Happy Saturnalia!

The beloved editor of the Prophecy Podcast Blog, Pam Dewey, wrote an interesting article on Christmas, click here for a pdf of it. 

Here is an interesting sermon on Christmas by the pastor of the church I attend. 

King Corn

We need to change the way we to food. Yes, that means prices will go up. But it also means that the quality of the food we eat will go up as well. This documentary explores these issues without a heavy hand. 

America's Most Honest Holiday

Black Friday is America's most honest holiday. Think about. This holiday shows we really think that by getting the best stuff at the cheapest price after pretending to be thankful the day before, camping out Best Buy, entering the contest at Old Navy for to win a chance $1 million--that's what America is all about.

Every culture has its own myths. Where myths come in handy is holidays like this one. One can be thankful one was not a Native American. Looking at that history, I guess you should be thankful for that if nothing else.

This might be a good time to revisit the low rent side of American history. You know, those parts of history class you did not pay attention to. If you want to remember what it cost for you to have all the stuff you have, hey, the stuff I have too, look at Pam Dewey's site. 

I am so glad I finished my holiday shopping, but then again I've been finished since 1982. I'm not necessarily suggesting you skip this holiday season. But I do suggest that this season should make sense for you and your family--economically and religiously. If a typical holiday is about stuff--I say stuff it.

On one level I agree with Brit. The Republicans had to know that the government shutdown would end badly. Watch the tone in the video. 

The snarky tone and the choice of adjectives tells us all we need to know abut Hume's true place in the political spectrum. He is a part of the system—the modern equivalent of ancient Israel's court prophets. It is interesting that they replaced Brit with Bret a few years ago. The talking heads are mostly interchangeable, in this case the name was even only one vowel different. (For Karl Denninger's view of this video clip click here.)

I find it humorous that the left disparages Fox News and the right disparages MSNBC. Sure there are differences, but both are court prophets defending the status quo. 

The status quo, "the powers that be," Babylon, or what ever you want to call it is doomed. While I do not expect zombies to attack, it will not be pretty. 

Get ready. 

Mr. Mustache

I thought that I would share something from one of the sites I regularly read:

If you’re surprised to hear that I knew nothing of the looming shutdown, and that I don’t read (or watch) the news at all, then you will get a lot from this article. Because I’m going to suggest that unless you work directly in the news media industry yourself, you too should be paying absolutely no attention to the news.

I am not sure I entirely agree, but Mr. Mustache has a point. I have cut down on my news consumption, but should I cut it even more? Does it actually matter one month or even one week from now? I doubt it. I actually had a blog post on the uselessness of news. 

But with regard to the current government shutdown, except for reading the faux outrage on Facebook, I also know almost nothing about it. My wife, watching Russian news, may know more. 

I do not feel deprived. All I can say is, thank God. I really mean that, for it was my contemplation of my theme here of leaving Babylon that led me to reduce my news consumption. 

Ah, the bliss of not letting politics consume you! Turn it off now. It is too late for the guy on the left, but you can do it.