i don't want to hear that word poets name, but that's what it is. i'm in 2013. my all, our family dog, my brother, who is 21 years old, myself and my father were all dying with rob rob, jeff rob with a good player. right? yeah, yeah. maybe they'll actually learned that our help is more important in a the, the annual cultural and commercial phenomenon to celebrate the birth of the center figure of christianity is upon us. that even though christians still try and

maintain the religious elements of christmas, with reminders of the nativity over time, many of the traditions and practices had become so secular. the most tourists elements have little to no reference to the reason for the holiday. and while christians have allowed the holiday to become more non religious throughout history, all in hopes of encouraging inclusiveness. so the celebration would not be made illegal. the origin of christmas being the birth of jesus christ is still enough for many to say they are offended by anything which has to do with the holiday so much so they want jesus, the virgin mary and santa the next target to be cancelled on sky. no huge on today's news, a huge, huge here on our t america. we're going to look at the latest war on christmas. and sadly, how the current post pandemic environment is actually aiding in that fight. but those of christian faith are not taking this attack lately, including the church who see christmas as not the only day where christianity is

under attack. this is violence against those of christian faith. it's becoming more common in countries where christianity has previously been accepted all around the world. but as christians are having to fight for their survival in other countries here in america, if not violence, which is causing major damage to the christian church. rather, it's the ability for the church to keep their lights on and the doors open as church tax deductions are being limited by the u. s. government, unless they comply with certain social standers is it. this is separation of church and state, which thomas jefferson warned about his letter. it wasn't about the churches influencing government. rather, it was a warning about the government influencing the church too bad. they did not put that in the constitution. lots of discuss it, have a great group of people to give us a full picture. let's get started. ah, welcome to our special christmas edition of news use use. so to begin,

christmas did not escape the supply chain was and labor shortages. we have seen across this country due to the pandemic. natasha suite starts us off telling us how there is a shortage on christmas this year. looks like christmas in short supply this season from tree to santa claus. you might have a hard time filling your christmas spirit the season. some families might not be rocking around a christmas tree this holiday season as supply chains are impacting more than just what you see in the store shelves will be sold out before christmas. reports are showing christmas tree buyers are going to have less trees for trimming this year. we went to meadows farms nursery to speak with the vice president ron meadows, due to the tree shortage. he does have the inventory of years past. yeah, unfortunately we do have a shortage trees this year. my order was cut by about 30 or 30 percent from what i wanted to have and the prices. yup. they are going to be higher than the chimney.

tops. trees have definitely gone up in prices in the last 4 years. our cost is triple. when it comes to real trees, 2 of the nation's largest growers took a hit due to the west record breaking high temperatures and wildfires on the east coast demand is also taking trees off the shelf sooner. i grow white pine scotch, fine notice bruce and red cedar air. we spoke with ricky who bark, who owns country loving christmas tree farm in virginia, the demand is higher for real trees than it's ever been. and a lot of my competition, my local farmers have shut down their all subdivisions. now they've been scraped. and so there's a lot fewer farms. it's christmas tree farm has no problem selling trees. people have been coming out in droves, even during the pandemic, for an excuse to get out of the house over at meadows farms. nursery, they said the same thing was crazy. we were in a central business and we were open for customers and they wanted to get out of their houses. they've filled up the nurseries. we had lines out the doors has been

amazing finding people to sell them. that's yet another issue. a 100 percent of our advertising for help wanted. we sell more than we have, so i don't need this advertise for for business. i'm just me oversized, for labor at on labor shortages and higher trucking prices. no matter if your tree is real or fake, expect to pay about 30 percent more this year. and shopping early is advised by farmers as there are only so many trees, and companies and brewers are expecting to run out more more customers. and they're buying earlier than ever, and they all want that $78.00 foot tree that's just not available. and white box warning isn't just for this year, but next year to buy trees early next year. no, wait till thanksgiving. you want to get to a tree. there's a luke and before definitely by black friday, the inventory is going to be really low. next year. some people are turning to artificial trees, but those are falling victim to supply chain issues as well as supply chain has

