Friday, December 25, 2009
Videos: Christmas Morning
Merry Christmas to everyone!
Merry Christmas!

-- Luke 2:8-14 (KJV)
Monday, December 21, 2009
Christmas at the Other McCain home
He serves, she sacrifices
If anyone deserves thanks (and a pension) it is my wife, who has served our country just as much as I. As she sometimes reminds me, I get to run around, see interesting places and practice my Arabic. She gets to stay home, fix bicycle tires, cook meals, and keep our house from falling down. I don’t know how she does it. . . .You should read the whole thing.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
VIDEO: SNOW EMERGENCY CRISIS
UPDATE: Despite the desperate crisis, we are encouraged by Dan Collins' heartwarming holiday classic, "Harry Reid and the $3 Trillion Monstrosity That F**ked Christmas."
UPDATE II: "Kill 'Em All, Let Gaia Sort It Out."
(UNNECESSARY DISCLAIMER: The Western Maryland Snow Emergency Crisis Fund is neither non-profit, charitable nor educational, and contributions are not tax-exempt. Any resemblance between the Western Maryland Snow Emergency Crisis Fund and a so-called PayPal "tip jar" is purely coincidental.)
Friday, December 11, 2009
AFF Christmas Party: Honest, there's nothing to worry about, Mrs. Millspaw
First, inadequate planning and an excess of holiday cheer led to a shortage of refreshments. This problem was exacerbated by certain libertarian guests who showed up with the munchies and a bad case of cottonmouth, IYKWIMAITYD. Making my customary late for the soiree, I was told by one glassy-eyed
The second crisis of the evening occurred when lovely Tegan Millspaw of Judicial Watch told me, "My Mom loves your blog!" This is not necessarily what a guy wants to hear from his blog groupies, as it leads to the quick mental calculation that Tegan's mom is probably about my age, which would make her slightly older than Mrs. Other McCain and . . .
Nevertheless, no crisis -- emotional or otherwise -- could prevent me from enjoying this festive occasion in the traditional Yuletide spirit of the holiday:
Of the three dudes in this photo with the Weekly Standard's Mary Katharine Ham, one is her date, one is Dave Weigel of the Washington Independent and one is Radley Balko of Reason magazine. Question: Which one looks most suspiciously festive?
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Merry Christmas!
Regular readers here know Barbara Espinosa of American Freedom blog, whom I first met in August at the Right Online conference in Pittsburgh ("Grandma Is an Angry Mob") and who was my hostess for the Orlando trip last month ("Tea Party Nation").
Barbara will probably get angry at being referred to as Mrs. Espinosa. She's a widow, and is very much in the market for a new boyfriend. She has a lively sense of humor and flirts with my 17-year-old son James, teasing me that she's going to be my daughter-in law one of these days.
The trip to Pittsburgh that was the occasion of my meeting Barbara was funded by the generosity of tip-jar hitters, whom I admittedly don't thank often enough. And, as regular readers know, we're now rattling the Pasadena tip jar to send me to cover the Jan. 7 BCS championship game between Alabama and Texas.
Hope everyone will consider this amusing video not only as a well-deserved tribute to Barbara Espinosa, a philanthropist and true patriot, but also as a thanks to all who have supported this blog.
(BTW, in the video you'll notice 17-year-old Bob stroking his chin, trying to call attention to his pathetic adolescent attempt to grow whiskers.)
Thursday, November 26, 2009
What to Give Your Wife for Christmas

Once I get theem matched, I then begin to harass them about getting married -- "When's the wedding? Why don't y'all just run down to the courthouse and tie the knot?" -- so as to avoid a problem caused by long engagements: The temptation to fornication. You might surprised just how commonplace pre-marital sin has become in our society. Or perhaps not.

The birds and bees. Tarzan and Jane. "Let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel." IYKWIMAITYD.
Despite the genius simplicity of my pro-family agenda -- "Get married and make babies" ain't rocket science, folks -- there remains the problem of divorce. A woman won't get married and breed a Duggar-sized brood if she's afraid her hubby is going to run off with some two-bit homewrecking floozy like Mark Sanford's Argentine tramp. Guys, if you want that long-lasting death-do-us-part deal, you've got to show your wife that you really love her.

