Happy Christmistlolidays

deshead · Post by **deshead** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 2:43 pm

roymond wrote:tool for catechism in the days it was less than legal to be Catholic in England (16th century?)...seems quite qeustionable, or perhaps too cute and convenient.

Ya, definitely too convenient.

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 3:05 pm

There you go.

Bjam · Post by **Bjam** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 3:51 pm

We have winter break. But then we have looooots of Jews, and looooots of Christians, so I guess the school district doesn't want to offend anyone. In my first year over here, the middle school had a corner of the library with a table with; a menorah, a mini christmas tree, pamphlets on Kwanzaa, and snowflakes. Pretty adorable.

erik · Post by **erik** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 12:03 am

Hoblit wrote:we (as a society) have totally lost site of it's true meaning

The true meaning of the holiday associated with December 25 is a week-long celebration honoring Saturn, God of farming, as well as marking the Winter solstice. It served two purposes: to make sure that the fall crops came up good (which is why people put up trees to honor Saturn) and to serve as a release valve to let of steam in the middle of winter. People got together with family and friends, gave gifts, had banquets, forgave grudges and generally had a rocking good time. Slaves were treated as equal to their masters, and in some instances were waited on by their masters. In order to make the rest of winter bearable, they had one week that just totally kicked serious ass.

That's the true meaning of Saturnal...errr... Christmas.

blue · Post by **blue** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 2:01 am

you are all, and i mean all, going to hell.

especially you, erik.

Niveous · Post by **Niveous** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 8:24 am

Enough bickering....

Let's have some holiday cheer

http://www.illwillpress.com/xmess.html

http://www.starz.com/features/christmasstory

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Tue Dec 06, 2005 9:49 am

ha, I hope I didn't come off as bickering...

I was really just 'putting it out there'

Also, I do not believe, at least federally, that there is an official language in the U.S.o'.A. I do believe that is a State Government instution that determines it's own state's official language(s). What does it matter one may ask. Well, whether or not you can earn high-school degrees via testing in a chosen language to be recognized or not. (I think)

Anyways, does anyone really generally care about this stuff?

deshead · Post by **deshead** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 8:45 am

jack wrote:it is a brave new world you know?

I just finished reading Huxley's 1958 essay Propaganda in a Democratic Society, and it blew my mind.

He argues that propaganda can be either rational or non-rational, with the former a good thing, motivated by the promotion of our shared self-interests, and the latter a bad thing, motivated by base passions, unconcerned with any individual's self interest.

He sums up how this manifested itself in Brave New World:

In Brave New World non-stop distractions of the most fascinating nature ... are deliberately used as instruments of policy, for the purpose of preventing people from paying too much attention to the realitites of the social and political situation... A society, most of whose members spend a great part of their time, not on the spot, not here and now and in the calculable future, but somewhere else, in the irrelevant other worlds of sport and soap opera, of mythology and metaphysical fantasy, will find it hard to resist the encroachments of those who would manipulate and control it.

To that list of irrelevant other worlds, we could easily today add The O'Reilly Factor, with Bill's purported War on Christmas.

But the essay's conclusion is the real mind-blowing part:

In their propaganda today's dictators rely for the most part on repetition, suppression, and rationalization - the repetition of catchwords which they wish to be accepted as true, the suppression of facts which they wish to be ignored, the arousal and rationalization of passions which may be used in the interests of the Party or the State. As the art and science of manipulation come to be better understood, the dictators of the future will doubtless learn to combine these techniques with the non-stop distractions which, in the West, are now threatening to drown in a sea of irrelevance the rational propaganda essential to the maintenance of individual liberty and the survival of democratic institutions.

He wrote this in 1958!!!!!

Hoblit wrote:Anyways, does anyone really generally care about this stuff?

If Huxley's right, most people don't even realize they have a choice.

boltoph · Post by **boltoph** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 7:04 pm

Well, the way I see it, we can say Merry Christmas to everyone because it's a holiday of winter. So Merry Christmas!!! It's been snowing, and the whole nine. Feel the magic. Christmas magic.

So much is so hard to live with in this world. Thinking about it too much might just drive one insane. At least we have an "occurrance" every year where people probably give more money to the salvation army.

mkilly · Post by **mkilly** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 7:32 pm

The Onion picked up on this.

Also, I like this post a lot. Here's a choice quote:

Whatâ€™s funnier than Oâ€™Reillyâ€™s unfortunate attempts at humor, however, is that Oâ€™Reilly is targeting Jon Stewart. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Bill, but Jon Stewart is a Jew and Jews donâ€™t celebrate Christmas. When youâ€™ve sunk to the point that youâ€™re attacking non-Christians for not celebrating Christian holidays, your witchhunt has completely jumped the shark. I say you hang this one up and prepare for your next crusade.

jack · Post by **jack** » Wed Dec 14, 2005 9:53 pm

happy festivus for the rest of us!

now where did i put that damned pole...

