Post by Santa Claus.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
A Different Christmas Poem
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So slumbered I, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Trooper, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment. It's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said, "It's really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
Perhaps a Trooper, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment. It's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said, "It's really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died in Europe on a day in December,"
Then he said,
"That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures. He's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and Blue American Flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother.
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."
A MANUFACTURER FOUND A LOOPHOLE AROUND THAT INCANDESCENT LIGHT BULB BAN
When the federal ban on producing or importing incandescents of varying watts was passed under the Bush administration, Larry Birnbaum, carrying on the three-generation legacy of his family’s New Jersey-based Light Bulb Store, saw an opportunity.
“100 [watts] are as rare as hens teeth, 75s are in the same direction and 60s, this time next year, most will be almost gone,” said Birnbaum, who added his great-grandfather was friends with the incandescent light bulb inventor Thomas Edison.
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Obscene: Dems Abort Veterans' Benefits--Illegal Aliens' Welfare Stays
In what has to be one of the cruelest Christmas season gestures that America’s veteran families could ever expect, U.S. Senate Democrats traded veterans service for illegal immigrant payday. This is exactly what Democrats did when they sided with giving Illegal aliens continued access to welfare payments over giving veterans cost of living benefits to the tune of $6.2 billion dollars.
This was done over the clear protests of many veteran groups as well as Republican Senators like Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions who strongly objected to the immoral veteran benefits cuts, according to Fox News. The fact that this so-called budget remedy was even suggested in the joint agreement arrived at by Congressman Paul Ryan, Chairman of the House Budget Committee, and Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, defies commonsense.
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This was done over the clear protests of many veteran groups as well as Republican Senators like Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions who strongly objected to the immoral veteran benefits cuts, according to Fox News. The fact that this so-called budget remedy was even suggested in the joint agreement arrived at by Congressman Paul Ryan, Chairman of the House Budget Committee, and Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, defies commonsense.
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Report: Healthcare.gov Couldn't Verify Barack Obama's Identity
The reason, Henry said, is that Obama's personal information is not in particular government data bases.
"So healthcare.gov could not actually verify his identity, oddly enough," Henry said.
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Crazy Start To Winter In Maryland, Nationwide
Winter storms that brought everything from balmy temperatures to ice, snow and flooding across the U.S. could leave some people in the dark for Christmas.
Early Monday, about half the 440,000 homes and businesses in Michigan, upstate New York and northern New England without power from weekend storms had electricity. Another 400,000 people in eastern Canada were without lights at the peak.
The outages could linger for some.
More
Early Monday, about half the 440,000 homes and businesses in Michigan, upstate New York and northern New England without power from weekend storms had electricity. Another 400,000 people in eastern Canada were without lights at the peak.
The outages could linger for some.
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Ammo Prices About To Go Up As EPA Forces Industry To Switch To ‘Green’ Ammo
A more expensive copper-based bullets will the only kind of ammo being made in the states as the EPA has banned lead ammunition due to the environment..and there’s not a single iota of performance increase from switching lead out for copper:
FOX NEWS – When the last bullet-producing lead smelter closes its doors on Dec. 31, it will mark a major victory for those who say lead-based ammunition pollutes the environment, but others warn ‘green’ bullets will cost more, drive up copper prices and do little to help conservation.
The bid to ban lead bullets, seen by some as harmful to the environment, started slowly more than a decade ago. But with two dozen states, including California, banning bullets made of the soft, heavy metal, the lead bullet’s epitaph was already being written when the federal government finished it off.
First, the military announced plans to phase out lead bullets by 2018.
Then the federal Environmental Protection Agency, citing emissions, ordered the shutdown of the Doe Run company’s lead smelter in Herculaneum, Mo., by year’s end.
More
FOX NEWS – When the last bullet-producing lead smelter closes its doors on Dec. 31, it will mark a major victory for those who say lead-based ammunition pollutes the environment, but others warn ‘green’ bullets will cost more, drive up copper prices and do little to help conservation.
The bid to ban lead bullets, seen by some as harmful to the environment, started slowly more than a decade ago. But with two dozen states, including California, banning bullets made of the soft, heavy metal, the lead bullet’s epitaph was already being written when the federal government finished it off.
First, the military announced plans to phase out lead bullets by 2018.
Then the federal Environmental Protection Agency, citing emissions, ordered the shutdown of the Doe Run company’s lead smelter in Herculaneum, Mo., by year’s end.
More
A CHART OF SOME OF THE WILDEST CONSPIRACY THEORIES THAT ACTUALLY TURNED OUT TO BE TRUE!
Have you heard about the United States government’s top-secret heart attack gun? Did you know the Federal Bureau of Investigation poisoned alcohol during prohibition? Was the government thinking about developing a super-secret “gay bomb”?
Chances are you’re familiar with at least one of the above questions. If you are, you also probably know that most of what you’ve heard is nonsense.
However, as noted in the following chart from Criminal Justice Degree Hub, a site dedicated to law education, there is a small kernel of truth to be found in many of the more popular conspiracy theories from the 20th century.
More
Chances are you’re familiar with at least one of the above questions. If you are, you also probably know that most of what you’ve heard is nonsense.
However, as noted in the following chart from Criminal Justice Degree Hub, a site dedicated to law education, there is a small kernel of truth to be found in many of the more popular conspiracy theories from the 20th century.