definitely been challenging for the artificial christmas tree market. we have to bring our products over from our factories and that has been very challenging. you might have heard about the situation at the ports or the lack of truckers, all of that has impacted us. which means that we have fewer trees to sol as an industry. but it's not just the smell of evergreen wafting through the air that might be missing from your yearly tradition. you might be hard pressed to come by to this year. just another effect at the pandemic wreaking havoc on employee shortages. according to reports from cnn and average working santa is in their mid sixty's and overweight making them at the most at risk for kroner virus. they santa's aren't sitting up this year because they are still not comfortable to be working as a result of the pandemic. an enrollment in santa schools are down. oh yes, this is a real thing. santa school enrollment was down during the pandemic, so there are less train standards available to be book i'm. i'm big. this center

school in the u. k. has class is showing perspective next. how, what talk and even take pictures like thing into all that was good with people coming out from their locked downs. apparently, there is more than ever before the pandemic for a life theater at your next holiday event. and i was just absolutely kicked off. so we've had to recruit more and more centers. i think we've got about 2530 new santos onto the, onto the book this year. who are doing multiple booking, sometimes separate book and as a day that might go into a public appearance or show. and then return home and do a few from the north pole, from the comfort of their own sofa. the founder for hire santa dot com has seen a 121 percent increase in interest for santa, at an event this year. and it's not just any jolly old man with a white beard. you need your standard to don. the kind of red suit which yes, as you may have guessed, is also in short supply. if you're looking to have

a very merry christmas, it's better to buy a book early for your festivities as we are seen, a short supply on christmas this year, or 14 for new you tube and how sweet our t. okay, after that report you can be sure that atocha is on santa's nice list, but you can also watch the full report that she did on other exclusive content on our portal dot tv app. thanks for joining us. now the head of the catholic church has been accused of being too lenient when it comes to some issues of faith. however, when christmas is in question, the pontiff has showed his teeth. po francis has come on defense and the much loved holiday. and he is taking a europe head on our to document how has the story ah, he's a man of faith and humility. name ethel at that. mary immaculate and does not look on herself equal leads that this is true. humility. no, not looking on one south,

but looking toward god, but v and other yes, but when it comes to defending christmas, pope francis does not mix words. last week in italian daily leaked an internal communication of the european commission, the 30 page document titled union of equality told member states to avoid assuming that everyone is christian, especially during the christmas holidays. the document also advised that members of the commission avoid using the word christmas and instead use holidays. it also went so far as to suggest against using names that are typically from one religion . substituting maria and john with malika and julio. when the pope got wind of the european commissions guidelines, he didn't hold back, the head of the catholic church lashed out against the document, comparing it to the actions of historic dictatorships. frances also warned against idea logical colonization. when you were addressing journalists on the claim,

returning to the vatican from a trip to cyprus. earlier this week, the pope was quoted as saying in history, many, many dictatorships have tried to do this kind of thing. i think of napoleon make up the nazi dictator general the communist one. it is something that throughout history hasn't worked to the 84 year old catholic leader also said the following. when they release me all day, i think of the big populism of the past century, like naziism or not see them with a point of populism that define national value. so the said and it managed to destroy democratic life and also the death of people to annihilate and become a violent dictatorship. according to a transcript of his comments put, francis denounced what he called water down secularism, and urge to you to reflect on the ideals of its founders. the pontiff also warned about blanket policies that go against the diversity member country. he said,

the european union must respect each country's internal structure, its variety, and not try to make them uniform because he added that democracy is weakened with national values are sacrificed watered down toward an empire kind of super national governments. want to come up to the european commission abruptly retracted the document, has also provided suggestions on how to address gender and sexual orientation. the 30 page guide was highly criticized by both the vatican and many right. leaning politicians in europe, according to european commission officials, the document was a work in progress, and they are promising to publish an updated version for use these use. alice my love. okay, so let's discuss in more detail and bring in our expert on all things christmas. yes, we are giving you that title tumble and has to the tom all and talks freedom podcast and also authored an anti state christmas welcome. thank you so much for joining us on this. great to be here. thank you. i know it takes

a lot to be the king of chris is the expert on christmas for our show. so i'm going to hold you to a high standard on this one. if not, i will put you on the nautilus. that's how it goes. but when it comes down to it, there's always been, even for me growing up, there was always this idea of a war on christmas. so do you feel like there really is one? and i want to know who exactly is waging it? well, you know, whenever politics is involved in anything, it always goes downhill. and in this case we're talking about the left side of the political spectrum. they've just always had a hostility towards religion. and you know, since the french for revolution, historical hostility towards christianity and it's just the same drill over and over and over again. we're always going to create utopia, we're going to tear down all the statues, rename all the streets. i'm the phil waiting is next year, going to be year 0 again, and we're going to start all over. you know, there's just as hostility towards all things civilization. there's times one

