Word of The Year

Every year, Merriam-Webster's Dictionary selects a word of the year. The selection is determined by what word has been searched for most frequently on the company's web site. Since the humans who make up society seem to be more stupid with each generation, that's a lot of searches to go through. The word of the year usually reflects a trendy view of the anxieties of the moment. No, that doesn't mean this year's word of the year is the left wing's favorite "racist". This year it's that word so often misused by less than educated athletes or protesters. The word of the year for 2016 is "surreal".

Merriam-Webster defines surreal as "marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream."  This means it is misused more often than not. To describe a terrorists attack, for example, as surreal is bizarre, given that terrorists attacks are almost the norm today and not unlikely or dreamy events. But then, words often change with misuse. They can be redefined into something that barely resembles their former meaning. That English words change so often is both annoying and a reflection of how the English language is clever enough to adapt to its users.

According to Merriam-Webster, "surreal" was researched multiple times throughout the year by the less than literate out there. The most frequent occasions for the search were after the terror attack in Brussels in March, after the coup attempt in Turkey over the summer,  after the terrorist attack in Nice, and, of course, on November 9, after the  election of Donald Trump as president of the United States of America. Hillary Clinton and her brood frequently call Trump's election "surreal". In fact, with a lousy candidate and corrupt political party she represents, I would call the Trump election "logical".

Webster said the choice of surreal wasn't so ..well...surreal (I am getting in the mood for using that word) after all. It lists nine other words that people almost Googled as much in 2016. They include:

1) Revenant - (which is a ghost like corpse that terrorizes the living) was the name of an Oscar winning movie staring the over exposed and over hyped Leonardo DiCaprio. Naturally his fans wanted to know what the word meant.
2) Icon- When Prince died the media and fans couldn't call him an "icon" enough. A religious work of art that is highly cherished is an icon. Prince was never that.
3) In Omnia Paratus- The translation to English is "Ready for all things". This became a trendy phrase in 2016 that almost no one who used it fully understood.
4) Bigly-Thank Trump for this nonsense word. He sometimes  pronounces the two words, big and league, together so that they sound like “bigly” when he says them.
5) Deplorable- The deplorable  Hillary Clinton was responsible for the many searches for “deplorable,” when in a campaign speech she said half of Trump’s supporters were deplorable.
6) Irregardless- Not a real word, but rather a corruption of the real word "regardless' We can thank the air headed news commentators continual use of it today for making it such a searched word in 2016.
7) Assumpsit- I had never heard of this one until reading about the Webster word of the year. It means "an action to recover damages for breach of a contract." With more and more of us suing each other for less and less, it makes sense people would Google this one so much in 2106.
8) Faute de Mieux- Another trendy foreign phrase this year meaning  "lack of something better or more desirable". In this age of materialism and desire for a better electronic device to rot our brains, I guess wasting your life with last year's cell is a Faute de Mieux.
9) Feckless- What Barrack Obama's opponents call him. Well, they have a point. Obama is an empty suit of sort, weak and full of empty words.

If all these words and the misuse or overuse of them bothers you, relax. They will soon quickly disappear from use or interest, only to be quickly replaced with more nonsense in 2017. After all, those words are all too "surreal" for us anyway.....

Death During The Holidays

I read something in my local newspaper that is interesting because it's a little mysterious why.  The article said that in the United States you're more likely to die of natural causes from Dec. 25 through New Year's Day than at any other time of the year. Further, there isn't a reason that clearly explains it. According to studies using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this holds true for all ages except for children and for numerous conditions including heart disease, respiratory problems and cancer. Why are we dropping like flies during what should be the happiest time of the year?

The best guesses why so far include peculation from in-law stress during the holidays (surely you have or had a relative that brings on high blood pressure or a stroke when he arrives at your home for Christmas dinner) to the excesses of eating all that fruitcake and eggnog. But the doctors and researcher opinion is the weather is killing. The colder it is, the more vulnerable people's bodies might be to having a complication from a heart attack, flu or other ailment that they can't recover from. Maybe....because according to a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association on Thursday, the rise in deaths during the holidays doesn't appear to have anything to do with the cold winter months. Besides, the global warming nuts say it isn't cold anymore.

Some of those who poo poo those reasons for the increased deaths suggest the possibility of reduced staffing at medical facilities or even that patients hold back on seeking medical care during the season as being factors causing the jump in deaths.  Too, they say that  it could be that terminally ill patients may be hanging on to spend the holiday with their loved ones and then feel ready to let go and say good bye. However, I suspect they aren't hanging on to get the last piece of fruitcake and eggnog.

Many people suffer loneliness, disappointment, disillusionment or conflict during the Christmas holidays. That could be a powerful impetus for adverse health outcomes. The holidays bring changes in routine and schedules including late nights, more work sleep and other non routine out of ordinary events.  Maybe the unrealistic expectations of the holidays are too much to take. What do you think?

