Awww, The War on Christmas: Lost.

I don’t have the Cephalopodmas tree up yet. Lazy. And busy. © C. Ford.

It seems the war on xmas has been lost, oh my.

Combatants in the annual “War on Christmas” have some new data to chew on, thanks to a survey released this week by the Pew Research Center.

While many doubt that Christmas is embattled, as some conservative pundits contend, the new study does suggest American attitudes are changing.

The Pew study, based on interviews conducted in recent weeks with 1,503 adults, found that while a vast majority of Americans still celebrate Christmas, most find the religious elements of the holiday are emphasized less than in the past — and few of them care about that change.

Like much else in the United States, a strong partisan divide runs through the survey results, with responses from Republicans seeming to place an emphasis on religion and those from Democrats on secularism.

But the data complicate efforts to portray Christmas as either in mortal danger or in no trouble at all, a central issue in a years long debate over whether Christmas in America respects Christianity or has been undermined by liberalism.

The NY Times has the full story.  A person could get the idea that most people aren’t paying any attention at all to the Tiny Tyrant and his constant declarations of “Merry Christmas!” Moving over to Townhall, for the full obituary:

Those who rightfully believe that Christ needs to be a part of Christmas and those rebelling against the politically correct tyranny looking to strip all spirituality from the holiday have lost.

You have lost. We…have lost.

According to the latest results from the Pew Research Center – and already being gleefully shouted from the rooftops of certain left-leaning media sites orchestrating the campaign against faith-based Christmas – while 90 percent of Americans still celebrate Christmas in one way or another, a majority find that the religious elements of Christmas are emphasized less and less and few of them care about that change.

If accurate, it not only tells us how truly lost we are as a nation, but underscores the dangers of absolute power, discrimination, and propaganda.

Oooh, I can hardly wait to read. Not really. Holy shit, it does go on. A part of it:

A truth the far-left not only ignores, but goes out of its way to deny, is that they have created a strangle-hold on the media, entertainment and academia purely through unethical and often illegal discrimination.

Not surprisingly, the far-left always screams the loudest about the “evils of discrimination” right up until the moment they can use it as a tool to advance their own ideology and goals.

One of the goals they have long sought being the total removal of Christ from Christmas and to transform the day into a secular holiday.

According to the Pew Research Center, that goal will be fully realized in but a few years.

:Snort: I hate to break it to you, but xmas has been long mashed into a commercial goop, and that dates waaaaaaaaaay back, even into your beloved 1950s. It’s all about Santa, gifts, and being told not to groan when it’s slipper socks from Auntie Gladys for 15th year in a row. Every year, it’s gotten more and more commercial, so don’t be moaning about the loss. After all, the pagan roots of this winter festival are long gone too. That’s the way of things.

Now I can’t speak for anyone else, but I have said this until I’m hoarse: go as Christ-y as you want. I. Do. Not. Care. You just have to live with the fact that you don’t own the holiday; and you certainly do not own all the various winter solstice festivals down through the centuries, and there have been many lots. Also, you seem to seriously suck at reading poll data. Maybe you should read the NYT article, it would clear things up a bit. Basically, people just can’t be arsed to give a shit about your manufactured “wars”.  Awww.

Unless…at least 50 percent control of the media, entertainment and academia can be regained.

Unless…wealthy and powerful conservatives and Christians stop playing the victim and decide to jump into the arena.

Not to create conservative or religious propaganda sites – which would be just as wrong as what the far-left is now doing – but to bring honesty, fairness and a diversity of opinion back to the media, entertainment and academia.

Oh, such dishonesty. You don’t want honesty, fairness, and a diversity of opinion. You want conservachristian asshole central.

Aside from the wealthy and powerful, everyone from every walk of life who still believes Christ needs to be a part of Christmas – a day only created to celebrate His birth – needs to speak up.

