Hope
The old story associated with Bethlehem and commemorated by many these days is about hope.
Hope for more light and new beginnings, needed as much today than ever. Hope for walls to come down.
I wish you all some contemplative, hope- and peaceful holidays.
Picture courtesy of the Bethlehem Association
Posted by b on December 24, 2014 at 7:29 UTC | Permalink
merry christmas and happy new year to the host b, and all the visitors of moa!
Posted by: james | Dec 24 2014 8:50 utc | 2
There no chance of giving up while there is still some life in this bar. I'm so glad to know the fine people who have been coming in here for years. Thanks Bernhard, thanks to all. Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas and happy New Year, may peace and prosperity be with you all.
Posted by: Harry | Dec 24 2014 11:55 utc | 4
Merry Christmas B. Please keep up your great work in bringing light to our world. May all your wishes for the New Year come true.
Posted by: EntreTopes | Dec 24 2014 12:11 utc | 5
Thanks for all the time you devote to this blog, b. And sincere best wishes to you and your family and friends for the Festive Season and 2015.
Good cheer to the bar flies, blessings to Russia & Vlad.
And a pox on the dumbass Yankees and their Eurotrash bootlickers, including Tony Abbott.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Dec 24 2014 13:07 utc | 6
Perfect image for these holy day celebrations.
blessings and thanks for your work, B.
Posted by: rjj | Dec 24 2014 13:09 utc | 7
Thanks b, for your fine work over the years. Happiness and health to all:)
Posted by: ben | Dec 24 2014 14:47 utc | 8
I see hope in local collaboration happening---sure, it's because things are getting worse in jails and prisons and hospitals and shelters and along river banks and behind dumpsters, etc---but it's forcing people to interact in ways that make me hopeful. then there's this statement from a piece at Zerohedge that chills me:
There are three lessons that many people will learn in the coming months. If you do not have it already you may not be able to get it. If you do not have it physically in your hands you do not own it. If you cannot protect it you will not have it for long.
anyway, cheers moonbats, this space is definitely one that gives me hope not everyone is a victim of the info wars.
Posted by: lizard | Dec 24 2014 15:18 utc | 9
cheers b & all
hope won't get much done - given the recent historical trajectory, plan for the worst scenarios, utilize all opportunity for unending the status quo
Posted by: b real | Dec 24 2014 16:02 utc | 10
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to b and all the posters at moa.I enjoy the enlightening discussion and some of the rowdy banter here at the moon. Peace to all.
Posted by: really | Dec 24 2014 16:03 utc | 11
Wishing all of you my heartfelt best wishes for holidays and non-holidays alike.
Posted by: Monolycus | Dec 24 2014 16:10 utc | 13
Excuse me if I take your well-wishes with a grain of salt. You've pretty much made it clear that you would like to see me and my children dead and gone, so I'm thinking you're not wishing me and my family peace and hope, and yet you don't even know me except your assumption that I'm an American and a troll. Not to mention, how could anyone feel hopeful about peace after reading this blog and the nasty comments from the sadists who comment here? Well-wishes don't fit or match the sentiment of this blog. Finally, there is no hope, and especially no hope for peace, if people aren't empowered — and presenting a biased and partial analysis as most everyone here does, including you b, precludes, nay obliterates, empowerment.
That being said, I've updated my latest blog post with an addendum, and for the record I'm not wishing anyone well. It's a bullshit gesture.
Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Dec 24 2014 17:49 utc | 14
@14 rather crass, even for a troll
Santa is on his way, see http://www.noradsanta.org/ for current position on earth.
I suppose that some are hoping for a lump of coal in their stocking tonight given the cost of heating oil.
I would also like to thank our host for his time and effort expended here at MoA. it is really about the only place I visit regularly. Merry Christmas to all and if that is not your cup of tea then happy Festivus for the rest of us.
Posted by: dan of steele | Dec 24 2014 18:01 utc | 15
Merry Christmas to everyone, and thanks to b, as usual, for all the efforts he puts in. I never cease to be amazed by the breadth of his reading and knowledge.