Trust me on this one, my friend. Nothing says "love" like the Cuisinart Grind and Brew. Add the beans, add the water, push the button and -- whirrrrrrr! -- just a few minutes later, you've got 10 cups of fresh-ground, fresh-brewed coffee.
Better Marriage Through Technology, you see, because the Cuisinart Grind and Brew comes with a timer-alarm function. Your wife can set it up at night before she goes to bed and at 6:51 a.m., be awakened by the beautiful music -- whirrrrrr! -- of that high-speed bean-grinder going into action, knowing that the coffee will be piping hot when she brings you that first cup of the morning at 7 a.m. And since you don't have to get in the shower until 7:20 a.m. . . .
Well, a little snuggle-time is a fine way to start the day. IYKWIMAITYD. But wait -- there's more!
The Cuisinart Grind and Brew features a thermal carafe that keeps your coffee hot for hours. So if your early-morning snuggle-time leaves you in such a mellow mood that you decide to call in sick at work -- "Hey, boss, I'm sorry, but I think I might coming down with something here . . ." -- that second cup will still be warm when you finally crawl out of bed about 10 o'clock.
Now, some of you fellows may be thinking to yourselves, "Do I really want to give my wife a household appliance for Christmas?" Relax, boys. This isn't like a vacuum cleaner or something. The Cuisinart Grind and Brew is a luxury gourmet experience, especially if you add a few clever gifts under the tree:
- Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans by Caffe' Sant' Eustachio -- Pure luxury from Rome's most famous cafe -- 8.8 ounces of fine beans.
- English Toffee Decaf Coffee by Red Buffalo -- Delicious toffee flavor with no caffeine makes for a relaxing hot cup on a cold winter's night -- 12 ounces of fine beans.
- Dark Roasted 100% Kona Coffee by Hawaii Roasters -- Why worry about all that "fair trade" crap from South America and Indonesia, when you can enjoy this delicious product of American imperialism? Dark roasted for that hard-core caffeine jolt to get you going in the morning -- 16 ounces of fine beans.
- Dark Chocolate & Mint Squares by Ghiradelli -- Coffee and chocolate go perfectly together, and Ghirdelli is the world's finest -- 5.32 ounces of deliciousness in a gift bag. If your wife likes dark chocolate, she might also like their Twilight Delight Intense Dark 72% Cacao Chocolate. For a more varied selection, give her Ghiradelli's Ghiradelli Holiday Assortment, which comes in an attractive gift tin.
- William Wallace Shortbread Highlanders by Walkers -- OK, she's got the coffee, she's got the chocolate -- what's missing? Cookies! And these delicious shortbread cookies are 29% butter. They come in a beautiful 14-ounce tin commemorating Scottish freedom fighter William "Braveheart" Wallace, so the missus can indulge her Mel Gibson fantasies, too.
- Imported Scottish Pure Butter Assorted Shortbread Cookies by Walkers -- Yes, my friends, this lovely gift tin contains the motherlode: Nearly four pounds of high-calorie, cholesterol-filled goodness. And smart husbands know the secret message here: "No, honey, you're not getting fat. There's just more to love."
The best part? You can remind her how much you love her 364 days a year, just by saying those magic words that every woman longs to hear: "Hey, honey, can you fix me another cup of coffee?"
Merry Christmas, y'all!
UPDATE: Addressing some reaction to my pro-family agenda. Also, trying to explore new frontiers in shameless capitalist blogging.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Ho! Ho! Ho! The Economy Sucks!
From department stores to discounters, sales remained on a downward trend for retailers last month, more than a year and a half into the recession. . . .More from the Chicago Tribune:
Some retailers are even starting to promote Christmas in hopes of getting consumers in more of a buying mood. Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) on Sunday opened Christmas shops in 372 Sears stores and also set up Christmas Lane boutiques at Sears.com and Kmart.com. (Emphasis added.)
On Sunday, while most of America was recovering from Fourth of July fireworks and cookouts, [Sears] launched an online boutique called Christmas Lane at Sears.com and Kmart.com. It also set up Christmas decor shops at 372 Sears stores . . .More economic doom and gloom at NTCNews.com.
Sears typically waits until Nov. 1 to unveil its holiday merchandise, said Sears spokeswoman Natalie Norris-Howser. But with the recession putting a crimp in spending, the retailer is hoping to attract holiday shoppers early.
"This is the first year we've done the Christmas Lane event," said Norris-Howser. "We're allowing customers to put these items on layaway and pay over time." . . .
Last year, worried about a slowdown in consumer spending, many merchants, including Home Depot, Kohl's and Walgreens, began stocking their shelves with holiday wrapping paper, trim and trees in September.
The phenomenon, known as Christmas creep, is expected to kick into overdrive this year as retailers fight for their share of shoppers' shrinking pocketbooks.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Merry Christmas!