See, this is why no one can take you seriously, you fuckers lie, constantly. Xmas is not a day only created to celebrate your Jesus birthday. A number of solstice festivals were co-opted, and your precious baby god wasn’t fucking born on the 25th of December,* so here’s a thought: get the fuck over it. After all, it’s celebrating a lie, and that’s not a very christian thing to do. Supposedly.

You can read the whole rant here.

*If you want a more compleat rundown, including the older gods whose birthdays were celebrated on 25th December, why it was co-opted, and all the other proposed dates for Jesus’s birthday, see here.

Dear Women, Have More Babies.

It seems there’s no shortage of white idiots who think the solution to everything is “Moar Babies!” We can add sociopath Paul Ryan to the heap of baby idiots.

“People — this is going to be the new economic challenge for America. People,” Ryan said, in response to a question about entitlement reform.

Alluding to the fact that he’s a father of three, Ryan added, “I did my part, but we need to have higher birth rates in this country. Meaning, baby boomers are retiring, and we have fewer people following them in the work force.”

“We have something like a 90 percent increase in the retirement population in America, but only a 19 percent increase in the working population in American,” the Speaker continued. “So what do we have to do? Be smarter, more efficient, more technology — still going to need more people. And when we have tens of millions of people right here in this country falling short of their potential — not working, not looking for a job, or not in school getting a skill to get a job — that’s a problem.”

Here’s a thought, you dipshit – immigrants. Filling the same old age hole they have always filled in this lost country. The reason we have tens of millions of people right here in this country not working, not looking for a job, or not in school is because of all the “policies” you have helped to implement. The current regime is anti-education, and making it more and more difficult for anyone to get skills of any sort. All manner of jobs now demand a college degree, even if you’re going to be a low level grunt getting paid shit. White people are still being told they will have all the BEST jobs, but those jobs aren’t out there. And you think having more babies will somehow magically fix this problem. We’ll assume you mean [middle class] white babies, because you certainly can’t be talking about all those shiftless types living in poverty, who are desperate for the thinnest of safety nets, now can you?

[…]

Ryan isn’t alone among male Wisconsin Republicans in believing that women should have more babies for the good of the economy. On the floor of the Wisconsin State Assembly last month, Wisconsin state Rep. Scott Allen (R) argued on behalf of a bill that would prevent health insurance plans for state employees from covering most abortions, saying more births are needed to spur economic growth.

In November, Mr. Allen went further:

Allen then went on to argue that abortion was wrong for economic reasons, essentially saying that all women should be forced to have babies in order to grow the labor market.

“Labor force shortages are tied to population declines. Labor force shortages are a limiting factor in economic growth,” Allen said. “And limited economic growth poses a problem when government tries to pay for public services and infrastructure. In spite of this Mr. Speaker, ironically, the democrats continue their effort to support the abortion industry.”

Emphasis mine. Y’know, we can talk labour shortages when there’s actual labour to to be done. The small circle of people who have money in this country are terrified of one slim cent slipping out of their overstuffed pockets, so they have moved any required labour out of this country. No one here actually wants to pay workers much anymore, because so far, most Americans aren’t quite ready to agree to intense labour for around ten dollars a week. Probably won’t be long before things reach that point though. In the meantime, I expect you can fully see people with uteruses guarding them ferociously, and deciding for themselves if they do or don’t want to breed. Most people aren’t overly crazy about the idea of breeding with no resources, since people tend to get silly ideas when they have sprogs, like wanting things to be better for them.

The full story is at Think Progress, with video.

Sunday Facepalm.

Scox (also spelled Chax, Shan, Shass, Shaz, and Shax) is a Great Marquis of Hell, and has power over 30 legions of demons on evil horses. He takes away the sight, hearing and understanding of any person under the conjurer's request, and steals money out of kings' houses, carrying it back to the people. He also steals horses and everything the conjurer asks. Shax can also discover hidden things if they are not kept by evil spirits, and sometimes gives good familiars, but sometimes those familiars deceive the conjurer. He should not be bothered too often. Shax is thought to be faithful and obedient, but is a great liar and will deceive the conjurer unless obliged to enter a magic triangle drawn on the floor. He will then speak marvellously and tell the truth. He knows when lies are told and uses these to teach lessons. He is depicted as a stork that speaks with a hoarse but subtle voice; his voice changes into a beautiful one once he enters the magic triangle.

