• House of Flying Daggers - a spectacular first hour, followed by a draggy second hour that grows increasingly preposterous. But certainly one of the most beautiful films of the year


• Hotel Rwanda - A wonderful film not about the genocide per se, but about one man who made a difference simply because it seemed like the thing to do. A great, powerful, moving film. don't miss it.

Christmas fell out of favor again after the American Revolution, as it was considered an "English custom", and it was not declared a federal holiday in the United States until June 26, 1870.

The Puritans and other religious groups didn't celebrate Christmas because there is nothing in the Bible that directed them to do so. Besides, their experience with Christmas in England was that it had become a season of excesses -- gambling, elaborate feasts, parties -- and they heartily disapproved.

• 47% believe government should have greater power in monitoring Internet activities such as e-mail and online transactions
  
• 36% believe we need to outlaw some un-American actions, even if they’re constitutionally protected (Given that they don't understand what America is, I'm not sure how the respondents defined "un-American")
  
• One-third believe tat in a time of crisis or war, the media should not cover anti-war protests, and 31% believe the media should not report comments of individuals who criticize the government
  

President Bush has finally acknowledged that the Iraqis can't hack it as far as securing their own country, which means, of course, that America has no exit strategy for its troops, who will soon number 150,000.

News organizations led with the story, even though the president was only saying something that everybody has known to be true for a year. The White House's policy on Iraq has gone from a total charade to a limited modified hangout. Mr. Bush is conceding the obvious, that the Iraqi security forces aren't perfect, so he doesn't have to concede the truth: that Iraq is now so dire no one knows how or when we can get out.

If this fiasco ever made sense to anybody, it doesn't any more.

[snip]

...despite all the American kids who gave their lives in Mosul on the cusp of Christmas, battling an enemy they can't see in a war fought over weapons that didn't exist, we're not heading toward the democratic halcyon Mr. Bush promised.

"I think looking for a peaceful Iraq after the elections would be a mistake," Mr. Rumsfeld said.

National will is going to falter in its support of this U.S. involvement -- more than it already has -- if our soldiers cannot even be secure in large, semi-hardened containment areas," he says. "This is a damned cold slap in the face, and not one of these soldiers should have been killed or injured...Iraq is heading for civil war and total chaos and the Jan. 30 election is like putting a Flintstones Band-Aid on a gushing femoral artery.

I am afraid 2005 is even going to be worse than 2004

[Gen. Richard B.] Myers, appearing at the news conference with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, said the attack was "the responsibility of the insurgents, the same insurgents who attacked on 9/11. The way you prevent this is to win the war on extremism."

US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage warned Syria that Washington was prepared to impose new sanctions if it failed to clamp down on fugitive Iraqi officials and end its involvement in Lebanon.

Not one of those songs is a traditional spiritual carol or hymn. Instead, the songs listed include "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," "Here Comes Santa Claus," "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth," "Upon the Housetop," "Blue Christmas," "Jingle Bells," "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," White Christmas," "Frosty the Snowman, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Marshmallow World."

Whether one supported or opposed the invasion has become irrelevant, many said - there is only the road ahead now, with few signs to guide the way.

Charlie Eubanks, a cotton farmer and lawyer from the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, said he supported President Bush but had been lukewarm about going to war. Now, he said there was no choice but to fight on, and that reports on opinion polls were only "aiding and abetting" the enemy by making opponents think the American will is weak.

"We've got to hang in there and get it done," Mr. Eubanks said.

If you think we should proceed in Iraq, send your teenagers there. After all, you're asking other people to do the same. I mean, yank them out of college and send them to the recruiter. Otherwise, you're full of shit. All those "security moms" want security to be provided by other people's kids. Well, your turn is coming. When they take the class of Duke 2006 and ship them to Iraq, see how much you support Bush then.

When people say Kerry should have run against the war, this is what he would run into, American stubborness. People think we "have" to win. Tell them we're losing, and they look at you like you're crazy. They don't get that the US is losing and there is no easy solution, like more allied troops. Kerry wasn't going to get them and Bush will be told to piss off. Who joins a losing war? You think anything short than a full corps of Egyptian and Pakistani units would do any good? And they aren't coming because the leaders of those countries are allegric to plastic explosives in their cars.

