111th Congress Most Active since 1960
However history judges the 535 men and women in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate the past two years, one thing is certain: The 111th Congress made more law affecting more Americans since the “Great Society” legislation of the 1960s.

National Intelligence Director Clueless
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper was interviewed on CBS this week and during the interview had no idea of the London Terror Bombing Plot arrests that occurred the night before.

Holden warns of Homegrown Islamic Terror
"The threat has changed from simply worrying about foreigners coming here, to worrying about people in the United States, American citizens -- raised here, born here, and who for whatever reason, have decided that they are going to become radicalized and take up arms against the nation in which they were born," he said. In the last 24 months, Holder said, 126 people have been indicted on terrorist-related charges, Fifty of those people are American citizens. Holder says many of these converts to al Qaeda have something in common: a link to radical cleric Anwar Al Awlaki, an American citizen himself.

Muslim Congressman Prays for Irrelevant Borders
it’s Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), who here prays for borders to become “irrelevant.” In this clip from The Blaze from a June 2010 speech to the Network of Spiritual Progressives Conference, Ellison posits that military strength doesn’t make for safe borders, but that policies of “equity, generosity, and engagement” provide security.

FCC Gives Government Power to Regulate Web
Federal telecommunications regulators approved new rules Tuesday that would for the first time give the federal government formal authority to regulate Internet traffic, although how much or for how long remained unclear.

It’s Time to Stop the FCC Internet Czars
For the time being, it looks like the FCC will succeed in sinking its regulatory claws into the Internet. Now it’s up to Congress and the courts to put the FCC monster back in its cage and remind the self-proclaimed Internet Czars that the only powers it has are those granted to them by law.

Arabs have deep connection to the Nazi’s
The loquacious Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad likes to repeat certain rhetorical flourishes incessantly. His favorite, of course, is that Israel, which he often endearingly refers to as the “Zionist entity,” will be “wiped off the map” — or, in some more literary translations, “eliminated from pages of history.” Perhaps his second favorite rhetorical flourish, though, is asking why Palestinian Arabs should have to suffer for what Europeans did during World War II?

Penn State Student Posts Jihadist Musical Tribute
A Penn State student that has previously posted audio clips of songs praising Osama bin Laden has now published a tune in tribute to the Swedish suicide bomber, Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly. Emerson Begolly, who operates online under his nom de jihad, Asadullah Alshishani and is listed on the Penn State directory as an undergrad in the Letters, Arts and Sciences department, posted his nasheed (Islamic chant) on the infamous Ansar AlJihad forum last week – just two days after al-Abdaly’s attempted terror attack. Begolly’s song vows to “blow their heads right off their shoulders” and that “martyrdom is what I wanted best”.

Internet access is not a “civil right”
When bureaucrats talk about increasing your “access” to X, Y, or Z, what they’re really talking about is increasing their control over your lives exponentially. As it is with the government health care takeover, so it is with the newly-approved government plan to “increase” Internet “access.” Call it Webcare.

START Treaty Worrisome to Senate GOP
"To the Russians, tactical nuclear weapons are a battlefield weapon just like artillery," said Republican Senator Jon Kyl, who has been a critic of the START agreement. "Their military doctrine is to actually use those weapons." Kyl said U.S. negotiators should have used Russian interest in a new treaty on strategic weapons as leverage to get them to commit to talks on shorter-range nuclear arms. "I don't know whether it was because of a lack of direction from the commander-in-chief or poor negotiation, but one way or another we got snookered," Kyl said. "We got snookered on missile defense. ... We got snookered on tactical nuclear weapons. We got snookered on verification."

The ‘Small’ God Who Brought Heaven Down to Earth
It is for this very reason that the Christian faith which emerges from this proclamation about God’s entrance into the human condition, could build institutions and cultures aimed at concretely reverencing each and every human person from the very first moment of their existence in the womb, in all their vulnerability and potential, without regard to their ethnicity or some other accidental factor. It is the belief stipulated in that memorable passage from Ecclesiastes (3:11): “He has … set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

Latest Terror Threat in US Aimed to Poison Food
In this exclusive story, CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian reports the latest terror attack to America involves the possible use of poisons - simultaneous attacks targeting hotels and restaurants at many locations over a single weekend. A key Intelligence source has confirmed the threat as "credible." Department of Homeland Security officials, along with members of the Department of Agriculture and the FDA, have briefed a small group of corporate security officers from the hotel and restaurant industries about it.

New population count may complicate Obama bid
The 2010 census report coming out Tuesday will include a boatload of good political news for Republicans and grim data for Democrats hoping to re-elect President Barack Obama and rebound from last month's devastating elections. The population continues to shift from Democratic-leaning Rust Belt states to Republican-leaning Sun Belt states, a trend the Census Bureau will detail in its once-a-decade report to the president. Political clout shifts, too, because the nation must reapportion the 435 House districts to make them roughly equal in population, based on the latest census figures.

