Esoteric Meandering Shouting Into the Void

Given that the United States was born amid an anti-monarchical fervor, it’s fitting that the sole royal palace within its confines is located more than 4,700 miles from the nation’s capital. There, amid the high rises and palm trees of downtown Honolulu, stands Iolani Palace, the home of Hawaii’s 19th-century royal dynasty. 

After King David Kalākaua rose to power in 1874, he elected to tear down the deteriorating coral block building that housed his predecessors and erect an ostentatious new home in a style that reflected the grand palaces he had visited while touring Europe some years prior. The “Merrie Monarch” went through three architects to get the residence he craved, winding up with a concrete-facing brick structure marked by six towers and open-air verandas stretching around all sides. The interior featured the lavish Throne Room, State Dining Room, and Blue Room to entertain dignitaries, along with a massive koa wood staircase to the private chambers of the second floor. Additional luxuries like indoor plumbing and a telephone pushed the final bill into the neighborhood of $350,000 before the palace opened in 1879, and that was beforeelectricity was installed in the late 1880s.

Unfortunately, this display of extravagance served Hawaii’s rulers for just over a decade. Kalākaua’s sister and successor, Lili’uokalani, was deposed in an 1893 couporchestrated by American businessmen, and the palace became the offices of the provisional, territorial, and then state governments until 1969. Reopened to the public as a museum in 1978, Iolani Palace serves as a reminder of Hawaii’s days as a sovereign nation, as well as America’s complicated history with monarchies.

Unicorns

The rare, magical unicorn was once thought of as native to India, although it also appears in Chinese myths and Mesopotamian artwork. The first Western account of the unicorn comes from the Greek writer Ctesias, who wrote a book on India based on stories he had heard from traders and other visitors to the Persian court. His book described a creature with a white body, purple head, and blue eyes, plus a long horn of red, white, and black. In later accounts, the unicorn is described as the size of a goat, with a beard, spiraled horn, and lion’s tail. Although no fossils of any unicorn-like creatures have been found, they were apparently real animals to ancients like Pliny the Elder, who wrote in detail about their supposed behavior and characteristics.

By the Middle Ages, unicorns were the subject of an elaborate body of folklore. They were said to be pure white and to dwell in forests, where flowers sprung up wherever they grazed. Because of their purity, they were associated with both the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. A unicorn’s horn — called an alicorn — was powerful medicine, able to purify water and detect poison. Royals drank from cups supposedly made from unicorn horns, but in fact often made from narwhal tusks sold by enterprising Viking traders. (At one point, the King of Denmark believed he had a unicorn-horn throne, but later scholars think it, too, was made from narwhal tusks.) Powdered unicorn horn was also a popular item in apothecary shops.

Because they were symbols of strength and nobility as well as purity, unicorns also frequently appeared on heraldic crests. In fact, the unicorn is the national animal of Scotland, where it has been part of the royal coat of arms since the 1500s. Another famous unicorn depiction is in the unicorn tapestries of France, which were produced in the late Middle Ages and still fascinate scholars today.

Dec. 25, is Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Yehoshua, a poor Jewish carpenter’s son, in the back­water Hebrew village of Bet Lehem south of Jerusalem just over 2,024 years ago.

The early church placed the date of the nativity on the 14th of the month Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, around the Fast of the Firstborn, which falls in March or April of the modern Gregorian calendar, depending on the lunar and solar year. Various churches throughout the Roman Empire used different dates coordinating with local festivals.

As the early church gained followers, power and political clout in the Roman Empire, it became Christianity’s second holiest day after Easter.

Around A.D. 200, most churches had moved the date to Dec. 25, conveniently coinciding with Roman winter solstice festivals of Saturnalia, Sigillaria and Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, or “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun,” commonly observed by Roman citizens. It fell on the shortest day the year, symbolically making Yehoshua the Christ, or the bringer of light, and falling about nine months after Nisan.

While moving the birth date of a historical figure seems odd to us now, it was not so to the Romans, who worshipped a pantheon of gods in the state religion and regularly moved holy days based on the calendar’s conve­nience. Most ancient people just counted themselves a year older based on the seasons, with actual “birth days” a more modern convention.