This wintry season, as the faithful continue to receive alarming reports from the news that Republicans are all that stand between them and the outlawing of Christmas itself by hordes of secular humanists, the two presidents Bush have endorsed a powerful conservative interest group specializing in removing the cross -- not from schools or courthouses, but from churches.

Rather than the traditional egg hunt, this group, calling itself the American Clergy Leadership Conference, sponsored a nationwide "Tear Down The Cross" day for Easter, 2003. Last week, leaders in this radical cause presided over a Washington prayer breakfast featuring messages of thanks from the presidents. Former Senator Bob Dole came in person.

Mostly African-American, pastors who joined in 2003's ACLC-sponsored "Tear Down The Cross" won gold watches from the wealthy group, which unabashedly claims in its publications to have stripped churches of over a hundred crosses over the Easter holiday alone. This, movement leaders said, cleared the way for a new age and second messiah.

Speaking of messiahs, make a quick stop at the web site of the ACLC, and it's clear there's more to it than the “rapidly growing movement of clergy committed to the endeavor of making this nation the best that it can be," as the ACLC described itself in a December 8 Washington Times op-ed. It's actually a vehicle for Sun Myung Moon, the billionaire conservative donor who calls himself the True Father.

Hours after residents, local officials and clergy gathered at Veteran's Park to attend a rally against the recent vandalism to a Hanukkah menorah, the menorah was vandalized again.

Eight of the nine bulbs were ripped out of the menorah, which sits next to a Christmas tree and a nativity scene, and one was left hanging out of its socket, said Orangetown Police Sgt. Jim Brown.

Police were notified of the damage at 8:30 a.m., and detectives were at the scene taking photographs soon after, Brown said.

"We have been keeping an eye on the menorah," he said. "But officers were extremely busy Sunday night with the weather-related accidents."

Detective Lt. John McAndrew said police also were still investigating the first vandalism attack on the 9-foot-tall menorah that was discovered damaged just before a Dec. 11 Hanukkah ceremony.

"The only link between them is that the damage is the same," he said.

He said the menorah was still intact after the 4 p.m. ceremony Sunday, and the bulbs most likely were broken between midnight and 8 a.m.

Orangetown police have not classified either incident as a bias crime, but McAndrew said they would if the investigation led in that direction.

Rabbi Chaim Ehrenreich, director of Chabad of Chestnut Ridge, which sponsored the display, called the act "shameful and sad."

"There's nothing to say," he said. "It hurts. I don't know how that person can wake up in the morning and look at himself in the mirror."

Ehrenreich, who replaced the bulbs after the first attack, said the menorah was kept up for the rally even though Hanukkah ended last Wednesday. He said the menorah was to be taken down today.

Mayor John Shields, who organized the rally with the Nyack Clergy Association, said he was "horrified."

"I am speechless," he said. "Now, I'm wondering if people are just trying to gain attention."

Along with other recent incidents, the vandalism has caused concern in the town.

Two Orangetown men have been charged with hate crimes in connection with vandalism at four homes — three were painted with swastikas.

Swastikas also were found at Pearl River schools this year, and anti-Semitic pamphlets were distributed in Orangetown. A menorah in Pearl River was heavily damaged last year.

what does this "tale of two elections" prove?: That the Ukraine is a democracy in its birth-pangs, where integrity in the democratic process is not only expected but demanded, while America is a democracy in its death-throes, where corruption and fraud have become an entrenched and accepted part of the political landscape.

...in the wake of the Bush dictatorship's coup of 2000 and the corruption-ridden "election" of 2004, the chickens have again come home to roost in America. A nation that has incessantly imposed and/or propped up fraudulent democracies throughout the world has finally become a fraudulent democracy itself, controlled by the machinations of a cabal of corrupt oligarchs who satiate Americans with the illusion of "voting," while ensuring their preordained puppets are installed into office.

