Chewing the Fat with Jeff Fisher - Get Your Fat Pants Ready, It's Christmas! 12/19/15

Episode Date: December 19, 2015

Today on The Jeff Fisher Show, Brad Staggs fills in for Jeffy. It's the Christmas Special as Brad busts Christmas myths, provides some Christmas related fun facts, and the best/worst gifts to give someone for Christmas this year. Jeff Fisher is live from 6am to 8am ET, Saturday. Listen for free on The Blaze Radio Network: www.theblaze.com/radio & www.iheart.comFollow Jeffy on Twitter: @JeffyMRA &Like Jeffy's Facebook: www.facebook.com/JeffFisherRadio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Blaze Radio on demand. This podcast brought to you by My Patriot Supply. Did you miss the chance to get a 72-hour emergency food supply with free shipping for just $10? What's wrong with you? Don't worry. Call 888-41-1-744. Right now, they have a few left and they're selling out fast. 888-4-1-744.

What are you waiting for? A disaster? Do it right now. 8-88-4-1-7-440. The experiment was a success. Begin life force reboot program. Now. Stand cleave signs stable.

It's alive. Set it loose. This is the Jeff Fisher Show on the Blaze Radio Network. Hey, it's me again. It's Brad in for Jeffrey this morning as he continues to mend. His stitches haven't pulled out. yet so he's in good shape, but he's actually up, but I don't know why in the world, Mr. Fisher,

you are up this early in the morning, but he's up, he's actively tweeting, as are we, and you can join the conversation. If you'd like to, it's at the Blaze Brad on Twitter or at Jeffie MRA or at the real Mrs. Jaffe, because she sent me a lulu of a story. Actually, it's on my Facebook page. We'll get to it the second.

It's, well, let's just say, I'm trying to uphold the standards here in the show, and by the way, we'll get to the top five Christmas myths in just a second. But I wanted to start on a high note, and this is directly from an overseas flight. And again, I have to uphold the standards of the Jeff Fisher radio show. An airline passenger, and this is the headline, an airline passenger took a crap so foul they had to land the plane.

This is an actual story. We checked it out. Undistractify. You cannot make this stuff up. And then, of course, Amber puts it on my Facebook page and tries to blame it on me. Having to use an airplane bathroom is indignity enough. Can you imagine what it would be like and what it would do to your self-esteem if you're goings-on, grounded, an entire flight full of travelers? It's exactly what happened to some poor man or woman, although it says probably a guy who was flying.

flying British airways from London to Dubai. It appears at about 15 minutes into the flight. This is a huge word. Gastroenterologically, and I did it. Distressed passenger took an emergency trip into the small room in the back of the plane. And they said the thing that passes for a toilet. That's about seven seconds after the seatbelt light went off, so you know that that was probably an emergency.

After the person leaves the bathroom, the complaints got so, I guess, insistent, the captain came on and made an announcement that they were going to actually have to turn the flight around and land. And that's what they did. They had to turn the plane around and land the plane. And they had to buy dinner and hotel rooms for all of the passengers aboard

because the next flight to Dubai wasn't for another 15 hours. And let me just tell you, after having been on a 12, 14-hour flight, I totally understand why you don't, because there was a screaming kid on our flight. And let me just say, that was not pleasant, but thank God for noise-canceling headphones.

If it wasn't for them, I'd have killed somebody. Let's talk about Christmas. This is the next Friday, right? Yeah, this is Saturday. So it's less than a week away, so you still have, You still have a week to do your last minute Christmas shopping.

And I want to see what you have as far as your worst and best Christmas gifts ever. You can tweet those at the Blaze Brad. The phone number, too, if you're awake this early, all six of you and Jeffy. 888-933. 888-933. That is the phone number. Let us know. Christian myths or Christmas myths.

these were and one of these in particular that I have avoided doing because I thought it was I guess sacrilegious I just thought it was it was a bad thing to do this but let's start at the top first of all Jesus was not born on December 25th but I've always wondered that because it doesn't

you know you look through the facts of the Bible it's just you know there's things don't line up that way according to scholars it's unlikely that the Christ Child arrived over the day that we celebrate as Christmas or even during the winter season for that matter for one thing it says we're told of shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night. That's in Luke 2.8. Decembers in Bethlehem are cold, regularly drop below freezing once it gets dark,

which means that most shepherds only kept watch in the field from April to October. In the winter, they sheltered their flocks and stayed inside because they were smart. and the census decreed by Caesar Augustus it required travel and no self-respecting government our governing authority would ever schedule such a major undertaking during the winter months. I think they just called the government lazy. When bad weather, muddy roads and angry citizens would foul things up,

these usually took place in September or October after the harvest season, celebrating Christ's birth on December 25th was popularized in the fourth century as a way to steal the limelight from the winter solstice. And it's linked to pagan feasts. celebrating the Roman sun god and the Persian god Mithras. There you go.

Most scholars think Jesus was born toward the end of September. And for those of you keeping score at home, it's probably the year 6 BC, not 0 AD. So that's the first myth. So I think we should rearrange the calendar. Three wise men, this is the second myth that they're busting. They did not appear at Christ's birth. These guys' fixtures in every nativity scene

that you see everywhere they show up at every manger accompanied by camels. It is kind of strange. None of this really in the Bible, they say. Matthew 2 talks about wise men from the east. They follow the star, looking for the king of the Jews. They make it to Jerusalem. They have a run-in with King Herod. Next stop, Bethlehem.

That's where they find Jesus. Matthew describes Jesus as a young child, not a baby, with his mother in a house and not a manger. No indication that there were three of these wise men either. That's the assumption apparently made because we talk about and have been taught the three gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But as this article says,

could have been a dozen of these guys for all we know, each one having two or three of those gifts. Nothing about camels or flowing capes or sparkly crowns either. They probably did all of this simply to save on nativity scenes because you can't put up like a dozen wise men. Nothing to indicate they were kings. In fact, most scholars figure they were astrologers. And since the passage specifies them meeting the young child in a house, many believe the wise men didn't deliver the gifts immediately after the birth. It could have been a couple of years later after they checked the gift registry at Target, no doubt.