After the church sect formerly led by Yehoshua’s brother Ya’akov, aka St. James the Just, was annihilated by the Romans in the Siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the splinter church sect founded by St. Paul in Rome became dominant. As more and more Gentiles joined the small Jewish commu­nities founded and guided by Pauline teachings and trans­formed it into Christianity, the Pauline church expanded to pagan regions of Europe and beyond. Consequently, local converts incorporated their traditions into the holiday.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the church was the one cultural remnant holding Europe together during the Dark Ages, making religious festivals ever more important.

Most of the Western world still used the Julian calendar during and after the fall of Rome, dating years after the Roman consul in power, imperial regnal dates based on the year of the Roman emperor’s reign or year since the founding of the city of Rome in 753 B.C.

The Western World still looked to the Byzantine emperors for calendar dates after Rome fell to the Goths.

In what is now A.D. 525, Scythian monk Dionysius Exiguus proposed a new calendar dating system based on the assumed birth date his savior. The new calendar was used throughout Christianized Europe by A.D. 800. The Gospels cite the reign of Roman client king Herod the Great and the Roman census of Judea occurring at the time of the Nativity. The Census of Publius Sulpicius Quirinius, Roman governor of Syria, took place in 6 or 7 B.C. and Herod died in 4 B.C., so Dionysius Exiguus’ calendar is four to six years off.

During the Reformation, pastors of Protestant churches on the continent and “low” Church of England congrega­tions resisted excessive celebrations, seeing the events as “too papist” as they emphasized pomp and circumstance. Meanwhile, those in “high” Anglican churches still ecclesi­astically near the Roman Catholic Church from which they had broken in the 16th century encouraged grander celebra­tions of their savior’s birth.

Early iconoclastic Puritans, first in England and later in the American Colonies, often imposed bans on Christmas celebrations, which eventually relaxed as other religious minorities moved to the colonies and divisions became less intensely scrutinized.

Many people for whom Christianity is a framework but not a lifestyle choice no longer attend services regularly. For many, Christmas is the once-a-year visit to the local church for a nativity scene, a sermon and a candlelit fare­well while singing Christmas hymns.

Santa Claus has a much longer tradition around Christmastime. He has his roots in Germanic and Norse folklore. The Norse God-king Odin, in the guise of a blue-cloaked and bearded old man, would ride through the sky on his eight-legged warhorse Sleipnir and deliver gifts during the darkest nights of winter.

In our secular culture where religious affiliation has grown less important, the holiday is merely a reason to gather with family and celebrate our relationships to each other with gift-giving.

Deep down, we all love friends and family, but having a holiday to wrap it around makes it easier to show our true colors, our deeply held love of those nearest to us, without suspicion of ulterior motives. We all have big hearts and a selfless love for our neighbors, but wrapping it up in a shiny red bow lets the rest of the world accept that fact with the same joy with which we give it.

Christopher Fox Graham

When Marco Polo saw a rhinoceros, he thought it was a unicorn.

The unicorn is a fanciful being of purity usually depicted in medieval art and literature (and modern fantasy and pop culture) as a dainty white horse or goatlike creature with a majestic horn. So when the famed Venetian explorer Marco Polo, who traveled throughout Asia from around 1271 to 1295, saw a “unicorn” up close during his travels in what is now Indonesia, he was disappointed — to say the least. “Their hair is like that of a buffalo … It is a hideous beast to look at, and in no way like what we think and say in our countries,” Polo wrote in his diary. “Indeed, I assure you that it is quite the opposite of what we say it is.” 

What Polo had actually spottedwas likely the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), the smallest rhino species in the world, and the only rhino with “hair like that of a buffalo.” That’s because the Sumatran rhino is the closest living relative of the now-extinct woolly rhinoceros, which lived during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. Unicorns and rhinos had long had a garbled association in the European mind — the earliest account of a unicorn, from the Greek physician and historian Ctesias, seems based on a rhinoceros, and the word “unicorn” itself evolved out of an ancient game of telephone involving an animal described in the Bible by the Hebrew re’em and confused accounts of the rhinoceros.