In America, the Bush dictatorship expressed concern about the fairness of the Ukrainian democratic process, but demonstrated no compunction about profiting from fraudulent elections at home. But perhaps most notably, people in the Ukraine bravely held around-the-clock vigils in inclement weather, demanding that the honor of their democracy be respected and restored. In the United States, a nation supposedly comprised of freedom-loving, fair-minded people, the overwhelming majority of Americans (with the exception of a few scattered protests) apathetically ignored allegations of electoral fraud in states such as Florida and Ohio.

how did America arrive at this sordid state, where fraud masquerades as democracy, where so-called "morality" apparently does not condemn the "bearing of false witness" to wage illegal wars, and where a man as venal, megalomaniacal, ignorant, dishonest and hypocritical as George W. Bush is viewed by many as a paradigm of virtue?

The answer resides in the Bush dictatorship"s ability to exploit and manipulate America"s reaction to the catastrophic events of September 11, 2001 (also known as 9/11), when the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. were attacked and thousands of people were killed.

But this exploitation and manipulation ignores one crucial reality. At the end of the day, when all the "official" commissions have ended, when all the blame is attributed to "intelligence failures," and when all the "reorganization" of intelligence agencies transpires, a single truth remains: The people who profited most from the 9/11 attacks were George W. Bush and his handlers.

When Vladimir made the decision, for example, on the -- whether to elect governors or appoint governors, I issued a statement that said in a free society, in a society based upon Western values, we believe in the proper balance of power.

Q: [David Cochran] Any lessons you have learned, sir, from the failed nomination of Bernard Kerik? As you look forward now to pick a new Director of the Homeland Security Department, and also as you pick a Director of National Intelligence, any lessons learned in terms of vetting, and particularly with the DNI? What sort of qualities are you going to be looking for in that man or that woman that you choose?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, first, let me say that I was disappointed that the nomination of Bernard Kerik didn't go forward. In retrospect, he made the right decision to pull his name down. He made the decision. There was a -- when the process gets going, our counsel asks a lot of questions and a prospective nominee listens to the questions and answers them and takes a look at what we feel is necessary to be cleared before the FBI check and before the hearings take place on the Hill.

Now, I would call the results mixed, in terms of standing up Iraqi units who are willing to fight. There have been some cases where when the heat got on, they left the battlefield. That's unacceptable. Iraq will never secure itself if they have troops that when the heat gets on, they leave the battlefield. I fully understand that.

You know, polls change, Dave. Polls go up. Polls go down. I can understand why people -- they're looking on your TV screen and seeing indiscriminate bombing where thousands of innocent, or hundreds of innocent Iraqis are getting killed, and they're saying whether or not we're able to achieve the objective.

Well, the -- yes, I spent some time talking to our generals about whether or not there are former Saddam loyalists in Syria, for example, funneling money to the insurgents. And my attitude is, if there's any question that they're there, we ought to be working with the Syrian government to prevent them from either sending money and/or support of any kind. We have sent messages to the Syrians in the past, and we will continue to do so. We have tools at our disposal, a variety of tools, ranging from diplomatic tools to economic pressure. Nothing is taken off the table. And when I said the other day that I expect these countries to honor the political process in Iraq without meddling, I meant it. And, hopefully, those governments heard what I said.

First of all, let me put the Social Security issue in proper perspective. It is a very important issue -- but it's not the only issue, very important issue we'll be dealing with. I expect the Congress to bring forth meaningful tort reform. I want the legal system reformed in such a way that we are competitive in the world. I'll be talking about the budget, of course; there is a lot of concern in the financial markets about our deficits, short-term and long-term deficits. The long-term deficit, of course, is caused by some of the entitlement programs, the unfunded liabilities inherent in our entitlement programs. I will continue to push on an education agenda. There's no doubt in my mind that the No Child Left Behind Act is meaningful, real, reform that is having real results. And I look forward to strengthening No Child Left Behind. Immigration reform is a very important agenda item, as we move forward.