Census brings GOP gains
Republican-leaning states will gain at least a half dozen House seats thanks to the 2010 census, which found the nation's population growing more slowly than in past decades but still shifting to the South and West. The new numbers are a boon for Republicans, with Texas leading the way among GOP-leaning states that will gain House seats, mostly at the Rust Belt's expense. Following each once-a-decade census, the nation must reapportion the House's 435 districts to make them roughly equal in population, with each state getting at least one seat. In all, the census figures show a shift affecting 18 states taking effect when the 113th Congress takes office in 2013. Texas will gain four new House seats, and Florida will gain two. Gaining one each are Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington. Ohio and New York will lose two House seats each. Losing one House seat are Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Kansas will retain its four seats but the districts will be realigned.

Afghan sex practices concern U.S., British forces
A document released by WikiLeaks described efforts by high-ranking Afghan officials to quash reports of police officers and other Afghans arrested for "purchasing a service from a child." The leaked diplomatic cable quoted former Minister of the Interior Hanif Atmar's concern that publicity about the arrests, which involved the hiring of "dancing boys," would "endanger lives." The vast gulf between U.S. and Afghan attitudes about homosexuality and pedophilia has generated concern among U.S. advisers in Afghanistan since the American presence there began to expand.

Deputies wrangle monkeys at meth lab
The Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office is well trained and experienced in a variety of meth lab scenarios, but they entered uncharted waters Friday afternoon with the added element of four live monkeys.

Chris Christie commutes gun sentence
The Aitken’s case is a celebre among libertarians and Second Amendment fans — for good reason. In a nutshell: He bought three guns, entirely legally, when he was living in Colorado and brought them back to New Jersey with him when he moved home to be closer to his son. To make sure he had his i’s dotted and t’s crossed, he called New Jersey police for guidance on how to transport them. He had the guns in the trunk of his car, unloaded and safely locked in a case, and was allegedly en route to his new home in Hoboken when he got a call from New Jersey police asking him to drive to his mother’s home; when he arrived, the cops arrested him for possessing handguns without a permit.

Sweet-Free School Zones Established
The St. Paul school district will make all public schools "sweet-free zones" by the end of the school year.

Kansas Federalist and Shawnee Mission Times
A new format for our e-newspaper begins in December as the Shawnee Mission Times will be the news posting for all TKF local and Kansas area postings and stories. TKF will continue to serve its readers with its focus on regional/national news and commentaries.

An Invitation to Come to Church This Christmas
This Christmas Vigil or Christmas Day, make it special and start out by publicly worshiping Jesus in community. Robin, a psychotherapist and a recovering liberal, in Berkeley decided to try "church" out one Christmas eve. Beyond the music and pageantry, what moved Robin was not just being with hundreds of people but ones who loved God. Maybe some were questioning his presence or feeling abandoned. But they showed up, and that's half of life. Let God take it from there. The Church is a hospital for us sinners.

Phoenix Bishop Strips Hospital of Catholic Status Over Abortion
The local bishop has the authority over his flock in his diocese. “Unfortunately,” Bishop Olmstead said, the talks “have only eroded my confidence about their commitment” to the Church’s Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services. St. Joseph’s continues to maintain that it did nothing wrong in performing an abortion on a woman in November 2009. Bishop Olmsted declared in May that Sister McBride had incurred an automatic excommunication for her role in recommending the abortion.

The History Behind the Christmas Crib
The Christmas Crib (creche) dates back to St. Francis of Assisi. It was in 1293 that the first creche was celebrated in the woods of Greccio near Assisi, on Christmas Eve. St. Francis' idea of bringing Bethlehem into one's own town spread quickly all over the Christian world, and soon there were Christmas cribs in churches and homes. The Moravian Germans brought this custom to the United States. They called it Putz. The oldest known picture is a "Nativity scene" dating from about 380 that was a wall decoration in a Christian family's burial chamber, discovered in the Roman catacombs of St. Sebastian.

What are the "O Antiphons"?
The O Antiphons are the source of the lyrics of the Advent song "Veni, veni Emmanuel" ("Come, O come Emmanuel") written in the 400's. According to Professor Robert Greenberg of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Benedictine monks arranged these antiphons with a definite purpose. If one starts with the last title and takes the first letter of each one - Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia - the Latin words ero cras are formed, meaning, “Tomorrow, I will come.” Therefore, the Lord Jesus, whose coming we have prepared for in Advent and whom we have addressed in these seven Messianic titles, now speaks to us, “Tomorrow, I will come.” So the “O Antiphons” not only bring intensity to our Advent preparation, but bring it to a joyful conclusion.

Revival of Jesus’ Language at Oxford
The study of Aramaic has undergone a revival at Oxford, even as the effects of the war in Iraq have threatened its existence as a spoken language. Some 56 scholars are now studying language there, outpacing the number of those currently studying classical Greek.

Christmas Miracles - The Silent Night
On December 7, 1914, Pope Benedict XV suggested a temporary hiatus of the war for the celebration of Christmas. In any conversation about Christmas miracles, someone usually refers to the true story of a Silent Night during 1914 when an unlikely truce between opposing German and British forces demonstrated the true spirit of Christmas in a way unlikely to be forgotten. The last surviving veteran of the Christmas truce died in Scotland at the age of 109, but like all Christmas miracles, this one will survive those who experienced it for many years.

The Paradox Of Christmas
The gift that you have all ready been given. May we all soon realize it!

Mary, Did You Know?
Kenny Rogers and Wynonna Judd sing this version. Have a blessed Christmas!

Pope looks to St. Joseph's example for Christmas
During Sunday's Angelus prayer, Pope Benedict XVI prayed that all people might know how to read the signs of God's work in their lives just as St. Joseph did. St. Peter's Square, adorned with a towering 110-foot tall Norway spruce tree, was brimmed with people already in festive spirits as Christmas nears. Those gathered were bundled up on the unusually cold morning in Rome, a novelty that added still more to the holiday atmosphere. Before the prayer, the Pope spoke about the Gospel reading from the fourth and final Sunday of the season of Advent. In the reading, St. Matthew recounts the birth of Jesus from St. Joseph's point of view.

New evangelization calls us to permeate society with the Gospel
The new evangelization is not about proclaiming a different Gospel, but it is a call to use the modern means of communication to proclaim the ancient truths of our faith. It is also a summons to re-evangelize the Western world where so many have lost or grown tepid in their Christian faith. The new evangelization is a challenge to renew our culture by permeating every dimension of our society with the truths and principles of our Christian faith. Being a Christian is not just about “keeping the faith,” which at times may seem challenging enough. If we are truly going to embrace the Gospel of Jesus, then we must strive to share the beauty and gift of our Catholic faith with others.

Obama signs 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal
President Barack Obama signed a new law Wednesday that will allow gays for the first time in history to serve openly in America's military. And he urged those kicked out under the old law to re-enlist. Framing the issue as a matter of civil rights long denied, Obama said that "we are a nation that welcomes the service of every patriot ... a nation that believes that all men and women are created equal."

Gospel - Lk 1:46-56

46 And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48 Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 49 Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him. 51 He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. 53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. 54 He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy: 55 As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever. 56 And Mary abode with her about three months; and she returned to her own house

For a Congress that has squandered more time than any preceding legislative body on programs the American people oppose, the 11th has been the model of industry in the current lame duck session. Yesterday, Harry Reid’s Senate voted on the DREAM Act, which would have given children of illegal immigrants a fast track to legality, and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, which bans gays from openly serving in the military. Today it’s on to the START arms reduction treaty.

All of this is of course so much political posturing, paying back debts and assuaging angry constituencies, which flies in the face of the mandate the American people delivered in its midterm vote. But a bigger question is whether any of this legislation is constitutional.

An article by David Fahrentold in today’s Washington Post notes that lame duck sessions of Congress violate the spirit if not the letter of the Constitution.

For the letter of the law you need but look at the 20th Amendment, which was ratified on January 23, 1933. In essence, the amendment was meant “to kill off sessions like this—in which defeated legislators return to legislate.”

In the article Fahrentold quotes John Copeland Nagle, a University of Notre Dame legal scholar who is well versed in this obscure amendment. According to Prof. Nagle, this year’s lame duck session has enjoyed the most ambitious legislative agenda that’s ever been pursued in a lame-duck session since the 20th Amendment.

Nagle notes further that this type of far-reaching agenda “is exactly what the 20th Amendment was designed to stop.”

The need for an amendment curtailing the legislative power of outgoing lawmakers can be traced to 1801. That year, members of the Federalist party used their final days in office to help appoint a number of judges. The same problem reared its ugly head again in 1922, when President Warren Harding and lame duck Republicans attempted to ram through unpopular legislation after having been defeated.

Writes Fahrentold:
Opponents said this was un-democratic: These sessions seemed to violate the ever-popular Washington rule that ‘elections have consequences.’ Finally, Congress passed—and the states ratified—the 20th Amendment.

But the devil was in the details of the new amendment, which didn’t actually abolish lame duck sessions of Congresses. Instead the law changed the end date of Congress’s legislative term from March to early January.

“At that time,” Fahrentold writes, “it was inconceivable that lawmakers would journey back to Washington to meet for a few weeks after Thanksgiving.” Then again in 1933 air travel was still a rarity, and the jet engine was in its infancy. The article quotes Yale University law professor Bruce

Ackerman as saying:
It takes a lot of time to go from a district in Texas by train to Washington, D.C. Who’s going to schlep there?

Nowadays the answer of course is “everyone.” Which brings us current. Is it time for Congress to revisit the wording of the 20th Amendment?