• Rick Warren Is No Billy Graham
  Last August I wrote a column critical of Rick Warren’s decision to host a presidential candidate forum at his Saddleback Church. My reasoning then was that America’s crisis is moral ambiguity. I argued that Pastor Warren would only contribute to this ambiguity by hosting candidates with opposing views on issues such as abortion and homosexuality and presenting himself as a neutral moderator.
• 10 Ways Personal Branding Can Save You From Getting Fired
  Instead of scaring you with the harsh reality of the economy, I would much rather give you hope and advice on how to tackle it head on! The solution I’m proposing is “personal branding,” which is the process by which we market ourselves to others.
  Some good tips here.  I am already doing some of these things in my current job and it has kept me working through at least one round of layoffs.
  
• Bleeding Heart Tightwads
  This holiday season is a time to examine who’s been naughty and who’s been nice, but I’m unhappy with my findings. The problem is this: We liberals are personally stingy.
  Liberals are always stingy with their own money.  They prefer to spend other people’s money that they confiscate through higher taxes.
  
• The Employee Free Choice Act Is Unconstitutional
  A top priority of the incoming Democratic Congress and Obama administration is the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act. The EFCA, as is well known, introduces a card-check procedure that allows a union to gain recognition without an election by secret ballot.
• Grocery Chain Giant Offers Free Antibiotics
  Grocery retailer Giant, which operates about 160 pharmacies in the mid-Atlantic states, is offering free generic drugs this winter. The company says it knows it will lose money, but says its pharmacists have heard many anecdotes about families struggling.
  I used to work for Giant.  This could be a great thing for them.  It gets people into the store who might buy other things while they’re there.
  

These are the best pictures I took last year based on Flickr’s complicated interestingness algorithm.

1. My Workspace, 2. Art Gallery, 3. What’s wrong with this picture?, 4. Green Tea Chocolate Bars?, 5. Frosty Tux, 6. M24: TASTE, 7. Duetto, 8. M24: GUILT, 9. Standing Strong, 10. Favorite Diversion, 11. Steamed Crabs, 12. Grace, 13. Harrisburg Skyline, 14. They’re here!, 15. Green Still Life, 16. Bumper Politics, 17. Itsa’ Maarioo, 18. After Dinner "Relaxation", 19. Kumquats and Watermelon, 20. Roses, etc., 21. Udder-pedic, 22. Map Your Name’s Frequency Across the Globe, 23. Limited Edition VaderBot, 24. Pink Roses, 25. Jack-O-Lanterns, 26. Sunday Cowmics, 27. Harrisburg Skyline, 28. Frozen Berry, 29. Moon, Clouds and Bats (for iPhone), 30. Moo Blue, 31. Lee Horselogger, 32. Christmoo Cow, 33. Dinosaur, 34. Happy New Year, 35. Shiny and worn out, 36. April Fools

Created with fd’s Flickr Toys.

Rachel had no idea I was taking this picture. (She really doesn’t like having her picture taken.)

These are some professionally done gingerbread houses we saw at the Doubletree Hotel.

• NC store emptied after bullet fired - by escalator
  Christmas shoppers were evacuated from a North Carolina store after a customer dropped several bullets onto a moving escalator and a round went off.
  Idiot! I suspect this guy is one of those people who should never be given a concealed carry permit.
  
• Donors salvage Philly’s Mummers Parade amid cuts
  The Mummers Parade in Philadelphia is a go this New Year’s Day thanks to last-minute financial help from donors. The 108-year-old parade’s funding has been in jeopardy due to the troubled economy. The City of Philadelphia is reducing its support because of looming budget deficits.
  I like watching the Mummers parade.  Glad to see it’s still on for this year. What’s a Mummer?
  
• She’s just a ‘mom who happens to carry a gun’
  Some people have called Meleanie Hain a courageous defender of the Second Amendment. Others have referred to her in online forums as an “idiot” for taking her gun to her 5-year-old daughter’s soccer game in Lebanon in September. Hain said she is “just a mom who happens to carry a gun … everywhere.”

This little guy is my wife’s second cousin. Does that mean he’s my cousin too?

I so rarely post pictures of myself, I just had to post this one.

• Religious tunes banned by school
  A public interest law firm has launched a new attack on what it calls an "anti-Christmas virus" evidenced by a school district that banned even traditional Christmas tunes.
  Too many schools are giving in to pressure from the communists at the ACLU.
• Imagine there’s a heaven
  Imagine there’s a heaven — a place of truth and love.
• Huge water main break traps drivers
  A massive, aging water main ruptured Tuesday and transformed a suburban Washington road into a raging river, trapping nine motorists who had to be rescued from the frigid deluge by emergency workers.
  I was watching this on FOX News and it looked really scary!
• And you call yourself an objective reporter?
  An organization that says its purpose is to expose liberal media bias is having fun with this year’s election press coverage, announcing a lighter look back at some of the worst, most gratuitous and slanted statements of 2008.
  Some of these things are so obviously biased, I can’t figure out why people still trust some MSM outlets.

Where does Santa go after a long day of delivering presents? He goes to his tropical beach house of course.

