Merry Christmas

Hubby is busy today.

And this is only some of the ways to say Merry Christmas

How "Merry Christmas" is said .....

Afrikaans: Gesëende Kersfees
Afrikander: Een Plesierige Kerfees
African/ Eritrean/ Tigrinja: Rehus-Beal-Ledeats
Albanian:Gezur Krislinjden
Arabic: Milad Majid
Argentine: Feliz Navidad
Armenian: Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand
Azeri: Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun
Bahasa Malaysia: Selamat Hari Natal
Basque: Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!
Bengali: Shuvo Naba Barsha
Bohemian: Vesele Vanoce
Brazilian: Feliz Natal
Breton: Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat
Bulgarian: Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo
Catalan: Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou!
Chile: Feliz Navidad
Chinese: (Cantonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun
Chinese: (Mandarin) Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan (Catonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun
Choctaw: Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito
Columbia: Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Cornish: Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth
Corsian: Pace e salute
Crazanian: Rot Yikji Dol La Roo
Cree: Mitho Makosi Kesikansi
Croatian: Sretan Bozic
Czech: Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Danish: Glædelig Jul
Duri: Christmas-e- Shoma Mobarak
Dutch: Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! or Zalig Kerstfeast
English: Merry Christmas
Eskimo: (inupik) Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!
Esperanto: Gajan Kristnaskon
Estonian: Ruumsaid juulup|hi
Ethiopian: (Amharic) Melkin Yelidet Beaal
Faeroese: Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar!
Farsi: Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad
Finnish: Hyvaa joulua
Flemish: Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar
French: Joyeux Noel
Frisian: Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier!
Galician: Bo Nada
Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr! German: Froehliche Weihnachten
Greek: Kala Christouyenna!
Haiti: (Creole) Jwaye Nowel or to Jesus Edo Bri'cho o Rish D'Shato Brichto
Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!
Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka
Hebrew: Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova
Hindi: Shub Naya Baras
Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!
Hawaian: Mele Kalikimaka ame Hauoli Makahiki Hou!
Hungarian: Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket
Icelandic: Gledileg Jol
Indonesian: Selamat Hari Natal
Iraqi: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Irish: Nollaig Shona Dhuit, or Nodlaig mhaith chugnat
Iroquois: Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut. Ojenyunyat osrasay.
Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie
Japanese: Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
Jiberish: Mithag Crithagsigathmithags
Korean: Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Lao: souksan van Christmas
Latin: Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!
Latvian: Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus un Laimi'gu Jauno Gadu!
Lausitzian:Wjesole hody a strowe nowe leto
Lettish: Priecigus Ziemassvetkus
Lithuanian: Linksmu Kaledu
Low Saxon: Heughliche Winachten un 'n moi Nijaar
Macedonian: Sreken Bozhik
Maltese: IL-Milied It-tajjeb
Manx: Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa
Maori: Meri Kirihimete
Marathi: Shub Naya Varsh
Navajo: Merry Keshmish
Norwegian: God Jul, or Gledelig Jul
Occitan: Pulit nadal e bona annado
Papiamento: Bon Pasco
Papua New Guinea: Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu
Pennsylvania German: En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr!
Peru: Feliz Navidad y un Venturoso Año Nuevo
Philipines: Maligayan Pasko!
Polish: Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Boze Narodzenie
Portuguese:Feliz Natal
Pushto: Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha
Rapa-Nui (Easter Island): Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua
Rhetian: Bellas festas da nadal e bun onn
Romanche: (sursilvan dialect): Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn!
Rumanian: Sarbatori vesele
Russian: Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom
Sami: Buorrit Juovllat
Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Sardinian: Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou
Serbian: Hristos se rodi
Slovakian: Sretan Bozic or Vesele vianoce
Sami: Buorrit Juovllat
Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou
Scots Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil huibh
Serb-Croatian: Sretam Bozic. Vesela Nova Godina
Serbian: Hristos se rodi.
Singhalese: Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa
Slovak: Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok
Slovene: Vesele Bozicne Praznike Srecno Novo Leto or Vesel Bozic in srecno Novo leto
Spanish: Feliz Navidad
Swedish: God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År
Tagalog: Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon
Tami: Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal
Trukeese: (Micronesian) Neekiriisimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!
Thai: Sawadee Pee Mai or souksan wan Christmas
Turkish: Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Ukrainian: Srozhdestvom Kristovym
Urdu: Naya Saal Mubarak Ho
Vietnamese: Chung Mung Giang Sinh
Welsh: Nadolig Llawen
Yugoslavian: Cestitamo Bozic
Yoruba: E ku odun, e ku iye'dun!

