Of course this is only possible using the 12 hour clock when we’re doing this in the afternoon, but by 1:11 am I was asleep.

Happy 1:11 (pm) on 1/1/11.

It’ll be more fun on Veterans’ Day when it’s 11:11 on 11/11/11.

Happy New Year!

Wishing all (2) of my readers a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year!

MSNBC brings us a story about seat belts and school buses.

Ashley Brown, 16, and Alicia Bonura, 18, both of Beaumont, Texas, died March 29, 2006. They were on a bus carrying their West Brook High School soccer team when it overturned near Devers, Texas, on its way to a playoff game in Humble.

Their friend Allison Forman was among the 21 injured in the bus accident. Allison’s dad, Steve, and Ashley’s dad, Brad think that if the bus had been safer, their children wouldn’t be dead or injured.

So they successfully lobbied for a state law in Texas to mandate seat belts in all school buses. Ashley and Alicia’s Law.

But there aren’t seat belts in the buses. The Texas Education Agency hasn’t put them in because the state legislature has reduced the necessary funding by two thirds.

I feel for Ashley and Alicia’s families. I feel for the teens that were injured and their families. But mandating  seat belts in buses isn’t the answer.

As the story states, buses are very safe vehicles. The smaller, special needs buses will have seat belts for two reasons, one is that the smaller buses are categorized like cars and second because special needs students may require a belt or harness to ensure the child stays in his or her seat.

I’ve put children on both types of buses. I’ve ridden on the large buses as an adult, when going on a field trip with my son’s second grade class.  The article correctly describes the seats and arrangement of the seats on a school bus. The article also brings these statistics:

About 440,000 public school buses carry 24 million children more than 4.3 billion miles a year, but only about six children die each year in bus accidents, according to annual statistics compiled the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. About 800 children, by contrast, die every year walking, biking or being driven to school in cars or other passenger vehicles, said Ron Medford, the agency’s deputy director.

Adding seat belts to buses could cost anywhere from $8,000 to $15,000 per bus and belts don’t work on buses the way they do in cars. Even seat belts in cars don’t work for children the way they do for adults which is why car seats are mandated for children.

Even on municipal buses, which don’t have the seating arrangement or padding of school buses, one doesn’t think twice about the fact that there is no seat belt.

So, while I am sorry about the loss of life and injuries in that bus accident, the costs far outweigh the benefits.

Luke 2: 10-11

¹⁰And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

KJV

Merry Christmas to all!

A beautiful Christmas song:

Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
That your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you’ve delivered
Will soon deliver you

Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know
That your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little baby
You’ve kissed the face of God

Mary, did you know?
The blind will see
The deaf will hear
The dead will live again
The lame will leap
The dumb will speak
The praises of the lamb

Mary, did you know
That your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know
That your baby boy is heaven’s perfect lamb?
This sleeping child you’re holding
Is the great I AM

(buddy greene, mark lowry)

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

It came upon a midnight clear
That glorious song of old
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harp of gold

Peace on earth, good will to men
From heaven’s all gracious King
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing

Still through the cloven skies they come
With peaceful wings unfurled
And still their heavenly music floats
O’er all the weary world

Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing
And ever o’er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing

For lo! The days are hastening on
By prophet barbs foretold
When with the ever circling years
Comes round the age of gold

When peace shall overall the earth
Its ancient splendors fling
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.

Previous:

Santa Claus, Santa Claus You Are Much Too Fat
The Little Drummer Boy
Joy To The World
I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
O Come All Ye Faithful
We Three Kings
O Holy Night
Angels We Have Heard on High, Gloria
Carol of the Bells/God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
White Christmas

White Christmas

(The Incomparable Bing Crosby – from Holiday Inn)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vPfOjAw5Z0
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten,
and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snowI’m dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white

Previous:
Santa Claus, Santa Claus You Are Much Too Fat
The Little Drummer Boy
Joy To The World
I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
O Come All Ye Faithful
We Three Kings
O Holy Night
Angels We Have Heard on High, Gloria
Carol of the Bells/God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

NORAD is continuing its 55 year tradition of tracking Santa‘s progress across the globe on Christmas Eve.

Santa

NORAD also has audio files of Virginia’s letter to the editor asking if Santa is real and the Editor’s response. Click on Santa to go to NORAD’s page on Santa.

While you’re there, take a look around, there’s a lot of information about Santa and NORAD’s history with Santa there.

Trans Siberian Orchestra’s mash up of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Carol of the Bells

Santa Claus, Santa Claus You Are Much Too Fat
The Little Drummer Boy
Joy To The World
I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
O Come All Ye Faithful
We Three Kings
O Holy Night
Angels We Have Heard on High, Gloria

Angels We Have Heard on High (Gloria in Exelsis Deo)

Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly sounding o’er the plains
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains

Gloria, in excelsis Deo! Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Shepherds why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heavenly song?

Gloria, in excelsis Deo! Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Come to Bethlehem and see
Christ whose birth the angels sing
Come adore on bended knee
Christ the Lord, the newborn King!

Gloria, in excelsis Deo! Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

See Him in the manger laid
Whom the choirs of angels praise;
Mary, Joseph lend your aid,
While our hearts in love we raise

Gloria, in excelsis Deo! Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Previous:

Santa Claus, Santa Claus You Are Much Too Fat
The Little Drummer Boy
Joy To The World
I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
O Come All Ye Faithful
We Three Kings
O Holy Night

O Holy Night

video h/t Caoilfhionn

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here came the wise men from Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our Friend!
He knows our need-to our weakness is no stranger.
Behold your King; before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King; before Him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy Name!
Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

Santa Claus, Santa Claus You Are Much Too Fat
The Little Drummer Boy
Joy To The World
I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
O Come All Ye Faithful
We Three Kings