PC Doll World

There are dolls with darker skin and hazel eyes. Some have freckles; others have black skin, curly hair or straight. I counted 40 different dolls with varying skin tones and permutations of hair texture. And what if your daughter has a disability? Or a food allergy? You can purchase hearing aids, allergy free lunches, diabetes kits, wheelchairs, and dolly crutches for your doll. Mattel has also stepped up to the plate with its bald dolls, for cancer sufferers. It also offers, among other ethnic and occupational variations, an African American nurse doll, and a black eye doctor doll. (What Mattel, she’s not smart enough to be a surgeon? Is it because she’s black? How non PC of you.)

The PC doll trend is driven by social media movements which pressure companies to manufacture racially and culturally sensitive merchandise. Lego’s latest doll called 'Hipster Dad' is a bearded, stay-at-home daddy, who pushes a stroller next to his business-suit-attired wife. It's the absurd manifestation of PC stupidity in that it promotes that as the norm. Yep! In case you haven't noticed, those plastic dolls that little girls love so much have become politically correct figures. Those crazy liberal diversity types have passed on their guilt about what they see as a "racist" or "not diverse enough" doll world to children. Is their really a need for plastic dolls to be politically correct? What does all this doll and toy conformity to "diversity" add up to? At least in its more exaggerated form, it represents another intrusion by the PC police to politicize every aspect of our lives, even to propagandize small children about stereotypes the PC crowd has about what humans should be and how they should act.

One one hand it's nice that a child with cancer can have a doll that looks like her, and ethnic dolls might help some children build self esteem. But that is a special niche doll. Today's dolls are all "diverse' and conform to PC ers ideas of what is right and wrong. In the past dolls have always been politically incorrect manifestations of childhood. They were not meant to teach the values that PC people like and most of us think are extreme. Sigmund Freud called them “uncanny” because they are a way for children to process fears and let their imaginations bubble up from the unconscious. Take that, left wing crazies!

When my daughter played with her dolls I noticed that the dolls inspired her imagination and brought about feelings not quite understood or resolved. They were blank slates, not politically correct lessons, that my daughter could mold into her own world view. Kids should not be indoctrinated with toys. They should use toys as a way of discovering their values and judging the values of the world. Today, the PC world and its slave, corporations fearing to dissent from PC orders, promotes the culture of hatred toward the "white world" and an anti imagination in kids. Dolls are now reflecting PC party line. Can't the left wait until our children are older to start brain washing them about the PC ideal? Small kids are not yet developed enough to recognize the brain washing and are damaged greatly by it.

Dolls should be made for ever ethnic group, religion etc. But  promoting an agenda of diversity in every doll is just a crime against our kids imagination

Christmas Morning TV

Christmas fell on a Sunday this year. And so it was a day of inactivity personified.  Just about every business was closed.  Even Wal mart takes a vacation on Christmas Sunday. So for those of us who are tired of reading or listening to music (too those Christmas songs make one tone deaf and weary) and unwilling or uninterested in a Christmas walk or activity outside, what is there to do? When your friends and acquaintances and the crazy relatives have already departed your home with tummies full of Christmas goodies you fed them, what does one do on a Sunday Christmas morning?

TV!  Ah, the bastion of the brain dead and lazy can be useful in those times. So I turned on the idiot box to see what was on view at 10:00 am Christmas Sunday.  Wouldn't you know it. The set was tuned to a station that was airing "Jewel's Christmas Homecoming". Oh my..... I had forgotten about Jewel. Well, I am glad she is alive and found a slot for  possibly another 5 minutes of fame. She was singing one of those hip, modern Christmas songs that make me snarl like Scrooge. How dare Jewel defile Christmas music with that pop pabulum! I quickly looked at the channel guide the cable company provides to find what else was being aired.

It was a B list of Christmas shows that probably couldn't sell itself to TV networks in prime time Christmas airing. That would be three weeks to one week before Christmas Day when sponsors want to air Christmas shows that viewers will see. This would subject the viewers to those Christmas sale ads that sponsors want them to see.  That's probably why the '2012 Holiday Baking Championship' was airing  four years late on Christmas morning. Gee, those Christmas sweets must be stale by now. I skipped that one.  And why was Dolly Parton doing her 'Country Christmas' special on Christmas morning. Celebrities I never heard of filled the airwaves, particularly in re-runs. Why, the long deceased John Denver and and Andy Williams had Christmas specials from more than 25 years ago airing at 10 am on this Christmas 2016 . I paused and ruminated how much I dislike most of television, even on non religious days. I asked myself, "There must be more than this"? (people do talk to themselves after being hit straight on with 'Jewel's Homecoming'. I swear that I am not yet crazy.)

Copying the character from Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner "I bite my wrist, I sucked my blood and cried"...Show me something watch able.  Alas! I' found a flurry of those old religious movies, the kind that are not made any more because the mainstream PV view has been conscripted by atheist and humanist leftists who find any reference to Christianity or other religious belief to be a sacrilege. What fun those old films were. 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' was one on Christmas morning. It was a big budget, fanciful, perhaps silly but fascinating, view of Jesus Christ that is so PC now that it and the other great pro Christianity films can only find a sponsor in the days surrounding Christmas and Easter. I found 'The Nativity Story' too and watched a couple of minutes to relieve my guilt at not being a model of religiosity.

