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    <channel>
        <title>Fun Stuff and Pickle Soup - Yasobich&apos;s Blog - Tehachapi News</title>
        <link>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich</link>
        <description>Just the random things in life</description>
        <itunes:summary>Just the random things in life</itunes:summary>
        <language>en-us</language>

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                <title>Family Guy for Alien rights</title>
                <link>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/31857</link>
                <guid>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/31857</guid>
                <itunes:summary>&lt;p&gt;hehehe i saw this and thought i should show this to Gube hehehehe&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;http://www.hulu.com/watch/2711/family-guy-padre-de-familia#x-0,vepisode,1&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Peter starts an anti-immigration group after being caught up in the pro-American sentiment at a Veterans Day parade, but later learns that he was born in Mexico.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Even Pop culture is falling to saving the immigrants&lt;/p&gt;</itunes:summary>     

                
                
                
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                <title>Soo state workers are working minimum wage today?</title>
                <link>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/31159</link>
                <guid>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/31159</guid>
                <itunes:summary>&lt;p&gt;my mom got a memo saying that they will be working at minimum wage starting aug 1st but if the budget is signed then on payday at the end of the month is reverted back to the regular wages.&lt;/p&gt;</itunes:summary>     

                
                
                
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                <title>OMG goto the Wine and Cheese Cellar</title>
                <link>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/31023</link>
                <guid>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/31023</guid>
                <itunes:summary>&lt;p&gt;This place is amazing, we talk about it now goooooo&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;HOURS&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(128, 0, 0);&quot;&gt;THE CELLAR &lt;span class=&quot;HOURSred&quot;&gt;SUMMER&lt;/span&gt; HOURS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;HOURS&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(128, 0, 0);&quot;&gt;TUE, WED, THU&amp;nbsp; 12pm - 8pm&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;HOURS&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(128, 0, 0);&quot;&gt;FRI, SAT&amp;nbsp; 12pm - 10pm&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;HOURS&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(128, 0, 0);&quot;&gt;SUN&amp;nbsp; 12pm - 6pm&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;HOURSsmall&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(128, 0, 0);&quot;&gt;Closed Mondays&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;HOURSsmall&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(128, 0, 0);&quot;&gt;No one under 21 admitted&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;HOURS&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(128, 0, 0);&quot;&gt;661.822.6300&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;HOURS&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;HOURS&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(128, 0, 0);&quot;&gt;http://www.wineandcheesecellar.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</itunes:summary>     

                
                                    <description>
                        <p><img src="http://www.tehachapinews.com/file/picture/267956/0/0/" /><br/>
                        <strong>Title: </strong>winestuff.jpg<br/>
                        <strong>Caption: </strong><br/>
                        <strong>Credit: </strong>Yasobich</p>
                    </description>
                    <media:description>
                        <p><img src="http://www.tehachapinews.com/file/picture/267956/0/0/" /><br/>
                        <strong>Title: </strong>winestuff.jpg<br/>
                        <strong>Caption: </strong><br/>
                        <strong>Credit: </strong>Yasobich</p>
                    </media:description>
                
                
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                    <media:content url="http://www.tehachapinews.com/file/picture/267956/2/0/" fileSize="" type="image/jpeg">
                    <media:title>winestuff.jpg</media:title>
                    <media:description></media:description>
                    <media:credit role="photographer">Yasobich</media:credit>
                    <media:thumbnail url="http://www.tehachapinews.com/file/picture/267956/0/0/" />
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                <title>Watch Dr Horribles Sing-Along-Blog</title>
                <link>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/31018</link>
                <guid>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/31018</guid>
                <itunes:summary>&lt;p&gt;this has to be the most entertaining piece of film that i have seen in a long time,&amp;nbsp; Joss whedon of buffy creator fame came up with this film while the writers were on strike and was released on the internet only this past week in 3 parts, here is a trailer for it but the full film is 45 mins long and quite good.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Nothing like a super-hero musical&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;heres a link for the full film&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(128, 0, 0);&quot;&gt;http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&amp;amp;videoid=39532032&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;heres the home page&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(128, 0, 0);&quot;&gt;http://drhorrible.com/&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;watch it now before they release it to dvd and or theaters, its becoming a cult hit already thru the internet&lt;/p&gt;</itunes:summary>     

