Merry Christmas

/79 Comments/in /by

Merry Christmas to you and your families. May you find some spot of brightness in these choppy times.

79 replies
  2. RMD De Plume says:

    Very best wishes for a Happy Holiday Season and a Merry Christmas to you, Marcy and Rayne….and all the contributors and readers.
    Thank you for all your efforts throughout the year!

  3. bevbuddy says:

    Happy Holidays and Winter Solstice to you too!

    But, as for a Happy New Year…no, en garde:

    https://www.mind-war.com/p/the-plan-to-carve-up-the-world-is
    Jim Stewartson

    The Plan To Carve Up the World Is Underway
    Dugin’s “multipolar” strategy plus the “Dark Enlightenment” equals the coup-de-grace for the post-WWII world order

    There are three major ideological strains involved in this plan, in my view:
    • Putin’s goal is to capture Europe and create a new Russian Empire with Moscow as the Third Rome that stretches across Asia and Europe. This is best expressed by Dugin’s “Eurasianism.”

    • The PayPal Mafia’s goal is to destroy liberal democracy and create a North American Empire ruled by a technocratic, eugenicist monarchy with Elon Musk as emperor. Curtis Yarvin and the “Dark Enlightenment” is the effective guru of this movement.

    • Anti-communists like Flynn and much of the real “deep state” in the government that prevented any accountability for J6, want to pull Putin away from Xi and create a theocracy to wage holy war on Islam and China. That’s why Catholic cults like Opus Dei and Knights of Malta are involved.


  7. LeftsidePortland says:

    Emptywheel is at the top of my list of things I’m thankful for this year. Sending the deepest gratitude.

  8. Benji-am-Groot says:

    Happy Holidays to all and thank you for this site.

    Best gift evah this year? A huge wild/feral? male cat started showing up here in March – badly damaged from constant fighting. He learned my morning routine and I started feeding him, it took 3 months and he learned where the pet door was and began coming in at night, sleeping on the dog bed and eating kibble.

    After 4-5 months I was finally able to touch him with minimal blood loss and by October he would jump up in my lap. His name is Ginormous Gorky Head and the name fits. Vet estimates his birthdate as April of 2023 – he was possibly dumped in the neighborhood.

    Got him fixed, and he is a huge sweetheart. But the gift from him? He has learned to play. Seriously – a 2 year old, 15 pound kitten that has learned that play is good. Pouncing from 2 feet out and 2 feet up is a joy to behold as he throws his bird up in the air and bats it about.

    I am happy for this development, as small as it may seem.

    The best to all of you and hang in there – looks like a rocky 2025 coming up.

    • bgThenNow says:

      That’s awesome. Thank you for your efforts. I have lived with feral cats who came into my life as kittens, and while they slept on the bed, I was never able to touch them until age and illness made them too weak. As a long time participant in TNR (trap, neuter, release) programs, I have been feeding a colony for many years. Feral cats don’t talk, as a rule. Recently the last of a colony has become highly vocal, but remains untouchable. New cats have come for the food I leave, I think there are 4 or 5 off and on now.

      • Benji-am-Groot says:

        Yeah – all good all-in-all. I don’t wonder if it is pheromones or some other mechanism that makes the kittehs come around but this has been happening here since 2017. That or I have a ‘kick me’ sign taped to my back…

        This is a safe place for them. They all seem to like cod baked with butter.

        We have 2 old biddy cats (17 and 16 now), a grey tux who was abandoned by mama and now Gorky – and regularly detect strays, wild and feral babies – there is always fresh water daily and if a brave/curious one shows interest we will feed them. No questions.

        Recently a tall, grey with bengal spots has learned the routine – limping badly – looks like a dislocated right rear leg and would like to get him in to the vet. Time will tell.

        But you are correct about vocalization – no purring or talking from the wild and feral ones except for the males crying for a mate and the hissing and spitting when angered.

        Gorky does not purr but has begun making small mews occasionally. A large kitten indeed.

        Thanks.

        • RipNoLonger says:

          I like cod baked with butter too. No real claws, limited vocalization (so I’m told). A bit grumpy as us old “cats” can be. Also know how to open my own cans of food. Have a spot for me?

          Seasons greetings, and hopes-and-prayers for the new year!

      • Benji-am-Groot says:

        Yep – Gorky still has an ornery streak; love bite out of the clear blue. He will grab with his teeth but not pierce skin and then walk away as if nothing happened, returning 30 seconds later for rubs after he lumbers into me.

        With a ‘who, me?’ look as he craves attention.

        Almost like a small dog the way he throws himself against me and the missus. He is a fekking beast.

        Open door policy – he is healthy now and I hope he sticks around.

