was threatening people gathered on a lawn with a kitchen knife, The Sacramento Bee reported Saturday. Leong said that when Kercell allegedly cut some of the guests' clothing, the man decided to fight back, grabbing the candy cane Christmas decoration from the lawn and beating him...

October 24, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The annual battle for Christmas has begun early this year, with the announcement that the internationally known fireworks company, Grucci, has pulled out of an annual Christmas event on Long Island. Grucci made the decision in protest against the town of Patchogue’s decision to break with its 15-year tradition of holding a Christmas Boat Parade and instead to rename the event the Patchogue Holiday Boat Parade. Grucci vice president Phil Butler, a vocal critic of the secularization of Christmas, accused the parade’s organizers of “using all the themes of Christmas and plagiarizing all those themes.”...

While shopping for Christmas presents in the past week alone I have been hit with approximately 257 “Happy Holidays” and a grand total of zero “Merry Christmas” greetings. Although I managed enough politeness to resist the burning temptation to reply with “What holidays might these be?” I could only in good conscience wish others a Merry Christmas when I was the one initiating the goodbyes.

To All My Democrat Friends: Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others,or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for...

Fifty years ago C.S. Lewis published an ironic little essay called, "Xmas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus." In it, he reverses the letters of his home country, "Britain." Then he writes about the strange winter customs of a barbarian nation called Niatirb. It's worth reading, as we get deeper into Advent. I'll share with you just one passage. "In the middle of winter when fogs and rains most abound, (the Niatirbians) have a great festival called Exmas, and for 50 days they prepare for it (in the manner which is called,) in their barbarian speech, the Exmas Rush....

Officials at a prison in Vänersborg (Sweden) have confiscated boxes of chocolates bought by the inmates to celebrate Christmas. As the chocolates contained traces of alcohol, management became concerned that the yuletide celebrations might get a little out of hand. With the festive season approaching, prisoners at the Brinkeberg facility in western Sweden submitted a wish list to the jail authorities. Seeing no harm in it, staff took the inmates' money and went out to buy 25 boxes of Marabou's tasty Aladdin chocolates to help brighten up a Christmas spent behind bars. But management saw the matter differently. "They are...

NEW YORK (CBS) ― We will be spending more than $26 billion on gift cards this year. And just when you thought there's nothing new under the Christmas tree along comes one for "good health." When it comes to Christmas presents, Stacey Smith was stumped over what to give to her husband's grandmother. "Especially an older person … they really have everything they need," Smith said.

Executive Order: Closing of Executive Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government on Monday, December 24, 2007 By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. All executive branch departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Monday, December 24, 2007, the day before Christmas Day, except as provided in section 2 below. Sec. 2. The heads of executive branch departments and agencies may determine that certain offices and installations of their...

Twas the month before Christmas When all through our land, Not a Christian was praying Nor taking a stand. Why the Politically Correct Police had taken away, The reason for Christmas - no one could say. The children were told by their schools not to sing, About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things. It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say December 25th is just a "Holiday". Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it! CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod Something was...

Churches around the country conducted special Midnight Mass with thousands of people attending church and singing Christmas carols. In Chennai's Santhome Cathedral, which has been recently restored to its earlier magnificence and is one of the city's biggest landmarks, the midnight service was conducted in several different languages, beginning in English and ending in Tamil. Mumbai's famous Mount Mary Church in Bandra was beautifully decorated for the occasion as the faithful gathered for prayer. Also a number of the faithful gathered at the St Pauls Cathedral in Kolkata to celebrate Christmas. Goa's X'mas cheer Meanwhile, in Goa, where Christmas is...

Man sets himself aflame to protest religious names for California school district's breaksAP) A man used flammable liquid to light himself on fire, apparently to protest a San Joaquin Valley school district's decision to change the names of winter and spring breaks to Christmas and Easter vacation. The man, who was not immediately identified, on Friday also set fire to a Christmas tree, an American flag and a revolutionary flag replica, said Fire Captain Garth Milam. Seeing the flames, Sheriff's Deputy Lance Ferguson grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran to the man. Flames were devouring a Christmas tree next to...

2006 Naughty and Nice List -------------------------- Posted: December 22, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern It's one of my most favorite times of the year, and as we all celebrate Christmas (or to my Jewish friends, Hanukkah) and welcome in a New Year, it's time we took a look at this year's Naughty and Nice List. Some boys and girls have been on their best behavior this year, standing up for the virtues of decency, honesty, morality and the side of freedom and goodness. Others shouldn't be surprised if Santa Claus and his reindeer decide to pass them over when it comes...