                
                
                
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                <title>Im not a religious person, but reading this scares me</title>
                <link>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/30569</link>
                <guid>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/30569</guid>
                <itunes:summary>&lt;p&gt;i found this on some sort of pro religious site and i wonder to myself if this kinda stuff is pushed upon youths to sway how god has his hand in EVERYTHING.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: rgb(0, 0, 128);&quot;&gt; A group of people were standing at the Pearly Gates&amp;reg; and together &lt;br /&gt;
asked St. Peter why the Lord sought to bring them to heaven so early. Surely  &lt;br /&gt;
there piousness and commitments to faith would have garnered them a few more precious moments on Earth.  &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
St. Peter hesitated for a moment and then felt His presence.  &lt;br /&gt;
The Lord said to St. Peter, let me explain this one. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The Lord Turned to the crowd and said softly: &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Remember how I taught you that ALL THINGS come from &lt;br /&gt;
me, that there is nothing in heaven or on Earth that does not come from &lt;br /&gt;
my hand ? &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
You asked for relief from suffering and disease and affliction. &lt;br /&gt;
I sent intelligence to chosen men of science to explore and discover the &lt;br /&gt;
wonders of umbilical cord cells to save all of humanity.  &lt;br /&gt;
Instead, you all were led astray by misguided words of those who did not  &lt;br /&gt;
understand my love for you.  &lt;br /&gt;
You willingly followed a path of failure, to no fruitful end. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
You prayed for peace on Earth. I wanted this too. So I bestowed upon those &lt;br /&gt;
in the right position more knowledge to use the Earth&amp;rsquo;s resources to benefit &lt;br /&gt;
all of humankind. You willingly used this knowledge to build machines of war and  &lt;br /&gt;
destruction instead of machines of peace equity and fairness. Instead of  &lt;br /&gt;
tractors to farm, tanks to destroy. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
When energy and fresh water were in peril I granted the gift of desalination and  &lt;br /&gt;
renewable energy. You denied them to all in the name of prosperity for a few. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
And the greatest tragedy is that all the gifts I gave you to save yourselves  &lt;br /&gt;
were only promoted and shared if the promise of Profit presented itself, &lt;br /&gt;
Not one single endeavor was ever shared with your brothers and sisters on planet  &lt;br /&gt;
Earth unless material gain was granted those responsible in equal or greater measure. &lt;br /&gt;
And you willingly promoted those same persons to rule over you. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
You asked for help repeatedly, and each time I answered your call only &lt;br /&gt;
to hear you say &amp;ndash; NO, we will wait for the Lord to save us !!!. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I tried to.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;table&gt;
    &lt;tbody&gt;
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            &amp;nbsp;
            &amp;nbsp;
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&lt;/table&gt;</itunes:summary>     

                
                