Despite its name, the Sumatran rhino used to have a native range that stretched across central and southeast Asia. Today, scientists estimate that there are fewer than 80 Sumatran rhinos left in the world, and most — if not all — live on protected lands. Organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund are working with governments to protect the rhinos and fight the poaching and other crimes that contribute to their dwindling numbers. After all, the world has marveled at the creature for hundreds of years — and it deserves a chance at survival, even if some people have said it’s a “hideous beast to look at.”

During the reign of Henry VII, a curious job emerged to serve the king of England: the “groom of the stool,” an attendant who helped with the monarch’s toileting. The “stool” in the title refers not to excrement, but to the “close stool,” a luxurious portable toilet that followed the king during his travels. One close stool made for Henry VIII in 1546 was trimmed in ribbon and gilt nails, and came with a leather carrying case.

The groom was in charge of the close stool and monitoring the king’s bathroom habits, and may have even helped clean the royal bottom afterward. But it wasn’t considered a menial job — it was a prestigious position held by men of influence. Perhaps due to the intimate nature of the gig, the groom of the stool was a close royal adviser, too. Henry VII’s longtime groom Hugh Denys eventually became the king’s personal treasurer. Henry VIII’s first groom, William Compton, handled many of his personal affairs from the get-go, including arranging romantic encounters. (He eventually became fabulously rich.) Henry VIII’s final groom, Arthur Denny, even controlled his signature stamp.

The last known groom of the stool, at least by that name, was Michael Stanhope, who worked under King Edward VI in the 16th century. The office lapsed during the reign of two female monarchs, Queen Mary and the last Tudor monarch, Queen Elizabeth I, who both had their own set of domestic staff. During the reign of the Stuarts, starting in the early 17th century, the title changed to the more polite “groom of the stole,” referring to dressing the king rather than doing his dirty work. King Edward VII eliminated the position entirely when he ascended to the throne in 1901.

Every planet has a winter solstice.

Earth is unique among planets in our solar system in a number of ways — a habitable atmosphere being chief among them. But when it comes to solstices, Earth is just one in a crowd. The winter and summer solstices represent the shortest and longest days of the year, respectively. Because of the Earth’s 23.5-degree axial tilt, certain parts of the planet lean toward or away from the sun, which creates the seasons. It’s during the solstices (December 21 to 22 and June 20 to 22) that the planet reaches its maximum tilt away (or toward) the sun, depending on the hemisphere you call home. 

Solstices also take place on other planets, but not quite in the same way. Both Mercury and Venus have little axial tilt, so they don’t experience seasons as Earth does. Mars, however, has a very similar tilt to Earth at 25 degrees, and the planet’s ice cap will grow and recede according to the seasons. Although Jupiter has a minuscule axial tilt, Saturn’s axial tilt at 26.7 degrees means solstices there are truly something to behold — during the planet’s summer solstices, its rings become intensely illuminated as they reflect the sun’s light. 

However, Uranus is the true oddity. With an axial tilt of a whopping 98 degrees, the planet’s poles point directly toward the sun during its solstices. When Voyager 2 took images of the planet in 1986, Uranus was experiencing its southern hemisphere’s summer solstice, with that hemisphere bathed in continuous light while its northern hemisphere was trapped in frozen darkness. So although all planets have solstices, no two are exactly alike — and Earth’s remain something special.

America’s first theme park was focused on Santa Claus.

In most cities, Christmas comes once a year… unless you live in Santa Claus, Indiana, the self-proclaimed home of the holiday season and America’s first theme park: Santa Claus Land. While amusement parks have existed in the U.S. since the 1840s, at the beginning the general idea was just having fun. It wasn’t until 1946, with Santa Claus Land’s opening, that amusement parks began developing specific themes. The attraction took advantage of the town’s unique name, hoping to draw in visitors who wanted to experience a bit of holiday spirit any time of year, and especially youngsters keen to meet St. Nick himself. Owner Louis Koch, who built the theme park as a retirement project, planned the destination with children in mind; his original park featured a toy shop, doll displays, children’s rides, and a restaurant. Over time, Koch also added a mini circus, deer farm, wax museum, and live entertainment.

