Haven’t you heard yet? The arson attack on a Russian consulate is higly likely a false flag to justify an attack on Ukraine by those nasty Russians…

Posted by: signorRossi | Dec 25 2021 11:40 utc | 4

US gas price tumbles on bearish winter outlook …
Truthtellers @CNBC …
The U.S. was right — Europe has become a ’hostage’ to Russia over energy, analysts warn | CNBC – Oct. 7, 2021 |
U.S. natural gas sinks, on track for worst month in three years | CNBC – Nov. 30, 2021 |
Benchmark Dutch front-month gas dropped below 100 euros a megawatt-hour for the first time in two weeks, falling as much as 26% to 98.58 euros after slumping 23% on Thursday. Prices, which hit fresh records earlier this week, are tumbling on hopes that increased LNG supply will ease the continent’s energy crunch. [Bloomberg]
Opening the European LNG markets for huge profit … can de warmongering on the Eastern Front ease now?

Posted by: Oui | Dec 25 2021 11:54 utc | 6

Meanwhile Central Kyiv celebrating Orthodox Christmas – Heard it all before
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/24/ukrainians-brush-aside-talk-russian-invasion-ukraine-christmas

Posted by: Oui | Dec 25 2021 12:09 utc | 8

Posted by: Oui | Dec 25 2021 12:03 utc | 7
My opinion is that I have heard of only one action of Sen. Cruz that was selfless and intelligent, his vacation with his family in south Mexico at the time of “Texan freeze”, and reluctance to return.
Assuming that the Senator did not live lights on, the best he could do is not to contribute to electricity consumption in Texas during this painful period. A lot of components of Texan power system like gas pipelines, certificates for a coal plant to operate in emergency etc. were unprepared for a mild wave of sub-freezing temperature, and what a Senator could do about it?
Judging from his stellar education, Cruz is highly intelligent, something that he has to hide very carefully to be electable. In almost every instance, he does it well. But “being AWOL during the freeze” was a rare slip. He kept his family warm without taking a single kWh from fellow Texans.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Dec 25 2021 13:00 utc | 10

Moscow likes to commit aggression when the world is not paying attention. It invaded Afghanistan during the Christmas season in 1979 and attacked Georgia during August vacation season,” ambassador John Herbst, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2003 to 2006, told Newsweek.
In both cases, the actions were re-actions. In Georgia, it was a reaction to an artillery barrage on the main town of South Ossetia, with hundreds of victims. In Afghanistan, it was a reaction to a bloody coup, president was shot dead and replaced, Afghan communist party was sadly riven by an internal struggle between two factions. American ambassadors are not required to know anything, so they are highly qualified to provide expert advise to journalists who know even less.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Dec 25 2021 13:14 utc | 12

As usual, this is projection from the western psychopaths. They are dreaming of starting wars during holidays. In fact they already did, this Christmas they again started a war on their own citizens, but prefer to project the crime on “the Russians”.

Posted by: Norwegian | Dec 25 2021 13:29 utc | 14

Yup on “check the date” and “read John Kiriakou.” Fun watching folks even on this site get triggered rather than laugh given the irony of the facts.

Posted by: Smuggle | Dec 25 2021 13:48 utc | 16

Todays news: More than 10,000 Russian troops returning to bases after drills near Ukraine -Interfax.https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/more-than-10000-russian-troops-returning-bases-after-drills-near-ukraine-2021-12-25/
Very clever movemnet from Russia!

Posted by: Mikkado | Dec 25 2021 14:11 utc | 18

KSA is announcing a (ground?) offensive against Yemen, now that they can do it safely after the weapon shipment was seized.

Posted by: Tom2 | Dec 25 2021 14:40 utc | 20

Smuggle | Dec 25 2021 13:48 utc | 16
Is this what you mean? The Russians send Christmas greetings.
https://twitter.com/spriter99880/status/1474734288071540741/photo/1
“One of the military field camps of the Russian armed forces. The personnel sends warm greetings to the optical reconnaissance satellites of the “partners” from the US and NATO. The message says “Dick”.

Posted by: Stonebird | Dec 25 2021 14:59 utc | 22

KSA is announcing a (ground?) offensive against Yemen, now that they can do it safely after the weapon shipment was seized.
Posted by: Tom2 | Dec 25 2021 14:40 utc | 20
Saudis have been bombing, no evidence they are doing anything on the ground, OTOH it appears the Houthis are inside SA now, in SW where areas were once Yemen, which is what is freaking the Saudis out.
The Saudis did get an ammo dump in Saana a day or so ago. I’m not sure if the captured guns are real or theatrical.
I do take the sudden interest in talking about Yemen now as an indication that the Houthis are making progress.
Of course, this is all speculation.