More
A&E Really Wanted To Tell You A Story “Bout A Man Named Jed”
I’ve been learning more, over the past few days, about Duck Dynasty.
This narrative makes a lot of sense:
Duck Dynasty is not the show that they wanted, it is the show that got away from them.
It seems what the producers intended and what A&E envisioned with the show is much different than the show that they ended up with, but they didn’t do anything about it because it was so wildly popular and so wildly profitable. But even with all the money, they have never really been comfortable with what happened.
This is what happened. The whole idea of the show was to parade these nouveau riche Christian hillbillies around so that we could laugh at them. “Look at them,” we were supposed to say. “Look how backward they are! Look what they believe! Can you believe they really live this way and believe this stuff? See how they don’t fit in? HAHAHA”
When the producers saw the way the show was shaping up, different than they envisioned it, they tried to change course. They tried to get the Robertson’s to tone down their Christianity, but to their eternal credit they refused. They tried to add fake cussin’ to the show by inserting bleeps where no cussword was uttered. At best, they wanted to make the Robertson’s look like crass buffoons. At worst they wanted them to look like hypocrites.
They desperately wanted us to laugh at the Robertsons. Instead, we loved them.
More
This narrative makes a lot of sense:
Duck Dynasty is not the show that they wanted, it is the show that got away from them.
It seems what the producers intended and what A&E envisioned with the show is much different than the show that they ended up with, but they didn’t do anything about it because it was so wildly popular and so wildly profitable. But even with all the money, they have never really been comfortable with what happened.
This is what happened. The whole idea of the show was to parade these nouveau riche Christian hillbillies around so that we could laugh at them. “Look at them,” we were supposed to say. “Look how backward they are! Look what they believe! Can you believe they really live this way and believe this stuff? See how they don’t fit in? HAHAHA”
When the producers saw the way the show was shaping up, different than they envisioned it, they tried to change course. They tried to get the Robertson’s to tone down their Christianity, but to their eternal credit they refused. They tried to add fake cussin’ to the show by inserting bleeps where no cussword was uttered. At best, they wanted to make the Robertson’s look like crass buffoons. At worst they wanted them to look like hypocrites.
They desperately wanted us to laugh at the Robertsons. Instead, we loved them.
More
Iran Plans to Launch an Electro-Magnetic Pulse Nuclear War Against the US
The spiritual leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is warning the U.S. to stay out of his country’s business and, in particular, its nuclear program, which is set to resume this week. Speaking on a tour of southeast Iran, Khamenei said the US “deserved a punch in the mouth.”
From where does this brashness come? It comes from Iran’s plans to launch an Electro-Magnetic Pulse Nuclear war against the USA and Europe, crippling the West in the War on terror.
See more
Ask A Veteran About Government Health Insurance
The way benefits are handled by the Department of Veterans Affairs can tell us something about government health care.
Charles Skipper is an American hero. A retired member of the United States Army, he served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. A battlefield injury cut short his tour of duty — a tour which earned him two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, and a lifelong battle with post traumatic stress disorder.
But you wouldn't know that he's a hero by the way he's been treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Six years after filing a disability claim, he's still waiting for resolution. Those years have been filled with paperwork, unfulfilled promises and a bureaucratic mess that makes Charles fight back tears.
Now he has a warning for America: "If you really want to know what Obamacare is going to be like, just look at the VA system."
His experience is not unique. Too many of America's veterans have suffered at the hands of the VA, where the federal government is both the middleman and the manager of their care. Their experiences thus provide a unique window into Obamacare's future.
More
Charles Skipper is an American hero. A retired member of the United States Army, he served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. A battlefield injury cut short his tour of duty — a tour which earned him two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, and a lifelong battle with post traumatic stress disorder.
But you wouldn't know that he's a hero by the way he's been treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Six years after filing a disability claim, he's still waiting for resolution. Those years have been filled with paperwork, unfulfilled promises and a bureaucratic mess that makes Charles fight back tears.
Now he has a warning for America: "If you really want to know what Obamacare is going to be like, just look at the VA system."
His experience is not unique. Too many of America's veterans have suffered at the hands of the VA, where the federal government is both the middleman and the manager of their care. Their experiences thus provide a unique window into Obamacare's future.
More
Chick-Phil-A Day
Holy Cow
When Reddit-user Rachel signed up for an online “Secret Santa” gift exchange, she had no idea who might pick her name. So, she was pretty surprised when she received a personal gift from the one-and-only Bill Gates. Rachel said she ripped open the package marked “To Rachel, From Bill” before realizing exactly which Bill had sent her a travel book and a stuffed cow. She then read the card, which was signed by the billionaire Microsoft co-founder, and included a picture of him holding her present for authenticity. Bill Gates wrote “My Secret Santa present to you is a cow! Don't worry – you will not have to build a barn. This cow will be given to a family in need, in your name, through Heifer International.” Rachel posted on Reddit that she was happy that a donation to charity was made in her name. She said, “I was so excited, the cause seemed really worthy and amazing, and it is the season of giving,” and she thanked Bill for the thoughtful gift. She also included an apology about the list of gift suggestions she posted for her Secret Santa. She wrote, “Sorry for the Apple iPad on my wish-list...that was really awkward.”
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