                
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                <title>My friend is an Escort, true story.</title>
                <link>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/30162</link>
                <guid>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/30162</guid>
                <itunes:summary>&lt;a href=&quot;http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l290/yasobich3/51Z0V7SBMNL_SL500_AA240_-1.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l290/yasobich3/51Z0V7SBMNL_SL500_AA240_-1.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Ive been playing World of Warcraft for a couple years now and in my adventures of online virtual social interaction i met this very interesting person. we were in the same guild and she was very open to her opinions and loved to play the game . this was about a year ago, as our friendship grew we started to indulge in personal information such as who and where we live and what our life stories consists of. We soon began a close friendship of sorts but only thru this virtual land. One day i asked her what she did for a living outside warcraft and she proceeded to tell me something that i was shocked to hear. She began to tell me she was a manager at victoria secrets, but this was her second job. In my head many thoughts ran thru, among those was picturing that most employees that work at that establishment are the stuck up college girls that are model like. Again this is a stereotype perceived by most. Then she told me her main occupation, she was a professional escort. HUH??? WHAT???? NAW????&amp;nbsp; i didnt believe her at first but then we started to talk about it, yes the thought ran through my mind as to WOW what if i could...... but the curiousity of that profession made me ask qustions. First of all i had to ask for proof and on her professional website she posted a pic with my name written across her back. whoa.... so maybe this is true. As time went on she told me many stories of the clients she was with and the adventures she had. not to mention the 21st birthday party they threw for her. She roughly makes around $500 an hour and only works 2 to 3 days a week. but what mostly intriged me the most is i asked her how do you handle the pressure of real life looking down on this work?&amp;nbsp; She hides it well, she lives with her boyfriend&amp;nbsp; and dries a really nice car. Most of the time she is online slaying dragons and such with her boyfriend or off buying other accounts in exchange for services. She loves what she is doing and uses the money to build shelters for animals and attend college. In my travels accross the usa this pass 6 months, i met her in person. She is very pretty and incredibly smart, but i always ask myself is morals and values even an issue when it comes to making money this way if your happy doing it? She even offered to buy me a laptop so i can play warcraft with her while i travel. Even to this day we are close friends and she opens up to me about her close calls with the police and the many people she has been with, but most of all she enjoys playing online games and donates alot of her money to animal shelters. And i know some of you might be thinking did you sleep with her? OF course i did, someone with that much expirence must know a great deal on how to please people.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
That being said &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
goodnight&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
sigh......&lt;/p&gt;</itunes:summary>     

                
                
                
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                <title>The US Constitution Coloring Book with a twist</title>
                <link>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/17305</link>
                <guid>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/17305</guid>
                <itunes:summary>&lt;p&gt;Though short, the US constitution lacks the boy wizards, albino monks and household tips most Americans chose to read about. Until now. &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.myspace.com/usconstitutionerotic&quot;&gt;Donny Miller&lt;/a&gt;, author of &lt;em&gt;The US Constitution Erotic Coloring Book&lt;/em&gt; puts it this way:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt; This book celebrates The US Constitution.&lt;br /&gt;
Why I made this book. Not many people, I&amp;rsquo;ve found, are very familiar with the U.S. Constitution. Which is to say many people are not entirely conscious of their rights. I began asking people if they had read the Constitution. Many had not in years, if at all. The number of people who owned it &amp;ndash; far less. I believe the Constitution is something every U.S. citizen or anyone interested in better understanding the government of the United States should own and be well versed in, after all, the words of the Constitution and the principles written therein make up the very foundation by which the United States was built upon. But how to get people to take interest in and read these rights? Aside from provocative imagery and once you&amp;rsquo;ve digested the primal aspect of the images, the focus then becomes the Constitution&amp;hellip; &amp;ndash; Donny&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/blockquote&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I want this come ChristmaQuanzaChanuku.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;</itunes:summary>     

                
                                    <description>
                        <p><img src="http://www.tehachapinews.com/file/picture/66458/0/0/" /><br/>
                        <strong>Title: </strong>constitution.jpg<br/>
                        <strong>Caption: </strong> cmon really?<br/>
                        <strong>Credit: </strong>Yasobich</p>
                    </description>
                    <media:description>
                        <p><img src="http://www.tehachapinews.com/file/picture/66458/0/0/" /><br/>
                        <strong>Title: </strong>constitution.jpg<br/>
                        <strong>Caption: </strong> cmon really?<br/>
                        <strong>Credit: </strong>Yasobich</p>
                    </media:description>
                
