Christmas Open Thread
Merry Christmas TAH! (Wallpapers Craft)
Merry Christmas TAH! Hoping that you received the gifts that you hoped to receive, and that your Christmas food tastes as great as it smells.
I’ll give you the leftover-heating tip from Thanksgiving. If you cannot finish all of the food in one sitting, don’t worry. When you eat the leftovers, simply spray water on them before putting them in the microwave. Once you heat the leftovers, they should taste just like they came out of the oven.
Here’s some music to accompany your meal preparations and feasting:
Cyber City Comix
Category: Open thread
first and merry Christmas
Congrats to 26Limabeans for being “first”!
It’s my first “first”.
Sadly, nothing like my real first “first”.
George Washington’s Christmas celebration, literally the day after he resigned as Commander of the Continental Army, is legendary.
How George Washington Celebrated Christmas
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-george-washington-celebrated-christmas
The author claimed that George Washington wasn’t as religious as people make him. However, based on the author’s description of George Washington’s Christmas celebration, he proved that George Washington was indeed as religious as people made him.
His Christmas celebration is consistent with how a religious/liturgical “octave” is celebrated. The first 8 days of Christmas, December 25 to January 1, are Christmas Octave. Each of those days is celebrated as if they were the first day of Christmas. The other octave is Easter Octave; April 12-19 for next year.
Giving people time off during the sabbaths/holy days is a religious practice. George Washington gave everyone, including slaves, days off during the Christmas celebration. This was done during Sundays and other holy days as well. Everyone, including servants, slaves, and beasts of burden, was given rest from servile work during a holy day.
Merica Christmas.
& don’t shoot your eye out.
Good advice.
https://youtu.be/veMiNQifZcM?t=2
Merry Christmas!
Here’s to Rum in your Egg Nog…and not in your eye!
Merry Christmas ya bahstids!
Merry Christmas to everyone at TAH
Haddy Chrimble and other hearty to one and all.
Merry Christmas one and all.
Under the tree today we have two new sunspots:
https://www.spaceweather.com/
Great news for radio operators but sad news for
the climate change crowd. No Maunder minimum to
scare the kids with but increasing radio
propagation to educate them instead.
And that was just one present!
Thanks for the heads up on the sunspots 26Limabeans. Maybe later I’ll crank up my Drake R7 Shortwave receiver and see whats doing on the 40 meters ham bands and also check out the Utility stations. Ah belay that last, I lose the sound after a minute or two then if I turn it off and then it on, I lose the sound again. Looks like I’ll have to send it a third time since 2008 to a repair Tech in Ohio who used to work for Drake.
They’re already spinning this to sound like the next solar cycles will be stronger. However, a look at graphs of previous solar cycles, leading into the Delton Minimum, to solar cycles 23, 24, and 25, hints that we are on the verge of a grand minimum.
The mainstream media has been getting more and more bizarre when reporting things like this.
Merry Christmas to you all. Any thoughts on this? Had to wait until an appropriate thread was available. https://www.news9.com/story/41489992/navy-names-two-newest-subs-in-honor-of-heroes-lost-at-pearl-harbor?fbclid=IwAR38g5GXSBF4OSBOA53ArO2iMghGA1u-XRF703fnAEsSLFwVb2A3BiNFDeU
I love it.
A fitting reminder.
Bravo Zulu Navy! Its great to have adults back in charge.
Thanks for the link, CK.
No problem Ed. It seems like quite few people on Facebook are against the idea and think the names (Arizona in particular) should be retired because of Pearl Harbor. Here’s one take on the matter taken from the Facebook post I got the link the from.
“I’m old school. Subs are fish, Carriers are Battles (or as the class of carrier goes) Cruisers are cities, Destroyers, Admirals, famous people heroes, etc. Battleships are states.. No more Battle ships? Oh well then.” (I would agree with him if the Virginias where just regular hunter-killer submarines like the Skipjack or Sturgeon class subs which they are not. They pack a lot more punch than that.)
Heh. I learned long ago it’s impossible to make everyone happy- the best I could do was make them equally pissed off.
It is a notable endeavor to equally anger all parties, a dubious skill at which I must modestly confess I have been rather accomplished throughout my long existence.
