FairAndUNbalanced.com

 
From Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara:

Can non-Christians celebrate Christmas? Many do, and why not? I’m an atheist and I have no problem celebrating Christmas, even though it has no religious significance for me.

What’s great about Christmas is that it is both a religious holiday, being based upon the birth of the Christian icon Jesus, and a secular holiday as well. That makes it a holiday for everyone.

How can I say that? I am indebted to philosopher Ayn Rand for resolving that seemingly contradictory proposition.

– More –
 

 
From Glenn R. Geist at MadMikesAmerica:

I think the notion that absurdity demands to be chosen over demonstrability stems from the truly ancient idea that reality isn’t real. The world isn’t as we see it and only exists in our minds: shadows in caves, romantic noumena hiding behind the phenomena we see or can comprehend, Yahweh in the burning bush, Enki whispering through the reed fence. And of course, by one measure that may be true. Matter is indeed nearly all empty space and no different from energy. The properties we perceive aren’t really what they seem. The danger in that notion of course is that it’s a powerful tool for those who would delude us.

– More –
 

 
From Jonathan Bernstein:

Had Mattis merely singled out Syria or Afghanistan policy, he might’ve divided Trump’s opponents, some of whom are very much in favor of bringing troops home. Instead, he aligned himself with the broader foreign-policy consensus of those who support NATO and other international arrangements, leaving Trump on the fringes. In historical terms, Mattis is with Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower; Trump is with (at best) Henry Wallace or the Birchers.

It’s not clear that Trump realizes the risks he now faces. He had already been losing influence with congressional Republicans since the midterms, as expected. The more dangerous the world looks to members of Congress from both parties, the better Vice President Mike Pence looks. And Trump has furnished Congress with plenty of excuses to remove him if they otherwise want to; within a few months, it may be hard to avoid the question of impeachment and removal even for those who don’t particularly want to do it.

– More –
 

 
From nojo at Stinque:

Mattis had been part of the Deal, the deal establishment Republicans had made to accept Trump as their leader: They could have everything they wanted, and the grownups would keep him out of trouble. Only now the deal was off, the grownups were gone, and suddenly they were fearing what the rest of us had feared from the start, that an insane, malevolent force was running our country.

But they did not fear for our country. They feared for themselves. But still, they feared.

Their fears are not our fears. They made their deal, they reaped the benefits.

Our fear is that Trump’s weakness has been revealed, his true nature, the complete absence of anything at all in him, and how easily that can be exploited. Our fear is that those who hold power over him haven’t recognized the power they hold, that they are not supplicants, but masters, that he needs them more than they need him.

– More –
 

 
From Rachel Aiello at the Ottawa News Bureau:

OTTAWA — He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake. No, it’s not the head of the country’s spy agency, but another all-knowing Canadian: Santa Claus.

That’s right, according to various government departments and agencies, Good Ol’ Saint Nicholas is a Canadian citizen who lives, and pays taxes here.

– More –
 

 
From North Carolina pastor John Pavlovitz:

Her story was heartbreaking and it was tragic—but it wasn’t at all unusual. The room that night (just like this country) was filled with people like her: Fox News orphans, MAGA family refugees, and Trump-Train widows. I hear their stories dozens of times a day.

They are grown children, turned away by parents.
Siblings driven apart in loud tantrums or in quiet disconnection.
Extended family members relegated to superficial small talk at holiday gatherings.
Spouses feeling a new alienation in one another’s presence.
Neighbors avoiding eye contact across hedges.
Church friends exchanging uncomfortable silences.
They are people forced into isolation, or choosing it out of self-preservation.

– More –
 

 
From David Robertson at The Moderate Voice:

Whatever name he is called by, the Messiah’s birth two millennia ago benefited everyone, including agnostics and atheists.

To understand how, we need to consider the following words of Saul of Tarsus:

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”

Those things aren’t just sentiments. The fruit of the Spirit are put into action to the benefit of society in general.

– More –
 

 
From The Journal of Improbable Research:

Results: Jollity has independent associations with satisfaction with health and income, male gender, younger age, and country of residence. Each one-point increase in satisfaction with health (on a 5-point scale) corresponds to a 0.79-point increase in jollity (23-point scale); each one-point increase in satisfaction with income (4-point scale) corresponds to a 0.76-point increase in jollity. Switzerland is the jolliest country in Europe.

Conclusions: The jolliest European is likely to be a young Swiss male who is satisfied with his income and health. If there is a Santa Claus effect acting to increase jollity, it probably acts not just in Scandinavia but across Mr. Claus’s broad network of contacts and admirers in many countries.

and

I suggest that the ‘‘Santa Claus’’ effect on true jollity is a negative one and that this is unsurprising if one is likely to be accosted by a disturbing character given to using the downright sinister ‘‘Ho! Ho! Ho!’’ as a greeting who plans to enter your home without permission in a most unorthodox way (Davis, 2012).

– More –
 

 
From The Onion:

“If you have a friend who has attempted to pass off objects like a bulky bookshelf or rickety night stand, it could suggest that the person may be headed in the direction of signing a new lease,” said lead researcher Sandra Maiworm, urging Americans to keep an eye out for loved ones suddenly trying to part with their coffee maker or blender, or making seemingly innocuous comments about being unable to attend any block parties after the end of the month.

– More –
 

 
From Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged:

This could look like a situation to play solely for laughs, if we forgot that thousands of migrant children are held in US custody, and the head of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen can’t say how many people have died in DHS custody, even though she should have intuited that this was sort of question she might have been asked in the wake of the death of a seven-year old girl, Jaklin Caal Maquin. The “wall” has become such an item of importance to DHS that they’ve lost their articles over it, because we needs wall, precious, and filthy libses thwarts us!

I have half a notion that if this wears on, instead of caving, Schumer and Pelosi should actually put DACA back on the table. Just give him the original $1.6 billion he originally rejected because he got his ass reddened by the RW talkers, and make a demand regarding how he even gets that much out of Dems. Because Trump’s cards are all on the table. He wants his wall funding and he needs it to make his base happy. (His “art of the deal” is so terribly naked and on display here.)

Dems don’t love a shutdown, but it might be really nice to see Trump’s “My way or the highway” attitude get greeted with “Eat asphalt”.

– More –