“Silver Bells” is a classic Christmas song, composed by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans.
“Silver Bells” was first performed by Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell in the motion picture The Lemon Drop Kid, filmed in July–August 1950 and released in March 1951.[1] The first recorded version was by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards, released by Decca Records in October 1950.[2] After the Crosby and Richards recording became popular, Hope and Maxwell were called back in late 1950 to refilm a more elaborate production of the song.
“Silver Bells” started out as the questionable “Tinkle Bells.” Said Evans, “We never thought that tinkle had a double meaning until Jay went home and his [first] wife said, ‘Are you out of your mind? Do you know what the word tinkle is?'” The word is child’s slang for urination.
We are going to have an ice storm tomorrow night….hope it is over by Sunday morning. I want to travel Sunday morning.
Winter Solstice tomorrow :)
Oh good! The forecast is just fine for tonight and for travel tomorrow!
Ladies of 3CHICS,
check the draft posts. I need advice.
done
President Obama doesn’t want to defeat his opponents, he wants to co-opt them
Posted 4 hours ago by Nancy LeTourneau aka-SMARTYPANTS
I’ve always thought that this interview of President Obama with Jeffrey Goldberg on Israel and Iran contained subtexts that help us understand this president’s overall strategy. Particularly revealing is how he talked about his approach with Iran.
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/#!/2013/12/president-obama-doesnt-want-to-defeat.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW343K1-upo
OMG I can’t stop laughing.
Outstanding!
And one of his greatest points is that anybody and I mean ANYBODY (including me) can use his/her own understanding of their religion to support his/her own agenda whether it is a HATEFUL or a LOVING agenda.
I will illustrate this point by quoting what I wrote yesterday on a blog about this Duck Dynasty character whom I described as hateful and ignorant:
QOTD- From Al Giordano
by BooMan
Fri Dec 20th, 2013 at 01:27:51 PM EST
Al Giordano, via Facebook:
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/12/20/132751/80
Meet the Tankards, Bravo’s ‘black Brady Bunch’
by Lilly Workneh | December 20, 2013 at 9:00 AM
A family that prays together, stays together” is the motto by which gospel-jazz artist and motivational speaker Ben Tankard lives by — and these words are put into practice on his reality TV show Thicker than Water.
Tankard and his family, who are self-dubbed the “black Brady Bunch,” have appeared on Bravo every Sunday night since the show’s premiere in October and have lured in viewers with their big personalities, lavish lifestyles and entertaining candid conversations.
But at its core, the family’s foundation is built on their strong belief in Christianity. Tankard and his family rely on their faith to carry them through the trials they face and credit their religious devotion for the success they have, and continue to earn.
Tankard and his wife, Jewel, have spent most of their lives raising their children through great discipline and lessons that are rooted in scripture. Altogether, the couple has six children: Benji, Brittney, Brooklyn Cyrene, Diamond and Shanira – each of whom are now adults and all lived under the same roof.
“It’s a Brady bunch of grown juveniles, they’re grown but not all are gone,” Tankard joked to theGrio. “But it’s fun. The shows airs some of our family issues and drama on raising a houseful of children, who are now all adults.”
Many of the hot-button issues that are raised on the show reflect common banter that takes place in most households. For Ben and Jewel, almost all of the arguments that ignite teach them new lessons in parenting as they learn to adjust and accept the reality of a constantly growing family.
“In the real world, child rearing only begins at 18,” Tankard said. “We have a lot of family meetings and we talk about a lot of things, though doing the show brought us together. It’s forced us to address things we normally sweep under the rug.”
Along with their big personalities, the Tankards are also known for their lavish lifestyles. With a solidified millionaire status, the Tankards have had the luxury of participating and purchasing some of the finer things in life.
And while some have found critique in not being able to align the Tankards’ wealth with their religious beliefs, Ben says he is not concerned for the Bible itself encourages all men and women to be rich.
http://thegrio.com/2013/12/20/meet-the-tankards-bravos-black-brady-bunch/
Who is India Kidding?
Wednesday, December 18, 2013 | Posted by Spandan Chakrabarti at 2:55 PM
India is protesting the United States. Over what? Over the arrest of a deputy consular general that worked at the Indian consulate in New York. Indians – egged on by the Indian government and its political parties – are outraged. No, not over the charges over which the diplomat was arrested, but over the fact that she was cuffed and hauled away. For all the outrage, just what are the charges against Devyani Khobragade, the diplomat?
Prosecutors say Khobragade claimed on visa application documents she paid her Indian housekeeper $4,500 per month but that she actually paid her less than $3 per hour. Khobragade has pleaded not guilty and plans to challenge the arrest on grounds of diplomatic immunity.
