Another 2006 Year in Review

HT to Anthony Tafoya's Opinionnation:



And these people took over Congress??

The Blog List for 2006

Spewing another year's worth of insanity into the blogosphere :

The TrekMedic + iPod + Jagermeister =

• Audioslave - Somedays
• Christina Aguilera- Candyman
  
• Evanescense - Call Me When You're Sober
• Kasabian - Club Foot
• Massive Attack - Teardrop
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - Hump de Bump
• Shinedown - Heroes
• Tool - The Pot
  
• U2 and Greenday - The Saints are Coming
  
• The Wreckers - Leave the Pieces
  

Blogs Invaded Most Frequently by the TrekMedic:

• Blonde Sagacity
• Freedom Eden
• Katey's Kafe
• Marie's Two Cents
• Charlie on the Turnpike
• Opinionnation Times
• Sweet Spirits of Ammonia
• Three Sources

Truth in Advertising:

• Paris Hilton - "The Stars are Blind" (They're Also Deaf Now, Paris!)

The Player Who IS Philadelphia Sports:



The Savior of Philadelphia Sports:



Dumbest Trends of 2006:

• Electing Democrats to spite the Republicans (Although right-minded people will be laughing a lot for the next two years)
• Drunken celebrities' rants making more headlines than actual crimes and terrorist attacks
• Minimally-talented and washed-up has-beens linking up with RAP-pers to sell a few more CDs.
  

Because the Democrats put spite before National Security, we won't see this anymore:



You Have Entered the Land of Broken Dreams and Shattered Hopes:



Skank You Very Much:

• Lindsey Lohan
• Britney Spears
• Paris Hilton
• Nancy Pelosi
• Mary Kate Olsen
• Judith Regan
  

Thank God There Isn't a Thought Police:

• Hayden Pannetierre
  
• Jojo Levesque
• Ashley Olsen
• Sasha Cohen
• Nora Zehetner
  

Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?

• Mike Douglas
• Peter Boyle
• Joe Barbera
• Mickey Spillane
• Red Buttons
• Kirby Puckett
• Darren McGavin
• Dennis Weaver
• Don Knotts
• Curt Gowdy
• Al Lewis
• James Brown (Uhn-n-n!)
• President Gerald Ford
  

The PWEs (Penis With Ears) of 2006:

• Milton Street
• John Street
• John Kerry
• Mel Gibson
• Michael Richards
• OJ Simpson
  
• Tom Cruise
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
• Kim Jong Il
  

He's STILL Dead:



He's STILL Alive:

Some Good "Noose" Today!

Scott Ott at Scrappleface puts it best:

WMD Found Hanging from Rope in Iraq

(2006-12-30) — The Pentagon announced this morning that a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) was found today in Baghdad, hanging from a rope on a platform.

“This particular WMD,” a Pentagon spokesman said, “is known to have killed thousands of Iraqis, as well as Iranians, Kuwaitis and some U.S. troops.”

The weapon is described as “a nasty, corrosive agent which kills indiscriminately and without warning.”

“A lot of folks — including Hans Blix, the United Nations and the Democrats — said there were no WMD in Iraq,” the Pentagon source said. “Perhaps they were just looking in all the wrong places.”

According to Iraqi government sources, the WMD has been contained, neutralized and prepared for burial.

The TrekMedic's SuperHero Status for 2007

Your results:
You are Green Lantern

Green Lantern 90% Spider-Man 80% Iron Man 75% The Flash 60% Catwoman 60% Hulk 50% Batman 45% Robin 40% Superman 35% Supergirl 30% Wonder Woman 25%

Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Shhh,...! Don't Look Now, but,...

Some Islamofascists got their noses bloodied, and the US wasn't involved!

A stunning reversal in Somalia
Islamist forces evaporate, clans tussle for power, and chaos reigns as government forces take the capital.
By Edmund Sanders and Abukar Albadri
Los Angeles Times

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somalia's beleaguered capital fell today to Ethiopian and Somalian government troops who marched quietly into the city before dawn and took control without firing a shot.

An Islamic alliance that had controlled Mogadishu and much of the country evaporated yesterday after a string of military losses, and in the security vacuum, violent looting broke out in the capital. Residents awoke this morning to find the Ethiopians and troops of Somalia's U.N.-backed transitional government taking positions.

The transitional government was formed in 2004 to give the Horn of Africa country its first effective, nationwide administration since 1991, but today was the first time its troops were able to enter Mogadishu.

"The fighting is over," Ali Mohammed Gedi, prime minister of the transitional government, declared late yesterday, shortly before hundreds of troops began pouring into the city.

Officials of the government spent most of yesterday meeting with clan leaders to ensure that there would be no remnants of the Islamic forces hiding in Mogadishu when they entered, and that the local population would welcome their soldiers.

Mogadishu temporarily reverted to its familiar clan-based chaos as the Islamic Courts Union disintegrated and former warlords tried to resume their positions of power. Angry youths rampaged in the streets, stealing mobile phones, looting houses, and setting up checkpoints. Clan militias reclaimed their old neighborhoods. Offices and homes of the leaders of the former Islamic alliance bore the brunt of the looting.

It was unclear whether the weak transitional government and its small military force could impose order on Mogadishu, much less the rest of Somalia. Officials of neighboring Ethiopia, who provided most of the firepower to oust the Islamic alliance, said they would help but would not remain in Somalia for long.

(snip)

Gedi called for the looting and violence to end. "Anybody found disturbing the security will be met with swift punishment," he said.

U.S. and Ethiopian officials accused the Islamists of plotting to establish a Taliban-style regime and use Somalia as a base to launch terror attacks. The Islamists said they were merely trying to restore peace and stability to Somalia. Over the last six months they had seized Mogadishu and most of southern Somalia.

Yesterday, after days of military losses that had left it bottled up in Mogadishu, the Islamic Courts Union officially disbanded. As he left Mogadishu, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the chairman of the courts, said Islamists were leaving to avoid a battle that might have killed civilians.

Some extremist elements of the courts union were reportedly refusing to give up and were seen heading south toward the port city of Kismayo, where they may try to regroup or escape. As many as 4,000 fighters, including the fundamentalist Shabab faction, which is accused of killing an Italian nun in September, have refused to give up, officials said.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said his soldiers were in hot pursuit of the fighters, who he said included Eritreans and other foreigners.

Meles said his troops would assist the transitional government restore peace in Mogadishu.

(snip)

"We don't believe it is our mission to reconstruct Somalia militarily, politically or otherwise," Meles said. "What Somalia needs is beyond our capacity now. What Somalia needs now is massive humanitarian assistance. We cannot provide that."

Tick,...Tick,...Tick,...

Saddam Hussein Will Be Executed Within Hours
Friday, December 29, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Saddam Hussein's date with death appears to be just hours away. The former president of Iraq will be hanged "within a matter of hours," a Bush administration official told FOX News on Friday.