Wow! Next, I stumbled onto the classic 'Santa Claus Captures the Martians'. But I would prefer Santa do something more meaningful than fighting an army from invading Mars, instead perhaps, Santa could capture and destroy all the cell phones in existence. That's it! Restore civilization, Santa. It's my annual Christmas wish. I decided to skip that Martian battle. Another station was showing the classic 50's 'A Christmas Carol', and another had Bing Crosby in 'Holiday Inn', and still another was showing 'It's a Wonderful Life'.  'Miracle on 34th Street' and 'Elf'' were on too.
By then my head was spinning amidst all that holiday TV merriment.  I was beginning to believe I was a member of the Light Brigade in Tennyson's poem, "Into the valley of death" rode this bored and weary Sunday Christmas denizen.  I hallucinated  and wondered whether Santa really existed. TV  can do that to we believers.

But not all was lost! The channel scanning made me so tired I turned off the TV and engaged in my best Christmas activity of all. I took a nap and dreamed of Monday to come.

Eggnog

It's Christmas season and I will discuss one of the hated and loved foods of the holiday. Relax! I'm not talking about fruitcake (which I happen  to love), but rather the even more mysterious food- eggnog.  Eggnog in pure liquid drinkable form has a myriad of  ingredients  including : milk; cream; sugar; some sort of an alcohol like rum, brandy, vodka, cognac, or whiskey; whipped raw eggs; and sometimes nutmeg, cinnamon, or other spices. Today eggnog  a person can buy in the store often excludes the alcoholic ingredient, traditionally this was always included and was half the point of eggnog. It also leaves out raw eggs. Sigh! I am not sure of the point if you leave out the defining ingredients.

I fall in the category of hating to drink eggnog, but loving to bake with it. I make a great eggnog cake that wows people when I don't tell them I used plenty of eggnog in both the cake and the icing. I also make eggnog cookies too, a distinctively different taste that few dislike. Raw eggnog itself is unappealing to me, even nauseating.  For me drinking eggnog would be like eating a stick of butter. Both are great as ingredients but overpowering a when eating alone.

It isn't known exactly who was the first make and drink, but eggnog seems to have originated in Europe around the 17th century, very possibly in England. It was generally only drunk by the extremely wealthy due to the need for eggs and milk which were a rarity for commoners in Europe at the time. People of the day liked to mix alcohol with their dairy, so it's logical that they created eggnog to drink. But in our current day during the Christmas holidays, eggnog suddenly shows up on supermarket shelves (I bought a more pure version the other day to use in my eggnog cake I will make before Christmas) and as a new offering in coffee shops. 

But why drink eggnog at this time of year? It's because it isn't sold after the holidays. Makers of it know the demand falls dramatically and stop producing it after January 1st. You can make it yourself, but why do it after the holidays when the thirst for it has ended. Or better not....

Gift Cards

The gift card dilemma arises every Christmas season. That is, is giving someone a gift card a great idea or an act of rudeness and insensitivity. I admit up front that i like gift cards, and I'll give my reason below. But here is what anti gift card writer in my newspaper wrote about gift card as presents.  "In some ways, gift cards are the equivalent of looking under the Christmas tree to find that your significant other got you socks. Sure, you need socks, some of us maybe even want them, but for the majority of gift receivers, a gift giver taking the lazy option often makes the actual gift less special."

On the other hand, in opposition to that view, I see gift cards as the ultimate effort gift because most of use who resort to an occasional gift card do so after exhausting efforts to find some material product or service the receiver wants. That's not easy to do in this age of garish consumption where the idea gift is popular for five minutes before being replaced with the next most popular (usually some crazy electronic or electronic related gift).

Giving a gift card is saying, "I tried hard to find something I was sure you wanted or didn't already have. I spent hours searching but could not. Here is a gift card because you can better search for what you want. If this gift card is not appropriate for you, tell me and I shall never give you another one of those." And no one has ever dissented about getting the gift card I have given them...ever. In fact most seem happier to have a gift card than some random gift chosen on a wing and a prayer. Getting gift cards is like receiving money. Who could object to that?

Gift cards don't say, "I don't know you that well" or "I don't care about you that much." They say, I am not as capable as you of knowing what gift would be best for you. I care or I wouldn't have given you this gift card ." But here is an odd statistic for Americans at Christmas time. According to Bankrate, while more than 50% of gift givers plan to give gift cards this holiday season, only 27% of people prefer to get them. Explain that one? Maybe it is in line with the fact that giving a gift is avery difficult task for most of us. And perhaps, we should be happy with anything given to us. But then, people today do like to whine and protest.

What do you think? Is giving a gift card a personal insult, an admission you don't know or care enough about the person to select a tangible gift? Or is it the best way to give in this age of endless and changing "junk" from which to select a gift?

What Your Christmas Tree Says About You

In this age of superficiality and belief in what we want to be true rather than what is truth, comes a crazy analysis of why a person puts up  particular  Christmas tree and why it is decorated a particular way. Yep! It's time to analyze why you put ups that orange Christmas tree, or whatever tree it is you erected. Hmmm Does your Christmas tree reveal your personality and character? After perusing the web and studying this pop psychology subject here is what I found about the subject.