Scox (also spelled Chax, Shan, Shass, Shaz, and Shax) is a Great Marquis of Hell, and has power over 30 legions of demons on evil horses. He takes away the sight, hearing and understanding of any person under the conjurer’s request, and steals money out of kings’ houses, carrying it back to the people. He also steals horses and everything the conjurer asks. Shax can also discover hidden things if they are not kept by evil spirits, and sometimes gives good familiars, but sometimes those familiars deceive the conjurer. He should not be bothered too often. Shax is thought to be faithful and obedient, but is a great liar and will deceive the conjurer unless obliged to enter a magic triangle drawn on the floor. He will then speak marvellously and tell the truth. He knows when lies are told and uses these to teach lessons. He is depicted as a stork that speaks with a hoarse but subtle voice; his voice changes into a beautiful one once he enters the magic triangle.

Today, it’s Lance Wallnau. Again. This time, it’s a call out to eject all leftists. Leftists are bad! Not to be mistaken for lefties, as in left-handed people, but who knows.

“We are going to lose America if we don’t actually mobilize,” Wallnau warned. “We’ve got the people and we’ve got the momentum. I’ll tell you where it starts—I hate to say it, but you have to literally remove every leftist from a position of government influence where they open the door to advance their lawless utopia … We’re going to have to smash that. You start with the political. You have got to take those political offices. You have to because you have to dismantle the apparatus of where power can come in through the top, to the courts and legislation.”

Yeah, so politics as usual. So far, that hasn’t been working out so well for you all. People have been rejecting your candidates, who offer nothing but a rhetoric of hate. People are tired of hate, because hate doesn’t get anything done. Hate doesn’t give a shit. As you note yourself, Lance, it’s all destruction. Not that I’m going to go out of my way to argue against what you’re doing right now, because all your candidates do seem to get people fired up, and get them out to rock the vote. It’s just not in your favour. Yay for us lefties. Leftists.

Wallnau said that President Trump has been anointed by God and is winning over the country by implementing “superior ideas that gets results,” but his critics are “demonically confused” and intent on destroying him. As such, Wallnau said, Christians must “stand in the gap” on behalf of Trump because “you can no longer be in neutral when the Nazis are on the march.”

No, the oil of your fairy psychopath is not dripping down the Tiny Tyrant’s head. Superior ideas that get results? Where? Point me to just one, please. The reason that the Tiny Tyrant now holds an honest record – for the least liked and approved of prez ever, is because he has not done one single thing, outside of fucking up. I’m not demonically confused, Lance, just reality based, but I can see how you would mix the two up. One more time, I just want the asshole out of office, after that, I don’t much care. He can go live on a golf course with his personal McD’s on it. If he was so gosh darn great, you wouldn’t be looking for christians to stand “in the gap”, now would you?

I do agree with you that you cannot afford to be neutral when nazis are on the march, and seeing that you’re the ones, along with the Tiny Tyrant, who embrace nazis as allies, the fight becomes very clear, doesn’t it? Yes, Lance, you are the baddies. (Please, don’t link to the skit, I’ll do it for you.) You christians would do better to go digging for any remnant of a conscience you might still have, along with empathy, and morals.

Via RWW.

Night-Owl.

The bird is illustrated by its portrait in a roundel.

The bird is illustrated by its portrait in a roundel.

 

Morgan Library, MS M.81, Folio 62r, The kind of owl called nictocorax, the night-raven.

Morgan Library, MS M.81, Folio 62r, The kind of owl called nictocorax, the night-raven.