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'Twas The Night Before Christmas

All Day Long, go figure. Since today is officially The Night Before Christmas, that's its tag. All day long we are in the night. Hmmm another hangover fromthe ancient celebration of Winter Solstice and the the the return of the light after the longest night of the year.

So is Christmas really all about the Three Magi or is it the most successful modern capitalist celebration foisted on the public?

Christmas began as a greeting card. Like mothers day which was also subverted by the greeting card industry despite its origin as a feminist abolitionist celebration.

Today's Christmas and Santa Claus are the creation of modern American capitalist society.

Alternative Christmas without Coca Cola Santa

PEJ News - Richard Walpole - An artist in Sooke on Vancouver Island recenty erected a cross with Santa Clause nailed to it. Santa soon disappeared, only to be found someplace else, but that did not matter. Comparing a mythological character created by a soft drink company to Jesus startled many people. And of course, the irony was not lost on anybody.

Has Santa Claus (r)(c)(tm) corporate shill finally replaced St. Nicholas, as the spirit of Christmas?

Santa Replaces Solemn St. Nicholas

A man points at the new Santa Claus statue in the Mediterranean town of Demre, southern Turkey. ANKARA, Turkey - What's a huge plastic Santa Claus doing among palm trees in a seaside town in Turkey? The mayor's answer is simple: He's back home. Suleyman Topcu put up the statue in the Mediterranean town of Demre to honor its favorite son, St. Nicholas, the inspiration for the Santa legend. "The modern statue looks like a cheap toy, it has no artistic value at all," Ayse Uslusaydam, a pharmacist in Demre, said Thursday. "The previous one had style." St. Nicholas served as bishop of Demre in the 4th century. From there, the legend of his generosity spread around the world and became interwoven with mythical stories of the jolly gift-giver.



The Future is in Our Past

Let's put Christ back into Christmas, is an oft-heard phrase. Peter says, “How can we put Christ back into something in which He never was?” He challenges me to search the Bible from Genesis to Revelation to find even a suggestion to commemorate Christ’s birth. He says, “You will find that we should keep the Sabbath and Passover, which we ignore, but not Christmas.” Peter tells me the same story every Christmas, usually when he’s under the influence, but this year he goes even further. He tells me the real central character of Christmas, Santa Claus, was the brainchild of Coca-Cola's marketing department early in the 20th century. Santa Claus was based loosely on the English Father Christmas and the German Kris Kringle. Apparently, it’s true. My research uncovers that “millions of children every year would be without a lap to sit on or a reason for being good if it weren’t for Coco-Cola’s invention of the fat, jolly Santa Claus we know today, first introduced in 1931.” The only thing that ties Santa Claus to Jesus is we identify him with Saint Nicholas, a churchman who was known for throwing sacks of coins through the open windows and down chimneys of the needy. There is zilch about Santa Claus in the bible. Coca-Cola’s Santa may be present in the modern creche, but no one like him appears in the gospel.

Like the Night Before Christmas , Santa Claus is an American invention. And his invention coincides with the rise of capitalist ascendancy in America as a celebration created by the advent of the Department Store, Madison Avenue advertising, and a popular cocaine laced beverage.

"In considering the social effects of the department store, one is inclined to attach the greatest importance to the contributions which they have made to the transformation in the way of life of the greatest strata of the population, a transformation which will remain the one great social fact of these last 100 years." Hrant Pasdermadjian, The Department Store, Its Origins, Evolution and Economics, 1954

The man in the red suit

He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.

There is no Santa Claus. Not in the poem now known as "The Night Before Christmas" published anonymously in 1823 and credited to Clement Clarke Moore, whose verses feature a weirdly elvish figure named St. Nicholas. Not in Charles Dickens' 1842 "Christmas Carol," with all its sanctimonious sermonizing about Tiny Tim and the true meaning of Christmas.