So everything we think we know about wise men comes from sources other than the Bible. that funny how things just become common knowledge even when they're not true wow where have we heard that before um the second verse of a way in a manger is a crock this is number three this is the third christmas myth uh the second verse uh being the cattle are lowing the baby awakes but the little lord jesus no crying he makes when have you ever ever heard of a baby that doesn't cry you know what I'm saying? It's not part of the original song. It first appeared as a poem, the song did,

in a Lutheran Sunday school book in 1885. Verse 2 was added somewhere in the early 1900s by a Methodist minister for children's program. It implies that baby Jesus obviously didn't cry, even though the cows were making a bunch of noise because they were taking up space in their home, essentially. But if you think about it, one of the precepts of Christianity, Christ was fully human, not some super baby. That means the little Lord Jesus acted just like an infant.

He spit up, he peed, he left a few deposits in his swaddling clothes. He cried like a baby. So that is the third myth. So we've covered three wise men. There may or may not have been. Jesus was not born on December 25th. Second verse of a way in a manger is a crock. And people, this is the one that I've always avoided doing this simply because I thought it was, I guess, sacrilegious is the word, taking Christ out of Christmas, etc.

People who call it Xmas are taking the Christ out of Christmas. That is a total myth. Wait, what? Yeah. if you start feeling the way I did, when you, you know, you, you, it just takes a long time to write Christmas, and you can write X-Mus, it's faster.

You're fast people. We have fast lives. We have no time to write those extra three or four letters. Here's the thing. The first letter in the Greek word for Christ is, is it chai or chi? It's one of those. It's C-H-I.

It's a great TV show, by the way. It's C-H-I, Las Vegas. And in the Roman alphabet, Chai is represented by the symbol X. So guess what? Xmas is an entirely justifiable replacement for Christmas. And it apparently goes back a long way. People who use it are not demeaning Christ. They're appropriating usage that's probably as old as the faith itself.

So if you want to write Xmas instead of Christmas, you are not being sacrilegious, nor are you taking Christ out of Christmas. That's the beauty of it all. Of course, it still doesn't mean that you're going to get the gifts that you wanted to get. At the Blaze Bread, that's my Twitter handle if you want to let us know about the best-ever Christmas gift.

You got the worst-ever Christmas gift you got. Speaking of Christmas, we had the big Mercury 1 Christmas party, or Mercury Radio, excuse me, Christmas party last night. There were some people there from Mercury 1, which, by the way, if you want to participate in the Stuffabus toy drive, I'm going to tell you about that in just a second, but I already tweet this picture of the Christmas. Yeah, I did.

Let me just tell you, last year, there were no pictures of me last year at the Christmas party. Last year, we'll talk about that a bit. This year, definitely some pictures, and they had reindeer antlers. and really stupid glasses and a nose that I put on. I've already yet tweeted this picture out. Jeffrey was not there last night. Apparently he is too good to join the rest of us,

Christmas party. Something like that. I know he's listening. And I just wanted you to know, Jeffrey, we missed you last night. We thought about you. And I had a piece of the best chocolate cream cake for pie, I guess it was, ever. The crust was so good.

And I thought about you while I was eating it, just so you know. Best, best party ever. We had it at a place outside of, or I guess right around Dallas, like this cowboy place where you can go and you can dress up. and it was a cowboy chic or what was it called cowboy tuxedo. I don't know. So I wore, basically I wore a suit and I put cowboy boots on. We had a lot of fun, but, Jeffie, we did, we did miss you.

And again, keeping up the standards of the Jeff Fisher Radio show, a big, big story. I'm going to tell you about here just a second. Bra sales are down for the first time in a long time. And this is a very disturbing trend. We will get to that here just a second. And plus the far end of the spectrum, the far, the opposite end of the spectrum, I'm going to tell you a little bit about a guy that we lost this week, a friend.

His name was Mark Kathy. I'll tell you a little bit more about him. But I will say this. He would not want to be, want people to be modeling about his passing. So we'll keep it as upbeat as possible. Those stories and more coming up right here on the. the Jeff Fisher Radio Show. It's Brad filling in right now on the Blaze Radio Network.

You're listening to the Jeff Fisher Show. The Blaze Radio Network. This is the Jeff Fisher Show. And it's Brad Stecks filling in for Jeffie this morning. I love it. James Hayton on Twitter said, so there are standards to Jeffie's radio show? Yes. It's just a very low bar to clear.

But that's okay. And Donna said, sometimes your gut just tells you a flight isn't going to go well. In response to the first story, wow, that we told about the flight getting grounded because of a bad bathroom experience. So let's keep up the standards here. Bra's quickly losing support when it comes to women. That's the headline in the New York Post. Actually, who sent this to me? Did Amber send this?

Amber sends me the strangest stories. But I think this one is very important because this definitely has an economical impact or an impact on our economy. It affects money. Let's just put it that way. Jessica Simpson made fashion waves. It says recently a trip to New York City because she was not wearing a bra. This is a problem, people. This is a problem.

Back in the 1960s, you remember, half century ago, good grief. if everybody was burning their bras once considered a political message. It has suddenly become a fashion statement, apparently, although Drew Baramore, they say, was ridiculed. Let's just say gravity took its toll on her. Back in this is, I guess, almost 10 years ago in the Gucci gown she was wearing. But here's the real kicker. According to Market Research Company, NPD Group,

bra sales in the United States felt 3% last year. to six, and this number blew me away. $6.5 billion with a B. $6.5 billion is what we are spending. And when I say we, not me, on bras in the United, that's a lot of money. That is a significant portion of the economy. $6.5 billion is a lot of money.

And that's what it fell too. So I add 3% to that, and I'm not a math. whiz. This is a huge deal. And see, you knew that there had to be set. I mean, I wasn't just going to go for the fact that it was a story about bras. I hate it when sometimes they would show through my button-down blouses. This is according to one reporter,

for the most part, she says, though people don't even notice. And while it's more obvious when curvy women pink slipped their bras, it hasn't stopped them from getting on board with the trend as well. they say the nipple shaming has to stop. And I think that's a very important thing. We need to consider in this country, nipple shaming.