                
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                    <media:content url="http://www.tehachapinews.com/file/picture/66458/2/0/" fileSize="" type="image/jpeg">
                    <media:title>constitution.jpg</media:title>
                    <media:description> cmon really?</media:description>
                    <media:credit role="photographer">Yasobich</media:credit>
                    <media:thumbnail url="http://www.tehachapinews.com/file/picture/66458/0/0/" />
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                <title>How would you spend $611 billion</title>
                <link>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/17264</link>
                <guid>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/17264</guid>
                <itunes:summary>If the Bush administration succeeds in its latest request for funding for the war in Iraq, the total cost would rise to $611.5 billion, according to the National Priorities Project, a nonprofit research group. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The amount got us wondering: What would $611 billion buy?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;galleryMainHeadline&quot;&gt;1) Nearly 4,000 Newton North High Schools&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;Tagged as the most expensive high school in Massachusetts, at $154.6 million, the construction design for the new Newton North High School could be replicated almost 4,000 times using the money spent on the war.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;galleryMainHeadline&quot;&gt;2)Almost 18 months&#039; worth of free gas for everyone&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;US drivers consume approximately 384.7 million gallons of gasoline a day. Retail prices averaged $3.00 a gallon in early November. Breaking it down, $611 billion could buy gasoline for everybody in the United States, for about 530 days.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;galleryMainHeadline&quot;&gt;3)Many, many environment-friendly cars on the road&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;With $611 billion, you could convert all cars in America to run on ethanol nine times over. &lt;br /&gt;
TheBudgetGraph.com estimates that converting the 136,568,083 registered cars in the United States to ethanol (conversion kits at $500) would cost $68.2 billion.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;galleryMainHeadline&quot;&gt;4)Nearly 14 million years&#039; worth of tuition, room, and board at Harvard&lt;/div&gt;
At published rates for this year, $611 billion translates into almost 14 million free rides for a year at Harvard University. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;galleryMainHeadline&quot;&gt;5)More than a year&#039;s worth of Medicare benefits for everyone&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;In fiscal 2008, Medicare benefits will total $454 billion, according to a Heritage Foundation summary. The $611 billion in war costs is 17 times the amount vetoed by the president for a $35 billion health benefit program for poor children.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;galleryMainHeadline&quot;&gt;6)A looong contract for Dice-K&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The Red Sox and Daisuke Matsuzaka agreed on a six-year, $52 million contract. The war cost could be enough to have Dice-K mania for more than 70,000-some years at this year&#039;s rate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;galleryMainHeadline&quot;&gt;7)A real war on poverty&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;div&gt;According to World Bank estimates, $54 billion a year would eliminate starvation and malnutrition globally by 2015, while $30 billion would provide a year of primary education for every child on earth. &lt;br /&gt;
At the upper range of those estimates, the $611 billion cost of the war could have fed and educated the world&#039;s poor for seven years.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
8)152.7 million people in the USA will own a Xbox360, PS3, and Nintendo Wii with a bunch of games an a couple years worth of internet service&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
9)Tehachapi can own thier own fire dept, have a 200,000 seat stadium for the warriors football, may build that road to Arvin from stallion springs&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;Do you have any other ideas on how to spend $611 billion &amp;ndash; or comparisons for what that money could have bought?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
SIGH....&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2007/04/01/how_much_school_does_1546_million_buy/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
&lt;/div&gt;</itunes:summary>     

                
                
                
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                <title>Hey im back :)</title>
                <link>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/17241</link>
                <guid>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/17241</guid>
                <itunes:summary>rawr....&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
i thought i&#039;d come back an post some stuff again, after being away for a year i miss the fun times we had :)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
see ya soon&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
SIGH...</itunes:summary>     

                
                
