“Mary, Did You Know?” is a Christmas song with lyrics written by Mark Lowry and music written by Buddy Greene.
Mark wrote the words in 1984 “when his pastor asked him to write the program for the living Christmas tree choir presentation. It was while he was working on the project that Mark considered what it would have been like to have been Jesus’ mother”[citation needed]. The music was written by Buddy Greene several years later. Michael English was the first recording artist to record and release ‘Mary did you know” on his debut album aptly titled “Michael English” which was released on January 1st, 1992.
So, we thankfully got a bit of rain – not heavy, but steady sprinkles of rain nonetheless in the last 30 hours and we are so grateful for it –
We decided to stay in, do a home date night of sorts – until I remembered the debates tonight of course…Him, not terribly interested…I think I’ve succeeded in completely jading him – and to think he was the more political – and far politically savvier when we first met…He’s still super-smart and savvy, but rather removed from politics these days – I think like me he’s extremely disappointed that the Democratic party let slip a wonderful opportunity to harness, expand and solidify the excitement generated and all the investments made, and the participation of many previously politically disinterested and politically oblivious folks the Obama candidacy and Presidency succeeded in attracting in 2008 and 2012 – and the superior, smart, all-inclusive, people-focused political structure The Obamas built…
He’s disgusted at not only how all of that effort and hard work has been squandered and thrashed by the DNC, but how fast they’ve returned the party to its pedestrian and short-sighted, crooked business as usual way of doing things…
So, while I’m watching the debates, he goes into his study…But he walks by towards the end and stops to listen as the candidates answer the question about the role of the First Lady…
All he says to me after listening is, ‘…and Mrs Obama would be expected to enthusiastically support and campaign for one of these people on stage if and when they are the party nominee..?’ Tell me why again..?’
Got me thinking…2 of them never even acknowledged her …and the only one that did, not only did so without any speck of warmth or any sense that she was even marginally familiar with the current First Lady…you’d think Mrs Obama was the wife of a GOP president she and the other two hardly knew or approved of, and she was only extending the barest of obligatory acknowledgement…It was almost another subset of that ‘..he’s a Christian…as far as I know..I take him at his word…’ moment…I bet Hillary would have been so much more effusive and generous had she had reason to discuss Donald Trump’s wife…
There was none of the ‘womanly we’re all together in this thing looking out for each other sisterhood’ – especially as part of a ‘sisterhood of only 3 living Democratic First Ladies’ – or even as part of the larger faux-sisterhood they’ve been trying to enroll the rest of us into as they try to get us all ‘excited’ and to muster all the ‘sisterhood’ rah-rah in us to place Hillary in the oval office…Ms Annie condescendingly mentioned ‘Mrs Obama and her ‘nutrition’ work for children’ in passing – conveniently forgetting her successful outreach to, and effort on behalf of veterans and Military families – a demographic past Democratic administrations never really interacted with or had any positive response from… and of course her inspiring work with young girls. They essentially reduced the formidable Princeton and Harvard educated wife of the party’s current leader…the current Democratic President – to little more than rubbish…non-existent rubbish… Listening to them, one would have thought that the First Lady role was been currently occupied by some forgettable, unimpressive, useless, non-entity..
I bet you Republicans would have been infinitely more generous if they had a republican president and first lady sitting in the White House during these debates – and were asked that same question…No way they wouldn’t have taken the opportunity to first acknowledge and compliment the efforts (even when they were always marginal) of the wife of their Republican president – and to proudly take credit for her and for their party – making the argument for how and why their party’s First Ladies are great for America even in their limited and constrained position…before boasting about how great each of they’re own wives would be in that role too…But not us…
Democrats are their own worst enemies… but when it suits their individual purposes, they want us all to get on the bandwagon… As I’ve said again and again, more than anything else, I usually take my cue from how people respond to and treat the first black First Lady…Which is why I was pleasantly surprised, but loved and appreciated so much the incredible respect the reporter in this video covering the POTUS and FLOTUS’ visit to San Bernardino displayed…
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/video/#!/on-air/as-seen-on/President-Departs-San-Bernardino/363018391
NATE SILVER 8:31 PM
Why We’re Watching Iowa More Than New Hampshire
Tonight’s Democratic debate is in New Hampshire — where Bernie Sanders appears to be roughly tied with Hillary Clinton in the polls. But between now and Feb. 1, I’ll probably be paying more attention to Iowa, where Sanders is currently behind.
