Red Wings update Datsyuk, Modano status

Blues cool off Red Wings 4-3
St. Louis Blues' Patrik Berglund, left, of Sweden, and Detroit Red Wings' Henrik Zetterberg, of Sweden, chase a loose puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Dec. 23, 2010, in St. Louis. Patrik Berglund broke a 10-game scoring drought with two goals to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. Berglund scored twice in a span of 4:20 in the first period to break a 1-1 tie. The win helped the Blues keep pace in the tight Western Confe...

Rep. Conyers reimburses government for son's use of official car
Michigan Rep. John Conyers said this week that he reimbursed the Federal Government for his son's use of a vehicle belonging to his congressional office. The Detroit Free Press reported that the Democrat paid the Treasury Department $5,682 for John Conyers III's use of the 2010 Cadillac Escalade hybrid, which was leased at the expense of Taxpayers. Conyers's son told Detroit police early Thanksgiving morning that the two computers and $27,000 worth of concert tickets were stolen out of the v...

Whats with the donkey in the parking lot?
By Eric Marrapodi , CNN Belief blog Co-Editor It was a brisk December night, and Little Bit, a pregnant Sicilian miniature donkey, was munching hay as little Children poked and pet her. She looked like she could go into labor at any moment there in the Parking Lot, which an Alexandria, Virginia, church was using for a live nativity scene. There was no rest for the weary. Little Bit’s schedule was packed. Most weekends, she was double-booked through Christmas Eve. On average, she and her coho...

Pilgrims, clergy come to Bethlehem for Christmas
BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- The traditional birthplace of Jesus is celebrating its merriest Christmas in years, as tens of thousands of tourists thronged Bethlehem on Friday for the annual holiday festivities in this biblical West Bank town. Officials said the turnout was shaping up to be the largest since 2000. Unseasonably mild weather, a virtual halt in Israeli-Palestinian violence and a burgeoning economic revival in the West Bank all added to the holiday cheer. By nightfall, a packed Manger Sq...

Bethlehem a symbol of peace on Christmas Eve
BETHLEHEM, Palestinian Territories — Holy Land Patriarch Fuad Twal was to offer a Christmas prayer for peace in the region in his midnight mass homily to thousands of faithful gathered in Bethlehem. “During this Christmas season, may the sound of the bells of our churches drown the noise of weapons in our wounded Middle East,” the region’s senior Catholic cleric says in the message made available ahead of the mass. The sombre tone of the address, to be given in St. Cather...

Bethlehem Celebrates Merriest Christmas in Years
(AP) BETHLEHEM, West Bank - The traditional birthplace of Jesus is celebrating its merriest Christmas in years, as tens of thousands of tourists thronged Bethlehem on Friday for the annual holiday festivities in this biblical West Bank town. Officials said the turnout was shaping up to be the largest since 2000. Unseasonably mild weather, a virtual halt in Israeli-Palestinian violence and a burgeoning economic revival in the West Bank all added to the holiday cheer. By nightfall, a packed Mang...

Pilgrims, clergy come to Bethlehem for Christmas
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) - The traditional birthplace of Jesus is celebrating its merriest Christmas in years, as tens of thousands of tourists thronged Bethlehem on Friday for the annual holiday festivities in this biblical West Bank town. Officials said the turnout was shaping up to be the largest since 2000. Unseasonably mild weather, a virtual halt in Israeli-Palestinian violence and a burgeoning economic revival in the West Bank all added to the holiday cheer. By nightfall, a packed Mang...

Bethlehem Christmas turnout largest since 2000
(12-25) 04:00 PST Bethlehem, West Bank -- The traditional birthplace of Jesus is celebrating its merriest Christmas in years, as tens of thousands of tourists thronged Bethlehem on Friday for the annual holiday festivities in this biblical West Bank town. Officials said the turnout was shaping up to be the largest since 2000. Unseasonably mild weather, a virtual halt in Israeli-Palestinian violence and a burgeoning economic revival in the West Bank all added to the holiday cheer. By nightfall...

