December 27, 2023
Biden e-mailed Hunter Associates
Timothy Birdnow
The media is no longer carrying Screwless Joe's water it seems. They know he's going to lose and want him out.
Records released by House GOP show Biden emailed Hunter Biden’s business associate in 2014 — NBC News
apple.news
If they can't force Biden out then Mr. Trump is in real danger. They will never let him be President again and they only want Biden out because they fear he will lose. But Kamala would as well, so Biden must leave of his own accord and be replaced. Failing that then Donald J. Trump has a hunk of lead with his name on it.
I predict Trump will meet an untimely end in the next six months.
The media is no longer carrying Screwless Joe's water it seems. They know he's going to lose and want him out.
Records released by House GOP show Biden emailed Hunter Biden’s business associate in 2014 — NBC News
apple.news
If they can't force Biden out then Mr. Trump is in real danger. They will never let him be President again and they only want Biden out because they fear he will lose. But Kamala would as well, so Biden must leave of his own accord and be replaced. Failing that then Donald J. Trump has a hunk of lead with his name on it.
I predict Trump will meet an untimely end in the next six months.
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Layla and Other Assorted Hate Songs
Timothy Birdnow
And they dare say this while Hamas still holds large numbers of innocents hostage. They could have ended the Israeli bombardment any time they liked; they just had to release the people they kidnapped. But they refused then cried about how mean ISRAEL was for attacking them! And idiots like Clapton buy into it. No wonder rock is dead....
From Jules Kunofsky:
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs" NOT!!!!!
I can't tell you how disappointed I am of my guitar hero, Eric Clapton. I literally listen to him every day. Make that "listened". While I knew that Oct., 7th would change a lot of important things in my life, I never thought about this:
The Limited Times:
Outrage at Eric Clapton for sharing a video with children from Gaza: "Shame on you, what about our murdered?" - voila! culture
11/18/2023, 11:35:40 AM
Eric Clapton posted to his Facebook and Instagram accounts a post titled "Voice Of A Child" with a clip of footage of demolitions from Gaza, without showing for a single second the brutal massacre carried out by Hamas terrorists, the murdered, missing and abducted Israelis, including babies, children, women, the elderly and the sick.
As a result, masses of Israelis harshly criticized Clapton on social media. Idan Raichel wrote to him: "Hamas murdered hundreds of children on October 7, and kidnapped many more. And we didn't hear a word from you. Shame on you."
Tamir Greenberg wrote: "Mr. Clapton, I admire you with all my heart. In this regard, I must ask you to look deeper at the works and not share shallow and meaningless propaganda. The deaths of Palestinians and Israelis have one reason – Hamas. They are a source of evil. The publication of these hollow videos only portrays Israel as evil while Israel is the true hope of the Palestinians."
Meanwhile, Musicians for Palestine published a petition claiming that Israel is committing "crimes against humanity," calling on governments around the world to stop sending weapons to Israel, and apparently hinting that they will not be willing to perform in Israel in the future, saying: "We refuse to allow our music to be used to whitewash oppression and human rights violations everywhere." The petition is signed by more than 72 musicians, including British singer Marianne Faithfull, Britpop band Pulp and musician Brian Eno, Fontaines D.C. and Rage Legends The Machine's vocalist and guitarist.
"We cannot remain silent," the long petition said, and only one short sentence mentioned Israel, without elaborating on the horrific massacre the country underwent on October 3: "We mourn with all those who lost loved ones in Palestine and Israel." From there, the petition became fully pro-Palestinian: "The human catastrophe unfolding for 17 million Palestinians in Gaza, half of them children, is a clear case of genocide. We cannot be neutral in the face of such injustice. We cannot remain silent because years of total Israeli blockade have rendered Gaza unlivable. Almost all of the water in it is unfit for human consumption. Its health system has largely collapsed. Most children are anemic, with many severely malnourished."
END OF STORY
No mention that Palestine was not occupied by anybody except Hamas terrorists. No mention of the underground tunnels putting the lives of everyone living in Palestine in jeopardy. No mention of the cost of the tunnels, that could have been used for the starving people. Actually, no mention of the Truth!!!
Why not form a group, MDI, Musicians for the Destruction of Israel. Then MDI can have a big concert and raise money for weapons to kill Jews.
As for me, I am totally fed up with the silence from "civilized" society after witnessing the videos of the attempted genocide of Israelis. Everyone needs to see the videos and pictures of who started this war (UN Violations, BTW) and who built tunnels of terror among civilian Hospitals, Schools and places of worship (UN Violations, BTW) and who took hostages (UN Violations, BTW) and who terrorized them in captivity (UN Violations, BTW). The videos should be played at the UN, the club for psychopathic behavior.
At the end, the crowd could file out to the background music of, "Layla and Other Assorted Hate Songs." This is the second movement of the third Reich.
And they dare say this while Hamas still holds large numbers of innocents hostage. They could have ended the Israeli bombardment any time they liked; they just had to release the people they kidnapped. But they refused then cried about how mean ISRAEL was for attacking them! And idiots like Clapton buy into it. No wonder rock is dead....
From Jules Kunofsky:
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs" NOT!!!!!
I can't tell you how disappointed I am of my guitar hero, Eric Clapton. I literally listen to him every day. Make that "listened". While I knew that Oct., 7th would change a lot of important things in my life, I never thought about this:
The Limited Times:
Outrage at Eric Clapton for sharing a video with children from Gaza: "Shame on you, what about our murdered?" - voila! culture
11/18/2023, 11:35:40 AM
Eric Clapton posted to his Facebook and Instagram accounts a post titled "Voice Of A Child" with a clip of footage of demolitions from Gaza, without showing for a single second the brutal massacre carried out by Hamas terrorists, the murdered, missing and abducted Israelis, including babies, children, women, the elderly and the sick.
As a result, masses of Israelis harshly criticized Clapton on social media. Idan Raichel wrote to him: "Hamas murdered hundreds of children on October 7, and kidnapped many more. And we didn't hear a word from you. Shame on you."
Tamir Greenberg wrote: "Mr. Clapton, I admire you with all my heart. In this regard, I must ask you to look deeper at the works and not share shallow and meaningless propaganda. The deaths of Palestinians and Israelis have one reason – Hamas. They are a source of evil. The publication of these hollow videos only portrays Israel as evil while Israel is the true hope of the Palestinians."
Meanwhile, Musicians for Palestine published a petition claiming that Israel is committing "crimes against humanity," calling on governments around the world to stop sending weapons to Israel, and apparently hinting that they will not be willing to perform in Israel in the future, saying: "We refuse to allow our music to be used to whitewash oppression and human rights violations everywhere." The petition is signed by more than 72 musicians, including British singer Marianne Faithfull, Britpop band Pulp and musician Brian Eno, Fontaines D.C. and Rage Legends The Machine's vocalist and guitarist.
"We cannot remain silent," the long petition said, and only one short sentence mentioned Israel, without elaborating on the horrific massacre the country underwent on October 3: "We mourn with all those who lost loved ones in Palestine and Israel." From there, the petition became fully pro-Palestinian: "The human catastrophe unfolding for 17 million Palestinians in Gaza, half of them children, is a clear case of genocide. We cannot be neutral in the face of such injustice. We cannot remain silent because years of total Israeli blockade have rendered Gaza unlivable. Almost all of the water in it is unfit for human consumption. Its health system has largely collapsed. Most children are anemic, with many severely malnourished."
END OF STORY
No mention that Palestine was not occupied by anybody except Hamas terrorists. No mention of the underground tunnels putting the lives of everyone living in Palestine in jeopardy. No mention of the cost of the tunnels, that could have been used for the starving people. Actually, no mention of the Truth!!!
