Shire Bells

Now this is Christmas music!

I ran across this while perusing Torn.



If you haven't already, take a peek at Kirly in New Zealand on the right sidebar.

And, I've officially expressed my interest in the planned tour for The Hobbit movie too! Nevermind it's not until December 2011; I believe in planning ahead!

hamas whines; Israel PM says "TOUGH!"

Israeli Cabinet rejects French proposal for 48 hour cease fire.

Which is, of course, the right decision. Why stop when you're winning? Hamas has been hit hard and the pounding should continue. Seriously, while the real world consequences are far more significant, this is exactly what you learn to do with a bully by the time you're 5 years old - hit, hit hard, and keep hitting until the bully recognizes that you are not a cowering victim!

And look at this statement from one of the remaining sernior hamas officials...

"The moment that we receive the proposal, we'll look at it," said senior Hamas official Ayman Taha. "We will support a proposal that will bring about a full cessation of attacks, and a full lifting of the siege."

No dumbass! That's what the Israeli's are saying to YOU and your rocket attacks. When the rocket attacks stop, Israel will stop. It really is that simple.

I say,

"Israel! Godspeed to victory!"

And please make it a full victory. I know that others will probably pop up to take the place of hamas, but this course of action shows them what will happen to them and may serve as a deterrent.

UPDATE: PROOF that the Israelis are the most compassionate people on the planet. "Late Saturday, thousands of Gazans received Arabic-language cell-phone messages from the Israeli military, urging them to leave homes where militants might have stashed weapons."

Israel FINALLY strikes back!

And it's about time too! How long would YOU put up with terror, torture, kidnappings, bombings of civilians, sniping of farmers? Think about that. If our southern neighbors were launching rockets along the border, do you think we'd tolerate it for years? H#ll no! We'd put a stop to it immediately. Israel should have as well. Allowing a terrorist to operate unencumbered by real repercussions simply emboldens the terrorist. It's no different than a playground bully - allow it to intimidate you and it'll never stop. Terrorist, of course, come with much greater risk. They must be stopped the FIRST time they act. Waiting only results in far more risk and danger to innocent civilians.

A time to fight

On Friday, a Hamas spokesman made Israel the following proposal: You keep the stream of humanitarian aid and supplies flowing into Gaza and we will keep launching rockets and mortars at Israeli civilians.

It was an offer Israel had little choice but to refuse.

For weeks Israel has been imploring Hamas to stop shooting across the border, to stop tunneling in preparation for the next round of violence, and to allow our farmers to tend their fields. The Islamists responded that they were not afraid of the IDF and that they reserved the right to resist "the occupation" - meaning the existence of a Jewish state. They brazenly told Israel to get used to the idea that no amount of humanitarian gestures would stem their behavior.

At 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Israel finally told Hamas that it would not be bled, slowly, to death. Thanks to excellent intelligence and superb training, a haughty enemy was caught off-guard. Targets up and down the Strip were hit and large numbers of Hamas personnel including senior military figures were killed. Key facilities were turned into rubble; well-camouflaged equipment was destroyed.

In launching "Operation Cast Lead," Defense Minister Ehud Barak, declared, "There is a time for calm and there is a time for fighting, and now is the time for fighting." And Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, flanked by Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, said that Israel had done everything possible to avoid this escalation, but that its entreaties for quiet had been met with disdain.

The IDF's mission is not to bring down the Hamas regime, but to bring quiet to the South. In a sense we are asking Hamas to stop being Hamas. The Islamists need to decide whether they want to go down in flames or are prepared to take on the responsibilities that come with control over the Strip. They may give Israel no choice but to topple their administration.

To their credit, Israeli decision makers are avoiding the kind of bombastic rhetoric all of us came to regret in the course of the Second Lebanon War and its aftermath. Now, what ordinary Israelis demand is that their government deliver, as promised, quiet to the South. We do not expect this operation to be fast or easy. We do expect it to succeed.

Israelis must unite and be vigilant. Regrettably, we've already seen rioting among some east Jerusalem Palestinians. The possibility of disturbances among our Arab citizens cannot be discounted. Hamas rockets may reach targets heretofore thought to be beyond enemy range; their threats to launch suicide attacks must be taken with utmost seriousness. And Diaspora Jews also need be on alert.

On A quiet post-Christmas weekend, the events in Gaza have captured world attention. From an unsympathetic foreign media, we are already hearing complaints that Israel's retaliation is "disproportionate" and a form of "collective punishment." That over 200 Palestinians have been killed compared to only one Israeli leads some journalists to conclude that Israel is inherently in the wrong. One British news anchor wondered why her government had not already demanded that Israel halt its operation. There was a grudging understanding that Hamas uses Palestinian non-combatants as human shields, along with an unreasonable demand that Israel magically find a way not to harm any of them.

