As of now, I’ve written nearly ten columns in this space that focus on the end of the preceding year and the start of the next one.

They have really been variations on a theme for the most part, focusing on the reflections most of us will undertake when we put three-hundred and sixty-five days in the rear view mirror, be those days bad or good and look at the coming year as either a hopeful continuation of our good fortune or a complete turn around from the bad times that we pray are behind us.

2020 of course was a different beast all together, no matter what political party you support, whether the industry you work in saw changes or not from the stress and strain of this ongoing period of discontent, the coming of a new year symbolically ushers in another chance, another opportunity to take our hardships and both our wins and losses and put them in better perspective.

What perspective to take is another matter, safe to say almost everyone in the United States has personal feelings, grudges, and concerns going forward, this year has included a great deal of unrest and sorrow, but if we leave the big stage of politics and policy aside for a moment, where does that leave us as individuals?

In my opinion, it leaves us as Human beings living together in the same society, one that has faced challenges this year with more to come and will probably never be the same again in one fashion or another.
The sense of being similar rather than different, of being of the same nation with the same basic ideals that champion values like freedom and unity is where our focus should be.

Winter was always the roughest season in most parts of the world historically, the harvest is over, the sun appears for only a few hours each day to warm us, many face weather more suited for a polar bear than a Human being and the slog till Spring seems insurmountable at times.

Nature points us to the wisdom that it is only a temporary hardship, that the sun will again draw closer to the Earth and warm her skin, that the plants will return to grow for the next harvest, that snow and ice will melt in time.

In my opinion we must do the same with our hearts, the same with our souls, use the new found year to let the ice melt around our hearts, plant the seeds of love and kinship again, to forget the year behind us that brought so much strife and move forward to hopefully better days in 2021.

This year has been hard on all of us, it’s time to let it go and unite under the banner of faith and love and kindness in all those around us, to believe better times are ahead, and never falter for one minute in the thought that we can repair the fractures and heal from a year that will go down in history.

Happy new year to all of you, let’s all do our parts to make it the best year we can.

Dear Santa,
Do you have to wear a mask when you come to my house?  What I want for Christmas is a Nintendo Switch.  Me and my family will leave you cookies and milk in case you get hungry.  You can take the cookies with you, but you cannot take the plate.  I’ll try my best to be good.  Stay safe!
Sincerely, Clara (4th Grade, Port O’Commor School)

Dear Santa,
I am thankful for any gift I receive from you.  But may I get two hundred dollars under the tree this year but if it is just a dollar that is fine too. The only thing I really want for Christmas is for my grandma to get well and stay out of the hospital.  The last one is all I want. I am already satisfied with life. I have everything in life I need.  You can tell that I am not pikey.  Sincerely, Caiden (5th Grade)

Dear Santa,
I wanted to thank you for all you have given me every year.  I hope you’re having a great time preparing for Christmas!  This year I have really been wanting LED lights to put around my room!  There are a few reasons I may want LED lights.  One, I heard that they make you fall asleep better.  Two,it can change into many different colors.  I actually don’t want that much this year!  Thank you for reading this.  Tell your elfs I said hi!
Love,Abygail (5th Grade)

Dear Santa,
This year I would like a 110 Honda dirt bike and a play station 5. If you could fit a BMX bike in there too that would be amazing.  I will leave you some cookies and milk and some carats for the raindear.
Sincerely, Madden (4th Grade)

Dear Santa,
I would like to thank you for all the presents under my tree each year.  There is only one thing that I really want for Christmas.  May I have a tiny baby turtle for Christmas.  Turtles bring me joy and happiness.  That would be a dream come true if I got a tiny baby turtle.
Love, Vanessa (5th Grade)

Christmas Is a Holiday . . . and a Holy Day

“What does the Bible say about the jolly old man we see every Christmas in malls and advertisements? The short answer, of course, is nothing,”

Pastor Jim Denison”s, co-founder of Denison Forum, analysis of Christmas comes from biblical, historical and cultural viewpoints and sheds light on the origins of our holiday traditions:

• Santa Claus—Santa was not present at the first Christmas, but he was a real person. Nicholas was a priest in Asia Minor in AD 280, who spent his life helping poor, underprivileged and mentally challenged children. He visited their homes at night disguised in a red-and-white hooded robe to leave gifts of money, clothing and food in their windows or around their fireplaces. His popularity led him to be made one of the most venerated saints all over the world, and his gift giving tradition out of love, continues.