Why not form a group, MDI, Musicians for the Destruction of Israel. Then MDI can have a big concert and raise money for weapons to kill Jews.
As for me, I am totally fed up with the silence from "civilized" society after witnessing the videos of the attempted genocide of Israelis. Everyone needs to see the videos and pictures of who started this war (UN Violations, BTW) and who built tunnels of terror among civilian Hospitals, Schools and places of worship (UN Violations, BTW) and who took hostages (UN Violations, BTW) and who terrorized them in captivity (UN Violations, BTW). The videos should be played at the UN, the club for psychopathic behavior.
At the end, the crowd could file out to the background music of, "Layla and Other Assorted Hate Songs." This is the second movement of the third Reich.
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Free Markets
"The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit.”
--- Milton Friedman
--- Milton Friedman
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December 26, 2023
Chinese Surrogate
Timothy Birdnow
So, where have the Houthi rebels been getting their ASBM rockets?
That technology is only available from China.
FTA:
And they figure with Mr. Biden asleep at the wheel they need fear no repercussions from this.
So, where have the Houthi rebels been getting their ASBM rockets?
That technology is only available from China.
FTA:
So is Beijing proliferating missile technology? It sure looks that way.Occam’s Razorsays so. Whether it’s doing so inadvertently or deliberately is another question. Now, Chinese Communist Party potentates are on record opposing missile proliferation. China is not a partyto the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the informal nonproliferation body that strives to clamp down on the spread of guided missiles that could be used to deliver unconventional or conventional payloads. But it has applied for MTCR membership and agreed to enforce the regime’s guidelines on stemming proliferation while its application for membership remains under review.
Unwitting proliferation is a possibility. During the founding decades of the People’s Republic of China, in fact, the imperative to proliferate arms was etchedon the institutional culture of the PLA. The armed forces had every incentive to arm others for cash. They had to raise much of their own budget amid straitened finances. Those habits of mind and deed persisted into the post-Cold War years. It’s not impossible that illicit transactions could take place unbeknownst to the Chinese Communist Party.
But even if the impulse to proliferate persists within China’s military, it seems doubtful it would extend to surreptitiously exporting frontline armaments such as antiship ballistic missiles. As noted up front, the PLA has, or until recently had, a monopoly on ASBMs. That’s a monopoly worth guarding. Rocket Force DF-21D and DF-26 missiles anchor China’s anti-access and area-denial network, affording commanders the option to strike not just land targets but moving ships at sea up to 2,000 nautical miles distant. That PLA overseers, acting on their own, would transfer a weapon system of such potency to Iran—whence it might find its way into the Houthi, Hamas, or Hezbollah arsenals, given Tehran’s proclivities—seems a stretch. Military officialdom would balk at a move of that political magnitude.
Or so you would think.
Which leaves conscious choice on the part of party leaders. There is
sound strategic logic behind proliferating ASBMs around the Eurasian
perimeter, even though the blowback from putting this novel technology
in unpredictable hands could prove severe. During World War II
geopolitics maven Nicholas Spykman, building on previous work by the
likes of Halford Mackinder and Alfred Thayer Mahan, portrayedthe Eurasian "heartland” as the key to world politics and the
"rimlands” separating the heartland from the sea as an oceangoing
hegemon’s portal to project influence into the Eurasian supercontinent.
So what does China have to gain by this?A Great Britain in its imperial heyday, or a postwar America could maneuver around the Eurasian periphery, setting the political and strategic agenda from the sea. But as Spykman pointed out, that could only happen if the Royal Navy or U.S. Navy could get to the rimlands. A dominant navy couldn’t control events unless it could wrest command of the "marginal seas” around the periphery from local defenders.
Strategies aimed at warding off a dominant Western navy make eminent
sense if you’re sitting in Beijing, or Tehran, or Moscow today. Enter
the antiship ballistic missile. Over the past century-plus, advances in
maritime weapons technology have superempowered lesser navies as well
as coastal defenders fighting from shore. First came the torpedo and
sea mine, which gave small craft such as submarines and torpedo boats
the ability to land heavy blows against battleships and cruisers, then
the coin of the realm of naval warfare. Then came military aviation,
which enabled carrier and land-based warplanes to strike at capital
ships at long range. And then came the guided-missile revolution, which
further skewed the balance toward shore-based sea power.
And they figure with Mr. Biden asleep at the wheel they need fear no repercussions from this.
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Will Colorado be Sanctioned?
Timothy Birdnow
The Biden Administration has imposed sanctions on countries around the globe that have kicked candidates off the ballots.
So are they going to sanction Colorado?
The Biden Administration has imposed sanctions on countries around the globe that have kicked candidates off the ballots.
So are they going to sanction Colorado?
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Communists in the Naval Academy
Timothy Birdnow
Here is the radical b.s. being taught to our naval officers at the Academy.
Gender and Queer Studies? Boy, that sure makes America a lot safer!
Here is the radical b.s. being taught to our naval officers at the Academy.
Gender and Queer Studies? Boy, that sure makes America a lot safer!
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Another Product they will Ruin
Timothy Birdnow
How tiring!
Washington Democrats Move to Regulate Tire Standards to Fight Climate Change
There is NOTHING these people don't want their mitts on!
And they don't seem to know or care about how regressive this is; it hurts the poor and working class hardest. I thought Democrats were all about helping the little guy.
How tiring!
Washington Democrats Move to Regulate Tire Standards to Fight Climate Change
There is NOTHING these people don't want their mitts on!
And they don't seem to know or care about how regressive this is; it hurts the poor and working class hardest. I thought Democrats were all about helping the little guy.
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Fly the Deadly Skies
Timothy Birdnow
So, you think "inclusion" and affirmative action are harmless, even beneficial? Think again.
U.S. Airports Saw 19 Near Misses in 2023, Largtest Number since 2016
Now why do you suppose that is?
Now let me see; what happened in 2016 to change this? Oh, I remember; Hillary Clinton became President! No wait...
BTW I took the air traffic controllers exam decades ago and passed with a score in the high nineties. Unfortunately there was a five year moratorium on hiring and then it would go to ex-military, so I never worked in the field. Story of my life I fear.
At any rate, this is Third World stuff and it will only get worse as time goes by and America sinks further into the quagmire of politics overshadowing competency.
So, you think "inclusion" and affirmative action are harmless, even beneficial? Think again.
U.S. Airports Saw 19 Near Misses in 2023, Largtest Number since 2016
Now why do you suppose that is?
Now let me see; what happened in 2016 to change this? Oh, I remember; Hillary Clinton became President! No wait...
BTW I took the air traffic controllers exam decades ago and passed with a score in the high nineties. Unfortunately there was a five year moratorium on hiring and then it would go to ex-military, so I never worked in the field. Story of my life I fear.
At any rate, this is Third World stuff and it will only get worse as time goes by and America sinks further into the quagmire of politics overshadowing competency.
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The Spirit of Antichrist at SLU
Timothy Birdnow
My brother Brian received an e-mail from Fred Pestello, President of St. Louis University (our mutual alma matre) wishing alum a merry Christmas. Now this is in no ways unusual, but Dr. Pistello (a socialist turned administrator) was actually violating his own custom of wishing "Happy Holidays" to alumni.
St. Louis University is a Jesuit-run Catholic university and not a secular college. Pistelli angered Brian and many others by refusing to say Christmas, so this year he chose to wish everyone a merry Christmas.
But of course he couldn't stop there; he also wished everyone else a happy this or that - including a happy KWANZAA! Liberals just can't help themselves.