For all practical purposes, there is no Santa Claus before 1862, the year that Rowland H. Macy took the gift-giving gnome known around New York as Sinterklaas (from the Dutch "Sint Nicolaas"), used an Anglicized name, had him impersonated by a reassuringly full-size human, costumed him in a nice, clean cloak, and installed him in the store as a means of snaring more Christmas shoppers.

And like so many myths all the facts are conjecture, as no one can agree on how all this Night Before Christmas, Santa stuff really got started.

All the Christmas answers you need

By BEN SMITH
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/24/06

Christmas may be among the world's most misunderstood holidays.

No wonder. Every December, stories about the baby Jesus, a moving star, Santa Claus and flying reindeer get tossed into a blender like the ingredients for eggnog.

The result is a hodgepodge of confusing Christian and pagan traditions that form the basis for an annual binge of buying and gift-giving. So where did these traditions come from? Here are some answers.

Q: Where does Santa Claus come from and what does he have to do with Christmas?

A: Everything or nothing, depending on whether you like to get your answers from theologians or the CEOs of large retail chain stores.

The origins of Santa Claus may be nearly as mysterious as the answer to where the baby Jesus comes from.

Many believe Santa got his start as Nicholas of Myra, a fourth-century bishop whose love of children and concern for the poor, sailors and their ships earned him sainthood.

Others see him as a modern day Odin, a Norse god who flew around on an eight-legged horse. The Dutch called him Sinterklass. To the English, he is Father Christmas.

In America, his name became Santa Claus. The publication of a famous poem in the early 19th century firmly established Santa's image as a "jolly old elf" who, once every year, distributes presents around the world with the help of eight flying mammals of the Rangifer tarandus variety.

Q: What's the title of that poem?

A: Bet you're thinking it was " 'Twas the Night before Christmas."

Well, t'wasn't.

The poem, first published anonymously in 1823, was titled "A Visit from St. Nicholas."

Q: What are those reindeers' names?

A: That might be as debatable as is the authorship of the poem, which is credited to Clement Clarke Moore.

In the original version, which some argue was written by Henry Livingston, the names are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem.

In later versions, the last two names were changed to Donder and Blitzen.

The ninth and most important reindeer of all came from copywriter Robert L. May. In 1939, Montgomery Ward hired May to write a story for a free Christmas coloring book to attract shoppers to its stores.

By 1949 that coloring book story of "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" had evolved into a hit Gene Autry song that sold 2 million copies in its first year.

In the song, which was written by Johnny Marks, Donder became Donner.

Tracing the legend of Old Saint Nick

The American version of the Santa Claus figure received its inspiration and its name from the Dutch legend of Sinter Klaas, brought by settlers to New York in the 17th century, and the name evolved into what it is today — Santa Claus.

As early as 1773 the name appeared in the American press as “St. A Claus.”

A popular author, Washington Irving, gave Americans detailed information about the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas in his book “History of New York” published in 1809 under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker.

This Dutch-American Saint Nick achieved his fully Americanized form in 1823 in the poem “A Visit From Saint Nicholas” more commonly known as “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke.

It was further elaborated by illustrator Thomas Nast, who depicted a rotund Santa for Christmas issues of Harper’s magazine from the 1860s to the 1880s.

Finally, from 1931 to 1964, Haddon Sundblom created a new Santa each Christmas for Coca-Cola advertisements that appeared world-wide on the back covers of Post and National Geographic magazines.

Jolly old patriot is theme of historic town's efforts to lengthen it's tourist season
Santa made his entrance into America on Jan. 3, 1863, with a long, white beard and cozy suit adorned in stars and stripes. On the cover of Harper's Weekly, famous cartoonist Thomas Nast showed an image of Santa Claus handing out gifts to weary Civil War soldiers.

Gettysburg businesses hope to re-create that Civil War Christmas experience by creating a destination town immersed in holiday cheer and history.

And they chose Nast's picture, recognized as the first image of Santa in America, to be the central symbol for their efforts this season.

Iconic St. Nick, as fat and jolly elf, was seen in Claymont first

Illustrator Felix Darley drew early image that led to our version of Santa

CLAYMONT -- Perhaps this town should be renamed something more Christmasy.

Like Darleymont.

