A Different Christmas Poem

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then thesure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,

"I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me..
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."

My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue.. an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..

Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."

"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

Garth Brooks Takes The Reins Of Prime Country

Garth Brooks Takes The Reins Of Prime Country

For two weeks, starting November 5, Prime Country becomes Garth Brooks Radio, as Garth Brooks takes the reins of the channel. Garth Brooks Radio features Garth Brooks’ music, as well as his favorite country artists, along with personal song introductions by Garth himself. Brooks is also playing some of his favorite country acts, and discussing what each means to him. Garth Brooks Radio on SIRIUS is presented in celebration of the release of Garth Brooks' new 3-disc set, The Ultimate Hits, in stores now.


This is great, I listened alot the last few days, Garth sure picks good music. Lot's of Martina, Trisha, Brooks and Dunn, Faith and Tim, and I haven't heard 1 Underwood....

Anti-clinton Video Draws Web Audience

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer
Tue Oct 30, 1:45 AM ET



WASHINGTON - First came the Orwellian mash up YouTube video that portrayed Hillary Rodham Clinton as Big Brother. Then came a clip of her off-key rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Now, a stinging 13-minute video by a bitter Clinton foe is finding its own Internet audience.

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The clip, a preview of a longer film by one-time Clinton donor Peter Paul, has scored more than 1.4 million hits on Google Video and about 350,000 on YouTube during the past week. Its popularity has driven it to the top spot on Google Video over the past two weeks.

Paul is a Hollywood entrepreneur, former partner of Spider-Man creator Stan Lee and convicted felon who has sued the Clintons in connection with a celebrity-packed fundraiser he helped organize for her 2000 Senate race. A California appeals court earlier this month ruled that Sen. Clinton should be dismissed from the suit.

But Paul has devoted a Web site to the case and his film, "Hillary Uncensored," in recent days has been touring New England College campuses. On Tuesday, the film is scheduled to be screened at the Metropolitan Club in New York City.

The Clintons have long argued that Paul's criminal record discredits him and in court pleadings have denied Paul's claims against them.

"Peter Paul is a professional liar who has four separate criminal convictions, two for fraud. His video repackages a series of seven-year-old false claims about Senator Clinton that have already been rejected by the California state courts, the Justice Department, the Federal Election Commission, and the Senate Ethics Committee," the Clinton campaign said in a statement.

Paul's anti-Clinton effort is getting help from two technical producers who set up the Web site for Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the 2004 campaign that went after Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry by raising questions about his decorated military service in Vietnam.

Robert Hahn and Scott Swett operate http://www.HillCAP.org, the Web site that Paul set up in 2005 to showcase court documents, videos and news articles related to his lawsuit. The video trailer "Hillary Uncensored," and the schedule for the movie are prominently displayed on the site.

Among those featured in the video speaking in support of Paul is David Schippers, who served as chief investigative counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during President Clinton's 1998 impeachment hearings.

In his lawsuit and in the film, Paul says he spent $1.9 million for the August 2000 Hollywood fundraiser that featured such stars as Brad Pitt, Diana Ross and Cher. Paul maintains he organized the event because President Clinton falsely agreed to assist him in a new venture with Stan Lee after leaving the presidency in January 2001.

Campaign reports filed with the Federal Election Commission estimated the cost of the event at about $500,000. An ensuing criminal trial of Clinton's former national finance director, David Rosen, on charges that he lied to the FEC about the fundraiser resulted in an acquittal. At the time, Rosen's lawyer said Paul concealed the actual cost of the event from Rosen, a claim Paul denies.

The film also includes a tape recording recently obtained by Paul of Sen. Clinton thanking him in advance for staging the event, which he says is proof that she illegally coordinated the fundraiser with him. The appellate court ruling that dismissed her from the case concluded the call did not amount to new evidence.

The complexities of the case are all fodder for the video clip and the movie, spiced with clips of Hollywood performers.

"Her abuse of her power as reflected in my case should make everybody pause about entrusting her with the reins of government," Paul said in an interview.

Paul is awaiting sentencing on his 2005 guilty plea to charges of stock fraud involving Stan Lee Media, the company Paul had wanted Clinton to join. In the 1970s, he was convicted of cocaine possession and of attempting to defraud the Cuban government of Fidel Castro.

Swett, who is running Paul's HillCAP Web site, said the video has helped drive more traffic to the Web site, but that the activity is far less frequent than it was on the site he operated for Swift Boat Veterans in 2004.

"Then it was in the final months before the election and we're a year out at this point," he said. "There's a lot of complexity to the Peter Paul lawsuit. You have to read through some of the documents to get a handle on it. That was less the case with the charges that the Swift Boat Veterans and POWs were making against John Kerry."

Friends At A Martina Concert

This is a note I got this week from a nice person that I met at the Martina Concert in Rochester this year. I just shared the pictures I took with them. Nice to know that little things can make a lasting diffierence.

I hope this email finds you and your wife well. Just a quick note to let you know that on Sep 6th at age 37 Christy courageously lost her battle with breast cancer. She died peacefully at hospice and she never did give up the fight. The Martina concert was the last "big" function she was able to enjoy and because of you I have many pix to remind me of a wonderful weekend with my best friend. Just wanted to say thank you again and let you know about Christy.

Tony Returns To 24

How good will this be?

Tony Almeida will return in the premiere of season 7. Show-runner Howard Gordon explained that Tony's "uncertain fate" left the door open for his return and cited the lack of a silent clock as a deliberate move to keep his death ambiguous. "We didn't give him the silent clock because we always wanted to keep alive the possibility for some kind of (admittedly) miraculous resurrection ... which we will explain," and followed up with "He's definitely NOT the Almeida we once knew."