certain institutions need to be torn down. obviously like slavery had to go. but for the most part, long standing institutions are there because they work. and you know, you don't have to believe in god or jesus christ, but don't replace it with with the government is your religion because that's, that's the worst one. but here's the thing. town, you know, you look even here in d. c, there's no actual activity up on capitol hill right now. there was actually, there was allowed to be a min or there were other signs during different holidays that they do talk about. the majority of those in congress, however, are christian. they belong to the christian church and they were saying, even in america today, that we're having this idea of christ being removed, this holiday being removed. and yet the majority of the religion in this country is christian and therefore they are not sticking up forces. this is not something that the church is bringing on themselves basically because they're sitting in silence and why are they quiet? well, we've got this whole idea from the progressive movements that the 1st amendment

means that religion is supposed to be banned from the public square or you make a good point. you could put other religions there. and i suppose what they would say is we're recognizing different cultures and that's fine. or why? why isn't christianity part of a culture in august, especially the one that founded the united states? you know, the 1st amendment doesn't mean that when they say that congress has no power to make a law establishing religion, they mean that it can't make a national religion. and the reason that they wanted that in the bill of rights was because at the time the bill of rights was ratified, 3 of the states had state religions and they didn't want competition. they didn't want the national government or the federal government should say to override the state governments in establishing a religion. now, i certainly don't want a state or even a town religion, but it does not mean that you can't say god, anywhere on public property. that's just ludicrous on that's why i laugh at those.

it's a, you know, the separation church of states in the constitution. i go ok, maybe you need to listen to civics and a little bit more when your elementary school, if it was even tied to that it's not technically, there was a part of a letter that was always starting. the supreme court has cited it within their cases, but it's not actually a law that's been voted on. but tom, here's the other thing that i have to wonder because if you look at all the other holidays in our country, we can look at, you know, east or i do believe that they made it cute and cuddly with a bunny. they forget that it was actually a christian holiday to celebrate the resurrection. i in this idea holowitz is one i, we just finished celebration the 1st of the season. nobody ever talked about being offended by halloween and yet hollowing it is a holiday that mainly comes of murder and mass, and demons and death is kind of what hollowing focus is on a christmas. anything christmas can offend. why can't, why is it not equal across the board? why are they saying actually, so might say that halloween is a part of a religious celebration of one sec. so why is anybody ever offended by other

holidays except for christmas? well, i don't want to get them after hollowing because i think halloween, a lot of thought can be fun, but nobody's ever offended by yet. it's demons and death in bringing held earth is kind of what it is, a lot of cases and nobody ever said right offensive to me are very few do. well, i mean the word hallo being st. it's the medieval word for saying. so it's all labeled all saints day. right. so you know, yeah, it grows out of medieval superstitions that before the saints trial, you know there's going to be demons and witches and, and whatever. but yeah, of course they, they probably don't know that that's the reason they haven't attacked holloway and yet nobody knows the word means said what the get out of the bag and maybe that one's nashville. well, we will find out tom, i want you to stay with me cuz i want you to hear ortiz at leslie patters report on the rise and hate crimes are happy against christians in europe and ask you about it afterwards. it was called an arson. ah, just days ago,

a christmas tree in front of fox news headquarters in manhattan was set on fire by a 49 year old man. while sites like this are unusual in the u. s. according to the organization for security and cooperation in europe, attacks against christians and all thing christian are becoming more common on that continent. the o. s. c. e. 's office for democratic institutions and human rights reported that from 20192020 attacks against christians rose by 70 percent in europe in total, out of $4008.00, so called descriptive cases of intolerance and discrimination. 980 were hate crimes against christian, more than any other religious group on that continent. hate crime reporting includes physical assaults, against christians, and murders, as well as graffiti and vandalism, against places of worship, the desecration of cemeteries in arson attacks against churches. for example, frances witness arise and arson attacks against churches and in scotland. churches had gone so far as to tap into a hate crime fun to improve security measures. according to the

