Tag Archives: Christmas

business news

Christmas shopping can be done … with ease

christmas-shopping

I am announcing today that I completed my Christmas shopping with 11 whole days to go before the big day.

Are you proud of me? I hope so, because I’m proud of myself.

I’ve developed over time my own philosophy about the holiday season. It centers on my refusal to let anything about it stress me out.

So often during this time of year, I get the question: Are you ready for Christmas? My answer: I stay ready! I was born ready!

I grow weary of hearing tales of woe from friends, acquaintances and total strangers who say, “Oh, this time of year just stresses me out. I can’t take it! I can’t wait for it to be over.”

Really? Are you kidding? What about it causes the stress? Having to shop for those you love? Baking all those goodies you take to holiday parties?

Good grief! This is my favorite season of the year.

So, today I ventured to Westgate Mall in Amarillo to take care of my shopping needs. I got it done in about three hours. How do I accomplish this? It’s easy, folks.

I write a list of things I need to buy; I plot my course throughout the city. I stop at each location on my list, walk in, make the purchase and then leave for the next stop on my route.

I consider Christmas shopping to be something like a surgical strike. I select my target, hit it, then leave. I’m a Delta Force commando shopper. Boom! In and out! Just like that!

There’s no stress doing it this way. I set my goal, meet it — and then declare victory!

So, my shopping is done! Now I’ll sit back and enjoy the rest of the season. I won’t worry about a thing. This is a joyful time of the year … the frigid Texas Panhandle weather notwithstanding.

***

By the way, I looked for Santa Claus at Westgate Mall, hoping to see him fielding requests from children about what they want for Christmas. I didn’t see him, nor did I see any sign of that nimrod “pastor,” David Grisham, who made a spectacle of himself the other day berating parents and kids, telling ’em Santa ain’t real.

I fear what I might have done had I encountered that clown.

Not to worry. Tonight I’m a satisfied Christmas shopper.

Mission accomplished.

local news, media news, religious news

‘Pastor’ displays anti-Santa exhibitionist traits

lighten bag

David Grisham proclaims himself to be a “pastor.”

His actions are far from pastoral. He ventured to Westgate Mall in Amarillo over the weekend and berated children and their parents over the kids’ desire to sit on Santa Claus’s lap and tell the Jolly Old Man what they want for Christmas.

Grisham has demonstrated this tendency before to thrust himself into the media limelight, whether it’s seeking to burn a Quran at a public park in Amarillo or launching a boycott against another Texas city because voters elected an openly gay mayor.

The good news from this “pastor’s” latest rant, though, is that the kids aren’t buying the garbage he is peddling, which is that Santa ain’t real.

Of course he is in the hearts of the children. How dare this clown seek to tell the kids any differently!

http://www.newschannel10.com/story/34034882/amarillo-families-say-kids-still-believe-despite-grishams-actions

As KFDA NewsChannel 10 reported: “John Bennett was one father who can be seen in the video standing in line with his children to see Santa. He says he was outraged when Grisham began to impose his beliefs onto children. ‘Seeing the looks on my children’s faces of them hurting made me hurt and I wanted to put a stop to it just like the rest of the parents in line did,’ Bennett said.”

Grisham now says he’s getting “death threats” because of his ridiculous ranting at Westgate Mall. I won’t pass judgment on whether he is or isn’t getting such threats — which is something this “pastor” perhaps ought to do regarding the existence of Santa Claus.

Perhaps it might suit Grisham better if he simply affirmed to his Repent Amarillo flock what they already believe, which is that Christmas should be reserved solely for the celebration of Jesus’s birth.

He also ought to cease the ridiculous exhibitionism for which he has become infamous in his hometown.

local news, religious news

No Santa Claus? Are you kidding, ‘pastor’?

To be brutally honest, I hardly ever give this guy a passing thought.

However, he has thrust himself into the news yet again. David Grisham, the Repent Amarillo “pastor” who likes calling attention to himself, has done so in splendid fashion.

He went to Westgate Mall this past Saturday, according to the Dallas Morning News, and berated children waiting to sit on Santa’s lap. Santa Claus “doesn’t exist!” he told the children and their parents.

