Retailers Miss Christmas Delivery Deadlines Amid Surge of Online Shopping

I saw initial reports on this yesterday, and now here's WSJ, "Late Surge in Web Buying Blindsides UPS, RetailersSome Christmas Packages Aren't Delivered."

Via Robert Stacy McCain, who's got a recommendation for Thomas Sowell, The Vision of the Anointed, "...the best single-volume analysis of liberalism ever written and could cure the delusions of any liberal who reads it (assuming that the liberal is intelligent enough to understand it, admittedly a large assumption)."

Well, So Much for 'Peace on Earth...'

Earlier my timeline was filling up with reports of beatings, bombings, and killings.

I tweeted:

All these bombings, beatings and stabbings in my TL? Dear God, it's Christmas!

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) December 25, 2013

Here's the New York Post:

Christmas day bombings kill at least 37 in Iraq http://t.co/4yaRly3xYU

— New York Post (@nypost) December 25, 2013

And over at the New York Daily News, "Shooting outside N.J. strip club leaves 3 dead, 2 injured on Christmas," and at New Jersey's Star Ledger, "Victims identified in Christmas Day Irvington go-go bar shooting."

And from yesterday, at Raw Story, "Black Santa shot by pellet gun during D.C. toy giveaway while cameras rolled."

I'm sure there'll be more violence. I don't call it senseless. There's clearly purpose to it, the work of evil in the world, which remains unquiet even on Christmas.

Christmas in Bethlehem

At LAT, "Bethlehem comes alive on Christmas Eve":

BETHLEHEM, West Bank – Thousands of Palestinians as well as international pilgrims and tourists descended on Bethlehem on Tuesday to celebrate Christmas Eve.

People stood at Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity watching a parade of bagpipe- and drum-playing youths, followed by the Roman Catholic patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, and his entourage, walk into the church to begin the Christmas religious festivities.

Choirs on a stage in Manger Square sang songs celebrating the birth of Jesus. The area was brightly lighted and decorated with tall Christmas trees.

RTWT.

Research Finds Real Benefits for Kids Who Say 'Thank You'

At WSJ, "Raising Children With an Attitude of Gratitude":

Gratitude works like a muscle. Take time to recognize good fortune, and feelings of appreciation can increase. Even more, those who are less grateful gain the most from a concerted effort. "Gratitude treatments are most effective in those least grateful," says Eastern Washington University psychology professor Philip Watkins.

Among a group of 122 elementary school kids taught a weeklong curriculum on concepts around giving, gratitude grew, according to a study due to be published in 2014 in School Psychology Review. The heightened thankfulness translated into action: 44% of the kids in the curriculum opted to write thank-you notes when given the choice following a PTA presentation. In the control group, 25% wrote notes.

"The old adage that virtues are caught, not taught, applies here," says University of California, Davis psychology professor Robert Emmons. Parents need to model this behavior to build their children's gratitude muscle. "It's not what parents want to hear, but you cannot give your kids something that you yourselves do not have," Dr. Emmons says.

This may seems obvious, but it eludes many parents, Dr. Watkins says. "I think the most important thing for us adults to realize is we're not very grateful either," he says.

RTWT.

And remember, gratitude is the mother of all happiness. See Dennis Prager, "Who Is Happy?"

'When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage...'

At the Wall Street Journal, "In Hoc Anno Domini":

When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. There was one state, and it was Rome. There was one master for it all, and he was Tiberius Caesar.

Everywhere there was civil order, for the arm of the Roman law was long. Everywhere there was stability, in government and in society, for the centurions saw that it was so.

But everywhere there was something else, too. There was oppression—for those who were not the friends of Tiberius Caesar. There was the tax gatherer to take the grain from the fields and the flax from the spindle to feed the legions or to fill the hungry treasury from which divine Caesar gave largess to the people. There was the impressor to find recruits for the circuses. There were executioners to quiet those whom the Emperor proscribed. What was a man for but to serve Caesar?

There was the persecution of men who dared think differently, who heard strange voices or read strange manuscripts. There was enslavement of men whose tribes came not from Rome, disdain for those who did not have the familiar visage. And most of all, there was everywhere a contempt for human life. What, to the strong, was one man more or less in a crowded world?

