Y'know, if ever I, or anyone I care about, was ever attacked by a large predator, I would hope that the authorities would take whatever measures needed to contain the animal. Up to and including killing it.

And I would hope that everyone would understand that the animal was not acting out of maliciousness or cruelty, or a burning desire to make life horrible for some humans, but just doing what it was designed to do.

Not the only game in town

No, you can't take the Christ out of Christmas.

But you can take it out of Hannukah and Ramadan and Yule and all the OTHER holy-days of the Season, that deserve to exist without being bullied around by Christmas.

Oh, and the X in Xmas... comes from the first letter of the Greek work for Christ. Sorry, no persecution there.

I haz a city

Eleritopia

Coookiieeeessss

I came up with these while playing around making holiday cookies. Really buttery, with a maple chaser. Num.

1c butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup real maple syrup
3 cups flour
extra:
1/4 cup brown sugar
Cream together butter, sugar and syrup. Slowly mix in 3 cups flour until dough comes away from side of bowl. Shape into 1/2 inch balls, and press one side gently into brown sugar. Place cookies 1 inch apart, brown sugar up, on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, or until bottoms are golden brown. Keep questing fingers out of the kitchen until they've cooled, or they'll vanish.

The universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice...It speaks in the language of hope.
It speaks in the language of trust.
It speaks in the language of strength and the language of compassion.
It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul.
But always it is the same voice.
It is the voice of our ancestors speaking through us and the voice of our inheritors waiting to be born.
The small, still voice that says:
We are one. No matter the blood, no matter the skin, no matter the world, no matter the star. .. We are one. No matter the pain, no matter the darkness, no matter the loss, no matter the fear. .. We are one.
Here, gathered together in common cause, we begin to realize this singular truth and this singular rule that we must be kind to one another.
Because each voice enriches us and ennobles us and each voice lost diminishes us.
We are the voice of the universe, the soul of creation, the fire that will light our way to a better future.
We are one.
We are one.