There seems to be two uses of language that offend people during this season. There's the substitution of "Happy Holidays" for "Merry Christmas," which has gotten a lot of Christians in a dither, aghast again at the intrusion of politically correct wording. My feeling on this is that bludgeoning people into putting up signs in stores proclaiming "Merry Christmas" probably doesn't get a lot of shoppers to stop and say, gee, so that's the "reason for the season." However, a heartfelt "Merry Christmas," person to person, proclaiming the spirit of the season would be a wonderful alternative. Then there's the...

Hundreds of young men decked with tinsel wander outside Senegal's mosques, hawking plastic Christmas trees. Women pray to Allah on a sidewalk where an inflatable Santa Claus happens to be hanging. Senegal may be 95 percent Muslim, but it certainly knows it's Christmas. In fact, for this nation of 12 million it's a national holiday. Blame it on globalization, which has turned the West's yuletide icons into a worldwide commodity. Or the Internet, or Hollywood, or the availability of travel that allows new generations of Senegalese to sample Christmas at close quarters. But mainly, Senegalese revel in the trappings of...

Airline workers put Christmas trees on ticketing counters Monday at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, shortly after trees in public spaces were removed because of a rabbi's complaint that holiday decor did not include a menorah. Customer service agents with Frontier Airlines pooled their money Monday morning to buy four 1-foot-high Christmas trees, which they placed on the airline's ticketing counter. Atop a Delta counter, workers put up a tree several feet tall. The airlines lease space for ticket counters from the airport and can display trees there if they want, said the airport's director, Mark Reis. He said he didn't mind...

SEATAC, Wash. — The Christmas trees are going back up at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Port of Seattle officials had ordered the trees taken down over the weekend after a local rabbi threatened a lawsuit if a menorah wasn't also displayed at the airport. Airport officials say they took that action out of concern that if they allowed the addition of a menorah, they would also have to display symbols of other religions and cultures, which was not something airport workers had time for during the busiest travel season of the year. Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky says he never asked that the...

The departure of Christmas tree displays at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport — the Port of Seattle's response to a local rabbi's insistence that an electric menorah also be put up — is accelerating into an international spectacle in the so-called "war on Christmas." And that is not what Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky wanted. "I am devastated, shocked and appalled at the decision that the Port of Seattle came to," he said Sunday. As news coverage about the airport's trees spread from CNN to ABC to the Paris-based International Herald Tribune, Bogomilsky on Sunday began to receive hateful messages from people holding him...

SEA-TAC Airport - All of the Christmas trees inside the terminal at Sea-Tac have been removed in response to a complaint by a rabbi. A local rabbi wanted to install an 8-foot menorah and have a public lighting ceremony. He threatened to sue if the menorah wasn’t put up, and gave a two-day deadline to remove the trees. Sea-Tac public affairs manager Terri-Ann Betancourt said the trees that adorn the Sea-Tac upper and lower levels may not properly represent all cultures. She said that since this is their busiest time of year and they don't have time to add...

This is a reference thread with links to previous FR threads discussing the arrest of a suspect, John Mark Karr, in the decade-old cold case concerning the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, plus case resources for continued commentary on investigation of the crime.

Back in the '90s when I was a kid, "Happy Holidays" had not become the "in-thing" for people wanting to avoid saying the c-word. It was Xmas. Signs outside of stores said, "Merry Xmas," so did commercials in an attempt to as one minister put it once "to X Christ out of Christmas." Its not disappeared but its become less prevalent. You dear reader will point out properly that X was an abbreviation for Christ that's been used for years. Some intellectual Christians and non-Christians will even refer to Christians as Xians. How cute. One think I found interesting in...

CS Lewis on "Xmas and Christmas"    CHARLES J. CHAPUT, O.F.M. CAP. Fifty years ago C.S. Lewis published an ironic little essay called, "Xmas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus." In it, he reverses the letters of his home country, "Britain." Then he writes about the strange winter customs of a barbarian nation called Niatirb. It's worth reading, as we get deeper into Advent. I'll share with you just one passage. "In the middle of winter when fogs and rains most abound, (the Niatirbians) have a great festival called Exmas, and for 50 days they prepare for it (in...

Why Some Christians Don't Celebrate Christmas Many feel that Christmas marks Christ's birthday and that it honors Him. After all, can 2 billion professing Christians be wrong? At the same time, some few Christians don't observe Christmas, believing that Jesus didn't sanction it and that it dishonors Him. Who is right—and why? by Jerold Aust One day, years ago, someone asked me why I kept Christmas. "The Bible says to keep it," I responded. "Somewhere in the Gospel of Luke, it speaks of the nativity scene. An angel told some shepherds that were keeping their sheep in the fields at...

Looking for the perfect Christmas gift for someone? I am too. I'm asking my fellow FReepers to suggest gifts between $1 and $100 for Christmas 2005.