Kwanzaa is a fake holiday created by an afro-centric college professor named Maulana Ron Karenga, the artist formerly known as Ronald McKinley Everett) to be a black competitor to "white Christmas" back in 1966. He claimed it was a traditional African harvest celebration (in December?) and he promoted things that are just knock-offs of Judeo-Christian ideals.
(In 1971, he was convicted of felony assault, torture, and false imprisonment of women,I might add. https://thefederalist.com/2020/12/31/kwanzaa-is-a-fake-holiday-invented-by-a-criminal-marxist/)
Anyway the whole thing is something the man just pulled from his posterior. In short, it was and remains fake news, yet the media still doesn't fully report it that way. I doubt Facebook would fact-check it if it was presented as a traditional African festival, as Mr. Karenga initially claimed.
So why is the President of St. Louis University wishing a happy Kwanzaa to the SLU community?
Liberals just ca't help themselves; they promote anything that tears down our culture, our shared heritage, our religious beliefs. No idea, no matter how insane or just plain kooky, is off the table provided it acts in opposition to the norm.
In 1John2: "Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come."
Does it not occur to Pestello that a counter-Christmas based on lies is in fact antichrist? A head of a Catholic university should understand that. The sole purpose of Kwanzaa is to seduce those of African descent away from our western Judeo-Christian beliefs. It is the spirit of antichrist.
Also:
2Thessalonians 2:
3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
[...]
10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie
Isn't this exaclty what we are witnessing these days? And isn't that what Pestello is promoting? Oh, I'm sure he just thinks he's being big and open and tolerant but in the end if the President of a Catholic university cannot be content to wish his community a merry Christmas but must throw in Kwanzaa at the same time there is something profoundly wrong going on.
Pestello also presided over the invasion of SLU by Black Lives Matter and let the "Occupy SLU" movement trespass on campus for months. The seige only ended with the infamous "Clocktower Accords" in which the university removed Christian statues and promised to put up a statue celebrating the invaders. They also affirmed a formal commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). https://www.slu.edu/news/2022/february/clock-tower-accords.php and https://www.slu.edu/diversity/occupy-slu/clock-tower-accords/index.php
Slu was already inclusive, diverse, and equitable but that's not what DEI is about; it's about PREFERENTIAL treatment for those whom the mandarins of cultural marxism deem fit. In short, the spirit of antichrist.
St. Louis University will never get a penny from me unless they change their evil ways. I am not going to underwrite DEI.
And lest you think Pestello did this under duress, think again. https://www.stlamerican.com/news/local_news/new-slu-president-promises-inclusion/article_6e1a7834-b549-11e3-b308-0019bb2963f4.html
Pestello should not have been hired in the first place. He's the first secular president of the university and he radicalized his previous college in Syracuse.
He is one of those deceived by the spirit of antichrist. And he is a deceiver himself.
If Catholic universities cannot actually be Catholic then the time is at hand.
My brother Brian received an e-mail from Fred Pestello, President of St. Louis University (our mutual alma matre) wishing alum a merry Christmas. Now this is in no ways unusual, but Dr. Pistello (a socialist turned administrator) was actually violating his own custom of wishing "Happy Holidays" to alumni.
St. Louis University is a Jesuit-run Catholic university and not a secular college. Pistelli angered Brian and many others by refusing to say Christmas, so this year he chose to wish everyone a merry Christmas.
But of course he couldn't stop there; he also wished everyone else a happy this or that - including a happy KWANZAA! Liberals just can't help themselves.
Kwanzaa is a fake holiday created by an afro-centric college professor named Maulana Ron Karenga, the artist formerly known as Ronald McKinley Everett) to be a black competitor to "white Christmas" back in 1966. He claimed it was a traditional African harvest celebration (in December?) and he promoted things that are just knock-offs of Judeo-Christian ideals.
(In 1971, he was convicted of felony assault, torture, and false imprisonment of women,I might add. https://thefederalist.com/2020/12/31/kwanzaa-is-a-fake-holiday-invented-by-a-criminal-marxist/)
Anyway the whole thing is something the man just pulled from his posterior. In short, it was and remains fake news, yet the media still doesn't fully report it that way. I doubt Facebook would fact-check it if it was presented as a traditional African festival, as Mr. Karenga initially claimed.
So why is the President of St. Louis University wishing a happy Kwanzaa to the SLU community?
Liberals just ca't help themselves; they promote anything that tears down our culture, our shared heritage, our religious beliefs. No idea, no matter how insane or just plain kooky, is off the table provided it acts in opposition to the norm.
In 1John2: "Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come."
Does it not occur to Pestello that a counter-Christmas based on lies is in fact antichrist? A head of a Catholic university should understand that. The sole purpose of Kwanzaa is to seduce those of African descent away from our western Judeo-Christian beliefs. It is the spirit of antichrist.
Also:
2Thessalonians 2:
3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
[...]
10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie
Isn't this exaclty what we are witnessing these days? And isn't that what Pestello is promoting? Oh, I'm sure he just thinks he's being big and open and tolerant but in the end if the President of a Catholic university cannot be content to wish his community a merry Christmas but must throw in Kwanzaa at the same time there is something profoundly wrong going on.
Pestello also presided over the invasion of SLU by Black Lives Matter and let the "Occupy SLU" movement trespass on campus for months. The seige only ended with the infamous "Clocktower Accords" in which the university removed Christian statues and promised to put up a statue celebrating the invaders. They also affirmed a formal commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). https://www.slu.edu/news/2022/february/clock-tower-accords.php and https://www.slu.edu/diversity/occupy-slu/clock-tower-accords/index.php
Slu was already inclusive, diverse, and equitable but that's not what DEI is about; it's about PREFERENTIAL treatment for those whom the mandarins of cultural marxism deem fit. In short, the spirit of antichrist.
St. Louis University will never get a penny from me unless they change their evil ways. I am not going to underwrite DEI.
And lest you think Pestello did this under duress, think again. https://www.stlamerican.com/news/local_news/new-slu-president-promises-inclusion/article_6e1a7834-b549-11e3-b308-0019bb2963f4.html
Pestello should not have been hired in the first place. He's the first secular president of the university and he radicalized his previous college in Syracuse.
He is one of those deceived by the spirit of antichrist. And he is a deceiver himself.
If Catholic universities cannot actually be Catholic then the time is at hand.
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Why the Democrats Want the War with Russia
Lance Sjogren
Democrats hate Putin because their Russiagate conspiracy hoax was eventually exposed. It would be like someone falsely accusing a guy of rape, getting outed for it, but holding a grudge against the guy forever even though he had nothing to do with the hoax and if anything is the one who deserves to be mad for being falsely accused.
Democrats hate Putin because their Russiagate conspiracy hoax was eventually exposed. It would be like someone falsely accusing a guy of rape, getting outed for it, but holding a grudge against the guy forever even though he had nothing to do with the hoax and if anything is the one who deserves to be mad for being falsely accused.
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On the Feast of Stephen
Timothy Birdnow
Happy Boxing Day! The day after Christmas is known as "Boxing Day" because hung over siblings get into fistfights, er, people boxed up their old stuff to give to the poor after receiving new things on Christmas.
Today also marks the Feast of Stephen (mentioned in the Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslaus"). Stephen is called the "protomartry" because he was the first Christian killed for his faith.
The Acts of the Apostles tells the story:
1But as the believers#6:1 Greek disciples; also in 6:2, 7.rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food.
2So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, "We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. 3And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. 4Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word
5Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith). 6These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them.
7So God's message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.
Stephen Is Arrested
8Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people. 9But one day some men from the Synagogue of Freed Slaves, as it was called, started to debate with him. They were Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia. 10None of them could stand against the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen spoke.
