Certainly it is for Christians world wide, being an important religious celebration for them, although it has moved more and more toward consumerism/materialism — good for the economy, right?

But what about Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, et al? Many are free to celebrate their own religious events.

My point is, however, that there are many who are suffering, suffering because of actions taken directly by our own government. Should I enumerate them? No, it is better to lament them and put a stop to them.

Yet our leaders in the Executive Branch do not appear to be in such a frame of mind as to lament and change course. No, they appear to be doing all they can to find a way to keep us on their course, circumventing/ignoring the political defeat they suffered in the recent election with carefully selected words, as usual, words selected to instill more fear in order to generate their continued military surge, don’t they?

But wait, not only Iraq, but regarding the Middle East in general. We are beginning to be told that we must increase the size of the US Army by about 75,000.

In my view, the reason is that the neocons now wish to threaten Iran, as they appear to see only a military solution to counter the Iranian threat. Diplomacy, suggested by the Iraq Study Group, has already been discarded as an option.

Thus, well before the upcoming President’s speech in January, they have already discarded a diplomatic approach, having dialog with Iran, with Syria. They continue to make no meaningful gestures to get the peace process going again in Palestine. They continue to avoid developing a regional dialog in the Middle East. When will they learn that military solutions are totally counterproductive, providing only suffering and intense hatred of our nation? So what is the prospect for Middle East peace under George Bush?

In the meantime, there are many American families who are suffering this Christmas, suffering at the loss or maiming of loved ones, including those whose heads are now unscrewed, perhaps for life. These and the hundreds of thousands of suffering Iraqis and Palestinians, all suffering partly because of the incompetent policies of George Bush, a man who thinks that being stubborn is a desirable quality in a leader.

Matt Damon said it right on Hardball the other night, when he said all this suffering is so unfair; so few of us carry the burdens of the Bush Iraq War. Not only are most of us not involved, we have not even been asked to pay, as we have had tax cuts; instead, we borrow, from China et al. How prudent is this? How fair is this?

The implied litmus test is this: Would George Bush be able to continue his militaristic violence if we had a draft? The election results are telling as to the true answer to that question. Bush cannot continue to fight this war his way without the political support of the American people. I don’t think he realizes this; that is how out of touch this man is!

The Iraq Study Group had it right when they said the we need a policy that has bipartisan support in order to bring resolution to this failed war.

Bush & Co. do not appear to be listening to the American people, so the result will inevitably be continued strife, self inflicted and inflicted as well on the Iraqis, maybe as well the Iranians in the near future.

Sorry, I cannot trust George Bush; and I continue to think he is incompetent. The only hope is that the new Congress will insert/force sanity into an insane WH. Only then can we hope to play a constructive role in making for Christmas, and for all the other important religious celebrations, occasions permeated with peace, joy, and good will to/for all!!!

I love this report about smokers and littering.  When you listen to it, please remember WGMD reporter Joe Ciccanti actually sat in the parking lot at Midway and counted how often smokers tossed their butts on the ground!  Are smokers this self centered and self absorbed in other areas of their life, or only when it comes to littering?

Hear the report here, and others here.

I agree with the manager of Prime Hook; a five cent deposit on butts to help clean up.

With Chanukah nearing an end and Christmas a few days away, it’s really holiday crunch time so I poked around to see what was hot and available at the beach for kids.

I spoke with Teresa Ford of Kid’s Ketch on Second Street in Lewes. She told me these were her top sellers this season, some are still in stock and some are sold out or selling out fast, so you’d better hurry:

1) Blockus (a board game)
2) Zingo (a game for 4-8 year olds)
3) Skull Pirate Ship by Playmobile
4) Zoomorfs (interchangeable animal parts)
5) Wedgits (construction ste)
and…
6) Doink it Darts (a magnetic dart game)

I asked her how the season was going and she said, “It’s been really nice, and it’s been steady since the fall.” Kid’s Ketch will be open this weekend and parking is free.

