CALIFORNIA YANKEE

The digital version of story of the Nativity

The good folks at ExcentricPT show us how the story of the nativity is told using popular social media:

Merry Christmas from Afghanistan

Marines of CAAT 1, WPNS CO, 2nd Battalion 2nd Marines wish us a merry Christmas from Afghanistan.

Here are the lyrics so you can sign along:

"Merry Christmas From Afghanistan"

Merry Christmas from Afghanistan, oh man, it's that time of year,
and the birth of Jesus doesn't seem to please the terrorists down here;
I'd like to take a moment for you folks at home to make it clear;
Merry Christmas from the Eastern Hemisphere.

Merry Christmas from Afghanistan, way back in the USA,
You've got mistletoe and falling snow, we've got sandstorms and grenades
But what the hell, it's just as well we celebrate it anyway,
Merry Christmas from 5,000 miles away.
                               
And I remember many Decembers, sitting 'round that tree,
And now I'm in an outer cordon sitting 'round an IED,
I've traded yams and roasted ham for a chicken noodle MRE,
Merry Christmas from out here in the middle east.

So merry Christmas from Afghanistan, from our AO to yours,
I'll be watching illegal DVDs and defecating out of doors,
Put my pedal to the metal man, I'll settle for that medal of honor when I when the war,
Single-handedly from my armored drivers door.

Yuletide salutations from our vacation in the sand,
from this E-3 Lance Coolie and up the whole chain of command
Between Al Qaeda, Al Jazeera, Mujahadeen, and the Taliban,
It's a very merry Christmas in Afghanistan.

From south Montana, to northwest Indiana, to the shores of North Caroline,
From NYC to LA's beaches and down the Mason-Dixon Line,
It's that season where we're freezing, but all in all, we're doing fine,
So merry Christmas from Afghanistan tonight.
It's that season where we're freezing, but all in all, we're doing fine,
So Merry Christmas down the Final Protection Line!

Christmas in Afghanistan

American troops celebrate Christmas in Kabul, Afghanistan with religious services, Christmas carols and a special meal.

 

Miracle on 22nd Street

This New York Times video report evokes a whole range of emtions as two New York City men feel the spirit of Chrsitmas when they mysteriously receive hundreds of letters addressed to Santa Claus at their apartment.

 

Merry Christmas to America's warriors

A heartfelt Christmas greeting to all the American warriors that ensure we may enjoy our holidays with freedom, peace and liberty here at home. Thank you and Merry Christmas!

 

Merry Christmas

Wishing you and your loved ones a very merry Christmas.

 

Happy Hanukkah

Hanukkah began at sundown and continues for 8 days.

Paul Greenberg explains Hanukkah's heritage of hope. Writing in the Washington Times in December 2003, Greenberg asks what does this eight-day celebration celebrate? His answer, Hanukkah isn’t about ancient military victories, Hanukkah celebrates miracles and hope.

The central metaphor of all religious belief — revealing light — now blots out all the imperial intrigues and internecine warfare. And that may be the greatest miracle of Hanukkah: the transformation of that oldest and darkest of human activities, war, into a feast of illumination.

The historical message changes from age to age. The past we choose to remember may be the best reflection of any present.

But if there is one constant message associated with this holiday, it can be found in the weekly portion of the Prophets chosen to be read on the Jewish Sabbath. And over the centuries, the scripture for the Sabbath of Hanukkah has remained unchanged: Zechariah 4:1-7, with its penultimate verse:

"Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts."

Happy Hanukkah!

Go find a soldier's grave

As we celebrate Memorial Day, I ask you to consider the suggestion of Ralph Kinney Bennett, who in 2006, posted a phenomenal article at TCS Daily about how to make Memorial Day truly memorable. Make this Memorial Day really memorable.

Photo by William D. Moss, courtesy of the Defense Department.

Go and find a soldier's grave.

It shouldn't be too hard. If you're not near a military cemetery, just about any cemetery will do.

Look for the little American flags fluttering by the stones or the little bronze markers placed by the veterans' organizations.

Or walk the rows and look for those stones that impart terse histories of short lives -- "Killed in Action on the Island of Iwo Jima," or "KIA Republic of Viet Nam," or "Iraq 2003."

I know, I know. You do plan to watch that short parade, and the ceremony at the flagpole. But then relatives are going to be over for that big cookout. There's baseball and auto racing on TV, not to mention the "Memorial Day Mattress Event" or the "Memorial Day SUV Salesathon."

Look, just take an hour away from all that. An hour. Go out early in the morning if you have to.

Go and find a soldier's grave.

Put some flowers there. Or just pause and say a prayer. Nothing elaborate. "Thanks" will do.

Or just stop and think about what it means; what it really means to give your life, in its prime, for your country. Look at that name there on the stone. Think what might have been... and what was.

Some of these men and women were in uniform by choice. Some because they had no choice. Some were heroes. Some were not.

But they were there where all hell was breaking loose. They probably had no idea they were giving "the last full measure of devotion." They just had some instant, desperate job to do. In a cockpit or a turret or a hole in the ground.

Did they grasp the "policy implications" of their presence on the high seas, in the air or on some foreign soil? Did they have time for a curse or a prayer when they saw the muzzle flashes or heard that rushing sound, or when the bomb sent the Humvee into the air?

Go and find a soldier's grave.

You can have that hamburger and beer later, and maybe relax in the hammock and not give a thought to that one whose life span is now an incised line in stone -- that one who represented you, like no Congressman could.

Go and find a soldier's grave.

Remember what duty costs.

Then just bow your head and, as Gen. George S. Patton said, do not mourn that such men died, but thank God that such men lived.

How do you plan on celebrating Memorial Day?

Merry Christmas

Happy Hanukkah

Hanukkah began at sundown and continues for 8 days.

Paul Greenberg explains Hanukkah's heritage of hope. Writing in the Washington Times in December 2003, Greenberg asks what does this eight-day celebration celebrate? His answer, Hanukkah isn’t about ancient military victories, Hanukkah celebrates miracles and hope.

The central metaphor of all religious belief — revealing light — now blots out all the imperial intrigues and internecine warfare. And that may be the greatest miracle of Hanukkah: the transformation of that oldest and darkest of human activities, war, into a feast of illumination.

The historical message changes from age to age. The past we choose to remember may be the best reflection of any present.

But if there is one constant message associated with this holiday, it can be found in the weekly portion of the Prophets chosen to be read on the Jewish Sabbath. And over the centuries, the scripture for the Sabbath of Hanukkah has remained unchanged: Zechariah 4:1-7, with its penultimate verse:

"Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts."

Happy Hanukkah!