Merry Christmas

To all of those who celebrate Christmas, I wish you a wonderful day filled with family and friends.

To those who don’t celebrate Christmas, I wish you a day of rest and relaxation.

#Random Posts

Comments (Archived):

  1. awaldstein

    I second this to you Fred and everyone in the community.Just walked the park from top to bottom and going to unwind, see a movie and take advantage of a still day in the city.

    1. PhilipSugar

      I finally booked a trip to Tulum. Will be there Wednesday. Looking forward to some fishing trips, we will see about what else. Be well.

      1. awaldstein

        Have fun!We switched to Holbox this year to escape the crowds. Not as pristine, harder to get to by a lot, but crazy laid back and will do the trick to escape and hang with the family.My best to you and the family over the holidays.

        1. PhilipSugar

          Email me at my name at the gmail service with any hints.You know I believe this…..the first time you go you are clueless, the best you can hope for is some advice.The second time, well now you start knowing.And the third is when you start to begin to understand the lay of the land.I know you travel like me, but what I don’t want is to stay in a rut.

          1. awaldstein

            I’ll ask Lianna as this is her place.I bring in as much wine as I can as luggage, always rent houses down at the very Southern End of the beach, shop for fresh fish in town often, usually bring in a cook a few times for feasts.Wear shoes almost never.An open water diver but have dove most of the Cenotes.Enjoy!

  2. JLM

    .Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to the Wilsons and the entire AVC.com world from the Minchs.May the peace of the Lord fall upon all of us and bless us all on this day and all others.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

    1. Richard

      As a historian, has there ever been a time when more of the country seems not to be interested in peace and prosperity ?

      1. JLM

        .I actually don’t think that is correct. I think we are more vocal and our thoughts are more widely disseminated, but I think we are not really more divided. We catalog more reasons for the same divisions.We reach more people, but they are the same people and we are all saying primarily the same things.The vast, vast, vast majority of the country is not paying attention. They are going on with their lives and their families without politics being anything more important than every four years we elect a President.One of the most interesting things I have ever done is to read the newspapers of the post-Revolutionary period in the US and realize how nasty our politics were at that time. Much nastier than today.BTW, I have been a staunch advocate for the reinstatement of dueling for just this reason. Duels settled a lot of things during this time period.I was an adult during the Vietnam War Era and was in the Army. That was a time of incredible, fierce, hot division. Now, those were riots. Unless one saw those times up close, it is hard to believe they really happened.We, USA, lost more than 58K KIA and the entire theater of operations lost 3.5MM KIA. An incredibly stupid and unnecessary war.The world has a real chance in 2019 to be at relative peace if Syria and Afghanistan can be cooled off — not saying anybody is going to “win” but these hot spots have been going on for way too long. Even NK is relatively peaceful by comparison.Peace be upon us.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

        1. sigmaalgebra

          > more than 58K KIANancy/Chucky, apparently we are losing 72K a year from drug overdoses. The Wall will help.Viet Nam: “An incredibly stupid and unnecessary war”.I was against that war. Wrote my representatives asking us just to COME HOME. As the situation got worse, I became for the war: Help Hanoi overthrow the corrupt puppets in Saigon. Then I became against the war: Our efforts were so destructive that if we tried to help Hanoi we would do more harm than good.Now look at Viet Nam? They sell Brother printers — my B/W Brother laser printer is better than my HP laser printer that cost several times as much and finally just quit for no good reason, They sell us farmed fish.They have pushed back against the Chinese successfully with no help from us.As I understand it, after we left, Viet Nam went into Cambodia, dumped Pol Pot, put Norodom Sihanouk back in power, and then left.I have no respect for Communism and only disgust for some of the cruelties of Asian culture, but in Viet Nam the US made things much worse. We couldn’t have lost any worse than we did, and what’s happened? No “dominoes” falling from SE Asia east to the Philippines, all across the Pacific, and landing on the beaches of San Diego like JFK, LBJ, Dean Rusk, Walt Rostow, Robert McNamara, Nixon, and Ford kept predicting would happen if we didn’t “fight for freedom”, “bring home the coonskin cap”, “have peace with honor” in Viet Nam.3.5 M KIA — very bloody hands.Sure, in Gulf War I we banished the “poltergeist” of our loss in Viet Nam, but far too soon W and the “neo-cons” made the same Viet Nam mistakes again in Iraq and Akrapistan.We have a lot of cowards in high places who want the US to stay until some such place has a constitutional democracy, free market, free trade with the US, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, gender and racial equality, rule of law, etc., that is, not leave due to the risk of being blamed as in the “who lost China?” So to cover their cowardly back sides, they throw US blood and treasure in “absurd foreign adventures” essentially forever until the US gets enough public screaming and/or a good leader to say “enough” and just COME HOME.So, it’s been 17 years in Akrapistan?So, Trump wants OUT of the fight against ISIS, and right away we have people screaming that he is putting the US at risk. Screamers, get a rifle and go volunteer to kill off the last holdouts in ISIS.Absurd foreign adventures — can bleed a country white doing that.Yes, we can’t JUST come home, but we have additional options, even for the Mideast: We could still send supplies to the Kurds. That whole ISIS thingy is well within the range of aircraft from US carriers in the eastern Mediterranean. We have special forces. We have satellite surveillance good enough to read license plates. We have signals intelligence. Net, we can still protect ourselves and our important allies.Too many people are too eager to go to war, at least, to send the blood and treasure of other people to absurd foreign wars.