"The final meetings have taken places," the official said, adding in Iraqis have requested Sddam be turned over to them. "The process is now in the final stage."

Earlier, the Associated Press reported via a top Iraqi official that Saddam would be hanged before 10 p.m. ET Friday night (6 a.m. Saturday in Baghdad).

The official witnesses to the impending execution gathered Friday in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone in final preparation for his hanging, and state television broadcast footage of his regime's atrocities.

Saddam's chief lawyer said the U.S. had turned over custody of the mass murderer to Iraqi officials, one of the last steps necessary before the execution. An Iraqi parliamentarian, Methal Al Aloser, backed up the lawyer's claims. Al Aloser said not only had Saddam been handed over, but all papers and documents were finalized and the execution will be soon.

But Bush administration sources, apprised of Al Aloser's remarks, reaffirmed that Saddam Hussein remains in U.S. custody.


Hmmm,...the TrekMedic may have to break out a bottle of Korbel a few days early!

Ho-Ho-Ho!

Its TrekMedic Claus!

(See,...he's not the Scrooge you all thought he was!)

What's the Hebrew Word for "Quisling?"

Is this guy nuts???

Ahmadinejad Handshake Leaves Rabbi's Neighbors Crying Foul
Tuesday, December 26, 2006

MONSEY, N.Y. — The photograph is jarring, to say the least. Why on earth would a rabbi from New York travel to Tehran to embrace Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a man who says the Holocaust never happened and that Israel should be annihilated?

In Rockland County, N.Y., a short drive north from New York City, "love thy neighbor" has been a hard commandment to follow in the weeks since a contingent of fringe religious leaders set out to shake the Iranian president's hand.

This small suburban county has the highest percentage of Jews in the nation, and many if not most of them have been seething since leaders of the ultra-Orthodox sect Neturei Karta (also here) attended the Holocaust conference in Tehran and seemingly lent their support to known Holocaust deniers.

Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss led the Neturei Karta delegation to Iran's capital on Dec. 11 to participate in a two-day conference on whether the Holocaust occurred. Among the other attendees were former Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard David Duke and French professor and gas-chamber denier Robert Fuerisson.

The "Calm One" Passes

Gerald Ford Remembered for His 'Calm and Steady' Hand
Wednesday, December 27, 2006

WASHINGTON — Tributes from around the country poured forward Wednesday for President Gerald R. Ford, who led America out of the tumultuous post-Watergate period with dignity and respect.

Saying the United States will be grateful forever, President Bush on Wednesday bade farewell to the 38th president, just hours after he died at home in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

"President Ford lived 93 years and his life was a blessing to America," Bush said from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he and the first lady are staying through the New Year. "President Ford was a great man who devoted the best years of his life in serving the United States. He was a true gentleman who reflected the best in America's character."

Bush, who will attend Ford's funeral, said the man who took over the top job after the resignation of Richard Nixon led with honorable conduct and a sense of duty in a time of post-Watergate turmoil.

"On August 9, 1974, he stepped into the presidency without ever having sought the office. He assumed power in a period of great division and turmoil. For a nation that needed healing and for an office that needed a calm and steady hand, Gerald Ford came along when we needed him most," Bush said.

Marie's Two Cents has an excellent biography here.

The Philliness in Round Numbers

Posted on Mon, Dec. 25, 2006

4 slayings push city death toll to 400
Community leaders decried the spiraling violence. The killings occurred in North, Northeast and West Phila.
By Todd Mason
Inquirer Staff Writer

There was little peace or hope on Philadelphia streets on the weekend before Christmas, as four men died early yesterday in separate shootings, pushing the city's 2006 homicide tally to 400.

The number of homicides in the city so far this year stands at its highest level since 1997, when 418 were recorded. From 1990 to 1997, the city averaged 435 homicides annually, with a high of 503 in 1990.

Community leaders warned of a bloody new year unless residents from throughout the region make a concerted response to the violence.

"We are beyond the prayer rallies," said the Rev. Robert P. Shine Sr., pastor of Berachah Baptist Church in Philadelphia, and president of the Pennsylvania State Wide Coalition of Black Clergy.

"When something is happening in the city of Philadelphia that is beyond the city's ability to cope, then we all need to help," said Diane Edbril, executive director of CeaseFire PA, an advocacy group working for tougher gun-control laws in Pennsylvania.

Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson last night said the answer goes beyond gun control and policing, noting that gun laws today are what they were in 2002, when homicides numbered 288.

"Unless you change the mind-set, [if] you take away the guns, I think you're still going to have the stabbings and the beatings," Johnson said.

Issues such as education and jobs need to be addressed, too, he added.

Bilal Qayyum, cofounder of the antiviolence group Men United for a Better Philadelphia, said the numbers could continue to rise. "Until we as a city totally change this environment, we're going to see the same in 2007 as we saw in 2006," he said.

Young black men "feel they are locked out of the system," Qayyum said. "What they are doing is out of anger and frustration."

(skip)

"There needs to be a total, citywide effort to clamp down" on violence in schools and on the streets, Shine said.

Describing the death toll as a form of domestic terrorism, Shine also urged the state legislature to adopt tougher gun-control laws to limit access to handguns.

Qayyum stressed the need for jobs in blighted neighborhoods. "If I don't have any dollars to take care of my family, I have some hard decisions to make," he said.

The TrekMedic is left to ponder:

It is with a bit of schadenfreude that the murder rate had eclipsed the 400-person mark. The next question is: What of 2007? If 400 deaths isn't enough to get people to act, will 500 be enough? What, then, is the tipping point? How many deaths will it take to get the citizens of Philadelphia to finally stop pulling the big "D" lever every election, without thought? Its isn't the guns, folks, and it isn't the responsibility of Harrisburg to solve this problem! How many deaths before people realize the current administration, which is presently grooming the presumed next, can't - or won't - act on the behalf of it citizens and not party cronies?

E-A-G-L-E-S (A Christmas Gift!)

Fly! Eagles! Fly!
On the Road to Vic-tor-y!
Cry, Cowgirls, Cry!
Got Bitch-Slapped on NBC!
We Scored High,...
They Scored Low!
Bet Jerry Jones,...
Regrets T.O.!
So,...
Fly! Eagles! Fly!
On the Road to Vic! Tor! Y-y-y-y!

E-A-G-L-E-S!

EAGLES!

Merry CHRISTmas to All

From the Trekmedic and Trek Family to all readers:

Merry CHRISTmas and may the blessings of our Lord be with you again this year.

A Merry CHRISTmas to all and to all a good night!


Click here to enjoy a bit of CHRISTmas joy!

A Cool Yule Song for the Season

Enjoy!