How come? The first reason is simple: Whatever happens in Iowa will affect the New Hampshire outcome. The polling “bounce” for an Iowa winner in New Hampshire has varied from election to election, but it’s averaged around 7 percentage points, more than the margin currently separating Clinton and Sanders in New Hampshire polls.
There’s another, more subtle reason, too. Iowa is one of the most favorable states in the country for Sanders based on its demographics, with lots of white liberals and college students. It’s maybe not quite as favorable for him as New Hampshire (especially given that Sanders hails from neighboring Vermont), but it’s way more favorable than the vast majority of states to hold primaries and caucuses. So if Sanders can’t win Iowa, there’s no reason to think that he’ll be competitive in more diverse states like Florida and Ohio that vote later.
The good news for Sanders? He’s close enough to Clinton in Iowa — and it’s plenty early enough there — that he could easily win the Hawkeye State.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/live-blog/abc-democratic-debate-presidential-election-2016/?#livepress-update-18817698
https://twitter.com/MMFlint/status/678236101610356736
This is a shame..
Sorry, but we can do so much better than this bunch…it’s still all spitting out obviously crammed and rehearsed stuff…prefaced with ‘I agree with the Secretary, the Governor, the Senator…’ and the audience is still unfairly stacked – thanks Debbie… Ms Annie even gets an applause as she returns late to the podium from a bathroom break..? Or consulting with her slew of expensive advisors…?
For having been Sec of State for 4 years, Ms Annie still sounds memorized and unconvincing and at times, wobbly and unsure…words, ideas, policies that should flow naturally from one who has been a core part of of foreign policy, don’t seem to come out naturally – and those repeated movements – consulting and glancing down at her notes on the sly as she speaks, does her no favors…Can you imagine John Kerry or VP Biden on that stage…? The superior and relaxed exchange of detailed knowledge – no bombast, raised shouting voices, puffed chests, faux-presidential hand and cocked head gestures and theatrics necessary…
But, Oooooohhh…is Martin O’Malley ever in trouble now…how dare he call out our modern day Annie Oakley 2008, now turned Kumbayah Annie, on flip flops and lack of principle…Watch them go after Martin’s skeletons in the next several days…he’ll be punished for having the nerve to not be sufficiently reverent of Annie..drip, drip, drip …suggestion here…innuendo here…indiscretions from the past…rumors here, baby there…(ironically similar to Bill’s indiscretions but on a smaller scale…) Wonder who will be dispatched to do the dirty deed…David Brock..? Ed Rendell..? the annoying chick from NARAL…?
Could we be spared all this faux outrage over Trump…He’s a convenient distraction…I understand that he’s a convenient uniter when applause is sought, but Trump remains the least of our problems…
I like David Muir most of the time, but he shouldn’t be allowed to moderate a debate where his youth, personal biases and fear of losing his job makes him overly deferential to one of the candidates, and tough-acting and childishly snarky with the others…
https://twitter.com/jamilahking/status/677905188489940993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/theonlyadult/status/678296893374509056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/678368820470263808
[facebook url="https://www.facebook.com/MelodyMendezTV/videos/940649852715048/" /]
F A B U L O U S ! ! ! ! !
http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/hand-gestures/hand-clapping-smiley-emoticon.gif
you find the best stuff :)
Hope you’re feeling better SG…I love that in spite of all the discomfort you’ve obviously been in these past several days, you’re still full of good cheer, and have the most infectious of holiday warmth and spirit – and determined to have us all get into the spirit and enjoy it as much as you do…
You’ve succeeded too! I’m all revved up for the holidays even though I have so much work to complete and deadlines to meet before the end of the year…Not even that will dampen my spirits thanks to you and your upbeat and infectious love for the holidays…
Awww Thank you, Eliihass. That makes me happy. I love the Spirit of Christmas, spreading love and good cheer.
Liza, look what I found.