Rachel and TJ each got an Eagles themed present this year.
Rachel a shirt, TJ a football spud.

TJ got a storm trooper helmet and rifle from Aunt Misty.

• Modern ‘David’ defeats New York ‘Goliath’
  A New York man has won a battle with the New York Department of Transportation over a trailer he parked on his private property along a public highway that was targeted because of its Christian message.
  It’s a Christmas miracle!
  
• Is Santa liberal or conservative?
  If Santa were a liberal, Christmas would be quite different. Instead of coming down chimneys and leaving rewards for honorable children, Santa would take presents if he determined that the fireplace was used to actually burn wood, cut from innocent trees. If he discovered that the Christmas tree was real and not an artificial one, he would skip the house altogether.
• Rockers to Press Obama on Music Torture
  Reprieve, a British human rights law group that represents over 30 Guantanamo Bay detainees, is planning to work with musicians to lobby President-elect Barack Obama to end the practice of sonic torture by military interrogators.
  Had to check my calendar to make sure it wasn’t April 1st instead of December 24th. I thought maybe I’d fallen asleep for 3+ months.
  
• Code Pink embraces shoe-thrower
  Following the lead of Iraqi shoe-thrower Muntazer al-Zaidi, Code Pink on Thursday launched its own protest using footwear. The anti-war group known for disrupting congressional hearings featuring prominent Bush administration officials gathered in Washington Thursday to put hundreds of shoes in front of the White House. The group also hung shoes outside a Marine Corps recruiting station in Berkeley, Calif.

TJ wanted to have some special cookies to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve,
so he decorated them himself.

More pictures in my photostream on Flickr.

• Merry Christmas Billboards
  A group of ladies from Mahoning and Trumbell Counties is on a mission, to try and make sure Christians aren’t afraid to say “Merry Christmas”.
• Sock and Awe
  The Iraqi journalist who tossed his shoes at President George W. Bush missed the commander in chief, but he scored a direct hit on the web zeitgeist. The incident, in which reporter Muntadar al-Zeidi flung his footwear at Bush during a Baghdad press conference Sunday, has turned into a fast-moving internet meme, spawning dozens of games and video mashups.
• It’s Time to Raise the Gas Tax
  Even at its highest, the price of gas in America hasn’t come close to European prices. Governments there have made taxes the keystone of their campaign to cut consumption, promote alternative transportation and go green. It’s time for the United States to do the same.
  The guy who wrote this article is nuckin’ futz! Historically, at least here in Pennsylvania, the higher taxes that are supposed to go to build/maintain roads and bridges have not been used for that purpose. Instead that money is used to subsidize an inefficient public transportation in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh which most of the people paying the taxes don’t use.
• Plane rear-ends big rig
  William Price was driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike roughly 50 miles west of Harrisburg about 1 p.m. Thursday when he felt something hit the back of his tractor-trailer. At first, he thought he’d been clipped by a car or another truck, he said. Then he looked in his rear-view mirror and realized he’d been hit by an airplane.

• Yesterday was election day
  November 4th? That was just the day we voted on the electors. The electors we voted for, the Electoral College, gathered in the 50 state capitols yesterday and elected Barack Obama the next president of the United States. The Associated Press dubbed the vote “a largely ceremonial procedure, but one mandated by the Constitution.” Isn’t that the case these days with just about everything in the Constitution, “largely symbolic”?
• Journalist’s Size 10 Fits Comedians’ Punch Lines
  Comedians can’t seem to get enough of that shoe-throwing incident in Iraq. President Bush was shown over-and-over ducking the shoes thrown by an Iraqi reporter during a Baghdad news conference. David Letterman joked that Bush “hasn’t dodged anything like that since, well, the Vietnam War.” Jay Leno wanted to know where the Secret Service was. He asked, shouldn’t they have “at least jumped in front of the second shoe?”
  First time I saw the video I wondered where the Secret Service was too.
  
• A Tale Of Two Churches
  This is a tale of two American churches. One is in a major city. The other is in a small town. One preaches hatred of America and its institutions. The other preaches love and patriotism. One is infected with a toxic dogma known as Black Liberation Theology. The other espouses the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One was just firebombed. Guess which one.

• Webcam spots wildlife for Wildwood Park’s nature lovers
  Nature-lovers can watch the bird and wildlife residents of Wildwood Park at work and play.
• Caroline Kennedy to seek Clinton’s Senate seat
  A person close to the discussions says Caroline Kennedy will seek the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton. Kennedy has told Democratic Gov. David Paterson she wants the job should Clinton be confirmed as secretary of state for President-elect Barack Obama.
  Just what we need. Another Kennedy in the Senate, not! More liberal hypocrisy seems to be at work here.  The didn’t like the “Bush Dynasty,” but they have no problems with a “Kennedy Dynasty.”
  
• Robert “Bob” Crowley wins Survivor Gabon
  Robert “Bob” Crowley won tonight’s finale of Survivor Gabon, the 17th season of the show. The final three came down to a vote between Bob, Sugar and Suzzie. Robert Crowley (Bob) was one of the older members of the group, and is a high school physics teacher in Gorham, Maine.
  I have so much respect for this guy.  He’s awesome!