Merry Christmas!

From the Gospel according to Luke:

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while [a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

Hitler reacts to final UT/A&M football game

An impossible question to answer...

Herman Cain held a press conference today to respond to allegations that he had made "inappropriate sexual advances" toward several women some 10+ years ago.

So the media questions Herman Cain. In essence, their questions amount to: "Have you stopped making sexual advances at women?" "Can you prove that you have come clean and that you are no longer a sexual predator?"

This line of questioning, although not a verbatim recreation of questions posed to Mr. Cain, reminds me of this conundrum:

"Have you stopped beating your wife?"

Hitler discovers AttackWatch is a Joke!

This particular parody keeps giving and giving and giving!



Hat tip: The Other McCain

Update: The Gibson Guitar Raid

You've undoubtedly heard about the federal raid on Gibson Guitars. Here is an update from Human Events:

Rep. Masha W. Blackburn (R-TN) met with her constituent Gibson Guitar CEO Henry E. Juszkiewicz in her Capitol Hill office Sept. 9, shortly before the two attended the president’s address to Congress on jobs and the economy. Juszkiewicz’s company was the subject of a Aug. 24 by federal agents that Blackburn said raises many unanswered questions.

The Tennessee congresswoman, in whose district many Gibson Guitar workers live, co-signed a Sept. 8 letter to three federal agencies that raided Gibson Aug. 24 demanding status on the government’s investigation.

“Having armed federal agents raid an iconic American company is no way to inspire economic certainty and spur job creation,” said Blackburn, the vice-chairman of the Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade sub-committee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

[...]

An affidavit filed with the search warrant request, referred to the illegal importation of wood from India, which the letter also addresses: “The source country at issue, however, has no problem with Gibson’s actions. The deputy director general of foreign trade for India has stated that India would allow the export.”

The letter also raises the idea that Gibson, which has added 600 new jobs during the current recession, is the victim the government selective enforcement, in effect picking winners and losers, based on the fact that Gibson has imported the same wood without incident for the last 17 years, as have several of its competitors, who have not been raided by federal agents.

[...]

Juszkiewicz said if he ran into the president in the hall, he would try to reason with him. “We need to be sane about this particular issue and get it resolved.”

The CEO said beyond the legal issues, the raid has threatened his company’s very survival.

“No charges are filed and they grabbed a tremendous amount of inventory,” he said.

“Every guitar has a finger board. They took just about all our finger boards. Without finger boards we can’t build guitars,” he said. The federal agents from the Fish and Wildlife Service seized roughly $500,000 worth of critical wood. “The impact has been severe.”

While the guitar executive said he is scrambling to find replacement wood, he expects he will have to shut down operations in the next few weeks.

You can read the rest here.