As an Indo-American, let me be the first to acknowledge a sad and truly outrageous reality in our community: what is being alleged here is commonplace. Individuals – mostly women – are brought to the United States, paid under the table, and paid much less than the minimum wage. Sometimes it happens to those who are brought here without a visa or whose visa has expired, sometimes to undereducated women who are unable to find other work or access social services and are kept in isolation.
What’s unfortunate is that this type of exploitation of Indian women and other domestic workers (often brought here by employers who are diplomats) in the Untied States, while commonplace, is rather benign neglect when compared to some of the worst kinds of exploits via human trafficking, sexual assault, and exploitation.
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2013/12/who-is-india-kidding.html
Tech Investor Proposes Splitting California, Giving Silicon Valley Its Own State
Catherine Thompson – December 20, 2013, 12:13 PM EST1066
Silicon Valley deserves its own state, according to one wealthy tech investor’s proposal to partition the state of California into six pieces.
Venture capitalist Tim Draper shared his proposal with TechCrunch on Thursday and said he planned to submit a formal ballot proposition to California’s attorney general within 48 hours.
Draper detailed the reasoning behind the “Six Californias” initiative in an email to TechCrunch:
“1. It is about time California was properly represented with Senators in Washington. Now our number of Senators per person will be about average.
2. Competition is good, monopolies are bad. This initiative encourages more competition and less monopolistic power. Like all competitive systems, costs will be lower and service will be better.
3. Each new state can start fresh. From a new crowd sourced state flower to a more relevant constitution.
4. Decisions can be more relevant to the population. The regulations in one new state are not appropriate for another.
5. Individuals can move between states more freely.”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/tech-investor-proposes-splitting-california-in-6-giving-silicon-valley-its-own-state
Can’t Even Talk About It
David Kurtz – December 20, 2013, 8:50 AM EST2853
Dylan Scott has some new reporting today suggesting that key health care industry players are pessimistic about the prospects for Medicaid expansion in the states that initially opted out under Obamacare.
Here’s how one trade group official in a key state candidly put it:
What I’m really struggling with is — I don’t even know how to talk about expanding Medicaid without just pissing Republicans the hell off and making them think I’m part of the problem.
These trade groups are a key part of the coalition of health care advocates pushing for Medicaid expansion. They bring political and economic clout, and undermine the usual GOP-business alliance. But the political environment around Obamacare is so toxic, they just don’t see a way forward on expansion in their states in 2014.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/medicaid-expansion-trade-groups
Powerful photo alert:
“Clara Gantt, the 94-year-old widow of Army Sergeant 1st Class Joseph Gantt weeps as his casket arrived at Los Angeles International Airport early Friday morning. After a tour of duty during World War II, Gantt was captured in the Korean War and was missing for more than 63 years. His remains were only recently identified, providing closure for his family.”
@latimesphotos30m
Remains of missing soldier returns 63 years after he went missing in Korean War http://bit.ly/1i7KjRS pic.twitter.com/E4xVbF6Ins @latpix
https://twitter.com/BuhByeGOP/status/414042487196352514/photo/1
LOL
Laurel Snyder: A Rant On Why You Need Decent Health Insurance
Let’s say you have a family of four, and you need to decide whether to pay for a dental plan, and the plan will cost an extra $150 a month. Does that sound like a lot to you? The plan will cover basic checkups twice a year, or about 85 percent of the cost for them. It will cover 50 percent of major dental work. So… $150 a month is $1800 a year. That’s a lot, yeah. And you still have to pay for some stuff. Ugh. But as a parent I assume you plan to go for visits twice a year, right? Because you know that good dental care is something kids need to develop, right? And modeling that care yourself is the best way to teach them? And you also know that preventative care of your teeth can help with things like heart disease? Now– all you have to do is have one procedure a year among the four of you that costs $600, and your dental coverage has paid for itself. Right? One kid with a cracked tooth. One root canal. Maybe two and a half small fillings on regular teeth. Or an irrigation for gum issues.
http://laurelsnyder.com/?p=2166
Tagging Along On A Wisconsin Man’s Odyssey To Buy Insurance
by Richard Knox
December 12, 2013 4:00 AM
Enrollment is picking up in new health insurance marketplaces. But the 365,000 who’ve signed up as of November 30 is a fraction of just one high-visibility group – those whose previous insurance has been cancelled because it didn’t meet Affordable Care Act standards.
They’re people like Doug Normington, a 58-year-old self-employed videographer in Madison, Wis., who has struggled to buy new insurance since late October.
“Getting the cancellation letter made me feel kind of nervous because my insurance runs out on December 31,” Normington said when I first talk to him on November 1. “I go on the HealthCare.gov website and spin my wheels for a couple of days and it’s just not working.”