Posted by: Bemildred | Dec 25 2021 15:21 utc | 24

When the Saudis bombed Sanaa airport a few days ago, it was completely whitewashed by the MSM and even by the NGOs who used the airport as the sole point of entry of humanitarian aid (and staff) into the region. The interviews and articles I’ve seen/heard always spoke of the airport as “being closed”.

Posted by: Tom2 | Dec 25 2021 16:18 utc | 26

The US is the most militaristic country on Earth nowadays. Even in North Korea you can’t see coaches and other stuff in camo gear
Camo coaches all over the NFL

Posted by: My | Dec 25 2021 16:42 utc | 28

Ahem! It’s called NEWs$peak for a reason..
“READ Not About it!”
“Get your inflated $1.00 Hate-Filled $pew whilst it lasts.”

Posted by: polecat | Dec 25 2021 17:03 utc | 30

Posted by: Smuggle | Dec 25 2021 13:48 utc | 16
Yup on “check the date” and “read John Kiriakou.”
Fun watching folks even on this site get triggered rather than laugh given the irony of the facts.
Yup.
In high school English class my teacher handed out a pop quiz numbered 1 – 20.
#1 said “Read everything before doing anything.”
#2 Write your name in the upper right hand corner.
#3 thru #19 were various short answer questions.
#20 said, “Disregard #3 thru #19 and hand in to teacher at which time you may go.”
Lots of embarrassed know it all teen-agers that day. Even some ‘A’ students eager to ace the quiz.
(For my own self-respect I don’t recall my actions 🙂

Posted by: waynorinorway | Dec 25 2021 17:41 utc | 32

“It invaded Afghanistan during the Christmas season in 1979 and attacked Georgia during August vacation season,” ambassador John Herbst, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2003 to 2006″
Good to know he is not the only diplomat idiot or idiotic diplomat the USA sends out to regularly embarrass itself, and whose main object seems to be to falsify history.
Russia did not invade Afghanistan, they were there on the invitation of the Government at the time to fight against Islamists, who already at that time were supported by the USA through the CIA, and Georgia was “invaded” for a few days because pushed by the USA Saakashvili attacked Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia.
Even the EU had to acknowledge this in a final report and put the blame squarely on the Ex-president of Georgia.

Posted by: Peter Moritz | Dec 25 2021 17:58 utc | 34

The Russians will take over Ukraine to protect their security because the US is incapable of sticking to an agreement AND the illegal Ukraine Gov was installed by a US coup
The US is simply buying time w/ the Jan talks to bolster resources and inflict some type of further mayhem on the inevitable
fool me once…

Posted by: hvck | Dec 25 2021 18:10 utc | 36

Thanks for the chuckle, b. Definitely graveside humor. Watched the wife’s favorite Christmas shows on the tube last night and noted all of them contained the message of PEACE and GOODWILL toward ALL. Too bad they were the animated types produced back in the 1960s during those years of turmoil and ferment within the Outlaw US Empire that have never really gone away or been healed. Judging by the actions of the generation targeted by those shows, they learned nothing from them as they’re every bit as bloodthirsty and thieving as their parents were then.

Posted by: karlof1 | Dec 25 2021 18:14 utc | 38

– Mr. President! The enemy has revealed our intention to attack Ukraine at Christmas.
– WHAT ?!! Like they did in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020?
– Yes, Mr. President.
– I am going to look like a fool. A surprise attack is no longer a surprise attack if it is planned by the enemy. (In a bad mood) Withdraw our soldiers!
– Yes, Mr. President.
– I’ll take revenge… General! Plan an invasion of Ukraine for Christmas 2022.

Posted by: Leuk | Dec 25 2021 18:34 utc | 40

I wonder if any UK naval ships are gonna dare go over the Crimean border during these next few weeks…….never know their stupidity especially with new Defence Minister Truss keen to show her enthusiasm for participating……

Posted by: Jonathan Jarvis | Dec 25 2021 18:38 utc | 42

Those wily Russians like to attack on holidays?
The jiu jitsu defensive move by a weaker power : Cancel Christmas to enjoy Peace on Earth.