Another Awesome Version:

CHRISTmas Scrooges the Liberals

Major HT to Jenn of the Jungle for these funnies:

Dreaming of a Red CHRISTmas

Sing along with the TrekMedic:

Nancy Got Run over by the Blue Dogs
Working Towards the White House in '08!
You May Say There's No Such Thing as Karma
But as for Me and Dubya, We Believe!

First She BS'ed All the Red States
Said We Needed to Leave Iraq
But She Forgot About Her Blue States
Now the Blue Dogs've Knocked Her Plan Right off the Track

(refrain)

She Wanted Murtha, but Got Hoyer,
She Wanted Hastings, but Got Reyes.
Can the Blue Dogs Push Her to the Foyer?
How Soon to Her Next Election? Count the Days!

(refrain)

Feel Free to Add Your Own Lyrics!

Ahhh,..Shaddup!

Sean Penn: Impeach George W. Bush, Dick Cheney
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
By Roger Friedman

Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn called for the impeachment of President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney in an impassioned speech Monday night in New York.

The occasion was Penn's winning the first annual Christopher Reeve First Amendment Award from the Creative Coalition, a non-partisan advocacy and lobbying group founded by New York actors such as Reeve, Ron Silver and Susan Sarandon more than a decade ago.

Penn was one name on a long list of honorees that included Branford Marsalis, Harvey Keitel and Marcia Gay Harden. He was introduced by PBS' Charlie Rose, who was preceded by Matthew Reeve, the documentary-making eldest son of Christopher Reeve and Gae Exton.

How the Grinch Stole NBC10

Now....normally, the Trekmedic avoids WCAU-TV10 like the plague. The TrekMedic wants to watch the news,..not watch a channel making news (anyone remember John Bolaris' "end-of-sweeps-month Blizzard Alert" or Sharon Reed and her digital catfight with another reporter?)

Well,..now comes this little dandy about Glenn "Propeller Neck" Schwartz:

Inqlings | 'No Santa' clause at NBC10?
By Michael Klein
Inquirer Columnist

Word buzzing about NBC10 is that chief meteorologist Glenn "Hurricane" Schwartz will not mention Christmas themes on the air.

He reportedly refused to read a scripted voice-over about Santa and holiday lights that led into his forecast. When the producer called him on it later, he said he would not inject Christianity into his weathercast because he is Jewish. It's not known if this is a new policy. Schwartz has been on staff for 11 years.

Schwartz would not confirm a controversy yesterday. He called the matter "internal" and said it did not "belong outside the station." NBC10 news director Chris Blackman said: "I'm not going to comment."


The TrekMedic rallies:

Show the management at Channel 10 your displeasure! Threaten to boycott the station unless Schwartz apologizes. Click here to contact NBC10!

The TrekMedic also proffers this tidbit of common sense:

If Christmas offends your Jewish faith, Glenn,...why not defer the task to Amy Freeze or Doug Henley instead of making such a spectacle of it??



Addendum:

The TrekMedic received this e-mail from Glenn Schwartz:


I regret that you were offended by the impression left by that article - and for that I am sorry. But please don't believe everything you read in the papers.
I will be repeating my 6pm comment on the 11pm news.

Glenn

The Absorbine, Jr. Mouthwash Award Goes to,...

Joy Behar!

OK,..it wasn't enough that last week, she implicated the Republicans in the health crisis of Senator Tim Johnson (video here).

Today, Ms. Behar stuck her tootsies a little deeper down her throat with this one:

Joy Behar of 'The View' Likens Rumsfeld to Adolf Hitler
Monday, December 18, 2006

NEW YORK — The women of 'The View' did it again.

Specifically Joy Behar, who during a discussion Monday about Time magazine's 'Person of the Year' selection, likened former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to ... Adolf Hitler.

"You have to put, like, a Hitler type [on the cover]," Behar said in response to a question about whether Time's selection of "You" was appropriate.

"Like, you put Donald Rumsfeld there, or something," she said.

• Click here to view the video.

The show's audience — even show dyke Rosie O'Donnell — was stunned by the comment, and as many began to jeer, Behar feigned surprise and yelled, "What's wrong with that?"

Behar is no stranger to the off-the-cuff comment.

Last Thursday, in a discussion about Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson’s emergency brain surgery, Behar offered a bizarre conspiracy theory.

The TrekMedic is Better Than Kim Jong Il??

Well, according to Time Magazine, the TrekMedic is the Person of the Year, beating out the likes of James Baker, Kim Jong Il, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad!

OK,...if that's the case, in lieu of the annual TrekMedic's New Year's Revolutions, here's how the world will shape up in 2007 if he has his way:

On the subject of Iraq:

• The US military will withdraw all of our forces from Baghdad and establish bases in Mosul and Kirkuk.
• The United States will help establish a sovereign and independent Kurdistan.
• Then, the United States will sit back and let Muqtada al-Sadr's mad Madhi Army and the Sunni/Ba'athist militias beat each other silly.
• The group left standing will then have to re-negotiate with the US to rebuild what's left of Iraq.

On the subject of Syria:

• Since SoS Condeleeza Rice can't talk Senators like John Kerry (D-Unce) and Arlen Specter (R-INO) from visiting Syria, at least let them pass this note along to President Bashir al-Assad:
  
• The US won't fight a proxy war with you. Quit hiding behind Hamas and Hezbollah. If you want to challenge the United States, grow a set of balls and meet us face-to-face. When we're done wiping your country off the map, we will split the country in two and give Israel and Lebanon an equal share of what's left!

On the subject of Iran:

• It truly burns the TrekMedic's britches that every day, Iranians are able to do the following:

1. Turn on a faucet and have running water.
2. Turn on the TV (presumably to watch CNN Middle East a/k/a Al-Jazeera)
3. Drive along well-paved highways
4. Leave Iran via domestic airlines and commercial airports
5. Import and export commerce via their ports
   

• What the United States needs to do is send the entire Sixth Fleet back into the Straits of Hormuz and bottle-up Iran's harbors.
• After that, the United States needs to systematically bomb EVERY power plant, EVERY rail bridge, EVERY road bridge and EVERY port facility in that country.
• The United States shouldn't be begging the Iranians to come to the bargaining table. Destroy their infrastructure and they'll be begging us to come negotiate with them (See Syria)

E-A-G-L-E-S (A Giant Win!)

Fly! Eagles! Fly!
On the Road to Vic-tor-y!
Cry! Giants! Cry!
You Got Thumped on Fox TV!
The Refs and Flags,
The Color Yellow!
The Giants are Fags,
But Jeff's Our Fellow!
So,...
Fly! Eagles! Fly!
On the Road to Vic! Tor! Y-y-y!

E-A-G-L-E-S

EAGLES!!

"Religion of Peace," my ASS!

Received this from Jay at Stop the ACLU:

Hat tip: Beth at MVRWC:

CAIR has been successful in silencing the free speech of a fellow blogger and friend of ours. What for? Well the press release claims his blog was a “Hate Site” that supports killing all Muslim kids.

