Pope Benedict Warns That Materialism Pollutes The Christmas Spirit / Images From The Papal Jewlery Box

Pope Benedict warned on Sunday that rampant materialism was polluting the spirit of Christmas.

"In today's consumer society, this time of the year unfortunately suffers from a sort of commercial 'pollution' that threatens to alter its real spirit," the Pope told a large crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square to hear his weekly Angelus blessing.













A few small examples (from among thousands) of the jewelry, crowns, and gold His Holiness wears (or at least gets to play with)

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A Salute To Senator Joe Lieberman!

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Alien Lore 50 - The August 1945 New Mexico UFO crash

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In August 1945, a military mission passed through San Antonio, New Mexico on a recovery operation. The detail was from the White Sands Proving Grounds (where weeks earlier, an atomic bomb was exploded as a final test for the bomb the U.S. would drop in early August on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan). Soldiers in Army fatigues loaded what was left of a flying saucer onto a huge flatbed truck and hauled it away.

Two children--Remigio Baca and Jose Padilla, seven and nine years old--witnessed the aftermath of the crash that took place between about Aug. 20 and Aug. 25, 1945. Padilla and Baca later watched the military recovery work from a nearby hill.

The kids seem may have been the first people to see the crash site. They saw a long gash in the ground, and a saucer partially buried and a large field of debris. They believed the saucer was occupied by aliens that were still alive and moving after the crash.

They reported their discovery to Jose's father, Faustino Padilla, on whose ranch the craft had crashed. The military soon asked Faustino's permission to remove the flying saucer and debris.

This incident occurred well before the later, more publicized events at Roswell and Soccorro, and only resurfaced when Baca and Pedilla decided to tell their story.

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Jose and Remegio didn't talk to others about it on the advice of their parents and a police friend. Their parents didn't want the scrutiny and publicity (and scorn and derision) that would engender. As time went on, however, the import of what they had witnessed grew. There were more and more reports of Greys and UFOs all around the country, and especially in New Mexico.

You may remember the story of Lonnie Zamora's April 24, 1964 report of a "manned" UFO just south of Socorro, 10 miles north of this Padilla Ranch crash.

Jose and Remigio reunited a few years ago, after more than four decades out of contact (on the internet, of course!). This amazing event they had witnessed was a big topic of discussion. They decided to tell the story to a reporter, Ben Moffett, who had gone to grade school with them. The entire story by Moffett is collected on http://rense.com.

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With Friends Like Joe Lieberman, The Democrats Need No Enemies

An article in today's New York Times discusses Senator "Crazy" Joe Lieberman's sinking popularity in the Democratic Party.

You may know from previous articles in All This Is That that we consider him a Republicrat at best, and at worst, a Judas Goat and a turncoat spoiler, leading Democrats astray in the guise of moderation. Is anyone even listening to him except the G.O.P.? Any sane Democrat wrote him off years ago; he reinforced our thinking with his bumbling, pathetic run for the Presidency in 2004.

He was a disastrous pick for Vice President in 2000, and his recent defense of, and cozying up to The White House only leads us to believe he will switch parties sooner or later.

While we'd hate to lose another Democrat, with friends like this sawed-off weasel, who needs enemies?

The Senator has recently outraged Democrats with his spirited defense of President Bush's handling of the Iraq war. It's disgusting to see the little runt cozying up to The President and Vice-President.

From The New York Times: "Mr. Lieberman particularly infuriated his colleagues when he pointed out at a conference here that President Bush would be commander in chief for three more years and said that "it's time for Democrats who distrust President Bush to acknowledge that."

"We undermine the president's credibility at our nation's peril," Mr. Lieberman said.

We take Joe Lieberman seriously at our own great peril.
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Photo: Day Of The Dead Figures Of JFK And Jackie In Dallas

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Moron, Imbecile, Idiot Defined

The development of the IQ test was followed by a classification system that used terms to describe degrees of impairment:

Moron (51–70 IQ)
Imbecile (26–50 IQ)
Idiot (0–25 IQ).

These terms were later softened and the classifications redefined.

somewhat to mild retardation (55–70)
moderate (40–54),
severe (25–39)
profound (0–24) retardation.

The phrase mentally retarded itself, although still used, has been replaced in some settings by the term developmentally disabled.

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Alien Lore 49 - Walter Cronkite's UFO Encounter

Walter Cronkite was America's trusted and avuncular newsman for many years. He was there for JFK's assassination and a few years later he reported on the U.S. moon landing. I remember polls saying that he could have taken a shot at the Presidency himself.

We knew him all those years, but we never knew the private person. He managed to work the TV news business for many years without being involved in scandals, and without revealing much about himself.

