Santa's Forces v. The Dreidel of Doom

Over at Fafblog, our correspondent Fafnir checks in with news from the long, jolly slog that is the War on Christmas:

"I hear they got Rudolph today," says me.

"No!" says Giblets. "Not Rudolph! With his unmatched dogfighting skills and his nose so bright he was invincible!"

"It's true," says me. "Zombie Judah Maccabee shot im down over the Island of Misfit Toys with his dreidel of doom."

"Damn you Hannukah!" says Giblets. "Will your eight days of madness never end!"

Me, I'll be back here at home decorating my Secularmas tree. Whoville really did change everything. Go read the rest.

PZ Myers is brilliant

The good professor offers an almost entirely plausible theory, which is his, regarding a possible link between reindeer, daylight deficiency, and late-December artifact delivery.

If his hypothesis and its associated predictions can be corroborated by means of the experimental tests he proposes, it would be a great big poke in the eye (or a "ha-ha-nanny-boo," if you prefer) to those heathen unbelievers who deny the existence of a North Pole-based artifact production facility.

Dr. Myers' theory posits the existence of an entity or intelligence, a so-called "Arctic Artificer" who exploits the midwinter disruption in the circadian activity cycles of polar animals -- in this case reindeer -- to facilitate a worldwide artifact distribution program that peaks in late December.

Or something. Go to Pharyngula to read more about science and other good stuff.

Not exactly random twelve

Here's the playlist for the disc I just burned for the fabulous people at the coffee cart downstairs from my office:

1. "Dancing with Joey Ramone" Amy Rigby (Little Fugitive)
2. "Dance This Mess Around" The B-52s (The B-52s)
3. "House of the Rising Sun" The Be Good Tanyas (Chinatown)
4. "Blinded by the Light" Bruce Springsteen (The Essential)
5. "Dearest" Buddy Holly (2005 Oxford American Sampler)
6. "Sweet" The Cash Brothers (A Brand New Night)
7. "I Fought the Law" The Clash (The Essential Clash)
8. "I Won't Be Your Yoko Ono" Dar Williams (The Green World)
9. "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" Elvis Costello (King of America)
10. "Time in Babylon" Emmylou Harris (Stumble Into Grace)
11. "Mr. Lacey" Fairport Convention (What We Did On Our Holidays)
12. "So Sad" Francoise Hardy (Clair Obscur)