Merry Christmas

Birth and re-birth,

Now and then and forever too.

Born and re-born,

For me and for you.

Gather together, clasp the hand

Or hands

Of those close and those

Who should be closer.

Hold forth the past, pass it along

To the future in words, deeds, and

Glances of love.

Gather together and talk, think,

Live His coming, His presence, His Love.

Celebrate the new, and the old, and the ancient,

With the songs and prayers and smiles

Taught and learned;

Remembered and discovered.

This is a timeless time,

Revel in that all encompassing Love

That is, too,

Timeless.

Juxtaposition

Interestingly enough, these two stories showed up on the Grassroots PA website at the same time. I was going to try to save this for tomorrow, as today is Christmas and both of these stories are not happy, then, I realized, today is the day to post this, to maybe let one or two people see that what we celebrate today is one of the best ways to combat these two haters. In my opinion, both of these people should be charged with crimes, but only one is...that in itself is nuts. The first is a racist hater, a young kid from Dover PA. He's following in the steps of racists, and arresting him for his actions might teach him a thing or two...but, not if he reads that this guy isn't going to be charged with anything.

The second guy hates Jews and Scandinavians, or, as is the case with these extremists, anyone who is not Muslim. He won't be charged because none of the groups he hates are 'protected', while he seems to be due to his conversion.

Now, I tend to try hard to see the good in people, but these two? Not really. If they were to read a little bit of the Gospels, just read them, I'm not asking them to convert, but to think. Love is easier than hate, and it sure works better.

For instance, the racist nut job would find that all people are equal in the eyes of God and the Jihadist would learn that the passages in the Koran that call for the killing of non-believers don't exist in the New Testament, he can still worship Allah if he wants, but should try the peaceful version.

Sorry for the sad intrusion, I'll top this with the Christmas Poem!

They read my blog

It looks as if the Turnpike Commission read my little blog...or it was the thousands of people like me that hated the idea of not knowing how much the toll was going to be!

Even the Sate Auditor General hated the idea! This is why we have open government, so we can change the stuff that makes no sense.

He just doesn't get it

People can't seem to understand that no matter how much they try, they can't force their own morals, thoughts, ideas, on others. A private organization is permitted to set rules, and the Boy Scouts of America does just that. I do not agree with the anti-atheism clause, for the record, but do agree with the no-gay-leaders clause. Notice, it does not say no gay scouts, it says no gay leaders...there is a difference.

Now, in Philly, the city wasted millions to try to kick the scouts out, they lost, and the settlement is to sell the land on which the scouts built a headquarters to them. In steps a well meaning (oh, bull-crap, he's not well meaning, he's hateful to a group he disagrees with) philanthropist to try to buy the building and land out from underneath the organization.

I have no problem with discussing this issue with people, and will debate the points readily, what I can not stand is assuming the Scouts 'discriminate' against gay leaders due to some moral code only. Sure, some of it is morally based, nothing wrong with that, either, but the rest is simple reality.

Now, disagree with me, disagree with the scouts, but you can't honestly disagree with the number of incredible well adjusted citizens that come out of the organization. In a world where the First Lady is pushing anti-obesity, this guy is trying to hurt an organization that teaches how to be 'physically fit'.

Let the scouts be scouts, don't enroll your kids if you disagree with their message, but don't shut them down if you disagree...

Exit question: What would be the discussion if this guy went to New York City and tried to buy the location where the Cordoba House Muslim Community center is going to be built? Homosexuality is a crime punishable by death in most Muslim countries...

They'll just write themselves

In the coming months and years, blog posts will be simple. Just Link to an article from, oh, 2000 or so, and then link to the current weather report. (I know, when a realist mentions weather, it isn't climate, but when an AGW religionists mentions weather, it's proof). So, for today, how about a breathless article warning the kids of 2000 that there will most likely never, ever, be snow in England again. 2010 was the date when the oceans were going to flood Philly too (I kid). Has anyone noticed the weather in England? Last year too? The earth is huge, massive, bigger than a human can comprehend, and we silly humans think we can affect it? We can't, we don't, and even if we did, the earth DOES NOT FREAKING CARE. Humans will survive, animals will survive and the planet will survive.

Get over yourselves people, please.

And before...oh, never mind, no one is going to comment on this...

Arrogance

It amazes me; whenever I think that humans have reached the peak of arrogance, another one pops up and proves me wrong. Take Joe Brimmeier of the PA Turnpike Commission who recently opined: "Why go to the expense of printing these things when most people don't even look at them?"

He was referring to the little cards we get when we use the PA TPKE, or, those of us that don't use it often enough to justify the easy pass contraption. I look at it as soon as I safely can, or, much preferably, and if possible, I have a passenger look at the ticket so we can have the money ready at the other end of the journey. This was standard, and still is for more than 1/3 of the drivers on the road (according to the linked article).

Just because those of you with easy pass have know idea what you are paying does not mean that the rest of us don't want to know. I want the option of getting off at Morgantown instead of Downingtown if I don't have enough money for the toll, I want to jump off at Harrisburg West instead of Carlisle if the difference is big enough, and don't even talk to me about the funky pricing between KOP and the NJ TPKE.

If the commission is printing such an overabundance of cards, maybe that should be looked at, not inconveniencing the travelers.

A very worthy cause

Mr Khaled is visiting Yemen on an ambitious mission to, as he puts it, take the battle against al-Qaeda to its heartland.

President Saleh: 'Yemen is not a haven for terrorists'

"My big aim is to uproot extremism in Yemen by encouraging people to be positive, face down the extremists and say 'We don't want you in our country'," Mr Khaled said.

So I promised some time ago to talk about the moderate Muslims that want to rid the world of terrorism, here is one.

I wish him luck!