o. s. c. e. hate crimes against christians are influenced by a number of factors including the minority or majority status in a given territory. the level of recognition of a particular religious group in a given country or political and media focus on these groups at a particular moment. the organization flex data from states, government statistics, civil society international organizations, including the you and hcr and o. s. c, e, 's missions, b o, d i h r database which is updated annually. it's considered the largest of its kind worldwide. another organization which monitors religious freedom named the observatory of intolerance and discrimination against christians in europe or oh, idea, see believes the number of hate crimes against christians are much higher than what the o. s. e has reported. the group says that under a dozen countries in europe report data related to hate crimes against christian and that of the $136.00 civil society organizations that provide simila data. only 8 consistently reported incidents against christians. the o. s. c e o d. i h r,

which is behind the latest report defines hate crimes as criminal acts motivated by bias or prejudice towards particular groups of people. they comprise 2 elements, a criminal offense, and they buys motivation. a hate crime has taken place when a perpetrator has intentionally targeted an individual or property because one or more identity traits or express hostility towards these identity traits during the crime. the o. s. c has called he crimes born as such, accede fears of violence to individuals and communities for news of youth youth. i'm leslie patter. ok, so tom, we've talked previous felicia about crushes basically being targeted and we know exterminated in many middle eastern and asian countries. but now we're seeing these attacks happening in europe. so do you think that has prove the anti christian culture wars are actually winning? why don't know if they're winning? but i, i doubt that if you caught the people responsible for any of these and questioned them, they'd be proponents of any thing that we believed in when we founded the united

states like freedom, individual, liberty, limited government of free markets. for the most part. these people are of an ideology that believes religion is the opiate of the masses, and even more than that, that christianity in particular, is the religion of the world. a presser, that colonized all these, these, these people thou know, there's some truth that the people who did most of the colonizing were christians at one time. but that doesn't mean there's anything to do with that with the religion. and certainly nobody who's a catholic or protestant today is looking to colonize anybody. so, you know, these people are unhinged and they want to tear down civilization. and christianity represents civilization in europe and the united states and, and that's what they want to get rid of. well, i so often tom, i hear this turn, the other cheek would be the way of, of the bible and sometimes i think people also don't read as much as they don't

read the constitution. they also don't read and understand the full meaning of scripture. tom, great chatting with you and thanks for joining us. thank you. appreciate it. so the christmas spirit of giving often comes the form of a charitable donations without the tax deduction, parts of the following year. are people even bothering to donate? well, ask our expert on why the privilege of giving to charities is only for the billionaires . stay tuned. ah, ah, ah, working room or should she popped in? she said, well, i'm getting ready to go shopping for christmas and we, we circle there was

a good to buy another shooting another safe part of american life shattered by violence. the gunman was armed with an hour 15, semi automatic rifle. when the issue comes home, it's time to act when we're silent on this issue, the other side wins. by default, the lady that lived over there. i was walking one of the dogs, which is why do you wear again? were you scared of? nothing? put ticket off of it. i think the people need to take responsibility in their own and be prepared if those kinds of weapons were less available. we wouldn't have a lot of the shootings that we certainly wouldn't have the number to match divers, financial survival guide. daisy, let's learn about be allowed. let's say i'm a through, i can agree i'm grief on banks of the site. wall street prod. thank you for helping

with enjoy. 6 that's right, fill out your desk, slavery ah, a welcome back to our new view to christmas special tis the season of giving. and when trump era tax cuts doubled, the standard deduction for those taxpayers making terrible donations. countless hardworking americans welcome to the change. but one unfortunate consequence making it harder for taxpayers giving to earn them a tax benefit. now charitable giving let you know your money is going to cause you believe, or you think it will do the most good. but when it comes to finger donations and lighting your tax burden, should this be a privilege reserved for the wealthiest people or something accessible to all. so we welcome in many manager, david chase. greg, the ceo and founder of sound income strategies and financial groups who can help

shed some light on the topic. thank you for joining us. well, thanks for having me. you know, of course not. it shouldn't be a privilege just for the world billionaires. in the reality, as many people can still take advantage of it, because most people, a lot of people today, let's say middle income folks still have enough to itemize their deductions. and frankly, those that don't in many cases, wouldn't be contributing, made more that much more than the $300.00 limit for singles or $600.00 limit that you can deduct for married couples with, without having to itemize. that is, and i think from a charity perspective, most of their money doesn't really come from the person giving $3600.00. most of it comes from bigger donors like, you know, jeff phasers, ex wife for example. those are the people i think, really, really, you know, are create the shipping point for charitable donations from most charities. well,