Now, the temptation is going to be, by well-meaning people such as yourself, John, and others here, as we run up to the issue to get me to negotiate with myself in public; to say, you know, what's this mean, Mr. President, what's that mean. I'm not going to do that. I don't get to write the law. I will propose a solution at the appropriate time, but the law will be written in the halls of Congress.

I get asked that by family members I meet with -- and people say, how long do you think it will take. And my answer is -- you know, we would like to achieve our objective as quickly as possible. It is our commander -- again -- I can -- the best people that reflect the answer to that question are people like Abizaid and Casey, who are right there on the ground. And they are optimistic and positive about the gains we're making.

THE PRESIDENT: Here's -- here's what happened. I submitted a budget and Congress hit our number, which is a tribute to Senator Hastert and -- I mean, Senator Frist and Speaker Hastert's leadership. In other words, we worked together, we came up with a budget, like we're doing now, we went through the process of asking our agencies, can you live with this, and, if you don't like it, counter-propose.

And then we came up with a budget that we thought was necessary, and we took it to the leadership and they accepted the budget. And they passed

bills that met our budget targets. And so how could you veto a series of appropriations bills if the Congress has done what you've asked them to do?

Now, I think the President ought to have a line-item veto, because within the appropriations bills, there may be some differences of opinion on how the money is being spent. But overall, they have done a superb job of working with the White House to meet the budget numbers we submitted, and so the appropriations bill I just signed was one that conformed with the budget agreement we had with the United States Congress. And I really do appreciate the leadership, not only of Speaker Hastert and Senator Frist, but also the budget committee chairman. I talked to Senator Gregg this morning, as a matter of fact, who's running -- he'll be heading the budget committee in the United States Senate.

just want to try to condition you. I'm not doing a very good job, because the other day in the Oval when the press pool came in I was asked about this -- a series of question on -- a question on Social Security with these different aspects to it. And I said, I'm not going to negotiate with myself. And I will negotiate at the appropriate time with the law writers. And so thank you for trying. The principles I laid out in the course of the campaign, and the principles we laid out at the recent economic summit are still the principles I believe in. And that is nothing will change for those near our Social Security; payroll -- I believe you were the one who asked me about the payroll tax, if I'm not mistaken -- will not go up.

And I know there's a big definition about what that means. Well, again, I will repeat. Don't bother to ask me. Or you can ask me. I shouldn't -- I can't tell you what to ask. It's not the holiday spirit.

And the younger worker would gain a rate of return, which would be more substantial than the rate of return of the money now being earned in the Social Security trust.

Listen, I know how -- I know Secretary Rumsfeld's heart. I know how much he cares for the troops. He and his wife go out to Walter Reed in Bethesda all the time to provide comfort and solace. I have seen the anguish in his -- or heard the anguish in his voice and seen his eyes when we talk about the danger in Iraq, and the fact that youngsters are over there in harm's way. And he is -- he's a good, decent man. He's a caring fellow. Sometimes perhaps is demeanor is rough and gruff, but beneath that rough and gruff, no-nonsense demeanor is a good human being who cares deeply about the military, and deeply about the grief that war causes.

Listen, thank you all very much. I wish everybody -- truly wish everybody a happy holidays.

A document released for the first time today by the American Civil Liberties Union suggests that President Bush issued an Executive Order authorizing the use of inhumane interrogation methods against detainees in Iraq. Also released by the ACLU today are a slew of other records including a December 2003 FBI e-mail that characterizes methods used by the Defense Department as "torture" and a June 2004 "Urgent Report" to the Director of the FBI that raises concerns that abuse of detainees is being covered up.

[snip]

The two-page e-mail that references an Executive Order states that the President directly authorized interrogation techniques including sleep deprivation, stress positions, the use of military dogs, and "sensory deprivation through the use of hoods, etc." The ACLU is urging the White House to confirm or deny the existence of such an order and immediately to release the order if it exists. The FBI e-mail, which was sent in May 2004 from "On Scene Commander--Baghdad" to a handful of senior FBI officials, notes that the FBI has prohibited its agents from employing the techniques that the President is said to have authorized.