11So they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen, saying, "We heard him blaspheme Moses, and even God.†12This roused the people, the elders, and the teachers of religious law. So they arrested Stephen and brought him before the high council.#6:12 Greek Sanhedrin; also in 6:15.
13The lying witnesses said, "This man is always speaking against the holy Temple and against the law of Moses. 14We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth#6:14 Or Jesus the Nazarene. will destroy the Temple and change the customs Moses handed down to us.â€
15At this point everyone in the high council stared at Stephen, because his face became as bright as an angel's.
Stephen Addresses the Council
1Then the high priest asked Stephen, "Are these accusations true?
2This was Stephen's reply: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran.#7:2 Mesopotamia was the region now called Iraq. Haran was a city in what is now called Syria. 3God told him, ‘Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.7:3 Gen 12:1. 4So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.
5"But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants even though he had no children yet. 6God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 7‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the end they will come out and worship me here in this place.’#7:5-7 Gen 12:7; 15:13-14; Exod 3:12.
8"God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation.
9"These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him 10and rescued him from all his troubles. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of the palace.
11"But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food. 12Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons—our ancestor to buy some. 13The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers,#7:13 Other manuscripts read Joseph was recognized by his brothers. and they were introduced to Pharaoh. 14Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all. 15So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did our ancestors. 16Their bodies were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for a certain price from Hamor's sons in Shechem.
17As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. 18But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. 19This king exploited our people and oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would die.
20"At that time Moses was born a beautiful child in God's eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months. 21When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son. 22Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action.
23"One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel. 24He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man's defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian. 25Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn't.
26"The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. ‘Men, he said, ‘you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?
27"But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked. 28Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday? 29When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born.
30"Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush. 31When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the Lord called out to him, 3 I am the God of your ancestors the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look.
33"Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. 34I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.7:31-34 Exod 3:5-10.
35"So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior. 36And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty yea
37"Moses himself told the people of Israel, God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people.:37 Deut 18:15. 38Moses was with our ancestors, the assembly of God’s people in the wilderness, when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai. And there Moses received life-giving words to pass on to us.7:38 Some manuscripts read to you.
39"But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt. 40They told Aaron, Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don't know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’ 41So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made. 42Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written,
‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings
during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?
43No, you carried your pagan gods—
the shrine of Molech,
the star of your god Rephan,
and the images you made to worship them.
So I will send you into exile
as far away as Babylon. 7:42-43 Amos 5:25-27 (Greek version).
44"Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle 7:44 Greek the tent of witness. with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses. 45Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David.
46David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob.#7:46 Some manuscripts read the house of Jacob. 47But it was Solomon who actually built it. 48However, the Most High doesn't live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,
49 Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Could you build me a temple as good as that?’
asks the Lord.
‘Could you build me such a resting place?
50Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth #7:49-50 Isa 66:1-2.
51"You stubborn people! You are heathen#7:51 Greek uncircumcised. at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That's what your ancestors did, and so do you! 52Name one prophet your ancestors didn't persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous Onethe Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. 53You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.
54The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage.#7:54 Greek they were grinding their teeth against him. 55But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 56And he told them, "Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!â€
57Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him 58and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.#7:58 Saul is later called Paul; see 13:9.
59As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.†60He fell to his knees, shouting, "Lord, don't charge them with this sin! And with that, he died.
Happy Boxing Day! The day after Christmas is known as "Boxing Day" because hung over siblings get into fistfights, er, people boxed up their old stuff to give to the poor after receiving new things on Christmas.
Today also marks the Feast of Stephen (mentioned in the Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslaus"). Stephen is called the "protomartry" because he was the first Christian killed for his faith.
The Acts of the Apostles tells the story:
1But as the believers#6:1 Greek disciples; also in 6:2, 7.rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food.
2So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, "We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. 3And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. 4Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word
5Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith). 6These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them.
7So God's message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.
Stephen Is Arrested
8Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people. 9But one day some men from the Synagogue of Freed Slaves, as it was called, started to debate with him. They were Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia. 10None of them could stand against the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen spoke.
11So they persuaded some men to lie about Stephen, saying, "We heard him blaspheme Moses, and even God.†12This roused the people, the elders, and the teachers of religious law. So they arrested Stephen and brought him before the high council.#6:12 Greek Sanhedrin; also in 6:15.
13The lying witnesses said, "This man is always speaking against the holy Temple and against the law of Moses. 14We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth#6:14 Or Jesus the Nazarene. will destroy the Temple and change the customs Moses handed down to us.â€
15At this point everyone in the high council stared at Stephen, because his face became as bright as an angel's.
Stephen Addresses the Council
1Then the high priest asked Stephen, "Are these accusations true?
2This was Stephen's reply: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran.#7:2 Mesopotamia was the region now called Iraq. Haran was a city in what is now called Syria. 3God told him, ‘Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.7:3 Gen 12:1. 4So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.
5"But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants even though he had no children yet. 6God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. 7‘But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the end they will come out and worship me here in this place.’#7:5-7 Gen 12:7; 15:13-14; Exod 3:12.
8"God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation.
9"These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him 10and rescued him from all his troubles. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of the palace.
11"But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food. 12Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons—our ancestor to buy some. 13The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers,#7:13 Other manuscripts read Joseph was recognized by his brothers. and they were introduced to Pharaoh. 14Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all. 15So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did our ancestors. 16Their bodies were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for a certain price from Hamor's sons in Shechem.
17As the time drew near when God would fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. 18But then a new king came to the throne of Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. 19This king exploited our people and oppressed them, forcing parents to abandon their newborn babies so they would die.
20"At that time Moses was born a beautiful child in God's eyes. His parents cared for him at home for three months. 21When they had to abandon him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and raised him as her own son. 22Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in both speech and action.
23"One day when Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his relatives, the people of Israel. 24He saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite. So Moses came to the man's defense and avenged him, killing the Egyptian. 25Moses assumed his fellow Israelites would realize that God had sent him to rescue them, but they didn't.
26"The next day he visited them again and saw two men of Israel fighting. He tried to be a peacemaker. ‘Men, he said, ‘you are brothers. Why are you fighting each other?
27"But the man in the wrong pushed Moses aside. ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ he asked. 28Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday? 29When Moses heard that, he fled the country and lived as a foreigner in the land of Midian. There his two sons were born.
30"Forty years later, in the desert near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to Moses in the flame of a burning bush. 31When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he went to take a closer look, the voice of the Lord called out to him, 3 I am the God of your ancestors the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses shook with terror and did not dare to look.
33"Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. 34I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groans and have come down to rescue them. Now go, for I am sending you back to Egypt.7:31-34 Exod 3:5-10.
35"So God sent back the same man his people had previously rejected when they demanded, Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ Through the angel who appeared to him in the burning bush, God sent Moses to be their ruler and savior. 36And by means of many wonders and miraculous signs, he led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and through the wilderness for forty yea
37"Moses himself told the people of Israel, God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people.:37 Deut 18:15. 38Moses was with our ancestors, the assembly of God’s people in the wilderness, when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai. And there Moses received life-giving words to pass on to us.7:38 Some manuscripts read to you.
39"But our ancestors refused to listen to Moses. They rejected him and wanted to return to Egypt. 40They told Aaron, Make us some gods who can lead us, for we don't know what has become of this Moses, who brought us out of Egypt.’ 41So they made an idol shaped like a calf, and they sacrificed to it and celebrated over this thing they had made. 42Then God turned away from them and abandoned them to serve the stars of heaven as their gods! In the book of the prophets it is written,
‘Was it to me you were bringing sacrifices and offerings
during those forty years in the wilderness, Israel?