Or, as one of my old bosses put it, “Poe, you have a real talent for stirring shit up, you know?”
Heh, heh…
Merry Christmas all.
Thank You, CK, for sharing this.
An old man’s thought on this is that it is a fitting tribute and long overdue. Screw the Bah Humbug nitpickers who object.
Shengdan Jie Kuaile and Frohe Weinachten to all…and Mele Kalikimaka as well…
A little gift for the resident Commie…Shove it up your azz…ya seagulled beoytch!
https://trendingviews.co/alexander-vindman-admits-he-made-up-part-of-the-trump-call-summary/?fbclid=IwAR0anxLBtgdeFEufR3QUWr8UHAW0haXVI_dZcTPMErDee2uc24VlEK-c914
*POW!*, right in the kisser!!!
This will reflect poorly on his next OER. His next assignment should be as shitty little jobs officer somewhere unpleasant.
You know they covered this issue back in November on the day of his testimony. And your spin on it is bullshit.
The team provided Trump with talking points about corruption to use during the call.
But Trump never mentioned corruption during the call.
However, he Vidman mentioned corruption as one of the themes of the call in the summary of the call despite the fact that the president failed to actually discuss it.
It should be noted that you can’t have it both ways in saying that the favor Trump was requesting of Ukraine was about corruption and then claim Vidman lied when he said The call included a discussion of corruption.
Of course there is nothing coherent about the framework of beliefs you cultists cling to in order to justify your belief in Trump.
Also….I am not a communist.
Never been a cultist before. Is there some kind of initiation? A secret handshake?
I would assume that a normal person would on this day, refrain from the partisan bigotry for just a moment and remember “peace on Earth, goodwill toward men”.
Boy, was I wrong…
You ARE one walking brainwashed bucket of bullshit!
They did not spin this, they told it like it is. The only spinning that occurred in this equation was what came from Vindman, and from those that support him and the Democrats.
What matters is the transcript of the telephone call. That is what was carried out. What may, or may not have, occurred before that is irrelevant. A reading of the transcript of the telephone call does not support the argument that the Democrats pushed to support impeachment.
If you read the transcript of the telephone call, you would find no evidence of “quid pro quo”. Instead, you would see a request from one Chief Executive an executive branch to another. This involves events that may have been in violation of US law. This is key, violation of US law. The president is in charge of the executive branch of the government, the branch of the government responsible for enforcing the laws. This was well within the scope of his responsibilities.
The “smoking gun evidence”, the transcript of the relevant telephone calls, show that President Trump did not commit the wrong for which he was impeached.
His observation of the actual call is the only thing that matters. He reported that the call went good. What he assumes or claims is irrelevant. Anybody could bear false witness when it suits them fine. This is what many here see with regards to Vindman. Statements by those, who know him, are damning against Vindman.
For many of us here, who served in a leadership capacity in the military, that is not the kind of conduct that we would expect an officer to have. I question the character and integrity of anybody that speaks in positive terms of Vindman’s actions during the impeachment hearings.
This will go to the Senate and, if a full trial is conducted, this will prove disastrous for the Democrats. Facts, not emotion and feelings, will dictate the results. President Trump will be acquitted and the Democrats would be in a worse position.
There is some joy as well as some sadness here at the home front. Tho I am alone and somewhat content I have the Joy of a new great grand daughter being born just before Christmas and she and the rest of the family are together in Texas enjoying the holidays. My other half is in the Philippians to spend time for the holidays and her son’s wedding. The sadness is that Christmas day a Typhoon struck in her area and they have lost power and had a little damage to repair when the rains stop. They are in Taclobin in the Leyte providence, there are also some Vets living in the area.
Prayers up for all concerned there, a retired coworker of mine included.
Outcast:
You are never alone, because you have a Family in the TAH Community.
Prayers to your Family and the Vets who are in the Phillipines.
Well. It’s a nice, quiet day here at Casa OWB. Much revelry to follow later in the day.
All Christmas presents distributed to the appropriate recipients so only face stuffing and comradery left to fulfill the promises of the day. Most exciting part may be a possible purchaser of some vintage automotive parts that are serving no useful purpose here. Seeing them go to a good home would be most excellent.
May the rest of the day be glorious for everyone however it plays out in your neighborhood!
