I must admit, I have never heard this before. It is cute, and if you have children around, I think they’ll enjoy it too!

How nice of the Saudi King to pardon the young woman who had been repeatedly raped by 7 men. Her crime? Being in a car with a man not a member of her family.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has pardoned a female rape victim who had been sentenced to 200 lashes for being alone with a man at the time of the attack who was not related to her, a Saudi newspaper reported Monday.

The case had sparked international outcry. In a rare criticism of its Mideast ally, the White House had expressed its “astonishment” over the woman’s sentence. Canada called it barbaric.

Saudi Justice Minister Abdullah bin Muhammed al-Sheik told al-Jazirah newspaper that the pardon does not mean the king doubted the country’s judges, but instead acted in the “interests of the people.”

“The king always looks into alleviating the suffering of the citizens when he becomes sure that these verdicts will leave psychological effects on the convicted people, though he is convinced and sure that the verdicts were fair,” al-Jazirah quoted al-Sheik as saying.

The victim in the case, known only as the “Girl of Qatif” after her hometown in eastern Saudi Arabia, was in a car with a high school friend in 2006 when they were attacked and raped by seven men.

She initially was sentenced in November 2006 to several months in prison and 90 lashes for being alone in a car with a man with whom she was neither related nor married, a violation of the kingdom’s strict segregation of the sexes.

The woman, who was 19 at the time of the rape, has said she met the man to retrieve a picture of herself from him because she had recently married.

The court more than doubled the sentence last month to 200 lashes and six months prison in response to her appeal.

This is the right outcome in this case, but how many more rape victims are punished and even killed for being raped in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries?

A year after she announced officially she was running for president Hillary Clinton’s face is showing the strain of travel, lack of rest and just the rigors of such a long race.

Maybe she’s just had a hard day in the cold of Iowa and New Hampshire, but look at how this campaign has affected her. She looks every day of her sixty years and then some.

This is not a political comment, but more of a comment on this unending campaign begun so early by John Edwards and Hillary Clinton.

To be fair, if you look around the mouth and chin area it almost looks like a touched-up photograph of the senator. If it isn’t she is completely exhausted by her schedule.

Today will be a busy day making further preparations for Christmas.

I will be baking cookies with the grandkids and they will be wrapping some beautiful ornaments they made as gifts for our family members.

My favorite things every year are the homemade decorations all the children I have had the pleasure to care for have managed to complete and take home with great pride.

It is so wonderful to hear from the parents of those who will now be graduating from high school or college and hear them say..”Gee, Sue, I went in the attic to get the decorations and guess what I found.” What wonderful memories not only for them but for me.

You all have a wonderful beginning of the week before Christmas. I know I will..even as I clean up that sticky sugar from my kitchen floor!

By the way, if you would like a few tips on Christmas Cookie making, check out this post at Musing Minds. A very simple Royal Icing recipe awaits. (Looks yummy too)

It’s not the Christmas season without Bing Crosby. Enjoy him and David Bowie singing “Peace on Earth” and “Little Drummer Boy” in this duet.

The wreath laying ceremony took place yesterday at Arlington.

It began with an 8:30 a.m. report to duty Saturday at Arlington National Cemetery where we heard Morrill Worcester’s remarks about those we would soon remember and honor with Christmas wreaths.

Much more including many wonderful photographs at The Radio Patriot.

*Original link, Lorie Byrd at Wizbang.

Forty years ago today I was very busy getting ready for my wedding that evening.

Our apartment was all set up for us and I had to finish moving some things into it. I knew where the rings were and I had tried mine on several times, admiring how it looked on my left ring finger.

I had to get my hair done and all the other running around that goes with a wedding day.

Our wedding was to be held in my home church about 12 or 13 miles from where we would be living and we both already lived in that city. I lived at home and Don lived in his frat house.

Guests were arriving, but most were his friends so he got to be the host while I hung around with my maid of honor, chewing my nails.

At the appointed time my maid of honor and her boyfriend loaded me into her car and proceeded to the church where I would meet my grandfather so he could give me away.

I went to the parsonage at the church as the people filed in and had a spy checking to see when Don arrived.

The wedding was set for 7:30 PM and we should have the ceremony over by 8, get our pictures taken and go back to my mother’s house for one reception and to our apartment for another with just our friends.