Posted by: Jay-Ottwa | Dec 25 2021 19:09 utc | 44

i.can’t.even….
(currently listening to suzan’s ‘oh happy day’ link in the christmas thread)

Posted by: annie | Dec 25 2021 19:29 utc | 46

Posted by: S Brennan | Dec 25 2021 18:07 utc | 35

As I said in a previous posting[s] which, in the spirit of the Day, I abbreviate here:
“In 1991, the USSR/Russia acceded to ALL OF THE WESTS STATED DEMANDS…we will lose the US empire because a bunch of nut-jobs won’t take Да for an answer…Not since Athens war on Syracuse has an empire been so gleefully traded away for a war whose only possible justification is the unbridled vanity of an elite class of people completely insulated from the consequence of their actions.”

I read your previous post. The section I put in bold caught my attention, but I was not sure whether you were quoting someone or it was straight from your tormented soul… OK, now I know.
Alright, so, it seems some of our barflies here are the stakeholders of the US empire!
And now they are concerned they will lose it.
Ah well, where is the tiniest violin when you need it to play Crimea River.
Look it from the bright side, your loss is the gain for the proletariat, so it is not that bad, right?

Posted by: hopehely | Dec 25 2021 19:49 utc | 48

Peter Moritz @ 34 said in part;
“Russia did not invade Afghanistan, they were there on the invitation of the Government at the time to fight against Islamists, who already at that time were supported by the USA through the CIA, and Georgia was “invaded” for a few days because pushed by the USA Saakashvili attacked Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia.
Even the EU had to acknowledge this in a final report and put the blame squarely on the Ex-president of Georgia.”
Thanks for that piece of reality.
karlof1 @ 38; They’ve learned only one thing; Peace isn’t as profitable as War.

Posted by: vetinLA | Dec 25 2021 20:55 utc | 50

Yes 48,
Through your omnipresence, you have divined that I do not share the purity of your character; I understand, you find it shocking that I do not share your virtuous hatred of all things USA. Fair enough, still, it’s poor gamesmanship to denigrate a “fellow traveler” who supports the reasonable position Russia has put forth vis-à-vis the Black Sea Region/Syria. I believe you have allowed your desire for perfection to be the enemy of justice.
FYI, [though surely, the perfection of your omnipresence makes it unnecessary], During the Soviet era, I was anti-Russian..until..Gorbachev came to the fore. When Gorbachev tried to make a deal with Reagan in Reykjavik, [and Reagan was ready to make that deal], neocons[R] working hand in hand with, the then ascendant, neolibs[D] discerned through a divinity, not unlike your own 48, that the deal offered was not made with the purest of intentions, as it also served the interests of the Soviet empire. How Shocking!
But my anti-Russian sentiment stopped some 45 years ago. So you confuse me when you say “only NOW [is Brennan] concerned”; by any stretch of linguistics, almost a half century has passed since the word “NOW” was contextually relevant.
The conflicts created with Russia since 1991 by Bill-Hill/Dick&Jr/Obomb-Hill not only disgust me, they do not serve the American empire’s interests [and yes, it is an empire]. There was/is no excuse for Clinton’s expansion of NATO, nor his starvation of Iraqi people, or, his instigation/expansion of the Balkan wars. There was/is no excuse for Bush’s Iraq invasion. There was/is no excuse for a Nobel Peace Prize winner to start 3 war’s, in Libya, in Syria, in Ukraine. The last three wars by Obama were accomplished with the strong “liberal” support, people who had, five years before, protested the Iraq Invasion swooned and sighed when a D president did the same damned thing thrice! I vocally opposed/protested all, both for their immorality and because I believed they hurt the interests of the United States of America. Very few in my country can say the same…for the simple reason, they put party-affiliation/ideology before honesty and patriotism.
Putin is a patriot who is trying to do the best he can for his country/empire, I understand & respect that. I am a patriot trying to do the best I can for my country/empire, both of us have our flaws, our “tormented souls” as you so glibly say 48. Well, let this “tormented soul” leave your venality unrequited, rather, on this day, let me wish you a Merry Christmas instead.

Posted by: S Brennan | Dec 25 2021 21:57 utc | 52

It looks like New speak magazine is having a touch of projection.
It is the Bandit State that uses the cover of Christmas and other holidays to commit their premeditated crimes, like the long US college summer holidays were used to attack Lebanon in 1979, remember the Sabra and Chatila massacres?
This recent report shows them at it again:
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO2112/S00251/at-unhrc-euro-med-raises-the-issue-of-forcibly-disappeared-palestinians-in-saudi-arabia.htm
Don’t look for this report on your TV or local MSM.

