Is This For REAL? OMG! . . . Horrifying! . . .

You sort of owe it to yourself to watch this till the end -- especially if you're a parent.

WARNING: We'll Pay For It Withe People's Lives!

New Jersey State Senate Republican Whip Joe Pennacchio (R-26) urged legislative leaders and Governor-elect Phil Murphy not to put innocent families at risk by rushing to legalize marijuana in New Jersey, in light of reports that crime rates have actually risen in Colorado since the state enacted full legalization of the drug.

Sen. Joe Pennacchio urged legislative leaders and Governor-elect Murphy not to put innocent families at risk by rushing to legalize marijuana in New Jersey. (Pixabay)

“Our first priority as legislators must be to protect the people we were elected to serve,” Senator Pennacchio said. “Crime rates in Colorado are rising faster than almost anywhere else in the country. That’s not a coincidence. We cannot allow this to happen in New Jersey. Governor-elect Murphy – don’t pay for legal pot with people’s lives. It’s not worth it.”

In New Jersey, violent crime has dropped every year for five straight years. In Colorado, the increase in crime in 2016 was more than 11 times the average increase in the 30 largest cities in the nation. Denver Police statistics show an increase in all types of crime rates since legalization, including a 20 percent increase in drug violations and a 237 percent increase in crimes such as public drunkenness.

Law enforcement officials in Colorado have also observed an increase in organized crime since legalization. In Denver, police officers are executing between five and nine search warrants each week to tackle illegal grow operations in the area, putting innocent residents and business owners in harm’s way.

Pennacchio noted that legislative leaders should also consider the impact legalization could have on the safety of New Jersey’s children. According to the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Report, Colorado’s youth marijuana rate, the highest in the nation, is 74 percent higher than the national average.

For those concerned about how marijuana arrests are impacting minority communities, Senator Pennacchio noted that, according to the Colorado Department of Public Safety, arrests of black and latino youth have actually increased 58 and 29 percent respectively post-legalization.

Marijuana tax revenue generated a mere $156,701,018 for Colorado in fiscal year 2016, which only accounts for 1.18 percent of the state’s total tax revenue. The cost of marijuana legalization in public awareness campaigns, law enforcement, and other preventative costs remains a growing concern.

“Right now, we should be focusing on making New Jersey more affordable,” Senator Pennacchio said. “You can’t legalize marijuana without also increasing the number of police officers walking the beat. In case Democrats have forgotten, New Jersey is in the midst of a pension and health benefits crisis. How much more can we ask taxpayers to pay for public safety? Legal weed is a bad deal for the people of New Jersey.”

Senator Pennacchio was among the first to express concerns about Governor-elect Murphy’s plan to legalize marijuana for recreational use within the first 100 days of his administration. Read Sen. Pennacchio’s statement outlining the impact on New Jersey’s roadways and driver/pedestrian safety here.

Well, We Certainly Know Who he's AGAINST . . .

“We don't need a liberal person in there, a Democrat, Jones. 

I've looked at his record. It's terrible on crime. It's terrible on the border. It's terrible on military.

I can tell you for a fact we do not need somebody who's going to be bad on crime, bad on borders, bad for the military, bad for the Second Amendment."

- President Donald Trump, 11/21/2017

WOW! Like NOTHING You've EVER Seen Before . . .

The decorations are up! @WhiteHouse is ready to celebrate! Wishing you a Merry Christmas & joyous holiday season! pic.twitter.com/d6ZuyeFvrw

— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) November 27, 2017

The White House is almost ready for Christmas.

And this year it's more dazzling than it's been for a long, long time. Under the able direction of First Lady Melania Trump and the White House staff, the people's house is alive with the sights, sounds and scents of Christmas.

And now, from the White House to every corner of the land, we can all say "Merry Christmas!"

Thank you, President and Mrs. Trump!

Just In Case You Thought The Feeling Was Universal

Person Of The Year? Is there REALLY Any Doubt?

Nah, we don't really know who Time's Person of the Year is gonna be.
And we're not exactly holding our breaths over it, either.
But we DO know the kind of cover the president has in mind -- and you're lookin at it!

A Silly, Sultry Love Affair That Knows No Bounds!

Long before Barack Obama ruled the media like an imperial press lord, the Dan Cirucci Blog nailed it when we identified the media's stupefying infatuation with the man who Oprah Winfrey came to refer to as "The One". Of course, we didn't know that the love affair with OH!bama would last an entire decade and still be going strong.
Anyway, here's what we wrote on January 7, 2008:

The media are gaga over Barack.
On the TV talkfests this morning the praise and adulation flowed like hot buttah.
Rotund Tim Russert declared Obama captivating and said the Clinton campaign is in emergency mode. BlabberinoMan Chris Matthews said Barack "is giving the best speeches any of us have ever heard." FibberinoMcGee Mike Barnacle said Barack was presiding over "The death of cynicism" and added: "There are people coming to listen to him and they have tears in their eyes. They are crying." And Self-Promoting Pollster Frank Luntz said that the emergence of Obama "Isn't just about the future; it is the future."
One of the morning shows even wired the heads of New Hampshire's undecided voters to measure brain waves and found - you guessed it - no hesitancy to vote for Barack.
OK. It's over. What the hell . . .
Let's just cancel all the remaining primaries and general election and coronate this guy.

