The Proposal... Funny.

more eating and drinking.
i can hear my liver complaining, ha!

more shopping also. the Three Wise Men are coming in a few days...

especially due to the new mates round these parts and to the fact that this stuff is FUNNY, i'd like to urge you all again this year to take a moment for a few loud, hearty, good laughs and read both the well-known six to eight black men (a dutch christmas) by david sedaris and most definitely the post-christmas divine press release.

again, happy dies natalis solis invicti to all!
 

and i'm almost done. whew!

i do believe in presents.

PLEASE by deviant kris wilson.

NEW by deviant kris wilson.

Ah, please note that a new Cyanide & Happiness book is being released round the world and these are some release dates:

«It's out in stores in the UK, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, and France. Please check it out. It would warm a good portion of my internal Organs.»

-----Release Dates-------

Australia: 01 December 2009
New Zealand: 01 January 2010
United Kingdom: 29 October 2009
Switzerland, Germany, France, Republic Of Ireland: 29 October 2009
United States: 19 January 2010

«More release dates when they become available.»

The Winter Solstice of 2009 took place precisely at 12:47 ET (17:47 CUT) today Monday 21 December. This marked the moment when our Sun reached its lowest point in its annual apparent journey across the sky. Our pagan ancestors celebrated this event as the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Vegetation was dormant, save for the "evergreen" trees and foliage which became symbols of this time of year; and in many cultures, gift giving, revelry, feasting and other subtle "rituals of misrule" became common practices for peoples so intimately linked to the rhythmatic cycles of the seasons. Come Christianity, and much of this symbolism and custom was banned or co-opted by the official Church. Sun gods (some of them said to have been born of virgins -- sound familiar?) were replaced by a new fairy tale handed down to us in the following centuries through the contradictory muddle of the New Testament. Early Christians did not even celebrate the birth of this Jesus, being more fixated by his alleged gruesome death on the cross. The pagan customs lingered on, however, personified by the likes of Father Christmas and, closer to our own time, Santa Claus. Today, the culture warriors of the religious right implore us to "keep Christ in Christmas," forgetting that the more modern practice is the product not of religiosity as much as commercial greed. It took a series of events in the 19th century -- everything from the musings of the Knickerbockers to the greeting card industry and the story-telling charm of Clement Moore to lay down the foundations of a "true Christmas" which emphasized not the natural events of the time, but new sensibilities focused on probity, obedient children, domesticity and, gift giving. Even Christians have remained divided over just what "Christmas" stands for, and whether -and how- it may be celebrated. With so many mixed messages from the heads of feuding religious sects, well, the Gods must be crazy! Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the founder of American Atheists, emphasized the need for nonbelievers to secure not only their political and civil rights but a meaningful role in the culture. She wisely suggested that the Summer and Winter Solstices, along with the Fall and Spring Equinoxes be celebrated as "natural and universal holidays." After all, she reasoned, they were common to all of humanity. They were events in the natural world based on genuine, scientific facts, not mythology. They marked correspondingly significant points in the year, demarcations in the oscillations of the seasons so vital to the survival of human beings and other life. They belonged to everyone, not just the believers of a particular faith. As quaint as O'Hair's suggestion may have been two or three decades ago, it finds renewed vitality and significance today in a world where religion-based culture wars are part of our everyday lives. One of the most significant trends has been the slow but seemingly inexorable rise in the number of those Americans who describe themselves as "non-religious." We go under a battery of labels (or no label at all!) including Atheist, Humanist Freethinker, Brights, Rationalist; and we are part of a cohort which has become increasingly aware of our potential political and cultural influence. These "seculars" do not always agree on all issues being thrashed out on the Sunday morning talk shows; but increasingly,k we are displaying an eagerness to claim and defend our civil liberties, and seize a "place at the table" in the discussion over First Amendment public policy. Atheists and other nonbelievers have marched into the courts to contest everything from school prayer to the use of tax money to subsidize religious groups and programs. Twenty years ago, Atheist books were somewhat of a rarity save for those published by specialty presses. Today, Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion" has sold over 750,000 copies, opening up a new generation to an Atheist point of view. In its own way, the Winter Solstice has become part of the culture war, too. Religious conservatives rave about a "war on Christmas" when, in fact, what the Seculars want is an equal position in the public square. So,bravo! to Carl Silverman and the Pennsylvania Nonbelievers for demanding equal time in a "Christmas season" display on public property. We also take this Winter Solstice occasion to salute veteran Freethought activist Margaret Downey. Among her many novel ideas has been the Tree of Knowledge, a seasonal evergreen festooned with the covers of enlightening reading material everyone should have on his or her bookshelf -- or, in keeping up with the times, on their Kindle. Learn more at www.margaretdowney.com or visit this site. Not all Seculars celebrate the Winter Solstice, of course since we are so fiercely independent a folk; but for a growing number of nonbelievers, this event is becoming an incentive to engage in the revelry of the season, reconnect with the natural world and join together with close friends and family. It is a celebration of all our lives; and being so inextricably linked to an important natural event, it reminds us of something Madalyn Murray O'Hair observed about the human condition. In the absence of any deity or over-seer, what does that mean for human beings? "All we have is each other." So, dear readers, from everyone at American Atheists and myself to all of you... Happy Winter Solstice!

Greetings and Best Wishes for a most brilliant Winter Solstice Season 2009-2010!

snow blankets headstones in Arlington National Cemetery.