Merry Christmas, everybody!

How about a little Bing with your Yule…

Read More: Christmas, White Christmas, Bing Crosby

On Christmas Eve, 1914, during the first World War, German troops near Ypres, Belgium, put decorations up around their trenches. They even put candles in trees, and started singing Christmas carols, namely Stille Nacht (Silent Night).

Hearing the Germans, the British troops in the opposite trenches started singing carols in English.

As the carols grew louder, both sides began yelling Christmas greetings to each other. Then, some began to venture across No Man’s Land and exchanged gifts, such as cigarettes and chocolate. While the cannons remained still, troops from both sides retrieved the dead and took the opportunity to give fallen comrades a proper burial. At one funeral in No Man’s Land, soldiers from both sides gathered and read a passage from the 23rd Psalm.

The truce spread along the lines, and there are even tales of a soccer match being played. The truce lasted through Christmas night, and in some places through New Year’s Day.

One soldier in the British Expeditionary Force wrote a letter about the event:

My Dear Mater,

This will be the most memorable Christmas I’ve ever spent or likely to spend: since about tea time yesterday I don’t think theres been a shot fired on either side up to now. Last night turned a very clear frost moonlight night, so soon after dusk we had some decent fires going and had a few carols and songs. The Germans commenced by placing lights all along the edge of their trenches and coming over to us - wishing us a Happy Christmas etc. They also gave us a few songs etc. so we had quite a social party. Several of them can speak English very well so we had a few conversations. Some of our chaps went to over to their lines. I think theyve all come back bar one from ‘E’ Co. They no doubt kept him as a souvenir. In spite of our fires etc. it was terribly cold and a job to sleep between look out duties, which are two hours in every six.

First thing this morning it was very foggy. So we stood to arms a little longer than usual. A few of us that were lucky could go to Holy Communion early this morning. It was celebrated in a ruined farm about 500 yds behind us. I unfortunately couldnt go. There must be something in the spirit of Christmas as to day we are all on top of our trenches running about. Whereas other days we have to keep our heads well down. We had breakfast about 8.0 which went down alright especially some cocoa we made. We also had some of the post this morning. I had a parcel from B. G’s Lace Dept containing a sweater, smokes, under clothes etc. We also had a card from the Queen, which I am sending back to you to look after please. After breakfast we had a game of football at the back of our trenches! We’ve had a few Germans over to see us this morning. They also sent a party over to bury a sniper we shot in the week. He was about a 100 yds from our trench. A few of our fellows went out and helped to bury him.

About 10.30 we had a short church parade the morning service etc. held in the trench. How we did sing. ‘O come all ye faithful. And While shepherds watched their flocks by night’ were the hymns we had. At present we are cooking our Christmas Dinner! so will finish this letter later.

Dinner is over! and well we enjoyed it. Our dinner party started off with fried bacon and dip-bread: followed by hot Xmas Pudding. I had a mascot in my piece. Next item on the menu was muscatels and almonds, oranges, bananas, chocolate etc followed by cocoa and smokes. You can guess we thought of the dinners at home. Just before dinner I had the pleasure of shaking hands with several Germans: a party of them came 1/2way over to us so several of us went out to them. I exchanged one of my balaclavas for a hat. I’ve also got a button off one of their tunics. We also exchanged smokes etc. and had a decent chat. They say they won’t fire tomorrow if we don’t so I suppose we shall get a bit of a holiday - perhaps. After exchanging autographs and them wishing us a Happy New Year we departed and came back and had our dinner.

We can hardly believe that we’ve been firing at them for the last week or two - it all seems so strange. At present its freezing hard and everything is covered with ice…

There are plenty of huge shell holes in front of our trenches, also pieces of shrapnel to be found. I never expected to shake hands with Germans between the firing lines on Christmas Day and I don’t suppose you thought of us doing so. So after a fashion we’ve enjoyed? our Christmas. Hoping you spend a happy time also George Boy as well. How we thought of England during the day. Kind regards to all the neighbours. With much love from Boy.

The identity of the writer has never been discovered, as he referered to himself only as “Boy.” It’s also unknown whether he survived the war or not.

More letters from soldiers that participated in the truce can be read here: Christmas Truce: The Letters.

For a moment, forget all the ancient scriptures transferred orally, then written in archaic languages, then mistranslated and misunderstood for thousands of years. Forget the New Age shelf at the chain bookstore filled with channelled wisdom from archangels and spiritual helpers. Forget the human priests that have used religion as an excuse to charge Galileo with heresy, spark crusades, call for jihad, rob, rape, abuse, plunder, and exploit.

