Christmas In The Emirates

Jules Crittenden has a roundup of some interesting pictures from the Gulf region. As he says, it's a start.

‘Twas The Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

A delightfully illustrated 1912 edition of the Clement Moore (maybe) poem, brought to you by Project Gutenberg.

Merry Christmas.

Disturbing Images Of Christmas

Every year, my wife adds a new thing or two to the Christmas decorations. Another string of lights, another wreath, another whatever. She did not succumb to the craze for "icicle lights", thankfully, but has steadily increased the acreage under cultivation, so to speak. The whole house is pretty well outlined in lights and various and sundry trees in the yard are groaning under the weight of multiple strings of Christmas illumination. This year she did succumb to a new craze, though. The in thing this year appears to be the inflatable snow globe. This modern marvel couples a noisy fan with a tacky plastic "snow globe" filled with little bits of Styrofoam. When everything is working, it looks sort of like a weird snow globish plastic inflatable with little Styrofoam bits fluttering around inside it. Thusly: 

Now, aside from the fact that this looks disturbingly like Santa got very hungry and chowed down on one of his assistants (Frosty the Snow Cone, apparently) It has a certain tacky charm. It amuses the kids and gives passersby a chance to laugh and point. All in all not a bad way to show a little holiday cheer, right? It was staked out right between the Red Sunset Maples in the front yard. Until last night, that is.

Somebody tried to kidnap Santa and his lunch assistant last night. So now Santa and his snack are right up close to the house, just outside the window of the office where I am writing this post, in fact. It is kind of sad that this kind of thing is happening more and more frequently. If you notice, it seems that fewer and fewer people are putting out decorations at Christmas time these days. Oh, a few keep up the efforts in every town and city and sometimes there are area competitions that get very elaborate. But there seems to be fewer houses in general doing it then when I was a kid. Back then it was kind of unusual for a house not to have some sort of decoration at Christmas. Even if it was only a string of lights. Disturbing, isn't it?

Well, at least Santa is safe. And well fed.

Jim Lynch Hits The Big Time

Jim Lynch from bRight and Early has hit it big. Very big indeed. His shocking revelation about a secret surveillance program, while ignored by the New York Times, has been noted by someone. That would be Chris Muir.

Congratulations, Jim!

The Christmas War

Ethiopia has sent warplanes into Somalia to bomb towns and the Islamist militias that have been overrunning the neighboring country. Ethiopian tanks are also going into battle against the Islamists.

It was the first time Ethiopia acknowledged its troops were fighting in support of Somalia's U.N.-backed interim government even though witnesses had been reporting their presence for weeks in an escalating battle that threatens to engulf the Horn of Africa region.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi went on television to announce that his country was at war with the Islamic movement that wants to rule neighboring Somalia by the Quran.

"Our defense force has been forced to enter a war to defend (against) the attacks from extremists and anti-Ethiopian forces and to protect the sovereignty of the land," Meles said a few hours after his military attacked the Islamic militia with fighter jets and artillery.

No reliable casualty reports were immediately available.

Ethiopia, a largely Christian nation, supports Somalia's interim government, which has been losing ground to the Council of Islamic Courts for months.

"They are cowards," said Sheik Mohamoud Ibrahim Suley, an official with the Islamic movement, which controls most of southern Somalia. "They are afraid of the face-to-face war and resorted to airstrikes. I hope God will help us shoot down their planes."

Eritrea, a bitter rival of Ethiopia, is backing the Islamic militia, and experts fear the conflict could draw in the volatile Horn of Africa region, which lies close to the Saudi Arabian peninsula and has seen a rise in Islamic extremism. A recent U.N. report said 10 nations have been illegally supplying arms and equipment to both sides in Somalia.

The regional war may just be beginning - and not where everyone was looking, either.

Others: Jules Crittenden, Dan Riehl, Ed Morrisey, 

Ho, Ho, Freaking Ho

Well, just to help bring a little Christmas cheer to the folks on the other side of the pond, and just in time for the holiday season, a British labor union is proposing bringing legal action against stores. They intend to lead the charge against the biggest, single issue in modern British labor history.

Christmas carols.

Unions and noise pollution groups are proposing to take legal action on behalf of beleaguered shop staff forced to listen to never-ending looped recordings of Christmas music. 'It's an issue that has been brought to our attention,' confirmed Paul Clarke, spokesman for the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, Usdaw. 'What we're saying is that, if Christmas carols are being played on the same CD repeatedly, that could create an unhealthy working environment. It must drive people to distraction.'