Posted by: Paul | Dec 25 2021 22:02 utc | 54

Posted by: S Brennan | Dec 25 2021 21:57 utc | 52

Through your omnipresence, you have divined that I do not share the purity of your character;

No. I have divined that we do not share domains of concern: not only that we are not on the same page, we are on opposite pages.
Quite surprising that an American Royalist hang out in this joint, full of Reds & Commies. Isn’t Pat Lang’s bar more fitting for guys like you?

Well, let this “tormented soul” leave your venality unrequited, rather, on this day, let me wish you a Merry Christmas instead.

Venality? See, you activated my omnipresent divinator again.

Venality:
1. The condition of being susceptible to bribery or corruption.
2. The use of a position of trust for dishonest gain.

So it makes no sense, unless you thought that ‘venality’ refers to a venom, like being venomous / malicious, but as you see it does not.
So if you tried to insult me it backfired.
Why didn’t you just tell me to f* off, that is what you wanted to say, right?
Merry Christmas to you too.

Posted by: hopehely | Dec 25 2021 23:15 utc | 56

holiday in cambodia, man, shit. uncle sam and his projector.
in the “100 years ago today in history” category, which country were the “Great Powers” handing the island we call “Taiwan” over to?
if you said Imperial Japan, ding ding ding! give yourself a gold star.
in Eurasia, where Nazi Germany failed, a fatter America may dare!

Posted by: rjb1.5 | Dec 26 2021 0:01 utc | 58

Re. the war in Georgia, perhaps this will help.
https://middleeastrealitycheck.blogspot.com/2008/08/georgian-crisis-made-in-israel.html
https://www.debka.com/israel-backs-georgia-in-caspian-oil-pipeline-battle-with-russia/
In fact Russia became very interested in Bandit State drones. So interested they sent paratroops to drop in unexpectedly and captured the entire Georgian airfield they were operating from. Drones, computer codes, equipment and ‘advisers’ were rounded up for analysis. Australia suspended the purchase of Bandit State drones immediately.
Russia took note of Israeli drones having seen them in action in Georgia in 2008
Russia became interested in Israeli drone technologies after it had countered Israeli-made drones operated by Georgia in the days of the 2008 Russo-Georgian war when Russia itself had to resort to sending fighter jets or even bombers to collect intelligence data or adjust artillery fire. In the subsequent years, Russia managed not only to purchase drones of several types in Israel, but Israel also built its drone factory in Russia so that Russia itself started manufacturing licensed Israeli drones.

Posted by: Paul | Dec 26 2021 0:03 utc | 60

a different day, but the same bullshit.. apparently propaganda works and can stop wars from happening, lol….

Posted by: james | Dec 26 2021 0:20 utc | 62

@karloff 39:
Technically Pinochchio was a marionette, not a puppet. Puppets are hollow and worked from inside. Marionettes are solid and manipulated by (highly visible) strings.

Posted by: Biswapriya Purkayast | Dec 26 2021 2:27 utc | 64

The people who run the West are bullies/cowards. They’ll attack anyone who cannot fight back – Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya. Syria would have made that list had the Russians not stood up to them. They backed off Iran even after the Iranians attacked a US military base. If that wasn’t enough of a sign as to what a “Paper Tiger” the US military has become, they couldn’t even work up the courage to go after Venezuela.
Our psychopathic rulers have run out of small countries they can shock and awe. The only societies they can still smash risk free are their own. Which is why we’ve been the target of their insanity the past 21 months.
They are not going to take on the Russian military.

Posted by: EoinW | Dec 26 2021 4:31 utc | 66

I’m usually critical of the MSM but I think they got this one right. Just look how the soviets chose to be invaded by nazi Germany on June 22. How about that for using midsummer as distraction!?

Posted by: Jörgen Hassler | Dec 26 2021 6:15 utc | 68

@66 EoinW
Yes. That’s a perfect observation. This is the heart of the dynamic in play. Thank you for stating it so clearly.
Every nation that has punched the bully in the face has lived free of torment ever since.
And as you say, the domestic population is all that is left for the bully to torment. But there are those in these populations who have decided, and will decide, that a life is not worth living unless you can punch a bully in the face. So it is not risk free for them. They just don’t understand the risk yet.
I have the sense they are tapering the pandemic, and tapering the oppression. I know it looks like it’s increasing but I suspect if we could measure it, we would see that it is winding down.
Well, this gave them time to run their experiment and to measure its results. It gave the people time to sharpen their swords.
Maybe now, maybe later. But soon enough, the battlefield will appear.