Bethlehem sees record pilgrim crowd for Christmas
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal leads the Christmas midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem early Saturday, Dec. 25, 2010 A record number of pilgrims from around the world have gathered in Bethlehem on Christmas Day in the largest celebration this West Bank town has seen in a decade. Pilgrims were assembling around the Church of the Nativity, built on the site where tradition holds Jesus ...

James Zogby: Christmas in Bethlehem: Then and Now
The Christmas story as it is told in the West, in scripture and tradition, contains timeless elements that have shaped our culture in significant ways. As we tell it, year in and year out, the story conveys to those who listen powerful themes evoking deep feelings.  It is, at its core, a tale of a helpless child, born as an outcast, whose role became transformative in human history. Unrecognized, at first, the importance of this birth was initially only understood by the lowly of the earth, "...

Palestinian mayor presides over boom times in Ramallah
Reporting from Ramallah, West Bank — The recent groundbreaking for a new Palestinian Authority presidential headquarters here in Ramallah underscored an unprecedented building and investment boom in the West Bank city. Land prices have tripled. International hotel chains are arriving. And master-planned housing projects are underway around town to accommodate a fast-rising population. But not everyone is thrilled with Ramallah's growth. Some worry the city is becoming the Palestinians' ...

The Holy Land is on a tourism high
Pilgrims seen in the 'Grotto' at the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem - tourists from all over the world are expected to flock to Jesus' birthplace this month. Photograph: Abed Al Hashlamoun/EPA Dawn Lawrence pulls her wheeled suitcase up and down the narrow, cobbled streets of Bethlehem. Shouts of "welcome, welcome" ring out as she passes shopkeepers standing in the doors of their stores selling carved wooden biblical figures. Lawrence pays no attention to them. She has a mission: find...

Pilgrims, Clergy Come to Bethlehem for Christmas
BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- Thousands of tourists, pilgrims and clergy converged on Bethlehem on Friday as the town of Jesus' birth prepared to celebrate Christmas Eve. Boy Scout marching bands played in Manger Square, just outside the Church of the Nativity, which Christian tradition identifies as the site of Jesus' birth in a stable two millennia ago. Pilgrims lit candles inside, and Palestinian policemen deployed around the town to keep the peace. "This is where Jesus Christ was born and walked t...

Finding The Christmas Star
With Christmas Eve upon us I thought I’d offer my annual post on the origins of the Christmas Star (per astronomy) and thus offering thoughts on when he was really born. Most of us know that Christ was not really born in December or the year zero. A number of people have tried to look first to The Bible for clues about what the star did and when, then they went outside The Bible to find events fitting those clues (one of the best studies can be found here) Looking to the text of the Bible...

Legacy: Granholm commutes sentence of 1st degree murderer serving life without parole; family of victim outraged
An update on a post 2 month sold now: Detroit Free Press: Granholm should be proud of her true legacy - pushing murderers, rapists, child molesters out of jail early to save money. The Detroit Free Press was and is desperately searching for anything positive that they can call "her legacy." They did after all endorse our AWOL Governor twice. Let's ignore for now that Granholm has already formed her legacy by losing almost 1,000,000 jobs by her own admission on her watch, the bulk after her obse...

Christmas For Sinners
I think I posted something similar last year or the year before. But it is worthy of repeating. Why did God come to dwell among us? The answer is fascinating. A sin against God - even the slightest - is therefore infinite in nature. An offense demanding reparation - of infinite magnitude. But man is finite. And his sacrifices are not limitless. Oh, he may sacrifice a pig, a cow… he may even sacrifice everything he owns… all of his wealth in order to reconcile himsel...