    • mospeckx says:

      great story, man! Feral cats are so interesting.
      I hesitate to talk about this because people will think I’m crazy. But back in the day on the 495 ring road around Boston my wife was part of a cat rescue league, and she saved like 150. I used to be the cat transport guy and drop them off at the little kitty cat house.
      We had 3 cat doors and D almost went septic when she interposed herself in a tomcat fight between Shamu and I’m old and don’t remember. But I do remember that we got all the ones that were too ugly or unsocial. We had 29 cats.
      There, I finally said it. I’m free! (also certifiable)
      There was this one cat with a half mustache, She named him Der Fuhrer. All the little girls in the neighborhood including my kid hated him. He was scraggly and big and all he wanted to do was fight. D got him the snip snip and would comb his fur. Then all the little girls loved him and they would ask her if he could come live at their house. But D said No Way Jose. All of our cats loved him and he lived to 16. I miss him greatly

      • Issaquah says:

        A propos the little mustache ones, I just saw a similarly marked one on youtube named ”Kitler.”. Made us laugh!

        Plus, thanks for your efforts on the needy puss cats. We are down to 11 here now.

      • Benji-am-Groot says:

        “He was scraggly and big and all he wanted to do was fight. D got him the snip snip and would comb his fur. Then all the little girls loved him and they would ask her if he could come live at their house. But D said No Way Jose. All of our cats loved him and he lived to 16.”

        THAT^^^

        Since his admittance to the brotherhood of the castrati Ginormous Gorky Head has become a favorite of our 3 girls – but he has little tolerance for stupid shit. When Roxxy (3.5# and petite as can be) gets annoying he gives her a quick smack – without claws – and is kind of the new sheriff.

        Good on you for caring.

        29? Veddy noiche.

        • SFTexian says:

          Back in 2016 my wonderful wife Ann was in home hospice dying of lung cancer. Ann surprised me by asking “Can we get a cat? An orange tabby like “Sandy Johnson” we had before? The SF SPCA had a kitten that had been feral up in gold country. He was terrified of people and loud sounds. He may have seen his mother come to a rough end.
          In the SPCA I laid down flat on my stomach, and inching closer with my arm extended kept talking in my calmest voice: “Everything’s going to be all right. You’re going to have a home.” When I got 2 feet away he started purring like a Motorboat and we’ve been fast friends ever since.
          Every day I see him and I think of Ann’s parting gift.

  9. Peterr says:

    In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered.

    Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.

    While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

    On this Christmas morning, my thoughts are with those on the margins . . . refugees on the road, those at the mercy of governing powers, women who give birth in stables, and workers in the fields who are looked down on by society.

    Peace to them, and peace to you all on this Christmas morning.

  10. Error Prone says:

    To all: Make it to next year unhampered. I hope to. Enjoy the season, indoors or out. I looked it up, the solstice was days ago so daylength is on the rise. That’s bright news for us all.

  11. bgThenNow says:

    Wishing everyone here and everywhere love, community, and solidarity now and forever. Thank you Marcy and all who contribute so much to informed resistance. Together we rise.

  12. wetzel-rhymes-with says:

    Some music and video friends and I have been working a Santa origin movie about Cristóbal, a rodeo clown in El Paso, so I thought I would share a recent worktape of the title song. People with the country music pipe dream are always trying to write Christmas songs. I appreciate you all very much here at emptywheel. Merry Christmas! There’s another guitar and bass part. Production will be kind of Roy Rogers era Sons of the Pioneers.

    Cowboy Santa

  16. Honeybee says:

    Here’s a thought sent to me by my sister today, a quote from Clarissa Pinkola Estes:

    “One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these – to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.”

    That’s you, EW and friends. Gracias.

    • BRUCE F COLE says:

      I guess that’s my cue for sharing this lyric, just completed:
      _________________

      “Taglines for the April Eclipse”

      Cold fire around the moon;
      Complications comin’ soon…
      No time to lie
      Nor to regret;
      If we be fakin’ it,
      We best forget about it!
      O, how
      the tide is turning us around

      Slow fire from underground;
      Conflagration goin’ down.
      No time to flee
      Nor to abide;
      If we’re to make it
      It won’t be ‘cause we’re hidin’ out!
      O, how
      the tides are turning us around

      We can’t forsake the sea inside us:
      We have our chance to take…
      It’s now or never right now!

      Don’t close your eyes,
      Say what you see:
      From the paranormal to the panoply.
      Take it all in
      Then let it all fly…
      It’s time for wonder
      but not the time to wonder why.

      Oh, how
      The tide just turned us all around

      New moon behind the sky;
      Indivisible to the naked eye.
      Combinations playin’ out…
      It’s time to do it;
      Ain’t nothin’ left to say about it!
      Oh how
      the tide is turning us around!

