Nation’s Oldest Military Veteran Dead at 112

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America’s oldest veteran, Richard Overton, who served in the Army during World War II and credited God, whiskey and cigars for his remarkable longevity, died Thursday in Texas at the age of 112, reports say.

He had been hospitalized for the last week with pneumonia, his family said.

Shirley Overton, whose husband was Richard’s cousin, said the vet died Thursday evening at a rehab facility in Austin.

Overton, who was also thought to be the oldest living American, was born in 1906 in Bastrop County, just outside Austin, Texas.

Overton was in his 30s when he volunteered for the Army, and was at Pearl Harbor just after the Japanese surprise attack in 1941. (Read more from “Nation’s Oldest Military Veteran Dead at 112” HERE)

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Former Walmart Santa Claus Charged After Two of His Children Found Buried in His Backyard

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By Daily Wire. A Georgia man who was formerly employed as a Walmart Santa Claus has been charged in connection to the discovery of his two teenaged children found buried in his backyard.

On December 19, authorities responded to a welfare check on 14-year-old Mary Crocker at the home of Elwyn Crocker Sr., her father. Mary had been missing since October, though no official missing person’s report was filed.

Information provided by Elwyn Sr. during an interview with officials eventually led officers to the bodies of Mary and her brother Elwyn Crocker, Jr., who was last seen some two years ago. Like Mary, no official missing person report was filed for the boy, either. . .

Elwyn Sr., who turned 50 on Christmas Day, was working in close proximity to area children until recently, working as a Santa Claus at a Walmart in Rincon. He’s been charged with cruelty to children in the first degree and concealing the death of another, according to the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office. (Read more from “Former Walmart Santa Claus Charged After Two of His Children Found Buried in His Backyard” HERE)

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Walmart Santa Elwyn Crocker Charged After Kids Are Found in His Yard

By NY Post. A Walmart Santa was busted in connection with the deaths of his two kids — who were recently discovered buried in his Georgia back yard.

The remains of Elwyn Crocker Jr., a 14-year-old who vanished two years ago, and his sister Mary, 14, who was last seen in October, were unearthed in the small farming town of Guyton last week, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Deputies searching the home on a tip were led to the graves by the kids’ dad, Elwyn Crocker Sr., who turned 50 on Christmas, and until recently worked as a Santa at a store in Rincon.

His wife and the kids’ stepmother, Candice Crocker, 33, her mother, Kim Wright, 50, and Wright’s boyfriend, Anthony Prater, 55, were also collared on charges of concealing a death and child cruelty. They remain in Effingham County jail without bond. (Read more from “Walmart Santa Elwyn Crocker Charged After Kids Are Found in His Yard” HERE)

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Internet Exploded at Trump for Christmas Eve Call to Young Child. But Her Parents Tell a Different Story.

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. . .Speaking with Collman Lloyd — a 7-year-old girl from Lexington, South Carolina — on Christmas Eve from the White House, a video, which quickly went viral, showed the president asking Collman if she still believes in Santa Claus — but it was his follow-up statement, which implied Santa is not real, that incited criticism and accusations that Trump had “ruined” Christmas. . .

Instead, Collman’s father — 40-year-old Donald J. Lloyd — told BuzzFeed News that he would use similar language to speak to his daughter about Santa Claus. He also said he believes Trump’s remarks have been “blown out of proportion and unfairly politicized,” according to BuzzFeed.

“I think it’s crazy it became a big deal. It’s Christmastime. I’d love to keep politics out of Christmas,” Donald said. “It didn’t bother me — I like to talk to my kids like adults.” . . .

In the end, both parents appreciated how Trump treated their daughter. At first, they thought she was speaking with a pre-recorded message, then they realized Collman was actually speaking with the president.

“He said, ‘Happy Christmas … It was great speaking to you, Collman … Please tell [your family] I wish them a happy Christmas,'” Erica explained. “It made her Christmas.” (Read more from “Internet Exploded at Trump for Christmas Eve Call to Young Child. But Her Parents Tell a Different Story.” HERE)

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Pro-Lifers Save Two Babies by Singing Christmas Carols Outside Abortion Centers

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Pro-life advocates singing Christmas carols outside abortion facilities saved at least two lives from abortion this past weekend.

In Wood Dale, Illinois, a woman left the abortion facility where pro-life carolers were signing and came to tell them she and her boyfriend decided to keep their baby.

Similarly in Orange, California, a woman who had been moved by the caroling came out of the Planned Parenthood there, telling pro-lifers she had decided to keep her child.

Pro-lifers were able to get the Illinois couple to a local pregnancy center and give them a gift of baby booties for their child, according the Pro-Life Action League, and the California woman was also directed to a local pregnancy center and given a baby sweater for her child on the way. . .