The Tampa, Fla., office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Tampa) is calling on an Internet web hosting company in that state to drop a hate site that supports calls to “kill all Muslim kids.”

Under the headline, “Love Your Kids? Fear For Their Future? Kill All Muslim Kids,” the Web site’s owner, who lives in the Tampa area, wrote: “Makes sense to me. After all, if Muslims are raising their little crumb- snatching, curtain climbing, ankle biting rug rats to strap on bombs in order to kill us, it is logically correct to assume that in order to stop that from happening we need to kill all Muslim kids. Starting now.”

Oh, don’t be so shocked! As Snapped Shot points out, he was goofing on a parody article from the well known parody site IMAO. Quite an overreaction by the oversensitive CAIR! The First Amendment should have him covered, and by the way…where is the ACLU? I guess they are busy protecting hate speech against the military and gays from those Phelps creeps. Maybe CAIR should focus on getting some of the Muslim hate sites shut down. There are plenty of those.

The TrekMedic seethes:

So much for all that "religion of peace" bulls**t! And this is supposed to be the time of "good will towards men??"

To that end, the TrekMedic proposes a "bitch-slap a towel-head" day. Owing to the season, how about doing it in January 2nd, when most normal people will be hungover and looking for a little steam release?

How about that, CAIR? Whatcha gonna do to the TrekMedic,....shut him down? F**K YOU!

Pink is the New Blue (State)

N.J. legislature OKs civil-union bill

By Troy Graham

Inquirer Staff Writer

Both houses of the New Jersey Legislature passed a civil-union bill yesterday, moving the state closer to becoming the fifth to extend some marriage rights to same-sex couples.

Gov. Corzine has said he would sign the bill, but wouldn't say when.

Gay-rights activists and same-sex couples, who have opposed civil unions - demanding full marriage rights instead - described yesterday's vote as a stepping-stone to gay marriage. Two years ago, the Legislature passed a domestic partnership bill for same-sex couples.

"We'll be back here in two years - tops," said Steven Goldstein, chair of Garden State Equality. "The jump from civil unions to marriage will be far easier than the jump from domestic partnerships to civil unions."

Many key lawmakers said they would have supported a gay-marriage bill, but they didn't think it had enough support in the Legislature. Civil unions, however, sailed through both houses - 56-19 in the Assembly and 23-12 in the Senate.

"This is, by no means, the end," said Senate President Richard J. Codey (D., Essex). "But it is a major step forward."

Opponents of the legislation deplored its swift passage and said it should have been put to voters.

The civil-unions bill has no residency requirement, which could put pressure on neighboring states, Goldstein said. He said Pennsylvania, in particular, takes a hard line against gay couples.

"The Delaware River might as well be 500 miles in terms of gay marriage," he said. "A couple in Pennsylvania is a three-minute ride over the Ben Franklin from New Jersey... what happens when they get a civil union in New Jersey and go back to Pennsylvania?"

No one in Harrisburg could answer that question yesterday.

Pennsylvania has a Defense of Marriage law, which means the state doesn't have to honor gay marriages from other states. But that law says nothing about civil unions, said Kevin Harley, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.

"The legal question becomes whether a civil union gets treated as a marriage or not," he said. "That hasn't been litigated yet, so no one knows."

In a landmark decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in October that the state must extend marriage rights to gay couples. The court gave lawmakers 180 days to sort out the details, prompting one lawmaker to say yesterday that the Legislature had "a judicial gun to its head."

But, lawmakers passed the civil unions just 10 days after the bill was introduced - and with only two public comment periods. Both opponents and supporters of gay marriage derided the fast passage of the bill, saying legislators, facing an election year in 2007, wanted to dispense with such a politically sensitive issue quickly.

"The people of New Jersey still want to weigh in on this issue and, here we are, right before the holidays, cramming this through," said Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R., Warren). "The people of New Jersey have a right to vote on this, one of the most important issue facing our society."

Corzine said he had no problem with the swift passage.

"I think it's important in the financial lives of a whole lot of folks," he said. "You're creating a hardship if you delay... . I think we're doing the right thing."

Civil unions would give same-sex couples hospital visitation rights and inheritance rights, among others enjoyed by married couples.

"As corny as it sounds, what we are doing today is nothing short of saying, 'Love matters,' " said Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo (D., Essex), a chief sponsor of the bill. "And, furthermore, we are saying the gender of whom one loves shouldn't matter to the state."

Opponents said that civil unions discriminate against other people who live together, but can't marry, such as siblings. (The TrekMedic pauses and thinks "Berks County is in New Jersey?")

"Why would they not be included by the Supreme Court? Why would they not be included in the wisdom of this body?" asked Assemblyman Guy Gregg (R., Morris). "It is not equal protection and I say, thankfully, it is not marriage."

Few believe that civil unions will be the last word on gay-marriage in New Jersey. Same-sex couples could sue, saying civil unions don't meet the Supreme Court's mandate. Gay-marriage opponents also could sue on behalf of cohabiting couples who can't marry.

"You haven't resolved anything," said John Tomicki, president of the New Jersey Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage. "Our position is going to be, from the get-go, let the public decide what constitutes a marriage."

Tomicki and Goldstein both agreed the bill passed too quickly. They said they would go on a public tour together to speak about the bill - despite their opposing views.

Goldstein also said his organization was going to launch a marketing campaign and offer bus tours of the state to encourage gay couples to move to New Jersey and become civil partners.

"Gay people love Bruce Springsteen too," he said.

Only Massachusetts allows gay couples to marry, after a court ruling there. But, Goldstein predicted that New Jersey would become the first state to pass a law allowing gay marriage.

Corzine, though, said he did not necessarily see civil unions as the first step to gay marriage.

"I don't know if that's how I'd frame it," he said. "I've been for civil unions for a long time because I think other elements are divisive in getting the core civil rights that are at stake here."

---

Contact staff writer Troy Graham at 856-779-3893 or tgraham@phillynews.com.


The TrekMedic ponders:

If the TrekMedic remembers correctly, isn't the role of the judiciary to declare the validity of existing laws, not to force the legislation of new laws?

Hmm,..the TrekMedic must've missed something back in civics class in high school. Come to think of it, do they even TEACH civics anymore in high schools?

The ISG - Talk is Cheap

So says Victor Davis Hanson:

Talking to Iran a Mistake for Strategic, Moral Reasons
By Victor Davis Hanson

One of the many bizarre recommendations in the recently released report from the bipartisan Iraq Study Group is the call to talk with Iran. A formal dialogue with the present Iranian leadership is, for a number of reasons, as misguided as it is amoral.

Our guides in these scary times of facing aggressive dictatorships still should be Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt, not the British prime minister Stanley Baldwin and Joe Kennedy, the U.S. ambassador to Britain, who leading up to 1939 thought good could come out of talking with the Nazis.