Another e-mail, dated December 2003, describes an incident in which Defense Department interrogators at Guantánamo Bay impersonated FBI agents while using "torture techniques" against a detainee. The e-mail concludes "If this detainee is ever released or his story made public in any way, DOD interrogators will not be held accountable because these torture techniques were done [sic] the ‘FBI’ interrogators. The FBI will [sic] left holding the bag before the public."

The document also says that no "intelligence of a threat neutralization nature" was garnered by the "FBI" interrogation, and that the FBI’s Criminal Investigation Task Force (CITF) believes that the Defense Department’s actions have destroyed any chance of prosecuting the detainee. The e-mail’s author writes that he or she is documenting the incident "in order to protect the FBI."

Kimmi Hardy- Keokuk, Iowa:

A woman who faked being pregnant, to the point of wearing maternity clothes and holding a shower after the "birth" of her child, has been charged with murder in the death of the baby's actual mother.

Kimmi Hardy has been charged with murdering Theresa Lund and taking Lund's baby on August 28, the day Hardy told friends that she had given birth in her trailer home. Guests at a subsequent baby shower alerted police that Hardy's baby, actually 6 weeks old, seemed too old for a newborn.

Dena Schlosser- McKinney, Texas:

According to her lawyer, a Texas woman who admits killing her baby daughter by severing the girl's arms was guided by a Biblical passage that refers to cutting off body parts to cast away sin.
Attorney David Haynes says 35-year-old Dena Schlosser, who has a history of mental illness, has been quoting Scripture where Jesus says, "If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away."

Schlosser was charged with capital murder last month after telling a 9-1-1 operator that she had cut off her baby's arms. Police found Schlosser in the living room, covered in blood, still holding a knife and listening to a hymn.

Andrea Yates- Houston, Texas:

Around 10:00am on June 20, 2001, Rusty Yates received a startling phone call from his wife, Andrea, whom he had left only an hour before.

"You need to come home," she said.

Puzzled, he asked, "What's going on?"

She just repeated her statement and then added, "It's time. I did it."

Not entirely sure what she meant but in light of her recent illness, he asked her to explain and she said, "It's the children."

Now a chill shot through him. "Which one?" he asked.

"All of them."

So it's official: The new gauntlet-throwing catch phrase from the right is "Merry Christmas" (can't you just see Eastwood saying it from behind the barrel of a gun?). Apparently, uttered in the right context—like on Fox News—those four syllables no longer convey simply holiday cheer, but a red-state/blue-state, my-god-is-better-than-yours challenge: I've got your "happy holidays" right here, buddy. This trend has been emerging all over the television dial: Last week on Scarborough Country, there was Pat Buchanan's distinctly testy-sounding "Merry Christmas" in answer to a guest from the American Atheists association who wished him a happy "winter solstice." And this week, there was George W. Bush's brief speech at the end of the Christmas in Washington variety special. (Throughout which I waited in vain for one politically correct, non-Christian number: Mandy Patinkin doing "Dreidl, Dreidl"? Queen Latifah rapping about Kwanzaa? C'mon, TNT, other religions can be cheesy too!) When the performances were through, Bush took the stage to thank the singers (who included LeAnn Rimes, American Idol 's Ruben Studdard, and the teen pop star JoJo) and remind the nation that the purpose of the season was to "remember the humble birth of our savior." Right, and to reach out to Americans of all faiths, in our country's great tradition of separation of church and … ? Mr. President? Are you finished already?

Between now and the end of the year, let's see how many warm wishes of Christmas intolerance we can gather from the airwaves. E-mail me yours at surfergirl@thehighsign.net. And a jolly Chrismukkah to you all.

Their deaths passed quietly. Tara Chambers, 29, was gunned down on a June morning inside her North Carolina home. Rebecca Johnson, 16, was shot in the chest as she sat in a pickup in Oklahoma. Ana Diaz, 28, was killed in a parking lot in Reston, Va., as she stopped to get a friend on their way to work.