Prayer, And Then A Week Of Awareness . . .

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. has asked that all parishes in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia focus attention on the plight of Christians and other minorities through a Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians on the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, today, Sunday, November 26, 2017.

All clergy and faithful are encouraged to express solidarity in suffering through prayer, sacrifices and financial support for Christians who suffer due to conflict and persecution in the Middle East.

This day of prayer is part of a national observance called for by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in conjunction with the Knights of Columbus, Catholic Relief Services, Aid to the Church in Need, and the Catholic Near East Welfare Association. The day of prayer will be followed by a week of awareness and education November 26th - December 2nd.

Note: For more information on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, including resources for this observance, please visit http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/global-issues/middle-east/christians-in-the-middle-east/.

Honestly, A Totally Disgraceful Performance!

Nancy Pelosi today on Meet The Press -- an absolutely shameless performance and the best example of the disgraceful liberal and/or inside-the-beltway double standard that we could ever imagine. This is truly an affront to all human sensibility!

Nothing Much Happens But You'll Be Enthralled

The following also appears on Dan Cirucci's Broadway blog (Dan On Broadway) where you can read more show reviews and get tips on where to stay and dine on Broadway and what shows to see right now.

Can you imagine a Broadway musical where it appears as if not much of anything happens?
Can you imagine s show with the bare minimum of scenery, hardly any costumes, virtually no choreography and no special effects of any sort?
Can you imagine a musical where the music at times seems merely incidental, to the point where you're tempted to call it a play with music?
If you can, then you've imagined The Band's Visit, Broadway's latest sensation.
This musical is based on a rather obscure 2007 Israeli film rejected as a candidate for a best Foreign Language Film Oscar because it contained more than 50 percent English dialogue.
Here's the story: The Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra, consisting of eight men, arrive in Israel from Egypt. They have been booked by an Arab cultural center in Petah Tikva, but through a miscommunication (Arabic has no "p" sound, and regularly replaces it with "b"), the band takes a bus to Beit Hatikva, a fictional town in the middle of the Negev Desert. It is literally a sort of no man's land. The Egyptians encounter a few Israeli townspeople, who respond with curiosity about the band, are variously friendly and wary, and provide them with shelter, food, music and companionship during their overnight visit. There is no transportation out of the town that day, and there are no hotels for them to spend the night in. The band members dine at a small restaurant where the owner, Dina (Katrina Lenk) invites them to stay the night at her apartment, at her friends' apartment, and in the restaurant. No one quite falls in love, but a sense of unspoken longing and loneliness is expressed.
This show runs about ninety minutes without an intermission.
With music and lyrics by David Yazbek and a book by Itamar Moses (adapted from the screenplay) The Band's Visit is one, continuous, unbroken thread. It's also a sustained, plaintive and anguished cry for love. And the show manages to be methodical without appearing to be in the least bit manipulative. The music, such as it is, is mostly haunting and mixes both eastern and western genres.
While waiting for Something Really Big to happen, you watch this extraordinarily precise production and you wonder how and why it's holding your attention. Well, one of the reasons is the restrained acting of the two leads, the cafe owner (Lenk) and the band's leader (Tony Shalhoub). There is so much sexual tension between these two that the space around them literally crackles without making a sound. The show's cast of 14 displaced and/or mismatched characters create a sort of lugubrious lullaby of longing. It's so obvious that these people have much more in common than we or they might have thought and yet it's also apparent that they will barely acknowledge it let alone act upon it. And yet, there is nonetheless a sense of sharing and understanding here.
Part of the appeal of The Band's Visit is that it does not preach, and we can all be thankful for that. This is a zen musical. It simply is. You are free to observe it in it's purest form, (much as you would real life) and make your own judgements -- or not make any judgements at all.
The secret of the show is that it holds back. It's as if the director, David Cromer instructed the actors to abridge every word, every sentence, every movement and every action to the point where the audience is consumed with anticipation. In this sense, it's the polar opposite of a traditional Broadway musical where exaggeration is the norm.
Of course, all of this restraint has to be released, yes? Well, maybe -- or maybe not.
There is a sort of rousing epilogue but it's not really part of the story. And that only adds to the allure of the most unique musical Broadway has seen in many years.