• Candle in the Window—One of the earliest Christmas traditions was lighting candles to symbolize the coming of the Light of God. Christians often still light candles in their places of worship and put them on their windowsills at home.

• Christmas Trees—Martin Luther is credited with decorating the first Christmas tree in the 16th century. For Christians, the tree symbolizes the beauty of the world Jesus brought into being. And it also foreshadows the tree of Calvary upon which he died for us.

• Wreath—The Roman tradition symbolizing victory predates Jesus’ birth. Christmas wreaths symbolize Jesus’ victory over death.

• Poinsettia—Coming to America from Mexico in the 19th century, the beautiful red leaves of the poinsettia plant, blooming especially during our Christmas season, remind Christians of the blood of Jesus, shed on the cross for us all.

• Mistletoe—Its origins are from Medieval England where they believed it to have mystical powers of love, but to Christians, the mistletoe represents Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). He alone can bring lasting peace between nations and souls.

• Christmas Cards—These first became popular in the mid-19th century. When receiving or sending a card in the mail, by email or in person this season, Christians can stop to pray for the one on the other end and make the Christ of Christmas more real than any card ever could.

“Viewed in the right way, our Christmas traditions can connect us back to the first Christmas. As families celebrate the holidays, they can make them holy days as well, by not losing sight of the real story of Christmas,” Denison said.

DenisonForum.org

“The Way I See It” is an attempt by the columnist to enlighten readers on a subject as he views it, and does not necessarily reflect the views of this publication. (See website for links and updates.)

What’s Next for Texas?

Texas filed a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court before midnight on Monday, Dec 7, to bring a lawsuit challenging the election procedures in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin on the grounds that they violate the Constitution. Texas argued that these states violated the Electors Clause of the Constitution because they made changes to voting rules and procedures through the courts or through executive actions, but not through the state legislatures, as required by law. Additionally, Texas argued that there were differences in voting rules and procedures in different counties within the states, violating the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. Most important, Texas argued that there were “voting irregularities” in these states as a result of the above. “ Therefore, Texas is asking the Supreme Court to order the States to allow their legislatures to appoint their electors.” By Friday afternoon, 19 other States, President Trump, and over a hundred Congressmen had joined in supporting the suit. But, SCOTUS “dismissed” the suit for “Lack of Legal Standing”!

This is Legalistic Trickery from Admiralty Law (Commercial Law) to limit participation in a lawsuit for “damages” to parties that really have measurable and compensatable damages that can be “made whole” by the Court! It is a ludicrous excuse by corrupt Federal Courts infected with moral cowardice, unwilling to try cases on Constitutional Issues they are unwilling to hear and rule on. We have heard this “Lack of Standing” excuse to dismiss cases questioning the Eligibility of Barack Obama to be President because of the “natural born Citizen” clause. High-dollar DC Law Firms have used this excuse to deny access to courts to Citizen Voters and historical scholars for 13 years. If the lawyers thought they could win, they would welcome the case being brought to trial, but they know they would lose. The Proof is in the Library of Congress, the Courts would have to rule that Obama was UnConstitutional, and that would be Politically Incorrect, and unpopular with radical and violent factions in the Leftist Dem-Soc Party.

Every Citizen-Voter has “Standing” to question any Constitutional Issue on Election Integrity! Especially all those of us who have Sworn the Oath to, “Defend and Protect the Constitution of the United States against All Enemies, Foreign and Domestic.” This is an Oath Sworn, “So, help me God!” and there is no discharge or ‘Separation” from The OATH! Doubly so for us who have served in our Military, fought and bled in DC’s foreign wars, we have earned our “Standing” with “blood, sweat, and tears”. Texas and Texans who have fought hard for years to try to provide honest Elections to live Citizens who are actual residents, have plenty of “Standing” to protest fraudulent elections from unlawful “rule changes” by paid-off executive-branch officers and corrupt Activist Judges in other states! This is a Constitutional Crisis issue!

The Constitutional Crisis is now undeniable! We suffered 8 years under the intentional mismanagement and usurpation of powers by the UnConstitutional Obama Admin, that was probably elected by organized Vote Fraud by the same Soros-owned Companies that got caught this time! And we suffered a year of lies and false investigations of Trump by the Swamp before his election, and 4 years of more lies, false accusations, “Resist and Obstruction”, and out-right Sedition before this criminal vote fraud scam, organized on every level, often using the excuse of the Covid Pandemic to destroy our Constitutional Govt. Now SCOTUS will try to deny us, individually and as States, the “Standing” to protest in open Court the flagrant destruction of Original Intent, our Constitutional and Natural Rights, and honest elections? What is wrong with those arrogant Idiots in DC?