43No, you carried your pagan gods—
the shrine of Molech,
the star of your god Rephan,
and the images you made to worship them.
So I will send you into exile
as far away as Babylon. 7:42-43 Amos 5:25-27 (Greek version).
44"Our ancestors carried the Tabernacle 7:44 Greek the tent of witness. with them through the wilderness. It was constructed according to the plan God had shown to Moses. 45Years later, when Joshua led our ancestors in battle against the nations that God drove out of this land, the Tabernacle was taken with them into their new territory. And it stayed there until the time of King David.
46David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob.#7:46 Some manuscripts read the house of Jacob. 47But it was Solomon who actually built it. 48However, the Most High doesn't live in temples made by human hands. As the prophet says,
49 Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Could you build me a temple as good as that?’
asks the Lord.
‘Could you build me such a resting place?
50Didn’t my hands make both heaven and earth #7:49-50 Isa 66:1-2.
51"You stubborn people! You are heathen#7:51 Greek uncircumcised. at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That's what your ancestors did, and so do you! 52Name one prophet your ancestors didn't persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous Onethe Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. 53You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.
54The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage.#7:54 Greek they were grinding their teeth against him. 55But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 56And he told them, "Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!â€
57Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him 58and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.#7:58 Saul is later called Paul; see 13:9.
59As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.†60He fell to his knees, shouting, "Lord, don't charge them with this sin! And with that, he died.
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December 25, 2023
Unto Us a Child is Born
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.â€
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.â€
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.â€
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.
The Gospel according to Matthew:
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.†22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuelâ€
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
The Visit of the Wise Men
2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose[d] and have come to worship him.†3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 "‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’â€
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.†9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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.â€
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.â€
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.â€
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.
The Gospel according to Matthew:
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.†22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuelâ€
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
The Visit of the Wise Men
2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose[d] and have come to worship him.†3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 "‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’â€
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.†9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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Christmas is not Pagan
Zachary Uram
There is no evidence Christmas is pagan.
I'll start with the date.
Sol Invictus was not placed on 12/25 until 354 AD when the Philocalian Calendar records this but doesn't specify any festival with regards to sun worship. Prior to this, the Julio-Claudian fasti inscriptions say Sun festivals were on August 8th, 9th, 28th, and December 11th, and maybe October 19th. The Philocalian Calendar says Emperor Aurelian honored the sun with chariot races every 4 years Oct 19-22 (Steven Hijmans, "Sol Invictus, the Winter Solstice, and the Origins of Christmas", Mouseion, Number 47/3 (2003), 277-298).
Saturnalia was never on 12/25. Macrobius says Saturnalia began 14 days before January, which comes out to December 17th (Saturnalia 1.10.1-23), using Roman Calendrical dates. He says it lasted for 3 days, but according to the Fasti inscriptions, it lasted to the 24th during the days of the Republic.
Yule was placed on 12/25 by King Haakon the Good in the 10th century AD to coincide with Christmas. This goes back to the early historian Snorri Sturluson, and his book "Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway." Snorri says before this, "Yule was celebrated on a midwinter night, and for the duration of three nights" (p. 106). He gives no specific dates, but St. Bede in "The reckoning of Time,†(Section 329) said Northmen calculated their seasons according to the cycles of the moon, so the date of Yule probably changed every year. Pliny the elder also says the Gallic tribes calculated their months according to the moon (nat. his. 16.95.250). Last, according to the Chronicler, Theitmar, the Danes sacrificed to pagan gods in January after the 6th (The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg, Book 1.17).
The Winter Solstice had no festive significance to ancient Romans. There were no celebrations planned for the date and they disagreed on when it was. The Julian Calendar does say 12/25, but Pliny the Elder says 12/26 (nat. his. 18.59.221), and Columella says 12/23 (De Re Rustica 9.14.12).
The date of 12/25 was selected by Christians because (according to early authors like Dionysus Exiguus & Hippolytus) they believed Jesus was conceived on the same day he died and they thought he died on March 25th, so just count forward nine months.
Christmas trees only go back to the 16th century in eastern Europe. The first mention of Christmas trees is in an Alsace ordinance in 1561. Almost no early pagans thought pine trees were sacred, let alone associated with 12/25. Germanic tribes believed the oak was sacred (Pliny, nat. his. 16.95). Maximus of Tyre said, "The Celts indeed worship Zeus, but they honor Him in the form of a lofty oak" (Dissertation VIII, section 8).
The most likely explanation is they morphed over from paradise trees. Adam and Eve's festival days is 12/24 and used to be honored with an Adam and Eve play. In Europe, in the dead of winter, not a lot of trees are available, so they would get a pine tree and decorate it with fruits and cakes. After the play, they could eat the treats on the tree and the practice probably just morphed into Christmas. We have no record of Christmas trees prior to this time. See "Christmas: A Candid History" by Bruce David Forbes, pp. 48-59; Encyclopedia of Christmas by Tanya Gulevich, pp. 165-171.
Santa Claus can only be traced back to Dutch immigrants in New York in the early 1800s. He came from the Dutch Sinterklaas, also known as St. Nicolas. His feast day was on 12/6 and was moved to 12/25 around this time to help make Christmas a family holiday. Newspapers promoted it and encouraged to give gifts on Christmas instead of New Years' like it traditionally was before this. Sinterklaas was rebranded from a catholic priest to look like a traditional dutchman from that time period, which included a big red suit (A dictionary of English Folklore, section: Santa). After this Santa was exported around the world and different countries added new spins. Stockings were also promoted around this time period and trace back to Clement C. Moor's "A Visit from St. Nicholas.†In 1927, in Finland, a radio broadcaster, Markus Rautio, morphed the old pagan deity, Joulupukki, into a Santa figure. Santa changed the Joulupukki figure, not the other way around.
Father Christmas, surprisingly, pre-dates Santa Claus. But he is not a pagan deity. Instead, he was a medieval personification of Christmas. Richard Smart of Plymtree is the first to write about him, referring to him as Sir Christmas, and his task is to announce the birth of Christ (Oxford Book of Carols, no. 21, 41-3).
Mistletoes do not go back to paganism. The first we hear of using mistletoe as Christmas decorations are in Robert Herrick, "Hesperides poetry collection," (892, 980), and then William Coles mentions it is a decoration in "The Art of Simpling†(1600s). The tradition of kissing under it did not begin until the end of the 18th century in Britain. See "A dictionary of English Folklore," section: Mistletoe.
Yule Logs do not go back to paganism, despite the name. Yule is also an English word to mean "mid-winter period." The first mention of yule logs is in Robert Herrick, "Hesperides poetry collection (number 784)" and he calls it a Christmas log. It wasn't called a yule log until Aubrey's "In the west-riding of Yorkshire on Christmas eve†(1686, p. 134).
St. Francis is credited for the first nativity scene in 1223 AD, Greccio. His followers then promoted the use of them during Christmas (Life of Saint Francis of Assisi - Saint Bonaventure. Chapter 10.7).
There is no evidence anything associated with Christmas goes past these sources I mentioned here, and therefore, there is no evidence Christmas is pagan.
There is no evidence Christmas is pagan.
I'll start with the date.
Sol Invictus was not placed on 12/25 until 354 AD when the Philocalian Calendar records this but doesn't specify any festival with regards to sun worship. Prior to this, the Julio-Claudian fasti inscriptions say Sun festivals were on August 8th, 9th, 28th, and December 11th, and maybe October 19th. The Philocalian Calendar says Emperor Aurelian honored the sun with chariot races every 4 years Oct 19-22 (Steven Hijmans, "Sol Invictus, the Winter Solstice, and the Origins of Christmas", Mouseion, Number 47/3 (2003), 277-298).