Really, “pastor”? Not in anyone’s heart? Not in their imagination?

Oh, no. This guy wants Christmas to be strictly, solely, exclusively about celebrating Jesus Christ’s birth. Hasn’t anyone ever informed this fellow that one can do both? I’m going to presume for a moment that when he was a child he got to sit on Santa’s lap and tell the Jolly Old Man what he wanted for Christmas.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2016/12/12/santa-claus-exist-texas-pastor-heckles-children-parents-waiting-meet-santa-mall

As the Morning News article points out, Grisham has paraded himself in front of the media before. He once tried to launch a boycott against the city of Houston because voters there elected an openly gay mayor, Annise Parker; he also sought to burn a Quran, but had the copy of the Islamic holy book taken from him at the last minute at Sam Houston Park in Amarillo by a skateboarder.

No Santa Claus, eh?

xexhibits_online_yesvirginia_g4031-150x150-jpg-pagespeed-ic-qyopkfogcc

Well, now is a good time to bring back the classic essay that dispels for all time the no-Santa farce. Perhaps you’ve heard of the piece that was written by Francis Pharcellus Church. It was published on Sept. 21, 1897 in the New York Sun.

http://www.newseum.org/exhibits/online/yes-virginia/

http://www.newseum.org/exhibits/online/yes-virginia/

 

Take that, “Pastor” Grisham!

Blogger’s Note: I refuse to refer to David Grisham as a pastor without putting quote marks around the word, as in “pastor.” To my way of thinking and to my understanding of the Bible, he is nothing of the sort.

 

Uncategorized

Secular can mix with the holy

bible-Sunlight

I had an interesting conversation this morning with a young friend, who told me about someone with whom she is close who doesn’t allow her children to celebrate Christmas in a secular fashion.

Why? Well, my friend said, this other person and her husband are devout Christians and want to respect the holy nature of the holiday, which is to celebrate the birth of Jesus. She said they believe allowing the children to climb onto Santa’s lap at the mall and ask him for Christmas gifts takes away from the holiday’s spiritual meaning.

Fine, I said. “But I don’t believe there’s any exclusivity involved here,” I added. My friend agreed.

“You can celebrate both,” I said. Again, she agreed.

I’ll add here that I also believe in both the biblical version of the world’s creation and in evolution. Moreover, the Bible tells us that God created humankind through Adam and Eve, who then produced two sons. As far as I can tell, the Old Testament doesn’t specify that he created only Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel — and left it at that.

My friend did add, though, a rather ironic twist to the tale, which is that the family she mentioned celebrates Halloween, allowing the kids to dress up in costume and go scarf up all the candy they can carry.

I’ll add this thought.

The Jesus I’ve read about in the Bible cherished children and wanted nothing but happiness for them. My sense is that he would approve of a Santa Claus-based celebration — as long as Mom and Dad made sure they understood as well the real intent of the holiday. He might even approve of Halloween and, oh yes, the Easter Bunny.

I am now open to any comments you might have on this subject.

Feel free to weigh in.

 

International news, national news, political news

President declares victory … over whom, what?

barack

It’s being reported tonight that President Obama today declared victory as he and his family took off out west on their family Christmas vacation.

I get that he’s anxious to finish his final full year as president on a high note. I question, though, whether there’s a victory yet to declare.

The president held his annual end-of-year press conference touting a few key victories: the Iran nuclear deal, the continuing enrollment of the Affordable Care Act, the recent budget deal worked out by Congress, re-establishing ties with Cuba, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and some other things.

They’ve all produced good signs of progress. But victory?

Not yet.

There’s still that ongoing fight with the Islamic State. He pledged yet again that the United States is hitting ISIL “harder than ever” and vowed to ramp up the pounding that U.S. and allied nations are delivering to the terrorist monsters. That fight is far from over. Indeed, it might never end. It won’t end by the time the current president leaves office and likely won’t end by the time the next one departs the White House.

It all reminds me of the time the late U.S. Sen. George Aiken, R-Vt., once declared that it would be in the best interest of the country to “declare victory” in Vietnam and just go home.

