Christmas Eve 2007 Conservatively Speaking
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he Gospels do not mention the date of Jesus’ birth. In fact, not until the year 336 do we find the first mention of a celebration of Christ’s birth. It was not until the 4th century AD that Pope Julius I set 25th December as the date for Christmas. This was an attempt to Christianise the Pagan celebrations that already took place at this time of year. By 529, 25th December had become a civil holiday and by 567 the twelve days from 25th December 25th to the Epiphany were public holidays.
It is most unlikely that JESUS CHRIST was even born in December, and because of confusion among competing calendars it is difficult to calculate and affix an exact date or even year. Many prefer to believe the date closely coincides with the death of Herrod around 6 B. C. but, that just starts a big argument. Astronomers using the most sophisticated computers and software remain befuddled and can not project exactly what the Star of Bethlehem might have been. It remains a mystery.
From the middle of the 17th century until the early 18th century the Christian Puritans (a fun filled bunch) suppressed Christmas celebrations in Europe and America. The Puritan movement began during the reign of Queen Elizabeth in England (1558-1603). They believed in strict moral codes, plenty of prayer and close following of New Testament scripture. After a lull in Christmas celebrations the festival returned with a bang in the Victorian Era (1837-1901). Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (1843) inspired ideals of what Christmas should be, capturing the imagination of the British and Americans.
The Victorians gave us the kind of Christmas we know today, reviving the tradition of carol singing, borrowing the practice of card giving from St. Valentine’s day and popularising the Germanic Christmas tree tradition. An important part of today’s Christmas is the myth of Father Christmas (called Santa Claus in America). His visual image of Father Christmas that we have today is the one popularised by American greeting card-makers in the Victorian era.
Charles Dickens, a poor man, was paid to write a holiday story to be serialized in a newspaper. He wrote perhaps the most famous of all time — A Christmas Carol. He became so enthralled with the story he went into debt to publish copies in a special size to fit into a man’s suit coat pocket (so it could always be available for a father to read to his children) with very expensive color plates, gold edged pages, and an embossed red and green cover – celebrating holly’s green leaves and red berries. It was not a commercial success. Charles Dickens died a pauper but left us all richer for his famous story.
During the great coaching era of the 18th -19th centuries Stony Stratford was an important junction and rest stop midway between London and Birmingham and Oxford and Cambridge in England. Soon the village became known as a center of all news traveling on foot or by horse. A rivalry developed between the two main coaching inns there – the Cock and the Bull., for the most exciting and scurrilous traveler’s tales. As a result unbelievable stories became known as “Cock and Bull” stories.
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udy Giuliani and Mitt Romney are tied nationally at 30% each according to polls released Sunday. Remarkably Giuliani has collapsed by 17% in one month driven by the twin Kerik and Nathan revelations. Mitt Romney, who is Eddie Haskell-like (Leave It To Beaver) who runs around disingenuously complimenting everyone, is still holding his own. But, it is John McCain who is surging. McCain has tied Romney in New Hampshire while Romney has surged well ahead in Iowa. John McCain has the highest favorable rating (52%) and the smallest number committed to voting against him (33%) of any Presidential candidate in either party.
A recent Fox 5-The Washington Times-Rassmussen Reports survey asked this question: ‘Sometimes people vote for a candidate mainly because they’re voting against someone else. Which of the leading presidential candidates would you most want to prevent from becoming president?’ 64 per cent of Republicans, 42 per cent of independent and third party voters and 17 per cent of Democrats polled voted the former First Lady as the candidate they most wanted to keep away from the White House.
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onservative columnists William Kristol and Charles Krauthammer got coal in their Christmas stockings from TIME magazine that fired them. The exact reasons for the twin dismissals have not officially been made known. Time’s managing editor Richard Stengel, who took over in May 2006, redesigned the magazine and made lots of changes to try to stop declining subscription. Time magazine remains the nation’s largest newsweekly, but its lead over archrival Newsweek has narrowed considerably, according to circulation figures released last August. Time’s total paid and verified weekly circulation during the six months ended June 30 stood at 3.4 million, down 17.1% from 4.1 million during the same period the year before.
Time is now in negotiations with National Review editor Ramesh Ponnuru, and is known to have rejected hiring Karl Rove who now writes for Newsweek. Speculation is that Stengel has been unable to stop the declines and consequent falling ad revenues, and these changes are a “hail Mary” to save his job and / or the magazine from irrelevance.
Queen Elizabeth II is now Great Britain’s longest living monarch breaking Queen Victoria’s record around 5PM last Thursday. Queen Victoria still remains the longest-reigning British monarch. But Queen Elizabeth II would break this record on September 9, 2015.
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. S. President WOODROW WILSON was reelected in 1916 largely on the slogan “He kept us out of war.” The U. S. nearly stayed out of World War I making it just another vile European war. The straw that broke the camel’s back* was in part the infamous January 19, 1917 ZIMMERMAN NOTE. It was actually an encoded telegram from German Secretary of State Alfred Zimmerman urging MEXICO to open a second front attacking the UNITED STATES to “reconquer the lost territory in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona” and announcing resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare predicting that would bring England to its knees. It also urged Mexico to contact the Japanese and get its cooperation.
