As millions and millions of children open presents under festively decorated trees in their living rooms this morning, I think we can finally declare this year’s War on Christmas at an end.
Of course, in an enormous mansion somewhere in this great country, Bill O’Reilly is sitting on a pile of money and already preparing for next year’s War on Christmas. It’ll begin just after Halloween, when the first lights go up on people’s houses and trees. And it’ll end, as every year, when the Christmas holiday is celebrated without a hitch.
Every year, Fox News goes wild with the notion that Christians somehow can’t celebrate their holiday as they choose and, every year, a sizeable group of Christians crowd into shopping malls to sit on Santa’s lap while listening to Christmas carols that are playing on a month-long loop; they buy Christmas presents to unwrap under their Christmas trees on a federal holiday that just so happens to coincide with Christmas … all the while lamenting that someone has wished them “Happy Holidays.”
So, remember what John and Yoko told you:
War (on Christmas) is Over … if you want it.
Wish we could get Bill O’Reilly and Lennon in a room together. That meeting would be a hoot.
That’s a powerful tree!
A 14-foot Christmas tree appears to be crashing through the roof of a one-story house Thursday, Dec. 20 in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood. Homeowner Patrick Kruger created the illusion of the tree crashing through the roof by cutting a 14-foot tree into two pieces and attaching the top six-foot section to a piece of plywood that’s bolted to the roof. According to MyNorthwest.com, Kruger, who is an architect, studied the physics of an object breaking through a roof then added sheathing and typical roof construction materials to create the effect.
Picture: Elaine Thompson / AP
Today in scratching the surface.
Looking for another excuse to leave Instagram, controversy or not? Now’s a good time to try Flickr, which (on top of having a very solid new iOS app) is offering three free months of Pro service to new and existing members, which you can take advantage of over this way.
Celebrate by eating half a day’s worth of calories in a single decadent wedge.
Enjoy photos from Memorial Day celebrations taking place in big cities and small towns across the United States (in case you missed it, check out Obama’s speech from earlier in the day). Happy Memorial Day from everybody here at ShortFormBlog! (Photo Credits (left to right): Ron Cogswell, Kansas Poetry, ISAF Media, Virginia Guard Public Affairs, Secretary of Defense, Deborah Edwards-Onoro, marada, pauls95blazer, Timefortea3)
Gabrielle Giffords has more to be thankful for than most do this year, so how did she celebrate? She handed out food to the troops. Like a boss. We hope this warms your heart. It did ours.
May the light of Christmas shine forth anew in the Land where Jesus was born, and inspire Israelis and Palestinians to strive for a just and peaceful co-existence.Pope Benedict XVI • Expressing hope for the Israel-Palestinian conflict’s resolution during his Christmas Day mass. He suggested the same for Somalia, Darfur and the Ivory Coast. Merry Christmas, bro. You’ve had as tough a year as any of us have had, what with all those scandals you’ve had to deal with lately. source (via • follow)
OK, not to be jerks to you guys, but we think we’ve put in a pretty good year of blogging. And, well, Obama’s in Hawaii, and Hawaii’s gonna be warm but rainy all weekend. In other words, perfect stalking weather. We want to follow the president along with his family and learn the truth … is Obama in fact Muslim? When he goes to open up presents under his palm tree on Christmas day, will there be a star on top of that palm tree? Or a crescent? The Coast Guard is watching out for people like us, but we’re watching out for people like the Coast Guard. Plus, we have hundreds of thousands of dollars to throw around! We can totally pay their $32,000 fine! Plus, Julius is a robot without any feelings! We don’t care if he goes to jail! (But seriously, this is a long way to say that we’ll be taking it easy for a few days, with fewer posts. Because we want to go to Hawaii to stalk Obama. That’s right! See you this weekend, Sasha and Malia!) source
If you were looking for an exact point where political correctness has gone too far, this one probably works. See, NPR’s Nina Totenberg actually apologized for saying the phrase “Christmas party,” as if that’s going to offend people. The only people it will actually offend are the far-righties that will see this as another reason that NPR shouldn’t exist. Bad idea. source