But Santa Claus Land’s biggest attraction was, of course, its namesake: Santa. Its Kris Kringle impersonators took the job seriously; the park’s longest-working Santa, Jim Yellig, wore the red-and-white suit for 38 years. During his tenure, Yellig reportedly heard more than 1 million holiday wishes from park visitors, an achievement that earned him induction into the International Santa Claus Hall of Fame in 2010. Santa Claus Land went through some upgrades around the time of Yellig’s retirement in 1984, adding on zones for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the Fourth of July. Today, the park goes by the name Holiday World, and continues to welcome more than 1 million visitors each season.

Dwain Northey (Gen X)

Well the new administration hasn’t even been sworn in yet and they are already doing their best to dismantle our government. A continuing resolution had been made to keep the government open but Musk (not elected) and Diaper Don pressured Johnson to scuttle the deal.

Back in 1980 Reagan ran with an add that stated, “ the most terrifying words you can hear are ‘I am from the government and I’m here to help’. The GOP has been running on that meme ever since saying that the government doesn’t work, elect me and I will prove it.

No we have re-elected an anarchist will misguided hope that he alone can fix it. We haven’t had to fight against an autocratic rule until now and I just hope we are up for the fight.

When our media literally see’s the house on fire and a guy with an empty gas can and a book of matches pointing at the people burning in the house saying they started the fire… my hope is that the media doesn’t praise the arsonist as the hero.

We are in for stupid times, please don’t join the oxymoron league.

Repost from Malcom Nance Substack

Bottom Line Up Front, People! We Need a Resistance!
It is time to organize a New Model American Resistance movement that is aggressive, and persistent. We need a recognizable resistance that will represent the disenfranchised, frustrated, and unmotivated voter base that just got its legs kicked out from under them.
But let’s get something straight. The job of my new model of resistance is not to run massive protests and mobilize millions to hit the streets so Antifa can cause riots and Trump will suspend the laws to crush us. We must harness the rules of psychological warfare and strike Trump in a way to cause personal psychic injury. Our tactics must be deep enough to escape notice till the moment they happen and then have news media driving impact.
I propose everyone be given simple, easy-to-understand goals to carry out the first impactful protest acts in such a way that the entire narrative of the Trump administration is challenged in the real space right in the face of Red America.
In 1940 when France was occupied by the Germans and their government became a tool of a dictator, the French people did not comply … they acted like they complied, and then every moment when the enemy was not watching they ALL carried out resistance. Sometimes it was as simple as showing personal disdain and passively resisting by closing shops or showing patriotism by flying even more French flags everywhere. The point was not just to make the feeling of resistance known to the enemy, but to use the feeling to mobilize those who just tolerated the occupation. Until real opposition formed in London with the Free French, the locals did their subversive acts, right in the face of the Nazis. That’s how we must act. No one is talking about blowing up train lines, felling trees, or hurting people. In the present context that is just the excuse Trump will be looking for, so get it out of your head. However, subversion can take on national importance if done simultaneously, everywhere, and in the real world. Let’s suspend bitching on Bluesky and Twitter about the latest Trump outrage. Let us steer the conversation with our own brand of subversion, well protected by the First Amendment.

What About a National Opposition?
Distinguished attorney and outspoken defender of democracy Marc Elias has spent years bringing the fight to Trump in the courts. He recently wrote an excellent piece on Democracy Docket arguing that resistance to Trump’s first administration was squandered when what was needed was an organized opposition. Elias argues correctly that “We must develop and foster new movements, structures, tactics, platforms, and leaders to oppose Trump and articulate a positive vision.”
Optimally this would be an iron alliance of the Democratic party, Political Action Committees, and patriotic influencers, but I am not seeing this. The Democratic party is so cowed they barely publicly opposed anything Trump has proposed
But as we saw in 2017 with the Women’s March against Trump, it takes time to organize an opposition and that never really formed. The typical democratic infighting for money, TV face time, and influence set the wide, diverse coalition to start acting like a bag of proverbial cats.
For a short time, The Indivisible Guide provided a grassroots way for people to organize but it never amounted to more than a PDF and a name. As their national HQ collected money and a very short-lived notoriety, the people, who wanted guidance and direction never received much more direction than the guide book which essentially said “Start an Indivisible group!” My Indivisible NY-19 group was very effective locally but it was self-starting and aimless. None of the effective tactics they developed locally was ever shared nationally.
But while the national opposition takes time to set up, each of us can form a wall of opposition ourselves that can perform collective actions with national impact.