After the ruling, Colonel Allen West, a former FL congressman who has headed the Texas GOP since July, issued a response:

“The Supreme Court, in tossing the Texas lawsuit that was joined by seventeen states and 106 US congressman, decreed that a state can take unconstitutional actions and violate its own election law — resulting in damaging effects on other states that abide by the law, while the guilty state suffers no consequences. This decision establishes a precedent that says states can violate the U.S. Constitution and not be held accountable. This decision will have far-reaching ramifications for the future of our constitutional republic.”

“Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the Constitution,” he added.

This Ruling can not stand! We are rapidly approaching a, “Who will go with old Ben Milam to San Antonio?” Moment. Texians stood against Santa Ana’s overturning the Mexican Constitution of 1824, and we today damn sure will not stand for the District of Columbia overturning our US Constitution, which we officially adopted in 1845. We are Americans, we do not make good slaves, The same idealism and courage that marched from Kentucky and Tennessee, to fight and die in the Alamo. to defy the Dictator Santa Ana lives in our history and blood, in our DNA.

We the People, and the “several States”, wrote the Constitution as the Contract to create the Federal Govt and SCOTUS. If they ignore, deny, and destroy it, they destroy their mandate, their reason to exist. We can build another, better, stronger Constitutional Republic, we are still America! This Ruling excusing Massive Election Fraud will not Stand! We will make our own “Standing”.

Plastics of all shapes & sizes litter Texas Beached. -Celeste Silling

Texas beaches are a magnet for trash. Beach-goers leave their fishing line and food containers on the sand, storms bring trash from inland out to the coast, and waves and currents bring trash from the Gulf of Mexico to the shores of Texas. This trash in our waters and on our shores is known as marine debris and it is a massive problem for wildlife.

All marine debris is a problem, but certain items cause more harm than others. Plastics are possibly the most troublesome pieces of debris for a variety of reasons. They can last an incredibly long time in the ocean; plastic bags take around 20 years to fully disintegrate in the ocean, while plastic bottles take about 450 years.

Bags, bottles and other plastic items are usually colorful and lightweight, so they can float in the water without sinking to the bottom. To marine animals, this debris can look a lot like food. Turtles are famous for eating plastics thinking that they are jellyfish. You can commonly find plastics on Texas beaches with turtle bites taken out of them.

When animals eat plastic, it does a number on their digestive tract. Sharp edges cut soft tissues, injuring the creature from inside. Often, the plastics are too big or plentiful to pass through their digestive systems, so they remain inside. If enough plastics accumulate, the animal is unable to eat and digest, and so it starves.

Entanglement is an issue as well. Animals both in the water and on the beach get tangled up in fishing line, nets, or other strings-like materials and can’t escape. This prevents them from hunting or foraging and can cause cuts and infection. Fishing line in particular lasts about 600 years in the ocean and can easily tangle around the legs of birds on the beach, eventually causing death.

There are plenty of other ways that marine debris can harm animals or the ecosystem, but don’t fear! There are also plenty of ways we can help end this problem! Trash gets into the ocean from landfills, trash cans, sewers and so on, so even if you live far from the beach you can help by reducing your trash. You can bring reusable shopping bags to the store instead of using the plastic ones. You can use a reusable bottle instead of buying bottled water. You can buy products that use less plastic packaging and recycle the packaging that you do use.

You can also clean up our Texas beaches. Doing a trash cleanup either by yourself, with your family, or with a whole team can make an enormous difference for Texas wildlife. The amount of trash on a beach might seem insurmountable, but with a little time and effort we can make a huge dent. At a recent cleanup on Bolivar Peninsula, 40 volunteers picked up nearly 1000 lbs of trash in only a few hours.

Together with American Bird Conservancy and Black Cat GIS, we at Gulf Coast Bird Observatory are focused on cleaning up Texas shorelines through a new program called S.P.L.A.Sh. (Stopping Plastic and Litter Along Shorelines). This December, we are asking Texans to give a gift back to the coast and pick up marine debris while social distancing, alone or with those you can safely gather with! If you are interested in learning more about how you can participate, please contact Celeste at csilling@gcbo.org or Kelly at kmartin@abcbirds.org. We hope to see you out there! Together we can solve the problem of marine debris.