(BTW, I'll be continually bumping this to the top through Christmas.)
UPDATE: Environmentalists say Christmas lights are bad for the planet? Peace on Earth -- and to hell with environmentalists! Muslims erect anti-Christmas banners in Nazareth? Peace on Earth, etc.!
We seem to be aswarm with Grinches this year . . .
UPDATE II: Some holiday cheer: (H/T: Astute Bloggers.)
UPDATE III: Silent Kwaanza?
UPDATE IV: Merry Jewish Christmas!
UPDATE V: Kwaanza greetings from . . . Ann Coulter?
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Who's afraid of the C-word?
Beginning with Black Friday, so named because it's supposedly the day on which retailers finally make it into the black for the year, retailers' sales brochures have been bedecked with Christmas iconography - red ribbons and bows, tree ornaments, strings of lights, mistletoe and holly, Santas and the like - but with few exceptions (given due credit below), none have had banner headlines proclaiming Christmas as the reason for the buying season they were so desperately encouraging.It's not totally Grinchy out there. Pete finds that two chains -- Kohl's and Rite-Aid -- consistently use "Christmas" in their ads. Read the whole thing.
At J.C. Penney, it was an "After Thanksgiving furniture and mattress sale," Sears touted a catchall "Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving sale," and at Lowe's, the home-repair and hardware chain, it was "Let's Holiday" - as if holiday were a verb. Office Depot similarly turned "gift" into a verb: "Gift smarter. The holiday gifts they really want." Not to be outdone, Old Navy proclaimed an "Extravaganza humongous honkin' 3-day BIG weekend sale."
(Cross-posted at AmSpecBlog.)
Monday, December 22, 2008
Santa begs for a bailout
WASHINGTON - Flanked by officials from the United Elf Toytinkerers union, SantaCorp CEO Kris Kringle today told the House Ways and Means Committee that without immediate government financial help, his firm would be forced to declare bankruptcy, lay off thousands of elves and reindeer, and potentially cancel its annual worldwide Christmas Eve toy delivery.Read the whole thing.
"These are grim economic times for everyone, but even more so for non-profit toy manufacturers in the Snow Belt," said Kringle. "Our accountants have indicated that we are on track to exhaust our reserves of cash and magical pixie fairydust by December 23. Oh deary me."
Kringle and UET union president Binky McGiggles presented a draft emergency bailout plan to the committee calling for US $18 trillion in federal grants, loan guarantees, and sugarplum gumdrops that they said would keep the company solvent through December 26. . . .
Sunday, December 21, 2008
HOLIDAY BOOKS: ORDER NOW!
Instead, why not save yourself the hassle and order from our 2008 Holiday Book Sale? It's easy, and Amazon will deliver your gifts nationwide.
PREVIOUSLY:
- 12/4: Regnery on conservatism
- 11/29: Family values
- 11/28: Black Friday Special
- 11/27: Civil War
- 11/26: Immigration
- 11/25: Thomas Sowell
- 11/24: The Great Depression
- 11/23: Blacklisted by History
- 11/22: Mises & Hayek
- 11/21: White Guilt by Shelby Steele