Text Translation:

Of the night-owl ‘I am like the night-owl in its dwelling-place’ (BSV, Psalmi, 101:7; NEB, Psalms, 102:6). The night-owl is a bird that loves the darkness of the night. It lives in decaying walls because it sets up house in the ruins of roofless dwellings. It shuns the light, flying at night in search of food. In a mystic sense, the night-owl signifies Christ. Christ loves the darkness of night because he does not want sinners – who are represented by darkness – to die but to be converted and live (see Ezekiel, 18:32). For God the father so loved the world that he gave his son to death for the redemption of the world (see John, 3:16-17). That sinners are called ‘darkness’, is borne out by the apostle, saying: ‘For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord’ (Ephesians, 5:8). The night-owl lives in the cracks in walls, as Christ wished to be born one of the Jewish people, saying: ‘I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel’ (Matthew, 15:24). But Christ is crushed in the cracks of the walls, because he is killed by the Jews. Christ shuns the light in the sense that he detests and hates vainglory. For when he cared for a leper, in order to give us a lesson in humility, he said to the leper: ‘See thou tell no man’ (Matthew, 8:4). Of this light it is said: ‘And from the wicked their light is witholden’ (Job, 38:15), that is, the glory of present life. He himself is the light inaccessible ‘which lighteth every man’ (John, 1:9). The light, therefore, shuns the light, that is, the truth shuns the vanity of worldly glory.

The night-owl flies at night in search of food, as Christ converts sinners into the body of the Church by preaching. In a moral sense, moreover, the night-owl signifies to us not just any righteous man, but rather one who lives among other men yet hides from their view as much as possible. He flees from the light, in the sense that he does not look for the glory of human praise. It is said of this light: ‘Will the light of the wicked not be put out, and the spark of his fire not shine?’ (see Job, 17:5). ‘Light’ here signifies the prosperity of present life. The light of the wicked is extinguished, in the sense that the prosperity of our fleeting life ends with life itself. Will the flame of his fire not shine? ‘Fire’ here is the passion of temporal desires. Its flame is the splendour or outward show of power which comes from its inner fire. But it will not shine because on the day of death all outward splendour and power will perish. The night-owl keeps watch in the night, as when the righteous man, alert to the darkness of sinners, avoids their errors. It lives in the cracks of walls, in the sense that he considers the weakness of the world and awaits its downfall. It seeks food by night, as when he reflects upon the life of sinners and uses their example to nourish the mind of the righteous.

The owl is not visited until Folio 50, which also sees the Hoopoe and Night Owl written about again.

Folio 35v – the pelican, continued. De nicticorace; the night owl.

The Seven Forbidden Words…

Evidence-Based, Science-Based, Vulnerable, Transgender, Diversity, Fetus, Entitlement.

Evidence-Based, Science-Based, Vulnerable, Transgender, Diversity, Fetus, Entitlement.

Unfortunately, this is not at all like George Carlin’s Seven Dirty Words. Instead, the words Science-Based, Evidence-Based, Vulnerable, Transgender, Diversity, Fetus, and Entitlement have been forbidden in use of official CDC documents prepared for next year’s budget. So, we have a good idea of what the amoral regime is looking to ignore completely when it comes to funding. This is not good. Not good at all.

The Trump administration is prohibiting officials at the nation’s top public health agency from using a list of seven words or phrases — including “fetus” and “transgender” — in official documents being prepared for next year’s budget.

Policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were told of the list of forbidden words at a meeting Thursday with senior CDC officials who oversee the budget, according to an analyst who took part in the 90-minute briefing. The forbidden words are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”

In some instances, the analysts were given alternative phrases. Instead of “science-based” or ­“evidence-based,” the suggested phrase is “CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes,” the person said. In other cases, no replacement words were immediately offered.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, “will continue to use the best scientific evidence available to improve the health of all Americans,” HHS spokesman Matt Lloyd told The Washington Post. “HHS also strongly encourages the use of outcome and evidence data in program evaluations and budget decisions.”

The question of how to address such issues as sexual orientation, gender identity and abortion rights — all of which received significant visibility under the Obama administration — has surfaced repeatedly in federal agencies since President Trump took office. Several key departments — including HHS, as well as Justice, Education, and Housing and Urban Development — have changed some federal policies and how they collect government information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.