The formula for purchasing the affection of those who suffer from moral relativism is sickeningly clear: if one Jew is killed, we get very little piety. If, heaven forbid, an Israeli kindergarten was to take a direct hit - Israel might, temporarily, gain the sympathy of news anchors from Paris to London to Madrid.

At that price we would rather forgo their sympathy.

Nevertheless, we expect our diplomats to work 24/7 to make Israel's case to the international community. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has begun that process. In an English-language address she said, "Enough is enough" - Israel would not continue to absorb rockets, mortars and bullets without retaliating.

At this newspaper, we wonder how an international community that can't bring itself to explicitly support Israel's operation against the most intransigent of Muslim fanatics expects to play a positive role in facilitating peace in this region.

Hamas must be stopped. And the civilized world must help stop it.

Let those who have ears to hear, hear that!

A Red, White, and Blue Christmas

"This year’s theme celebrates the patriotic spirit that unites us as Americans. During this hopeful season we are reminded of the blessings of freedom we enjoy, and we renew our sense of what is important in our lives. Family and friends gather to share old traditions and create new ones. Strangers exchange smiles and tidings of good cheer. Children happily sing along to the songs of the holidays and help bake holiday treats for their loved ones."

- President and Mrs. Bush

This is the way to celebrate Christmas in America! Can you just believe those incredible Ornaments!?? And it's not just one per state! Each state has at least one, of course, but it seems they all have two for the state and one for each congressional district! Even though my own state of Arizona is really one of the smaller states, there are two ornaments for the state and one for each of the eight congressional districts! Check Arizonas 3rd congressional district.

BWAAAAHAHAHAHAH! There are 54 total for CA! Holy cow people! Get out of there before the governator pulls you all into the abyss of state bankruptcy!

Just for perspective, these aren't normal sized ornaments. They're HUGE! I just saw them on HGTV and they must be about four inches in diameter! I just LOVE the tree in Mrs. Bush's office! The Blue Room tree is fabulous - that's the tree on which the state ornaments hang!

Here's a nice video of Mrs. Bush regarding the White House Christmas Tree for 2008 which is from North Carolina.

You can watch the lighting of The National Christmas Tree! This is the entire ceremony though so you might want to skip around to some highlights.

LOL! The latest Barney Cam is too cute! Now, I don't care if you like President Bush and his policies or not, but you have to admit that it takes a man with a great sense of humor to do that vidow. Also, a man who treats dogs well, is usually a good man. Whoa, did Jenna break her arm or something?

Sigh. How I love Christmas and the season in general. I'm really going to miss the Bush sense of what it means to be American. I dread the thought of next what Christmas will look like for the next four years. Oh, wait, the PEBO (President Elect BO) and his family don't celebrate Christmas. Good, maybe I'll be spared the horror.

Rush Limbaugh loves Sarah Palin!

Rush on Barbara Walters: “I Love Sarah Palin"

And here you have the best reason for Sara Palin to keep doing what she is doing. She helped get Saxby Chambliss elected. She was the first to accept the CPAC invitation for next year. She is playing for keeps. If Rush has her back in 2012, the Conservatives will be there too, and she will be tough to beat.

Darn right! When Conservatives run AS CONSERVATIVES with traditional values, they always win!

9 decapitated in Tijuana, Mexico

You read that right, DECAPITATED! Now, just who does that remind you of? hmmm?

You know Tijuana, right? Just a few minutes south of San Diego, CA, USA? 34 murdered there this weekend alone. Bringing the grand total since late September to 360!

34 Dead in Mexico border violence

The border town just minutes from San Diego, California, lost three of its police officers and a 4-year-old boy in the violence.

(UPI) - Mexican authorities say a weekend of gang violence has left 34 people dead in the border town of Tijuana, including three police officers and a 4-year-old boy.

The decapitated bodies of the police officers were found alongside six other beheaded victims in a residential neighborhood, the result of a brutal turf battle between rival drug gangs, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Monday.

At a grocery store in eastern Tijuana Saturday night gunmen shot and killed two boys, one 4 years old and another 13 years old, along with two adults.

Several hours later the 18-year-old nephew of Baja California's tourism secretary was found shot to death inside a vehicle in an upscale neighborhood a few miles east of downtown.

"It's a very difficult situation," said Alberto Capella Ibarra, Tijuana's secretary of public safety during a Sunday morning radio interview.

The weekend deaths bring to 360 the number of people killed in the drug wars since late September. The death toll for all of 2007 was 337.

Lovely neighbors we have there.