Posted by: Laguerre | Dec 24 2014 18:15 utc | 16
B, Merry Christmas. Though I grow weary of the world around me, I never tire of reading your posts.
Posted by: Pat Bateman | Dec 24 2014 19:30 utc | 17
Merry Christmas everyone!
And thanks to b for this holiday thread. As for hope, we are living in what one could say is the gravest period of global crisis since WW II. The US is engaged in simultaneous wars against all nations which are not willing to be its vassal. So I'm afraid that things are going to get worse before they get better.
Yep, Thanks b and all but one mean commenter;)
Safe Holiday
Posted by: jo6pac | Dec 24 2014 20:02 utc | 19
Especially to Lizard but of course to all moon bats here:
when the inner heart
recognizes itself
in another's heart
or when essence of mind
is known to be shared
in another's faith
then all our faces
changed by the ancestry
of time, and sun and wind
become recognizable
as the face of the divine
within us all
perhaps then the cry arising
from the many hues
of the rainbow race
saying,"enough!,
let there be peace!"
perhaps then this cry
will be heeded
Bunky
Many thanks b, and a huge ongoing appreciation
Posted by: juannie | Dec 24 2014 20:24 utc | 20
Thankyou b for you tireless endeavours.
Wishes for a safe and Happy Xmas to one and all Barflies.
Peace. Salaam. Shalom.
Posted by: Outraged | Dec 24 2014 22:08 utc | 22
Merry Christmas to all, except to all you "Putinversteher" out there: you will have to wait for January 7th like good Orthodox believers!!!
Posted by: ralphieboy | Dec 24 2014 22:37 utc | 23
@CNH Feeling upended, having a bad time?
Have some cheers. Read the comments of your fellow countrymen at TMZ video. No hope for the USofA.
For friends family and loved ones in a world where so many walk alone…we give thanks!
Wishing all you barflies a pleasant festive season.
Posted by: Juan Moment | Dec 24 2014 22:47 utc | 25
Religious feelings here and here.
Twenty years ago there were peace initiatives and think-tanks funded how to secure peace. Even political parties had it written in their party platform. All are gone and replaced by right-wing, neocon/warmongering ngo's funded by corporations and oligarchs. MSM following suit.
Thanks b, for all your effort and your open-door policy : for your decade-long presence here at moa.
Posted by: jfl | Dec 25 2014 0:36 utc | 27
Thanks b and thanks everyone for hanging in there. I gave up years ago.
Posted by: pb | Dec 25 2014 5:12 utc | 28
"...but the shade of the cottonwood and the shimmer of their leaves and the trill of the cicadas were comfort for her. The pasture smell. ...Once he noticed a bush glimmering with fireflies. He stepped into the ditch and touched it, and fireflies rose out of it in a cloud of light." May we each have such a moment in the coming year. Even just one. (From "Lila," by Marilynne Robinson)
Posted by: d.l.finn | Dec 25 2014 5:50 utc | 29
Thank you b, you are one beacon of hope. And Happy Holidays to all the barflies.
Things will get better, it's a matter of when, there's your hope for ya.
@fairleft #30:
And Happy Holidays to you, too. But I do not understand why you cannot bring yourself to say "Merry Christmas". According to a fairly standard leftist account, the US is pulling all the stops out to impose its model of neoliberalism and multiculturalism on the whole world. Part of that model is that Christianity has nothing to do with Western civilization the international community anymore.
So saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" amounts to taking a reactionary position as far as I can tell, shilling for neoliberalism and neoconservatism. Do you think I'm wrong about that? (Note that it does not matter if one is Jewish. In the pre-postmodern Western model, Jews partook in many of the customs associated with Christmas, without undermining their Jewish identity in any way.)
When I made this point earlier, rufus magister resorted to the trite device of saying that I sound like Fox News. But are the so-called American conservatives never right about anything? Is not acting as if they aren't, which rufus magister does, not just getting tricked by one of the oldest devices in the elite's playbook, divide and conquer? (That liberals should reach out to so-called conservatives is a Christian thought.)
D@31
Why are you making such a crusade of this trifle? This is supposed to be a time of peace and reflection not war making especially among friends. Maybe this is a lesson about how religion and intolerance are bound.