After all, for nearly two decades before his death, it was the home of 19th-century illustrator Felix Darley (1821-1888), who drew one of the pioneering images of Santa Claus in 1862 -- a year before political cartoonist Thomas Nast, who is often credited with the deed, and long before the even more familiar Coca-Cola Haddon Sundblom version came out in the early 1930s.

Darley's elf-like image of Santa was created to illustrate one of the first book editions of Clement C. Moore's poem, "A Visit from Saint Nicholas," nearly four decades after the poem was written and published in the Troy, N.Y., Sentinel on Dec. 23, 1823. Darley's Santa was depicted in a country setting said to be Claymont of that time, and Darley himself would end up helping to teach and inspire the cadre of illustrators and painters who made the Brandywine Valley their home.

Did Coke really create Santa Claus as a corporate shill? And is Coke really celebrating Santa Claus or the creation of it's famous bottle?




Coca-Cola Honors 75th Anniversary Of Coca-Cola Santa

Anniversary of an icon Coca-Cola contour bottle celebrates 90 years.
2006 marks the anniversary of a true icon. It was 90 years ago, in 1916, that the now famous Coca-Cola bottle began appearing on store shelves, having been patented on November 16 the year before. Called the Coca-Cola "contour" bottle, this unique package remains an instantly recognizable symbol that distinguishes the world's best known soft drink from all other products.

Historic concoction featured in museum display Coca Cola items appropriately decorate the Alva Cherokee Strip Museum’s Drug Store room, courtesy of Gail Wilks. A pharmacist, John Pemberton, developed Coca Cola in 1886 in Atlanta, Georgia, in a three-legged brass kettle in his backyard. His bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, suggested the name for the tonic which contained extracts of cocaine as well as the caffeine-rich kola nut. Robinson, using his excellent penmanship, first scripted “Coca Cola” into the flowing letters which became its trademark logo. It was first sold as a soft drink at Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta on May 8, 1886. Total sales for the first year reached nearly $50. Unfortunately, the drink cost about $70 to manufacture. As the danger of cocaine became known, the company researched and found ways to retain the distinctive taste without any of the harmful drug. Wilks began collecting Coke items more than 20 years ago. Many of the ornaments on the tree are limited edition dated items.

Coca-Cola's Santa Claus: Not The Real Thing!

This month, Coca-Cola celebrates the 75th anniversary of its dubious claim of creating today's modern-day image of Santa Claus, when it began using illustrations of jolly St. Nick in advertisements in 1931.

There's one problem with Coke's assertion that it created the fat, white- whiskered, red-and-white garbed Santa: The Claus that refreshes was actually introduced two decades earlier by White Rock Beverages.
The White Rock Collector's Association has posted several White Rock "Santa" ads at http://www.whiterocking.org/santa.html , including a 1915 ad in Collier's and several from the 1920's in Life magazine, featuring Kris Kringle enjoying the taste of White Rock.



So it is no wonder that Santa Claus(tm)(c)(r) has been associated with sweat shop labour, he is the ultimate icon of American corporate citizenship, the symbol of mass consumer culture.


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Wheat Board Makes You Money

Just the fact ma'am.

The facts that Chuck Strahl and the Tories don't want you to know.

A new analysis of the Canadian Wheat Board's marketing of barley says the current system nets farmers $60 million more annually than the alternative.

The report, completed for the wheat board by a team of researchers, including the University of Saskatchewan's Richard Gray, looked at the world trade from 1995 to 2004 for malt and feed barley. It shows consistent benefits for producers under the current single-desk system.

Coverage of the Wheat Board from the Left

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MacKay Gets Personal With Rice

It's still a cougar twink relationship between Peter MacKay and Condi Rice. He begged, she relented.

US Homeland Security secretary reviewing Arar case

She just didn't show him their evidence.

Naive boy. Walked away with an assurance that the cheque was in the mail.


While off stage Stephen Harper blustered and bluffed in an attempt to look tough. Harper blames Arar delay on US's denial of error

Democrats in the U.S. Senate did him one better because they can be tough on Bush. Key Democrat Wants To Know Why Arar Still Barred From US

Of course so far all that the Tories have done is practiced Tough Love with the Bushites. Embarassed over having called Arar a terrorist as the Official Opposition they hardly can be demanding and holier than thou with the White House.