Since Normington has diabetes, maintaining coverage is especially important to him.
But like millions of others, Normington ran into a dead end again and again on the federal exchange website. He agreed to let me follow along with his attempts over the phone.
“OK, so I’m at the ‘Get Insurance’ page now,” he says in mid-November, “and I’m going to click … ‘view eligibility results.’ And I hit the same wall here. I get a PDF file that I can’t read.”
The same thing has been happening to him for weeks. So he calls the 800 number on the HealthCare.gov site and gets a woman who says he should make sure he’s installed the latest version of Adobe Reader and is using Google Chrome
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/12/12/250395163/along-for-the-ride-as-diabetic-wis-man-changes-insurance
and just because
http://youtu.be/aJ3PEtkIw1k
Fireman: Ma’am, were you aware that your car was on fire?
[Bernadine nods her head while smoking a cigarette]
Fireman: Ma’am, did you start this fire?
[she puffs smoke and plainly looks at him]
Fireman: You know, it’s against the law to burn anything except trash in your yard.
Bernadine Harris: [flicks off ashes from her cigarette] It is trash.
*************
Where is my Oprah gif? I can’t find it.
Which gif?
THIS ONE?
or this one?
The one where she shakes her hair. I can’t find mine.
Bernadine Bernadine..LOL
http://youtu.be/ZGwV4mrOCJo
Get your ISH…Get your ISH…and Get Out!
I loved how she walked off. Werk it, Bernadine! Werk it!
I’m getting TIRED of your ISH…
LOL You better call Tyrone!!
Whitney Houston Fans:
Amazon has the MP3 of The Bodyguard Soundtrack for $5.
Jim Stuart’s New Blog: Why So Many Cannot See Obama
Why can’t people see this man? Nancy LeTourneau, aka Smartypants, has just completed a three-part blog series very ably addressing this question (Part I, Part II, and Part III). She looks at three “lenses” that cloud the perception of many: The Racial Lens – Few of us are able to acknowledge our Racial Lens; and because we can’t, we endlessly generalize about the strengths and weaknesses of another ethnic group or race. We may even think we really like Blacks, or Asians, or Latinos, but as long as the ethnic character of the individual is what we see first, then we look through a Racial Lens. It’s not a Person we see first; it’s a Black….person. If we can admit to ourselves that we do wear, albeit unconsciously, a Racial Lens, we can then notice what generalizations spring unproven from this lens. The two Nancy points to are competence and luck. Obama is always demonstrating incompetence, or he’s about to. And when a success is achieved, it’s luck.
What I would like to add to Nancy’s outstanding conversation is this: lenses are largely developmental. As we grow and develop, they change. Following the works and model of Ken Wilber, let me posit five developmental levels, each succeeding level representing a higher level of consciousness and awareness: Integral ( the self-transforming self; the mind sees patterns and thinks holistically; many perspectives can be internalized and held in awareness; paradox is seen as something to embrace, to engage – as a gateway to learning and truth. Obama is an integral leader. Large numbers of people at each of the prior levels cannot truly “see” him
http://jimstuartnewblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/why-so-many-cannot-see-obama.html
Well, SG2, your Christmas spirit seems to be infectious. I have dragged out all of my Christmas decorations and set them up, something I haven’t done for a couple of years. I don’t bake though, no way are you going to get me to bake cookies. :)
What? No cookies? I like cookies! :)
Yeah, I know. And the house smells so good when the cookies are baking…
Phil Robertson’s America
The Duck Dynasty star’s warped vision of civil-rights history feeds his warped view of today’s gay-rights struggle.
I’ve yet to take in an episode of Duck Dynasty. I hear it’s a fine show, anchored by a humorous and good-natured family of proud Americans. I try to be good natured, and I have been told that I can appreciate a good joke. I am also a proud American. With so much in common, it seems natural that I take some interest in the views of my brethren on the history of the only country any of us can ever truly call home:
That is Robertson responding to a reporter’s question about life in Louisiana, before the civil-rights movement. I am sure Robertson did see plenty of black people who were singing and happy. And I am also sure that very few black people approached Robertson to complain about “doggone white people.”
One should not be lulled into thinking that the murder of Freddie Moore was out of the ordinary in Louisiana. Between 1882 and 1936, only Georgia, Texas and Mississippi saw more black people lynched. For part of that period four of Louisiana’s parishes led the nation for counties with the most lynchings.
That is because governance in Phil Robertson’s Louisiana was premised on terrorism. As late as 1890, the majority of people in Louisiana were black. As late as 1902, they still lived under threat of slavery through debt peonage and the convict-lease system. Virtually all of them were pilfered of their vote and their tax dollars. Plunder and second slavery were enforced by violence, as when the besiegers of Colfax massacred 50 black freedmen with rifles and cannon and tossed their bodies into a river. Even today the Colfax Massacre is honored in Louisiana as the rightful “end of carpetbag misrule.”