Happy Festivus, for the rest of us.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Dec 25 2014 15:30 utc | 32
Peace on Earth and Merry Christmas to all. B, you are a treasure.....
Posted by: georgeg | Dec 25 2014 15:45 utc | 33
in re 31 --
You sound like Barry Choom now, let's just reach out and dialogue with the Tea Partiers. They're men and women of good will, right? I'll spare everyone the link to "Kumbayah."
It may trite, but true -- the "Keep Christ in Christmas" crowd is not looking to celebrate Deism. They wish to turn this country into a fundamentalist theocracy. You down with that? Not me.
Off-shoring, militarism, reaction, austerity, punishment -- what else do the Republicans offer? I hesitate to call them conservatives. They ironically seek social stability and "traditional values," but their economic policies undermine them.
As the Irish say, "Saints preserve us from devout people."
Posted by: rufus magister | Dec 25 2014 16:11 utc | 34
merry christmas b. thank you for everything you do for us day after day. i hope you have a wonderful holiday. thinking of you...and peace.
Posted by: annie | Dec 25 2014 16:12 utc | 35
@34 Something of a sweeping statement there rufus. I have no problem with Christmas and I'm a devout agnostic.
Posted by: dh | Dec 25 2014 16:29 utc | 36
@36. Addendum.....I don't much care for the commercialization and the more material aspects of Christmas.
Posted by: dh | Dec 25 2014 16:31 utc | 37
But are the so-called American conservatives never right about anything?
Yes, they are never right about anything just as so-called American liberals are never right about anything.
Irish heritage intelligence pricks make sure to say Merry Christmas (versus Happy Holidays), and to them I say a merry and happy FU, which is quite a few of you here. Carrying on the tradition of Wild Bill Donovan more than a half a century later — what stamina and resolve — you resemble mold for which there is no remedy — not even bleach will remove it/you. Youse guys are so obvious.
Thousands Join Anti-Islam Protest In Germany
DRESDEN, Germany (AP) — Thousands of people have gathered in the eastern German city of Dresden for the latest in a series of anti-Islam demonstrations that have alarmed the country's politicians.Police estimated that some 17,500 people attended Monday's rally by the group calling itself Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West, or PEGIDA — organized this week as a carol-singing gathering in front of the Semperoper opera house.
More at link
Posted by: Cold N. Holefield | Dec 25 2014 17:17 utc | 38
Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. And thanks for this site. It's been an eye-opener in many ways.
The materials aspects of this season do not reflect the tangible substance of Truth, Life and Love. Those come each and every day.
Posted by: giddy | Dec 25 2014 17:20 utc | 39
b now we all know what your doing today;)
http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Swimmers-brave-cold-for-Berlin-Christmas-swim-5978719.php
Posted by: jo6pac | Dec 25 2014 17:50 utc | 40
Israeli serviceman shoots 5 yo Palestinian in the face, merry christmas...
http://rt.com/news/217559-israel-shot-palestinian-child/
Posted by: zingaro | Dec 25 2014 17:57 utc | 41
I think the sentiments of Jesus of Nazareth are quite fine and noble, "Do unto others...," e.g. Though I don't think him the son of the Deity, I do believe he lived and preached a message something like we see in the Gospels. It's too bad our present Pharisees don't act in that spirit.
If I might return this thread to the spirit of the season. Mrs. M & I were visiting family and friends in New England a no. of years ago, and our travels took us near Frost's home in New Hampshire. The first line popped into my head, and we then fleshed it out. My in-laws found it most amusing, I hope y'all do too.
A Contemporary Reading of
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.
With apologies to Robert Frost.
Having been written a number of years ago, some of the references in this seasonal classic may be unfamiliar to younger readers. As a public service, we have updated it to make it more readily appreciated and understood.
Whose woods these are I think I know.
It is a corporation, though;
It will not see me stopping here
To watch its woods fill up with snow.The rental car must think it queer
To stop without a strip mall near
Between the woods and McMansions fake
The darkest evening of the year.It gives its GPS a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of blow-hard wind and right-wing flake.The woods are lovely, dark, and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
And in the spirit of the season, a musical offering, Jethro Tull's Christmas Song
Posted by: rufus magister | Dec 25 2014 18:10 utc | 42
A very merry Christmas to all and a happy New Year
and a heartfelt thank You for letting the homeless stargazer with his sybolistic donkey find a place in the barnstable and a little drink - I don't know why.
