Coffee and Provocation

Christmas Trees are Forbidden in the Bible
The Bible forbids decorating trees from the forest. See Jeremiah 10:1-25.

Christmas Is Un-America

When the Puritans took over England in 1645, they sought to rid the Church of England of all qualities for which they could find no biblical source or authorization. Among the holidays tossed out was Christmas, which was derided as a Pagan holiday adopted by Catholics from the Romans and the pagans of earlier times. Christmas was banned until Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, at which point the Puritans were persecuted and fled to America. The Puritans that came to America in 1620 did not celebrate Christmas, and from 1659 to 1681 anyone celebrating Christmas in Boston was fined five shillings. On December 25th, 1776, George Washington attacked the Hessian troops outside of Trenton, giving his demoralized forces their first real victory. Washington could be reasonably sure his plan of attack would succeed, as American troops did not celebrate the "German" holiday of Christmas. Christmas remained out of favor in the U.S. and on December 25, 1789, the very first Christmas under America's new constitution, Congress sat in session (i.e. it was a work day). In fact, Congress sat in session on Christmas until 1870, when Christmas was finally declared a federal holiday.

It's Four Collie Birds, Not Calling Birds

In the song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, the line is "four collie birds," not calling birds.  A collie bird, or colly bird, is a black bird the color of coal. 

"Gun Nuts" May, In Fact, Be Nuts

Gun nuts may, in fact, be suffering from mental impairment due to lead poisoning. Lead has an adverse effects on cardiovascular health, brain function and kidney function at blood lead levels as low as 5, but there's no amount of lead in your blood that's safe. Firing ranges can be particularly hazardous environments.

Literature Grounded in True Stories, I

Moby Dick is a fictionalized version of the wreck of the whale ship Essex, which was attacked and sunk by a sperm whale leaving the 20-man crew to try to get to the coast of South America, thousands of miles away, by lifeboat. As men died in the lifeboat, they were eaten by survivors.

Literature Grounded in True Stories, II

Robinson Crusoe is a fictionalized version of the story of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish pirate (privateer) and Royal Navy officer who spent four years and four months as a castaway after being marooned, at his own request, on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific. Selkirk asked to be put off the ship because he deemed the boat unseaworthy, and he was right; The Cinque Ports foundered 250 miles off the coast of Colombia, and the survivors were taken prisoner by the Spanish.

Lots of Water on Mars?

Scientists say they have found a 'significant' volume of water inside Mars' Grand Canyon. Up to 40% of material near the surface of the canyon could be water.

Orgie News
Jozsef Szajer, a right-wing, anti-gay Hungarian politician with a wife and daughter, has resigned after he was caught by police attending a '20-man lockdown orgy'. Meanwhile in New Zealand,  where Covid is in control, they have green-lighted orgies with up to 25 people. 

Preserving Northern California’s Coast

Five miles of Northern California's coastline is slated to be bought by San Francisco's Save the Redwoods League, an environmental group.  The price: $36.9 million. This is the largest coastal land preservation deal in more than 20 years.

Protecting the Tongass 
The Biden administration plans to reinstate protections for 9 million acres of the Tongass National Forest by extending the roadless rule that I worked to help get passed some 20 years ago.

The De-Nazification of America

Pennsylvania has revised its Confederate battle markers, and now describes confederate forces as “enemy” soldiers, which they most certainly were.

Blame the Canadians

Pineapple on pizza was created in Ontario, Canada in 1962 by a Greek immigrant called Sam Panopoulos.

Finland Sounds Fun
The most common lake name in Finland is Mustalampi, ie ‘Black Pond’. The second most common lake name is Paskalampi, or ‘Shit Pond’. There are 121 places named Shit Pond (Paskalampi) in Finland.

RadPower Is the Largest E-Bike Maker in the US

… and they are raising their prices. The reason: "the global supply chain crisis”.  Current prices will be active until December 29th.  For the record, I own two RadPower bikes, a RadRunner1 and a RadWagon4.

Skull Collector Ants

There are ants that collect the skulls of their enemies. They're in Florida, of course.