If you’re looking for something a little different to get the kids there is always dinosaur dung at Insight on Rehoboth Avenue. It’s $2.00 a piece and looks like a rock, because it is, and you’ll enjoy watching your kids smell it to see if it still stinks. Insight also has fossils and pieces of dinosaur bone, which make great gifts and they’ll be open all this weekend, too.

And don’t miss out on Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach. They have paper dolls, wooden trains, toys and great books like “Pirateology” to keep your kids busy all winter long.

Good luck!

What’s all the fuss? Keith Ellison is preparing to take his “oath of office” and chooses to do so with the Qu’ran. For one thing, there isn’t a requirement for representatives to use any religious book…Bible or otherwise. What they are required to do is swear to uphold the Constitution. The Constitution does not require anyone to use a religious book…Bible or otherwise. There is nothing to prevent one from using such a book if they so choose, it’s not a public ceremony (though there is a photographic “record”) and Mr. Ellison is choosing to exercise his choice for that instance, which he has every right to do. Others have preceded him by using different texts, others have chosen nothing but the required raising of their right hand while swearing or affirming to uphold the Constitution. This is what we require of our representatives…nothing sacred or holy but simply that they will follow and work for their constituents according to the laws of the land. And there is a mini-uproar! Before getting knickers in a twist what about biding time, waiting to see how this man carries out his office? He has been a State Rep in Minnesota since 2002 and looks to me like he upheld that office well enough since he was recently elected to represent his State in Congress. Let’s see how his record stands in a few years…or at least until the next election before deciding how his choice of swearing in will affect our fate.

To the ‘nay-sayers‘, I would also ask…what then about those who have gone before, using their religious book, or even nothing at all…were seen to be sworn in and, ultimately, thumbed their noses, filled their own pockets or created national scandals thus bringing dishonour to their office? Let the man do his job, illustrate his effectiveness for the good of his country and his own constituents, before assuming he’ll be bringing Islam to us all.

The National Archives Inspector General released a report today that said former Clinton National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, in the days prior to his 2003 House and Senate Intelligence Committee testimony, removed documents from the Archives, stashed them, and went back later to take them. Archive employees did not notify law enforcement.

The report said that when Berger was reviewing the classified documents in the Archives building a few blocks from the Capitol, employees saw him bending down and fiddling with something white, which could have been paper, around his ankle.

However, Archives employees did not feel at the time there was enough information to confront someone of Berger’s stature, the report said.

Brachfeld reported that on one visit, Berger took a break to go outside without an escort.

“In total, during this visit, he removed four documents … .

“Mr. Berger said he placed the documents under a trailer in an accessible construction area outside Archives 1 (the main Archives building).”

Berger acknowledged that he later retrieved the documents from the construction area and returned with them to his office.

Berger’s punishment was 100 hours of community service, a $50,000 fine and a three year ban on access to classified materials. At the time Berger was stealing documents about al-Qaida from the Archives, we were about 6 months into the Iraq war. We were about 2 years into the War on Terror. The idea of a former National Security Advisor stealing documents from the Archives at that critical point in our history is unbelievable, the lack of a serious punishment is shocking, and the fact that he will someday have access to classified materials again is unimaginable.

And the questions remain. Why did he steal the documents? Did former President Clinton know what Berger was doing? And is there any chance we’ll ever know what was containied in those documents?

Here are my picks for the entire Week 16 schedule, all on a hunch!

Packers over Vikings @ Green Bay

Chiefs over Raiders @ Oakland

Bucs over Browns @ Cleveland

Titans over Bills @ Buffalo

Falcons over Panthers @ Atlanta

Redskins over Rams @ Saint Louis (Campbell keeps improving as a weapon, and the defense has had a rebirth.)

Ravens over Steelers @ Pittsburgh (With or without McNair, the Ravens have an offense.)

Giants over Saints @ New York (This is a must win for the Giants over the resting Saints, and they will win with Tiki and Plaxico prevailing, and Strahan back in.)