Here's a little humor for the holidays. Just click on the "No hristmas for you" block in the center of the page. Warning ... laced with profanity http://www.illwillpress.com/

If you're expecting a hearty "Merry Christmas" as you're doing your shopping; you might be disappointed. Usual holiday ads say things like Christmas, but you might want get used to hearing and seeing the term holiday. Because some stores are cutting Christmas out and putting a generic phrase in. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but don't expect to hear someone say it. "I love Christmas, so I don't mind," says Rebecca Reyes. Wal-mart is one of many stores asking its employees to replace Christmas with "Happy Holidays". The company says its trying not to offend anyone, by...

The complete text as well as a Real Audio download is a available at this site. The single best synopsis of the history of the malignant cryto-religion of the Postmodern Left. The Origins of Political Correctness An Accuracy in Academia Address by Bill Lind Variations of this speech have been delivered to various AIA conferences including the 2000 Consevative University at American University Where does all this stuff that you’ve heard about this morning – the victim feminism, the gay rights movement, the invented statistics, the rewritten history, the lies, the demands, all the rest of it – where does...

Dec. 5 - Seventy-nine percent of Americans believe that, as the Bible says, Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, without a human father, according to a new NEWSWEEK poll on beliefs about Jesus. Sixty-seven percent say they believe that the entire story of Christmas—the Virgin Birth, the angelic proclamation to the shepherds, the Star of Bethlehem and the Wise Men from the East—is historically accurate. Twenty-four percent of Americans believe the story of Christmas is a theological invention written to affirm faith in Jesus Christ, the poll shows. In general, say 55 percent of those polled, every word...

Many of the conservative Christian groups that led the fight this year to ban same-sex marriage are sounding an alarm about efforts to block Christmas celebrations. Representatives of the groups -- including the Alliance Defense Fund, the Thomas More Law Center and Liberty Counsel -- say the two issues, and other pending fights over public display of the Ten Commandments and teaching of evolution, are linked by a belief among religious conservatives that traditional values are under siege in the United States. "The sentiment is the same for the same-sex marriage battle or for Christmas: It's the pervasive idea among...

Apparently the talents of home decoration diva Martha Stewart don't translate all that well behind bars, with reports surfacing this week that she lost a Christmas decorating contest to one of her fellow inmates at the Alderson, West Virginia correctional facility. "The shocking story came out this afternoon," reported MSNBC's Chris Jansen last night. "No word yet on who took the title from the high doyen of household hints and no word on how she is handling this surprise upset." Despite her disappointing showing, a former inmate at the jail tells MSNBC that Stewart is at least surrounded by friends...

The city of Jerusalem distributed free Christmas trees to Christians on Thursday as part of a longstanding tradition. For decades, Israel has distributed the trees free of charge, particularly to the ex-patriot community of Christian leaders, journalists, diplomats and others. One observer quipped that the Jewish State is probably the only country in the world that gives away free Christmas trees to Christians. It is "symbolic of the way Jerusalem unites all three monotheistic religions," said Jerusalem municipality spokesman Gideon Schmerling in a statement. The trees are donated by the Jewish National Fund, which is the country's forestry agency. "Every...

U.S. troops, holding a Christmas party on Wednesday, celebrated with music, a Christmas tree and even a visit from Santa to their base at Baghdad International Airport. Soldiers played jazzy Christmas tunes on a piano and a clarinet. Those who attended said that even though they were far from home, they were celebrating the holiday with their Iraqi friends. "I'm with my soldiers; I'm with the people of Baghdad, and right now that's my family," said Brigadier Gen. Jeffery Hammond, of the 1st Cavalry Division. "So I'm very happy." The U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division is based at Camp Victory,...

Julie West is tired of being wished "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." She's annoyed with department stores that use "Season's Greetings" banners, and with public schools that teach about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa but won't touch the Nativity story. So last week, she sent a baked protest to a holiday party at her first-grade son's school: a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and red icing that spelled out "Happy Birthday Jesus." "Christmas keeps getting downgraded, to the point that you're almost made to feel weird if you even mention it," says West, a resident of Edmonds, Wash., who describes herself...

Los Angeles County has so far wasted $1,800 in taxpayers' money to place decals over crosses on the county seal, but the censorship isn't working. The crosses are "shining through," the Los Angeles Daily News reported today in an article it headlined "A sign of the cross miraculously reappears." "In fact, the cross is clearly visible directly over the rendering of the San Gabriel Mission on the new seal, which was recently redesigned to omit the controversial Christian symbol." Tony Bell, a spokesman for Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, said: "It's amazing. It's a Christmas miracle. The cross is shining through....