In 1973, CBS was working on a documentary about UFOs. UFOs and aliens had reached a high point in popularity that had been climbing ever since the Roswell incident. Books, magazines, and movies about UFOs were appearing constantly.

In 1973 (this is pre-cable, friends, where even major cities had three television stations), CBS was the king of the hill and everything they did was watched (literally) by the whole world. The "special" was to be hosted by CBS News reporters, but Cronkite would do the interviews.

The story is verbatim from Bill Knell of Paranormal News.

"I was presenting several seminars a month on the subject and had already been involved with the media. Although I hadn't written any books, several articles I wrote were used by various newspapers and magazines around the world. As it happened, Walter Cronkite read a small piece that I wrote for a now-defunct UFO publication. The topic of the article was the Air Force cover-up of UFO information and a few cases I had investigated. Cronkite was making a list of people he wanted to interview for the CBS special and the article interested him. In 1973, I received a letter from CBS News indicating their interest in my work. After a few phone calls, I was able to meet and speak with the man himself! On a cool New York day in late September of 1973, I sat down and had an informal lunch with Walter Cronkite. By then, I had learned not to be star-struck by anyone. Because of my father's position as an officer in the Air Force, I had met a lot of important people. Still, I was in awe of this News Giant! The funny thing was that his manner was so gentle and laid-back that within a few minutes I was completely at ease. I guess that was his gift and the thing that made him such a successful news anchor.

"As we lunched, Cronkite told me about the TV Special and indicated that he wanted to interview me. He wanted a younger person's perspective on the phenomenon. Most of the UFO researchers in those days were older and had taken up the topic as a Retirement project. Cronkite was very interested in some of the Air Force stories I had collected. He was especially interested in the fact that I had grown-up in an Air Force family as a person interested in researching UFOs. After about 30 minutes of talking, Cronkite said to me, "Let me tell you my UFO story." For the next five minutes I sat in stunned silence as he told me what had happened. In the 1950s Cronkite was part of a pool of News Reporters brought out to a small South Pacific island to watch the test of a new Air Force missile. After a short inspection of the new system by the reporters, they were lead to an area that was a safe distance from the launch site. The missile was mounted on a specially-built launcher that was attached to a cement base. It was obvious that the area had been quickly built just for the test. The details about the missile were going to be given to the reporters in the form of hand-out sheets and press releases after the test.

"Cronkite mentioned that he and the other reporters had been warned that photography of the missile test and any audio transmissions or recordings by the press were forbidden. They would have to give a written account of the event. Just as the test was ready to proceed, everyone was writing as fast as they could. As Air Force Security personnel walked around the perimeter of the test area with guard dogs and the news reporters watched, the missile was fired-up and about to be released. Just then, a large disc-type UFO appeared on the scene. Cronkite guessed that the object was about 50-60 feet in diameter, a dull grey color and had no visible means of propulsion. Because the noise of activity around him and the missile engine was so loud, he couldn't tell whether the disc made any noise. He did not notice any coming directly from the object. As Air Force guards ran toward the UFO with their dogs, the disc hovered about 30 feet off of the ground. It suddenly sent out a blue beam of light which struck the missile, a guard and a dog all at the same time. The
missile was frozen in mid-air about 70 feet from the launcher as it had taken off. A guard was frozen in mid-step and a dog frozen in mid-air as it had jumped at the disc. Cronkite reminded me that this all happened within the space of about five minutes or less.

"Suddenly, the missile exploded! After that, the disc vanished. The guard and dog looked alright, but were quickly taken away by medical personnel always present at tests in case anyone became injured. At the same time, guards rapidly ushered the reporters into a concrete observation bunker. After about thirty minutes of sitting in that hot box, they were brought out into the air again and addressed by an Air Force Colonel. The officer told them, "It was all part of the test." Obviously making it up as he went along, the Colonel said that the event was "staged" to test media reaction to UFOs. He reinforced the usual line to the reporters that Flying Saucers were probably not extra-terrestrial, but what people were actually seeing was secret planes being tested by the Air Force. This test was designed to show the media how "shocking" it could be to suddenly view a new technology. Well, Cronkite was certain that what he viewed was a new technology, but he was also sure it was not an Earthly one. He didn't believe the Air Force explanation then, and he still didn't believe it at the time when he told me the story. After the event, reporters were told that since it was a test of media reaction to new technology, they could not report on it! But, they would be compensated later with exclusive stories on new Air Force projects (a promise that was never kept). Being as private as he was, Cronkite never did share with me his own beliefs about UFOs beyond the story he told me. I was so happy to have heard the story that I was afraid to ask anything further.