[facebook url="https://www.facebook.com/931WZAK/videos/10153730025681605/" /]
Amazing! Thanks for sharing this, SG2.
Isn’t it awesome?!
OMG, Al Green. I love this, I’ve never heard him sing “Change” before.
I love it but yet the song makes me feel sad.
Yeah, me too.
It’s the “clock kid” all over again: A 12-year-old Sikh boy is the latest victim of racist terrorism paranoia
Imagine that your twelve-year-old son doesn’t come home one day after school. You’re always worried about him because he’s not even a teenager but has already required three open heart surgeries thanks to a congenital condition. He’s not a tough kid but a “goofball,” and you’ve recently moved from San Antonio to Arlington, a suburb of Dallas, Texas, where everything is bigger, including the trouble. Nobody is telling you where he is. Nobody will answer your questions. He’s just…disappeared.
School officials aren’t helping. Neither are the police. Eventually, you discover that he’s being held in a juvenile detention center. He’s born and raised in Texas. An American citizen. A kid.
Why did the Arlington police hold a twelve-year-old boy with a heart condition for three days without alerting his parents? Why did the school principal call the police in the first place?
Because his name is Armaan Singh Sarai, his working-class Indian family is Sikh, and a “bully” at his school accused him of having a bomb in his backpack.
According to a Facebook post by Ginee Haer, who identifies herself as his cousin,
“On Friday, December 11th, 2015, my cousin attended school, like any other normal 12 year old child. A bully in class thought it would be funny to accuse him of having a bomb, and so the principal, without any questioning, interrogation, or notification to his parents, called the police. Worried & frightened at home, his family was concerned as to why he had not reached home right after school. They started calling every police department in the area, only to find out he was sent to a Juvenile facility. They kept him held behind bars for three consecutive days, before finally releasing him on Monday, December 15th.”
Armaan had carried a “power bag” to school, meaning his backpack has a built-in battery charger for a cell phone. Numerous companies sell these bags, which are not cheap but popular enough to be sold out right now in several styles and categories on Amazon. “The student in front of me, who is the one who made the accusation. . . said that [the backpack] looked like a bomb,” [Armaan] Singh said, per a report in the Washington Post. “Then Friday. . . I came back to that period and he was in front of me again and he said ‘I’m going to go tell on you. I’m going to go tell on you and say all this stuff about you. I’m going to go tell on you.’ Singh said he laughed at the other student, who did the same.
But the other student wasn’t joking. He made good on his threat, telling the teacher that Armaan had a bomb. The teacher told the principal, who called the police, which came to school and “grabbed” him. Now at home because he’s been suspended from school, Armaan must wear an ankle monitor as he awaits his court date. Though he is twelve years old, it is currently unclear whether he’ll be tried as a juvenile or an adult, and what charges he will face for the crime of carrying a trendy backpack to school.
http://www.salon.com/2015/12/18/its_the_clock_kid_all_over_again_a_12_year_old_sikh_boy_is_the_latest_victim_of_racist_terrorism_paranoia/
Santa Claus…woooo…is coming straight to the ghetto…
My daughter dropped off donuts and coffee for me this morning. So happy :)
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Lil’ Debbie got scared.
We beat that ass.
Yes, we did. But that was a mighty dumb move on the part of DWS, she’s dumber than I thought.
GEEZY @GRYKING
you were silence over the past 7 years when the bigots called President Obama a dick, arrogant and oh yeah… nigger https://twitter.com/Milbank/status/677911055390146560 …
Chicas, we’re counting down the days to Christmas. They’ve gone so fast.
But, look who is having fun:
http://yoursmiles.org/tsmile/christmas/t07083.gif
Hope you are feeling better, SG2
I’m feeling better. My ear is still swollen but not in as much pain today. I still have to wash it very gently. Otherwise OUCH!
Oh, so that Dutch chocolate ice cream really does have medicinal properties? Good to know. :)
LOL! It makes me feel better. :)
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/678245817736495104
Here we go, folks. Another trial coming our way to seek justice. The tide has got to turn in 2016
JUSTICE PLEASE
https://twitter.com/naijanupe_/status/678229280137076736
Don’t worry. Trump has promised to round up folks in a very nice way. And he said the good ones might be able to come back.