MAGA focused on what they wanted; an embrace of an authoritarian, white supremacy, and economic favoritism oriented to MAGA. They wanted to rule over America and focused, laser-like, on that goal. Everything else was a distraction.
On the other side Democrats, progressives, and never-Trumpers focused on flipping out over the latest outrage or astonishment at Trump’s never-ending lies. Karl Rove once characterized their policy of Distract, Rule, and Rewrite History when he said:
“We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”
Let’s just stop studying their manufactured unreality and make our own. The Democratic party’s job is to maintain a loyal opposition that will defend the Constitution and the American people at the legislative level. However, we have already seen Democratic Congressmen and Senators start to fold and comply with Trump’s insane cabinet choices. They think the guardrails will hold if they just play decently and do not upset MAGA too much. That is a form of national and party suicide.
The 2024 election revealed people aren’t necessarily voting against someone who is a wrecking ball. For all the accurate talk about weirdness, lack of normalcy, and mountains of documentable lies, they want to see what the wrecking ball can do to people they hate. And just 31% of the eligible voters elected to usher in the end of democracy.
The time for playing nice is over.
The Resistance must eventually become strong enough and loud enough to push reluctant democrats to do the right thing. It must also warn the apathetic non-voting public about what is happening. In simple, easy-to-digest words and images.
Let’s Form a New SuperPAC and call it the, I don’t know …FAFO PAC!
I, for one, do not see the Trump regime as legitimate. Yes, he was legally elected, but it is a cabal of open criminals, Christian fascist crusaders, and super-rich oligarchs who are pushing America into a post-Constitutional autocracy. I reject that wholeheartedly. I spent every minute of my life defending the nation against foreign enemies and now that the domestic ones have reared their ugly heads we must not compromise ourselves, our values, or our founding principles. MAGA uses the patriotism of America as a figleaf to cover their faithless and deceitful exploitation of the people. We can express our disdain in a simple acronym: FAFO … as fun as that sounds, it’s not what you’re thinking. It’s a hijacking of the acronym to mean Focused Action with Focused Objectives.
FAFO – Focused Action, Focused Objectives
The Resistance must organize into a unified machine but through simultaneous individual acts of defiance. Why? Your life as an American with rights may be in mortal danger. Some of us will end up in physical danger. Your way of life has already changed with compliant media and politicians genuflecting to Trump weeks before he is in power.
The only way out of this hole is to focus on carrying out single, unitary actions that achieve singular objectives simultaneously.
I call it FAFO – Focused Actions with Focused Objectives.
The very definition of being liberal or progressive meant thinking for one’s self, and acting in one’s interest based on a wide variety of social and personal beliefs. It’s admirable that we have such a big tent, but every one of those self-interested behaviors lets the right-wing unity of message steamroller us.
Let us commit to three simple acts that will allow us to solidify our resistance to the incoming regime and give ourselves some focused points of solidarity until we flesh out a real opposition. Best of all, everyone can participate, simply by not going along with Trump’s horrifying unreality.
P-Day: January 20, 2025. The National Day of Resistance
The last time a major street protest was organized against Donald Trump garnered an enormous amount of media and brought millions of people together worldwide. Then the biggest story was how it fizzled out and left Trump standing.
Our new model of resistance allows us to strike at Trump and the news media where it hurts the most… a complete and total absence of anyone or anything that would make his inauguration noteworthy. Then we will disappear until the next FAFO happens. The news story will become “What will FAFO do next?”

