Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus
, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.
Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.
While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.
When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.
The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.
—Luke 2:1-20 (NASB)
And may God add His blessings to the reading of His holy Word.
Merry Christmas, Denizens.  This season, more than any other – remember why.
I’ll grant them this much:  They upgraded their backup quarterback.
Dallas 7, at San Diego 27
at Detroit 13, Cleveland 12
at Arizona 32, Houston 0
Houston appears to have ditched Case Keenum for…Ryan Fitzpatrick?
Picked by the same Little Willie O’Brien who…decided to succeed Joe Paterno at Penn State.
This guy ain’t the sharpest push pin on the bulletin board, is he?
Sorry, General.  Gonna be another long year in Houston.
—
Johnny Football looked pretty good.  For a rookie.  Cleveland quarterback.
(Yeah, I know – but they haven’t had anyone halfway decent since Kosar, so cut’m some slack, mkay?)
—
The Cowboys…can run.
And run well.
Good.  Maybe El Choko won’t be quite as…er…um…exposed  this year.
They’re gonna have to run…to shorten games and keep that POS defense off the field.
Let’s make one thing clear, Charger fans.  You moved the ball on a swiss cheese defense the other night.  You ain’t gonna do that against Kansas City.
There were a couple of bright spots:  Brandon Weeden is definitely a serviceable backup quarterback. He looks a damned sight better than Kyle “Take His Ball & Go Home” Orton.
And…as much as I hate this clown and hate to admit it…the Cowboys may have found a safety that can bring some wood to the defense.  I refer, of course, to Ahmad “Thug” Dixon, late of the Baylor Douchewads.  Guy can hit & tackle.  I give him three weeks, tops, before Jason “Red Headed Jesus” Garrett decides Dixon needs to start.
—
The PFW will return Saturday, when we will decry hanky-happy zebras and the No Fun League that employs them.
This guy agrees too!!
On to more important things….
Seems that the computer storage core maintenance went rather smoothly, and the boys allowed the base to return to normal ops tempo earlier than expected.
We’ll see how long it lasts though….
Dismissed™
There may be an Executive Decision™ regarding the Houston Texans even before these start counting for real.
Carolina 34, at Baltimore 24
Seattle 17, at Green Bay 10
at Dallas 24, Cincinnati 18
New Orleans 31, at Houston 23
at San Transexual 34, Minne-haha 14
Watch out.  Teddy Ginn’s back.
Ted Ginn Jr. returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown, and the Carolina Panthers’ defense scored three times in a 34-27 preseason victory over the mistake-prone Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night.
Drayton Florence took an interception 71 yards into the end zone, Thomas Davis scored on a 2-yard fumble return and linebacker Luke Kuechly picked off another of Joe Flacco’s passes late in the second quarter to set up a 54-yard field goal by Graham Gano for a 24-7 lead.
Carolina (2-1) had just 67 yards in offense before halftime, yet reeled off 24 consecutive points after Baltimore (2-1) scored on its first possession.
The light appears to be going on in Ron Rivera’s defense. The NFC South could be in a bit o’ trouble.
—
—
About the only exciting thing that happened at ViQueen-FairyWhiner was that three drunken, limp-wristed fools invaded the field during play.  Whether they were streaking or not is anyone’s guess, as NBC stupidly dutifully cut away to a shot from the circling blimp.  Presumably, one of the “streakers” got blindsided by a Whiner lineback, but that’s only hearsay.
—
This Cowboy team looks better right now than at any time during the last three years.
Yes, Romo/Orton/Tanney were sacked their share of times, but Romo to Dez Bryant positively shredded  the Bengal defense.  And when it wasn’t Bryant, it was Romo to Austin (a number of good catches, plus a touchdown in the back of the end zone.
The running game didn’t look like a turtle mired in molasses, and the line – after a couple of fuck-ups early – actually looked like an offensive line.  Doug Free moved inside to guard, and while they probably won’t go with that lineup in two weeks vs the Douchebags, it performed well Saturday night.
The defense got another couple of turnovers, and didn’t allow the Cincinnati first-team offense to score.  In fact, the only first-half points the Bengals got were from a 75-yard punt return.
Which brings me to the special teams.  Rich Bisaccia is making no one forget about Joe DeCamillis – and DeCamillis was awful.
—
The General informs me that the Texans were playing without Brian Cushing & JJ Watt.  And Arian Foster didn’t play all that much.  Okay, point(s) conceded.
Still, you should be able to score more than 23 points against a team learning a 3-4 defense from Rob Fucking Ryan  of all people.  And if this, Game 3, is traditionally considered the Dress Rehersal™ game…
The PFW will return Thursday, when things start on the high school & college levels for reals, and we chronicle (sort of) the Governor’s Cup.
Oh, and the second-guesses?
Perhaps the Cowgirls can play their way back into the PFW…
Two
Our President would have us believe that unemployment has seen a dramatic improvement, and that his economic policies are actually helping the people. This article shows us why Obama is not to be believed.
I once stated that Romney is Obama lite, and that I would not vote should he become the nominee. I am revisiting that position. At this point, Romney has several things going for him that Obama does not, beginning with the fact that he appears to be an honest man.
Not one of my better efforts, but none-the-less, here is yesterday’s sermon: More »
Denizens, remember this budding Sith Lord?
