Krampus

Today is the Seventeenth of December. On this day in 1786, Karl Maria von Weber was born.

In 1903, the Wright brothers flew their unlikely contraption.

In 1977, a mystery blob of molten metal [PDF] fell at Big Lake Park, Council Bluffs, Nebraska. 'Officials' branded it a hoax, despite several reports of a 'bright trail' in the sky that night. A USAF test indicated 'it was neither meteor nor part of a space satellite'. Further blobs fell on Council Bluffs on 5 July and 10 July the following year. In the last case, firemen were called to douse a small blaze and discovered a mass of splattered metal about three feet in diameter lying in a small impact crater.

I'm leaving on a secret mission today. I'll report back on -no I can't tell you, haha!-- I'll report back later.

Anodyne

Today is the Sixteenth of December. On this day in 1773, some 50-60 Sons of Liberty, dressed as Indians, dumped 342 chests of British tea into Boston Harbor in defiance of the Tea Act of 1773 (which gave monopoly power to the British East India Tea Co. in the colonies). This monopoly power amounted to taxation without representation (because East India could then charge whatever it wanted, without fear of being undercut by the Dutch).

In 1811, the ground beneath New Madrid, Missouri began to shake. Tremors continued on and off until at least February of 1812, the most severe coming on February 7, later estimated to have been greater than an 8.0 on the Richter scale. It was felt as far away as Boston, possibly even Maine. Among other startling results of this event, the Mississippi River flowed backwards for a while.

In 1916, Gregory Rasputin was killed.

In 1917, Arthur C. Clarke was born.

Rubicon

Today is the Fifteenth of December. On this day in 1943, Fats Waller died. A year later, Glenn Miller was lost over the English Channel.

In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association declared that homosexuality is not mental illness (whew!).

In 1989 -one urban legend goes-- a huge effigy of Father Christmas was made with conscientious attention to detail for one of Tokyo's largest department stores. The staff were delighted, but got their western festivals confused. Father Christmas was put on the roof and crucified.

In 1990 members of the Truth Tabernacle Church in Burlington, North Carolina, staged a mock trial, charging 'Satan Claus' on 10 counts, including child abuse, impersonation of St Nicholas, Baal idolatry and falsification of Christ's birthday. He was found guilty and hanged in effigy.

The world is about to change dramatically, no matter the degree to which we succeed or fail to restore our hegemony after Obama takes office. The next few months are likely to be like the first few months of the Bushcheney regime, with news of radical changes to our social, foreign and economic policy coming every other day. Hopefully, this time around, those changes won't be the sort of draconian, nepotistic, fascist, self-serving changes that Bush and Dick made. Otherwise, we'll end up with more of this, and if that looks good to you, ask Greece how it feels.