* Real or fake tree-  Real tree people are traditionalists who like rituals. But the artificial tree users differ. Whether you pick the artificial tree because you don't like the mess of pine needles, or because you don't like chopping down live trees, your choice points to you being extremely practical in nature. It makes much more sense to you to invest in something that will last year after year, showing that you are a long term planner.
Or, maybe you find a sale on a cheap fake tree and can convince your family that you are saving the planet by not chopping down a real one.

*Too many lights on the tree- You are outgoing, colorful, and bold. Unafraid to let your true light shine, you think of your tree just as you think of your personality, big, bright, and bold. You are a performer at heart, and definitely don't shy away from being the center of attention. Your outgoing nature makes you fun to be around, and your ability to tell a great story or joke makes you fun at holiday parties.
Or, you are an exhibitionist (probably arrested more than once for indecent exposure) and probably have too many lights accumulated at those after Christmas light sales. Because your IQ is so low, you lack the awareness that too many lights are not good. But in the end, the problem will be solved when a power surge of those lights electrocutes you.

*Perfectly shaped tree- you are: deliberate, structured, and visual. As someone who likes things to be perfect, you rely on your strong visual aesthetic. You enjoy structure, and probably thrive in environments where order is needed. You also don't make decisions lightly, choosing each word, action, or decoration extremely carefully.
Or, your neatness drives everyone crazy. Even your family wants to send you to a shrink. You are so compulsive about neatness and perfection  you wash the dishes WHILE you are eating dinner. Rumors are several members of your family are looking for a Mafia hit man to end your existence.

*The tree is too big to fit-  You are ambitious and unafraid. When picking out a tree, you are never worried that it will be too big. Your ambitious personality reassures you that you can, in fact, make it work. It obviously can't, but you are the one who wears shoes two sizes too small and denies they don't fit. You like to dream big, never afraid of fail.  You don’t worry about failure because you don’t think of your mistakes as failures. Your extra big Christmas tree is simply an expression of your grandiose nature.
Or, you are too stupid to measure the tree before buying it and bringing it home. This may be indicative of the fact that you had to repeat 3rd grade twice. You solution to making the too big tree fit is to cut a hole in the living room ceiling to accommodate it. After that suggestion, you wife filed for divorce and your kids ran away from home.

* Real or artificial tree- Real tree users are grounded in tradition and like the natural. But fake tree users are said to be practical, planner, and organized. You pick the artificial tree because you don’t like the mess of pine needles, or because you don’t like chopping down live trees. Your choice points to you being extremely practical in nature. It makes much more sense to you to invest in something that will last year after year, showing that you are a long term planner.
Or, you got a great deal on a cheap and tacky artificial tree at that after Christmas sale last year.  Putting up that monstrosity may be an eyesore, but you falsely claim that you are "saving the planet" by not using a real one. No one believes you , but given your artificial nature you don't care.

*You put a star on top of the tree- If you top the tree with one of those aluminum stars you are moral, leader, and strong. As a person who likes a star on top of the tree, you place a large amount of stock in destiny and following your guiding star. You have a strong belief system, and you often look for ‘signs’ around you to point you in the right direction. Many times, you think of yourself as a guiding star, stepping up to take a strong leadership role. You also have a strong moral compass that you use in making important life decisions.
Or, you inherited grandma's star tree topper. It beats finding and paying for a new one. The only signs you see are that getting rid of the tacky grandma star would mean an expensive make over for the rest of the tree. You prefer to use the same deteriorating decorations every year.

*You put an angel on top of the tree- If you instead put an angel as your tree topper you are said to be spiritual, kind, and charitable. Putting an angel atop your tree shows that you have a strong spiritual side, and that you aren't afraid to let the world know. You are a kind soul, who knows how to take care of others and make them feel special. People will often turn to you in times of need. They know you have a charitable heart, and that you will be there to support them.
Or, you are a phony, an atheist who covers all bases by putting that star on top to fool the religious types who visit your home and see your tree. Behind your back others sneer at your hypocrisy and swear that your last donation to charity was that mangled penny you found  in the street in 1970  and tossed into a Salvation Army donation pail.

*Handmade ornaments and decorations for the tree-  You are creative. If your Christmas tree is full of homemade ornaments, it shows that you aren't afraid to reveal your creative side to the world. Your life is an open book, and people flock to you for honest opinions and honest answers. They also know that you will keep an open mind at all times. You are also quite in touch with nature and your environment, making practical use of the things around you.
Or, you are a cheapskate. Instead of buying nice ornaments and decorations, you save a few dollars by organizing a slave ornament making camp each fall among your spouse, grandparents and children, thereby ruining the spirit of Christmas for all.

May your Christmas tree be whatever you want it to be this year....

Shopping For Christmas Toys

I went shopping to buy for a few toys to give as Christmas presents to a friend's 3 year old. It's been quite a few years since I looked at toys for little ones, and I have a few observations about how toys (the kind does reflect society) have changed or remained the same.  First to the similarity. Kid toys are still sold with an appeal to "education". That is, the seller hopes mom and dad will think that when they buy their toy it will turn junior into Einstein. That foolishness started in the 70's and is still out of hand.