When it comes right down to it, think of the psyches that we're damaging. Think of the people that were hurting to doing it for the children for crying out. So don't worry. If you have the urge to burn your bra, and Jeffrey, when I say this, I'm saying it to you, if you have the desire to burn it,

You are not alone, but just remember, you are costing the country a lot of money. Keep that in mind. I wanted to mention this morning the passing of Mark Kathy. And Mark was a friend of mine. He was a friend of everyone's here at Mercury Studios. He was our assistant lighting director. Mark was a very, he was a good guy. He was a wonderful.

He had the best soul piercing blue eyes. The thing I remember about Mark most, those eyes. He just, I mean, he had pretty eyes. He always wore shorts, as do I. We had that in common. Mark and I became friends quickly when I got here to Dallas. And Mark struggled with a lot of demons inside. You may have heard Glenn talk about it this week on the radio.

But Mark's demons got the best of him. He was 47 years old. basically his liver shut down. He battled with alcohol. He and I would talk about it a lot. He would call me. And he was having a tough time. I went to see him with our friend Wade.

He and I went to see him in the hospital. Monday night. Unfortunately, he had not been responsible for probably a week and a half at that point. But I just wanted to make note of this, and I want to get into the bigger picture of this time of year coming up after the bottom of the hour. If you know somebody like Mark who's struggling, give them your support. And I just want to send out a message of love from and to Mark. You will be remembered.

You are loved. And you will be missed. Mark Kathy was 47 years old. More to come. Right here on the Blaze Radio Network. The Jeff Fisher Show, the Blaze Radio Network. The Jeff Fisher Show returns on the Blaze Radio Network. Yeah, but Jeffie doesn't. He's still at home mending.

And eating Amber's cookies. Best cookies ever. It's Brad Staggs here filling in for Jeffie this morning. And in response to our story about bra sales being down in the United States, big industry, $6.5 billion last year. Chris on Twitter says nipple-shaming hell. Roz are uncomfortable. You guys have no idea.

I can understand that. It's the whole thong thing. Those are uncomfortable. They are uncomfortable. And George Carl says, I wonder who Brad pissed off to get this job. I am living the dream, George, living the dream. My alarm went off at 2.30 this morning.

After the Mercury Radio Arts Christmas party last night, you know it was a long night when you can't remember the word party. And who was it? This was a great tweet. And I said the party was a little, you know, Jeffie's gotten a little too big to come to the Christmas party. And by too good for the Christmas party, we mean Jeffie couldn't make bail. I like that too. At the Blaze, Brad, is my Twitter handle. We're asking for your best gift ever, worst gift ever.

If you have a good story, we will listen to it. We have some Christmas on facts, and I just told you the story about Mark Kathy, who was a member of the Blaze and the Mercury Radio Arts family here in Dallas. And he passed away this week, 47 years old. Beautiful man. Beautiful man.

one of the first people that I really got to know when I moved to Dallas a couple of years ago. And he had to inner demons. He fought a lot of them. He fought alcohol. More than one occasion, he told me that his doctor told him, Mark, if you drink anymore, it will kill you. His doctor was right. Last year at this time, I was not in a good place. Last year at this time for the Christmas party, I was.

I was in a dark place. I remember going to the Christmas party. Saw Mark there. He was in great. He was in far better place than I was. And I walked in. I'm not a party person to begin with. I mean, parties are,

and to back up a step further, it's very strange. People in this business, you will find most people in radio and television are very introverted. It's not that a lot of people in this industry walk around with their nose up in the air, although some do. Most of us just are not crowd people. You and I are talking right now. This is a very intimate discussion you and I are having just between the two of us. At a party, you're surrounded by people. I didn't want to be surrounded by people last year.

I wanted to be somewhere just rolled up in the fetal position and just, you know, drown out my sorrows. I just did not. It felt like everything was stacked against me. It felt like family was stacked against me. It felt like I was losing my son. And even though I had a dream job, I felt that it doesn't, you start thinking really stupid thoughts when you,

you end up in that place. And I say this because this happens to so many people, and it may be happening to you this year. Glenn even called and left me a message, and I so appreciated that. My friend Greg told him what I was going through and led me a very nice message, and he was concerned.

And this happens to so many people. And again, it may be happening to you, this time of year. It's a very rough time. You see all the joy happening around you. You see the parties. And it almost seems like the happier you see people, the farther down into that dark place you end up going.

Maybe you just know someone like this. I encourage you if you're feeling this way, call a friend, call somebody. Try not to do it alone. and if you know somebody who's going through a rough time, who's going through a rough patch, who is withdrawing, getting quieter than they usually are,

reach out to them. And it doesn't have to be in a heavy-handed way. It's just one of those things. And a lot of times I remember I did not. People would ask me how he was, and I'm fine. And that may be what the person you know says. They're fine. I'm here to tell you that just by that little,

that little effort on your part, just to reach out, just to see how they're doing, just to ask them what they're doing, to include them in something, anything, just to keep them from slipping completely down into that hole. You may actually end up saving someone's life. That's one of the big things. And I heard Glenn say this on the air that he wished he had known about Mark sooner.

Mark came to me and was petrified of telling Glenn about his problem with alcohol. I said, are you kidding? He's the first person who would give you a big hug and be supportive, better than family. Glenn, when he heard about this, Mark passed away on Monday, and we told Glenn on two. Tuesday. He wished he could have gotten involved sooner. He said to me, I wish I said he can't do the could or should or whatever. You just, it is what it is. But if you right now at home know somebody who you think is having a problem, think is having an issue, just reach out. Just reach out a hand, call them, leave them a voicemail, send them a text. Just do something to let them know

that they're not alone. And if they need help, help them. That is the, uh, that is the true meaning of Christmas. Reaching out to, reaching out to those who need it. And that's as far as I'll go on that one. Christmas fun facts.