The groomsmen and the bridesmaids were there on time while I was still in the upstairs of the parsonage. Not a sign of Don. I paced, I got sick, I was worried. I thought I had been stood up at the altar and would have to face all the people in that church to tell them the wedding was off.

Finally, at 7:45 someone, I don’t remember who, told me Don had arrived. I was furious at Don by now.

I managed to walk down the aisle with a smile on my face as I saw his beaming smile looking at me. The first chance I got I whispered, “Where were you?”

The minister was obviously nervous too, as he said, “Repeat after me, I David take this man…” and I gave him an Irish whisper Donald!,woman!

He said his vows and I can remember thinking he was married to me but I wasn’t married to him. Would this marriage work? I loved him, but who knows? I could refuse to take the vows. Then I heard myself take my vows and looking into his eyes as he did mine when he repeated his vows, slipping on his ring as he had slipped on mine and being told I was now a married woman and he could now kiss me. It wasn’t a lingering kiss as we were both too shy.

Then we turned to face the guests and family and were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Donald —.

We walked down the aisle and then came back in later to get the photos done.

He was finally able to tell me why he was late. His best man had decided to take him to dinner at an out of the way expensive restaurant. Finally Don told him it was time to leave so they could get to the church on time, but on the way up, about half-way, the best man told him he had forgotten the rings.

Don thought he was joking and didn’t think much of it until his best man finally convinced him he had forgotten the rings. They went back to get them and that’s what made them late. Remember, there were no cell phones then.

We’ve been together through the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.

I was making a whopping $70 per week and he was working part time until he graduated from college later that month. Our furnished apartment was $60 a month plus heat and utilities.

We had three pregnancies, one ending in miscarriage, a year separation due to the Viet Nam War, although he never served in theater, but was in support in Thailand.

Our oldest child survived a dog attack and our second was born a little over a year after that.

We were dirt poor and we gradually made our way up so we could afford to send our children to college and buy one home, sell it, move to another city for a better job and build this home.

It has not all been sunshine and roses for him because I’m the one with the short fuse, but it has been for me. God gave me the most wonderful man in the world to be my husband, lifemate, lover, friend, father to our children and grandfather to our grandchildren. He has never disappointed me or let me down.

He has less hair now, and we’ve both turned gray. I looked at him one day and wondered when he got old. I suppose he’s done the same with me.

We aren’t quite as fast as we once were and we take a handful of pills in the mornings to keep us going, but we’re still young at heart.

I still remember how he looked that night and how proud he looked when our children were born.

We’ve loved and lost a lot of pets. Our parents are now gone. He has no family left other than us and my family before marriage is down to an aunt and uncle, a sister, a special cousin and several other cousins.

I have since met my father’s family and have gained four new aunts and uncles and nine brothers and sisters.

It’s been quite a ride and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Here’s to you, Honey, and may we have forty more years together.

Josh Groban has become a star in the music business and it is not any wonder why. He has a beautiful, smooth voice which does every song he sings justice.

As much as this particular song reduces me to tears no matter when I hear it, I thought this particular rendition and the accompanying video should be shared.

This is for all the military families who will be missing a loved one this Christmas, and of course for those men and women for whom I have great admiration.

To view the video go here.

Christmas season isn’t Christmas season without hearing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah.

This version is a bit unconventional but cute. Enjoy.

While the Mid-West has been suffering from severe winter storms that have cut off their power, and now the Northeast is getting storms, we in SC are still praying for rain.

This week has had temperatures ranging from the low 70’s to the low 80’s and today we set the all-time record of low water. The old record was 17 inches below what we should have for the year. I don’t know what it is now, but we have been told Thursday would break that record.

The beautiful balsam wreath from Maine sent to me by my aunt is hanging on the door and is turning brown in spots from the heat. It still smells like home though.

The forecasters predict a 70% chance of rain on Saturday, but we’ll just have to see how that works out.

I got a bit excited today when I saw some dark clouds in the sky but nothing came of them.

This is certainly strange weather for a girl who grew up in Maine, but it’s also unusual for here. By now we should have temperatures in the 30’s and 40’s and instead we see people walking around in shorts.

Maybe global warming is hitting just our area of the world.

In searching for Christmas music to post today, I stumbled across a Gospel Choir, Soul Children of Chicago.

While this performance is a bit longer than most, if you do not have the time to devote to their full rendition of Silent Night, please have a listen from just about the three minute mark. I don’t think you will be disappointed either way.