                
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                <title>Christmas. What is the true meaning? You Decide</title>
                <link>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008</link>
                <guid>http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/Blog/Yasobich/1008</guid>
                <itunes:summary>&lt;font color=&quot;#0000ff&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#000000&quot;&gt;As far as i know Santa is this jolly old saint Nick that goes around and give presents to good little boys and girls no matter what color, race, gender, nationality or sexual preference. But tell a kid that and he will more than likey say HUH? as his/her eyes widden with joy when recieving thier gift.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Here are some interesting things to read&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;/font&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Jesus was born on December 25&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt; (The idea of celebrating the birth of Christ on December 25 was first suggested early in the fourth century. This was a clever move on the part of Church fathers, who wished to eclipse the December 25 festivities of a rival pagan religion.The celebration of Christmas took permanent hold in the Western world in 337 with the Roman emperor Constantine. Christianity had become the official state religion in 313 AD. By 354, Bishop Liberius of Rome reiterated the importance of celebrating not only Christ&#039;s death but also his birth.)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font color=&quot;#0000ff&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Angels Sang at Christmas&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt; (The Bible never says that the Angels sang! Read it closely!!)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font color=&quot;#0000ff&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Bible tells of three wise men who travelled from afar on camels to visit the infant Jesus as he lay in the manger&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;.&lt;/font&gt;(Mathew 2:1 tells us: &amp;quot;Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem . . . &amp;quot;. That is the extent of it. There is no mention of THREE wisemen and no mention of camel! Also, Matt 2:11 states &amp;quot;And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him . . . &amp;quot;. Note that it mentions a child in a house, rather than a baby in a manger... so this is a postbirth event.)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font color=&quot;#0000ff&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The modern image of Santa Claus was created by Coca-Cola&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;(Haddon Sundblom drew his first Santa portrait for Coca-Cola in 1931... which popularized an existing image of Claus. In 1804, the New York Historical Society was founded with Nicholas as its patron saint, reviving the Dutch tradition of St. Nicholas as a bringer of gifts. In 1809, Washington Irving published his satirical A History of New York, by one &amp;quot;Diedrich Knickerbocker,&amp;quot; poking fun at New York&#039;s Dutch past, St. Nicholas included... in Dutch, &amp;quot;Sinterklaas&amp;quot;. Irving revised his History of New York in 1812, adding details about Nicholas&#039; &amp;quot;riding over the tops of the trees, in that selfsame waggon wherein he brings his yearly presents to children.&amp;quot; In 1821,William Gilley wrote a poem about a &amp;quot;Santeclaus&amp;quot; who dressed all in fur and drove a sleigh pulled by one reindeer. On Christmas Eve of 1822, Clement Clarke Moore, wrote down and read to his children a series of verses; his poem was published a year later as &amp;quot;An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas&amp;quot; ...more commonly known today by its opening line, &amp;quot;&#039;Twas the night before Christmas . . .&amp;quot;)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;font color=&quot;#0000ff&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;u&gt;Two of Santa&#039;s reindeer were named &#039;Donner&#039; and &#039;Blitzen.&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;u&gt;&#039;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore wrote down in his &amp;quot;An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas&amp;quot; ...more commonly known today by its opening line, &amp;quot;&#039;Twas the night before Christmas . . And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name. &amp;quot;Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! on, Cupid! on Donder and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! Now, dash away! dash away! dash away all! &amp;quot; The song about Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer first made the mistake in Donder&#039;s and Vixen&#039;s names! )&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The suicide rate increases significantly during the winter holiday season&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;.&lt;/font&gt; (1985 Mayo Clinic report: &amp;quot;Fewer suicides than expected may occur on weekends and major holidays because it may be easier to repress troublesome thoughts during these times of greater social interaction.&amp;quot; )&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Poinsettia plants are poisonous to humans&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt; (The poinsettia poison myth had its origin when a young child of an Army officer in Hawaii died of poisoning, incorrectly assumed to be a poinsettia leaf. A 50 lb. child would have to eat more than 1.25 lbs. or 500 - 600 leaves , according to the POISINDEX Information Service. Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants lists the symptoms of eating Poinsetta as vomiting as a side effect of ingesting otherwise harmless poinsettia leaves.)&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#0000ff&quot;&gt;Man dressed as Santa Claus gets stuck in chimney and dies&lt;/font&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt; (This story has been around for almost as long as the Santa Claus legend itself. It is a variation of the motif of juxtaposing an otherwise happy occasion with a senseless tragedy. Note Ella Fitzgerald&#039;s &amp;quot;Santa Claus Got Stuck in My Chimney,&amp;quot; Jimmy Boyd&#039;s &amp;quot;Santa Got Stuck in the Chimney,&amp;quot; and Gisele MacKenzie&#039;s &amp;quot;Too Fat for the Chimney.&amp;quot; )&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The &amp;quot;Immaculate Conception&amp;quot; refers to the birth of Jesus&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;(The Immaculate Conception has nothing to do with either the birth of Jesus or any virgin birth. It is a specific dogma of Roman Catholicism which decrees that the Virgin Mary was preserved free from original sin by divine grace from the moment of her conception. Although this dogma had been argued since the 12th century, it was not made official Pope Pius X did so in 1854. Since then December 8 has been observed as a Roman Catholic feast in commemoration of the Immaculate Conception.)&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Candy canes were created to symbolize Jesus&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;,&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt; their shape representing the letter &amp;quot;J&amp;quot; and their colors standing for the purity and blood of Christ... and were started in Indiana (Candy canes were most assuredly NOT created by &amp;quot;a candymaker in Indiana&amp;quot; who &amp;quot;stained them with red stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received.&amp;quot; Candy canes have been in existance long before there ever was an Indiana! They initially bore neither red coloration nor striping -- the red stripes were a feature that did not appear until a few hundred years later, at the beginning of the 20th century. More elaborate Christmas coloration and decoration have been added to these candies in recent years ... for purely marketing purposes.)&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The song The Twelve Days of Christmas was created as a coded reference to important articles of the Christian faith&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;. (See our Twelve Days of Christmas site for the complete low down. This 1870 English Christmas song with origins running deeper in history in France was merely a silly Children&#039;s memory game.)&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&#039;Xmas&#039; is a modern, disrespectful abbreviation of the word &#039;Christmas&#039;.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt; (X is a substitute for the Greek, Chi, which was an early church representation of Christ. It has been around for a long time and had no meaning of disrespect.)&lt;br /&gt;
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Strange but TRUE&lt;/font&gt;:&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#0000ff&quot;&gt;Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created for Montgomery Ward department stores&lt;/font&gt;. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;(Rudolph began in 1939 when the Chicago-based Montgomery Ward company (a chain of department stores) asked one of their writers, 34-year-old Robert L. May, to come up with a Christmas story which could be given away to shoppers as a promotional gimmick. The chain had been been buying and giving away coloring books for Christmas every year. To save money, they wanted to create their own booklet. It was loosely based on the Ugly Duckling.)&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#0000ff&quot;&gt;Christmas cards date to 1843&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;. (English school children made their own and sent gave them to each other before this date. The first formal card was designed in 1843, by J.C. Horsley, in England. It was lithographed on dark cardboard. It consisted of a color print of a party of grownups and children with glasses of wine raised in a toast over the words &amp;quot;A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you.&amp;quot; Since it only cost 1 penny to send a card at that time, the custom caught on quickly.)&lt;br /&gt;
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&lt;font color=&quot;#0000ff&quot;&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The holiday season abounds with superstitions.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt; (There are too many to mention! Why do we put up Christmas trees? Why do we kiss under mistletoe? Why do we &amp;quot;deck the halls&amp;quot; with green branches? Does Holly and Ivy really have healing powers? How did caroling get started? Which story is true about Green and Red? Which of the many versions of the Yule Log is correct? The list goes on!)&lt;br /&gt;
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sighhh</itunes:summary>     

                
                
                
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