      O, how
      the tides have turned us all around…
      _______________

      “Apocalypse,” in its Greek etymology, means roughly “a lifting of the veil,” not “Armageddon,” as it has been conflated with. That doesn’t mean it should be disassociated from epic struggle or strife, but that it has something to do with the resolution of such human dysfunction. That’s how I see the Allied unveiling of the German concentration camps working: as a catalyst to conceptually close the books on WWII.

      I’m of a mind that, in the English language, “April eclipse” is phonetically the closest coherent word-grouping to “apocalypse” for some bafflingly good reason.

  18. Purple Martin says:

    Although a member of no religion, I shout Hooray! for the great, ancient, rebirth of light celebration between the old and new years around the time of the Winter Solstice, observed or celebrated—or not—in whatever manner you wish.

    So, Let’s celebrate with evergreens showing life continues through cold and darkness; with torches and bonfires as lights in that darkness; with feasts centered around gatherings of family and friends (and exchanging gifts); with performances of music, poetry, and retelling the stories both of our own personal/family/community history, and myths about messengers from [the] god[s] proclaiming the birth of one who will deliver us (like the Ceremony of Carols I, as a paid mercenary baritone supplementing the house choir, sang in last night, something I’ve done at dozens of churches over several decades).

    So, to all of you on this day, Happy Holidays! I hope you had a Tasty Thanksgiving and a Smashing Solstice, and I wish you a Happy Hanukkah, a very Merry Christmas, a Cool Yule, a Kickin’ Kwanzaa, a Fantastic First Night, and great good fortune in the New Year!

    • Greg Hunter says:

      And right on cue I will wail, as the NY Times has laid out the landscape that awaits me in Cheyenne when the 68th Legislature takes up the gavel January 15, 2025. More parachute journalism with some interesting pictures of the combatants that gets most of the story correct, but those supposed small victories are not what they seem. We are truly fucked.

      https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/26/us/wyoming-freedom-caucus.html?unlocked_article_code=1.kU4.YpU5.acRROQ5S1TeH&smid=url-share

      • Peterr says:

        Damn.

        I lived in Cheyenne for a year, and remember sitting in the visitor’s gallery as they debated raising the drinking age from 18 to 21. This was a federal push, and tied to highway funds. Either you raise the drinking age to 21 by a certain date, or you lose your federal highway money. Given that this was (is?) a sizable chunk of the income for the state government, this was a huge deal. Every other state had rather quickly raised their drinking age (if it wasn’t already 21), except Wyoming. This session was the last chance to do so before the deadline arrived. I heard hours of speeches about fond memories of young boys drinking with their dads in local watering holes, and hours of ranting that “No goddamn DC bureaucrats is gonna tell me what to do . . .” followed by a meek “. . . but we gotta have that highway money, so I will vote yes.”

        Here in MO, the state Freedom Caucus members have been a thorn in the side of the much larger block of merely conservative GOP folks. The GOP had a veto-proof supermajority, but the Freedom Caucus demanded such outrageous stuff that they derailed a lot of legislation the Democrats were scared would pass. The Dems picked and chose which bills to support, giving the regular GOP folks enough votes to pass certain must-pass bills, which only caused the Freedom Caucus folks to scream more loudly.

        This year, several of the most prominent FC folks were either term-limited out, lost in their attempts to win other offices, or were beaten in a primary challenge. There are still plenty of GOP members to worry about, but the loudest and ugliest voices have been quieter.

        Good luck with the WY January session!

        • Greg Hunter says:

          Thanks for the story Peterr and the encouragement. I am already thinking about my testimony to provide on specific Bills and I am lining up other people that have not had the pleasure to voice their concerns to make the trips to Cheyenne this year.

  21. dael Escher says:

    Merry Christmas to all! I highly value EW insights and nowhere is there such in depth coverage of the legal trepidations. Truly a national treasure that is priceless. Thank you for all you do! and for everyone’s beautiful posts here. It warms my heart.

    [Welcome back to emptywheel. Please use the SAME USERNAME and email address each time you comment so that community members get to know you. You attempted to publish this comment as “daelv” triggering auto-moderation; it has been edited to reflect your established site standard-compliant username. Please check your browser’s cache and autofill; future comments may not publish if username does not match. /~Rayne]

  24. rosalind says:

    Happy happy, merry merry all! Thankful for everyone. Gathering strength for the new year and what’s to come…

    Just back fm an early screening of the new Bob Dylan pic “A Complete Unknown”. Still taking it all in, but the actors all play and sing live on film and they are quite remarkable, especially the actor who plays Joan Baez. Also just saw an amazing animated film called “Flow” by Latvian filmmakers. It is not a kids’ movie, very melancholy. The visuals are stunning, especially a sequence at the end. Hard to describe the plot adequately. Kind of an apocalyptic future where water has risen and there are no more people. Various animals come together on a small boat and travel through the remains. No dialogue. See it on a big screen if able.