The union's combative stance has been backed by the UK Noise Association, a coalition of groups that campaigns against noise pollution. 'If people are exposed to something continually, it's no different to being tortured,' said Val Weedon, the association's national coordinator. 'We are asking government to look into whether it is something that the Health and Safety Executive could take on board.'

Apparently the 'Allied Workers' referred to in the Union's name include Ebeneezer Scrooge.

Foggier yet, and colder!  Piercing, searching, biting cold.  If the good Saint Dunstan had but nipped the Evil Spirit's nose with a touch of such weather as that, instead of using his familiar weapons, then indeed he would have roared to lusty purpose.  The owner of one scant young nose, gnawed and mumbled by the hungry cold as bones are gnawed by dogs, stooped down at Scrooge's keyhole to regale him with a Christmas carol: but at the first sound of –

"God bless you, merry gentleman!
May nothing you dismay!"

Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action, that the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more congenial frost.

As in George Orwell's Animal Farm, it becomes harder and harder to tell them apart at the end…….

Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

Christmas Prisoner Release

Updating a story we brought you back in November, we have just found out some grim news. We reported then about the dreaded land seal invasion of England. Vigilant civilians had captured one of the lead scouts and turned him over to authorities. But now we have learned that the authorities have caved in to demands from the Animal Uprising™ and freed the captive seal.

A baby seal found by the side of a country road miles from the coast or the nearest river has been successfully released back into the Irish Sea.

The male common seal was found by a motorist on November 28 at the village of Capernwray, near Carnforth, Lancashire.

Officials from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals took the pup to a wildlife centre at nearby Nantwich.

He was initially called Sid but later renamed Ghost because of his "hauntingly beautiful" black eyes.

Ghost was released back into the sea off northwest England on Saturday.

Ghost, indeed. Spy is the correct term! The public should demand an immediate investigation into the authorities who handled this matter. They appear to be in cahoots with the seals and we deserve to know the truth! Oh, excuse for a moment. I have to answer the door. I had no idea the health department works on Christmas Eve.

Coup Imminent

We here at Blue Crab Boulevard always have our collective ear to the ground to detect all the really important news. We hope you all appreciate the sacrifice this entails. At this time of year, there is a constant danger of frostbite - that ground is cold. But we have discovered a threat to the nation and the world itself that needs to shouted from the rooftops!

George Lucas is planning a coup at the Rose Parade!

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Some things you don't plan. Like, training a company of stormtroopers for the Rose Parade. You don't plan that. And then one day the phone rings, and an emissary for George Lucas is on the other end. With a New Year's mission. For you.

You are Anthony Toledo.

"I was not expecting this at all," the 41-year-old Californian said. "It did blow my mind."

Being asked to train 200 civilians to march in Imperial warrior gear in the 118th annual Rose Parade before a million spectators, tens of millions of TV viewers and a grand marshal named Lucas will do that to you.

Come Jan. 1, you will be part of a 30th-anniversary Star Wars blowout in the streets of Pasadena, California. There'll be an Ewoks float. There'll be a planet Naboo float. There'll be a 175-piece college marching band—its players outfit as Imperial officers—blaring "The Imperial March." There'll be Lucas. And there'll be you. And 200 stormtroopers.

Fortunately, you are a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, as well as a former drill instructor. You are prepared.

As much as possible.

"I'm going to be frankly honest with you," Toledo said in a phone interview. "I'm looking at a little bit of chaos. Just a little bit of chaos."

You are expecting chaos, at least at first, because you haven't met your charges yet. And you won't be meeting your charges en masse until four days before the parade.

Not content with being named the grand marshal of the parade, Lucas is also going to seize the whole event with his Imperial Stormtroopers! Obviously he plans on renaming the event after himself. You heard it here first. Note that the marchers are all from the 501st Legion, who call themselves "Vader's Fist". Oh, sure, they pretend to be doing this all for charity. But you'll see.

</humor> Seriously, this is a nice way to honor some folks who do geeky things for a really good cause. Congrats, folks.

Spanish Surgeon Rushed To Cuba

A Reuters report that just popped up on the New York Times website says that a famous Spanish intestinal specialist has been rushed to Cuba by a chartered plane.