Max Page is gonna have open-heart surgery today to replace a heart valve.  Afterwards, there’ll be a six-week recuperation period.
Max needs our prayers.  Yes – that’s an order.
ThatIsAll™.
On this day in 1932 Eunice Ellen Louise Wunderlich Hartung entered the world. After serving her Lord in various vocations, including nurse, wife, mother, grand mother and even great grandmother, she was called to the church triumphant last July 12.
Mom, We miss you, but at the same time we celebrate the life you led, and the training in living life that you gave us.
Now late on the sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the watchers did quake, and became as dead men.
And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye; for I know that ye seek Jesus, who hath been crucified. He is not here; for he is risen, even as he said.
—Matthew 28: 1-6
And may God add His blessings to the reading of His holy Word.
Still isn’t about bunnies or colored eggs, Denizens.
Remember why, and rejoice.
He is risen!
For those who care, I apologize for having been absent from this blog. the last several weeks have been taken up in getting my lovely bride(of 31 years) a brand new store bought knee. Her surgery was on the 8th of March, and as of a few minutes ago, she is doing very well.
Many thanks and many kudos to the professionals at the Memphis VA Medical center. They not only did an outstanding professional job, but they treated my wife with far more care and compassion than we have ever seen “on the outside”.
Those of you who read this blog and are veterans, if you have not registered with the VA, you need to do so. Even if you have good insurance, they can provide excellent care, and they will take your insurance. Should something happen where you lose your insurance, you do not lose access to your health-care. If nothing else, being registered at the VA is a very handy backup.
Not to gloat, but grandchild number 7 is due in September.
I do like being Granddad! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Does still exist in the USA. The Supreme Court ruled today that Federal government hiring policies do not apply to people in a ministerial position. The story is here.
The decision was 9 to 0, so this one will be with us for a while.
Denizens, we’ll start this Bowl Edition™ of the Perfect Football Weekend™ with an example of what happens when the rule-makers and the zebras that enforce their wishes get a liiiiiiiiiitttttttllllleeeee too anal-retentive.
When he raised his fist on his way to the end zone, Boston (Mass.) Cathedral High quarterback Matt Owens thought he was celebrating the score that would hand his school a surprising Super Bowl title. Instead, he was doing the one thing that could keep them from it: Earning a penalty on a play where there was nothing but green turf between himself and the end zone.
Taunting.  They called him for fucking taunting.
As reported by the Boston Globe and Boston Herald among other sources, Owens was handed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for raising his fist during his run to the end zone in the fourth quarter, a call which negated the touchdown and moved the ball back to the spot of the foul at the Blue Hills (Mass.) High 24-yard line.
[…]
The called back touchdown cost Cathedral the lead — had Owens reached the end zone without incident, Cathedral would have gained an 18-16 lead with roughly six minutes remaining in the game. A play later, the quarterback essentially cost his team the game, throwing an interception to Blue Hills cornerback Keith Gomes that paved the way for Blue Hills to run out the rest of the clock and seal a 16-12 victory.
All because a fuckheaded zebra – and a bunch of “aw, give’m a trophy just for showing up” helicopter parents thought a kid on another team that had also worked hard to get where they were was taunting their pwecous widdle babeezzzz.
Syphillitic sinkholes full o’ shit.
On to the football.  It’s the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego tonight, so that must mean it’s TCU.  The 18th-ranked Froggies are a 10-point favorite over Louisiana Tech…
VENOMOUS:  Vegas, are you sure  you have that right?
VEGAS:  Problem?
VENOMOUS:  You mean besides a team that would’ve beaten Baylor if it had a dependable kicker, would’ve torched SMUT with an impartial officiating crew, and did  beat a top-10 team on their Smurf Turf field only being a 10-point favorite over a team that couldn’t beat Hawai’i?  Nah, not really.
VEGAS:  (grunt)
Bet the house on TCU.  This isn’t even  going to be close.
Saturday night, the Dallas Cowgirlz get their first second shot at wrapping up the NFC Least when they host Mikey “Woof!” Vick and the rest of the Philthydelphia Beagles.
Wouldn’t really even bother me too much if the ‘Girlz lost this…as long as DeSeanna Jackoff finally took a beating.  But this is the same buncha cowards that wouldn’t put a steel-toed boot to Bwandi Jackoff’s crotch the other night, so look for another embarrassment.
We’re back Sunday or so for the recap.  Assuming, that is, that I’m not sawing logs from too much Christmas ham the night before…
Those of you who have read me for any  length of time – well, you probably knew it was coming all along, didn’t you? – but you know damned well what this is.
For now, click the link.  Go ahead.  Click it.  I effin’ dare  you.
And turn it up.  Waaaaaay  up.    )
That’s right, sportz fanz:  It’s vacation time for His Rudeness™.  A chance to Get Away From It All™, as it were.
Thanks to Bambi & his shitty economy, though, Mrs. Venomous & I are staying in town and not doing a helluva lot, due to the money just not being there.
MRS. VENOMOUS:  Ohhhhhh, don’t worry, sweetie.  We’ll find plenty  of things to do. (wink)
VENOMOUS: 
Vicar, General – you guys have the conn.  General…when you’re done chlorinating the gene pool of Occutards down there in the Southern Command™, could I borrow another squadron of those black helicopters…?