And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way
Co-anchor Chris Matthews: “I have to tell you, you know, it’s part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama’s speech. My — I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don’t have that too often.
”Co-anchor Keith Olbermann: “Steady.”
Matthews: “No, seriously. It’s a dramatic event. He speaks about America in a way that has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with the feeling we have about our country. And that is an objective assessment.”
— Exchange during MSNBC’s coverage of the Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. primaries, February 12.
“[For Obama] the real test is yet to come. The Republican Party has been successfully scaring voters since 1968, when Richard Nixon built a Silent Majority out of lower- and middle-class folks frightened or disturbed by hippies and student radicals and blacks rioting in the inner cities....It is a sure bet that the GOP will try to paint Obama as ‘the other’ — as a haughty black intellectual who has Muslim roots (Obama is a Christian) and hangs around with America-haters....The real question is whether he [McCain] can — or really wants to — rein in the merchants of slime and sellers of hate who populate the Internet and fund the ‘independent expenditure’ groups who exercise their freedom in ways that give a bad name to free speech.”
— Richard Wolffe and Evan Thomas in an eight-page cover package touting “The O Team,” May 19 Newsweek. [64]
“If Sarah Palin becomes Vice President, will she be shortchanging her kids or will she be shortchanging the country?”
— NBC reporter Amy Robach on Today, September 3. [42]
“Some princes are born in palaces. Some are born in mangers. But a few are born in the imagination, out of scraps of history and hope....Barack Hussein Obama did not win because of the color of his skin. Nor did he win in spite of it. He won because at a very dangerous moment in the life of a still young country, more people than have ever spoken before came together to try to save it. And that was a victory all its own.”
— Time’s Nancy Gibbs, Nov. 17 cover story.
Despite their friendship, the Obamas chose not to send their daughters to Chicago public schools. Instead, they enrolled them in the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, where Duncan went to school as a child. The Obamas have defended their decision to send their daughters to private school, saying they are doing what's best for them.
Feds Taped Rahmbo Holding 21 Conversations On Senate Seat
Seven Days of Silence--
Have you seen Rahmbo?
The feds have 21 taped conversations of Rahm Emanuel
The Chicago Sun-Times reported:
Sneed hears rumbles President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is reportedly on 21 different taped conversations by the feds -- dealing with his boss' vacant Senate seat!
A lot of chit-chat?
Hot air?
Or trouble?
To date: Rahm's been mum. Stay tuned.
At the routine, glum media conference in Chicago to announce the new Education Secretary, the President-Elect Barack
Obama (or PEBO) took a second question that was aimed at the still mute Rahm Emanuel. PEBO cut off the inquirer with easy rhetoric, and there was no follow-up. Again, PEBO was obliged to point to the release of the results of the Obama team internal review of all contacts with Blago and his office re the Obama Senate seat since November 4, 2008. Before? And what is the definition of contacts? And will it include lists of emails or tweets or Ims? And what about contact between Obama team members re Blago and the now departed Chief of Staff John Harris? Unknown. Live blogging from the Wall Street Journal Washington Wire (all times Eastern Time Zone):
11:55: Second question on whether Obama supports a special election for his U.S. Senate seat, also asked about Rahm Emanuel's contacts with Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office. Obama cuts him off, notes that he will release his office contacts next week. On the special election, "I've said I don't think the governor can serve effectively in his office," he said, noting that he will defer to the legislature.
From the Mat-Su Borough:
Federal ATF says accelerant poured on church
MAT-SU–The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said an accelerant had been poured on and around the outside of the Wasilla Bible Church in multiple places, including the entrances and exits, according to an ATF news release today.
Evidence that could help determine the type of accelerant that was recovered from the fire scene is being examined by the state crime lab. Results could be returned within two weeks.
On Friday Dec. 12, when the fire started five women were inside the 35,314 square-foot church on Nicola Ave. behind Burchell High School. Responders were dispatched at about 9:40 p.m. Friday. Temperatures were below zero. No one was injured. One woman said their vehicles were plainly visible near the main adult entrance where fire began.
The church, just off the Parks Highway on the western edge of town, conducts Sunday services attracting up to 1,000 people. Church members include many well-known Valley residents, including Palin, Rep. Wes Keller, R-Wasilla, and Rep. Carl Gatto, R-Palmer.
Palin's ties to the church have sparked widespread speculation about whether the person who lit the fire was motivated by that connection. However, Central Mat-Su Fire Department Chief James Steele said that idea remains in the realm of pure speculation.
"At this point, there is no information that we have that even points in that direction," he said.
The EPA has floated the idea of taxing farmers for each of their cows.
Hanehan estimates it would cost about $175 per cow, per year. He milks 1,300 cows.