Stranges Last Nights Top Ten Late-Night TV Jokes December 22 2010
Beep beep! Love from Strange 10. Craig Ferguson : Another big toy this year is the Singamajig. It’s just a little furry creature that sings when you squeeze it. If you can’t find one, just get your kid a Jonas Brother. 9. David Letterman : Los Angeles is having rain and rain and more rain, and it’s causing Mudslides. On the other hand, it’s nice to see L.A. Real Estate moving again. 8. Jimmy Fallon : E-mail use among Senior Citizens increased 17% last year. Or as grandki...

Merry Christmas
It's Christmas Eve already? Somehow the Holiday Season always seems to sneak up on me like a cat in the night. We typically host a Christmas Eve party, then have Christmas with the kids here, commute to my parents to have Christmas lunch with my brothers and their families, and then drive back to my in-laws for Christmas dinner and my father-in-law's birthday (he's a Christmas baby). At least that is what we do most years. This year we're dealing with earaches, sinus infections, the flu, bronc...

Steve Doocy Gets Schooled On "Happy Holidays" By Jesuit Priest
In its relentless coverage of the bogus "war on Christmas," which is really all about petulant Right Wing Christians who are upset that society no longer conforms to "Leave It Beaver" 50's norms, Fox & Friends enlisted a Catholic priest (the official Fox religion and the one that Bill Donohue wants everyone to covert to) for a discussion of - you guessed it - the "war on Christmas." I suspect that they thought that this priest would validate their we hate godless non Christian theology that belo...

Animal is the star of Bethlehem.
SOMERVILLE, N.J. - On a chilly but clear Saturday evening, a sizable crowd gathered on the lawn of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in this Somerset County town, watching a clutch of shepherds in desert robes huddle around a fire. It was the 25th performance of the church's annual Nativity play, and this year there was a much-anticipated addition. A murmur rustled through the crowd when what is arguably the play's second-most-important character, after the Baby Jesus, entered stage left. Preston...

When it all comes together, the tears fall
There's a nail sticking out of the side of the manger. We don't want to impale one of the sheep.'' The final dress Rehearsal for the Children's Christmas program revealed a crush of last-minute fixes that remained before the church's young folk would be safely transformed into angels and stars, wise men and donkeys, Mary and Joseph. Two of the three kings were swallowed up by their robes, necessitating some hurried tailoring with basting tape and safety pins. In response to a question about the...

Overnight Open Thread - Merry F'n Christmas Edition [Rajiv Vindaloo]
[I'm going to go ahead and post this so we'll have a functioning ONT. I'll add a couple more items to the end and update over the next hour. --Rajiv] Per Genghis: I'm having a PC meltdown tonight (something screwy with the BIOS). Obviously, this is God's way of telling Genghis to not take any face time away from the Baby Jesus tonight. However, being a miserable agnostic, I can safely ignore such celestial interventions and fill your screens with crap. Merry f'n Christmas everybody! Still Need...

Ready for Christmas? They Are, and They've Got 25,000 Coming.
“This is what you call a full court press,” said Brother Edward McCarthy, a Jesuit and handyman in his 70s who has been working as a jack-of-all-trades at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan for 32 years. Two days before Christmas Eve, Brother McCarthy was standing on the cathedral’s altar with his faced tilted toward heaven. Above him, one of the cathedral’s 60-odd chandeliers was being lowered through the air, carefully and haltingly toward his waiting arms. Christm

Area Churches Packed On Christmas
NEW YORK (CBS 2) - Christians around the world were enjoying quality time with their families this Christmas, and churches have been packed with worshippers commemorating the birth of Jesus, Magee Hickey reports. At the mother church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine choir sang Psalm 98 as worshippers celebrated. For some, going to this cathedral on Christmas Day is a continuation of a family tradition. For others, it’s the start of one. ...

The Glory of the Lord: Merry Christmas
Christmas has always been one of the most special days for me, not because of the great presents I’ve received or the great meals I’ve eaten, though I’ve received some great presents and eaten some great meals on Christmas Day. From early in my school days, I’ve had a great love of Christmas because I’ve loved the picture of that first Christmas. Though I love reading the Christmas story from any of the Gospels and in a number of translations, my favorite Christmas...