Merry Christmas to all…
How many remember the last scene in the 1968 Classic Clay Animation “Little Drummer Boy?
4 minute video.
After 51 years, it still brings tears to ninja’s eyes.
Merry Christmas To All!
Please say a prayer for the Family of SFC Michael J. Goble who passed away this past Monday from injuries sustained during Combat Operations in Afghanistan.
SFC Goble was a senior intelligence sergeant assigned to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group. This was his third deployment to Afghanistan.
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/12/24/army-identifies-green-beret-killed-in-afghanistan/
https://www.stripes.com/news/army/special-forces-soldier-killed-in-afghanistan-remembered-as-the-definition-of-a-patriot-1.612394
Consider it done
“South Carolina Democrat Apologizes For ‘White Power’ Remarks After Army, Navy Personnel Cleared of Racist Intent”
https://www.foxnews.com/us/south-carolina-state-lawmaker-apologizes-for-white-power-remarks-after-army-navy-personnel-cleared-of-racist-intent
Isn’t that special? And doesn’t it just make you feel all warm and fuzzy???
Bless her heart.
Maybe not so much…
OWB: You Nailed It!
😆😉😎
May the Bluebird of Happiness shit all over her birthday cake!
The Donks sure love to play the race card… and, more often that not, have to walk back their allegations.
The water thing works with two day old pizza too. Spray a small amount of water, wrap in aluminum foil, back in over at 300 for 15 minutes.
I always add a few Italian spices and garlic salt too.
Works with gluten free crusts as well. Which are normally like cardboard.
The ninja family enjoys cold left over pizza, straight from the refrigerator.
We also enjoy cold left over fried chicken.
😉😎
Breakfast of champions. Roll out of your rack, stumble through the empty bud cans on the floor making your way to the barracks beer machine. .50 cents later you have a cold bud to wash down last nights last slice of pizza in the box on the floor. Our Battalion cried when they took the beer machines out of the barracks.
Barracks Beer Machines were the greatest invention know to mankind, it is sad that they are gone.
I believe the removal of the barracks beer machines were directly responsible for the Smoke Bomb Hill Shoppette becoming #1 beer sales nationwide.
May take a bit longer, but I’ve found warming a cast iron pan, drizzling in some olive oil, and gently toasting the left-over pizza slices works very well. Take care not to burn the bottom before the top is warmed through.
What? No capers?
This also works with the microwave. Spraying water on most leftovers heated throughout the year, prior to microwaving, provides for a “freshly baked/broiled” taste.
Oh, and…..
Happy Holidays.
Merry Christmas, Commissar.
We may not agree on issues, but I do know we agree on this: That we live in a wonderful Country with the Freedom and Blessings of enjoying December 25th, no matter what our Faith or Beliefs entail.
Enjoy Today with your Family and Friends.
😊
Amen Brother.
Merry Christmas to you and yours Commissar. We may not always agree, but you keep the adrenaline pumping at times.
Merry Christmas to you and yours Commissar, and to everyone else here at TAH!
Merry Christmas to all!
Mele Kalikimaka from Hawaii folks!
Keep up the good work busting phonies & shit.
Moving back into base housing…looking forward to a 10 minute walk to work.
Meke Kalikimaka back at you, Sarge!
I remembered my first Christmas in Hawaii. Temperature was about 88 degrees. Took some getting used to.
Enjoy Your Day!
Christmas is also warm in the southern hemisphere in many areas.
Our winter solstice happens to be their summer solstice. Their Christmas daylight is among their longest.
Mahalo nui, Sarge!
Merry Christmas to y’all!
Merry Christmas to all. My parents had all the Christmas albums of the day (Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, Johnny Cash…) but my favorites were “The Harry Simone Choir…Little Drummer Boy”, and the John Denver Christmas album.
Peace to all.
3/10/MED/b out.
Dad had collected some LPs of Christmas music from Germany and South America – loved listening to those things, in addition to the usual LPs of the day.
We had many of the Goodyear and Firestone Christmas albums. I still enjoy them.
Merry Christmas to each of you. God bless.
Merry Christmas from the GB Compound.
One of the blessings of being a Texan is we get to meld our cultures in our celebrations. Tamales, glögg from our Norwegian D-i-L, apfelstrudle from the German side, and a ton of other flavors mixed in.