Gee I thought we 'shared' intelligence information with our allies, including the Americans. I guess the need for them to share with us is precluded by their need for National Security as Rice and Wilkins said in no uncertain terms.

If our macho PM wanted to be really tough, he would kick out the FBI operatives in Canada who are operating without our permission under mandate of their National Security policy. After all they are not obliged to share with us the information they get from their operations in Canada. That is a matter of US internal National Security.

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Miss Nevada

I guess the motto what happens in Las Vegas Stays in Los Vegas does not apply to Miss Nevada.

Katie Rees, the now former Miss Nevada USA,said yesterday that her breast-licking, thong-flashing pictures online were just a youthful mistake - but a pal who was a witness to the display said it wasn't the first time.

Though these pictures are nothing you haven't seen in Playboy, Penthous, etc. for years, and years, and.....Miss Nevada: Completely Uncensored and Filled with Scandal

This is the vigin whore dichotomy of patriarchy.

I am the first and I am the last
I am the honored one and the scorned one
I am the whore and the holy one
I am the wife and the virgin
I am the barren one and many are my daughters
I am the silence that is incomprehensible
I am the utterance of my name.

Thunder Perfect Mind.

They want women to be both, but only accept the virgin. Its the classic case of don't ask, don't tell. Thus subjecting women to being sexually objectivfied but not accepting them as sexually active, thus individuals taking responsibilty for their lives, because of the social construct of chastity, virginity, purity etc.etc.denies individual responsibility. It is a social role, versus subjective reality. It reduces women to dolls, pre-pubescence run amok.

Donald Trump judging Miss America on the question of moral values, well kettle pot black. "Left the first wife, had an affair, left the second wife, had an affair. Had kids both times, but he's the moral compass for 20-year-olds in America," O'Donnell said to roars of audience laughter.

His moral compass points to bottomline, is she good for business or not, and that's what saved her ass.

She may have been the Whore of Babylon but thanks to modern psychological therapy she can be restored to her Sacred Virgin Self.

Beauty pagents sell sexuality, but as pure clean and untouchable, unreal views of women, that same objectifcation which we experience in the museum. Look don't touch.

Real women of course are their own person, subject to their own decisions, they are not objects. Thus they are a threat to the social construct of sacred purity.

If they have a sexuality it is as 'youthfulness' not inccocence, which is the image created by the patriarchical Model and Beauty Pagent industry. It creates reproducible models that have no identity from the mass of other statues in their musuem of pop culture.

It is a pecularity of the patriarchical fashion industry that because it is dominated by gay men the models tend to take on an androgynous waif look of late.

But giving credit where credit is due, Marc Jacobs’ highly acclaimed tour de force on the first formal day of New York Fashion Week would indeed set the stage for much of what would follow internationally and, in many ways, set the standard for the layered, sophisticated, urban ‘waif’ look,

Whether gay or straight the patriarchical construct of women remains the same, hypocritical.

And by having written this, like my piece on Britney Spears, this is bound to get my blog lots of hits because everyone loves sleaze and gossip. The world really is a village.

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True Crime Carnival

True Crime Carnival of Blogs #55 is now online and yours truly has a contribution.

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All In A Day

Something is faster than a Federal Cabinet Minister putting his foot in his mouth then taking it out and shooting it.

His communications staff destroying the public evidence on his webpage.

In this case Stockwell Day. Who said, in print, (so the truth its out there) the racist slur; Spear-Chucker.

And sure enough there it is in print.

Weekly column generates interest from the national media By Stockwell Day is the member of Parliament for Okanagan Coqu Dec 20 2006

Aaaaanyway, it appears that local libs now send bits and pieces of my local columns to their favourite spear-chuckers down east who are quick to unleash a volley of indignation, which makes for good fodder back here at home.

Is Kate and the SDA bunch upset at Stock for his “spear-chucker” comment? asks Scott Tribe. Nope .

Like Kate mostof the Blogging Tories are ignoring it and of course there are rightwingnutbars who defend Stockwell.

But it gets better. Perhaps the reason Kate and other BT are not saying anything is because they could find; "No Evidence for the comment."

You see it disappeared from Stockwells web page. My goodness everything has. As Macleans pointed out. Suddenly there are no postings for 2006 yet they were there a week ago when I found this there.