MADRID (Reuters) - A renowned Spanish surgeon has been rushed to Cuba to treat ailing leader Fidel Castro, a Spanish newspaper reported on Sunday.

Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido, an intestinal specialist, traveled to the Caribbean island on Thursday aboard an aircraft chartered by the Cuban government, according to Spain's left-leaning El Periodico de Catalunya newspaper.

The plane carried medical equipment not available in Cuba in case the leader needs further surgery due to his progressively failing health, the newspaper reported.

Garcia Sabrido will carry out tests on Castro to see if he needs another operation after undergoing emergency surgery for intestinal bleeding in July, the newspaper said.

It won't be long now.

Custom Cars Going Mainstream

The New York Times has an article detailing the success of custom car designer Chip Foose. Not just your typical designer, Mr. Foose actually has his designs being built by the major US car companies. His design work in 1989 led to the Plymouth Prowler. And some of his other work is now being built by Ford Motors as a "limited build" car manufactured by Ford and sold through their dealers.

THE Detroit auto show next month will be a coming-out party, of sorts, for the car customizer Chip Foose.

“I’ve been to the show before, many times of course,” said Mr. Foose, in an interview from Foose Design, his company here in this beachside community. “But my role has never been publicly announced. This time it will be.”

Mr. Foose will be in Detroit to unveil a special edition Ford F-150 pickup for which he had free rein to reinterpret the design. This follows the recent debut of a similarly conceived Foose Mustang. The Mustang, which is being manufactured at a rate of 80 a month, has been sold out at Ford dealerships, he said.

Mr. Foose, the rare customizer actually commissioned by a manufacturer to produce a special edition model to sell at its dealerships, likens himself to others who have put their stamp on cars, like the performance maestro Carroll Shelby, who created the new Ford Shelby GT500, and the Eddie Bauer retail company, which put its name on Ford S.U.V.’s.

The Mustang’s initial success seems to have given him the opportunity to do more with Ford. He was in Detroit last week meeting with the company to discuss developing more products.

Mr. Foose’s contribution has been in design only, but he said future Foose vehicles would be likely to have performance modifications (that retain Ford’s warranty coverage) as well.

“There are a lot of opportunities there, too,” he added.

Here are some pictures of the "Foose Stallion" Mustangs. Foose sees there being a market for these special limited build vehicles well into the future.

The Good Old Days

Apparently there have just been a number of ceremonies and celebrations in Moscow. These were not to rejoice over the collapse of the old Soviet Union or democracy. No, they were to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Leonid Brezhnev.

Fifteen years ago tomorrow, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned, the hammer-and-sickle flag over the Kremlin was hauled down and the Soviet Union officially ceased to exist, replaced by an independent, theoretically democratic Russia and 14 cousin states. But don't look for parades in Moscow to celebrate the anniversary. There will be no fireworks, no national commemoration of the epochal event of the last half of the 20th century.

By contrast, the 100th birthday of the late Leonid Brezhnev last week touched off a wave of nostalgia for the old apparatchik with the bushy eyebrows. Wreaths and flowers were laid at his tomb in Red Square, conferences were held on his legacy, a street and park were renamed for him. A state television correspondent rhapsodized about how he "was quite a hit with the ladies." A poll showed that more than 60 percent of Russians saw the Brezhnev era in a positive light compared with 17 percent who did not.

What to make of a Russia that today grows misty-eyed over a period of tyranny and stagnation while growling that the breakup of one of the world's most despotic regimes in 1991 was, as President Vladimir Putin put it, "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century"? What to make of a country with all the trappings of a Western-style capitalist democracy but the KGB-style cynicism to seemingly reach out and kill a critic in exile using radioactive polonium?

Russia today defies easy characterization. It is not your father's Soviet Union. Everyday Russians enjoy enormous freedom to live as they choose without worrying that neighbors will rat them out for making a joke about authorities. They can travel abroad, start businesses, watch foreign movies and surf the Internet unfettered.

Of course, there is a huge "but" that follows that last paragraph. Peter Baker, the author of the WaPo piece, is very knowledgeable about Russia, having served as a bureau chief in Moscow. It is a disturbing piece. The longing for the good old days is obvious. And the younger generation has forgotten just what life under the Soviets was like there. I've mentioned before that it feels like 1968 in many ways lately. This news reinforces that feeling.