HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Well, this has been a helluva year. I won't bore anyone with a "year in review" post, since I've documented much of it here already. Suffice it to say there have been wonderous times, scary times and a few miraculous times. Thanks for hanging in there with me, and I hope y'all come back to this little corner of the blogosphere next year!!

My wish for you is to have a safe and happy new year!!!!

Utterly Disgusting

This is unreal.

PITTSBURGH — State police are trying to find a man who they say stole a hand-held video game system and accessories from the casket of a teen who had been killed in a traffic accident on Christmas Day.

State police are not willing to comment beyond a brief news release issued Wednesday.

In the release, police say 38-year-old Jody Lynn Bennett grabbed the items from the casket of 17-year-old Bradley McCombs during a viewing Monday night at a Montgomery Township funeral home, about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

The funeral home director and McCombs' mother aren't commenting. The suspect's aunt, Dianna Bennett, says her family is friends with the McCombs and are mortified by the theft. She tells The Associated Press she hopes police catch Bennett soon.

What kind of low-life bottom feeding piece of male bovine excrement would steal from a casket?? And it wasn't even a teenager - we're talking about a 38 year old man!!

I gotta tell ya, I often feel like nothing can surprise me anymore. And then I am once again proven wrong. *shaking head*

A Special Place in Hell - Part 1,502,307

Missouri Man Allegedly Admits to 500 Instances of Child Rape and Molestation

A Missouri neighborhood is stunned after police say a man admitted to more than 500 instances of statutory rape and child molestation, Fox2Now.com reports.

Corey Brown, 45, of Lake Saint Louis, allegedly confessed to sexually abusing two girls over the course of three years, beginning when the children were 8 and 9 years old.

Police say the confession came while Brown was being treated in a hospital this month after attempting suicide, according to the website. Authorities then launched an investigation into the alleged abuse.

"I feel so bad because those girls had to go through that," neighbor Jackie Binz told the website. "I could've done something if I had known."

"The girls were so polite and cheerful," added Binz.

The mother of the victims was not aware of the alleged abuse, according to police.

Brown is being charged with 10 counts of child molestation, statutory rape and statutory sodomy.

He remains in custody as his victims undergo counseling, the website reports.

This makes me physically ill. How can anyone...ANYONE...do that to a child? And for years?? While part of me wishes he would have been successful in his suicide attempt, had that happened this wouldn't have been discovered and those poor girls wouldn't be getting the help that they undoubtedly need.

My hope now is that he is convicted of these heinous crimes, gets the maximum sentence, and his fellow inmates do to him exactly what he did to those girls. Now THAT would be justice!!!

Another TSA FAIL - Misses Luggage Full of Explosives

Unbelievable!!

Despite a $98 million infusion for state-of-the-art baggage screening machines, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) somehow missed a suitcase filled with explosives that blasted after a three-hour domestic flight.

The shameful gaffe is simply the latest of many for the beleaguered Homeland Security agency charged with protecting the nation’s transportation system. A checked bag on a flight from Boston to Miami contained hundreds of bullet primers that exploded on the tarmac after the plane arrived in south Florida. Primers provide the spark that detonates the gunpowder in bullets.
...
The alarming event caps a series of never-ending TSA blunders that have severely compromised national security in the last few months. While the 50,000-member agency harasses honest citizens with invasive, genital-groping personal searches, it ignores real threats and persecutes its critics.

Just this week the agency went after a commercial airline pilot for exposing security flaws at a major U.S. airport. The veteran pilot from northern California actually posted video on the internet showing ground crews entering the airfield without undergoing any sort of screening process at San Francisco Airport. Now he’s the target of a TSA investigation for revealing “sensitive information.”

A few days ago a mainstream newspaper reported that the TSA fails to meet federal standards by not screening cargo and passengers on hundreds of thousands of planes that fly over the U.S. annually. This could allow a terrorist to explode a plane with a dirty bomb, biological or nuclear weapon, according to a veteran U.S. intelligence operative quoted in the piece. A few months ago bombs concealed in printer cartridges were designed to detonate during U.S.-bound flights from Europe and Dubai.

Other recent TSA lapses include guns and bombs regularly getting past inept screeners during random tests at major U.S. airports, approving background checks for illegal immigrants to work in sensitive areas of busy airports and clearing dozens of illegal aliens to train as pilots just as several of the 9/11 hijackers did. In the meantime, President Obama has given the agency more than $3 billion in recovery funds, including $98 million for “advanced technology X-ray units” that screen baggage.

So despite having to take off our shoes, carry no liquids, get groped and manhandled and/or have naked pictures taken, these yahoos STILL can't protect us?? Why does that NOT surprise me? TSA and the current Department of Homeland Security is an embarrassment.

Drinking Right Christmas Party Update!!!!!