Jags over Pats @ Jacksonville

Colts over Texans @ Houston

Bears over Lions @ Detroit

49ers over Cardinals @ San Francisco

Chargers over Seahawks @ Seattle

Broncos over Bengals @ Denver

Eagles over Cowboys @ Dallas (Dallas secondary yields to the Garcia driven momentum)

Jets over Dolphins @ Miami

Nina Spencer moved to Delaware in 1985 to get married. She was born in Pineville, Louisiana, the daughter of a preacher, which has had a profound effect on her life. “I’m spiritual in my creativity,” she says.

Nina is a folk artist. Her paintings show, among other places, at the Rehoboth Art League, and she has a permanent collection at the Delaware Art Museum. She’s also part of the new Delaware Folk Art Collection that will be shown at the Blue Ball Barn in Wilmington when it opens in the spring of 2007.

Her paintings are beautiful and colorful and sometimes touch on sensitive subjects. “I paint from a child’s perspective because people are less offended by the cotton fields.” She adds that in many years she’s only received one negative comment about her content. Nina paints on canvas and paper and glass and tile, “My stories are all intertwined on tiles.” Recently she’s been painting glass ornaments for Christmas.

But Nina’s art isn’t limited to paintings. She has a dance single due to be released in Europe the second week in January. She has two CDs out, “Urban Legends” and “Heart of a Worshipper,” an inspirational collection. She writes her own songs. She also writes inspirational thoughts, poetry and “Whatever I feel,” she says. “My writing is a voice I never knew was inside of me.”

“This is my season,” says Nina, “I feel freer now than any time in my life.”

An update on the Cape Henlopen fighting post.

I find it noteworthy that even to this day President Bush has continued his surveillance of the internet communications of American Citizens without a court warrant to do so.

And then we hear Newt Gingrich’s call several weeks ago that we must seek for a new interpretation of the First Amendment in order to accommodate his perceived need for that new weapon in this so-called War on Terror. This speech was made in NH before an audience gathered to honor the First Amendment, believe it or not.

This initiative to operate above the law by certain elements of our GOP leadership accounts for the loss of confidence by the American people for the Cheney/Bush leadership we continue to suffer in the Executive Branch.

This loss of confidence is reinforced when we hear Bush, in his farewell address to Rumsfeld on his departure, that Rumsfeld is “the greatest Secretary of Defense” this nation has ever had! On which planet does the President now reside???

For one other sharp critique of this Cheney/Bush/Newtonian mindset, focused this time on reworking the meaning of the First Amendment, I recommend this piece by Keith Olbermann for all to hear. Sure, he uses hyperbole to make some of his arguments; no matter, I believe the American people need to listen first, then contemplate about these attacks on our basic freedoms from our current leaders.

We Fight for Liberty by Having More Liberty and Not Less

Quite a number of years ago I was a fan and supporter of Colin Powell. At one time even hoping he’d run for the Presidency. I wasn’t alone…many people had immense admiration and support for this seemingly thoughtful, somewhat compassionate man.

His initial opposition to the pre-emptive attack on Iraq was welcomed, both by many of his fans and those who did not believe this to be a just course of action. And then…inexplicably…he caved to the demands of his office, his boss or both. Many, certainly myself among them, watched in disbelief and horror when he made his presentation to the U. N. and the many who respected, had faith in this man didn’t only wane…it pretty much was tossed into the trash along with his previously good name.

So today, when it was announced he would be first up on “Face The Nation” (the first interview he has given in a year) I wanted to see what he had to say for himself. Wish I hadn’t bothered…in fact, about half-way through I switched off, nothing restored but angrier than I’ve been in some time. Of course I may be wrong in thinking that what he says today gives some voice to how he really believed those few years ago. In which case, why on earth did he cave? Why has it taken those years, too many lives, a country’s destruction and far more unrest there than existed before we ever attacked for him to publicly voice what so many…including, perhaps, himself believed at the time. Now…when he is in no position to be effective as he once could have been; when position, status, perhaps ambition had him detour from the person we thought he was and could have been more. Would the real Colin Powell please stand…or does he even have difficulty remembering which he is?

Today, far too little much too late for who could believe the “real’ Colin Powell could not, did not, see this coming when he first resisted any idea of this “war“.