A small child under 3 years old needs play more than he or she needs educational enrichment. That's because at that age it is through play that kids best learn. Too, small ones are not ready to read or do math. Any success they have at "learning" those skills is really a mirage. In fact, they would be memorizing not learning, not having much understanding or comprehension of what they "read" (pronouncing words is not reading) or computed.

Another similarity between toys today and the past generation of toys is how expensive that plastic is. I realize that selling toys is dependent on time and appeal. Those toys that are trendy or fashionable make big bucks for the maker. But those that are not often lose money or break even for the manufacturer and seller. That Brabie-ization of toys began last generation and is in full steam ahead mode. It's harder to fin traditional toys today. Look for a simple doll house and it might be impossible to find. instead, doll houses and other toys are branded by what kids see visually, as in movies and TV shows.  You'll find plenty of Barbie doll houses, but then Barbie is for sale everywhere.

That leads me to the biggest difference between last generation toys for sub 3 year olds and today's selection . The majority of toys sold now are branded to a character that kids love and know. It's wise to have a Lil Pony doll house, for instance. That's because when a little one sees the character image on the toy container at a store, that child will scream fro mom to buy it. The same doll house without an image of Lil Pony, Barbie,  Ice Age characters etc. will get a zero reception from  a small child.  It explains why there are hundreds of Barbie dolls for sale, yet the dolls themselves are identical. Only the clothes differ. Mom and dad see that and wonder why they have to buy an entire more expensive doll each time Barbie changes clothes or identity (maybe Barbie has multiple personalities?). But the child does not.

The other thing I noticed about today's toys that is different is how so many more have computer chips embedded. A toy today must be electronic to appeal to the little ones. This is great training for the small one become the cell phone addicted , electronic moron that are their parents and older siblings. Sadly, often kids don't play with toys. Rather, they press buttons and watch the toys play themselves. It's not a recipe for developing creativity but peer pressure says toys have to be that way and mom and dad rarely fight the commandment.

I think the kinds of toys kids get from adults today are really the images of the adults, not the desires of the children. If left alone with an empty cardboard box that once housed a toy and a toy itself, a child might benefit and enjoy far more the box.

PC ism Slaps Christianity Again

Every year at this time of the year since the left wing portion of the Democratic took over the governance of the Presidency and installed ;political correctness as the rule of force, there are numerous stories of the intolerance and stupidity of political correctness. Well, December 2016 has the first such example, and it involves insulting Christmas and the much love cartoon strip, Peanuts.  Dedra Shannon, a staffer at Patterson Middle School in Killeen, Texas, was so inspired by the poster scene of Linus reciting a passage from the Holy Bible describing Christmas. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior which is Christ the Lord. That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

It is an expression of what Christmas is, a Christian celebration celebrating the birth of Christ.  But her mistake was in the deciding to use poster images to decorate the door to the nurses office. The decorations included a picture of Linus, the scrawny Christmas tree and that classic passage of dialogue about the true meaning of the holiday. And that was enough for the PC police to put an end to such Christian propaganda!

Two days later the a school principal made a PC citizen arrest of sort.  According to Dedra, “She said, ‘please don’t hate me, but unfortunately you’re going to have to take your poster down,” Ms. Shannon said. “I’m disappointed. It is a slap in the face of Christianity.” The principal went on to explain that the poster violated the U.S. Constitution. “She said my poster is an issue of separation of church and state,” Ms. Shannon told me. “She said the poster had to come down because it might offend kids from other religions or those who do not have a religion.”

So down came the Peanuts Christmas display. Despite the fact that the school touts it's "diversity" (a favorite PC word used to mask hatred of all things mainstream that are Christian oriented) and allows posters touting many other religious celebrations, diversity seems not to include Christian belief because that would be...well.. "racist". It's proof that those who demand tolerance the most are also the most intolerant. It seems to me that public schools like that one are supposed to be in the education business and Dedra was simply educating students about the true meaning of Christmas. How dare her! She should have been promoting Allah instead.

Christmas is a state holiday for schools in Texas. It is a holiday celebrating the birth of Christ.  I wonder why Dedra was forced to dismantle her decoration recognizing that.

Fake News On The Internet

The subject of false information purported to be hard news, or "fake news', is finally up for discussion on main (mostly non fake) news sites. It's an interesting subject given the amount of nonsense a largely less sophisticated public is duped into believing to be real. Both Google and Face book say they are now trying to ban ban fake news sites from using their ad networks to prevent the spread of false information. That's a good start because more fake news comes from those silly social welfare sites that anywhere else on the internet.  As a more people read less and scan more sites to filter truth from propaganda, they rely on the internet to get information. For many speed and access is so easy they never challenge whatever is posted on their favorite web site.

So when nonsense like "Trump is a racist" appears directly or implied by opinion, for instance, appears on Face book, an incredible number of unsophisticated readers assume it must be true. Both candidates in the recent U.S. election were pounded by fake news targeting their opponent, often the result of the candidate him or herself sponsoring the fake news. I guess the word is out on how ignorant and gullible much of the internet crowd is. Sadly, for too many, much satire, hoax and propaganda is now regarded as the real deal.