First, the Iranian leadership goes beyond the usual boilerplate anti-Israel, anti-Semitic claptrap of the region. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has serially denied the Holocaust while promising the absolute destruction of Israel. Various mullahs have characterized Israel as a "one-bomb state," implying a single Iranian nuclear bomb could destroy it. The vicious hatred is so institutionalized in Iran's state-run media that a science-fiction TV series there depicts the evil alien queen as Jewish.

Why should we give stature to and empower a theocracy that apes the hatred of the Third Reich?

Second, in matters of nuclear proliferation, Iran demands increased vigilance, not dialogue. It possesses enough oil-based energy to meet its domestic needs for over 200 years and thus has no logical reason - other than for weaponry - to develop exorbitantly costly enriched uranium.

Plus, unlike similarly unstable Pakistan and North Korea, Iran has no nearby nuclear neighbors to keep it in check. Iran could rather easily threaten stability in the region - and thus the accessibility of most of the world's oil reserves.

Third, there is a long history of failed talks with, and appeasement of, the present Iranian government. The so-called EU3 - Britain, France and Germany - "dialogued" constantly and offered concessions while Tehran raced ahead with more centrifuges. The loquacious United Nations experienced the same frustration.

Remember the Iran-Contra scandal of 1986 - a mess that sullied the reputations of some of those now calling for renewed negotiations with Iran. In 1983, Iranian-backed Hezbollah kidnapped Americans in Lebanon. Some in the Reagan administration thought Iran could help free the hostages if we sold it arms. But all they proved was the old dictum that democracies should not eagerly beseech dictatorships from a position of perceived weakness.

Fourth, we have a deep misunderstanding of the nature and aims of the Iranian regime. Despite praise from Bill Clinton, Iran's "liberal" plebiscites were never democratic. Candidates were always carefully prescreened, free expression was curtailed, and dissident voices were jailed (and worse). Before 9/11, Hezbollah, with Iran's help, had killed more Americans than any other terrorist organization. No wonder President Ahmadinejad now asks crowds to envision "a world without America."

The Iraqi Study Group says Iran also worries about spillover chaos in Iraq. That is laughable. The opposite is true. The present killing and violence in Iraq divert American attention away from its effort to go nuclear and its interests in Lebanon. As Yahya Rahim Safavi, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, gleefully put it, "The Americans are sunk in the quagmire of Afghanistan and Iraq, and there is no way for them (to move either) forward or backward." So, if Iran finds benefits in an unstable Iraq, why would it wish to play a constructive role?

Instead of worrying about negotiating with Iran, we need to be primarily preparing for the awful day when Iran can arm its missiles with nuclear weapons. President Bush should keep pressing for tough U.N.-endorsed global trade sanctions against Iran for violating the United Nations' own resolutions. And instead of talking to murderous mullahs, we should reach out more to Iranian democratic dissidents.

Ultimately, though, only collapsing the world oil price to below $30 a barrel can stop Iran's ability to fund terrorists, buy costly weapons and develop its nuclear program. We can achieve that through increased domestic drilling, energy conservation and an embrace of alternative energy.

In the short term, America must stay focused on rethinking its tactics to stabilize Iraq. Iraqi democracy as well as consensual governments in surrounding Afghanistan and nearby Lebanon are Tehran's worst nightmares - because these are true revolutionary movements that might resonate with Iran's own unhappy youth.

To deal with Iran, America should smile, lower the rhetoric, keep our powder dry - and maintain our distance.

Those Who Forget the Past Are Doomed to Repeat It,....

A gentleman named "Slater" posted this on the Philadelphia Republicans discussions page.

Try to pick out how many have already been accomplished:

Communist Goals (1963)

Congressional Record--Appendix, pp. A34-A35

January 10, 1963

Current Communist Goals

EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, January 10, 1963

Mr. HERLONG. Mr. Speaker, Mrs. Patricia Nordman of De Land, Fla., is an ardent and articulate opponent of communism, and until recently published the De Land Courier, which she dedicated to the purpose of alerting the public to the dangers of communism in America.

At Mrs. Nordman's request, I include in the RECORD, under unanimous consent, the following "Current Communist Goals," which she identifies as an excerpt from "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen:

[From "The Naked Communist," by Cleon Skousen]

CURRENT COMMUNIST GOALS

1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.

7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.

9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.

10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)

12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.

13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.

14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

18. Gain control of all student newspapers.

19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."

31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use ["]united force["] to solve economic, political or social problems.

43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.

45. Repeal the Connally reservation (also here) so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.


Additional links can be found here, here, and here

Its Just One Laugher After Another in the 110th!

More humor from the Coalition of the Cut-n-Runners (a/k/a the 110th Congress)!

HT to BobG at Sweet Spirits of Ammonia for this gem:


CNN (Incoming House intelligence chief botches easy intel quiz) brings us this insight into the Democrat strategy to outdo the Republicans in leaving America unprotected. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, caring naught for what's best for her country, but focused on her dislike for Representative Jane Harman Democrat from California, chose Silvestre Reyes of Texas to head the Intelligence Committee starting in January.

Reyes has his own shady background (Probe Faults System for Monitoring U.S. Borders) that makes him fit the pattern of "open, ethical and honest" government that Pelosi seems intent on foisting upon us. Also, he is not an advocate of securing our borders. However, here is the clincher. Every member of Congress should know who our enemies are and as much about them as possible, especially a representative who has served on the intelligence panel since 2001.

Pelosi described Reyes as having "impeccable national security credentials" (whatever that means to her), and said, "When tough questions are required, whether they relate to intelligence shortcomings before the 9/11 attacks or the war in Iraq, or to the quality on intelligence on Iran or North Korea, he does not hesitate to ask them.'' He may ask them, but he certainly isn't remembering the answers.

When asked by CQ National Security Editor Jeff Stein whether al Qaeda is one or the other of the two major branches of Islam, Sunni or Shiite, Reyes answered "they are probably both," then ventured "Predominantly... probably Shiite." WRONG!

This would be hilarious if it weren't so typical of our government in general. He also could also not answer questions put by Stein about Hezbollah, a Shiite group on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations that is based in Southern Lebanon. Asked to describe the Lebanese militant group, Congressional Quarterly said Reyes responded: "Hezbollah. Uh, Hezbollah," and then said, "Why do you ask me these questions at five o'clock?" I guess the terrorists all clock out and go home at 5PM, just like Reyes' brain.

Calls from CNN to Reyes' office asking for reaction to Stein's column have not been returned. They're probably clueless as to where the ringing is coming from. If it were a cash register they would respond.


The Trekmedic chuckles:

Oh, that Nancy Pelosi,...she's such a card, huh?


Addendum for December 13th:

Wuzzadem has a hilarious take on this! Click here for it. And HT to BobG and Ron for the link!