"The CBS UFO Special was filmed shortly after my meeting with Cronkite and I was included in it for just a few minutes. During the filming, I became aware that Cronkite had not shared his story with most of the other UFO investigators or witnesses. After the special aired I called one of Cronkite's staff members and asked him if he had ever heard the UFO story. He told me he had. Cronkite had only shared it with a few key people and it was NOT covered or even mentioned in the Special. I wondered why Cronkite had chosen to tell me the story without telling everyone? The staff members told me that most of the others were so busy telling him about themselves that he just never bothered. "

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More On Jackie Gleason & The Greys

I bumped into this old headline, following up on the piece here about President Nixon and Gleason's Alien adventure. . .
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Good News, Bad News: Rummy Is Going To Take A Powder But He May Be Replaced By That Sawed-Off Republicrat Sen. "Crazy" Joe Liberman

White House officials expect Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to quit early next year, following the elections and new government in Iraq, according to a story in the New York Daily News.

Rummy's deputy Gordon England heads the short list to replace him. The bad news: there are rumors that sawed-off ferret-faced Republicrat Sen. Joe Lieberman is on the list too.

Rummy wanted out a year ago, but both he and The President didn't want it to look like he was being run out on a rail. "They didn't want to give the critics the satisfaction that their piling on was what got rid of him," a Bush adviser said.

The article goes on to say that Bush has told friends that Rumsfeld is a political liability.
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Howard Stern: Let's Put Saddam Back In Office!

"We give Saddam Hussein a nice shave, hand him back his old uniform, and put him back in office."

Howard Stern says in Esquire's What I've Learned feature. . .

"Let him tame that f- place. We need this guy. He's the only one who can calm everybody down. Who else is going to do that? This guy was unbelievable. "

"Sure, he had to zap a few guys on their [testicles] to get them in line, but, man, look at what he did. He was no problem. In fact, he kept the Iranians at bay. He helped keep the balance over there. He was more afraid of the Taliban than we are."

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The Poetry of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld XV::::::::New Rumsfeld Poems From The Dec. 6, 2005 Defense Dept. Briefing

1 Why Don't We Try To Do This

Why don't we try to do this:
To have one question per person
And ask the question of one person.
In that way, more people
Will have an opportunity to ask a question.

2 They Are

It is considerably more difficult today
For terrorist networks to recruit,
To raise money,
To move across national boundaries,
To communicate with each other,
To conduct terrorist raids.

That's not to say that
They're not able to do it.

They are.

3 The Way Our System Works

You can have some schools
That think one way
And some schools that think another way.
And, of course, there are consequences to (laughs)
To what they think.

But that's fair enough, too.
That's the way our system works.

4 Progress

It's a tough business,
And it'll take some time.

And they'll be two steps forward
And a half a step back from time to time.

And everyone will throw up their hands and say,
"Henny Penny, the sky's falling.

Everything's terrible.
The glass is half empty."
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Links to fourteen selected earlier Secretary Rumsfeld poems on All This Is That:
Poem: Clarity By Donald Rumsfeld
Poem: Those Glass Boxes By Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
The Poetry Of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Part 3::::::That's Life
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Part IV::::::The Digital Revolution
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Part V:::::A Confession
The Poetry of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld VI:::::Predicting The Future
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld VIII::::::Litany: What I Don't Do
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld IX::::::Accuracy
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld X:::::::::Where Is Osama bin Laden?
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld XI:::::::::Existence, Evidence, Absence
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld XII:::::::::The Pause
The Poetry Of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld XIII:::::::::It Hasn't Happened
The Poetry of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld XIV::::::::The Unknown
New Rumsfeld Poems From The Dec. 6, 2005 Defense Dept. Briefing

poem: Zombie Breakdown

The undead walk
Sloughing tendrils of putrified flesh
And the living
Are made of cardboard

The border between
Being and nothingness is erased
The dead and not dead yet
Straddle a razor-thin margin

The dead reactivate
And flicker on to rampage
Shattered people and things
Litter the streets in their wake

The armies disintegrate
Soldiers gone A.W.O.L.
And the rest band with warlords
To plunder and protect the chosen




Rumor and speculation circle
Besieged pockets of life
Are the zombies a government experiment
Gone terribly wrong or terribly right?

Human activity can be accomplished
Unconsciously without memory or perception
And a one track mind keeps the focus
On consuming human flesh

The virus has no known cure
Lopping off the infected area
Won't stop the transmogrification
Into the living dead

Zombies can't open doorknobs or latches
Or climb stairs or walls
Zombies are weak on their own
But in concert with other zombies

The threat is unveiled
Legions of shuffling tireless flesh-eating machines attack
And soon you're one of them
Fee Fie Foe Fum.
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