Surveys show that 4 out of ten Americans get their news strictly from the internet. Wow! That's frightening. It's sort of like waking up one day and discovering that 4 out of ten Americans got their news from comic books. Oh, wait! On second thought the comic books are probably more truthful than is face book and that ilk. Truth is, many sites today are propaganda vehicles to promote an agenda. they have no interest in impartiality or truth. We now live in an age of protest and advocacy where facts are secondary to the cause. The declining literacy level if the population enable that. Further, many schools indoctrinate rather than teaching the student to think critically and logically.

Let's face it, the internet is an idiots platform as well as a vehicle for the serious and informed. Society does rely too much on the internet as being a source of information. The reality is that it is a source of awhile lot of information that no one accept the reader can filter. Governments who try only promote their own propaganda. An informed, educated, serious reader is what the internet needs in order to fulfill it's promise. But that seems to be a declining population with each day.

By the way, did you know that Trump will just shoot all those illegal immigrants because it's easier that way. It must be true because I read it on the internet..............

Artificial Christmas Trees Are Taking Over

Christmas trees have evolved quite a bit in the last 85 years or so. No not the thing that grows in the soil. I mean those artificial trees that more and more people are using. It seems that the first artificial tree was introduced in the years right before W.W. II. Hmmmm Maybe Hitler and that German crew started the war to prevent us from erecting those fake trees. If so, I would have to give Hitler "a good impulse but bad idea in expressing it"  grade. I hate artificial trees, but starting a war to stop people from having them might be a little too extreme.

Anyway, forget that thought. Did you know that the first fake trees were "brush bristle" style trees, sold via the Sears catalogue, shipped in a white bucket and selling for $1.95 (the small one to the bigger version at $4.95. One had to use his or her imagination to put one of those in the house. Uh, that's sort of like imagining a politician is telling the truth when he promises to lower taxes if you elect him.

But wait! Thanks to Sears, evolution also happens to fake Christmas trees. The 1947 Sears catalog advertised  a chiming tree that tinkled "Silent Night." It was made from flame resistant, "grass-like rayon." (I suspect the EPA would ban that today as a flammable substance). That's perhaps the only time someone called rayon "grass-like." I am not sure what rayon is, much less rayon grass. That catalogue said that the tree would last "for years and years", but I suspect looking at rayon like grass for one Christmas season would be enough for anyone.

The 50's was the year of pink in decor. People wanted pink everything, They had pink refrigerators which put food on their pink kitchen countertop that had been cooked on their pink oven range. So pink, and white Christmas trees were the in thing. People opened their curtains in the front room parlor to show the world what pink Christmas was. But alas! Reynolds company put an end to that pink nonsense with the introduction of the first aluminum foil Christmas trees a few years alter.  I always say that nothing speaks of the birth of Christ, brotherhood, and the rest of that yule thing like aluminum foil (Maybe the pink trees affected my brain).

In the 60's no aluminum tree was complete without a rotating color wheel, introduced in a 1960s JC Penney catalog. The spotlight turned the fake Christmas tree into a disco movie of rotating colors. Never had fake trees been so garish as with the rotating color wheel that turned an aluminum tree into whatever it became when a color wheel light flashed on the fake tree. I can remember one year my parents got a fake tree and a wheel. We concluded after the season that we missed Christmas because of the contraption and we would revert to reality trees.. It was the only year we ever had a fake tree.

One thing that wheel did was make people ant amore real like fake tree. The 70's and 80's gave us more of what fake trees look like today...sort of like a guy wearing a John Travolta leisure suit in an 80's disco film. It's a suit, you could see that, but it's not quite real.  From that point on trees could pop open and close for attic storage.  The artificial tree was saved from extinction and is now more common than the mother nature variety. Seventy percent of American homes now have artificial trees, yet most of those artificial tree owners surveyed say their trees still appear to be too fake for their taste. What does that say about their owners?

Though live trees are more environmentally cleaner and sustainable agricultural products than fake trees the Christmas tree growers in the United States blames a shift in demographics, changes in the supply and pricing of trees, customer irritation with what they perceive as the messy nature of live trees in the house and competition form the fake tree industry as the beginning of the end for the live tree tradition in the United States. I say that we already have too many of those fake mall Santa's. Let's join the (Hitler?) revolution and fight the artificial Christmas tree take-over.  Long live real trees and real Christmas

Nutria For Dinner

That big rat that invaded my former Louisiana is making a more pleasant scene in Russia theses days. They are eating and loving the nutria as  gourmet fare in places like Moscow. Wow!  Southwest Louisiana's citizens find nutria annoying not tasty. For years restaurants tried to sell nutria dishes to diners in Cajun towns of Louisiana, but the locals knew that nutria meat is tough and without an identity. They said, "No thanks" to nutria stew and the rest. When New Orleans chefs tried to sell it in their restaurants the locals laughed and ignored it. 

