A Cartoon By David Mamet

(Source)

NEW JERSEY: Atheism Billboard Goes Up At Lincoln Tunnel

The American Atheists have erected the above billboard at the New Jersey entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel as part of a campaign to encourage people to "come out of the closet" about their atheism and "stop going through the motions" of taking part in Christmas shopping and celebrations. Some Christians, who are not the target of the campaign, are upset.

“I don’t think it’s any good for the kids. I’ve got a 7-year-old daughter — she believes in Christmas,” one woman told 1010 WINS’ Terry Sheridan. “I don’t think that’s right. We don’t go around telling them what we think about [atheists], so why should they put up something like that,” another man said. The billboard went up the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and is expected to be up through Christmas Day. [American Atheists president David] Silverman said atheists were unfairly targeted in the “war on Christmas,” a phrase often related to the public display of Christmas imagery on government funded property. “We get blamed for a war on Christmas every year. This time we’re actually going to pay attention to that. We’re actually going to earn a little bit of that,” Silverman said. “We have been blamed repeatedly for being unpatriotic, we have been told that there are not atheists in fox holes, we have been told that we are immoral. Nobody has ever cared if we would be offended.” While acknowledging “everybody has the right to believe as they see fit,” Silverman said his group believed there were “a lot more people” who were atheists, but feared publicly admitting it. “A lot of people in church, a lot of people in the mosque, a lot of people in the synagogue know they’re praying to air,” Silverman said.

The Superions - Crummy Christmas Tree

The Orlando-based Superions are a side project from B-52's frontman Fred Schneider. Their holiday album Destination: Christmas is now on sale.

UPDATE: JMG reader Hightemp suggests you might like this one better. I do.

NEW YORK CITY: Marine Corps Wrestles Name Back From Gay Holiday Toy Drive

For 25 years one of the glitziest events on NYC's homo holiday calendar has been the Toys For Tots party at Chelsea Piers, where the gay glitterati gather to booze, schmooze, and deliver mountains of new toys for the city's needy kids. As a Marine brat who went to USMC Toys For Tots events back in the 60's, I've always thought it was neat that the Marines let the gays use their famous (and trademarked) 63 year-old name for the event. Well, that's over.

A glitzy "Toys for Tots" charity party underwent a name change Tuesday after a stern reprimand from the Marines. The annual bash at Chelsea Piers is organized by gay men, not the U.S. Marine Corps, which uses the name for its own well-known toy drive. The Marines, which will field 1 million requests for toys in the city this year, doesn't get donations from the party, which draws A-listers like Mayor Bloomberg. "I want people to understand that when they donate to Toys for Tots that they are donating to the United States Marine Corps Toys for Tots program and the reputation it carries with that name," said Staff Sgt. Ivan Lebron, coordinator of the Toys for Tots NYC campaign.

The creator of the Chelsea Piers event says that he just "pulled the name out of a hat" back in 1985. Right. The new name for the gay event, which will take place as planned on December 3rd, is "Holiday Gifts for Children and Seniors." Oy.

This Is An Actual Movie

Screening tonight at the Family Research Council's Values Voters Summit is Christmas With A Capital C, a movie depicting how one Satanic atheist tried to ruin Christmas for an entire Alaskan town.

"Christmas with a Capital C" was filmed in Seward the last of February and early March. The movie stars Daniel Baldwin (the second-oldest of the Baldwin brothers) and Ted McGinley (from "Married ... with Children), plus a slew of Seward extras, including high school students, stay-at-home moms and guys standing in the cold rain for hours without a jacket. The straight-to-DVD movie centers around two high school rivals - Baldwin and McGinley - at odds over a Nativity scene in a city building. Baldwin plays the antagonist, or the Grinch, who experiences an eventual change of heart. "This is a feel-good movie, with a lot of conflict and the theme of the Grinch finally coming home," said Anchorage-based executive producer David Cuddy. "The final scene is like 'It's a Wonderful Life,' where his character melts and becomes a good guy."