A combative Gov. Rod Blagojevich served notice Friday that he has no intention of quitting over his corruption arrest, declaring: "I will fight. I will fight. I will fight until I take my last breath. I have done nothing wrong." The forceful three-minute speech marked the first time the former amateur boxer directly addressed the allegations since his arrest 10 days earlier. Full Story»

(Well it looks like there is going to be a fight in Ill. I hope the other powers and leaders in that state will do what is right and bring the full weight of the law down on Gov. Blagojevich.If this man truly cared about the people of his state and doing what is right he would step down at once.)

 A crumbling economy, more than 2 million constituents who have lost their jobs this year, and congressional demands of CEOs to work for free did not convince lawmakers to freeze their own pay. (  Congress Gives Itself Raise...   )

Instead, they will get a $4,700 pay increase, amounting to an additional $2.5 million that taxpayers will spend on congressional salaries, and watchdog groups are not happy about it.

 

“As lawmakers make a big show of forcing auto executives to accept just $1 a year in salary, they are quietly raiding the vault for their own personal gain,” said Daniel O’Connell, chairman of The Senior Citizens League (TSCL), a non-partisan group. “This money would be much better spent helping the millions of seniors who are living below the poverty line and struggling to keep their heat on this winter.”

However, at 2.8 percent, the automatic raise that lawmakers receive is only half as large as the 2009 cost of living adjustment of Social Security recipients.

Rep. Harry Mitchell, a first-term Democrat from Arizona, sponsored legislation earlier this year that would have prevented the automatic pay adjustments from kicking in for members next year. But the bill, which attracted 34 cosponsors, failed to make it out of committee.

 

(This is a political outrage. It is also very upsetting that a bill  which would have  stopped  things like this from happening doesn't even make it out of committee.)

Mary Beth Maxwell says her years of fighting for workers' rights can be traced to the values and sense of social justice that came with her upbringing in a Catholic family.

Maxwell, 43, has received some high-profile mentions lately as a possible nominee for secretary of labor under President-elect Barack Obama. She would be the first openly gay cabinet secretary.

 (Perhaps Maxwell should be named the  secretary of labor but it should not have anything to do with her being gay and she should also not use that office to support the gay life. Read more of this story Labor nominee . Also the Catholic church is 100% against the gay life. Gay people should be told by all churches they are loved by God but no sin including the gay life  sin should be blessed.)

  The abduction happened 27 years ago, at a time when parents routinely left their children playing in the toy store, unattended, and continued shopping.

But when Reve Walsh returned to pick up her 6-year-old son, he wasn't there. Over the mall loudspeaker, the plea came: "Adam Walsh, please come to customer service."

Two weeks later, fishermen discovered the boy's severed head in a canal 120 miles away from the Hollywood mall. His body was never found.

The case led to advances in police searches for missing youngsters and a notable shift in the view parents and children have of the world.

On Tuesday, police closed their investigation. They said a serial killer who died more than a decade ago in prison was responsible for Adam's death. They admitted making crucial errors in the case and apologized to the Walshes.

But Adam's death, and his father's transformation from a hotel developer to an activist, helped put missing children's faces on milk cartons and in mailboxes, started fingerprinting programs and increased security at schools and stores.

(What happened to little Adam was sick and evil. What his dad has done since to help others who have been hurt by crime  is a story of good winning over evil. Read more on this issue Adam Walsh case transformed missing kid searches.)

President-elect Barack Obama has chosen a pastor who opposes gay marriage as a speaker at his inauguration, creating a commotion over what inclusiveness will mean for his administration.  (  Obama's next pastor controversy - at inauguration  )

Obama chose Rick Warren, the evangelical pastor of the southern California megachurch Saddleback, to give the invocation when he takes office in January.

The president-elect on Thursday said that he held views "absolutely contrary" to Warren on gay rights and abortion and described himself as "a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans."

"During the course of the entire inaugural festivities, there are going to be a wide range of viewpoints that are presented. And that's how it should be, because that's what America is about. That's part of the magic of this country is that we are diverse and noisy and opinionated," he said.

Warren is known as an evangelical focused on fighting poverty and disease, including AIDS in Africa, but he also advocated California Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban passed by voters last month.

(Good for Presidnet Obama for picking a Pastor who not only teaches the Bible but has done quite a bit to help those who are fighting the terrible illness  of HIV. Shame on these groups. If they truly cared about fighting HIV they would look up to Pastor Warren. If these gay groups want to decide who prays for the President at the inauguration, they should run for office.  )

I am sorry that I have not been able to do much posting  on this blog. I have been busy with my Christmas Party at work, and I  had to drive my mom somewhere today. However after work today I am off  until next year. That is a blessing with working at a school around Christmas and New Years you get quite a lot time off. Of course the downside with my job  is I don't get paid unless I work.

This time of year parents of faith struggle with what to tell their kids about Santa Claus. I know of Christian parents who do everything they can to keep anything of Santa out of  their home while others focus so much on Santa  that there is no room for anything to do with the Bible fact of Jesus birth and life.

This Christmas why not tell your kids about  the true  Saint Nick who was a priest and gave gifts in the name of Christ, To find out more about him listen to the Point radio commentary for today at the link below.

Pastor Larry Kroon declined to say whether the church had received any recent threats.

Palin was not at the church at the time of the fire. She stopped by Saturday, and her spokesman Bill McAllister said in a statement that the governor told an assistant pastor she was sorry if the fire was connected to the "undeserved negative attention" the church has received since she became the vice presidential candidate Aug. 29.

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In Sadr City, the sprawling Baghdad suburb that has seen some of the most intense fighting between insurgents and U.S. soldiers since the 2003 invasion, thousands of people marched in his defense. In Syria, he was hailed as a hero. In Libya, he was given an award for courage.

Throughout much of the Arab world Monday, the shoe-throwing incident generated front-page headlines and continuing television news coverage. A thinly veiled glee could be discerned in much of the reporting, especially in the places where anti-American sentiment runs deepest.

Muntader al-Zaidi, 29, the correspondent for an independent Iraqi television station who threw his black dress shoes at Bush, remained in Iraqi custody Monday.

 I  am nowgoing use a web camera to make the videos I do.
I used it for the first time yesterday. Check it out,  YouTube - BillyDTeacher's Channel.