It appears the PMO has 'communicated' with Day's staff.....

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day was ordered to remove an embarrassing comical commentary that ridiculed the science behind global warming from his personal website to avoid embarrassing his government about its real views on climate change, critics said Wednesday.

By order of the Autark himself no dout after all Harper spent summer reading a biography on Stalin.

Say this is reminicent of the Stalin School of Falsification, now you see it now you don't. In this case this is the last web page of article comments left by the Stock. But it links to nothing, abandoned in cyberspace the last fingerprint that Stock had posted anything this year.

But the offending article, along with all other commentary posted by Day since he became a cabinet minister were removed from the site by the end of the week.

Officials at Day's office had no explanation.

''Were they (articles) there before?'' wrote Melisa Leclerc, Day's director of communications, in an e-mail. ''I hadn't noticed.''

But of course he had, every time he did he said something quotable, that is something stupid, it was posted on his home page. Now poof its all gone.

She hadn't noticed sheesh, lie a little. Spin some more. I really think it had less to do with the climate remarks than the use of the term Spear-Chucker in his latest missive. Which was Day commenting on the comments raised over his climate change article. In this article they quote from his column but not about his use of Spear-Chucker.

You see his website changed the day the Spear-Chucker column ran. Opps. Can you say Cover Up.

There are those who would attempt to dismiss his use of the phrase, Spear-Chucker as not being racist, really, no not racist, not from the red neck white boy from interior B.C., old Socred country.

The polical Home of Wacky Bennett is now home to Wacky Day.

Spear-Chucker here means what it means; the troops, the grunts, the gophers, the nmasses. Waves of the masses.

Waves of Spear-Chuckers, wave upon wave, the waves of Zulu overwhelming her majesty's Imperial Army.

Stockwell , being the erudite latte sucking intellectual he is, was making a historical reference to major British defeats in South Africa,to end in a pyrrhic victory by the British.

Harsher views see the redcoat effort as dangerously cavalier and bumbling, epitomized by the infamous but apochryphal belief that ammunition boxes could not be opened at Isandhlwana - they could be kicked open! Critics also claim that the British fatally divided their forces, enabling the Zulu to concentrate on each invading column in turn. That a modern army with rifles and artillery could not make short work of the illiterate native host is seen as proof of reckless underestimation of the enemy and slipshod preparation.

To be followed by their ultimate defeat at the hands of their once erstwhile allies the Boers. A war that marked the first time Canada sent military and Mounted Police troops overseas to fight for the Empire.

So the British Imperialists turned defeat into victory by changing the term Spear-Chucker from one of horror, terror, and certain death to one of derision; backwardness, primitivism.

So yes Martha, Stockwell Day did use a racist slur in print. Unlike Republican George Allen who only got YouTubed saying Maccaca. Stockwells slur is still in print and on the web. Even if its not on his homepage.

At least he didn't use the other favorite South African racial slur; Kaffir. Though someone might have dismissed that as being just another Boy Scout term.

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Cat Carol

A sad Christmas tale, that is seasonally appropriate. Not all Christmas songs or tales are joyful. They are often tales of sacrifice and redemption, such as O Henry's famous short story The Gift Of The Magi or Dickens tale of the haunting of Scrooge.

I just wish it wasn't so damn popular on CKUA this season, I never can just turn it off, to late and I get teary eyed again when I hear it.

Score; 5/5 kleenex.

It is basically a retelling of the little match girl story for todays children. The author Bruce Evans is Canadian and the singer Meryn Cadell. gives the song it's haunting apprehensiveness. It is a sad carol despite the uplifting ending.

The Cat Carol

The cat wanted in to the warm warm house,
But no one would let the cat in
It was cold outside on christmas eve,
She meowed and meowed by the door.

The cat was not let in the warm warm house,
And her tiny cries were ignored.
'twas a blizzard now, the worst of the year,
There was no place for her to hide.

Just then a poor little mouse crept by,
He had lost his way in the snow.
He was on his last legs and was almost froze,
The cat lifted him with her paw.

She said "poor mouse do not be afraid,
Because this is christmas eve.
"on this freezing night we both need a friend,
"i won’t hurt you - stay by my side."