Since we are desperately trying to stay away from politics until the Iowa caucuses unless something big comes up we want to get everyone into the spirit of Christmas.

It’s not about gifts but about The Gift. The gift of God’s Only Begotten Son Whose sole purpose on earth was to shed His holy blood and defeat spiritual death that whosoever will can be saved from that fate.

His greatest pain was not the physical suffering He endured, though that was great, but it was the separation from God the Father. When God turned His back on Him the moment He became sin for us, He cried out, “My God! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken me?”

And then He went to the grave for you and for me. The story doesn’t end there but is just the beginning. He came down off the cross and He was buried and He rose again and He lives today, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, interceding on our behalf.

One day He will return for all of us. Those saints who have already died will have new resurrected bodies reunited with their souls in Heaven where they will remain forever. Those saints still alive will have their bodies transformed into their eternal bodies and will join the others in Heaven, where mansions are being prepared for each of us.

Yes, to some it sounds like a fairy tale but to someone who has seen people die, whether they believed in Him or not, knowing they see beyond this world and one saw fire and smelled smoke I know this is not a fairy tale.

Remember Christ during this holy season. It’s not all about shopping, partying and gift-giving and receiving, for the Greatest Gift was given by God Himself over 2,000 years ago.

Happy belated Birthday to the National Guard:

Guard celebrates 371 years – or 19 generations of lifers
What is a few years younger than the Mayflower Compact (1620); a lot older than the Declaration of Independence (1776) and U.S. Constitution (1787); predates the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps by 139 years; and is 311 years older than the Air Force?

Answer: The National Guard.

Known originally as the militia, the National Guard turns 371 years young Dec. 13.

Thanks to each and every member for their service to the country.

Sometimes, people find themselves in hot water simply for the way they word a memo. That may be exactly what happened to this principal in a New York High School:

Last month, Principal Bennett Lieberman sent off a stern memo to teachers.

“If you are not passing more than 65 percent of your students in a class, then you are not designing your expectations to meet their abilities, and you are setting your students up for failure, which, in turn, limits your success as a professional.”

Was he ordering teachers to dumb down their classes?

The memo continued:

“Most of our students come from the lowest third percentile in academic achievement, have difficult home lives, and struggle with life in general. They DO NOT have a similar upbringing nor a similar school experience to our experiences growing up.”

The School Board is requesting he clarify these statements but in my opinion just about anything he says now will only make the matter worse. Sometimes silence really is golden.

If you missed this post at Captains Quarters yesterday, it is a must read.

HC: We’ve got to enlist the American people the way we did in a previous generation for the Apollo program. As a little girl, I remember being thrilled about that, and feeling there was something I could do. [Shrugs] My fifth-grade teacher said it was to study math and science, but it gave me an idea of actually contributing to my country.
Hillary Clinton was born in 1947. Assuming she started the first grade as a six-year-old as most kids do, she would have been in the fifth grade in 1957-1958. The Mercury program didn’t start until 1961, and Apollo started in 1966. John Kennedy didn’t even make his speech about going to the moon until she was a teenager, not a “little girl”.

The shine appears to be slowly coming off the penny.

*Apologies for posting this piece..I know I mentioned no Clinton pieces until at least after Christmas, but it was too important not to post. Mrs. Clinton seems to have a tendency to not be capable of telling us the truth on even the smallest issues…what would she do as POTUS?*

In a portion of a post by James Lileks, a simple act of kindness..the kind which I think you remember and tell your grandkids:

I don’t remember precisely how the conversation began, or who spoke first, but he said he was going to plug my meter, and I noted that I’d been warned in time, and gosh: that’s nice of you. I mean, when I saw someone about to feed my meter, the brain balked at processing the data and the conclusion, because such random acts of generosity seem absurd to expect, let alone witness. As it turned out: he was a reader of the sites, and recognized the vehicle from the Bleat. Seeing it outside StarTribune HQ, he figured it was mine, saw that I was down to 9 minutes, and wanted to chip in.

Wow. So, Kevin: I meant it when I said that was the nicest thing anyone had offered to do all day. Because it was, and I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be equaled. It wasn’t. It’s not the cost, but the thought, and the idea that someone would fill my meter because he recognized my car and liked the work – well, as the old Ren and Stimpy cartoon said, it filled my heart with blood.