  25. Chris papageorgiou says:

    Optimistic by nature and having to taste dictatorship as a teenager, I am ready to face the next four years without fear or favor.
    We will become stronger.
    Happy Holidays to all !!!

  26. John Forde says:

    Happy Holidays all!
    Thank god for this site!!!!!
    My plan for relieving tension as we approach inauguration is to ride electric mountain bikes around Marcy’s old stomping grounds of Poway California (Jan 5-13 or so). By circumstance I have 2 extra bikes. If riding is your jam reach out and join me.

  27. klynn says:

    Merry Christmas Marcy! Happy New Year Emptywheel crew!

    May we all be surrounded in hope and light in the darkness.

  29. posaune says:

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to this very special bunch! Such a gift — especially this year! Thank you Marcy for your guiding light!

  30. Zinsky123 says:

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year a day late to the inimitable Marcy Wheeler, Rayne, Ed Walker and the other brilliant minds who gather here! An invaluable free resource on an increasingly predatory Internet. Keep the faith – I keep telling my children that lawlessness does NOT last forever. Justice will prevail in the end.

  32. gnokgnoh says:

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Marcy, Rayne, Ed, Quinn, Jim, Peterr and other frequent commenters; thinking of you harpie, EOH, GbD, Savage Librarian, punaise and many others. You are all the best!

  33. tdbach says:

    A late merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, etc. to all here, bust especially our host. Thank you. For everything.

  34. DrStuartC says:

    Merry Channukkamas to Marcy, Rayne, Harpie and Ed, and everyone in this dear community from my mixed family! I deeply appreciate the daily reminder that there are some caring, kind, loving, smart and capable people out there!

  35. -mamake- says:

    Happy Solstice, Hannukah and New Year and everything in between. I am so grateful for Marcy and the entire team here, as well as so many wise and insightful contributors. It is a place of sanity.
    Spent Christmas Eve in ER with an elder who later was admitted – been there daily and get to witness another cohort of wise, kind, intelligent and mostly competent folks who help others. Thank the goddess for good and complex people who work toward their higher angels. [Brain weary, may not make sense, hope intent is there.]

    May you and yours be safe and well as we face what is here now and coming soon.

  37. dael Escher says:

    From: John Fitzgerald (DC law license) greenknights.law
    anyone want particulars to sign onto this petition? Hope it’s not breaking house rules here.
    Petition to the Clerk of the House
    And the Secretary of the Senate
    For Votes on Motions to Exclude Members-elect and Senators-elect
    Who Are Disqualified Under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,
    To Exclude Electoral Votes for Candidates Disqualified Thereby,
    And to Invoke the 12th Amendment as Necessary
    December 26, 2024

  38. Molly Pitcher says:

    I hope the holidays have brought you some joy. I appreciate the wisdom here. Season’s Best to all.

    The Northern California coastline is sending us a warning to batten down the hatches for the coming year. 30-50 foot waves at Mavericks for the last few days. Shattered pier at Santa Cruz that had three men rescued from the floating remnants by jet ski.

    emptywheel has been a refuge from the stupid, it will be a meeting place for the resistance now, too. WE will all need to row together.

  39. GSSH-FullyReduced says:

    Thanks Marcie and Friends for providing the lighthouse that we need to stay clear of the rocks below.

    The Wheel of course is not really Empty at all, is it?

    We all use it to steer ourselves to safety when the seas get monstrous and the winds howl at us.

    Keep-On shining.

  40. Quinn Norton says:

    Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, a joyous Solstice, Happy Kwanzaa, and much love from the hacker holiday of CCC.

    Hold fast friends, the seas ahead are choppy, but we’ve weathered worse before, and we can do this.

    <3

  41. earthworm says:

    “In the summer we’ll go walking
    Way down to the river down the Curra road
    There’s a blue sky we’ll walk under
    Listen to the humming bees and on we’ll go
    We won’t worry about the traffic
    Worry about the way to go
    Worry about the phone
    In the summer we’ll go walking
    Way down to the river down the Curra road

    Past the cattle at their grazing
    Through the woods of hazel, holly, birch and oak
    Past the robin on the gatepost
    Singing to the bluebells, sunlight is their host
    We won’t worry about the winter
    Worry about it raining
    Worry about the snow
    In the summer we’ll go laughing
    Way down to the river down the dusty road

    There is music in the river
    Listen to it dancing underneath the bridge
    The wind is hardly breathing
    Words onto the willow branches overhead
    We won’t worry about the government
    Worry about the way to go
    Worry about the hay
    In the summer we’ll go walking
    Hand in hand together down the dusty way”
    ~ Ger Wolfe
    peace and patience to all of us.

  44. RealAlexi says:

    Thank you Marcy and a very Merry Christmas and a thank you to everyone who makes this blog possible.

    And to the member of my tribe, a very Happy Chanukah. May your candles shine bright and may the sufganiyot sweeten both your days and nights. ;-)

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