All were pregnant, with futures that seemed sure to unfold over many years. One was a nurse's assistant who planned to name her daughter T'Kaiya. Another had just bought a house. The youngest was a high school cheerleader.

Their killings produced a few local headlines and then faded, each a seeming aberration in the community where it happened.

But pregnant women like them have been slain in Maryland and Mississippi, in California and Kansas, in Ohio and Illinois. Jenny McMechen, 24, was shot in a friend's home in Plainfield, Conn., and Kerry Repp, 29, was shot in her Oregon bedroom, and Tasha Winters, 16, was shot in Indiana the day she told her boyfriend that she was pregnant.

Ardena Carter, 24, was found dead in the Georgia woods, and Kathleen Terry, 22, was run over in Idaho, and Melesha Francis, 26, was strangled in New York, and Thelma Jones, 21, was shot sitting on her back steps in Louisiana, the day her mother ordered a cake for her baby shower.

A yearlong examination by The Washington Post of death-record data in states across the country documents the killings of 1,367 pregnant women and new mothers since 1990. This is only part of the national toll, because no reliable system is in place to track such cases.

[snip]

Louis Mizell, who heads a firm that tracks incidents of crime and terrorism, observed that "when husbands or boyfriends attack pregnant partners, it usually has to do with an unwillingness to deal with fatherhood, marriage, child support or public scandal."

Young women may be at more risk than others, several statewide studies suggest -- possibly because of more volatile relationships with young men or less money or greater uncertainty about parenthood. Of women whose cases were researched in detail, 16 of 72 were teenage victims -- or about 1 in 5.

hey included Vanessa Youngbear, a 16-year-old cheerleader in Oklahoma who was nearly seven months' pregnant when her former boyfriend, then 18, blasted her with a shotgun. Witnesses said the boyfriend had not wanted to pay child support and had worried that he might face charges of statutory rape if authorities found out he had impregnated a minor.

[snip]

For some men, she said, the situation boils down to one set of unadorned facts: "If the woman doesn't want the baby, she can get an abortion. If the guy doesn't want it, he can't do a damn thing about it. He is stuck with a child for the rest of his life, he is stuck with child support for the rest of his life, and he's stuck with that woman for the rest of his life. If she goes away, the problem goes away."

This holy day that everyone is fighting over doesn't even have that much of a base in reality, so why not let everyone celebrate it (or not) as they please? The fact is that Christmas is an arbitrary date that was settled on by early PR men for the new religion so that it would line up with pagan holidays. (As was done with most celebrations.) It was easier to get people to join up with your religion if you could co-opt their existing celebrations.

Christmas was pasted over the top of Yule. (Which had a number of other names.) Whatever the label, they were all focused on the arrival of the winter solstice... the shortest day and longest night of the year. Remnants of these early Western European pagan festivals remain to this day. Surely you recall singing songs about "Yule tide carols" and "burning the Yule log." Do you recall anything about "Yule" in the bible? No... because it's not there. It was a bunch of people praying like hell that the sun would come back and endless night wouldn't swallow the land. Some of them tossed in human sacrifices to sweeten the deal. In any event, most good estimates which I've read indicate that Christ was probably born some time in the early spring.

At least with Christmas they managed to attach a new name that sounded Christian. The second most holy holiday of the year is probably Easter. Stop and think about your celebration of Easter throughout your life. Now ask yourself the following: do you remember the touching Bible story about how St. Easter tried to talk Jesus out of meeting the Romans at the Last Supper? How about the heartwarming tale of the young apostle who tried to bribe one of the guards with a rabbit and some eggs so they could get Christ down off the crucifix? No? You don't remember those? That's because they aren't there either.

Easter is a modernized spelling for the festival of Esther. (There are several spellings, but that one will do.) It was celebrated at the Vernal Equinox and welcomed the new planting season. And yes, as you probably guessed, she was another druidic era pagan goddess who controlled the regrowth of the spring and fertility. Her symbols were a rabbit and an egg. Christians came along and simply glued another holiday on top of theirs and taught them the story of the crucifixion and the resurrection.