Posted by: Grieved | Dec 26 2021 6:25 utc | 70

@EoinW | Dec 26 2021 4:31 utc | 66

Our psychopathic rulers have run out of small countries they can shock and awe. The only societies they can still smash risk free are their own. Which is why we’ve been the target of their insanity the past 21 months.
They are not going to take on the Russian military.

Very well stated, I fully agree.

Posted by: Norwegian | Dec 26 2021 8:40 utc | 72

Talking about Russian tactics to come (which we weren’t), there is one “system” as hinted at by Putin, that could be interesting.
Using the NATO system of having large “exercises” and “rotations” of troops to make semi-permanent increases in the threat level around Russia. Surely all the Russian military have to do is to do the same?
Keep up the “threat level” the MSM have “created” for themselves, but move and rotate large numbers of troops within their own borders on an irregular basis.
They are inside the circle – so have less distance to move, Just keep NATO and the others running around on the outside.
Not reactive, but pro-active.
***
The biggest danger I see in the future is the use of the “medical emergency”, to implant “Doctor driven directives”, as a way to control actions by Governments. This already applies to Uzebkistan as well as Russia. Who can fight a war when the soldiers or navy personnel have been told to isolate and stay in bed?
****
At the moment a “medical emergency” is being used by Macro to cement his authoritarian control, which shows that the imposition of Fascism is yet to be limited.
(For those that do not know, France bought massive amounts of Fizzy Vaxx’s for undisclosed sums, and now Macro has decreed that booster vxx’s should be every three/four months, maskies worn outside, tests for 24 hours of “liberty” to visit loved ones et. “Obligations” WORSE than ever before. But this subject (Control) needs enlarging as it will become the major point of revolt in the new year).
Subject best left for after the celebrations.

Posted by: Stonebird | Dec 26 2021 9:21 utc | 74

@joey_n | Dec 26 2021 10:51 utc | 75

Am I the only one who finds nested comments more difficult to follow?

Not at all, I prefer the current system. Its simplicity is its strength. When moving between different devices you can simply memorize a number (unless it is a heavily censored thread).

Posted by: Norwegian | Dec 26 2021 11:32 utc | 76

One of the main tools of disseminating proper information, one that has a benign effect on the feeble minds of the people, is erasing facts that divert those feeble minds from proper conclusions.
However, some people pay for news to run businesses, so usually Business Section is more complete. After all, business people are not feeble minded, so they can withstand more facts. Recent review of energy situation in Europe in NYT:

Tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine make it very unlikely that the giant Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany will open anytime soon and bring relief.
On a call with reporters on Tuesday, Karen Donfried, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said Washington considered Nord Stream 2 “a Russian geopolitical project that undermines the energy security and the national security of a significant part of the Euro-Atlantic community.”
Ms. Donfried said the United States was working closely with the new German government to strengthen Europe’s energy security. Attracted by high prices, energy companies are instructing ships carrying liquefied natural gas to change their destinations from Asia to Europe, but even that switching may not be enough to replace Russian gas or significantly ease the crunch.
“The market knows there is more L.N.G. coming,” said Laura Page, an analyst at Kpler, a research firm. “But it doesn’t seem to be having any impact on sentiment.”

Europeans apparently concluded, with American advise, that they avoid “undermining of their security” by paying several times more for electricity, creating shortages of fertilizers and basic metals needed for industrial production, assuring downturns in both agricultural production and industrial production, creating huge growth inflation in 2022, and making jokes about crazy policies of Erdogan: tries to be a crazy guy! we will show him who is more crazy!
Some experts say that even with no other overt symptoms, COVID-19 can damage brains with numerous tiny blood clots. Others say that the brain damage symptoms appeared before the pandemic, so another infection affected Eurocrats. Detailed reliable medical analysis can take years.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Dec 26 2021 13:36 utc | 78

