This issue looks at more Middle East mayhem, spin-offs from the Duck Dynasty controversy, the continuing war on Christmas, and more.
OUR ISRAELI CONNECTION
Another Terrorist Attack Averted in Israel
The Jerusalem Prayer Team reports: A terrorist bomb planted on an
Israeli bus on Sunday was discovered with only seconds to spare. A dozen passengers safely evacuated the bus just minutes before the bomb exploded. A teenager riding the bus alerted other passengers when he noticed a bag sitting unattended. When they realized that it didn’t belong to any of the riders, the driver stopped and quickly got the passengers to safety. The device apparently was a pressure cooker bomb like the ones used in the Boston Marathon bombing. One policewoman suffered a minor injury when the device exploded, but everyone else was safe.
News from The Israel Project
An escalating political struggle between two dominant Islamist camps inside Turkey – which in recent days has rocked the country and now threatens to destabilize the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) government – has spilled over into the U.S.-Turkey relationship and generated a sharp rebuke from Washington regarding “continued false and slanderous attacks” targeting U.S. officials.
The Syrian army’s ongoing assault on Aleppo – which over the course of a
week has killed nearly 500 people, among them scores of children – has drawn attention to a relatively new and cheap improvised explosive device being deployed by forces loyal to the Bashar al-Assad regime. The Telegraph described the campaign as the “Syrian regime’s barrel bomb assault on Aleppo,” and quoted one activist describing the last nine days of sustained fighting as “the most violent in the whole of the Syrian revolution.”
Egypt’s army-backed interim government yesterday designated the
Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization, a day after a massive bomb destroyed an Egyptian police station and killed at least 15 people.
Another bomb this morning exploded in a busy Cairo intersection this morning, wounding five, with the attack being described by Century Foundation senior fellow Michael Hanna as a “worrying signal that Egypt’s militants [are] no longer content” with launching terrorist attacks in the Sinai Peninsula but were expanding their operations throughout the rest of Egypt. The Washington Post characterized the designation as “a stunning blow” to the Brotherhood.
IT’S NEWS TO ME
For Those Who Say the Duck Dynasty Controversy Doesn’t Affect Them
Godfatherpolitics.com reports: I’m reading posts and blogs that are
trivializing the Duck Dynasty controversy as being just about a silly TV show. There are more important things in life to worry about. Remember when people said that the homosexual marriage issue didn’t affect them, so why get involved in opposing it? “Live and let live,” people said. Tell that to bakeries and photographers who are being sued because of the stand they’ve taken against the ideological, political, and judicial bullies. Then there’s the teacher who was fired by a lesbian athletic director at a private school because she “disapproved of his ‘traditional family status,'” the fired teacher claims in a lawsuit. Read more.
MORE ON THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS
Military at Center of War on Christmas
Politicaloutcast.com reports: Two weeks ago, a routine meeting was held at the Mississippi base with various leaders of the 158th Infantry Brigade. During the meeting, they discussed an upcoming Christmas football tournament. The equal opportunity officer immediately objected to the usage of the word “Christmas.” Read more.
Veterans Affairs Bans Christmas Cards to Troops over Religious Content
Conservativebyte.com reports: According to the Liberty Institute, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is refusing to allow school children to give Christmas cards to veterans if those cards say “Merry Christmas” or “God bless you.” Religious liberty lawyers have sent the VA a letter demanding they immediately lift the ban. Read more.
Christmas Holiday, Islamic Horror 
Humanevents.com reports: As Christians in the West go to church and worship during this Christmas season, it is well to reflect on how these two simple acts—going to church to worship—can be life-threatening for Christians in the Islamic world, especially on Christmas. Read more.
Watch great Christmas Bells video (very brief)
If you haven’t seen this amazing bear video, you’ve got to watch this.
A closing thought:
“How many observe Christ’s birth-day!
How few, his precepts!
O! ’tis easier to keep Holidays than Commandments.”
– Benjamin Franklin (1743)
ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
Jesus came that we could live an abundant life. Oh that we could enjoy life as much as these goats. Enjoy this.
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