Faced with 38 pages of hyperlinks, its desirable to provide them in human bites.

First, here is confirmation of the current status of the legislative effort to ensure all PA-students know of the Holocaust [and of genocide and related human-rights concerns] prior to graduating high school: Knowing of your interest with regard to the Holocaust Education Bill, HB 1424, I wanted th to update you on recent legislative action on this matter. On Monday, December 9 the Senate Appropriations Committee considered House Bill 1424, legislation that would allow public school entities to offer instruction in the Holocaust, other forms of genocide and human rights violations. During committee consideration of the bill Senator Rafferty offered an amendment that would change the provisions from a may to a shall so that school districts would be required to provide such instruction. The amendment, which Senator Greenleaf supported, was approved by a vote of 21 to 4. The bill is currently on third consideration in the Senate. The earliest the bill could come up for a vote is in January when the Senate returns to session. {This was remitted by a member of the staff of Stewart Greenleaf, with whom I had spoken last week.} Not surprisingly, instead of publishing the correction letter that I submitted on Monday [or one from a friend with comparable content, Im told], a white-bread response was chosen: DECEMBER 11, 2013 - Holocaust Education Must Be Mandated! Thank you for raising awareness about mandating Holocaust education (Editorial: A Necessary First Step, Dec. 5). I am among the survivors in the Philadelphia region. All of us have been witness to a difficult and painful lesson from our individual experiences. Unfortunately, there is still too much hate and intolerance for some in our society. Most of us are anxious and willing to share our stories with children. They can learn a valuable lesson from what we had to live through and endure. Intolerance for others is unacceptable in todays society, yet it still occurs. At a time when lies on the Internet permeate the fabric of our past, it is imperative to mandate Holocaust and genocide education. It is an essential way to reach our youth. Second, the following are proffered to inject a certain levity to the proceedings: in politics, a holiday classic got a political-spin 12-days-of-ObamaCare; in the spirit-of-the-season, note the precision-timing of this Choir-of-Silent-Monks; for patriots, note how the u-s-air-force-band-celebrated-the-savior in the form of a flash-mob at the national-air-and-space-museum; and for sports-nuts, appreciate the absolute impossibility that this basketball shot actually was drilled. Third, note this video from nbc-philly of Protestors Blocking Transfer of Immigrant Detainees, plus POLLing data that conclude Most Americans Believe Deportation is insufficiently Aggressive; then note that a former-illegal-immigrant who had used a fake-social-security-number is suing over-job-rejections, that a Public safety officer was discovered to be an illegal immigrant, and that the ucla student government has banned the derogatory term illegal-immigrant. Finally, express appreciation that, after Australia Criticized 'One-Sided' UN Condemnation of Israel [and then shifted its position to abstain on 2 UN anti-Israel resolutions, after the FM panned them as 'one-sided' and 'pre-judging' peace talk outcomes], Prime Minister Julia Gillard said that Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law should leave Australia, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks; separately, Gillard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying she supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques. Quote: 'IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT... Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their

culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.' 'This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.' 'We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!' 'Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you,then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.' 'We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.' 'This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.' 'If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country that accepted you.' Fourth, recognizing that some consider such coverage to yield a curse upon future success, recognize that national-recognition of the success of the Iggles has apparently emerged: