His wife, Kathy, a registered nurse who specializes is treating diabetes, is ending a checkup with a patient, a small, older man with bright eyes for whom English is a second language. For the last two years Kathy has volunteered at the clinic, which welcomes poor people off the streets of downtown Seattle.

She’s done foot care, made home visits and seen whoever comes through the door. She’s also traveled to Africa and Romania and Mexico while volunteering for a medical outreach team.

Before Holmgren’s final game on Sunday, Kathy had reluctantly raised the “12th Man” flag, Seattle’s in-stadium salute to its fans, immediately before kickoff. It was the first time in 15 years she’s watched one of his games in its entirety in person.

(Read more about this great coach and even better person along with his outstanding wife and their neat work   right here .)

Since Castro declared victory on New Year's Day, 1959, the day after Batista fled the country, his rule has prevailed through 10 U.S. presidents, the U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion, a world-shaking missile crisis, the U.S. embargo, the Soviet collapse and the onslaught of globalization. Now 82, he is ailing and out of sight but still the head of the Communist Party of Cuba. Raul Castro, his successor as president, is taking baby steps toward change and vowing to fend off any challenge to his brother's legacy.

Dissidents have a new way to reach the outside world — blogging. Yoani Sanchez, 33, gets her message out by dressing like a tourist and slipping into a hotel with Web access for foreigners. She works quickly at a computer terminal and gets out before someone notices her.

In a posting this month, Sanchez noted that the government, which used to send gays to labor camps, now accepts homosexuality. So why not political opposition? she asked. "Why does the adjective 'counterrevolutionary' continue to be used for those who think differently?"

(Lets all keep hoping and praying the nation of Cuba is changed soon and the government is replaced with one which will allow her  people the freedoms we enjoy here in the West.)

Ted Tollner, a quarterback at Cal Poly, was sitting over the left wing, on the side where the engine gave out.

"After we hit, it was all a blur," he said.

The Arctic-Pacific charter split in two and caught on fire Oct. 29, 1960, at Toledo Express Airport. It was the first airline crash involving a U.S. sports team. Of the 22 people killed, there were 16 Cal Poly players, a manager and a booster.

The next year, with support from Bob Hope and a blessing from President Kennedy, a game took place at the Los Angeles Coliseum to offset burial costs, pay medical expenses and set up an educational fund for the victims' families and survivors.

They called it the Mercy Bowl.

A crowd of more than 33,000 turned out to see Fresno State beat Bowling Green, 36-6, that Thanksgiving Day in 1961. Check eBay, and it's easy to find ticket stubs -- stamped with "Benefit Cal Poly Plane Crash Fund" -- and souvenir programs for sale.

Tollner was there as a spectator, still nursing the right ankle smashed in the accident. He went to a life of coaching in the NFL and college, always wondering why he was allowed to survive.

Shortly before the flight, Curtis Hill asked Tollner to switch seats. The gifted receiver became ill on the trip to play at Bowling Green, and he figured he'd do better near the front of the plane going back home to San Luis Obispo.

Tollner traded, moving back a few rows. Minutes later, the pilot, flying with a license that had been revoked by the Federal Aviation Administration, tried to take off.

"I was pretty much the cutoff," said Tollner, now the quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers. "About 100 percent of the people sitting in front of me were killed. Curtis was one of them. The people in my row and back mostly survived."

"A lot of things go through your mind when you get an extra bonus of 48 years to live. Why me?

(It is too bad they don't play a  bowl game today for some kind of cause. Read more on this story Mercy Bowl remembered.)

About 500 security men arrived from the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Jericho to provide security for the holiday. Similar deployments have taken place across the West Bank over the past year with U.S. backing.

"We expect about 40,000 visitors in Bethlehem this week," said Khouloud Daibes-Abu Dayyeh, the Palestinian Authority's minister of tourism.

However here is my Christmas Message which I just posted on You Tube Christmas Message so unique .

(That sounds sad and looks like an outrage that a store won't even personalize a cake for a little boy right, or is there more to the story. Please read the rest of the story below.)

A New Jersey family who named their child after Adolf Hitler is having problems getting a birthday cake made for their 3-year-old.

"We believe the request ... to inscribe a birthday wish to Adolf Hitler is inappropriate," Karen Meleta, a ShopRite spokeswoman, told the Express-Times.

Barry Morrison of the Anti-Defamation League agreed with ShopRite's decision. "Might as well put a sign around their [the children's] neck that says bigot, racist, hatemonger,"Morrison said. "What's the difference?"  ( Child Named Hitler Has Problem Getting Birthday Cake )

The Campbells say they don't understand what the big deal is. "ShopRite can't even make a cake for a 3-year-old," mother Deborah Campbell said."That's sad."

(The little boy of course has done nothing wrong here. The store was right to refuse to write Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler. Why did the parents do such  a dumb thing and then say they don't understand what the big deal is. The outrage is the parents having an attitude like that. Every name in the world makes people think of something if it be Jesus, Billy Graham, Mother Teresa , Saddam Hussein, or Adolf Hitler. The fact is the name Hitler will always remind people of the evil of  the  Holocaust .)

The 54-year-old pastor and founder of Saddleback Church in Southern California told the crowd of 500 that it's unrealistic to expect everyone to agree on everything all the time.

"You don't have to see eye to eye to walk hand in hand," said Warren.

Warren also defended President-elect Barack Obama's invitation that he give the invocation at the Jan. 20 inauguration in the keynote speech he delivered at the Muslim Public Affairs Council's annual convention in Long Beach.

(I guess those who aren't submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the Bible don't understand those of us who love sinners while hating their sin. It also looks like these gay groups don't have tolerance for  those who don't see eye to eye with them. Read more on this issue Pastor Rick Warren defends invite to inauguration.)

(To find out how you can make this Christmas less stressful and how  to  use the hard  times we are going through as a nation to teach our children values, watch a video I just posted on You Tube 13 Year Old Writes Letter for Mom on Christmas 12-19.)