Saturnalia was never on 12/25. Macrobius says Saturnalia began 14 days before January, which comes out to December 17th (Saturnalia 1.10.1-23), using Roman Calendrical dates. He says it lasted for 3 days, but according to the Fasti inscriptions, it lasted to the 24th during the days of the Republic.
Yule was placed on 12/25 by King Haakon the Good in the 10th century AD to coincide with Christmas. This goes back to the early historian Snorri Sturluson, and his book "Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway." Snorri says before this, "Yule was celebrated on a midwinter night, and for the duration of three nights" (p. 106). He gives no specific dates, but St. Bede in "The reckoning of Time,†(Section 329) said Northmen calculated their seasons according to the cycles of the moon, so the date of Yule probably changed every year. Pliny the elder also says the Gallic tribes calculated their months according to the moon (nat. his. 16.95.250). Last, according to the Chronicler, Theitmar, the Danes sacrificed to pagan gods in January after the 6th (The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg, Book 1.17).
The Winter Solstice had no festive significance to ancient Romans. There were no celebrations planned for the date and they disagreed on when it was. The Julian Calendar does say 12/25, but Pliny the Elder says 12/26 (nat. his. 18.59.221), and Columella says 12/23 (De Re Rustica 9.14.12).
The date of 12/25 was selected by Christians because (according to early authors like Dionysus Exiguus & Hippolytus) they believed Jesus was conceived on the same day he died and they thought he died on March 25th, so just count forward nine months.
Christmas trees only go back to the 16th century in eastern Europe. The first mention of Christmas trees is in an Alsace ordinance in 1561. Almost no early pagans thought pine trees were sacred, let alone associated with 12/25. Germanic tribes believed the oak was sacred (Pliny, nat. his. 16.95). Maximus of Tyre said, "The Celts indeed worship Zeus, but they honor Him in the form of a lofty oak" (Dissertation VIII, section 8).
The most likely explanation is they morphed over from paradise trees. Adam and Eve's festival days is 12/24 and used to be honored with an Adam and Eve play. In Europe, in the dead of winter, not a lot of trees are available, so they would get a pine tree and decorate it with fruits and cakes. After the play, they could eat the treats on the tree and the practice probably just morphed into Christmas. We have no record of Christmas trees prior to this time. See "Christmas: A Candid History" by Bruce David Forbes, pp. 48-59; Encyclopedia of Christmas by Tanya Gulevich, pp. 165-171.
Santa Claus can only be traced back to Dutch immigrants in New York in the early 1800s. He came from the Dutch Sinterklaas, also known as St. Nicolas. His feast day was on 12/6 and was moved to 12/25 around this time to help make Christmas a family holiday. Newspapers promoted it and encouraged to give gifts on Christmas instead of New Years' like it traditionally was before this. Sinterklaas was rebranded from a catholic priest to look like a traditional dutchman from that time period, which included a big red suit (A dictionary of English Folklore, section: Santa). After this Santa was exported around the world and different countries added new spins. Stockings were also promoted around this time period and trace back to Clement C. Moor's "A Visit from St. Nicholas.†In 1927, in Finland, a radio broadcaster, Markus Rautio, morphed the old pagan deity, Joulupukki, into a Santa figure. Santa changed the Joulupukki figure, not the other way around.
Father Christmas, surprisingly, pre-dates Santa Claus. But he is not a pagan deity. Instead, he was a medieval personification of Christmas. Richard Smart of Plymtree is the first to write about him, referring to him as Sir Christmas, and his task is to announce the birth of Christ (Oxford Book of Carols, no. 21, 41-3).
Mistletoes do not go back to paganism. The first we hear of using mistletoe as Christmas decorations are in Robert Herrick, "Hesperides poetry collection," (892, 980), and then William Coles mentions it is a decoration in "The Art of Simpling†(1600s). The tradition of kissing under it did not begin until the end of the 18th century in Britain. See "A dictionary of English Folklore," section: Mistletoe.
Yule Logs do not go back to paganism, despite the name. Yule is also an English word to mean "mid-winter period." The first mention of yule logs is in Robert Herrick, "Hesperides poetry collection (number 784)" and he calls it a Christmas log. It wasn't called a yule log until Aubrey's "In the west-riding of Yorkshire on Christmas eve†(1686, p. 134).
St. Francis is credited for the first nativity scene in 1223 AD, Greccio. His followers then promoted the use of them during Christmas (Life of Saint Francis of Assisi - Saint Bonaventure. Chapter 10.7).
There is no evidence anything associated with Christmas goes past these sources I mentioned here, and therefore, there is no evidence Christmas is pagan.
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Noel
NOEL
by J. R. R. Tolkien
by J. R. R. Tolkien
Grim was the world and grey last night:
The moon and stars were fled,
The hall was dark without song or light,
The fires were fallen dead.
The wind in the trees was like to the sea,
And over the mountains’ teeth
It whistled bitter-cold and free,
As a sword leapt from its sheath.
The lord of snows upreared his head;
His mantle long and pale
Upon the bitter blast was spread
And hung o’er hill and dale.
The world was blind,
the boughs were bent,
All ways and paths were wild:
Then the veil of cloud apart was rent,
And here was born a Child.
The ancient dome of heaven sheer
Was pricked with distant light;
A star came shining white and clear
Alone above the night.
In the dale of dark in that hour of birth
One voice on a sudden sang:
Then all the bells in Heaven and Earth
Together at midnight rang.
Mary sang in this world below:
They heard her song arise
O’er mist and over mountain snow
To the walls of Paradise,
And the tongue of many bells was stirred
in Heaven’s towers to ring
When the voice of mortal maid was heard,
That was mother of Heaven’s King.
Glad is the world and fair this night
With stars about its head,
And the hall is filled with laughter and light,
And fires are burning red.
The bells of Paradise now ring
With bells of Christendom,
And Gloria, Gloria we will sing
That God on earth is come.
Grim was the world and grey last night:
The moon and stars were fled,
The hall was dark without song or light,
The fires were fallen dead.
The wind in the trees was like to the sea,
And over the mountains’ teeth
It whistled bitter-cold and free,
As a sword leapt from its sheath.
The lord of snows upreared his head;
His mantle long and pale
Upon the bitter blast was spread
And hung o’er hill and dale.
The world was blind,
the boughs were bent,
All ways and paths were wild:
Then the veil of cloud apart was rent,
And here was born a Child.
The ancient dome of heaven sheer
Was pricked with distant light;
A star came shining white and clear
Alone above the night.
In the dale of dark in that hour of birth
One voice on a sudden sang:
Then all the bells in Heaven and Earth
Together at midnight rang.
Mary sang in this world below:
They heard her song arise
O’er mist and over mountain snow
To the walls of Paradise,
And the tongue of many bells was stirred
in Heaven’s towers to ring
When the voice of mortal maid was heard,
That was mother of Heaven’s King.
Glad is the world and fair this night
With stars about its head,
And the hall is filled with laughter and light,
And fires are burning red.
The bells of Paradise now ring
With bells of Christendom,
And Gloria, Gloria we will sing
That God on earth is come.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
10:25 AM
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Eruptions
Rick Adkisson
I would be curious about how much water vapor didnt reach the stratosphere and got added tonthe troposphere from that eruption and whether that would have any effect?
The initial study I saw had around 39 billion gallons being injected into the stratosphere, but have read that could be off by a factor of 3. Wondering if anyone has seen anything else?
