Christmas. Bah, Humbug!

People who know me are aware that I follow the Jewish religion. Consequently, I do not observe or celebrate Christmas. I was raised by my mother in a single-parent household. My mother, who had fled Eastern Europe as a young girl, raised me in the religion of her birth and upbringing, i.e. Judaism. While I examined many, many other religions during my adolescent years and in my early college years, I chose to maintain my Judaism throughout all the years right up to this very day.

None-the-less, I do have a Christmas connection.

My paternal lineage is Danish; and, the paternal side of my family followed Lutheranism. My father and paternal grandparents did celebrate Christmas. I did attend paternal family Christmas Eve gatherings in the home of my grandparents as a very young child and later on as a young adult in the home of my father until his death in 1984. I have seven siblings, and not all have followed the Jewish religion as I do; in fact, several of them and their immediate families follow various Christian denominations, observing and celebrating the Christian holidays, Christmas included.

So, while I proudly profess my Judaism and cling preciously to my Jewish identity, I also recognize and appreciate the spirit of Christmas. In keeping with that perspective, I wish the very best to all my goyishe friends, especially to my four dearest internet friends in the blogosphere who incidentally are not only of different religious faiths than me but also are of very different political beliefs than me. I am making reference to Chris, mi amigo Tim, CW, and Dave the authors of:
Chili Dog Blog
Just Blowing Smoke
Tilting at Windmills
Hooda Thunkit's Therapy Blog (now defunct)
To these four very special persons, I write a shout-out of:
Merry CHRISTmas, my friends. I love you each like the brothers you have become to me.

And to everyone else, I say:


Oh, alright, in the further spirit of Christmas, please click onto the following embedded link for my final reference to Bah, Humbug!

Traditional Mass Media aka The News Now Is Trash Media Renamed as The Rumor Mill by Roland Louis Hansen

For a long, long time now, I have asserted that the traditional mass media are not the professional organizations they once were. Instead, the traditional print and broadcast mass media would rather sensationalize people and trivialize issues, as I have written before. And, as I have also previously stated, television news broadcasts go on and on and on about what they they will be telling us if we just stay tuned into their station --- and, then, when they finally report on whatever it was they said they would report on, there is nothing any more of substance than that which was contained within their ad infinitum lead-in teasers.

Another big problem with those traditional mass broadcast news media is that in their rush to be the first to inform, in their scurry to get the scoop, in their clamoring desire to boost audience, they neglect to get the facts before "informing" the public. That all leads to an extremely large volume of misinformation being spread to the masses with lightning speed giving rise to the fastest moving source of rumors that have ever existed on Planet Earth.

One of the latest most blatant examples of irresponsible, rumor-mongering journalism involves yet another tragedy of mass killings; this time involving young elementary school children and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

Chris "CW" Martin has written an excellent piece that exemplifies some of that which causes me concern and alarm. Please, please click on over to read:
Tilting at Windmills: The bigger issue here...

To me, the Mass Media is Trash Media.
I have now decided to rename The News to The Rumor Mill.
It does seem to be more fitting of their stature nowadays.

Xenophobia Runs Rampart In the U.S.A. Xenophobic Americans Are Not Good Americans!

Getting a job as a greeter with the United Nations is probably not the best career option for someone who suffers from xenophobia ....
Read more from Vocabulary.com.

To quote The Free Dictionary By Farlex:

xenophobe, n.
A person unduly fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, especially of strangers or foreign peoples.
xenophobia, n.
hatred or fear of foreigners or strangers or of their politics or culture
[Thesaurus] xenophobia
noun || racism, nationalism, bigotry, isolationism, racial hatred, ethnocentrism, jingoism, racialism, racial intolerance, ethnocentricity a wave of xenophobia
ref: The Free Dictionary / Xenophobia

Then, there is the Xenophobia article in Wikipedia that opens with this: "Xenophobia is a dislike or fear of people from other countries or of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange. Some definitions suggest xenophobia as arising from irrationality or unreason."
Read the entire Wikipedia Xenophobia article.

It seems to me that many people in the United States of America today have an unhealthy attitude of others who are not WASP Americans. These so-called self-proclaimed American patriots (people like the ones associated with Alliance of American Patriots and other similar dunderheads) have a chronic case of xenophobia. Among the many descriptions of xenophobia found in the Urban Dictionary is this one:

The belief that your country is the best and no other compares.
This is often due to ignorance and stereotypes.
ref: 6. xenophobia, Urban Dictionary

Having pride in one's country is one thing; but, xenophobia has absolutely nothing to do with being proud.

In my opinion, there are far too many xenophobes in America today.
It seems to me that xenophobia is running rampant in the U.S.A. Furthermore, it is my perspective that xenophobic Americans are not good Americans!