"It would probably be around $230,000 per year for our dairies," Hanehan said. "You can figure that that's pretty much going to wipe us out
Those “exposed” to Fox News voted 70-29 for McCain.Ziegler was on Hannity Colmes earlier this week:
Those “exposed” to CNN voted 63-37 for Obama.
Those “exposed” to MSNBC voted 73-26 for Obama.
Those “exposed” to network newscasts voted 62-37 for Obama.
Those “exposed” to national newspapers voted 64-36 for Obama.
Those “exposed” to talk radio voted 61-38 for McCain.
35 % of McCain voters got 10 or more of 13 questions correct.One of the other more interesting tidbits from this survey is that only 48% of CNN Viewers surveyed got the "congressional control" question correct. They had a 50-50 chance just by guessing. Yet, CNN is still considered a viable source of "news" by some Americans.
18% of Obama voters got 10 or more of 13 questions correct.
McCain voters knew which party controls congress by a 63-27 margin.
Obama voters got the “congressional control” question wrong by 43-41.
Those that got "congressional control" correct voted 56-43 for McCain.
Those that got "congressional control" wrong voted 65-35 for Obama.
“You’ve got conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate,” he said bluntly. Our eyes only met briefly, perhaps because the governor wanted to spare the only black guy in the room from feeling self-conscious for backing an obvious loser. “I believe, looking at the returns in my election, that had Lynn Swann [2006 Republican gubernatorial candidate] been the identical candidate that he was –well-spoken [note: Mr. Rendell did not call the brother "articulate"], charismatic, good-looking — but white instead of black, instead of winning by 22 points, I would have won by 17 or so.”
Earlier working titles apparently included The Guilty Bystander and Again and Again: Fifty Years of Genocide and American Bystanderhood, but it was presumably determined that these hit too close to home and so the benign, non-finger pointing title won out
"He had just read "A Problem From Hell" and wanted to meet to discuss fixing American foreign policy. I thought, "Well that's interesting -- clearly he's in some other league."
This should give us some insight into the foreign-policy objectives of Barack Obama, who had Power as an adviser from 2005 until the “monster” comment in March of this year. He didn’t bounce her from his team over her views on Israel and … well, let’s recall how she described the pro-Israel lobby:
Putting something on the line might mean alienating a domestic constituency of tremendous political and financial import.
For those who may not catch the reference, Power means the Joooooos. And why would that alienate the Jewishcabalthatsecretlyrunseverything? For one thing, Power wants to spend billions on bolstering Palestinian military strength, instead of spending it on helping the Israelis to defend themselves. Bear in mind that this interview takes place about seven months after 9/11, when people supposedly still knew how dangerous radical Islamist groups like Hamas and al-Qaeda were. Power wanted to send them money and stop funding Israeli efforts to fight them.
The war scare that wasn't stands as a metaphor for the incoherence of our policy toward Iran: the Bush Administration attempts to gin up international outrage by making a claim of imminent danger, only to be met with international eye rolling when the claim is disproved. Sound familiar? The speedboat episode bore an uncanny resemblance to the Administration's allegations about the advanced state of Iran's weapons program--allegations refuted in December by the National Intelligence Estimate.
The messiah-elect got rid of Power so that he wouldn’t lose the Jewish vote.Now that he got the Jewish vote, she’s back in.......To all Jews who voted for Barack Hussein Obama, may the blood of your brethren be on...
From The Seattle Times :
Increasingly, when young Latinos wear his image, older Cuban Americans are offended — to the point of shouting matches that threaten to erupt into fistfights.
One recent afternoon, 73-year-old Carlos Barberia was waiting for a bus in Union City, N.J., when he spotted a Guevara T-shirt on a sidewalk rack. He bought the shirt — and promptly set it on fire with a burning newspaper.
"Che Guevara killed my father," he told a police officer, explaining his outburst. "He had my father shot by a firing squad in Cuba."
The officer turned out to be Cuban American, too. "He told me, 'I have not seen anything' and he walked away," Barberia said.
Every time I see a teenager with Che Guevara's picture plastered on a T-shirt I feel sad. I wonder if they even know who this man really was.
During the first years of the Castro regime, Che was the head executioner. He is also responsible for founding the work camps, where the opposition were sent, including my father, who did nothing against the communist regime.
Even though it's about
Che and Cuba, it means a lot to me as well--a
Chinese-American. Any book against one dictator is a
book against ALL dictators. I imagine you must feel
the same rage seeing a Che T-shirt as I do seeing a
Mao T-shirt. It bothers me that many people do not
think twice about wearing either T-shirt, but if
somebody wore a T-shirt with the visage of Hitler,
Stalin, bin Laden, or that Virginia Tech guy it'd be
all over the news.
I am so angry, my whole body is shaking!