From Fred

In their infinite wisdom the NFL has moved this Sunday's Packer game.

Accordingly we will adjust the starting time of the Drinking Right Christmas party from noon to 2:30 pm.

Spread the word folks

Merry Christmas

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke 2:11

Merry Christmas to you all - May God bless you!

You Can't Buy Class

A few facts to begin:

Fact: I was born and raised in Illinois and I am an avid Bears Fan.

Fact: My husband of 16 years was born and raised in Wisconsin and is an avid Packers Fan.

Fact: I've lived in Wisconsin for 9 years.

Now, taking that all together you can imagine that football season in our house can get rather interesting. We along with our families have developed a mutual respect for the other's team. In fact, living in Wisconsin I know the comings and goings of the Packers' players more than I do my own players.

So what am I leading up to? Brett Favre.

In the beginning, I despised Favre. Couldn't STAND him. Over the next couple of years, I developed a grudging respect for the man. By the time he retired (the first time) from the Pack, my respect for the man and his skills was no longer grudging. And then...

His back and forth with the Packers got tiring. It was my opinion by the end of his Packer run that he was a spoiled little diva who wanted attention. In the years since, that opinion has only been confirmed. When he went to the Jets, I couldn't care less. I was actually surprised that Wisconsin media covered him as closely as when he was a Packer. And then...

The move to the Vikings was SUCH a "gotcha" to the Packers, I was surprised anyone still had any good opinion of him. And yet, the Wisconsin press still covered him as closely as when he was a Packer. In my eyes, his reputation was forever tarnished. And then...

The sexting. Apparently the NFL is still so enamored by Favre that there will be no repercussions because it's (almost) certain that he will retire after this season, and the "investigation" is ongoing. And the Wisconsin press, true to form, covered him as closely as when he was a Pack. And then...

According to NFL.com:

A concussed Favre still had the presence of mind following Monday night’s loss to the Bears to tell some of his opponents to put an end to the Packers’ playoff hopes. According to Michael Wilbon of ESPNChicago.com, via Judd Zulgad of the Star Tribune, Bears defensive lineman Julius Peppers was among them.

“I was happy Brett suited up,” Peppers said after the game. “I figured it might be the last time I got to see him across the field from me on the opposing sideline. Yeah, I talked to him after the game. I told him it was an honor to play against him. He said, ‘Likewise. … Go beat the Packers in a couple of weeks.’”

Seriously? Does he NOT remember how he was a god in Wisconsin? Does he NOT remember how the Packers organization and his fans stood by him through all his trials and tribulations? Does he NOT remember how so many would defend him against those like me who started calling him a whiney little bitch towards the end? If he does, it's obvious he doesn't care - not one little bit.

There are some who still say that years down the road all people will remember is his stats, his records, his skill. I respectfully disagree. There are several generations who will remember how Favre went from role model to a self-centered perverted bitter old man.

Goes to show you that regardless of how much money you have, you just can't buy class.

Tragic

2 firefighters dead, 17 hurt in extra-alarm blaze

Corey Ankum and Edward Stringer were among a dozen firefighters putting out a blaze in an abandoned building at daybreak today when suddenly the roof gave way.

Steven Ellerson, a 20-year veteran, and others swarmed inside to rescue them. "He heard someone calling for help and he looked for him," Ellerson's brother Maurice Matthews said.

Ellerson found Ankum on the floor, gasping

"He found him and knew he was struggling to breathe so he took off his mask to give him some oxygen," Matthews said. "Corey's head was stuck somehow and they couldn't get him out. So my brother went to give him his coat but they came and got my brother out of there. My brother didn't want to leave him, but there was no choice.

"It was a chaotic scene," Matthews said. "These guys put their lives on the line every day."

Stringer and another trapped firefighter was rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, police closing ramps and clearing the way for the ambulances. Ankum was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said both firefighters died of trauma. Ankum had been with the department less than two years, Stringer about 12 years.

The other trapped firefighter taken to Northwestern was "stable," according to Chicago Fire Cmsr. Robert Hoff. In all, 19 firefighters suffered injuries, Hoff said at an afternoon news conference. He said the injuries of those who survived were not considered life-threatening.

Read the rest at the link above.

That this happened at all is a tragedy...that it happened so close to Christmas makes it that much worse. Thoughts and MANY prayers to all those affected by this horrific event.

Just Because

A different take on Christmas

We all know about the war on Christmas. Those on the left want to take any and all Christianity out of Christmas; they want to make it a politically correct holiday. No more Merry Christmas, and heaven forbid there's a nativity scene to be...well...seen.

I found this article to be quite amusing. It's a bit of a different take on why the left should embrace some traditions of Christmas and toss some of the others.

...If one takes a closer look, however, at Christmas, he will see that a Nativity scene is far more politically correct than Santa Claus.