A Huge Slap in the Face of Our Education System

Hot on the heels of the annual "Mumia-fest" that infests Philadelphia every year, comes this troubling tale of the liberal infection that is spreading over our college campuses:

Students 'Love' Cop Killer Honored at New York College
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
By Sara Bonisteel

NEW YORK — New York City college students who share a community room named for an escaped cop killer called the fugitive their hero Tuesday as the school's officials demanded the removal of the honor.

A handful of campus groups at the City College of New York commended the school for allowing them to work in the name of domestic "terrorist" Assata Shakur, now believed to be hiding in Cuba.

"We know that many Black people that fought for better conditions in the 70's were framed," the groups said in a statement released to FOXNews.com. "We consider Assata Shakur to be one of the people who were wrongfully and purposefully framed for her activities.

"And we consider her a hero and role model for standing up for our people and putting her life on the line."

Click here to read the students' full statement.

Who Remembered Danny Faulkner?

This list courtesy of Philly Future:

Blonde Sagacity - Remembering Policeman Danny Faulkner

I Live in Delaware County: Danny Faulkner -25 Years Without Justice While Mumia Stays Cozy

Support Your Local Gunfighter: Murdered On The Streets Of Philadelphia

Katey's Kafe: Justice for Danny

E-A-G-L-E-S (Skinned DC,...Yeah,..again!)

Fly! Eagles! Fly!
On the Road to Vic-tor-y!
Cry, Redskins, Cry!
We Squeaked by on Fox TV!
We Started Quick,..
But Then We Flopped!
That Redskins' Run Game,..
It Can't be Stopped!
So,....
Fly! Eagles! Fly!
On the Road to Vic! Tor! Y-y-y!

E-A-G-L-E-S!

EAGLES!

Drastic Increase in Philliness Today!

Abu-Jamal vote draws ire for Fattah
He calls the trial unfair, but voted to condemn a French city for naming a street for the killer of Daniel Faulkner.
By Michael Currie Schaffer
Inquirer Staff Writer

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Phila.) doesn't think Mumia Abu-Jamal got a fair shake from the legal system that convicted him of killing Philadelphia policeman Daniel Faulkner.

But Fattah, a mayoral candidate, voted Wednesday to condemn the French city of St. Denis for renaming a street after the celebrity inmate - a renaming that proponents said was intended to focus world attention on the same alleged injustice long criticized by Fattah.

Fattah's vote, on a purely symbolic resolution sponsored by outgoing U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), represented his latest effort to grapple with an issue that remains a political sore point a quarter century after Faulkner's death. He was shot and killed Dec. 9, 1981 - 25 years ago tomorrow.

Last week, Robert Eddis, president of Lodge Five of the Fraternal Order of Police, posted a letter on the police union's Web site vowing that members would work against Fattah's candidacy as a protest against his assertions that Abu-Jamal deserves a new trial.

Eddis also criticized Fattah for not signing on as a cosponsor of the St. Denis resolution. The measure was cosponsored by several area representatives, including U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D., Pa.), a possible mayoral rival.

But along with voting for the measure, Fattah released a statement that said: "While I remain unconvinced that justice has been served in this case, I am voting for the Resolution because the glorification of anyone who stands convicted of so terrible an offense is an affront to those who risk their lives on a daily basis to serve and protect."

Critics - who now include Abu-Jamal supporters, as well as those who wish Abu-Jamal had been executed years ago - say they think Fattah is trying to have it both ways.

"He's talking out of both sides of his mouth," Eddis said. "Take a stand and stand on it. How can you not support asking France to take down the name of a street named after any murderer - especially of someone in the line of duty wearing a uniform here?"

"Chaka's lying about his position and how he feels. If you can't be a stand-up person now, what are you going to be when you get in the office?" said Pam Africa, a leader of the radical group MOVE and a person who contends Abu-Jamal was unfairly convicted. "Why would you condemn them for doing what he tried to do before: bring worldwide attention to the case?"

Fattah campaign spokesman Solomon Jones declined to comment further, saying the representative's earlier statement stands for itself.

Contact staff writer Michael Currie Schaffer at 215-854-4565 or mcschaffer@phillynews.com.


The TrekMedic can only shake his head and add:

ARE YOU F**KING STUPID????????

Take the Idiot Test!

Click here to start.

BTW - Democrats are forbidden from taking this test. The "back" button will break on their first try and ruin it for the normal people in the blogosphere!

Once Upon a Time When America had CHRISTmas

Gribbit e-mailed this to the Trekmedic and asked for it to be reposted.

The TrekMedic happily obliges:

It is that time again when we talk of the war on Christmas in this nation. It isn’t just Christmas per se, but rather on Christendom altogether.

I find it disturbing that the strongest “group” of Americans fighting to preserve Christmas are Jews. Am I happy that they are fighting to protect the season of joy? Of course I am. As a Christian I am grateful that our Jewish brothers and sisters are choosing to speak out on behalf of this beautiful holiday.

What I mean about being disturbed is that it seems as though many so-called Christians are NOT fighting to protect our own heritage.

So many people in this nation are allowing the secular-progressive elements to remove our heritage without a fight. What ever happened to the “Free Exercise Clause” of the 1st Amendment? What ever happened to this notion of tolerance that we hear of? I guess it is ok to tolerate anything EXCEPT Christians, Christendom, and/or Christmas huh?

I came across this piece from Caucus for America that is at least a year old. But it is very relevant. I was so impressed with the premise of the article that I read it on Gribbit Live on Friday.

Once Upon A Time When America Had Christmas

by Rabbi Aryeh Spero

It’s December 2030, and I’m shopping with my grandson in a mall in northern Virginia. We’ve purchased a gift for a relative.

“Gift wrap?” inquired the clerk.

“Yes, thanks.”

“Happy Chanukkah, Merry Kwanzaa, or Ramadan Greetings?”

I frowned. The clerk whispered, “Listen, I think there may still be a few rolls of Christmas wrap in the back if you want…”

My grandson looked up at me and asked, “Why is the man whispering, Grandpa?”

The clerk leaned over the counter: “The store’s Diversity Regulations stipulate that we’re no longer permitted to offer anything saying ‘Christmas.’”

“Grandpa,” David asked, “when did the stores stop offering Christmas paper?”

“I’m not exactly sure,” I replied, “but I do remember that already back in 2005 stores like Kohl’s and Target no longer allowed their employees to say ‘Merry Christmas.’ Now even schools are forbidden to print the word ‘Christmas’ on their calendars in the December 25th box.”

“But, Grandpa, the President still lights the National Fern!”

“Yes, David, and it was once the National Christmas Tree. But there were these very powerful and well-moneyed groups such as the ACLU that for over 50 years relentlessly tried to remove anything of Christmas from American public life and social discourse. Then there was this other group, the ADL, which claimed to be fighting bigotry, but really appeared to be promoting bigotry against Christians and people with political views the ADL didn’t like. Anyway, by the time 2005 had arrived, most American people no longer had the conviction and mettle of the people who founded this nation in the 18th century.”