Grieved | Dec 26 2021 6:25 utc | 70
Thanks! It’s nice to be back(PC technical issue, I guess).
You are correct it isn’t risk free. They’re just hoping it’s risk free. Or the least risky option and, as bullies, they must go after someone.
I mentioned Paper Tigers as if they’re harmless. Actually they are quite dangerous – like a rabid dog. The US military and IDF have enormous resources to destroy things. I’d say our rulers also have the ability to completely destroy the societies they run. Build Back Better implies an intent to first wreck everything. They appear to still be on schedule for that accomplishment.
Lots of mixed messaging on the state of their pandemic. I appreciate the optimism that it might be winding down. Now WW2 was winding down in 1945 yet thousands of people still lost their lives before the insanity concluded. There could be plenty of orgies of insanity to break out before this passes. Living in Eindhoven at the end of 1944 must have been a great relief. But if you lived up the road in Arnhem you likely lost everything, including your life. Wrong place at the wrong time is very unlucky. Too bad we can’t all wait this out in a US red state.
I just read a post which suggested that the powers that be are busy trying to decide who takes the Evergrande losses. What troubles me about all we’ve been through is: why did they put us through it? They run society completely and are the richest members in that society. They must have a good reason for wanting to dismantle that society. I can’t help but think this is Stage One of an economic collapse. In which case, worse is still to come. I’m not sure if the controlled anarchy we’ve been subjected to by medical tyrants and psycho politicians will be better or worse than the actual anarchy of a social collapse.
Such holiday sentiments. Sorry about that.

Posted by: EoinW | Dec 26 2021 14:56 utc | 80

EoinW | Dec 26 2021 14:56 utc | 80
“They run society completely and are the richest members in that society. They must have a good reason for wanting to dismantle that society.”
Slaves can be traded or sold, and must be content with their situation. They do not have rights or possessions, or a society of their own.
Countries? Assets to be stripped.
Medical tyranny? Means to an end.
Vaxx passes. Chains.
***
As you say the next sequence is certainly planned, which is one reason why the “Davos” meeting has been put off until June/July. A backlash that could spoil their party is the real possibility of personal physical violence aimed at them.
I agree with Grieved and his idea that “natural goodness” will be our saving grace, as this has existed from the moment, we as a species, became social for survival. It is one more reason that “family, friends and religion” have been denigrated to such an extent by those that think that they have the “right” to do as they please. Even Love, the spiritual mainstay of humanity, is degenerating into “woke” or TikTok.
***
“Belief in a better world”, is common to all those at present struggling. But, you cannot get what you do not believe in. So those who only value the material, will find their mental stability shaken to it’s roots when there is an economic collapse.
***
PS: Even the “Karens” I meet occasionally in the neighbourhood, are only trying to shore up their own faith in the Status Quo continuing. A status quo which confirms their estimation of themselves.

Posted by: Stonebird | Dec 26 2021 16:02 utc | 82

Stonebird | Dec 26 2021 16:02 utc | 82
“natural goodness”. That’s a great sentiment to embrace. I appreciate the positive thinking.
I celebrate all holidays. I’m not Pagan but love Halloween. I’m not Christian yet Christmas is my favourite holiday. Heck I even celebrate Washington & Lincoln’s birthdays! I see holidays as an excuse to celebrate life.
Thus it is no surprise to see these “people” rush to cancel every holiday. Shows how anti-life they are.

Posted by: EoinW | Dec 26 2021 18:04 utc | 84

EoinW | Dec 26 2021 18:04 utc | 84
I suspect that the Tinpot dictators want to control the “pleasures” that we will be allowed as a form of coercion.
In the middle ages and before, they had a vast array of “holidays”, all religious, but used as a means of not collapsing peasants under the weight of work. (Sundays could also be work days if the harvest merited it.) Even just after the war there were 13 official days off in France for “religious” purposes.
So is the new “reset” a means to levitate Corporations to new sanctified positions and set up Oligarchs as the new Bishops? The Malls the new Cathedrals of consuption? “Peasants bow down” – or at a minimum prostrate yourselves in front of the munificence and magnificence personified by the *Bishop* in his yellow Lamborgini. I could point to the attempt by Space X to reach the stars, as a supreme example of how the new priesthood is doing it’s utmost to keep us amused.
****
So how about a movement to bring back ALL the medieval holidays?
****
Failing that, to stop working for others?

Posted by: Stonebird | Dec 26 2021 19:33 utc | 86

I support Stonebird’s suggestion @86 to bring back all mediaeval European holidays as some of these holidays encouraged trade fairs in local communities that in turn encouraged local travel and tourism. The earliest forms of tourism as an industry in Europe were in fact religious pilgrimages, especially those that took place over well-defined routes over several days and might involve hundreds of people travelling in community groups. Pilgrims needed places where they could rest along the way, and towns along their routes benefited from the business they brought, to say nothing of the social and cultural changes that would have followed.
One possibility is to have a day every calendar month designated a public holiday. Days on which a full moon occurs might suit.

Posted by: Jen | Dec 26 2021 20:17 utc | 88