Five Things: Far-Right, Hamas, Christmas, Tree, Die Hard

Happy Fourth Advent! Merry Christmas!

Dec 24, 2023

It’s Christmas Eve, or as we say in Germany: Holy Eve. As it is also on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, it coincides with the fourth Advent Sunday. While I am not religious, I will attend church this afternoon with my family, who are submarine christians, only appearing on the surface once a year. Anyhow, I’m looking forward to Silent Night (Stille Nacht), which is usually the last song of the service and which is really beautiful when performed by a choir in church. Then we head home through the rain, see how the kids get more and more giddy, then we have potato salad and wieners, then we unwrap way too many presents, and then the evening slowly gets a bit slower and even a bit peaceful. Until we watch Die Hard. Traditions, so important.

Merry Christmas! 🤶🏻

Meet the woman working to stop the far-right creator money machine

Unfortunately, too many people on the far right have figured out how to build huge audiences and make a profit by posting their dangerous crap online. I admire people who go against those people and help to defund them.

(CLICK HERE!)

Israel’s Muddled Strategy in Gaza

I very much want Hamas to be destroyed so that Israel can live in peace again. While I understand that it is terrible to have to flee from home and be a refugee, like many Arabs had to after Arab nations attacked Israel directly after its declaration of independence, it is also time to move on. When Germany lost World War II, this meant lots millions of Germans had to flee from places in the East. And for a while after the war they wanted to return, like my grandparents. Eventually, this went by. I really hope that after Hamas the Palestinians and the Arab countries can come up with an idea for the future that doesn’t involve killing all Israelis and taking over their country, but instead focuses on education, business and a functioning society.

(CLICK HERE!)

Missing the feeling of a white Christmas? That might be solastalgia.

We currently have a number of storms, some sleet, lots of flooding, but no snow. We had snow two weeks ago. I remember white Christmases, but that was in the 70s and 80s.

(CLICK HERE!)

A Tradition That Keeps Christmas Trees Alive

Usually we drive to a nearby forest, have some mulled wine and brats, and then pick out a nice tree. This time we were a bit late, they just had a few trees left and picked a tree in the rain while it was dark already. The tree looks accordingly, so this idea of having the same tree every year sounds really appealing to me.

(CLICK HERE!)