FAFO #1 – Participate in the National Inauguration Blackout
A major part of the legitimacy of Trump’s authoritarian rule is the way that the national news media has already bent its knee and decided to capitalize on the chaos and mayhem of his threats to their livelihood. All of the major cable channels and national news organizations will be heavily represented at the inauguration with the intent to see outlandish statements Trump will make on the inauguration day. They will also be there to enlighten us with commentary on how the Democrat’s peaceful transition of power may be the last we ever see. One FAFO (focused action with a focused objective) every resistant can carry out is to commit to a complete and total blackout for 100 hours.
The FA: Do not watch any inauguration or news media events for 100 hours. Read a book. Participate in a hobby. Enjoy time with family. Do ANYTHING except watch cable news or read any online or print news about the inauguration. This includes social media. Take that week back for yourself. Read the Federalist papers or history books. When the weekend comes you can ease back into it and process the carnage with a clear head. Encourage all others in your family and social circle to just not participate with a tyrannical regime and its compliant news media that intends to do us all harm.
The FO: We will financially impact the news media for a period of time they want all eyes on the inauguration. This will in turn show them that their advertising bottom line can be damaged and that complying has consequences. It will show the Trump regime that not only are we NOT watching but that when we do focus our attention it will be laser-like and grassroots. It will give good politicians something to hold onto and bad ones a warning that they could find that FAFO can be brought to bear against them also.
How Long: 100 hours
Start: 08:00 ET Monday, January 20, 2025
End: 08:00 ET Saturday, January 25, 2025.

FAFO#2 – Participate in T-Day: The Great Twitter Walk-Away
The FA: This action is to punish the Twitter propaganda machine for enabling the end of democracy by destroying a public square. Since the election, I have been encouraging people to maintain their Twitter accounts. Over the next 30 days take time to copy and download your posts and prepare to delete your account … at the exact moment Trump is sworn in. We know Elon Musk will likely be holding the Bible for him on the Capitol steps and we can make our displeasure known.
High noon on inauguration day will be the time to walk away from this destructive propaganda device. Some resisters will want to keep putting their defiance it into MAGA’s face and remain on Twitter. That’s fine but if we can get the 25 million new followers on BlueSky to delete their Twitter accounts simultaneously the impact will be enormous. It will be one of the biggest stories of the week … which you can read about the following weekend after it is done. We will no longer participate in an alternative reality where Nazis and MAGA violence are threatened without consequence.
When: 1200 Noon ET, January 20, 2025
FAFO#3 – Make Your Own Alternative Protests – We cannot afford a massive protest in Washington DC in which malicious players provoke a violent reaction from the MAGA who will come to the inauguration or the government that just took power minutes before. Columnist Dan Savage created a philosophy that I think will work well for us. We will show our protest our displeasure through our absence and lack of participation. Some of the alternative methods of protest are quite simple and legal.
· Get Inauguration Tickets and Don’t Show – One example is to order your tickets to attend the inauguration now through your congressman or representative. Then simply do not show up. Protest with your absence.
· Silent Protest on the March Route – Another alternative is to carry out a silent protest along the inauguration parade route, but carrying signs that will symbolize your displeasure. One of my favorites was developed by the late Scottish comedian Janey Godley, who quietly held up a sign “Trump is a C*nt”. That sign is now considered a Scottish national treasure. She didn’t have to say one word, but the sign said it all. If 20-30,000 people were to show up with similar signage and line the inauguration route it would also become one of the top stories of the week. Don’t forget to mask it with a TRUMP sign and whip it out at the right moment.
· National Imperial March on a Kazoo Day – While the silent protest has appeal, I believe in designating January 20 as a National Day of Resistance through music. One of the top resistors in social media is the Star Wars hero Luke Skywalker, better known as the actor Mark Hamill. In his honor, let every person spend the next month buying a kazoo and the moment after they delete their Twitter accounts, they play the Imperial March on their kazoos. It’s what the Orange Vader deserves. Then splash your videos during your weeklong blackout onto social media. This way you could have some fun and make up your own inauguration March with finger puppets, paper cutouts or Claymation with the appropriate music … on a Kazoo.

As amusing as it may all sound these Resistance FAFO techniques are only effective if millions of us commit to them rather than one or two of us posting it on social media. We have a short time to start to organize. Let’s make it count.