So outside of the swamps and bayous of Louisiana, where nutria is eaten out of necessity, that ratty meat is dead in the U.S,. Eating nutria  not only never quite caught on in the Bayou State, but Louisiana had to implement a bounty program to curtail populations of the marsh-eating rodents. The millions of nutria in Louisiana nutria eat plants and marsh and other habitat so fast that millions were appropriated to pay hunters $4.00 per nutria tail when turning in their bounty for reward. This pleases rice and sugar cane growers in the state who claim the nutria destroy their crops, like.....well, the rats they are.  Every dead nutria  a trapper turned in produced a bounty for the hunter. It's worked to keep those rats from taking over whole portions of the state.

That's not the case in Russia, where Muscovites are devouring nutria fare in chic restaurants. One establishment, Moscow's Krasnodar Bistro, serves nutria burgers, nutria sausage and nutria dumplings wrapped in cabbage leaves to diners who just can't get enough of the whiskered rodents guess they don't ask their diners, "Are you enjoying your rat meat"?  But the owner  of that Bistro, Takhir Kholikberdiev, says diners have no qualms about eating something called a "river rat" in other parts of the world. "It's a really clean animal," he said. "Not only is it a herbivore, but it washes all its food before it eats. And it's very high in omega-3 acids. A lot of doctors and dietitians recommend it."

He said the meat is also more forgiving than that of other animals. Rabbits tend to dry out quickly, he said, but nutria remain succulent even when slightly overcooked. The nutria burger at Krasnodar Bistro is served on a chopping board with a soft bun and plenty of relish. It costs 550 rubles, which is about $8.25.

I say, "Thank God someone will eat Nutria"! Well, having been to Russia and eaten their food, I must say that a plate of rat may be an improvement on much of what the Russians chew. Nutria were imported into the country in the 80's and now live in the wild in southern Russia, where they were raised for fur to meet the fur demands of upper crust residents of the nation's big cities. Although the pelts were in demand, the flesh was not, so it was only consumed by local peasants. Nutria stew is the favored faire in those small villages. I have had it and once was enough. So if you ask, What's for dinner", and the answer is "Nutria", run like a rat.

Holiday Cookie Exchange

National Cookie Day, December 4th, just passed and I went to my first Holiday Cookie Exchange that same day. Those cookie swaps vary in detail and in baking skill, but the general idea is that each person bakes enough cookies for each guest to have one from each baker. So if 24 people were invited, as in my cookie swap the other day, each person bakes 24 of the same cookie, one for each to try. The host provides some wine and other refreshments and appetizers. The guests are encouraged to bring the same too, since most people don't actually eat the cookies at the swap.

I went wearing my ugly Christmas T shirt and armed with coconut cookies. There were some interesting cookies, some looked delicious and others not so much. I'll try them as time does by but the simple cranberry slice cookie, the peppermint chocolate cookie and date bars look good enough to motivate me to try a recipe for each of those. No, there weren't 24 versions of the chocolate chip cookie there. The attended has to inform the host ahead of time what the selection to be brought will be. One need only ask the baker for the recipe or try another version of it. The swap does induce the attended to bake more at Christmas time, a worthy and therapeutic endeavor.

These swaps usually introduce the baker/attendee to new people and interesting conversation (unrelated to baking). I think the relaxed atmosphere of cookie and Christmas time are a great combo. Too, the exchange is a fun sharing and not a baking competition and the conversation is not threatening, as in political talk. Rather, it's delightfully innocuous. Who but a Scrooge could dislike cookies and Christmas?  Of the 24 in attendance at the cookie swap, I was one of only 6 men there. Does that mean that men only eat, not bake cookies? Anyway, I have quite a few of the cookies that I took home packaged and put into the freezer for later consumption.  I want to sample each when fresh (and thawed from the freezer), not stale.

Having written all of this I have to say that I still can't decide which type of cookie is my favorite.

Santa Not Welcome Here

Santa Claus better stay away from Portland oregon this year.  That would be in uber liberal Portland and also in the Hillsboro School District, a western Portland-area public school system. The word is out that Santa should stay in the North Pole because he is too offensive for Portland's kids. Prime example of the PC police putting out the "Santa Not Wanted" sign is a  request that staff at Glencoe omit Santa Claus from the season's school decorations.
A school board directive memo to the Glencoe High School office staff read, "You may still decorate your door or office if you like, but we ask that you be respectful and sensitive to the diverse perspectives and beliefs of our community and refrain from using religious-themed decorations or images like Santa Claus." Other Portland public school districts abide by similar protocols for holiday ornaments. In Portland public schools, religious displays, when Christian oriented is practically a sin.

Wait a minute! Did those idiots in the school system say that Santa Claus is a negative image? And how is one to celebrate Christmas without "using religious-themed decorations"? Don't they know that Christmas is Christian holiday? Should I send them a memo that Christmas is a religious celebration?  Why would anyone be offended by the message of peace and love Christmas sends? I wonder if the school board would be offended by Muslim celebrations of their holidays? Muslims do celebrate their holiday in those schools and wear religious oriented clothing of Islam every day. So far no Christians or any of the believer of any other religion sects has demanded that that other religious holidays that are also celebrated in those schools be reigned in because those religious believers should also "be respectful and sensitive to the diverse perspectives and belief of our community".