Had all children & grandchildren over for celebrations last night. Even got to do a little caroling for a shut-in neighbor.
A blessed Christmas Day to all you, and may God bless and keep you through 2020.
Merry Christmas from D’s Cantina! We do presents and Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, and in honor of my Jewish father in law, today is spent relaxing, dinner will be the traditional Chinese takeout. Yeah, it’s a little different, but we like it that way! ‘‘Tis the season to be jorry!
@SFC D;
In the FGS today, I commented that we went out for chinks tonite and all their $11.99 combos were raised to $22.00 bucks. I guess they think we are made out of money, and Merry Christmas to everyone out there.
Merry Christmas to all from Casa Whitey! May it be a great day for everyone!
AW1Ed mentioned this in the FGS Thread:
“Special thanks for those who are far away from home, protecting our freedoms. Most of us have been there at one time or another, and understand.”
Thank You, Ed.
Would also like to add a Special Thanks to our First Responders and LEOs who will be working today as well as those working in Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Homeless Shelters, Animal Shelters, Salvation Army, the Red Cross, Churches, Volunteers etc. to take care of those in need.
We tend to think of those deployed far away from home when extending our Christmas thank-you’s and sympathies. But as someone who has pulled Christmas duty more than once, such as charge-of-quarters, as a result of being a bachelor NCO, I can tell you, a quiet orderly room, an empty mess hall or platoon bay, any place in a CONUS barracks, is a lonely place to be on this day of family gathering.
Merry Christmas and my thanks to all so serving out there today.
I was lucky enough to be coming off shift this morning, but wish my brothers and sisters who are working today a safe and Merry Christmas!
I spent some lonely holidays guarding a parking garage in downtown Houston some years ago.
I appreciate all those with holiday duty.
Merry Christmas to all here at TAH!
Wishing a heartfelt safe & blessed holiday for all of you & your families and also for those who are serving this country this day.
And as Red Green would say……………………
“Keep your stick on the ice”. 😉
Loved that show; it was some great Canuckian humor. Merry Christmas to all, even to Squidward.
I have the complete Red Green DVD set and when I ask the Ontario, Toronto and Quebec snowbirds if they ever watched the series, only one I think ever heard of the show and most them don’t say AEH at the end of a sentence. How about the house gutters running along the car roof hooked up to the radiator to make it into a car wash. I think it was their version of the American Redneck.
2013 Air Force Band Flash Mob- I think their best performance.
This is great but it reminded me of something.
If you play an instrument at a professional level in the military, especially the Air Force, you will make E-7 through E-9 in record time.
I would have tried but they had no need for harmonica players.
Should have brought your cow bells, Sparks. More cow bells!
*grin*
If I stay with my talking voice which is baritone and not try and do a second tenor ballad song lead, I won’t drift or go an octive higher which I have a tendency to do. I can do high background notes no problem but this freakin back drip I have messes up my vocal chords and sometimes the voice breaks killing the riff. Western yodels no problemo though. I sometimes can do the high intro on Desiree by the Charts and sometimes the voice cracks. If you listen to the song, you can hear that their is no bridge in the song and when the Charts sang it in the Apollo, they were booed by the audience and awhile later the song was on the charts. Figure that one out. I have to do a little more ear training on those scales.
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all the Fine People of TAH®™!!
From the Bible Project, the first two chapters of the Book of Luke… The birth of Jesus. The outer temple design in the beginning of the video looks like the design given towards the end of the Book of Ezekiel. The Bible Project channel has a cliff note version of the books in the KJV Bible.
December and January are lambing months for a brand of sheep indigenous to Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. Jesus is symbolic of a lamb, so having the shepherds in the scene fits the narrative:
Amen
Here’s ol’ Poe’s Christmas present to my TAH buddies:
http://walterewilliams.com/quotations/arms/
So you can be well armed to defend our right to be well armed in any argument against liberal family members or friends who advance the leftist canard that the Founding Fathers intended for us to have weapons for hunting purposes only.
When I come across their anti-gun canard, I use the “Laws of God/Laws of nature” argument. The Second Amendment states “the right”. This indicates, the way it is worded, that this right preceded the Constitution and the United States. It is a natural right that supersedes both government and constitution. By extension, this natural right cannot be overturned by “mortals”. The quotes in the link go into detail on that argument.