“The fifth annual Peace in the Womb caroling day was a great success,” Pro-Life Action League Assistant Communications Director Matthew Yonke told LifeSiteNews. “With 96 locations nationwide, we brought the message of Christmas hope to abortion facilities from New York to California and all points between.” (Read more from “Pro-Lifers Save Two Babies by Singing Christmas Carols Outside Abortion Centers” HERE)

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Catholic Senior Living Center Bans Residents From Saying ‘Merry Christmas’

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A senior living center in Chehalis, Washington has banned its residents from saying “Merry Christmas” or displaying any Christmas cards or decorations with any religious significance in common areas.

The trouble started when the building manager at Providence Place in Chehalis told a Christian resident she could not say “Merry Christmas” or hang Christmas cards with religious symbols on her doorframe because the center receives funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. . .

“Americans don’t lose their constitutionally protected freedom to say ‘Merry Christmas’ or otherwise express their faith just because they live in a facility that accepts government funds,” ADF Senior Counsel Matt Sharp said in a statement. “No HUD rule requires senior living centers that accept federal resources to deny their residents the ability to celebrate Christmas with religious songs and symbols.” . . .

“When decorating the common areas and exterior of your community, think festive not religious,” the letter reads.“Greenery, colored lights, snowmen, and snowflakes all convey the festive atmosphere without alluding to a specific religion.”

In a copy of the letter obtained by The Federalist, Newman specifically claims the ban on religious-themed decor is a directive from HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. In two subsequent letters sent to residents on December 7 and December 12, two of Providence Place’s directors said that while the nonprofit senior living center is Catholic, it cannot allow residents to display anything that is “specifically religious in nature.” (Read more from “Catholic Senior Living Center Bans Residents From Saying ‘Merry Christmas'” HERE)

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Lawyer Tallies up All of MacCauley Culkin’s Crimes in ‘Home Alone 2,’ Figures out His Jail Sentence

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. . .The anonymous lawyer, known as The Secret Barrister, declares that Kevin, played by MacCauley Culkin, commits numerous crimes, as do his parents and others in the movie.

The lawyer lays the ground rules, saying he or she will consider “how the adventures of Kevin McAllister might have been different had he, his family and his adversaries been subject to the jurisdiction of the law of England and Wales.” He follows with a brief synopsis of the plot: “In Home Alone, Kevin’s family flew to Paris for Christmas and forgot him. Oops.”

(Read more from “Lawyer Tallies up All of MacCauley Culkin’s Crimes in ‘Home Alone 2,’ Figures out His Jail Sentence” HERE)

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TV Guide Warns Readers About Christian Actor Chris Pratt’s ‘Problematic’ Offscreen Life

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One of the few Hollywood stars that conservatives feel actually sees the world from a similar point of view is “Guardians of the Galaxy” star Chris Pratt, who is willing to openly criticize aspects of liberal culture and proclaim his faith in God, while managing to never come off as self-righteous or self-serving. So, perhaps it’s no surprise that TV Guide would feel compelled to write a hit-piece on Pratt warning its readers about his “problematic life offscreen” that is sure to offend their (presumably left-wing) sensibilities, including that he once mocked “outrage culture.”

The Pratt hit-piece is a part of a regrettable series of articles called “12 Days of Chris-Mas,” which highlights twelve actors named Chris over twelve days, leading up to “the best Chris” on Christmas. Or something. Despite all of his supposed “problems,” Pratt comes in at number 5. Even the tweeted caption promoting the piece includes the anti-Pratt angle, suggesting fans should feel guilty about loving Pratt (h/t Twitchy): . . .

So what exactly are those “problematic aspects” of his personal life? Well, for one, he tried to give his aging cat away. Seriously.

For instance, animals: In 2011, Pratt apparently tried to give his family’s aging cat away via Twitter, though he later gave an explanation (future children) and said the cat eventually found a good home. (Five years later, there was also a bizarre tabloid story about Pratt and then-wife Anna Faris’ attempt to rehome the family’s dog.)

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Adding fuel to this particular fire is the fact that Pratt, an avid hunter who has often spoken about his love of hunting, currently raises lambs on his farm. The enthusiastic tone he took when speaking about “eating fresh farm-to-table lamb” in an Instagramvideo earlier this year — “They are the happiest lambs on the planet, they are so sweet and then one day they wake up dead and they’re in my freezer” — sparked backlash from a number of fans, and not just those who are vegetarians or vegans. The next day, Pratt posted a photo of several pieces of fresh lamb meat and even compared said lamb’s death to something as easy or trivial as “unplugging a TV.”