[ed. note - longtime readers might find today's offering familiar: it is an updated reworking of a column of mine that originally appeared at CNS in 1998] --------------------------- Washington, DC - In an effort to help American elementary schools adhere to federal guidelines regarding religious content in school activities, the American Civil Liberties Union today unveiled a new holiday musical program for the nation’s 120,000 public elementary schools. The program, entitled “Holly Jolly Solstice,” will be performed in all federally-funded public schools starting in 2005. According to spokesperson Emily Kelleher, the new program was prompted by the ACLU's concern that...

where can I found the today's speech of president bush about xmas? thanks claudia

A federal judge has ordered the town of Bay Harbor Islands, Fla., to let a Christian resident display a Nativity scene during the Christmas season the same way Jewish religious symbols are allowed for the celebration of Hanukkah. The decision by U.S. District Court Judge Cecilia Altonaga was the result of a lawsuit filed earlier this month on behalf of Sandra Snowden, who offered to pay for the Christmas decorations with her own money. The suit was filed on Dec. 2 against the town and its officials by the Thomas More Law Center, which is based in Ann Arbor, Mich....

Emboldened by their Election Day successes, some Christian conservatives around the country are trying to put more Christ into Christmas this season. In Terrebonne Parish, La., an organization is petitioning to add ''Merry Christmas" to the red-lighted ''Seasons Greetings" sign on the main government building, and is selling yard signs that read, ''We believe in God. Merry Christmas." In Raleigh, N.C., a church recently paid $7,600 for a full-page newspaper ad urging Christians to spend money only with merchants who include the greeting ''Merry Christmas" in ads and displays. ''There is a revival taking place in our nation that is...

Move over, ACLU: The latest tyrannical dictator to declare war on Christmas is Fidel Castro. Cuba is threatening James Cason, the United States' senior diplomat in Havana, with "serious consequences" unless he takes down Christmas decorations at the American interests section. The display "includes a reference to 75 dissidents jailed last year," BBC reported today, adding in a whining aside that "the display does seem designed to irritate the Cuban government." Cason insists he won't obey Castro. "We're prepared to pay whatever price for the things we believe in," he said. "They could expel us. They could continue to hinder...

Emboldened by their Election Day successes, some Christian conservatives around the country are trying to put more Christ into Christmas this season. In Terrebonne Parish, La., an organization is petitioning to add "Merry Christmas" to the red-lighted "Season's Greetings" sign on the main government building and is selling yard signs that read, "We believe in God. Merry Christmas." And a Raleigh, N.C., church recently paid $7,600 for a full-page newspaper ad urging Christians to spend their money only with merchants who include the greeting "Merry Christmas" in ads and displays. 'Revival' "There is a revival taking place in our nation...

A reader writes in..... I'm an atheist, but I celebrate Christmas. I believe the holiday season is also about taking the time to remember family and friends, help those less fortunate a appreciate the good around us. My children love the magical story of Santa Claus, and sometimes we just need the calendar to tell us to take a breather from our harried lives and gather those dear to us. Do you think I'm a hypocrite for celebrating what for most people is a religious holiday? - Terenne James, Richmond VA Reply from Marilyn- No, I don't. I think your...

can be of any topic/genre and has to be in an adult age group (ie; no childrens books). thanks :)

Ah the Christmas season! That wonderful time of year when the elites dispatch thousands of lawyers to stamp out all traces of what the holiday means to us faithful whilst (and at the same time) flailing us with our own beliefs to donate more and more cash to their favorite charities. Such hypocrisy is bested only by our own wimpiness in buying the sham.

The Twelve Days of Christmas revisted. On the 12th day of Eurocentrically imposed midwinter festival my significant other in a consenting, adult, monogamous, relationship gave to me: Twelve males reclaiming their inner warrior through ritual drumming. Eleven pipers piping (plus an 18 member pit orchestra made up of members in good standing of the Musicians Equity Union as called for in their union contract, even though they will not be asked to play a note.) Ten melanin deprived testosterone poisoned scions of the patriarchal ruling class system leaping. Nine persons engaged in rhythmic self-expression. Eight economically disadvantaged female persons stealing...

Denver-area churches decided that the official, government-sanctioned secularization of the Christmas holiday had gone too far recently when the city's mayor decided to replace the traditional "Merry Christmas" banner atop the local City and County Building with a "Happy Holidays" greeting and the organizers of the local Christmas parade denied permission for a local church to participate. Christians around the city rose up in protest by descending on the city's annual Christmas parade and sang carols emphasizing the Christian origins of the celebration, as noted in this surprisingly sympathetic account in yesterday's New York Times. "Like a spark in dry...

NEW YORK (ASCAP/ www.ascap.com) - The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers today announced an update of its Top 25 most-performed Holiday songs based on the Society's most recent performance data. Topping the list is "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" written by Robert Wells and the singing great, Mel Torme.

Who invented "X"mas? Why not C'mas, instead? My guess is that it was some twisted lefty from the heyday of communism in America. Someone who thought it important to X out Christ, not simply abbreviate.