———————————————————————————–
The black people who Phil Robertson knew were warred upon. If they valued their lives, and the lives of their families, the last thing they would have done was voiced a complaint about “white people” to a man like Robertson. Ignorance is no great sin and one can forgive the good-natured white person for not knowing how all that cannibal sausage was truly made. But having been presented with a set of facts, Robertson’s response is to cite “welfare” and “entitlement” as the true culprits.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/12/phil-robertsons-america/282555/
And that’s why A & E should ditch this bitch.
I read this and was appalled as an old white woman. Jon Negroni has a blog on word perfect and excused him for his homophobia and I asked him why he dismissed the racial statements and he said they weren’t brought to light by the NAACP. I wanted to say more, but didn’t. He mentioned he was a minority. I don’t know the guy except for his blog. All I found on google was that he wrote a book on Pixar.
RWNJ think the right to free speech goes only their way. Idjits.
I think Sg2 looks gorgeous. ;) Merry Christmas!
I never heard of “Duck Dynasty” before this story about Phil Robertson. Excellent response here by Ta-nehisi Coates who seems to have his work cut out for him, explaining Black history in America to the revisionists and the uninformed. But I have to say, he has become one hell of a good writer.
Hey 3CP!
I am so proud of my daughter. She did a toy drive to help the needy children in her church. The toy drive was only opened to the people on her job and they gave overwhelmingly. Jonne’ then purchased more toys and gifts out of her own pocket for the older kids so they wouldn’t be left out. She’s a good girl!
this is a blessing.
she was raised right….take a bow, SG2…she got it from home.
Aww…TYVM!
Jonne’s acts of generosity and kindness are a testament to you, her mother.
Toy drives are so important, no child should be left out at Christmas. People seem to really want to contribute to toy drives, but it takes a good organizer. Good job, Jonne.
SHAMEFUL AND DISGUSTING!
Just amazing, and very sad.
Sad indeed, Liza.
I am stunned….what kind of person takes charity food from the needy? Who went hungry that day because of a heartless and selfish person?
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQm-BqHY6OBlJKyQKOkCwindlXqUHEBBc3pY8ingLu44WVKEdAoCA
http://youtu.be/7vX4e353P4g
Good Morning, Everyone :)
I love those J-I-N-G-L-E bells
Those holiday J-I-N-G-L-E bells
Those happy J-I-N-G-L-E B-E, double-L-S
I love those J-I-N-G-L-E bells…
this is Peanut’s new favorite Carol. from the first time I sang it, she got such a kick out of it, she wants me to sing it to her.
I’m with Peanut. She has good taste! I like it too. I also love SheDaisy’s version as well.
Auntie, Rikyrah sings Jingle Bells to lil Peanut. How sweet…
Lets lift up Harry Reid in prayer, 3CP!
Harry Reid Is Hospitalized
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/21/us/politics/harry-reid-health.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0
WASHINGTON — Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, was hospitalized Friday after falling ill in the morning, his office said.
Mr. Reid, who just turned 74, was going to remain in the hospital as a precaution. As a result, he will not be presiding over the Senate’s final day of business this year.
The Senate, which has been going through a tumultuous last two weeks as Republicans and Democrats feuded over nominations and legislation, resolved the stalemate late Thursday night and agreed to finish up on Friday. Senators will return in early January.
Mr. Reid’s spokesman, Adam Jentleson, said the senator’s condition had improved.
“Early this morning, Senator Reid was not feeling well and as a precaution decided to go to the hospital,” he said. “Tests have been conducted and everything is normal. He is alert, resting and feeling better.
It’s all the stress of dealing with all his wicked peers in congress. Sending up prayers to Senator Reid.
In agreement with you.
x3
The little girl in green reminds me of Haley.
Yes!
So precious, our little girs.
President Barack Obama will hold a news conference at 2 p.m. ET today before leaving Washington for Hawaii with his family for the holidays, the White House announced.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/12/19/2864388/elderly-woman-gets-new-home-through.html
http://abcnews.go.com/US/donors-blind-man-hero-dog-saved-subway-track/story?id=21263081
http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/AP_blind_man_subway2_ml_131218_16x9_992.jpg
Good Morning!
Oooh, I love the “Silver Bells” version you have posted, SG2!
I thought I would post this beautiful moving Christmas prayer song again here. I came upon it yesterday…..I had never heard it before yesterday.
Good Morning, Yahtc & Everyone. a beautiful prayer…
Good morning, everyone!
TYSM, Yahtc! Beautiful song.
YW to both of you!
Yes, beautiful!