I loathe him.
The whole world must be laughing at us. But he could never have done this without all the FREE mainstream media attention.
Good Morning, Everyone
https://twitter.com/lorealparis/status/677084535062925312/photo/1
*FLATLINES__________________________
This is a phucking shame
……………………
The Corporate Takeover of the Red Cross
Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern, who was hired to revitalize the charity, has cut hundreds of chapters and thousands of employees.
by Justin Elliott, ProPublica
December 14, 2015
WHEN GAIL MCGOVERN WAS PICKED to head the American Red Cross in 2008, the organization was reeling. Her predecessor had been fired after impregnating a subordinate. The charity was running an annual deficit of hundreds of millions of dollars.
A former AT&T executive who had taught marketing at Harvard Business School, McGovern pledged to make the tough choices that would revitalize the Red Cross, which was chartered by Congress to provide aid after disasters. In a speech five years ago, she imagined a bright future, a “revolution” in which there would be “a Red Cross location in every single community.’’
It hasn’t worked out that way.
McGovern and her handpicked team of former AT&T colleagues have presided over a string of previously unreported management blunders that have eroded the charity’s ability to fulfill its core mission of aiding Americans in times of need.
Under McGovern, the Red Cross has slashed its payroll by more than a third, eliminating thousands of jobs and closing hundreds of local chapters. Many veteran volunteers, who do the vital work of responding to local fires and floods have also left, alienated by what many perceive as an increasingly rigid, centralized management structure.
Far from opening offices in every city and town, the Red Cross is stumbling in response to even smaller scale disasters.
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-corporate-takeover-of-the-red-cross
Damn criminal. Change we can believe DESTROYS lives.
https://twitter.com/AlGiordano/status/677986803006095362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Martin O’Malley is too far behind for this to help him. I think he’s just in this for the name recognition next time around.
Agreed. The Democratic Party fell asleep behind the wheel AGAIN, and need a good ass whooping, for offering up the 3 Democratic candidates for POTUS.
The party does not want fresh ideas, younger candidates, they are looking to RECRUIT either. PBO came in with a new wave of energy and purpose, but NOOOO, the party doesn’t want him or what he has injected into this LAME AZZ party.
The Dems want rejects, rehased, recycled folks and the fucking STATUS QUO.
https://twitter.com/jazziz2/status/678072471610925057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Precious!. And the Children shall lead the way.
I have tears in my eyes for their beautiful hearts.
https://twitter.com/FLOTUSnews/status/678032796703703040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/NerdyWonka/status/678000763025551360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/677981587196289024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
How a blond American kid became a huge star in Saudi Arabia
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Say the name Joshua Van Alstine in Saudi Arabia and the response is likely a blank stare.
But mention his Web-born persona, Abu Muteb, and chances are good you’ll get a knowing nod or wry smile for the baby-faced American military brat. He slings Saudi-accented Arabic, wears traditional Gulf robes, mixes comedy and commentary and may be one of the Arab world’s most improbable celebrities.
The Internet age is awash with tales of head-scratching stardom and viral oddities. Yet amid this modern mash-up, Van Alstine is a niche within a niche. He rode a wave of YouTube videos that were not even a blip at the college he attended near Dallas but were monster hits in Saudi Arabia and eventually caught the attention of the kingdom’s rulers.
Then an email arrived in May 2013 from the Saudi leadership asking whether he would consider moving to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital. He accepted.
“This whole thing has been wild. Really crazy,” said Van Alstine, whose videos — some with 1 million-plus views — also landed him on one of the Middle East’s most widely watched television channels. Last week, he was recruited by Qatar state television to help cover the country’s national day celebrations.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/how-a-blond-american-kid-became-a-huge-star-in-saudi-arabia/ar-BBnCme1?li=BBnbfcL&ocid=HPCDHP
Good Morning, Everyone :)
Had to go into work today….busy time for us.
Wishing all of you a wonderful weekend :)
Love the song, SG2 :)
http://i.istockimg.com/file_thumbview_approve/78977995/1/stock-photo-78977995-nativity-silhouette-ornament-with-turquoise-blue-and-green-lights.jpg
Good morning, everyone! Me too. The song touches my heart.