(Read more from “TV Guide Warns Readers About Christian Actor Chris Pratt’s ‘Problematic’ Offscreen Life” HERE)

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Activists Suggest the Next James Bond Should Be TRANSGENDER

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Activists — including high-profile British actor Dominic West — are encouraging the producers of the popular James Bond franchise to abandon 007’s traditional roots and cast a transgender individual as the next Bond.

Speaking to the Sunday Times of London, West claimed that there are enough transgender individuals in the UK’s military to justify making the next MI6 agent male-to-female (or female-to-male).

“They should have a transgender Bond because there are a lot of transgender people in the army. That’s actually a brilliant idea,” West said. . .

Activists probably won’t get their way anytime soon, however. Bond’s longtime producers, the Broccoli family, have often bristled at the thought of deliberately changing Ian Fleming’s signature character. The series’ executive producer, Barbara Broccoli, unequivocally ruled out the idea of a female Bond earlier this year.

Instead, viewers can expect a more “modern Bond” — but only up to a point. The character was written in the 1950s, and modeled on Fleming himself. Since the spy stories have an element of biography to them, Bond will probably always stay as toxically masculine as he currently is. (Read more from “Activists Suggest the Next James Bond Should Be TRANSGENDER” HERE)

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Deaths From Alcohol Overuse Continue to Climb

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Alcohol misuse accounted for 35,823 deaths in 2017, an increase of nearly 46 percent over almost two decades, according to a Washington Examiner analysis of mortality data.

The data, which come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, show that alcohol-related deaths have climbed steadily from the 19,469 deaths recorded in 1999. Deaths from misusing alcohol did not decline at any time since that period, and they included not only alcohol poisonings but also alcoholic liver disease and cirrhosis. They do not include deaths from accidents people have while they are drinking, because in these instances, the cause of death would be drowning, a car accident, or a fall.

Deaths from such heavy drinking patterns are contributing to the lower life expectancy trend that has been observed in the U.S. in recent years, an issue compounded by opioid overdose deaths and suicides. These alcohol deaths are still lower than those caused by opioids such as heroin, which were responsible for 47,600 deaths in 2017, and suicides, which accounted for 47,173 deaths. When combined with deaths from accidents where people have been drinking, however, they climb to 88,000 deaths a year, federal reports show. . .

It’s unclear what is behind the factors driving lower life expectancy. Scholars have dubbed the phenomenon “deaths of despair,” noting mortality is rising particularly among whites in rural areas who have no more than a high school education. Princeton economists and spouses Anne Case and Angus Deaton have raised the possibility that deaths are tied to mental health issues, economic uncertainty, and physical pain. . .

In recent years, the statistics show that alcoholic liver disease has been primarily responsible for the increases in chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, according to the CDC. But with alcohol poisoning data, sometimes opioids or another drug such as Valium are also involved as contributing to the death, even though alcohol is considered the underlying factor, the CDC has said. (Read more from “Deaths From Alcohol Overuse Continue to Climb” HERE)

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Two Female Christian Artists Could Be JAILED for Not Creating Art for Same-Sex Weddings

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Two female Christian artists in Arizona who refuse to make custom-art for same sex weddings could actually be jailed for sticking to their religious beliefs.

Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski , who own Brush & Nib Studio, make custom artwork using painting, calligraphy and handlettering. They filed suit against the city of Phoenix, as a Phoenix city ordinance threatens them with up to six months and/or a fine of $2,500 each day they refuse to make the artwork. First the women filed in state court to overturn the ordinance, but lost in a court of appeals, prompting them to appeal to the state’s Supreme Court, which said on November 20 it would hear the case. . .

The petition added, “Their Christian beliefs forbid them from creating ‘custom artwork that conveys messages condoning, supporting, or participating in activities or ideas that violate their religious beliefs. For example, they cannot create artwork expressing messages that ‘contradict biblical truth, demean others, endorse racism, [or] incite violence.’”

ADF senior counsel Jonathan Scruggs stated at the time the state Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, “The government must allow artists to make their own decisions about which messages they will promote. Joanna and Breanna are happy to design custom art for anyone; they simply object to being forced to pour their heart, soul, imagination, and talent into creating messages that violate their conscience.” . . .

The brief filed by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and other state attorneys general states, “A government simply cannot force a citizen to engage in or endorse expression. … [Phoenix] must not be allowed to force artists to create customized expressions contrary to their moral, religious, or political beliefs, even if such work is paid for by the one requesting it.” (Read more from “Two Female Christian Artists Could Be JAILED for Not Creating Art for Same-Sex Weddings” HERE)

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