Bjørn K Vottestad adds"
Water vapour heating started to dominate the top-of-the-atmosphere radiative forcing, leading to a net warming of the climate system.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00618-z
Tonga eruption increases chance of temporary surface temperature anomaly above 1.5 °C
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01568-2
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00652-x.pdf
New research suggests 150-million metric tons or almost 40 Trillion gallons of water vapor was injected into the upper-atmosphere. A lot of it is still up there floating around.
Siege in the Southern Stratosphere: Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai Water Vapor Excluded From the 2022 Antarctic Polar Vortex
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2023GL103855
Prior research into the eruption found that Tonga ejected enough water vapor to fill 58,000 Olympic-size swimming pools, and that this prodigious amount of atmospheric moisture could potentially weaken the ozone layer, Live Science previously reported.
In the new study, the scientists also determined that these enormous quantities of water vapor could indeed modify chemical cycles that control stratospheric ozone, "however, detailed studies will be required to quantify the effect on the amount of ozone because other chemical reactions may play a role as well."
https://www.space.com/tonga-eruption-water-vapor-warm-earth?fbclid=IwAR1DqXjr5tmeDOeDYrwCTC2Vr5LWjj-EQnokxCpKmgfdiRYWhvyl0hArBDg
Tonga's eruption injected so much water into Earth’s atmosphere that it could weaken the ozone layer
This excess water, the researchers warned, could have a radiating effect that could warm the atmosphere much as greenhouse gases do. Because the water is likely to stick around longer than other volcanic gases, like sulfur dioxide — which normally fall out of the atmosphere within two to three years — the water's warming effect will likely outlast any cooling effects the gases create.
This means the Tonga explosion will likely be the first eruption on record to cause a warming effect, rather than a cooling effect, on the planet, researchers wrote.
https://www.livescience.com/tonga-eruption-water-vapor
The global warming caused by Hunga-Tonga is significant. The eruption of Hunga-Tonga increased the water vapor mass in the stratosphere by 13%, and it will remain there for many years to come.
https://climaterealism.com/2023/07/the-tonga-underwater-volcano-eruption-may-have-had-a-larger-warming-effect-than-originally-reported/?fbclid=IwAR1enGmqgC46GRO56uXXEMZiD7XOKTsgVEiiN0XKHIDKo1HwxjML4LzRR6s
This eruption could impact climate not through surface cooling due to sulfate aerosols, but rather through surface warming due to the radiative forcing from the excess stratospheric H2O.
In addition to particulate matter, volcanic eruptions can loft large quantities of gases into the stratosphere. Although around 80% of this gas volume can be magmatic H2O (Coffey, 1996; Pinto et al., 1989), up to 90% of the volcanically emitted humidity is usually removed by condensation at the cold point tropopause (Glaze et al., 1997). Considerable amounts of CO2 and SO2 are also often found in volcanic plumes, along with HCl and other trace gases (e.g., Carn et al., 2016). SO2 reacts with H2O and OH to form submicron sulfate aerosols that reflect solar radiation, lowering surface temperature. For example, the radiative influence of the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption "put an end to several years of globally warm surface temperature” (McCormick et al., 1995), illustrating the capacity of volcanic eruptions to substantially alter global climate.
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022GL099381
The 2022 Hunga-Tonga megatsunami: Near-field simulation of a once-in-a-century event
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adf5493
》Within days of the eruption, a team of scientists from NOAA converged on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean with an array of specialized instruments — including one designed by Vömel — to take readings of the eruption’s impact on stratospheric chemistry in the Southern Hemisphere. Among their findings: stratospheric water vapor levels several thousand miles from the site of the eruption were as high as 358 parts per million. That was a staggering increase over the typical level of five parts per million.
Intrigued, Vömel began looking at data from radiosondes launched by nations in the region. One radiosonde that had been launched from Fiji into the volcanic plume less than a day after the eruption found water vapor levels of more than 1,300 parts per million, and radiosondes over eastern Australia showed levels of 2,900 parts per million.
"This was just absolutely mind-blowing,” Vömel said.
https://news.ucar.edu/132867/volcanic-eruption-dramatically-increased-water-vapor-stratosphere
I would be curious about how much water vapor didnt reach the stratosphere and got added tonthe troposphere from that eruption and whether that would have any effect?
The initial study I saw had around 39 billion gallons being injected into the stratosphere, but have read that could be off by a factor of 3. Wondering if anyone has seen anything else?
Bjørn K Vottestad adds"
Water vapour heating started to dominate the top-of-the-atmosphere radiative forcing, leading to a net warming of the climate system.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00618-z
Tonga eruption increases chance of temporary surface temperature anomaly above 1.5 °C
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01568-2
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00652-x.pdf
New research suggests 150-million metric tons or almost 40 Trillion gallons of water vapor was injected into the upper-atmosphere. A lot of it is still up there floating around.
Siege in the Southern Stratosphere: Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai Water Vapor Excluded From the 2022 Antarctic Polar Vortex
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2023GL103855
Prior research into the eruption found that Tonga ejected enough water vapor to fill 58,000 Olympic-size swimming pools, and that this prodigious amount of atmospheric moisture could potentially weaken the ozone layer, Live Science previously reported.
In the new study, the scientists also determined that these enormous quantities of water vapor could indeed modify chemical cycles that control stratospheric ozone, "however, detailed studies will be required to quantify the effect on the amount of ozone because other chemical reactions may play a role as well."
https://www.space.com/tonga-eruption-water-vapor-warm-earth?fbclid=IwAR1DqXjr5tmeDOeDYrwCTC2Vr5LWjj-EQnokxCpKmgfdiRYWhvyl0hArBDg
Tonga's eruption injected so much water into Earth’s atmosphere that it could weaken the ozone layer
This excess water, the researchers warned, could have a radiating effect that could warm the atmosphere much as greenhouse gases do. Because the water is likely to stick around longer than other volcanic gases, like sulfur dioxide — which normally fall out of the atmosphere within two to three years — the water's warming effect will likely outlast any cooling effects the gases create.
This means the Tonga explosion will likely be the first eruption on record to cause a warming effect, rather than a cooling effect, on the planet, researchers wrote.
https://www.livescience.com/tonga-eruption-water-vapor
The global warming caused by Hunga-Tonga is significant. The eruption of Hunga-Tonga increased the water vapor mass in the stratosphere by 13%, and it will remain there for many years to come.
https://climaterealism.com/2023/07/the-tonga-underwater-volcano-eruption-may-have-had-a-larger-warming-effect-than-originally-reported/?fbclid=IwAR1enGmqgC46GRO56uXXEMZiD7XOKTsgVEiiN0XKHIDKo1HwxjML4LzRR6s
This eruption could impact climate not through surface cooling due to sulfate aerosols, but rather through surface warming due to the radiative forcing from the excess stratospheric H2O.
In addition to particulate matter, volcanic eruptions can loft large quantities of gases into the stratosphere. Although around 80% of this gas volume can be magmatic H2O (Coffey, 1996; Pinto et al., 1989), up to 90% of the volcanically emitted humidity is usually removed by condensation at the cold point tropopause (Glaze et al., 1997). Considerable amounts of CO2 and SO2 are also often found in volcanic plumes, along with HCl and other trace gases (e.g., Carn et al., 2016). SO2 reacts with H2O and OH to form submicron sulfate aerosols that reflect solar radiation, lowering surface temperature. For example, the radiative influence of the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption "put an end to several years of globally warm surface temperature” (McCormick et al., 1995), illustrating the capacity of volcanic eruptions to substantially alter global climate.