Continue reading.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Christmas Greeting 2013

He's a great man.

Via Algemeiner, "Netanyahu Conveys ‘Warmest Christmas Greetings’ From ‘the City of Peace, Jerusalem’ (VIDEO)."

Nobody Should Fear a Merry Christmas

From Jonathan Tobin, at Commentary:

The notion of a liberal war on Christmas has become something of a seasonal evergreen discussion topic for pundits. As such, at this point at times it’s not clear whether conservatives like Fox’s Bill O’Reilly talk about it more than politically correct secularists wage it. In this overwhelmingly Christian country, there is little doubt that Christmas is a national holiday and is often practiced in such a manner as to make it more of a secular celebration of consumerism than a Christian religious observance.

Nevertheless, it must be admitted that the holiday plays a not unimportant role in the ongoing battle over the height of the so-called wall of separation between church and state. The fight about whether crèches, the lyrics in carols, or Christmas trees constitute an unconstitutional establishment of Christianity has done little to undermine the hold of the holiday or to make religious minorities more comfortable in America. To the contrary, such disputes do much to undermine good community relations between members of different faiths. Dennis Prager is correct when he writes today that those who claim to be “emotionally troubled” by the sight of a Christmas display on public property are indeed emotionally troubled...

Continue reading.

Giving Thanks, in a Time of Raining Ice

An editorial, at the National Post (Toronto):

Late Sunday night, in central Toronto, a team of hydro workers did something very un-Christmassy: They declined a gift. Specifically, a gift of a fine bottle of wine, offered by a homeowner (known to a member of this newspaper’s editorial board) whose electric power the hydro team had just restored.

“If we took a bottle from everyone who’d offered us one tonight, we’d have a truck full of them” a worker said, laughing. “We’re just doing our job.” He and his colleagues then drove off, to continue the tiring and dangerous job of sifting wires from branches, and getting southern Ontario back on the power grid after Saturday night’s ice storm.

Christmas is a time for giving thanks. And these men and women — many of whom are giving up their holidays in the effort to provide Ontarians with warm homes in which to celebrate their own family gatherings — certainly deserve our appreciation.

Canadian cities and provinces build drainage system for rains, and buy plows and trucks for snow. But sometimes, mother nature simply overwhelms us. Nothing can stop a river from overflowing its banks, as we saw in Alberta this past summer. Nothing can stop freezing drizzle from coating tree branches, and nothing can stop those overburdened branches from crashing into whatever lies below.

Of course Toronto’s situation pales in comparison with the Alberta floods, and the unbelievable damage inflicted by the 1998 ice storm in Quebec. But it is reassuring to see, time and again, that Canadians will always come together in the face of adversity...

Continue reading.

And see, "Five killed by carbon monoxide as 220000 face freezing eastern Canada winter without power."

Merry Christmas!

From Gisele, on Twitter.

Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly!

Holly Ericksson!

I was holding off until later for some additional Rule 5, but Wellywanger's posted some phenomenal Lucy Pinder by the Christmas tree, so here's some lovely Holly for you, via Twitter.

Stores Make Frantic Attempts to Win Shoppers, Who Don't Seem Interested

My wife used to be an assistant manager at Kohls. I was telling her about this the other day, and she thought it was a bit much.

At the Washington Post, "Kohl’s offers round-the-clock shopping in dash to boost a tepid holiday season":

At 3 a.m., Christmas carols played through the loud speaker at the Kohl’s in Silver Spring. “Duck Dynasty” doormats were marked down 80 percent, and candles were discounted 50 percent. About a dozen employees stocked handbags and children’s clothing.

But there were no shoppers.

An hour passed in the wee hours of Sunday morning; still nobody. Meanwhile, the drive-through at the McDonald’s across the parking lot attracted a steady stream of cars.

In a holiday season marked by large-scale discounts, seemingly never-ending Black Friday deals and free overnight shipping, Kohl’s is taking its efforts to an extreme, keeping stores open around the clock Friday through Christmas Eve. Like many retailers, Kohl’s is battling sagging profits with a frantic attempt to draw in last-minute customers and avert a holiday disaster.