The telegram was intercepted, decoded by the British and given to the United States. The American press published news of the telegram on March 1 creating strong public outcry. On April 6, 1917, the United States Congress formally declared war on Germany and its allies.
Sixty-five million men and women served in the Armies and Navies of combatants in World War I including 2,000,000 Americans. 112,432 Americans were killed and 230,074 were wounded. Overall at least ten million were killed; 20 million wounded.
*The idiom “the straw that broke the camel’s back” is believed to be from an ancient, undated Arab proverb. One of the earliest uses of the phrase was by Charles Dickens in Dombey and Son. Before Dickens Thomas Fuller in his Gnomologia (1732) said “Tis the last feather that breaks the horse’s back.” Fuller had minor fame for publishing “Many would be cowards if they had courage enough.”
An Associated Press story on the heels of Rudy Giuliani clamming up about a sudden illness and emergency overnight hospital stay last week says he is very secretive The mayor has long described his City Hall as an open book but AP says that could be farther from the truth. Also that he took and has kept secret tons of notes, recordings and records when he left office. Supporters worry last week’s incident could spark a reaction similar to Senator Bill Bradley’s mishandling of his health that is said to have sunk his presidential bid.
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n one of the largest early release of inmates in United States history, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration is proposing to open the prison gates next year to some 22,000 “low-risk” offenders described as “non-serious, non-violent, non-sex offenders who have less than 20 months to go on their terms.” Four thousand prison jobs would also be cut, most of which would involve correctional officers. The move will save $1 billion by mid-2010.
Skeptics say statistically such a release will mean one murder, 500-1,000 assaults, burglaries and robberies in those 20 months adding costs in what could be a short term “wash.” Long term dumping thousands of $68,000 a year prison guards will be a big savings.
The 2007-2008 state budget has a $14 billion gap and polls show voters are demanding a 10% across the board cut and no tax increases. Gray Davis, Schwarzenegger’s predecessor, was recalled and kicked out of office mostly because he was seen as mismanaging the budget allowing a then massive $4 billion deficit to happen.
The 1949 Oldsmobile with V8 and hydramatic transmission was arguably the first factory muscle car – a light chassis with big engine (it was really the lightest Chevrolet body then produced “re-badged” an Oldsmobile). It started a movement that reached its peak in the 1960s only to be throttled back by safety concerns and lower compression ratios necessitated by lower octane lead-free gasoline. Technology has been catching up in the likes of Ford’s Mustang Cobra; Dodge’s Hemi Charger and Chevrolet’s Corvette. Now new federal CAFÉ gasoline mileage standards may kill off the last muscle car – or not.
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V critics are saying keeping Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney’s pregnant 16-year old younger sister, around symbolizes Nickelodeon, the “kid’s” network’s, approval of under-age pregnancy, and that anything Spears sells will be tainted. For its part, Nickelodeon is considering a teen pregnancy special in light of the news 16-year old Jamie Lynn is pregnant but for now remains the star of its teen show, “Zoey 101.” In a statement, Nickelodeon was respectful and concerned over Spears’ health — but it offered nothing in the way of a pullback of the show. Some worried advertisers have been contacting Nickelodeon about future relationships given the example of its teenage star bearing a bastard child. Another question is whether the baby’s father, who is 19-years old, will be prosecuted for statutory rape since she is just now sixteen.
The late Jess Unruh, California’s treasurer, famously said “money is the mother’s milk of politics.” It is also a magnet questionable characters like: a Mitt Romney fundraiser recently suspended from practicing law; an Obama backer defaulted on loans; a Giuliani bundler was accused of sexual harassment, and a Clinton fundraiser was barred from contracting for violating labor laws. Read the entire article at http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7502.html
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on Paul (R) Texas exhibited how shallow, thoughtless, poorly informed and unstable he is while on yesterday’s MEET THE PRESS. He spoke of ending all foreign aide apparently even to the poorest peoples. He said he would abandon European allies, South Korea, Japan and Israel. He avoided answering questions about $400 million in earmarks for his Galveston District and the $4 billion his district filches from taxpayers. His performance was sad and even absurd. Most laughable was Paul’s assertion that the CIVIL WAR to preserve the union, and end slavery was a Lincoln mistake – Paul is a supercilious nincompoop.
CYBERCHONDRIAC is a new word for those who surf the internet to self-diagnose real and imagined symptoms. Experts say they often create their own symptoms.
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INALLY, A 60-year-old man has sued an 8-year-old boy and his dad for $75,000 in Federal court, claiming the boy caused a ski-slope collision that left him with a shoulder injury. The family says the 40-pound boy was skiing at about 10 miles-per-hour on a Vail, Colorado slope when the two “tapped.” The man, David J. Pfahler of Allentown, Pa. works for Reader’s Digest says the boy was acting in a reckless, haphazard manner sort of like an 8-year old.
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