“Why not, Grandpa?”

“Well, believe it or not, they simply were worn down by constantly being called names like anti-Semite, Islamophobe, racist, or homophobe.”

“You mean, people 50 years ago were so scared that they’d allow their country to be taken from them rather than be called a name? I thought sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me!”

“Well, there was another factor at work. Back then we called it ‘political correctness.’ If you spoke out against the ACLU, you were called ‘intolerant.’ If you cherished our American freedoms and were patriotic, you were ‘reactionary.’ If you were revolted by the in-your-face perversions of the day, you were ‘unsophisticated.’ If you believed in right and wrong, your thinking was ‘un-nuanced.’

“Some of the people who stood up against the ACLU,” I continued, “were called Conservatives. In those days, you weren’t welcomed in ‘progressive’ circles if you were a Conservative. You didn’t get those high-paying jobs in the media, Hollywood, or in the University. In fact, if they knew you were Conservative, you could even lose your job — and, if you wanted to keep your job, you had to undergo diversity training at Sensitivity Sessions and mouth the appropriate platitudes and apologies, even against your own conscience.”

“How did the ACLU control everybody?” David asked.

“You see, they insisted that any references to Christmas and Christianity were ‘offensive’ to some people.”

“Were the Christians trying to impose their religion on everybody?”

“Heavens, no, David. But when Christians wanted simply to express themselves as other groups did, they were accused of having a hidden agenda of ‘Christianizing’ America. Black ‘pride,’ Jewish ‘pride,’ Islamic and Hispanic ‘pride’ were considered social goods and ‘diversity,’ but Christian expression was considered a symptom of concealed anti-Semitism, racism, Islamophobia, and even American imperialism!”

“Grandpa, how did you feel when someone wished you Merry Christmas?”

“I felt fine being on the receiving end of good wishes and that person’s desire to include me in his season of joy. Besides, it was the gracious thing to do. Then along came the Left and they politicized every harmless and gentle aspect of everyday life, rendering almost anything any normal person said as somehow ‘insensitive’ to some person or group. They took regular daily life which had been sweet and turned it into a political brawl. They made fair-minded Americans self-conscious of every word, and relations between people strained and bitter. They busy-bodied into everything private and personal. And out of a desire to be considered ‘inclusive,’ Christians allowed their Christianity to be rubbed out from the public sphere.”

“Just so they could be called ‘nice’ by a bunch of bullies, Grandpa?”

“Yes, because unbeknownst to our good-willed Christian friends, the ACLU and its fanatical left-wing collaborators were zealously engaged in a deliberate plan to expunge Christianity from America, all the while pretending that their intent was simply to have a more inclusive America and not offend non-Christians.”

“So Grandpa, I guess American Christians were suckers.”

“I’m afraid so.”

As we walked around, I noticed how quiet and gloomy the store was, and remembered back to the days when every department, resplendent with colorful decorations and Christmas music, was almost bursting with shoppers.

“Grandpa, if the ACLU and ADL were against religion, why did they want religious symbols for Moslem-Americans and Jewish-Americans and African-Americans?”

“Well, David, that’s the dark little secret that only your Grandpa and a few others knew. These people weren’t anti-religious as much as they were anti-Christian: anti- the majority religion that made America, America. They weren’t against Allah or African gods. They hated the Christian God. Many simply despised Christians of Faith, hated them as people.”

“Isn’t that hatred, too?”

“Yes, indeed, 100% bigotry. But the bigotries of the Left, and those of minorities, were called ‘tolerance.’ Whatever they said, in those days, was considered the moral high ground, the law. Whomever they supported, even brutal dictators like Fidel Castro, was considered enlightened.”

“So Grandpa, if you knew what the real goals were of the ACLU and ADL, why didn’t you speak up, then?”

“I did, as did others, but so few would listen. If only they could have realized that failure to act would bring about even greater curtailment of their rights and complete demolition of our great American civilization.”

“Grandpa, who were the people who made up the ACLU?”

“Well, sadly some of our own wayward brethren who had long ago abandoned belief in God, the Bible and our own Jewish religion. Having no religious identity, they basically defined themselves as ‘not being Christian,’ so they fought Christmas displays tooth and nail. Many felt insecure even in their identity as Americans, so they waged war against the Christianity underlying America.”

“Who else belonged to the ACLU?”

“People who were raised Christian but rejected it and were therefore embarrassed by it. And, of course, the ACLU had its atheists, too. They despised America’s Judeo-Christian ethos.”

“Grandpa, we were taught in school that our country was founded on our Judeo-Christian-Islamic heritage. And that our Founding Fathers were guided greatly by the principles of the Holy Koran.”

“Yes, another victory for liberalism: rewrite history and deny the facts, all in the name of ‘inclusion’.”

“Grandpa, where is the ACLU located today?”

“Why, it’s right there in Washington, D.C., across from the U.S. Capitol.”

“You mean that big white-marble building where the Supreme Court used to be? The one with the statues of Mohammed and Ruth Bader Ginsburg?”

“Yes, David. You see, the country decided that since, in effect, the ACLU and leftist judges determined almost every American law in the last 50 years, as well as being the final word as to what is Constitutional, we might as well dispense with the Supreme Court and locate in that building America’s real judicial, legal power: the ACLU.”

We took our packages and walked out of the store and were guided down the escalator by Spanish and Arabic directions, though, unlike my grandson, I focused on the smaller English subtitles.

We drove on Route 50 until we came to Falls Mosque, Virginia. I remembered when the city had been renamed from the original Falls Church when that section of Virginia was granted the right to no longer live by American law but, instead, by its own shariah law now that 40% of the people in that area were Islamic. The ACLU told us that in the name of multiculturalism, not to do so would offend Islamic sensibilities and honor.

However, I knew that such a step had been rooted in timidity. We had become fraidy-cats, enfeebled, because 50 years of liberalism had made us no longer believe in ourselves, who we were and what we stood for. That had always been liberalism’s goal.

Anyway, the rage among liberals had been to change all these historic American names, as was being done by their mentors and idols in Eurabia who guided us as to what was sophisticated. Londonstan, Parisabia, and Berlindad, all were renamed cities in the greater Caliphate living under the Religion of Peace.

My grandson interrupted my thoughts: “If the ACLU people hated America so, why didn’t they just leave?”

“Son, they were on a mission. They wanted to reshape America and make it socialist, with themselves at the helm calling the shots, running the show. They didn’t love America as America, but they knew they would love it completely when it became socialist. Besides, no one leaves America. Look at those Hollywood gripers. The money is too good here. The fame. The ease and the safety. Where else do you become a hero by bashing your country? Why would they leave, their family is here?”

As we got out of our car near home, we spotted a small building with a Cross. It was lit up and the distant sounds of a hymn could be heard in the cold evening air.