Ah, the word "diversity" again! Is their any other word the left loves more than it's jaded interpretation and re branding of the word diversity?  Oh, perhaps they do love "racist" as much. In their world anyone who would oppose the crazy anti Santa policy is a "racist". In a nutshell, those two PC words are versatile. They mean if you oppose my idea are a pariah, a "Racist". Diversity is seen as honoring anything that is minority and trashing the majority belief. I say not Ho, Ho, Ho, but No, No, No, to that kind of left wing hypocrisy and hatred.

Let's see what Santa Claus is in the PC world. Hmmmm I hear from those fools on the left that Santa is a symbol of oppression, a religious icon, materialism unbound, the anti Allah to Muslims, and a sign of capitalist excess. I thought Santa Claus was a fun symbol of a holiday embraced by many of many faiths, a secular symbol that the PC world should actually welcome. Wy is the left threatened by those celebrating their faith through their holiday, only when the celebrators happen to be Christian? Why must the left try to change tradition  because they want to make insecure and slightly paranoid people feel more comfortable? What ever happened to not paying attention to what makes you uncomfortable?  Kind of what some Christians do with people who wear hijabs?  Someone should educate the left that inn a real world we can't pretend that all is what we want it to be. If one hates Christmas the sensible strategy is not not celebrate or ignore it, not ban it for others.

And in closing (aren't you glad I am almost done?) I say to the PC police and so sensitive anti Santa crowd... Why don't you relax, show tolerance for others and enjoy some fruitcake. Oh, and Merry Christmas to the PC Police and their minions!

Covering Up For The Beauty Contest

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and beauty contestant pageant judges want to see more skin rather than less. But don't tell that to Halima Aden, 19, of St. Cloud, an emigrant from Somali. She is the first contestant to wear a traditional Muslim headpiece in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant,  wearing the hijab for the entire competition, and pairing it with a full body bathing suit and a covered-up evening dress for different rounds of the contest.

Huh! That's like a hockey player playing on the ice with flip flops, or a boxer entering the ring dressed in a metal encased shield. It does not figure. I understand the lady has a religious proscription that wants her to wear those outfits. But why enter a skin based contest if you can't conform to the standard of the contest? Only a nutty left-wing liberal would vote for a contestant who hides her looks. It seems to me a case of  the rules and the majority of contestants changing for the benefit of one contestant that won't contest guidelines. Didn't she read the rules? Do we have to have every event in society adapt to decide to do it their way?

Here's what Halima has to day about all this. “A lot of people will look at you and will fail to see your beauty because you’re covered up and they’re not used to it. So growing up, I just had to work on my people skills and give people a chance to really know me besides the clothing," she said. “Be who you are. It’s easy to feel like you have to blend in, but it takes courage to live your life with conviction and embrace the person that you are."

Nice sentiment, but I wonder how far that idea would go for a westerner in Saudi Arabia who wore eschewed the Saudi mandated cover-up clothing by wearing a sexy bikini and sipping on a martini in the center of Rihayd. I suspect it would not be "easy to blend in" there.  Instead of "embracing the person" that westerner is, she probably would be arrested.  But then, in some cultures there is can do what I want in your country, but don't dare do what you want in mine because it "offends me".

Of course, in this country we do allow others to chart their own course. No problem. But the wise understand that in order to win a beauty contest it is necessary to show the body. It might be better for Halima to try another kind of contest, one in which the hijab doesn't put her at a disadvantage. Halima seems like a nice woman. She deserves better than the choice she made in that Minnesota beauty pageant.

Defining Culture

I just read a list of the top 5 U.S. cities for culture. Number one is, and I think it would be unanimous choice, New York City. The next five are Washington D.C. (where the crooked but cultural politicians are), Chicago, New Orleans and San Francisco. It's a subjective choice, after all, it's hard to even agree on what is cultural these days. The subject had redefined itself due to modernity. No doubt another list of top five might not include all or most of the five on this list.

Culture is most often defined as being the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. Hmmmm That mans reality TV is culture too. I think I am losing my interest in culture. But anyway, cynical remarks aside, culture is not only disparate and hard to define and with which to agree. I think there is a factor that accounts for the rapid change in culture everywhere in the world. Due to incredible improvements in communication and transportation many countries are largely populated by immigrants, and the culture is influenced by the many groups of people that now make up the country. This is also a part of growth. As the countries grow, so does its cultural diversity.  

So it might be argued that the culture of the U.S. is more deep and interesting than the sacred cultures of the world, sacred cultural spots in places like Beijing, Vienna, Tokyo etc. that are little changed from what they were centuries ago. Still, the older cultural expressions have stood the test of time and also might be regarded as superior to the throw- away cultural expressions of "crude" places like the United States. So how one judges what is culture and what culture is more appealing is like choosing between noodles or rice. It's pointless. 

In 1964  Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart described his threshold test for what is pornography as being to hard to define but "I know it when I see it". Maybe that's a good definition for culture. Each individual knows it when he or she sees it.