Let's talk about that. Let's, uh, let's change the tone. Just a smidge here this morning. It is good grief. It's Saturday morning already. It's so, Glenn's, big Christmas show is tonight. Christmas cheer with Glenn Beck at the Verizon Theater in Grand Prairie, Texas. If you are in the area, I would highly recommend that you, we do still have some tickets left. Oh, good. Yeah, we do. The doors open at 6 o'clock tonight. The tickets go for

anywhere from $45. That includes a copy of the Immortal Nicholas. You buy a $90 ticket. You get awesome seats and a signed copy of the immortal nicholas a hundred and twenty five dollar tickets gets you uh even an awesomer seat uh a signed copy of the immortal nicholas and the immortal t-shirt which by the way they're very nice and they're very soft jessica uh here at mercury her company uh printed these and they're so that's not that like scratchy cotton it's the nice soft cotton uh the two hundred fifty dollar ticket you get the awesomest seats in the world at the verizon theater Plus you a signed copy of the Immortal Nicholas, so you get the T-shirt,

and you get a pre-show meet-and-greet with Glenn Beck and a picture. Yes, even a picture. If you want to get tickets or you just want more information, go to glenbeck.com and you will see it right there. Glenbeck Christmas cheer right across the top. Christmas fun facts. And these are the, first of all, where does that one go?

We talked about Christmas and writing it Xmas and the fact that you are not in fact taking the Christ out of Christmas if you write Xmas. That is a big myth. Actually X is the Greek letter Chai in Christ and it's, so basically if you write Christmas as Xmas, you're fine. You are not.

You are not being sacrilegious or anything of that nature. Missletoe. Missletoe literally means dung twig. But for some reason, hanging a dung twig over someone's head and kissing them does not sound quite as sexy, does it? No. Ebenezer Scrooge's original catchphrase was not bah humbug, but bah Christmas. It just did not have the same ring. It just didn't have that same thing.

Christmas carols began as an old English custom called wassling in which one would toast their neighbors to a long life. So when you sing Christmas carols, you're bringing joy and wishing good health to everyone that you come across as you go a wassling. And a Christmas carol, this one is quite fascinating, actually. Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens wrote that. After it became successful, he thought, hey, I am on to something here. So every year after that he would write a Christmas story.

None of them, of course, were the giant success that a Christmas Carol was. For instance, he did write The Haunted Man and the Ghosts Bargain, a fancy for Christmas time. That was in 1848. In this tale, a gloomy chemistry professor says things like, Another Christmas come, another year gone. More figures in the lengthening sum of recollection that we work and work to our torment. till death idly jumbles all together and rubs all out.

To which everyone looked is at what? I don't even know what? The Battle of the Battle of Life, a love story. This was in Christmas 1846. Perhaps only Dickens could offer up a happy ending to a troubling tale such as this, a missing sister and a sinister elopement scheme all set on a one-time battlefield that still bears the relics of a host of dead men and horses. The Cricket on the hearth, a fairy tale of home.

Another Charles Dickens book that he wrote. This was in 1845, almost as popular as a Christmas Carol in its time. The tale includes a mysterious man in disguise, a dog named Boxer, some possible infidelity, a young blind heroine, as in a girl, not the drug, a nanny, and of course a cricket. That was not nearly as possible or as popular as a Christmas carol. And the one that he wrote immediately after was The Chimes, a goblin story of some bells that rang an old year out and a new year in.

He wrote this one in 1844. There was a strange tale revolved around a wedding, an orphan, an evil rich man, and some frightening goblins. Or was it all a dream, resulting from our protagonist Trotty Vec, having had too much tripe at dinner? that's just a bunch of tribe. All right, coming up, we'll talk about the best tool gifts ever. Well, maybe not ever, but if you have somebody on your list that likes tools,

I, being an expert in such field, will give you a couple of suggestions, that and a whole lot more. And remember, to tweet your best and worst Christmas gifts ever at the Blaze Brad. That is my Twitter handle as I sit here in Jeffie's chair, filling his shoes, not his pants, because that just sounds, Weird. Right here on the Blaze Radio Network. This is the Jeff Fisher Show on the Blaze Radio Network. The Jeff Fisher Show on the Blaze Radio Network.

Yeah, Jeff, he's still at home. He's mending. It's Brad Staggs here, filling in. Filling the shoes, but not the pants of Jeffie. I can interpret that any way you want to. Let's talk about some great Christmas gifts here tool-wise. And by the way, at the Blaze, Brad is My Twitter handle, as they say, so if you have a best or worst or a story to tell, either way, that's how you can find me. And I will tweet more pictures of our Christmas party last night where everybody, let's see, hashtag, what is it, hashtag reputations ruined or careers ruined. If you're looking for a couple of quick gift ideas here for the tool lover in your life,

being a tool expert as I am, I do wear that mantle proudly. I have a website, Beth and I have a website, ToolSchool with a K, ToolSchool.com, and you can find a lot of suggestions there. Gen Tent, this is one of those, it's more of an accessory than a tool, but if you have a friend, a family member, or if you maybe have a generator, one of the biggest dangers is using a generator when it's like storming and the power goes out and it's raining and all that. That's like the worst time ever.

If you look at your owner's manual in a generator, it says that. Don't use a generator in those conditions. Which is exactly when you need to use one. So this is a great product. It's called Gentent. It's a safety canopy that goes over your generator and they are customized to each individual generator. If you go to gentent.com,

you will find all of the different sizes. and the guy that owns this Mark Carpenter is a great guy. He's a small businessman. He had a great idea. And he is basically, you know, just he's a hardworking guy, hardworking businessman. And he could use your support. GENTENTENT dot com. Great Christmas gift.

Like I said, if you have a generator, has somebody else that has one. More tool suggestions and more stories coming up as Brad Staggs here sits in Jeffie's chair. The Blaze Radio. Network. More to come. This podcast brought to you by My Patriot Supply. Did you miss the chance to get a 72-hour emergency food supply with free shipping for just $10? What's wrong with you? Don't worry. Call 888-4-11-744. Right now. They have a few left and they're selling out fast. 888-4-1-744. What are you waiting for? A disaster? Do it right now.

888-4-1-744. Experiment was a success. Begin life force reboot Now. Stable. It's alive. Set it loose. This is the Jeff Fisher Show on the Blaze Radio Network.

