Finland, whose high school students consistently rank smartest in the world, has just become the first country to make broadband Internet access a legal right:

Starting in July, telecommunication companies in the northern European nation will be required to provide all 5.2 million citizens with Internet connection that runs at speeds of at least 1 megabit per second.

In contrast, the United States is the only industrialized country without a national policy to promote high-speed broadband. In fact, 46% of rural American households do not subscribe to broadband Internet access.

On the other hand, most of those 46% of rural households do have access to Rupert Murdoch’s right-wing megaphone, the Faux News Channel, where they incur daily brain bathings in irrational conservative spin and lies — a bonafide danger to our national security (in 2003, 67% of Fox viewers believed that the “U.S. has found clear evidence in Iraq that Saddam Hussein was working closely with the al Qaeda terrorist organization” compared with 16% for NPR/PBS.)

While Red State Americans continue to nourish themselves on daily spoon-feedings from the high-pitched hissy fits of Glenn Beck, Hannity, and O’Reilly, the rest of the industrialized world tunes in to thought-provoking documentaries that connect the dots, like this Massimo Mazzucco masterpiece: The New American Century.

Tip of the hat to Indigobusiness for the documentary link.

Just how brainwashed are you?

Watch embedded below, or click the link: WTC7 — This is an Orange.

If, after watching the video, you irrationally feel very defensive of the the government’s official 9/11 conspiracy theory, you may need help…

Tip of the hat to Gerard Ryan for the video link.

Facebook poll:

Should “In God We Trust” be taken off our currency?
- YES! YES! YES!
- It probably should be.
- I don’t care either way.
- NO! NO! NO!
- It probably should remain on there.

My thoughts:

Since the Declaration of Independence makes it clear that governments created by humanity derive their powers from the consent of the governed, not from any gods, I think it should only be decided by a vote.

Furthermore, if one’s faith — or lack of faith, or indifference — is threatened by having the motto removed, one’s faith is pretty shaky.

And if one wants the motto to remain simply to coerce others to honor one’s personal religiosity, then one deserves to have Thomas “freedom of religion” Jefferson fly out of his tomb and clock one’s noggin with a cornerstone of Monticello.

And if one believes America will suffer the more if she doesn’t appease God Almighty with a phrase on her currency, one believes in a rather insecure and wimpy little god almighty.

And if one doesn’t know that the motto didn’t appear on any U.S. currency until after a civil war in 1864–almost a hundred years after the birth of the nation–then one is also ignorant of the history of the great United States of America.

So, since there’s not a “vote on it” option, I guess I don’t care either way :-)

The following is a presentation of ABCBSNBESPN Sports.

Jim: Here we are at halftime, and billions of people across the world have tuned in to the Gaza Strip.

Walter: Not an Olympic-sized venue by any means.

Jim: It’s about six-miles wide on average; runs for 25 miles along the Mediterranean Sea. It’s claimed by Palestine. And what we’re witnessing today is a rout.

Walter: Coming into the game, Palestine considered the Gaza Strip their turf, but honestly, I’m not seeing evidence of a home-field advantage. Israel is pounding them to dust.

Jim: If this continues, the Israel Zionists may hand the Palestine Islamists one of the worst defeats in Super Gaza Bowl history.

Walter: This game is even more surprising after Israel’s anemic offensive performance against Lebanon in the playoffs.

Jim: The Zionists have clearly worked out the kinks. Where Lebanon’s defense — led by veteran Coach Hezbollah — showed the Zionists a lot of different formations, that’s not the case today. In fact, we’ve yet to see much of a defensive strategy at all out of the Palestine Islamists.

Walter: I’m guessing Coach Hamas is trying to come up with one in the locker room right now.

Jim: As well he should. Otherwise the Zionists are going to come out in the third quarter and continue to punish Palestine with a crushing ground game, while firing bombs at will deep into Islamist territory.

Walter: That being said, we do have two more quarters, and in the Super Gaza Bowl, anything can happen!

Jim: Some people may not realize how lucky we are to get to see this game at all. Earlier this week, a large group of left-wing protesters tried to stop the game. They were pleading their case to league officials right up to the kickoff.

Walter: I’m guessing they didn’t have much luck stopping the game?

Jim: Not a chance. When it comes to fans who’ve made it here to the Super Gaza Bowl, football truly is a religion.

Walter: For more about that, along with a brief history of the Super Gaza Bowl, let’s take it to Melissa who’s made it down to the field…

Melissa: Thanks, Walter. This series between the Islamists and Zionists is considered one of the best and most hard-fought rivalries in all of sports. Overall, the Zionists own a sizeable lead in the series, but when it comes to this game all bets are off. The coaches have no problem getting their players fired up for this contest and, as we’ve seen today, the fans are equally fanatical.