but at the same time, you know, giving a dollar usually means that, that person cares about that issue, that they're part of, they feel engaged. so usually, you know, one d as a one time gift. i think that's where i'm a little concerned with right now. what is the tax structure as it is or what they're trying to recruit for? is that going to help or hurt in future giving? well, 1st of all, under the, by the administration, you know, their goal is to tax the 1000000000 errors, the tax net worth. and if they go that path is long. as this remains a deduction, charitable duction still remain intact, then i think more affluent people are going to have even more motives than ever before to donate more money. so the problem might just fix itself under the current administration, but i don't think it's the, it's the tax problem. why get your charter would gifting is down over the last year or so. i think it's because coven 19 his throat throwing everything upside down. you know, people were quarantine for a few months. in some states they're quarantined for longer. they're simply not

used to that specially in this country. and as a result is that there's a sudden interest in living life today. all the things that i've always wanted to do, you know, life is short and i just lost the year of my life. so i want to get out and spend that money on these fun things. so i think people in general got a little bit off base with what's really important to them in the life longer term . and you can see it because of the inflation. yeah, part of the inflation we're seeing is because the supply chain problems, the part of it is because it's incredible demand for people that are just wanting to spend money and do the things they couldn't do for a year. so i believe that that'll give it another year or so and that'll get back to normal as people get refocused on. what's important to them from a value standpoint. and that means, yes, the charities in organizations that mean a lot to them in their lives, for whatever reason why i think there's also a good thing to be said that people still want to give, even if it doesn't necessarily count towards the government. the hedge i think, shows a good soul of a person,

but i do want to talk to you about there was this report in a paper that a waitress was fired in arkansas because she did not share a 4000 dollar chip she received for working at large party, guess what, a lot of people are doing this now they're going and they're going in big groups and are leaving huge chips just as a part of their gift. nothing they can write off, but it's a gift to somebody who obviously needs it if they're been hard working, especially during the pandemic. the management plan to give from of the tip to less involved members of the staff patrons demanded the tip money return to the very dis waitress which was eventually was with it was privately forward to or was he right, was the owner right to demand and say and how the restaurant you deal with the money that's so difficult, you know we, it's, it's his or her business, right? so here she has the choice to make that decision. and if it's a cold tip situation, then it's a full tip situation. but i, god bless the, the, the donor, the person who gave that $4000.00 tip because, you know, right now you see so many restaurants, that seat every table or that are limited in terms of their hours because they

can't get people to work. and that's another byproduct, frankly, of being shut down for 6 or 12 months and a lot of places. so, you know, i can't tell anybody how to run the business. no more than i want them to tell me how to run mine. but i'm glad to hear that there are people out there that are really appreciating those workers that are on the front line that are taking greater risks to, to serve people and to make us happy. and i'm happy to. the generosity still exists in america, say that is the american dream and truly the christmas spirit. david, great to chat with you. save your. thank you. well, that's all the time that we have for today. jolly show, but i promise we're going to continue this conversation even during the holidays to follow me on twitter at study and huge because i never take a break. and you the hash tag team and vh. you are my best gift even for watching. and in exchange, i'm going to give you a free gift on portable dot tv on your apple or android device. you can watch the

show and programming anytime you want. thanks for watching. ah, ah, technology is a very big industry and there's lot of opportunity for him, but what he didn't bring the lawyer in the country you're dealing with why rest in the major cybersecurity challenges the sovereignty of laws, the cyberspace has no borders, moose over and t. we ended up with, for example, the national health service in the u. k. that a chest was completely wiped out from the ransomware to talk. if you were coming in to a clinic, because you had a test or you had an operation, they can't find your records. they had to go back to pen and paper.

when you listen to a sequence of tone and you think x is going to happen, you know, why happens instead of distinctive breathing response in gauge that are relevant to how we experience reward and pleasure. well listening to some people looking at this is a kind of a kind of choreographing of our expectation. mm . a millions of people face christmas season travel, cale size cope. it outbreaks full sidelines to scrap that flight, leaving people to post for a new future after a decade of tom old cash to a counselled up to war lords began parading round the capital trip with on we speak with award winning pub in. phil make a story about press freedom on germany.