Yeah, and Jeff, he's still on the mend at home. It's Brad Stagsville in for Mr. Fisher this morning. Big shoes to fill, big hands to fill. Wait a minute. I don't know about that. If you saw or watched ABC's 2020 last night, they had the story that Elizabeth Vargas did on the Christian refugees in Iraq and moving them out of Urbeil and onto Slovakia. And we talked about that last week about the ABC team coming along on the trip with us. and Elizabeth Vargas actually caught a ride with us on the airplane.

We helped get her out of her beale when the Russian missiles started flying. I only got to watch the first, what, segment and a half, because we had the Christmas party last night, and clearly it's more important to be at a Christmas party than to watch news stories. but and even Glenn said this on his Facebook page they did a very in at least the first segment and a half they did what I would consider a fair job of

covering the story although I think that they I want to say they skewed the facts but I think that the fact that they made it look more like Joseph and Michelle Assad had basically that this was their brainchild. And look, they do great work, as does Johnny Moore, who has been the director of the Nazarene Fund

at Mercury1.org, by the way, if you would like to help. And if you've given, that is what Glenn was most upset about. And I agree, the fact that ABC basically glossed over the fact that you had sent in money, It was your efforts, your bake sales, your, in one case, a wedding ring. One woman sent a wedding ring and valued at like $5,000 and people matched that as a donation. The veteran who sent in a jar of change $37.32. People matched that by the dozens, hundreds, and even thousands.

Where was the mention of those people? because Glenn did not want the spotlight turned on him. He wasn't looking for kudos. He wasn't looking for recognition of his efforts. What he wanted to make sure was that you got the recognition that you deserved, that you did the right thing. And it was glossed over in the story, at least in the first, again, again,

the first segment in a half, Glenn says he saw the whole thing, and that that was basically how they left it. but I guess this is what's to be expected. It's what the mainstream media does. And they looked in it, the producer part of me, because I have been a television producer for many years as well, the producer part of me says, all right, you've got to look for the story,

you've got to look for the compelling story, and you have to tell that story. And by focusing on this couple, Michelle and Joseph, it was something that the audience could relate to. people that they could rely. But by the same token, I can't help but think that there was some bias on the part of ABC

to not include Glenn simply because of the bias they have toward him. He was in it for about 30 seconds and there were a couple of questions and you can see this on their website if you just Google ABC 2020

it comes up. but, and I don't know, it's hope against hope. It's what they're always going to do. It's what they have done, and we're not going to see a change in that, I don't think. The job, the fact that we did what we set out to do, that is reward in and of itself. And I guess to expect news stories to cover it fairly. Probably asking too much. I don't know.

Call me crazy. at the Blaze Brad is my Twitter handle. We are talking about Christmas, obviously, this morning. It is less than a week away for you procrastinators, and I include myself in that group. You've got, what, five and a half days to shop for the perfect gift online or out in the... If you really want to get crazy, you'll go to a mall. I went to, was it, Grapevine Mills and I went to, and I remember.

Oh, yeah, this is why I don't go to the mall, like, on the weekends. I don't mind a mall middle of the week in the middle of the day because you can actually navigate the aisles. But go to a mall on the weekend, especially right now and good grief. It's mayhem at best. I have a couple more suggestions for tools, for the tool lover on your list. If you are in this area, if you're going to be tonight in this area, if you live here or if maybe you just happen to be visiting.

Glenn's big Christmas show is tonight. It is happening at the Verizon Theater in Grand Prairie. There's going to be snow falling on the stage. And I know this because I am in charge of said snow. So when you see it snow, if you're going to the show tonight and you see it snow, I want you to think Brad's somewhere up there making it snow. tickets are still available and they go anywhere from I think $45.45, is that the bottom in? 45 I think down.

Yeah, $45. You get a copy of the immortal Nicholas. $90 get you a signed copy and tickets that go all the way up to $250. For that, you get a Laurel and Hardy Handshake. You get the signed copy of the Immortal Nicholas. the t-shirt and there's going to be a pre-show meet-and-greet with Glenn, Pat and Stu. And, oh, they've added Jason. Jason Betrell from Six Days in Iraq, other hosts from The Blaze.

Like this, it says, you get for this ticket, you get an exclusive pre-show meet and greet with Glenn, Pat and Stu, Jason Betrell from Six Days in Iraq, and other hosts from the Blaze TV, and then in parentheses, hors d'oeuvres included. Well, by golly. That's worth the price of admission right there. Plus, you get a photo with Glenn himself. But Jason is a, if you, if you haven't bought it to you, I'm telling you, it's, it's Jason is one of those guys you should meet. He used to be on Glenn's security staff.

He was in the military. One of those guys that can get you with his little fingers. Actually, just one of his little fingers. Doesn't even break a sweat doing it. But he's now a chief researcher, the head researcher. for Glenn's show. And he's a very interesting guy and a good guy. And he's told one of the few people I actually have to look up to look in the eye.

Jason is a great guy. The show that he and Dan did six days in Iraq, great show. If you have the chance to get your tickets, if you're going to be in this area, I highly recommend it, even if you can just a $45 ticket. That's fine. This is going to be a great show. It's going to be Glenn in a chair. and I heard that Stu was actually going to dress up as Princess Leia.

I don't know. Also, there will be the stuff-a-bus that Mercury 1 is doing to help benefit Irving Cares, which is a local charity here. So if you have a, if you, even if you don't come to the show, if you just want to stop by and drop off an unwrapped toy for the stuff-a-bus, which is going to be out front of the theater, that's going to be, oh, is that one? Is that all day to day?

Go to Mercury 1.org. You'll find out exactly when and where the bus will be. But it, again, is to put a smile on a child's face somewhere. Because, yeah, believe it or not, there are kids who are not only going to bed hungry, but be waking up on Christmas morning without any presents. And I'm always torn about that. You know, we spoil our kids.

we tell them all these lies. There is an Easter bunny. The tooth fairy is going to leave you a $10 bill if you lose a tooth. And Santa Claus is going to come down the chimney, eat the cookies, drink the milk, and leave you a present. Then somewhere along the line, we decide, oh, wait, we're not going to lie to them anymore. And then we tell them, oh, yes, Santa, we just lied the whole bogus. And by the way, now you have to buy me a Christmas present. I don't.