Crazy Christmas fact…
The puritans outlawed Christmas in the Massachusetts bay colony.
So the “war on a Christmas” is arguably a patriotic American tradition for those who regard themselves as originalists🙃
That being said, and because I failed to say it earlier…
Merry Christmas!
This was an anomaly and was not shared throughout the colonies. Even in the Massachusetts area, people celebrated Christmas in private, and they celebrated Christmas in colony areas away from population centers. It was pressure from the mother country that resulted in them backing away from this ban.
This anomaly cannot be used as something to use as “a patriotic thing to do”.
What we consider as “right and wrong”, morally, in the United States is traceable to Scripture. Granted, the founding fathers did not quote Scripture, but their philosophy is tied to what one can read in the Scriptures.
In fact, the right to life, liberty, and property (the pursuit of happiness is tied to capitalism) are traceable to the book of Genesis. Our founding fathers have quotes associated with them that indicate their religious nature.
Army WTF has been showing many pictures of Troops celebrating Christmas deployed. 2 things struck me:
(1) Dang but we have troops deployed in so many places that I never heard of and in places that I had no idea we had a footprint.
(2) Surprised at the infrastructure that has been built up in Iraq and Afghan. There are some CONUS grade facilities depicted. I KNOW, those are REMFs but REMF is a relative term and all of those in-country are deployed from home. I’m glad they are not practicing being miserable and creature comforts exist when possible. I remember a TDY to Long Binh USARV HQS and finding real ICE CREAM!
God Bless them all. Merry (insert appropriate greeting of choice here) to TAH folks.
Just finished Christmas breakfast with my parents. Chicken-fried elk* and venison* steaks in homemade cowboy gravy, with apples, bacon, eggs, and hash browns! Perfect for the weather (cold & rainy), too!
Now on our way to Christmas lunch/dinner with all the cousins.
* My sister’s boyfriend had a very successful season this year, the rat bastard. I missed out on the tag draw completely, not that it would’ve mattered, as days off were cancelled for the entirety of deer season.
If ya ever want to come to Colorado to hunt, gimme a yell, and we’ll make it happen..just did biscuits and gravy here, then a rib roast for dinner… But was with the family, and that’s what matters!
Merry Christmas to all of you here.
Merry Christmas… plus Bing Crosby. (Bonus points if you heard this anywhere 29- 30 APR 75.)
Dang, that’s Nutsi Pelosi… I mean this:
Merry Christmas to all! The kids all made it home safely. Dinner was a pork rib crown roast with sweet potatos, garlic mashed potatos, broccoli casserole, and cranberry sauce. Mmmm-mmm good. Caught up with friends and shipmates around the world. Now it’s time for a long winter nap.
Saw an interesting article relating to Christmas presents. Anybody know why?
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/pentagon-tells-military-personnel-not-use-home-dna-kits-n1106761
And just two days ago I got a reqest from the VA to complete a survey and submit DNA.
They call it the Million Veteran program and
you have to opt out in writing.
I opted out using the wood stove.
Just a few weeks ago I had to tell them in
writing that they may not share my records
with anyone.
I had no idea the VA was part of the NSA.
Here’s the website and more info about the program:
https://www.research.va.gov/mvp/
https://www.research.va.gov/pubs/docs/va_factsheets/mvp.pdf
I don’t have a problem about using info for research and funding new therapies and treatments, but the government has a history of not being able to protect personal info from others.
Merry Late Christmas all
Skippy s minions are keeping me busy
And yes my hair is gray now
BHWHAHAHAHA !!!!
It is still Christmas.
in fact, you could say, “Merry Christmas” all the way to January 5. Then, “Happy Epiphany” from January 6 until January 12. Collectively, the 12 days of Christmas, and the days from Epiphany to the first Sunday after Epiphany, are the official parts of the Christmas season.
Today is the second day of Christmas, a part of the eight days that consists of “Christmas Octave”. Christmas Octave is everyday from December 25 through January 1. Each of these days are celebrated as if they are the first day of Christmas.
A Christmas bonus gift from D’s Cantina.