CNN says: Dow plunges after Steven Mnuchin fails to calm markets and the BBC notes: Mnuchin calls big US banks after huge stock market falls.

The so-called Secretary of the Treasury is on vacation at a Mexican resort [they should deport him in the middle of the night]. He called the six largest US banks and asked about their liquidity, i.e. did they have enough money on hand to cover margin calls or a bank run. And then tells them there is nothing to worry about, the economy is strong.

If the aircraft commander comes on the intercom and tells everyone to double check their parachute, but “there’s nothing to worry about”, you start to edge toward the emergency exit.

The government is shut down, Trump is making unsettling foreign policy decisions, the Fed has just raised the prime rate again, and China’s economy is slowing. Throw in Brexit and the investigations into the Trump mob, and the market has a right to get nervous. The investors want stability, and Trump provides chaos.

On October 3rd the Dow was at 26,828. It closed today at 21,792. It closed on 01/20/17 at 19,732.

“From Congress I would ask for wall. We need wall.” – DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen 12/20/18.

The post notes that Russian doesn’t use articles [the, a, an] and I know that neither does Chinese. The Turks use suffixes instead of a separate word. I would note that there are special cases in British English where the articles is dropped [I went to hospital. I go to university] but not in the Queens, New York City dialect of the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Danish splits the difference by having a word for the indefinite articles “a & an”, but use suffixes to express “the”.

Of course, Trump has decided that he now wants a palisade made of steel posts. The tops to be pointed [to act as lightning rods?]. Like the Keystone XL, the steel will likely come from Russian companies and be more expensive as a result of the stupid tariffs.

Instead of a ladder, the ‘bad guys’ can start this to power this, or just run a bead of plastique around the posts and take them down.

The broadcast of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is available on the web at from BBC Radio 3. [At 8AM CST live, and on demand later in the day.]

The British have some wonderful Christmas customs that have survived the incursion of Christianity, especially the Puritan party poopers. Stealing customs from the Celts, Germans, and Scandinavians, they have created a wonderful holiday that I fondly remember from time spent there.

The bird is a European robin that is featured on British Christmas cards, as it is a Winter bird in England, unlike the fair-weather laggard of the same name in America. It is bracketed by holly and mistletoe. All go back to the druids and solstice celebrations.

If you read the Harry Potter books you will get a taste, but not the full effect of a British Christmas. A full-on Christmas dinner is wretched excess to the n^th degree – Thanksgiving on steroids.

The BBC has the background on Father Christmas.

Ho Ho Ho!

Happy NODWISH
С Рождеством Христовым
메리 크리스마스!
Vrolijk Kerstfeest
Nadolig Llawen
Fröhliche Weihnachten
Joyeux Noël
Buon Natale
Feliz Navidad
God Jul
Rauhallista Joulua
عيد ميلاد سعيد
Happy Christmas

At 6AM CST Christmas arrived in Asia, and the excitement is building among the “rug rats” that will burst forth at any moment to waken their poor parents who have probably had about two hours of sleep after dealing with “some assembly required” and/or “batteries not included”.

To avoid any bad feelings: it is an official requirement contained in the “Manual for Childless Adults” that some form or type of device that makes loud and obnoxious noises must be included in all Christmas parcels for children [of all ages].

So it’s time to get everything in line so that there will be smooth sailing tomorrow.

Obviously you need the text of A Visit from St. Nicholas [AKA Twas the night before Christmas] or one of the variations.

But now that you’ve finished putting up enough lights to match the total electrical consumption of a third world nation, you can sit back and watch the North American Air Defense Command’s annual attempt to take out that red-suited commie’s attack on the capitalist system by giving stuff away. [Don’t worry kids, they are using the anti-missile defense system, so there’s no danger to anyone but taxpayers.]

Google has a tracker, if you don’t believe the government is up to the job.