In March, for example, HHS dropped questions about sexual orientation and gender identity in two surveys of elderly people.

HHS has also removed information about LGBT Americans from its website. The department’s Administration for Children and Families, for example, archived a page that outlined federal services that are available for LGBT people and their families, including how they can adopt and receive help if they are the victims of sex trafficking.

The Washington Post has the full story. Yet another stone dropped on top of us, ensuring our slide down into a pit of devastating ignorance.

MS. Found In A Bottle.

The Illustrations to Tales of Mystery and Imagination, by Edgar Allen Poe, by Harry Clarke, 1919.  It took quite a while to set these up. While I really appreciate people who take the time and trouble to scan images from these old books, I’d appreciate them more if they included what story they relate to also. So, I bought the e-book, and even with that, there were a few bumps along the way. The black and white illustration to The Colloquy of Monos and Una was not included in the scans, and it’s nowhere to be found on the ‘net either, except for two instances, with the image being very small indeed, so that one will not be the best. The scans also had two images for The Pit and the Pendulum, while my book only had one. Any errors belong to me.

Anyroad, we start with MS. Found In A Bottle: “Incomprehensible Men! Wrapped up in meditations of a kind which I cannot divine, they pass me by unnoticed.” Click for full size.

“Incomprehensible Men! Wrapped up in meditations of a kind which I cannot divine, they pass me by unnoticed.”

Pelican.

The narrative is divided into three scenes showing the babies attacking their parent, the parents killing the babies and the mother piercing her side to resurrect her offspring. Possibly the idea of mother pouring sustenance over her babies comes from the birds’ habit of regurgitation.

Text Translation:

Of the pelican ‘I am like pelican of the wilderness’ (Psalms, 102:6). The pelican is a bird of Egypt, living in the wilderness of the River Nile, from which it gets its name. For Egypt is known as Canopos. It is devoted to its young. When it gives birth and the young begin to grow, they strike their parents in the face. But their parents, striking back, kill them. On the third day, however, the mother-bird, with a blow to her flank, opens up her side and lies on her young and lets her blood pour over the bodies of the dead, and so raises them from the dead. In a mystic sense, the pelican signifies Christ; Egypt, the world.

The pelican lives in solitude, as Christ alone condescended to be born of a virgin without intercourse with a man. It is solitary, because it is free from sin, as also is the life of Christ. It kills its young with its beak as preaching the word of God converts the unbelievers. It weeps ceaselessly for its young, as Christ wept with pity when he raised Lazarus. Thus after three days, it revives its young with its blood, as Christ saves us, whom he has redeemed with his own blood. In a moral sense, we can understand by the pelican not the righteous man, but anyone who distances himself far from carnal desire. By Egypt is meant our life, shrouded in the darkness of ignorance. For Egiptus can be translated as ‘darkness’. In Egypt, therefore, we make a wilderness (see Joel, 3:19), when we are far from the preoccupations and desires of this world. Thus the righteous man creates solitude for himself in the city, when he keeps himself free from sin, as far as human frailty allows. The pelican kills its young with its beak because the righteous man considers and rejects his sinful thoughts and deeds out of his own mouth, saying: ‘I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin’ (Psalms, 32:5). It weeps for its young for three days: this teaches us that whatever we have done wrong by thought, word or deed, is expunged by tears. It revives its young by sprinkling them with its blood, as when we concern ourselves less with matters of flesh and blood and concentrate on spiritual acts, by conducting ourselves virtuously. It is also a characteristic of this bird, they say, that it always suffers from thinness, and that whatever it swallows, it digests immediately, because its stomach has no separate pocket in which to retain food. Food does not fatten its body, therefore, but only sustains it and gives it strength. Indeed, the life of a hermit is modelled on the pelican, in that he lives on bread but does not seek to fill his stomach; he does not live to eat but eats to live.

Folio 34v – cedars, continued. De pellicano; Of the pelican.