LIFTED SPIRITS Federal officials joined an arson investigation at Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's church on Monday, days after an accelerant was poured around the exterior of the 2 1/2-year-old building, causing $1 million in damages. Palin, who was not at Wasilla Bible Church when the fire broke out on Friday, told FOXNews' Greta Van Susteren she visited it with her husband Todd the day after. According to her spokesman, Bill McAllister, the governor told an assistant pastor that she was sorry if the fire was connected to the "undeserved negative attention" the church has received since she became the Republican vice presidential candidate in August.m Palin reiterated that sentiment late Monday. "It's certainly a concern of mine," the Alaskan governor told Van Susteren via telephone from Juneau. "If there's anything I've done to bring negative attention to [the church], I'm sorry." A small group was inside the church when the building was ignited, but no one was injured. Asked if she was aware of any reason the church would be targeted or potential controversy, Palin recalled an insert in a bulletin for another church in Anchorage that dealt with "assistance or counseling in dealing with homosexuality."  Read On

STEPPING UP Atheists from England to the West Coast of America are stepping up their efforts this year to make a bigger antagonistic splash on the Christmas scene. From London and Washington, D.C., buses to Colorado billboards, skeptics are skewering religions with little respect to the adherents of the religions. At the forefront is a group's government-sanctioned posting of a sign by a Nativity scene in the Capitol of Washington state (and now also in Wisconsin and Illinois): "At this season of THE WINTER SOLSTICE may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds." I am a patriot, and I believe that atheists are free to believe, speak and post whatever they want. This is America, and that's their First Amendment right. But to do so with harassment and hatred under the guise of free speech is despicable. An anti-religious poster filled with spite is in no way equal to a religious symbol, such as a Nativity scene. Where are the political correctness police when religious followers are the victims? If such words were written against any social minority group, protests would be ubiquitous. But anti-religious bigotry is in vogue these days. Still, there is absolutely no justification for these atheists' written revile. And if they want to keep using hate-filled language against theists -- particularly Christians -- then they shouldn't be surprised when they meet up with a yuletide (written)

Document covers everything from suggested executive orders and presidential memorandums to legislative changes. Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice America and more than 50 of their pro-abortion allies have laid out their priorities for the incoming president in a 55-page memo. They reportedly were not happy when President-elect Barack Obama made the memo public on his Web site. The document covers everything from suggested executive orders and presidential memorandums to legislative changes and regulatory initiatives. "This document is really a road map to what we call the Obama abortion agenda, and it’s a very radical agenda," said Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee. "Regrettably, Obama has voted for a lot of these policies in the past or he’s endorsed them during his presidential campaign, so I’m afraid this wish list is likely to be well-received."  Read On

Christmas Books Good books are especially good to give as gifts to the proverbial "man who has everything" because he (or she) may not have heard of a new book that fits their interests. Good new books are one of the few good things about this past year. Here are some books that could make fine gifts, obtainable painlessly without battling crowds at the mall-- or even in the bookstores, if you order on-line. The most outstanding political book of 2008 has been "Liberal Fascism" by Jonah Goldberg. It shoots to pieces the prevailing ideas of who is on "the left" and who is on "the right." It can become especially relevant in the coming year, if the new administration goes further with the government interventions in the economy begun by the outgoing administration-- the kind of economic policies that were at the heart of fascism. Read On

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