It's just, it's a weird. If you think about it, if you really dive into the weeds there, it's a weird. weird, weird custom. But all that aside, all of that aside, bring an unwrapped toy for a child in need this Christmas. And again, that's the stuff of us. If you go to mercury1.org, you will find out exactly where we're going to have that set up and more. And as well as a way to buy tickets to Glenn Show tonight. All right, so I told you about more tool ideas.

This is for the, and we told you about Jen Tent. This is for You got somebody on your list that likes power tools You don't mind spending a little money $120,000. I highly recommend Milwaukee's M12 fuel

hammer drill. And everybody I say that to that knows anything about tools. It's a 12-volt tool. It's a cordless tool. They always say, you know, I want to get a drill. I want an 18-volt drill because you've got to have an 18-volt drill

to be powerful. And you really, that's not. true. Tool school is the website that I co-own, I guess, tool school with a K, tool school.com. And I've been in and around the tool industry for many, many years, and I will tell you this, that when lithium ion battery technology met brushless motor technology, the result was a marriage made in heaven. And truly, when you get a 12-volt

cordless tool, now, as long as you go with a brushless motor, you've got all the power in the world. And this thing is a hammer drill. You can drill holes in concrete with this thing. You can drill holes in wood. You can drill holes in drywall. You can, you can drill holes just about anywhere you want to. And it is my favorite drill, the M12 fuel drill by Milwaukee. Really anything by Milwaukee is a great idea when you're, if you are shopping for tools for a tool lover on your list. Du Walt makes great stuff. the only issue I have with DeWalt, I'm just going to go ahead and say it.

They make great tools, but some of the people I've had to deal with at DeWalt, what a pain. There I said it. They do make great tools. They're not cheap, but they will last you a long time. And it's always good advice. Buy the best tool that you can possibly afford.

And if you are giving you as a gift, don't be a cheap skate. Put as much money as you can into it. No, if you want to go for DeWalt, that's great. but Milwaukee is a highly underrated brand. Another couple of underrated brands as well. Craftsman's not one of them. I'm going to tell you about a couple more in just a second,

but another gift idea at the lower end of the money scale, Craftsman, this is all at ToolSchool.com, by the way, craftsmen, their extreme grip holiday gift guide. If you look there, they've got some new screwdrivers. And I've always, these tool companies I've worked with for years, it's always amazing to me because I can just see the meetings that they have. All right, guys, this year we have to reinvent the screwdriver just to bump up sales. I would hate that.

But Craftsman actually came up with a way to make the screwdriver a better tool and not just for the sake of redesigning something, but their extreme grip. Screwdrivers, about 20 bucks a set. That's a good stocking stuffer for the tool lover in your life. All right, so we'll have more gift ideas coming up here in just a second and more Christmas myths or fun facts. We will fill your head because it is Saturday. It is less than a week to Christmas.

And we're all happy as pigs and mud about that, aren't we? Yeah. And then it's the end of the year. I'm exhausted. I don't know about you. It's Brad Stags. I'm filling in for Jeff Fisher right here this morning, the Jeff Fisher radio show on the Blaze Radio Network.

The Jeff Fisher Show on the Blaze Radio Network. This is the Jeff Fisher Show. And it's Brad stags in for Jeffrey this morning. We're still trying to raise enough bail to get him out of jail. He missed the Christmas party last night, too. Big MRA Christmas party here in Dallas. I've posted or tweeted some other pictures out this last one. I was just looking at this last party picture.

I tweeted out. and in the top if you go to my Twitter feed at the Blaze Brad you will see it there's me and there's Jeremy's wife Michaela there's Beth at the Beth holding a sign that says Grinch I'm not a Grinch

I just think Christmas had become overcommercialized and then there's Colleen over there Matthew it's Matthew's mother although looking at you never know I mean good grief this woman never ages and in the bottom picture there's Jeremy

otherwise known as Opie Opie in a cowboy hat. You look at this picture and you tell me if that doesn't look like Opie from the Andy Griffith show wearing a cowboy hat. Jeremy is, he's a former Air Force pilot. The guy takes amazing, amazing pictures from jets and of jets. And he's just a great pilot. And he takes care of the museum here, all of the. archive pieces for Glenn.

And I'm very, very, in, in Jeffey's true spirit, I've got rabbit ears over Jeremy's head. But nice cowboy hat, by the way. It's all at Twitter. At the Blaze Brad is my Twitter handle. Another Christmas fun fact. Here's one for you. In the meadow, we could build a snowman and pretend that he's Parson Brown. Have you ever really thought about that?

Parson Brown obviously referred to and not somebody's first and last name, but somebody who is a parson with a last name Brown. That part we got. What I didn't know is that a parson was a traveling Protestant minister who performed weddings, thus the lyric. He'll say, are you married? We'll say no, man. But you can do the job while you're in town because, see, they traveled. There you go.

There is a useless fact you can throw around all day long, and you don't have to tell anybody where you got it. All right, we're talking about Christmas gifts, and a few. few that, first of all, beard oil. Apparently, that's a huge gift this year. If you know somebody with a beard, although I think beards are on the way out. Just my personal opinion. Blackbeard, or rather Blackbird grape seed beard oil

is a big hit this year. And then there is also, these are under 40 bucks. And the microbrewer beer of the month club, you can get that for $29. The whiskey ice wedge. I don't drink whiskey. But this ice wedge thing, I guess it's just like an ice cube tray, but it's an ice wedge.

And you can buy it for like 1795. If you use Google whiskey ice wedge, it's just really cool. It goes into the bottom of like a highball glass, I guess is what those are called. And it's just a wedge of ice. So even if you put Diet Coke on the top of it, it still makes sense. So I don't know. There's something about that that intrigues me. the whiskey ice wedge.

Back to Tools. If you have a tool lover on your list, go to ToolsSchool.com. That's ToolSchool with a K, because we went to public school. Bosch, if you're, and that's the biggest question I always get about Tools. Bosch, a good brand or is Milwaukee?

Bosch is a great brand. Great people behind the brand, great brand in and of itself. Bosch really was the first and remains to be, or remains the first at wireless charging, which is pretty amazing. It's on the front page at Tool School, 36-volt batteries and wireless charging. And I've played with this. I actually have one of their impact drivers here at the studio.

