Louis Armstrong’s first Christmas tree

Thanks to Bro. Jay, you have this story to enjoy.

Bro. Jay, I hope the DJ Correspondent checks are arriving on time. The business office went out for a drink last Tuesday and they haven’t returned yet…

Do you agree with Tom Ridge?

The former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security says the man who is accused of trying to set off a bomb on an airplane on Christmas Day in Detroit should not have the protection of the U.S. Constitution.

Said Ridge, in a television interview on CNN’s “Larry King Live:”

I take a look at this individual who has been charged criminally, does that mean he gets his Miranda warnings? The only information we get is if he volunteers it? He’s not a citizen of this country. He’s a terrorist, and I don’t think he deserves the full range of protections of our criminal justice system embodied in the Constitution of the United States.

Isn’t this the same mentality that gave us torture? And Guantanamo Bay?

What a crappy decade we just had

So says Pew Research.

But those 10 years can’t have been all bad. Quick! Name two good things that happened to you in the ‘Aughts.

Today’s Kwanzaa principle:

Cooperative economics.

More on the holiday here.

Good video, but isn’t Dove part of the beauty industry?

Its parent company, Unilever, certainly is.

And thanks, Sojourners, for the link.

Today’s Kwanzaa principle:

Collective work and responsibility.

More on the holiday, here.

Does this make you feel safer?

Pres. Obama, on his holiday break in Hawaii, vowed to use “our national power” to keep Americans safe from potential terrorist attacks.

Meanwhile, Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has backed away from her earlier statements that the national security system worked smoothly during the recent attempted attack in Detroit.

Street Prophets wants to know:

How do you solve your problems?

At Hartford Seminary once, the teacher conducted a similar exercise, only she asked us to show us, with our bodies, how we solve conflicts. We were to pretend she was our conflict. I wandered over into a corner and stood there assessing the situation. Another student put her head down on her desk. A man took one look, opened the classroom door, and left. He didn’t return for an hour or so. We were then asked to explain ourselves, and I said that had I had more time, I would have eventually walked up and talked to her about the conflict, but I’d learned over time not to start talking immediately

In fact, I hadn’t and haven’t learned not to start talking immediately, but I thought that was a good answer I made up.

(In Street Prophets’ poll, I answered that I usually work backward. If I sleep on it, I forget the problem.)

Babies as terrorists

This says 14 babies were “impeded” from boarding their airplanes because their names were on the Department of Homeland Security’s no-fly list.

(Though the date beside the Harpex’s Index listing is 11/05. Think the number’s higher now?)

I think this about covers it

Go here for JibJab’s review of  ’09. Good riddance.