  3. iggyfanlo

    My all time favorite description of what Christmas is all about. I’m not religious but its simplicity and sincerity beyond the Christian message is so heartwarminghttps://youtu.be/c1odLOHFX7o

    1. sigmaalgebra

      Beautiful. This time, got chills,As a child I wanted the security of rock solid truth so much that I discounted those words.But now, whatever the literal historical truth is, those words contain other truths — the universal struggles, passions, and hopes of people. I had to pay “full tuition” to get that lesson. Okay, got it.So, right, it’s at least a case of art — the communication, interpretation of human experience, emotion.

    2. DJL

      I agree. And yet, sadly, I doubt such a scene would ever be put to film today with a Christian message. Thanks for sharing again! (We watched it with the kids two nights ago. ;>)

      1. iggyfanlo

        Also. The characters are so mean to charie brown. It’s sad that they so easily put him down with no one to defend hjm

        1. DJL

          “Bullying” was not a concern back then – although looking back it probably should have been.

    1. JLM

      .Merry Christmas, Tom.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

  5. Ruhinda Ruganda

    This remains one of my favorite places to visit, learn and contribute where possible. Thank you all to all, Peace. Peace above everything else.

  6. WA

    Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy holiday to all.

  7. Vendita Auto

    Bottle of good vino later still giggling would like to nominate an award for whoever thought up the term “fat Nixon”

  8. JLM

    https://uploads.disquscdn.c…Somebody’s first Christmas — the Baby Tempe with My Perfect Daughter and namesake #1 Son for perhaps the last time in Austin By God Texas as I am contemplating a move to Savannah.Baby Tempe (Faith, Hope, Charity, Temperance – a Southern thing, the virtues) is the latest in a family line of at least 8 Tempe’s. Her grandmother is a Tempe. Her great grandmother is a Tempe.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

    1. sigmaalgebra

      Great congrats! No doubt you have your very Merry Christmas — those smiles are priceless!No wonder he’s smiling: The perfect baby is at least happy, and the perfect mother has a big smile!Seeing that picture, I want a do over, be 14 again, now that I paid “full tuition”, repeat the course and try again, so where do I apply??

  9. Pointsandfigures

    Merry Christmas from northern Wisconsin. We are in Amish country. Woke to a soft snow and the click clack of a horse drawn carriage on blacktop this morning. Peace on Earth. Goodwill to you

    1. PhilipSugar

      I live near Amish country. There is something to the clack clack of a horse drawn carriage. But nothing beats these guys coming past my house doing tours every 15 min.http://t.co/sKG1t4hkHG

  10. jason wright

    Annual message from the Wright House. Regardless of whether it’s religion or rationalism, if it is helping you to be a better person then you have chosen wisely. Love you all.

  11. kidmercury

    merry christmas! if you’re looking for a cause to donate to help spread some christmas cheer to others and yourself, consider donating to the lawyers committee for 9/11: https://www.lawyerscommitte… they have just succeeded in having a US attorney in the state of new york empanel a grand jury for unprosecuted crimes related to the destruction of WTC 1, 2 and 7 in new york on 9/11. the odds of justice are still slim — but this is an impressive sign, evidence of truly determined team, and of course, the ROI of a win is enormous in terms of ending war, draining the swamp, and shocking culture out of its distracted state.

    1. Richard

      Why do these folks dilute their case by suffesting that some third rate news reporter was a co-conspirator?

      1. kidmercury

        i’m not sure what you’re referring to?

  12. DJL

    Merry Christmas and Peace to everyone here. I am at home with my kids and their grandparents – Santa came as expected, weather is nice, turkey is in the oven – everything is as right as it could be.

  13. William Mougayar

    From the North Pole – For many, Christmas is in the air, but for us, it was also literally from the air. Merry Christmas from above the North Pole. We peeked at the window, but Santas were no where to be seen. Aptly they were at work doing their jobs for millions of lucky kids on earth.https://uploads.disquscdn.c…

  15. Lawrence Brass

    Merry Christmas Fred and family and everybody here at AVC!Let the peace be with you.

  16. Donna Brewington White

    A little late to the party but Merry Christmas to those who celebrate and peace and joy to all.We are living in temporary locations until our home is once again livable as a result of the fires — this week on the Palos Verdes peninsula. Provides access to new experiences and sights. On Christmas Day rediscovered Wayfarers Chapel which seemed especially apropos. https://uploads.disquscdn.c…