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Way back on Nov. 13, Washington D.C., radio station WASH-FM flipped the switch to its annual 24/7 Christmas music rotation. That's about two weeks before the rest of America. After the severely limited year of 2020, it's understandable more people would haul out the holly and get in the spirit early, but many on social media cried, "No Christmas music until after Thanksgiving!" I love Christmas music, both secular and religious. I have boxes of compact discs, too many to play in one day. So much of the WASH playlist is composed of rock-era standards that celebrate the bells and...

The family and I watched this movie on Christmas Eve night based on a book "The Man Who Invented Christmas" released in 2017 via Amazon Prime. It is the story of how Charles Dickens saved his career as a novelist by writing "A Christmas Carol". As with a Dickens novel, one experiences the whole range of emotions from joy to sadness. The movie goes into detail about the personal demons Dickens was suffering from when his father went into debtors prison and Dickens was forced to work in a boot blackening factory at the age of 12. How this experienced...

Merry Christmas to all. Please remember the REASON God came in the flesh in the form of Jesus, to provide salvation to the world through forgiveness of sins. It also says in the Bible, if one does not forgive, one can not be forgiven. We all want forgiveness when we mess up, but don't want to give it in return. Repentance is also required. One must admit one is wrong and ask God for forgiveness. All of this involves the heart which is a tough thing to change. We must forgive Democrats for being evil and only think about how...

Preposterous and cliche-ridden, this tale of Regency intrigue – with Julie Andrews giving a Georgian Gossip Girl touch – nonetheless leaves you wanting more It cannot be – no, most assuredly and for the good of humanity, it cannot be – that there are people out there who aspire to write like Julian Fellowes. It simply cannot be. And yet. Now has come Bridgerton (Netflix), suddenly into our lives, and as the minutes and the hours and the eight episodes of the new costume drama roll, the thought becomes ever more inescapable. For Bridgerton is the tale, set in 1813...

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The following email was sent to the more than 150 priests of the diocese of Perugia, Italy, on December 24, 2020. Dear fellow priests, With the corona virus, we see each other much less, and we talk among ourselves much less, unfortunately. (Note: When pasting this document into Free Republic, it seems that most of the special formatting is lost, such as bold, italics, underlined words and embedded links. To read the document with the formatting and embedded links go to the link of the document.) At least I want to wish you a Holy Christmas with Baby Jesus in...

It’s just the flu, bro. Tragic to be Christmas Eve Mass and see the church 1/3 filled due to Coronavirus rules, but nobody else was allowed to have a seat. Culture, traditions and core beliefs are important for many reasons. Jordan Peterson talks about the negative physiological changes that occur when something we believe, or expect, doesn’t happen. He also says that traditions, to a degree, are built on thousands of years of shared experience and you don’t ever want to quickly dismiss them. One expects a full church at Christmas and people singing without masks and it was disappointing...

A smart thermostat quickly learns to optimize building microclimates for both energy consumption and user preference. Buildings account for about 40 percent of U.S. energy consumption, and are responsible for one-third of global carbon dioxide emissions. Making buildings more energy-efficient is not only a cost-saving measure, but a crucial climate change mitigation strategy. Hence the rise of “smart” buildings, which are increasingly becoming the norm around the world. Smart buildings automate systems like heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC); lighting; electricity; and security. Automation requires sensory data, such as indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity, carbon dioxide concentration, and occupancy...

Good news exists – even if it rarely appears in the media. During Christmas time, local news outlets are reporting on the goodness of humanity, from strangers flooding a lonely grandmother with Christmas cards to a couple of eight year olds deciding that what they want for Christmas is to help others in need. Here are seven stories exemplifying the Christmas spirit – and demonstrating that the little things sometimes matter the most. Grandma in Nursing Home Receives Hundreds of CardsSusan Wendt, a nursing home resident in Rhode Island, felt alone this holiday season. That’s when she decided to ask...

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Merry Christmas, FReepers & friends. Best to you all, God's blessings, and on our country in these challenging times. Thank You, God.

Humanitarian reasons have been cited for flying home several 'IS' brides and children from internment in Syria. At the height of the civil war, the women allegedly traveled to join the Islamist militia. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Sunday said he was "relieved" that a "humanitarian" recovery operation had brought home 18 children and five "Islamic State" (IS) brides from Kurdish-run internment camps in northeastern Syria. One of three German women brought back, identified in reports as Leonore M., 21, from Saxony-Anhalt state, was arrested a day earlier on arrival in Frankfurt airport, on charges including terror organization membership,...

A black physician in Indianapolis has died with Covid-19 weeks after she accused a doctor of denying her proper medical care because of her race. In a video from her bed at Indiana University Hospital North, Susan Moore said she had to "beg" for treatment. Offering its condolences, the hospital said it took accusations of discrimination very seriously but could not comment on specific patients. Black people are at greater risk from Covid than white people, studies show. Dr Moore, 52, passed away at another local hospital on Sunday. In her 4 December post on Facebook, she described how her...

With the refusal of the US Supreme Court to even hear the facts of the election fraud case, we have reached a political and societal singularity. In physics, a singularity is a condition in which all the known laws of nature seem to break down. In sociology, a tipping point is reached, in which the entire social order can be abruptly dismantled. In either case, the result is unpredictable. No one knows what will happen. We have entered the twilight zone. A few months ago, what is happening now was inconceivable, an Orwellian fantasy. No one could have believed that...

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP/VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE and AMERICA: Healthcare, Government, Family, Military, Business, Farmers, Sanctity of Life, Education, Churches, and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 JOHN 5:14Religion Forum Threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

TOKYO - Japan aims to eliminate gasoline-powered vehicles in the next 15 years, the government said on Friday in a plan to reach net zero carbon emissions and generate nearly $2 trillion a year in green growth by 2050. The “green growth strategy,” targeting the hydrogen and auto industries, is meant as an action plan to achieve Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s October pledge to eliminate carbon emissions on a net basis by mid-century. Suga has made green investment a top priority to help revive the economy hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and to bring Japan into line with the European...

Anybody else getting serious lag on all sites?

Official figures show the Home Office cannot trace tens of thousands of people who have either skipped their immigration bail conditions or fled from detention centres. Last night, campaigners seized on the data, which was released under Freedom of Information laws, as proof that Britain’s immigration system is not being properly enforced. Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: ‘This is a shocking failure. It is ridiculous to intercept those crossing the Channel illegally or after they emerge from the back of lorries, only to turn them loose to disappear into the undergrowth of the shadow economy. It simply...

“Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame. Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another” (Proverbs 25:8-9).