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022GL099381
The 2022 Hunga-Tonga megatsunami: Near-field simulation of a once-in-a-century event
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adf5493
》Within days of the eruption, a team of scientists from NOAA converged on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean with an array of specialized instruments — including one designed by Vömel — to take readings of the eruption’s impact on stratospheric chemistry in the Southern Hemisphere. Among their findings: stratospheric water vapor levels several thousand miles from the site of the eruption were as high as 358 parts per million. That was a staggering increase over the typical level of five parts per million.
Intrigued, Vömel began looking at data from radiosondes launched by nations in the region. One radiosonde that had been launched from Fiji into the volcanic plume less than a day after the eruption found water vapor levels of more than 1,300 parts per million, and radiosondes over eastern Australia showed levels of 2,900 parts per million.
"This was just absolutely mind-blowing,” Vömel said.
https://news.ucar.edu/132867/volcanic-eruption-dramatically-increased-water-vapor-stratosphere
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Reasons to Dump EV's
Roger Bell
Yet another electric vehicle user who has given up in exasperation. When an electric car stops, it stops dead, nothing works. You can’t even push it off the road. Wife and children at risk on dark country road in horizontal sleet at night - not good for the EV movement! Charging points out of order and maps that are supposed to give charging points across the country which are inaccurate. All in all the whole experience has been a disaster.
Why I’ve pulled the plug on my electric car
thetimes.co.uk
Yet another electric vehicle user who has given up in exasperation. When an electric car stops, it stops dead, nothing works. You can’t even push it off the road. Wife and children at risk on dark country road in horizontal sleet at night - not good for the EV movement! Charging points out of order and maps that are supposed to give charging points across the country which are inaccurate. All in all the whole experience has been a disaster.
Why I’ve pulled the plug on my electric car
thetimes.co.uk
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09:48 AM
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Merry Christmas from the North-Central States Editor
Dana Mathewson
I have been quite quiet for the last year, not posting much, but I want to wish all our readers a wonderful holiday season in spite of what we're going through: inflation being the least of it.
And those of us on this site certainly wish the best to our Jewish readers; we all stand totally with you and ask the Lord to bless and keep you as you endeavor to crush your enemies, wherever and whoever they are! We remember that many years ago the Lord said that He would bless those who blessed Israel, and curse those who cursed Israel; and we haven't forgotten that -- though many people in this country obviously have.
Amen!
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December 24, 2023
Republicans Move to Kick Biden off Ballot
Timothy Birdnow
Republicans are FINALLY starting to figure out how this is done!
Republicans lawmakers are drafting legislation to remove Joe Biden from Ballots in Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania
You cannot be reasonable with the Democrats. Power is all they understand.
Republicans are FINALLY starting to figure out how this is done!
Republicans lawmakers are drafting legislation to remove Joe Biden from Ballots in Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania
You cannot be reasonable with the Democrats. Power is all they understand.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
11:35 AM
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This Holy Eve
The Gospel according to Matthew:
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.†22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuelâ€
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
The Gospel according to Matthew:
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.†22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuelâ€
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
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Duke Investigated as Hazzared to Joe Biden
Timothy Birdnow
So the Secret Service is investigating actor John Schneider for saying Joe Biden should be publicly executed. Note; he did NOT say assassinated but executed. World of difference.
His exact words:
"Mr. President, I believe you are guilty of treason and should be publicly hung. Your son too. Your response is..?"
(The word actually is hanged, not hung. A picture is hung a person is hanged.)
That seems rather tame to me and hardly a threat, but the Secret Service is obliated to look into it regardless.
Schneider defended his statemtnt:
"It’s my position, which I am entitled to have, that some of our nations leaders in Washington have lost their way, and corruption runs rampant, both on our nation’s borders and abroad," he claimed, according to Deadline. "Transparency and accountability must happen in order for our constitutional republic to survive."
This certainly is far less of a threat than what commedian Kathy Griffin did with a fake Donald Trump's severed, bloody head, for instance.
Griffin complained she was "targeted" by Mr. Trump and his "goons" in the Secret Service at the time:
"After the release of the photo in May 2017, in which Griffin holds a bloodied, severed effigy head of Trump, Griffin was investigated by the Secret Service. Nearly two months later, she announced, she had been cleared. But she maintains the investigation's scope was unnecessary –- and that the White House was responsible.
On ABC's "Start Here" podcast, host Brad Mielke asked Griffin if she thought the president personally ordered her to be targeted.
"Of course," she said. "You know how he works."
She did not provide any evidence to support her claim. But, Griffin said, "You know, he has a vendetta against certain people."'
End excerpt.
Griffin had a number of defenders after this hateful incident (an incident she said she regretted but later repeated.) Some of those who defended Griffin were Jim Carey, Ricky Gervais, then Senator Al Franken, Larry King, and others.
I wonder what old Kathy has to say about this incident? Or any of the rest of these creepy crackers, for that matter.
I think the actions of the secret service may be a bit overboard but it is proper to at least investigate a possible threat to the President. I also think any reasonable person would conclude Schneider is guilty of nothing but free speech and a careless anger (his wife had just died and he probably didn't have control of himself, wasn't thinking too clearly.)
But we have come to expect this uneven-handed approach and this unwillingness to allow free speech in any capacity. You can SAY anything you want about the President. It's when your words threaten to become action that there is a problem.
Watch as this becomes a creeping standard and anyone and everyone who says anything even remotely threatening meets with this same treatment.
So the Secret Service is investigating actor John Schneider for saying Joe Biden should be publicly executed. Note; he did NOT say assassinated but executed. World of difference.
His exact words:
"Mr. President, I believe you are guilty of treason and should be publicly hung. Your son too. Your response is..?"
(The word actually is hanged, not hung. A picture is hung a person is hanged.)
That seems rather tame to me and hardly a threat, but the Secret Service is obliated to look into it regardless.
Schneider defended his statemtnt:
"It’s my position, which I am entitled to have, that some of our nations leaders in Washington have lost their way, and corruption runs rampant, both on our nation’s borders and abroad," he claimed, according to Deadline. "Transparency and accountability must happen in order for our constitutional republic to survive."
This certainly is far less of a threat than what commedian Kathy Griffin did with a fake Donald Trump's severed, bloody head, for instance.
Griffin complained she was "targeted" by Mr. Trump and his "goons" in the Secret Service at the time:
"After the release of the photo in May 2017, in which Griffin holds a bloodied, severed effigy head of Trump, Griffin was investigated by the Secret Service. Nearly two months later, she announced, she had been cleared. But she maintains the investigation's scope was unnecessary –- and that the White House was responsible.
On ABC's "Start Here" podcast, host Brad Mielke asked Griffin if she thought the president personally ordered her to be targeted.
"Of course," she said. "You know how he works."
She did not provide any evidence to support her claim. But, Griffin said, "You know, he has a vendetta against certain people."'
End excerpt.
Griffin had a number of defenders after this hateful incident (an incident she said she regretted but later repeated.) Some of those who defended Griffin were Jim Carey, Ricky Gervais, then Senator Al Franken, Larry King, and others.
I wonder what old Kathy has to say about this incident? Or any of the rest of these creepy crackers, for that matter.
I think the actions of the secret service may be a bit overboard but it is proper to at least investigate a possible threat to the President. I also think any reasonable person would conclude Schneider is guilty of nothing but free speech and a careless anger (his wife had just died and he probably didn't have control of himself, wasn't thinking too clearly.)
But we have come to expect this uneven-handed approach and this unwillingness to allow free speech in any capacity. You can SAY anything you want about the President. It's when your words threaten to become action that there is a problem.
Watch as this becomes a creeping standard and anyone and everyone who says anything even remotely threatening meets with this same treatment.
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