She dug a small hole in an icy drift,
This is where they would spent the night.
She curled herself 'round her helpless friend,
Protecting him from the cold.

Oooooo

When santa came by near the end of the night,
The reindeer started to cry.
They found the cat lying there in the snow,
And they could see that she had died.

They lifted her up from the frozen ground,
And placed her into the sleigh.
It was then they saw the little mouse wrapped up,
She had kept him warm in her fur.

"oh thank you santa for finding us!
"dear cat wake up we are saved!"
..."i’m sorry mouse but your friend has died,
There’s nothing more we can do.

"on christmas eve she gave you her life,
The greatest gift of them all."
Santa lifted her up into the night sky,
And laid her to rest among the stars.

"dear mouse don’t cry you are not alone,
You will see your friend every year.
"each christmas a cat constellation will shine,
To remind us that her love’s still here."

Oooooooo

See

Christmas

Rebel Jesus

Tannenbaum

Keeping the 'X' in X MAS

Solstice

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Merry Christmas, Red Baron

A tip o' the blog to Mapmaker Scrap who posted my favorite version of Snoopy's Christmas Song with a link to my article from last Christmas on the WWI Christmas Mutiny. A Story well worth remembering any time there is war in the world.


Of course the real 'Snoopy' was Canadian;

Shot down by the Red Baron - The First World War: Canada Remembers ...
A Canadian flying ace recalls the day he was shot down by Manfred von Richthofen.

As an update from that story; those Canadian soldiers who were executed during WWI for desertion, like their British and German counterparts, were finally given posthoumous amnesty this year.

Recoginizing most of them probably suffered from 'shell shock', which we call today post traumatic syndrome.

Four years earlier the Mon's was the scene of the first Christmas Peace, it would also be the last village fought over as real peace finally occurred in 1918.

By November 1918, trench warfare has finally given way to a headlong pursuit of the retreating Germans. Canadian troops under Sir Arthur Currie are tasked with liberating Belgian villages such as Mons, where house-to-house fighting is fierce. Then a rumour spreads: the war is over! As we hear in this clip, the news seems too good to be true. Even when armistice is confirmed, the exhausted soldiers can barely comprehend the new reality: death one day, peace the next.

And so I also get to link to that other great Christmas Anti War Song, Happy Christmas War Is Over. A sentiment best expressed 'out of the mouth of babes';

Dear Santa

What I want for Christmas is my dad to come home because he went to the war. I just hope he does not get hurt and I love him. Your friend, Anna Marie Eide

See

WWI

Christmas

John Lennon Working Class Hero




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Chocolate Worms

Mmm love dem worms, especially chocolate covered ones.

They are a delicacy in some places.

But not apparently in India. Cadbury: The confectionary giant is now under fire

It could have been worse though, it could have been chocolate covered slaves.




The Cadbury Chocolate company of England drew attention to the abuses of indenture when it boycotted cocoa produced by African labour from the Portuguese-held colony of Angola to São Tomé, and further importation of contract labour to the island was halted in 1909.

Ironically, part of the reason behind the ending of the practice of indentured labour had more to do with overtly racist and expansionist ideologies than humanitarian concern. Because those who had completed their term of indenture sometimes opted to remain in the colonies and set up for themselves, they often came into competition with white labourers and businessmen, competition that increased as the numbers of emigrants from Europe increased.

After "Slavery" was televised in Britain last fall, horrified consumers bombarded the country's biggest chocolate manufacturers - Cadbury, Nestle and Mars - with demands for "clean products"which are untainted by slave labour.
Big companies, like Nestle, purchase their cocoa on international exchanges where cocoa from Ivory Coast is mixed with cocoa from other countries and loses its identity as a slave-made product. Anti Slavery International says, "Because of the way the chocolate industry buys its cocoa it is not possible to ensure that slave or other forms of illegal exploitation have not been used in its production." It says companies should purchase direct from plantations so they can ensure international labour standards are met. If they continue to buy their cocoa via the exchange or other middlemen, they should work with cocoa-producing countries such as Ivory Coast to ensure the labour standards are enforced.
If chocolate manufacturers fail to respond, Anti Slavery International offers this recommendation: "In the absence of industry action, the only way consumers can be confident the produce they use is free from exploited labour is by buying products which carry a fair trade label."

See:

Chocolate



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