And the wireless charging is pretty cool because you don't have to take the battery off the tool and put the battery on the charger. You just put the whole drill, pop it right there. You just sit it either on top of the charger or you can mount this charger on the wall. and it'll hook in inside. So that's another great gift idea. And anything really, anything Bosch is good. Milwaukee is, like I said, an underrated brand, in my opinion. They are not inexpensive.

However, Milwaukee tools will last you this and one more lifetime. A very underrated brand, rigid. That is Home Depot's house brand. And the tools are not expensive. They're like middle of the road, but the quality of these tools is pretty amazing. So anything rigid for the tool lover on your list, and I think you will do just fine. All right. Wow, it's already the bottom of the hour.

Time flies when you're having fun. Brad Staggs is sitting here in Jeffie's chair because Jeffie still in jail. We'll get him out. We'll find him sooner or later. You are listening to the Blaze Radio Network. The Jeff Fisher Show. With Brad Stagg sitting in Jeffie, chair this morning. We're still trying to raise bail for him. We'll let you know when we can get him out of jail.

Michael Pelka is coming up in the top of the next hour. He'll be here and then Andrew W.K. And his world of craziness following Mike here on the Blaze Radio Network. We're talking about Christmas. We're all over the board this morning, mainly because I have a short attention span. Some other fun facts about Christmas that you may or may not have known. known. And here's a gem. In the Ukraine, a spider web found on Christmas morning is believed to bring good luck. Of course, that spider web is right over the head of your bed. Christmas is not widely celebrated in Scotland. It's believed to be that way because the country is mostly Presbyterian and Christmas is considered to be a Catholic event. always said you've got to watch out for those Presbyterians.

In Guatemala, Christmas is celebrated on December 25th, but Guatemalan adults don't exchange gifts until New Year's Day. You see, that's because they're smart, and that way they take advantage of all the after-Christmas sales and spend less. Good enough theory for me. It is still believed in Britain that eating a mince pie on each of the 12 days of Christmas will bring 12 months of happiness

minced meat that's sweet isn't it or is it meat I don't know anything mince just doesn't it doesn't sound good and like Salisbury steak to this day I cannot eat Salisbury steak because

my mom never cooked growing up and so we'd end up with TV dinners and you'd put them in the in the in the oven and you know you pull them out and it didn't matter if you follow the directions or not you'd peel back the corner there and like the pudding we have the crusty nastiness around the corners of it and the the like the green beans they just they were like shoe leather and salisbury steak just it I mean it just tasted like a piece of a foot it just and it's funny because Matthew the chef here, the chef extraordinaire at Mercury Studios,

I mean, he can make anything taste great. And I told him one day that's not like he said. Well, you haven't had it the way I've had it. All right, Matthew. Make Salisbury steak and I will eat it. In Norway on Christmas Eve after a holiday dinner and the opening of presents, families hide. Oh, boy.

Families hide all of the brooms in the house. Norwegians believed in ancient times that witches and mischievous spirits came out on Christmas Eve and would steal their brooms for writing. All right, who got drunk and thought that one up? Wow.

In Argentina, a Christmas Eve night tradition includes globoes. Those are paper decorations with a light inside them that float up into the sky. Those are cool. I've seen those before. You know, when they just, I guess, I have they feel with helium or whatever. Anyway, they just all float up.

You've seen those pictures before. That's really cool. Christmas Eve, they do that right after midnight. And while not widely celebrated in Japan, fried chicken is often eaten on Christmas Day. Let's face it. There's no such thing as a bad day to eat fried chicken, especially when it's from babes. It's the busiest time of year for restaurants such as KFC, and people can even place orders in advance. Wow. Fried chicken. I know where Jeffie's moving. The traditional Japanese

Christmas food is Christmas cake, usually a sponge cake with strawberries and whipped cream. Okay, see, that's another one. I never like sponge cake or like sponge cake, the same thing as angel food. My mom would do that too and just, ugh. There's no, I, okay, we had blueberry cobbler or blackberry cobbler last night at the at the Christmas party. There were two desserts. There was a chocolate like cream pie and then blackberry cobbler. I mean, hands down, the chocolate cream pie

wins. Because fruit and a dessert should be decking. Like tiramisu, that's a dessert. Cream filled anything is a dessert. You start putting fruit into it. Unless it's apple pie. See, there's the exception to the rule, because if you have a good Dutch apple pie, the crust. The

crust is so, I mean, it just does something for you. And then the apples, if it has the right amount of sugar. And then, of course, if you get the harvest right freeze dryer, you can freeze dry all that, which by the way, that's one of the things we sell, I do commercials for on the shows. Freeze dried eggnog, if you ever have a chance to have that and freeze dried whipped cream. Oh, you could lock me into a room with those two things and I would not come out for weeks. And who knew? Freeze dried eggnog? I mean, it's weird because it's like crunchy and chewy and all of that. Yum. So those are some of the traditions of Christmas. Useless trivia from around the world.

Checking Twitter. Oh, ABC ran on their on Facebook. 2020 last night they ran the story on Father Douglas and the Christian refugees in Erbil and and really your efforts your effort your money your your prayers your prayers that's what really is at the heart of this whole thing of course ABC left that out I have not seen the entire show I've seen the first segment and a half, Mark Watkins on Twitter says there was no mention of the Nazarene Fund. There was a quick glimpse of Glenn and Johnny Moore, but he says on the good side, there were no negatives. And we were a little bit concerned about that, that they would turn it into a hatchet job and not look at it for what it is, getting these people out of harm's way,

getting 150 people out of harm's way into a place in Slovak. where they could, I can't remember if it's assimilate or integrate that they don't like. Anyway, they're going to become part of society. And we don't just, they're not just being dumped there and see you, good luck. It is, that's why each of these families cost, I think, $25,000, because it's a three-year plan to train them in the language, to train them with a vocation, to train them how to become citizens of this country. But again, ABC has their own agenda. And at least, you're right, Mark. They did not, they didn't throw out a bunch of negatives.