“What’s happening inside that building?”

“David, that is a church. A church is a place where Christians gather privately to express their Christianity, now that public expression of Christianity in America is forbidden.”

“Grandpa, how many Christians were there in America back in 2005?”

“Well, I’d say about 260 million. Indeed 85% of the country was then Christian.”

“85%?” David exclaimed, amazed, bewildered.

“Incredible, right? Of course, half the Jews had no problem with Christmas, and not all atheists were offended by Christmas trees – but it turned out that less than 10% of the country’s population was able to control the other 91%.”

“And the Americans didn’t fight for themselves at all?”

“Well, they had been bullied so long, son, they lost their fiber. The others were afraid of a newspaper called The New York Times. And the people themselves decided they had more important things to do than defend their heritage.”

“But, Grandpa, without traditions and heritage, you have nothing, right? Why did they accept that everybody else’s feelings were more important than their feelings?”

“They had become intimidated by a foolish and destructive wind that ran across the land. It was a suicidal ideology: liberalism. It taught that the greatest virtue was national self-criticism. It resulted in people hating their own great country, America. And thus a handful of well-positioned, manipulative liberal elitists were able to bring down an entire powerful country.”

I thought back to what distorted times they had been, back in late 2005. While Christians were reviled and seen by liberals as the enemy, jihadist terrorists were “understood” and their detention raised a cry in their behalf for “compassion.” Social and political energy was channeled in two directions: overwhelming concern for the highest degree of humane treatment for Islamic terrorists coupled with an all out assault against Christians wanting merely to say Merry Christmas.

“You know, David,” I continued, “I remember back when I was growing up in America in the 1950s. The Christians had beautiful Christmas trees covered with glittering lights lining the avenues in the snow, children went from house to house singing Christmas carols, people gave presents to each other wrapped in sparkly wrappings, strangers would extend unexpected kindnesses and generosities to each other, and walking down a street on a wintry night one might even come across a gentle nativity scene that didn’t hurt anybody. But that was America then, not now.”

Words are only good if they lead to action, I thought. Nothing happens unless the people venture boldly into public debates and the streets and face down those who are trying to destroy them and put their heritage and children in harm’s way. Where had the activists been? We were too fine to get out in the streets, too gentlemanly to call things the way they were, too preoccupied with appearing ‘compassionate’ to stop the leftists and jihadists. Maybe our good-willed friends simply never realized that some of America’s greatest foes were citizens within our own borders.

I put my arm around my young grandson. “My America is gone now. How wonderful it was. It was heaven on earth. We could have taken to the streets. We could have stood together and risen up, one citizen at a time, defying every challenge in every forum, and fighting for our freedoms on the front-lines of every village and town.”

“So what happened, Grandpa? How did we lose America?”

“I’ll tell you: our soldiers on the battlefield overseas were brave, but we folks at home had no guts.”

Aryeh Spero

Why is it that it takes conscientious Jews to remind America of the freedoms afforded us because our founding fathers were Protestant Christians? Why is it that we need reminded that it is religious freedom that our Protestant founders were seeking when they came here to begin with? Why is it we need a minority religious group to inform America that simply celebrating Christmas doesn’t spread the religion or proselytize?

Keep in mind people that although we are called to Evangelize, we do so through the way we live our lives. We do so by living what Christ taught us. Our faith is best spread through Grace and by the example of living a Christian life. Unlike Islam which is often times spread at the point of a sword, Christianity is spread through example and by GOD himself. Those who are called to conversion are true believers. Those who believe that they are pressured or forced into the faith don’t truly believe. Therefore, it is not in the nature of Christians, true Christians, to proselytize.

It takes non-Christians who enjoy the holiday, even the religious side of it, to tell the rest of America that this annual celebration of Christmas does not, I SAY AGAIN - DOES NOT, shake their personal religious beliefs. That is what this prophetic look into the secularization of American society brought to us by Rabbi Spero does. I hope that this trend continues and people start fighting back for our right to celebrate this beautiful holiday centered around peace, love, and joy.

Merry Christmas

Merry CHRISTmas to you, too, Gribbit!

Even Less Philliness,....

Bye-Bye to A.I.? Snider confirms: "We're going to trade him."
By Joe Juliano
Inquirer Staff Writer

The Allen Iverson era with the 76ers appears to be over.

About three hours after Iverson issued a statement last night saying "a change may be the best thing for everyone," Sixers chairman Ed Snider said that Iverson asked to be traded and that the team would try to accommodate him.

"We're going to trade him," Snider said in a corridor of the Wachovia Center at halftime of the Sixers' game against the Washington Wizards. "I think it's time for him to move on, and for us to move on and find out where everything stands."

Although he indicated that he did not want to tolerate more disruptions from Iverson, Snider said he wanted to remember Iverson's good times with the Sixers, including the trip to the 2001 NBA Finals, in the season Iverson won the NBA's most-valuable-player award.

To which the TrekMedic adds:

Bye,...

No more "gangsta" thuggery. No more illegal guns and sleazy lawyers bailing you out. No more of your mom acting like an idiot in public.

Don't let the doors to the Wachovia Center hit you in the ass on the way out, AI. That might cause more brain damage!

Remembering 4699 at 25 Years

A Reminder to All Readers:

25 years ago today, this hero:



Was killed by this oxygen thief:




The same said oxygen thief was convicted of murder and sentenced to death by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

To this day, Mumia Abu Jamal is still alive, surviving on a never-ending string of appeals and other legal maneuverings (a/k/a "Bulls**t!).

And who are the people who support and fund this farce?

Twenty-two members of the British Parliament
US Congressional Black Caucus
Japanese Diet
European Parliament
Members of the Belgian Parliament
ACLU branches nationwide
Rep. Martin Luther King III
Noam Chomsky,
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Nelson Mandela
Coretta Scott King
Matthew Rothschild (editor ofThe Progressive)
FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting),
Pete Seeger,
E.L. Doctorow
Harry Belafonte
Members of the Danish Parliament
Jonathan Kozol
Martin Sheen
Toni Morrison,
Elie Wiesel
Rev. Jesse Jackson
Ramsey Clark
Susan Sarandon,
Norman Solomon
Christopher Hitchens
American Friends Service Committee
Steve Allen
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Ossie Davis
Cornel West
Howard Zinn
Amnesty International
Mike Farrell
Ed Asner
Peter Coyote
Oscar Brown, Jr.
Hugh Masekela
Studs Terkel
Tim Hermach (Native Forest Council)
Manning Marable
Angela Davis
Sonia Sanchez
Peter Phillips (Project Censored)
Dick Gregory
National Lawyer's Guild
Association of Black Police Officers

Oddly enough, many of them also brought you this rogue's gallery of public servants:








So, gentle readers, remember that when the next election cycle is brought upon us all.

Oh, yeah, and for all those deluded losers who actually believe Mumia is innocent, just remember this: