PUBLIC MARKS from jasontromm with tag family

Don't bother making jokes. This family has heard them all. No, they don't communicate directly with Santa Claus. They don't celebrate the holidays year-round, and they certainly have some not-so-cheerful days. The smirks and the wisecracks are just part of life when your last name is Christmas, and especially so when two of your family members are named no joke Mary.

I'm starting to think that if Jesus Himself came back to earth, there'd be no shortage of people around who would criticize his every move. I guess that's just the way we've become. When I managed to convince the hateful, horrible members of the Westboro Baptist Church to call off their planned "protests" outside the funerals of the little Amish girls in Pennsylvania, I didn't expect to get a ticker tape parade or anything. In fact, I wasn't looking to do anything at all except figure out how to use my radio show to thwart these people from hurting the Amish mourners any further.

Right now John McCain is the front-runner for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination. But everyone expects that a single major competitor will emerge to challenge him from the right. The question hung in the air of this past weekend's Family Research Council summit in Washington: Who will that candidate be for the GOP's powerful social conservative base?

Pfc. John Jodka III, Cpl. Trent D. Thomas, Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, Hospitalman 3rd Class Melson Bacos, Lance Cpl. Tyler A. Jackson, Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington and Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr. are all men who volunteered to serve their country in Iraq. Today, and for the last two months, they are in solitary confinement in the brig at Camp Pendleton, shackled during weekend visits with their family members and frequently deprived of their rights as American citizens as they stand charged with pre-meditated murder of an Iraqi last April. The evidence against them is based largely – if not exclusively – on the word of the family of the dead man, 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Hamdanya.

16-year-old Virginian: 'I'm not going to receive chemotherapy no matter what' The father of a Virginia teen seeking an alternative treatment for his cancer says a social worker has threatened to use force to take the boy away from the family for court-ordered chemotherapy. Jay Cherrix of Chincoteague, Va., is concerned there could be an Elian Gonzalez-style showdown over his 16-year-old son, Abraham, who has already undergone chemotherapy for his Hodgkin's disease to no avail. ()() Here's an idea, why doesn't the teen petition the court to become an emancipated minor. Then he can make his own decitions.

The world has lost a wonderful human being. Harry Browne passed away last night after a long illness. Harry was a joy and inspiration to all who knew him. We offer our condolences to his family, and especially to his wife Pamela. Words cannot express what Harry meant to us.

Americans apparently know more about "The Simpsons" than they do about the First Amendment. Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment (freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances.) But more than half can name at least two members of the cartoon family, according to a survey. :-( I was only able to name 4 of the 5 guarantees in the 1st Amendment. (I left out "petition for redress of grievances.")

Parents want to trust their doctors, but we also need doctors to become more involved in the vaccination process -- a process that, unfortunately, is dominated by the government.

A former graduate student who lost an internship for discussing her Christian faith with co-workers has filed a federal lawsuit. Jacqueline Escobar was completing a master's degree in social work at California State University Long Beach when she interned with the Department of Children and Family Services, or DCFS.

We have frequently noted that the political leanings of mainstream media publications can often be seen by what fails to make it into print. In the case of Jack Abramoff, political bias of the Washington Post is obvious in its articles of January 3 and 4. The first article written by William Branigin, Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi and the article dated January 4 penned by only Schmidt and Grimaldi are littered with the names of Republican officials, aides and family members. The articles indicate all of these individuals are being investigated. However, no mention of a Democrat appears in the text.

Local mayor asks officials to allow 'inappropriate' figures into nativity The mayor of a Memphis suburb today asked the staff of a local library to allow the public display of a full nativity scene after officials had barred figurines representing Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the wise men, saying their presence would be "inappropriate."

Do you know who's watching your children when you aren't there? We do. Find registered sex offenders nearby.

While a small group waved signs and took joy in the death of a U. S. Soldier Wednesday in South Haven, an assortment of veterans and motorcycle groups made sure at least, that the family of the deceased would not be bothered. The protestors, who numbered less than 10, held signs, tore American flags and made hateful remarks aimed at families of soldiers who have died in the line of duty.

Seeking to avoid a threatened subpoena by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Focus on the Family Chairman James Dobson revealed the contents of his private phone conversation with President Bush's chief adviser Karl Rove regarding Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers – details that largely became public later.

Reading isn’t always good for our kids. How’s that for an opening sentence to stir a little controversy among the educational elites?