Well, at least don’t have to “go home.” Still, there’s much more work to do before the 44th president hands the White House keys over the 45th.

Enjoy the time with your family, Mr. President. Come on back, though, and get to work.

Oh … and Merry Christmas to you as well.

 

national news

Killers victimized their infant daughter, too

farook and malik

Of all the victims of the latest mass shooting, in San Bernardino, Calif., the most troubling of all well might be a six-month-old girl.

She’s still alive. But she is the daughter of the two people suspected of carrying out the terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured many more.

How does one comprehend the act of taking an infant to her grandparents’ home, leaving her there, and then launching a mission of terror against innocent victims at a social services agency?

What happens now to this little girl? Sure, she’ll be reared by her grandparents. I get that. What is more difficult to get is what will become of her as she comes of age.

Will she ever know of the tragedy that her parents, Tafsheen Malik and Syed Farook, inflicted on the world? Should she know what her parents did?

I’ll let others debate that one. I’m not going there.

A little girl now is left to grow up without a set of parents who presumably loved her, but who felt compelled to commit this horrific act.

Who’s the villain in this tragedy? It’s looking as though Malik was the “radicalized” one, that she persuaded her husband to join her in this jihad against those at the agency who were celebrating at a Christmas party.

But, of course, that does not absolve Farook of anything. They both abandoned their baby girl to take up for some demented cause.

She’s now left to grow up and enter a world that’s been made decidedly less safe and comforting by the two people who broke their solemn pledge to protect her.

This is a singular tragedy that defies logic at every level imaginable.

 

national news

Merry Christmas … and lock ‘n load!

dvydb58athsqyakzf2g8

You may believe this if you wish, or you may disbelieve it. Doesn’t matter much to me.

But, optics matter.

I saw this picture of a Nevada state legislator who had her picture taken with her family … all of whom are armed to the teeth with guns.

Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, a Republican, thought it would be nice to show her support for the Second Amendment by putting this image on Christmas cards.

Honest to goodness, I really don’t have much to add to this, except to invite you to look at the picture and decide whether you believe this is in keeping with the Christmas spirit.

Would Jesus be packing? If they had these kinds of weapons 2,000-plus years ago, my strong hunch is that the Lord himself — the Prince of Peace — wouldn’t be seen with a gun.

But, you know, I’m just speculating.

As a friend of mine back in Beaumont was fond of saying: “My three-word answer is … W. O. W.”

 

national news, political news

Entering the ‘no politics zone,’ more or less

politics_free_zone_classic_white_coffee_mug-r06ea56903c024c82a802c8b987c7d54d_x7jg5_8byvr_324

Bill O’Reilly is fond of telling viewers to his talk show on Fox News that they’re entering the “no spin zone.”

Well, of course he’s wrong. He spins the news to his point of view every single night.

That’s his right to do so.

Accordingly, High Plains Blogger is entering — if only for the holiday season — what I’ll call a “no politics zone.” I’ll be truthful, though, on this point: I might not be totally faithful to that pledge.

My plan is to stay away from the presidential campaign at least through Christmas. I will give it my best possible shot to stay away from it through New Year’s Day. I cannot guarantee success.

Where might I fall short on my no politics pledge? A candidate running for the highest office in the land just might say something so outrageous, so beyond the pale, so ridiculous that I might be compelled to comment.

I’ll resist that temptation with every fiber of my being. I can promise that.

However, this bears repeating because some of my social media contacts didn’t get it the first time I announced this hiatus from politics: I will continue to write snarky comments on my Twitter account, which then will be fed automatically to my Facebook account.

It’s High Plains Blogger that’s taking the break. Got it, y’all?

The blog will continue to provide commentary on issues of the day. There is quite a lot going on out there that has little — if anything — to do with raw politics. My intent is to keep my eyes and ears open.

I am just tired of the sniping, lying, demagoguery, fear-mongering, name-calling, reputation-impugning, mud-slinging and whatever other negative term you want to hang on the nature of this campaign.

I do not expect any of it to cease during the holiday season. I’m just planning at this moment to tune most of it out while I celebrate (a) Thanksgiving and (b) Christmas with my family.