Glenn was very upset if he looked at his Facebook page, upset at the fact that, number one, they did not, well, they marginalized Johnny Moore. I like Johnny. I've gotten to know Johnny, a really good guy. And he actually hired Michelle and Joe. Assad to carry out this plan to take care of the logistics. But the way 2020 made it look, it seemed, I don't know, it just seemed imbalanced.

It seemed more balanced toward them. But again, I don't know why I'm surprised. It'd be safe or crying out loud. Oh, as Mark also says, he said, I'm curious how you can fill Jeffie's shoes when they've been welded to his feet. He refuses to show his feet. if you've ever seen his feed you'd understand why which by the way leads me to those people online who are in defeat

what is up with that in defeat I mean that is just weird there's like there's so many things in this life I will never understand like people who are in defeat but there's like a whole subculture of people that just are like really really into feet and again I have to hold up the high standard

of the Jeff Fisher radio show and tell you things like those in defeat and with foot fetishes. And Chris online says on Twitter says, I'd be all the neat stuff that you get to try. I do. I do get to try a lot, a lot of things. A lot of things in this job. I am truly, truly blessed. Fried chicken rules. It does indeed.

at the Blaze Brad is my Twitter handle if you would like to talk about the worst and best Christmas presents ever. Glenn's big Christmas show is tonight at the Verizon Theater in Grand Prairie, Texas. If you are in the area, I would highly recommend that you get your tickets, especially if you have the evening free, you can get them anywhere from like $45 on up to $250,

which includes a meet and greet with Glenn and a signed book and a T-shirt and you even get to meet Jason Butchell. You know what you don't get to meet is Doc and Skip, and I don't know why they weren't at the Christmas party last night. Doc is a very tall man. He gave him a pair of shoes last time he was in town. Don't ask.

More Christmas gift ideas. Milwaukee has a, and this is again on Tool School, my other website, Tool School with a K. They're 46-inch rolling steel, storage, chest, and cabinet. This is not inexpensive. It's a few hundred bucks, but I will tell you this. I have one here at Mercury, and it is incredibly roomy. It's incredibly tough.

And again, it is Milwaukee is one of those brands. If you've ever seen a saw-z-all, that's the reciprocating saw, mostly used for demolition. They make the best in the business. The saws-all is like Kleenex. Every tissue you ever pick up, you always call it Kleenex when, in fact, Kleenex is a brand. Saazol is the name of a specific tool. It's a reciprocating saw.

But I digress. The Milwaukee storage chest, most things, if not all, things that Milwaukee does and makes, they are top quality. You'll pay slightly more in a lot of cases. But this is a company that the people behind the brand, I know these people. they are good people. They are people who actually give a crap about what they do. And it's so many businesses these days. It's just people going through the motions.

And these are good people, good folks. And these days especially, I think it's more and more important to put our money and to give companies that actually appreciate it, our money. Because so many, it just seems like customers are, you know, it's dead and buried and all that. And we've become just a number in so many things like our cell phones. Remember when they used to give away cell phones? Remember when you could actually talk the companies out of a cell phone?

They give it to you? Not anymore. They don't care anymore. You call up and you complain and go, go to Verizon, go to AT&T, go to Sprint, whatever. Just get out of our way. Companies like Milwaukee actually care, something is ever wrong, you call them, you write to them, whatever. They make it right.

So anyway, that is my soapbox on tool company. So the Milwaukee 46-inch rolling steel storage testing cabin, I think you can get that at Home Depot if you don't want to order in online. But that's another great gift idea. So many great gift ideas can be found at tool.com, especially if you have anybody on your list who really, really loves tools. All right, another quick break, and then we'll be back to wrap up the program. And don't forget, Michael Pelka coming up here at the top of the hour. This is the Blaze Radio Network. Here we go.

This is the Jeff Fisher Show. on the Blaze Radio Network. Fisher Show. Yeah, and it's Brad Staggs in for Jeffrey this morning, and on a serious note, thank you. To you for making me feel at home sitting in this chair. It is a huge honor to be able to do this show. And to be able to do everything that I get to do

around Mercury Studios. I am blessed. I think this is a good time of year, obviously, to stop, smell the roses. count your blessings understand that there are people out there that aren't as fortunate as you or I and those are the people that we

need to reach out to this year. You've heard the story about Mark Kathy. We lost him this week. Good friend, a co-worker, a really good soul of a human being. Pretty blue eyes. Really did. That's one thing I always remember.

He had these striking, just blue eyes, man, they'd write through you. You know somebody who is struggling this season, and this is a tough time of year, and I told you earlier that I went through some issues myself last year this time. I wanted to pick up any rock crawl under it and drop it back on top of me. So if you know somebody like that, someone who is exhibiting those signs,

somebody you think that might just benefit from a phone call or a text, Just do it. Just reach out. Say hi. Say anything. Just let them know that you're thinking about them because sometimes that's all it takes to keep them from doing something stupid. Or to keep them from slipping any further.

That's all I will say about that. On the topic of gifts, I found this other one. I was kind of disappointed in this. This is a DIY smartphone projector. It's kind of a cool. I found it at UncommonGoodoods.com. like $32 bucks. And you drop your cell phone into this little box and it becomes a

projector on the wall. You don't have to connect it to any external power source or anything like that. But it only gets like three-star reviews. But for $32 bucks, I say, hey, it is absolutely worth the gamble. Roll the dice on it. So that's kind of a techie gift. As far as tools are concerned, again, my other website is tool with a k.com. Bosch has this portable table saw that has, it's called React,

and it basically it's a safety feature. So if you ever, your finger or something comes in contact with a blade, it shuts it down. That's very cool. It's at tool school.com. You can find that there and find a link to purchase. Don't forget if you are going to be in this area tonight, Glenn's big Christmas show is happening at the Verizon Theater, Grand Prairie. Go to glenbeck.com. And also go to Mercury1.org.

Donate to the Nazarene Fund and also find out about stuffabus. We're collecting toys for kids and for Irving Cares tonight. So it's been wonderful. I will see you after the first of the year on the Blaze Radio Network. This is the Jeff Fisher Show. Only on the Blaze Radio Network.