For a moment, look at the first-hand revelations from people who have died, conversed with the infinite, and returned.

Scientific Evidence of Soul Survival

Despite there being non-survival explanations for some Near Death Experiences (NDEs), there are many cases that, after applying Occam’s razor, suggest a person’s unique self-aware essense survives physical death.

Some of the best evidence comes from people who have NDEs while they are brain dead, people born blind who can see during an NDE, and the corroborating testimony of small children who have NDEs.

So what did the people who had these NDEs discover?

Life Facilitates Rapid Learning

The spirit world may be our classroom, but the physical world is our lab. Call it soul growth. Here, we can more clearly experience cause and effect and practice what we’ve learned.

It’s easy to express love instead of hate in the spirit world where all is known. However, feeling love for a teenager who just cut us off in traffic lets us practice what we’ve learned. Physical life gives us truth practice and experience.

Life Is an Adventure

For the same reason people love video games and roller coasters, souls love to incarnate in the physical world. It’s the perfect mix of entertainment and risk. Think of life like a novel. Some people prefer soap operas, some people prefer war stories, and others prefer Stephen King nightmares. Editors who know good stories know they always involve conflict, so…whichever life story a person chooses to live out, there will more than likely be conflict. Conflict makes a good story—and a good life adventure—exciting.

People Choose Their Journey

Another revelation NDE experiencers often discover is that, before they were born, they chose their overall life journey. With help from spiritual masters, their current lives were meticulously planned for the lessons that would best benefit their soul’s growth. The perfect parents, birthplace, accidents, relationships, triumphs, and disasters were chosen to facilitate these lessons.

Some have likened the chosen life journey to a river—although the course of the river is set, the path a drop of water takes down the river can vary wildly. It may spend more time than needed in a whirlpool, float along in the shade of a leaf, travel fast through the rapids, travel along the slimy bottom, or skim down the river in the sun near the surface. Although the major course is mapped out, a person’s attitude, reactions, and choices define the journey.

Time Only Exists in the Physical World

Past, present, and future all exist simultaneously outside the physical world. Again, it’s like a book. When you hold a book, you can hold the complete story in your hands. But when you dive in and start reading the book, you experience past and future. Even if you already knew the story, reading a good book is worthwhile. According to NDE experiencers, space and time are only part of the physical world, and were created for our learning and enjoyment. Without time, there’d be no learning patience, practicing perseverence, or reveling in anticipation of the future. After all, half the fun of celebrating Christmas is having to wait for it to get here!

Everyone and Everything Is God

The universe is God’s dream. God is light and energy. Light and energy make up every particle (E=mc²). Everything that is IS a subset of God, Yahweh, I AM. God is the largest superset of everything that is. A person’s individual experience is a subset of God’s experience. God is a superset of all experience, and all matter, and thereby contains all knowledge. At least, that’s what they say…

There are many more revelations from NDE experiences. Kevin Williams has done a great job of organizing more NDE information at his site here: Near-death Experiences.

Read More: NDE, God, religion, life, soul, survival, near-death experience

Pardon me while I rant…

CNN reports: Bush: More troops needed for ‘long struggle’

The White House is considering an expansion of the U.S. Army and Marines for “the long struggle against radicals and extremists,” President Bush said during a Wednesday news conference.

Bush would not elaborate on where that struggle would take place, only that he wanted to ensure that the U.S. military “stays in the fight for a long period of time.”

It’s important that the U.S. military stays in the fight for a long time. This benefits the war profiteers, and the Military Industrial Complex that has a grip on congress.

“I’m not predicting any particular theater, but I am predicting that it’s going to take a while for the ideology of liberty to finally triumph over the ideology of hate,” he said.

I’m predicting Iran will be the new theater, and I predict, like most junkies, it will take crashing in a big way to get President Bush and the rest of the nation to check into war-withdrawal rehab.

The president has asked new Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who visited military commanders in Iraq on Wednesday, to report back on how to expand the military.

This sounds like a junkie going to the doctor and asking how to get more pills, when the real question should be, “Do I really need more pills?” Bush won’t ask if we really need more troops, because he doesn’t want to hear “no” for an answer.

“We can be smarter about how we deploy our manpower and resources. We can ask more of our Iraqi partners, and we will,” Bush said. “I believe that we’re going to win. I believe that. And by the way, if I didn’t think that, I wouldn’t have our troops there.”

Most gamblers who lose the farm think they’re going to win right before they bet the farm. After following Bush through disaster after disaster, 70% of the people he represents doesn’t give a rat’s ass what he thinks. For chrisake, we want somebody else to do the thinking for a change.