It really does come down to that simple phrase “It’s the thought that counts,” doesn’t it?

Have a terrific weekend all!

As a Republican, I resent the latest remarks by Nancy Pelosi:

“They like this war. They want this war to continue,” Pelosi, D- Calif., told reporters. She expressed frustration over Republicans’ ability to force majority Democrats to yield ground on taxes, spending, energy, war spending and other matters.

“We thought that they shared the view of so many people in our country that we needed a new direction in Iraq,” Pelosi said at her weekly news conference in the Capitol. “But the Republicans have made it very clear that this is not just George Bush’s war. This is the war of the Republicans in Congress.”

This drum has been beaten for so long that I think its hide has probably disintegrated. Frankly, I am sick of this Speaker attempting to paint the Right as some type of war mongers.

She may leave the impression that she is addressing only those in Congress, but for each of those individuals, there are many who voted to send them to Washington.

She bases her statements on polls, no doubt, as that seems to be the way Democrats today govern. Once again, anyone can word any poll to achieve desired results and it seems present day politicians seek the ones which serve their purpose and use them as ammunition against the opposing party.

I was raised and married into the military community and I never heard one person say they “liked war.”

I have watched this President age in office with his concern (whether you believe it or not, the troops do) for those he has sent into harms way. Has each decision been perfect, no, mistakes are made in war but they are corrected by those doing the grunt work not those in cushy chairs in Washington.

Since 2001 this administration and the US military, without much help from Congress (yes they passed legislation such as the Patriot Act, and then ran away from provisions within as soon as it was not politically expedient) has kept this country and its citizens safe from harm.

Mrs. Pelosi attempted to back away from her statements when cornered as has become the norm:

I shouldn’t say they like the war,” she said. “They support the war, the course of action that the president is on.”

“And that was a revelation to me,” she said, “because I thought the American people’s voices were so—and still are—so strong in this regard.”

I am so fed up with the stupidity which spills out of these leaders mouths. Folks, I have NEVER questioned anyones patriotism, but I am getting very close.

We have men and women out there who deal with the possibility of death at the hands of a terrorist on a daily basis so those who consider themself important figures in our government maintain the right to play with their lives and ours.

Grow up Ms. Pelosi. Most of us are not millionaires and will never hold elected office, but we have more common sense than you show with all your trimmings.

Republicans don’t “like war,” at least not in my opinion, but I also believe you cannot support the troops if you do not support their mission. It has been that way throughout history no matter the President who must make the difficult decision to commit our military to conflict.

The least we should be able to ask is that our leaders perform as adults and not some one soundbite, mud slinging individuals. If they cannot, maybe they should step down and let the grown ups take over..that’s assuming there are any left.

In case you haven’t had the opportunity to see the Freedoms Watch Ad, Holiday Thank You To Our Troops I have posted it below.

If you would like to send along a holiday greeting to those far away from home, the organization has made it possible here.

In honor of what would have been his 92nd Birthday, I chose this Christmas piece by Frank Sinatra for your listening pleasure.

While many may wonder what it is like to soar like an eagle, this video shows it is possible.

That is, if you have the nerve.

HT: AJ Strata

What an uplifting pictorial piece posted by Michael Yon.

Welcome Home. Well Done.

I could hear the school teachers saying quietely with their British accents to the soldiers as they marched by, “Good job. Welcome home. Well done. Welcome home. Good job. Welcome home.”

There could be no better gift at Christmas for both these members of the British military or their families than their safe return to their homeland.

Thank you to each and every one of them for their service and, as always, thanks Michael for allowing us to learn through the lens of your camera and well written words, many of the aspects of this long, hard war.

It has been said almost no family in America got away without losing someone during the Viet Nam war.

The name of my family member was Lawrence William Shay, Jr. His name is carved more to the left side of the wall than to the center, meaning he was one of the early ones to die.

The names are not alphabetical, but listed according to the date of death. His name is too high for us to reach to get a tracing of it, unless someone provided a high step-ladder.

In honor of all who were killed in action, missing in action, prisoners of war not accounted for and served and came home we proudly present you with this beautiful song from George Jones:

The Wall is probably the most poignant memorial in Washington DC. People criticized it for its simplicity, but it still brings family and friends, sadness and happy memories.

Thank you, soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines for what you did that got your names on The Wall. We’d rather it was blank, but it moves us when we see it. Sleep well and may you all be in Heaven.