Jesusween? Really??

Earlier this week a minister in some town I opted to ignore declared we should have Jesusween rather than Halloween.  My original intent was to mock him.  I have a better idea.  While Jesueween is an idiotic name, we should still change the name of Halloween.  We should call it Christmas.  Here is my logic

Based on the account in the book of Matthew, the shepherds were tending their flock in a near by field. (traditionally shepherds were pre-teen or early teens, and usually girls since the boys were off learning a trade, but I digress).   Under normal circumstances, the shepherds would drive their herds around the countryside looking for open pasture.  These were free range sheep, in the most literal sense of the word.  The only time they tended their flocks in fields was in the fall.  October makes much more sense than December from a historic point of view.

There is no biblical evidence to support Christ's birth in winter.  I have seen arguments for late spring to late Fall.  No one believes it was in December.   The Greek and Russian orthodox churches celebrate in early January.  Then there is the timing of Christmas itself, which is to coincide with the winter solstice and the pagan Yule celebration that went with it.  December 25th is the heathen New Year's Day.

To sum up:
 Halloween should be Christmas.
Christmas should be Yule or just New Years
Jesusween is an idiotic name.

Amused again, naturally

I am amused at how tightly bunched up the old folks have their tightie whities.  There are kids protesting corporate excess, ON WALL STREET!!!   For one, I am glad they are protesting.  I was afraid we had raised a generation of self centered pussies.   It is good to see they care enough to take a stand for something.

The conversation with my wife went something like this:

Wife "What is the deal with interest only home loans?"
Me "Banks are lending up to 125% of your home's value and all you have to do is pay the interest, there is no scheduled principal repayment."
Wife "Isn't that stupid?  You will always be in debt. What happens when you try to sell your house and you owe more than what it is worth?"
Me "They are betting the can make more in appreciation than the loan, which is questionable."
Wife "It is still stupid."
Me "No argument"

I don't blame the kids for protesting.  Mortgage banking  stupidity triggered the recession.  For home loans, it was the equivalent of selling liquor to a high school student with his blockbuster card as ID.  If I had a pile of student loans and no prospects of paying them off, I would be pissed too.

Jury Duty

I spent today at the county court house because I was summoned for jury duty. It was 8 hours of hell, being herded like cattle and waiting around for them to get their judicial shit together. I was excused from service so I was spared of going back on Tuesday and Wednesday.   All they told us was a felony drug case.  A few observations:

I am an ex cop, even though it was 10 years ago and I was on the reserves, it still counts.  Ex cops for felony cases are almost always excused.

I loathe defense attorneys, especially word weasels.  This guy was a weasel in a sport coat with a circumference 4 inches too small.  It rode up over his belly.  He picked on me with questions, I suppose since he knew I was going to be eliminated.  I pushed back.  Being an asshole back to the defense counsel is a good tactic.

The last card I played was 2 deceased brothers, both drug abusers, and I didn't see it as a victimless crime as the defense attorney was trying to pitch.  The devastation on the family alone is impossible to measure. He kept pushing and trying to pin me down with his questions.  I finally relented his point with "you are doing a good job.  OK your generalities are generally true."

I hate weasels.