Comments on: Happy Sales and Returns Day

By: Bryan

Bryan — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 04:19:12 +0000

No, PJ, the problem is that too many people think the “spirit” is limited to Christmas, when it should extend throughout the year. We have a program that provides food to students on the school lunch program for the weekends, as it was discovered that the lunches were the only meals those kids could count on. That should not be necessary in this country.

By: paintedjaguar

paintedjaguar — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 12:02:57 +0000

“all of the people who make a donation so poor people can have a good Christmas dinner, without a thought about what they have to eat the rest of the year.”

I’ve had this very thought running through my head for about the past month, Bryan. Guess I just haven’t had the Christmas spirit.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 06:22:35 +0000

Ellroon, you have probably seen the woodcut of a conquistador kicking a Native American, it shows up in history texts all the time. What few people realize is that wasn’t the “Euro trash” being nasty to the indigenous population, that was a fine example of the treatment of the European peasant by their own aristocracy. The problem for the indigenous population is that they got treated exactly like the lower classes in Europe, not that they were treated differently.

Imprisonment for crime is a relatively recent improvement in the criminal justice system. Normally all crime was punishable by death. The aristocracy wasn’t going to waste space or food on unproductive people, especially if they caused trouble. Only the upper class was imprisoned, and that was in anticipation of a ransom being paid.

Based on the cultural norms for their time, Vlad Drakula – the Impaler, was fairly middle of the road, and “Ivan the Terrible” was amazingly liberal. It is applying our societal norms to their reigns that has produced the negative image. They were homicidal jerks, but so were all of the other rulers of their time. Torturer and Executioner were civil service positions for a very long time.

By: ellroon

ellroon — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 06:00:05 +0000

Good king Wenchislassses always seemed a little disconnected to his serfs. Good to know the back story.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 18:00:25 +0000

To be successful, almost all legends have to be based on some truth, even things like Dracula, because, while humans are amazingly inventive, they need a starting point.

Actually, he was probably “very enlightened” for his time and place, but not a candidate for a role model.

I have six different headers that I change from time-to=time and they cycle at random whenever the page is loaded.

By: oldwhitelady

oldwhitelady — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 17:25:58 +0000

I hadn’t realized that the king was a real person. Thank you for sharing that. I guess songs are created for all sorts of people. Too bad he was such a rotter. I enjoyed singing that song, way back when.

I didn’t realize the pictures at the top of the blog changed everytime a person clicks to come back to the whole blog. That is really cool. Great pictures, too:)

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 17:20:48 +0000

Legend does tend to distort history, and history is distorted by those who write it. Much history was distorted by clerics, who were the majority that wrote things down and tended to slant the “news” to reflect the current policy of their superiors. This is how a political assassination becomes martyrdom, a practice that still continues.

As long as you aren’t out crushing wrens, I see no reason not to celebrate your “name saint”.

By: Steve Bates

Steve Bates — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 07:53:01 +0000

Wenceslas, inventor of the Dogfood Commission…

Before I understood the carol (even taken at face value), I used to like the idea of a Feast of Stephen. Sometimes I still do!