On Monday, retailers such as Nordstrom, Brookstone and Crate & Barrel were offering free overnight shipping. Bloomingdale’s, owned by Macy’s, was touting a new round of last-minute discounts — dubbed the “procrastinators have all the fun” sale — offering 15 percent off nearly all items through Christmas Eve.

Blizzard Entertainment, the video-game company, took its promotions a step further, extending Black Friday discounts through 2014. Even Target, which has seen relatively strong profits this year, amped up its deals before being hit by a credit card breach that affected up to 40 million shoppers. The retail giant was forced to go further to draw in potentially skeptical customers in the crucial days before Christmas, offering 10 percent off all in-store purchases.

Despite data showing that the economy is expanding at a surprisingly strong pace, it has been a tough year for many retailers, which rely on holiday spending for up to 40 percent of their annual sales. Wealthy consumers are propping up high-end retailers such as Tiffany’s and using cheap financing to make big-ticket purchases, including cars.

Shopping at 3:00am? I'll pass.

More at the link.

You Think? 'Silent Night' Might Not Work So Well If You Take Out the Religious References

Freakin' morons.

You can't take Jesus out of "Silent Night," you pathetic secular public school demons.

Regressive leftists at work.

Gateway Pundit has it, "Long Island School Removes Words From Silent Night – Too Offensive (Video)." (Via Memeorandum.)

Target Confirms Massive Criminal Access to Credit and Debit Card Data

At the New York Times, "Target Says Data for 40 Million Shoppers Was Stolen":

SAN FRANCISCO — Target confirmed Thursday morning that it was investigating a security breach involving stolen credit card and debit card information for 40 million of its retail customers.

In a statement, Target said that criminals gained access to its customer information on Nov. 27 — the day before Thanksgiving and just ahead of one of the busiest shopping days of the year — and maintained access through Dec. 15.

“As of Dec. 15, we identified an unauthorized access and were able to resolve the issue,” Molly Snyder, a Target spokeswoman, said in an email.

A security blogger, Brian Krebs, first reported the breach on Wednesday.

Target said that criminals had stolen customer names, credit or debit card numbers, expiration dates and three-digit security codes for 40 million customers who had shopped at its stores. The company noted that online customers were not affected by the breach, which appeared to have been isolated to the point-of-sale systems in Target’s retail stores.

Immediately after discovering the breach, Target said, it alerted federal authorities and financial institutions, and is currently working with a third-party forensics firm on an investigation.

Hey, you're safer shopping online, especially through my Amazon links!

Ann Coulter Explains Why Santa Claus and Jesus Can't Be Black

She's "insanely jealous of Megyn Kelly."

Drunk Santas Brawl in New York

At first I thought this was an act or something.

Turns out it was a bunch of bums at a Santa Claus convention. Who knew?

Here's the headline at iOWNTHEWORLD, "It Isn’t Christmas Until Drunk Santas Are Punching it Out on the Street."

And at London's Daily Mail, "Brutal street brawl between six Santas caps off drunken SantaCon debauchery that has New Yorkers wishing St. Nick would stop visiting the Big Apple."

Holiday Cheer to Marines All Over the World

Happy Holidays Marines! (Via Theo Spark.)

Langston Patterson: L.A.'s Black Santa

This is great.

At LAT, "At South L.A. mall, a Claus with quite an effect":

Langston Patterson is the main attraction at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza at Christmas: a rare black Santa in a sea of white ones.

He looks like a really nice Santa.

Here's your black Santa. And it's no big deal. pic.twitter.com/iFO6f0NBWc

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) December 14, 2013

And for the controversy, go to Althouse, "Megyn Kelly says lighten up."

Victoria's Secret Holiday 2013

Via Theo Spark.

Women Pose With Assault Rifles They Got For Christmas

At Instapundit, "A HEARTWARMING PHOTO GALLERY."

NFL Cheerleaders Celebrate Christmas

At Gunaxin.

Cool clickable slideshows at that link.

"This is about what you can expect on NFL sidelines this weekend. Enjoy."

For sure.

More at Proof Positive.