A sacred-themed Nativity scene is actually quite multicultural in nature. Such a scene features a Jewish-Galilean baby, born to a working class couple. The baby is serenaded by celestial beings and observed by bucolic shepherds, who are one with nature and the environment. The scene is framed by a very starry sky, unpolluted by industrial excess. Finally, to complete this diverse tableau, we see three philosopher-kings arriving from the East. They come peacefully to dispense gifts and mystical Near Eastern wisdom, far superior to the dry and linear Greek philosophy dominant in Western circles at that time.

A manger scene also stands as an indictment of the misguided capitalist system. The fact that Joseph, a general contractor, and his wife Mary, were refused accommodations because there was no room at the inn illustrates the failure of the free market to adequately address human needs. Granted, the fact that Joseph and his very pregnant wife were traveling to Bethlehem to pay their taxes is a tough nut to crack. If, however, working class folks like Joseph had willingly agreed to tax increases the Romans would undoubtedly have constructed homeless shelters, and provided a modest welfare safety net. The fact that men like Joseph resisted paying their fair share, thereby forcing the Romans to seek new revenue streams proves that Jean-Jacques Rousseau was right. Sometimes people have to be forced to be free! In addition, the nights in the stable really weren’t that bad. People returning to a state of nature and bedding down near the barnyard animals would warm the hearts of PETA
...
Santa Claus shows similar robber-baron tendencies in his approach to labor relations. He presses the elves into a state of serfdom, refuses to pay a decent wage, (thereby costing American jobs) and argues that he compensates for such shortcomings by providing good employee benefits such as free hot cocoa and gingerbread. Mr. Claus stubbornly refuses to bargain collectively with the duly elected representatives of the elves union. Furthermore, he will not allow OSHA inspectors free access to his toy factory and warehouse operations.

The animal rights lobby can also argue a good case against Santa Claus. His maltreatment of those eight tiny reindeer borders on criminality. This man “trains” reindeer to pull his bulk through the skies in an open sleigh. Quite disgraceful, isn’t it? Mr. Claus flies around in this contraption lacking seat belts, driver side air bags, anti-lock brakes, or any other safety devices. Meanwhile he cruises merrily along, apparently uncaring that reindeer flatulence contributes significantly to global warming.

You can read the whole thing here.

So how about it libs? Can we put the nativity scene back in Christmas?

Holiday Bloody Brunch - BE THERE!!

Time Sunday, December 19 · 3:00pm - 6:00pm

Location AJ bombers
1247 N. Water Street
Milwaukee, WI

Created By Bloody Brunch

Tis the season for sipping bloody marys topped with AJ Bomber burgers & bringing some good tidings & cheer to the community.

This time around all cash proceeds support the MACC Fund. Bring a toy to benefit Toys for Tots & get a swag bag filled with goodies from all your favorite local businesses....WOOT!

We'll have complimentary limo rides thanks to Blackline Limos...bring the family & take a ride in luxury to see the city's holiday lights!

Get your photo taken paparazzi style in front of our step & repeat courtesy of Rob Gustafson Photography!

Snack on the delicious pizza stylin's of Streetza Pizza!....AND MORE!

Stay tuned....tell your friends....& RSVP.....see ya on the 19th! :)

You can RSVP here
I will update this as more information becomes available.

It's Really Quite Sad

Yesterday, I saw a video that really moved me, so I posted it here. This evening, I watched it again and I started thinking (No Kate, I didn't hurt myself), and what crossed my mind really bothered me.

When I first watched the video, I was, quite frankly, overwhelmed by it. However the second time I watched it, my thoughts wandered a bit. Yeah, I know...big surprise. ANYWAY, one of my first thoughts was wondering how long until someone from Freedom From Religion (And NO, I will NOT link to them on this blog) will sue whatever organization was responsible for this heartwarming moment for "forcing" Christian religion on unsuspecting patrons of the mall.

Without getting into my personal views on this disgusting group, what I find quite sad is that during this wonderous season, the thought popped into my little brain and took root.

I really miss the country in which I grew up.

Drinking Right Christmas Party

Drinking Right Christmas Party.

Our Cheddarsphere Christmas party this year will be on Sunday, January the 2nd, from noon until whenever at Papa's Social Club, 7718 W. Burleigh Milwaukee .

Just like last year we'll be collecting predictions from the attendees for the coming year. (I'll be reposting last years predictions soon so we can see how we did.)

The Packers will be facing the Bears on the big screens. This game could very easily determine the NFC North Division Champion, come and watch it with friends!

Our White Elephant half-time gift exchange will also be revisited for a third straight year, just bring a gift to participate.

BLOGGERS, DO WHAT YOU DO, SPREAD THE WORD!!!

Head over to Fred's to RSVP.

In the Spirit of Christmas

Check out this video