Bush said that if the Iraqis “stand up, step up and lead,” then the U.S. military can help them achieve victory there.

If, if, if… If Bush hadn’t lied the country into a war (and he didn’t deceive all of us…just enough of us…) then the U.S. military wouldn’t need another nation’s forces to step up and lead in order to achieve victory. I think it’s rotten that the United States is dependent on a bunch of fledgling Iraqi troops for victory in the most important war of the current generation. Is this what the highest-priced $500-billion-a-year military in the world has come to? If a country can’t win a war with the best military in the world, maybe its fighting the wrong war.

“It’s their responsibility to govern their country. It’s their responsibility to do the hard work necessary to secure Baghdad. And we want to help them.”

He got the first two sentences in the paragraph right. I’d replace the last one with, “And we want to help them give us their oil.”

The president also acknowledged that the securing of Iraq is made more difficult by the insurgent and sectarian violence there, but he insisted that the United States would not be pushed out of the region.

Translation: lucky contractors are already at work on four military superbases and the largest embassy on the planet.

“I want the enemy to understand that this is a tough task, but they can’t run us out of the Middle East — that they can’t intimidate America,” he said. “They think they can. They think it’s just a matter of time before America grows weary and leaves, abandons the people of Iraq, for example. And that’s not going to happen.”

Translation: the USA is now a dictatorship and I’m the decider. If I choose to jump off a cliff, the whole country will follow me.

Bush rejected the idea that expanding the size of the military would contradict former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s calls for “a lighter, agile Army,” saying that he was more concerned about “increasing end strength” for the Army and Marines.

Bush also rejected the idea that turning left was the opposite of turning right, saying that he was more concerned with spinning counterclockwise.

Asked if he would overrule his own military commanders if they opposed a plan to increase troop levels in Iraq, Bush called the question a “dangerous hypothetical.”

Translation: I told them how to answer before I asked the question. If they surprise me it will be dangerous…for them.

Bush said he understands that the American people are troubled by the violence, but he emphasized that victory is still achievable in Iraq.

And it’s possible to win the lottery…by the way, can you spot me some more cash so I can buy another ticket? When I win, I’ll split it with you. This is the last time I’ll ask, I promise.

“I also don’t believe most Americans want us just to get out now,” he said. “A lot of Americans understand the consequences of retreat. Retreat would embolden radicals. It would hurt the credibility of the United States.”

Most people didn’t want to leave the Titanic either, but at some point there’s no other rational choice.

However, the president said, he will not propose sending more troops to Iraq without a clear purpose. “There’s got to be a specific mission that can be accomplished with the addition of more troops before, you know, I agree on that strategy,” he said.

Translation: I’ll come up with, you know, some excuse…just give me time.

Bush’s remarks came as he appeared to say for the first time that the United States is not winning the war in Iraq, adopting the view of Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Bush told The Washington Post in Wednesday’s editions, “I think an interesting construct that Gen. Pace uses is, ‘We’re not winning, we’re not losing.’ “

Translation: We’re in a stalemate that costs $200 million per day. Yeah, I don’t see why we can’t keep this up forever. Why not…

Bush has said he will reveal a new strategy for Iraq next month after considering the report of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group and consulting with Pentagon officials and others.

Next month, after another 70 troops are dead…what’s the rush indeed.

To show that making that decision is his most urgent priority, Bush hosted a Hanukkah Reception and gave a speech about improving the postal service.

Read More: iraq war, military, bush, bush administration, middle east

In the 1970s the FBI tried to have John Lennon deported for protesting the Vietnam War.

The Beatles first criticized the US involvement in Vietnam on their 1966 tour—which would turn out to be their last ever. By the end of the decade, Lennon was being ridiculed by the mainstream media for his publicity stunts with Yoko Ono.

After Lennon joined the US antiwar movement and spoke out against Nixon, the US government started deportation proceedings.

Remember, 1972 was an election year, and it was the first year 18-year-olds could vote, and 18-year-olds were listening to Lennon, not Nixon. The result was that Lennon cancelled a tour, Nixon got reelected, and Lennon’s lawyers had to fight to keep postponing a 60-day deportation order for the next couple of years. And more troops died in a war without a sane reason. At the time, Lennon’s claims that he was being bugged and targeted by the FBI was laughed at. But after his death, 300 pages of FBI files prove he was right.

Lennon had plenty of faults, but his courage to stand up for freedom while caught in the grasp of Nixon’s goons is one reason he’s still so admired today.

Revolution:

Read More: John Lennon, Vietnam, war, Nixon, revolution, Beatles