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 5:11 am

boltoph wrote:Well, the way I see it, we can say Merry Christmas to everyone because it's a holiday of winter.

But it's summer!?! And it's stinking hot. Are you on drugs?

boltoph · Post by **boltoph** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 11:48 am

Caravan Ray wrote:
boltoph wrote:Well, the way I see it, we can say Merry Christmas to everyone because it's a holiday of winter.
But it's summer!?! And it's stinking hot. Are you on drugs?

Right-o!!! Dude, I owe you a travel Yahtzee kit. It doubles as a good hypo/turnicate/smack storage case. Is it really summer? I don't believe you. I think it's still winter, hot or not.

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 3:44 pm

boltoph wrote:
Caravan Ray wrote:
boltoph wrote:Well, the way I see it, we can say Merry Christmas to everyone because it's a holiday of winter.
But it's summer!?! And it's stinking hot. Are you on drugs?
Right-o!!! Dude, I owe you a travel Yahtzee kit. It doubles as a good hypo/turnicate/smack storage case. Is it really summer? I don't believe you. I think it's still winter, hot or not.

Youv'e much to learn about the southern hemisphere.

Also, it's winter here, but it isn't that cold. Snow? ha ha h ah ah ahahahhaha...

Bjam · Post by **Bjam** » Thu Dec 15, 2005 4:56 pm

We have freezing rain.

boltoph · Post by **boltoph** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 8:23 am

Freezing rain here too...oh well

Well now, is it that the seasons are opposite on the two different hemispheres? Is that how it works? Ok ok, just google it, i'll be told.

Christmas should be June 25th in the southern hemisphere, or something? What about Hanukkah? What about Saturnal?

The bottom line is, I'm not that smart. In my defense it's the drugs' fault, not mine. And I still love songs about chestnuts roasting on an open fire and jack frost nipping at your nose.

rok

jimtyrrell · Post by **jimtyrrell** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 8:30 am

Anyone short on snow can send me twenty bucks and I'll mail you a Coleman cooler full of the stuff, fresh from my driveway. We are now very well-stocked, and it's still coming in.

deshead · Post by **deshead** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 8:36 am

Boltoph, it won't matter anyway when the Earth shifts on its axis and WE ALL DIE.

On the plus side, it'll also be the end of my neighbour and his shiny new snow blower.

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Fri Dec 16, 2005 3:14 pm

boltoph wrote:Freezing rain here too...oh well

Well now, is it that the seasons are opposite on the two different hemispheres? Is that how it works? Ok ok, just google it, i'll be told.

Christmas should be June 25th in the southern hemisphere, or something? What about Hanukkah? What about Saturnal?

The bottom line is, I'm not that smart. In my defense it's the drugs' fault, not mine. And I still love songs about chestnuts roasting on an open fire and jack frost nipping at your nose.

rok

I'm getting an urge to post a cover version of Rolf Harris' christmas classic "Six White Boomers" (which explains how Santa has to replace his reindeer with 6 large white red kangaroos (white red kangaroos?) to carry him through the scorching heat of the outback).

I hope that urge goes away.

Henrietta · Post by **Henrietta** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 4:04 am

About 10 years ago, I worked as a clerk in a used book store. I said "Merry Christmas" to one of my customers, and got yelled at because she didn't celebrate Christmas. She was clearly insulted, and she told me to always say "Happy Holidays".

Since that day, I usually don't say Merry Christmas to anyone, even in cards, unless I know them personally. This has nothing to do with my own religious convictions or heathen commercialism, I was just trying to be nice. But now I see I've pissed off some folks and created some media controversy all of a sudden....

Oh well. How do I even know that "Happy Holidays" (or even "Happy Birthday") wouldn't offend Jehovah's Witnesses? I guess I should just keep a low profile, say "Have a nice day", and hope for the best.....

jimtyrrell · Post by **jimtyrrell** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 5:48 am

Have a nice day? How DARE you?!? I mean, come on, at least TRY to be sensitive...

*wink* Merry everything.

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:36 am

jimtyrrell wrote:Have a nice day? How DARE you?!? I mean, come on, at least TRY to be sensitive...
.

Yeah - I'm totally offended on behalf of all the Eskimos who are currently in the middle of their 6 months of darkness....or should that be Inuits? I think Lappdancers live up there near the Northpole too.

Happy Christmistlolidays

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