The way I look at it now, a rest from most of that bad political behavior I going to allow me to rest up for when the real campaign gets going after the first of the year.

I’ll need some good karma, though, to help me resist the temptation to weigh in.

I’m asking for it here. My true intention really is to maintain a no politics zone.

Meantime, let’s all enjoy the season that’s upon us.

 

 

 

political news, Uncategorized

Time to suspend politics

political-debate

The business card I have been handing out for some time now talks about High Plains Blogger’s intent, which is to comment on “politics, current events and life experience.”

Well, dear reader, I’ve made a command decision regarding this blog.

I am suspending the “politics” part of this blog’s mission effective on Thanksgiving Day. My intention is to stay out of the political dialogue through Christmas. Heck, I might be inclined to wait until New Year’s Day before re-entering the fray.

Why the change?

I am weary of the anger and the nonsense that’s coming out of the mouths of all the presidential candidates … in both major political parties. What’s more — and this is even more to the point — I am weary of the back-and-forth that has ensued, not just among the candidates but also among their legions of supporters and opponents.

I’ve at times entered the fray with my own commentary, only to be sniped at by those who disagree with me. I don’t mind the disagreement. I’ve merely had it up to here with the anger that such commentary — not just from me — has engendered in partisans on both side of the aisle.

So, High Plains Blogger is going to take a breather from all of that.

Will this blog comment on current events as they occur? Certainly. It will not, though, engage in the political discourse that emanates from those events. And by all means the blog will comment on life experience, both personal and of things the author — that would be me — observes on his journey.

Rest assured on this point: I am not giving up totally on politics cold turkey. I will continue to comment on politics through my Twitter and Facebook feeds.

I do not intend to use this blog as a forum to state my own political bias. The way I figure it, Twitter only gives me 140 characters to make a statement. That’s efficient and doesn’t require too much emotional energy on my part; plus, my tweets are posted automatically to my Facebook feed, so — pow! just like that — I’m able to perform a two-fer.

But I’m also thinking of scaling back significantly the political commentary on those two social media outlets. Nor am I going to argue any point.

So, those of you who spend a lot of time engaging others in political debate and name-calling on social media are welcome to knock yourselves out; I will not join you in that exercise in futility.

Here’s my final thought on all of this.

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for all that we have. I am grateful beyond measure for the many blessings in my life. Christmas? Well, that is the time we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. What more can I say about that?

In keeping with the Christmas spirit, I hereby refuse to be dragged into the emotional gutter by politicians whose mission is to distort the other guys’ world view.

Thanksgiving is almost here. High Plains Blogger will stay in the game for a little while longer.

After that? I’ll see you on the other side.

 

Uncategorized

Christmas can be a quiet time

Christmas isn’t supposed to be this quiet, is it?

I guess it can be if that’s what you prefer.

We’re winding down one of the more quieter sacred holidays of our lives together. The two of us — my wife and I — have had 43 Christmas celebrations. This one in its odd way ranks right up there with one of the more memorable events.

Our house decorations consisted mainly of a few lights outside. We didn’t go all out this year as we’ve done in years past. We cooked a stew all day in the slow cooker. Our son and his girlfriend, and her two daughters, came over for a light meal before they shoved off for an evening of frolic and fun with her parents.

Then we visited my mother-in-law briefly this evening, had a few laughs with her.

Then we came home.

That was it.

End of “celebrating,” such as it was.

These kinds of holidays do us well as we keep advancing in years. I’m sure others have experienced the same winding down of the celebrating on this holy day.

Well, it’s not entirely over just yet. We’ll see more family over the next couple of days. And we’ll have our share of good times and giggles.

On this day, though — Christmas 2014 — our memories will be etched in all the things we didn’t do.

To be honest, it was a very good day.

***

I had taken a vow of non-snarkiness during the holiday. I’m glad I didn’t resort to some harsh criticism during this Christmas holiday.

Tomorrow is another day. I’m not going to make any further guarantees that the contents of this blog will be free of some barbs.

Stay tuned. Keep reading.

If the snark returns to this blog, you’ll know it when you see it.

Until then, have a great rest of the Christmas holiday.