To understand why this game is so important to Israel and Palestine, you need to go back to the beginning.

The original Super Gaza Bowl was played in ancient times, but back then the Palestine Islamists were known as the Arab Sheiks. Likewise, the Israeli Zionists were known by a different name: God’s Jews.

Believe it or not, the God’s Jews franchise was located in…Palestine of all places! But that was a long, long time ago — back before the original American Redskins moved out of Washington DC, before the Mexico Stampede moved out of Texas, even before the Spanish Conquistadors left Florida.

For thousands of years Palestine was home to one team: the Arab Sheiks. Their games with God’s Jews took place during the regular season. But all that changed when the Britain Monarchs came to town.

Ever since God’s Jews left Palestine, they were forced to play their games in other teams’ stadiums. By 1917, the Britain Monarchs had grown tired of sharing their stadium with God’s Jews, and that’s when they struck a deal with the International Football League (IFL) so that God’s Jews had to play all their games in the Arab Sheiks’ home stadium. The Arab Sheiks protested, and then the IFL decided to move the games with God’s Jews back to other stadiums across Europe.

But the big problem remained: God’s Jews wanted their own stadium. And after playing in Palestine, they really liked the facilities of the Arab Sheiks.

It all came to a head mid-century when God’s Jews suffered a series of devastating losses to a relatively new franchise: the German Storm Troopers.

The Jews-Storm Troopers games weren’t so much competitions as they were one-sided blowouts. In fact, the games grew so one-sided that sports fans stopped tuning in at all, and for a while, many people didn’t know the games were still being played. This resulted in huge revenue losses, and the IFL decided if it didn’t take action soon, there might not be any future games at all.

So, in 1947, God’s Jews changed the name of their franchise to the Israel Zionists, and the IFL moved them into the home stadium of the Arab Sheiks, forcing the Sheiks to give up half their locker room. This was the same year the Sheiks changed their name to the Palestine Radical Jihad Islamists, or simply “Islamists” as most fans refer to them today.

Now, you might ask: Why would the IFL move God’s Jews into the Arab Sheiks’ stadium? Why not make them share a stadium with the Britain Monarchs? Or the Turkey Turkeys? Or the Russia Mos Cows? If you ask the Islamists, they’ll tell you the other IFL members ganged up on them. However, the chairman of the IFL maintains it was because the Arab Sheiks already had the biggest locker room of any team in the league.

Whatever the case may be, sports fanatics can’t argue with the results: a quintessential intrastate rivalry with intensely loyal fans on both sides. You’d be hard pressed to find a contention with a better combination of history, tradition, and championship implications. And the fire, passion and hate between these two teams is unlike any other. This game literally stops the world.

Back to you, Walter!

Walter: Thanks, Melissa. And just to let you know how big a rivalry this game has become, the United States — the world’s largest football equipment manufacturer — donates $2.5 billion annually to the Israel Zionist franchise.

Jim: Two and a half billion dollars! My goodness. What do you think the Zionists buy with all that money?

Walter: I don’t know Jim, but made-in-the-USA “football equipment” would be my guess.

Jim: Heh-heh. Me too, Walter. And it looks like the two teams are coming back on the field? All we can say for sure is, blowout or not, all the rabid sports fanatics are in for a treat this second half. And you can watch it all, right here on ABCBSNBESPN Sports…

What’s your favorite Christmas tale? Here are a few of mine:

The Christmas Truce of 1914

On a cold Christmas Eve, at midnight along the trenches of World War I in Belgium, the Germans began singing Silent Night. The British troops responded with their own Christmas carols. Then something remarkable happened: soldiers from both sides ventured into No Man’s Land and began exchanging gifts…

Read more: The Christmas Truce of 1914.

The Christmas Song and Mel Torme

Another favorite Christmas story is how a sweltering July day in the San Fernando Valley in July of 1945 inspired Mel Torme and Bob Wells to pen a holiday classic: The Christmas Song. Although it’s been told many times, many ways…

Read more: The Christmas Song and Mel Torme.

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus

In September of 1897, the eight year old daughter of a Manhattan coroner’s assistant wrote the New York Sun asking if there was really a Santa Claus. Francis Church, a former Civil War corespondent, replied with one of the most touching editorials of all time…

Read more: Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus.
Full text of Church’s editorial: Is There a Santa Claus?

Read More: Christmas, Christmas truce, The Christmas Song, Mel Torme, Robert Wells, Francis Church, Santa Claus, Christmas Tales