Here the christmas-week in earths heaven:
http://astromundanediary.blogspot.de/2014/12/22.html
Posted by: mundanomaniac | Dec 25 2014 20:36 utc | 44
Hope...yeah
Anti-homeless cages installed around benches in French city on Christmas Eve
http://rt.com/news/217679-france-homeless-bench-cages/
Folks, this is what democracies do apparently. Disgusting.
Posted by: Anonymous | Dec 25 2014 21:50 utc | 46
All cultures have ways to commemorate the winter time. We can use these commemorations to remind ourselves of the world's injustices and commit to doing what we can to correct them as time goes by.
Posted by: Inkan1969 | Dec 25 2014 22:04 utc | 47
the sort of thing Pussy Riot would do....feminists make a political statement and themselves popular by kidnapping baby jesus! will FEMEN get an audience with Obama?
RT @RT_com 3h3 hours ago
Topless FEMEN activist ‘kidnaps’ Baby Jesus from Vatican nativity scene http://on.rt.com/vvk563
Posted by: brian | Dec 26 2014 0:34 utc | 48
Folks, this is what democracies do apparently. Disgusting.
Posted by: Anonymous | Dec 25, 2014 4:50:32 PM | 46
It's worse than that.
The Eurotrash (greedy right-wing, neoliberal politicians who've sold their souls for cash to greedy, job-exporting corporate types) now need someone to blame for the in-your-face poverty and unemployment they've facilitated.
And, being cowardly amoral right-wing cranks, they persecute the softest targets they can think of ... the victims of their traitorous iniquity.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Dec 26 2014 2:17 utc | 49
Inkan1969 @ 47
Well said, tx.
H'whisperer @ 49
You be tearin' 'em up; amoral Eurotrash cranks works for me.
And don't forget -- keep the Saturn in Saturnalia!
Posted by: rufus magister | Dec 26 2014 4:05 utc | 50
Colden Holefield @14
You make 2 interesting admissions: a) You believe the whole world is out to get you; b) You believe that whoever stands up to you probably wouldn't mind seeing you and all your little children brutally murdered. Those things alone enable us to make a pretty good guess what your background is.
What color is the sky in your world, anyway?
Merry Christmas!
Posted by: howard alan treesong | Dec 26 2014 15:45 utc | 51
H@49
The Bum Spikes in England were removed by a conservative mayor so this is not necessarily a left-right issue.
I think you have to separate the Drunk Bum problem from the general homeless population who can usually sleep in shelters where drunks are not allowed.
Neither the Right or the Left in Europe or the US are doing anything about the root causes of homelessness or the mental health issues of street drunks.
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Dec 26 2014 16:27 utc | 52
# 51 Yeah, #14 doth protesteth too much - does lead one to the assumption you make. Everyone here - belated Yuletide greetings and a not-too-drunk-a-New-Year Chris in Ch-Ch
Posted by: kiwicris | Dec 27 2014 4:31 utc | 53
Posted by: Wayoutwest | Dec 26, 2014 11:27:23 AM | 52
I don't do 'left' and 'right'.
There are lots of Right-wing cranks in politics but (imo) the so-called 'left' is a bin in which the R-w Cranks keep a list of the names of people who oppose them but aren't terribly bright and can't sustain a coherent argument/debate. The cranks just pretend that people who oppose them, AND CAN argue/debate, don't exist (bc R-w Cranks HATE losing an argument in public).
The park bench debacle raised by Anonymous isn't a left/right issue. It's about a careless disregard for the principles of Good Taste, Good Judgement and a willingness to demonstrate Empathy - or not.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Dec 27 2014 4:56 utc | 54
The comments to this entry are closed.
Happy holidays, hopefully 2015 wont be as miserable for the world as 2014.
Posted by: Anonymous | Dec 24 2014 8:34 utc | 1