White elephant parties – in which people are invited to steal each other’s gifts – are the last thing we need right now
Happy forced frivolity season! We have once again arrived at the eye of the storm for the holidays, where cheerfulness is mandatory and lack of goodwill towards people is punishable by stoning in the town square. Surely, I don’t have to tell you that such quaint human emotions as “happiness” and “hope” are in short supply these days. This year, of all years, no one should be blamed for plugging their ears any time Mariah Carey comes on in the lobby of the unemployment office. And yet, we carry on with the rituals of joy that seem more and more incongruous, when life feels like some never-ending episode of MTV’s Ridiculousness, where God comments on clips of the human race getting hit in the face with a plastic baseball bat.
I’m certainly making an effort to put on a pleasant facade. I’ve cobbled together some nice gifts for my friends and family. I say hello to strangers, even the ones that look like they might want to deny me my basic rights as outlined in the US constitution. And I say yes to just about every holiday party invite – save for one massive exception.
Dave Schilling is a Los Angeles-based writer and humorist
Heavily armed Australian police swooped on a group of men heading to Bondi Beach on Thursday after intelligence suggested they could be planning a “violent act” days after 15 people were slaughtered at a Hanukkah event there.
Streams of soil turn sand and surrounding water red, creating sharp contrast with blue waters of Persian Gulf
Rainfall on Iran’s Hormuz Island briefly transformed the coastline of its Red Beach into a striking natural scene this week, as red soil flowed into the sea and turned the water shades of deep red.
The beach is known for its vivid red sand and cliffs, created by high concentrations of iron oxide.
Jeffrey Epstein’s madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, has launched a Hail Mary attempt to have her sex trafficking conviction tossed — potentially complicating the release of the “Epstein files.” Maxwell, 63, maintained in a habeas petition filed in Manhattan federal court Wednesday that “substantial new information” has emerged since her 2021 trial from related lawsuits, reports and...
Sainsbury’s, Barclays and University College London have all drawn on themes created by IWD site run by London business with no link to UN
Nobody owns International Women’s Day, but if you asked the 193 countries, countless businesses and NGOs that mark it each year, they would probably agree it has been popularised, defined and formalised by the United Nations.
The owner of the website “internationalwomensday.com”, a London-based marketing firm, disagrees. By selling merchandise, promoting a £160 lunch to awaken attenders’ “inner goddess” and creating a series of corporate partnerships, it has also seeded its annual themes with British brands and institutions that appear to have mistaken the site for the UN, the Guardian can reveal.
First Reading is a Canadian politics newsletter curated by the National Post’s own Tristin Hopper. To get an early version sent directly to your inbox, sign up here.Read More
Toronto model Miriam Mattova says she has received death threats on social media since coming forward about an antisemitic incident involving an Uber driver last month. Read More
ESPN star Rece Davis expressed his regret voting for Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia to win the Heisman Trophy after the star player's explicit outburst toward voters.
Massachusetts dropped its gender identity mandate for foster care parents after Alliance Defending Freedom posed a legal challenge and federal regulators gave a constitutional warning.
New study reveals prediabetes remission can cut heart disease death risk by 58% through targeted lifestyle changes that keep blood sugar levels within a normal range.
Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Princess and Princess of Wales, distance themselves from ex-Prince Andrew as royal experts predict more damaging Epstein evidence will emerge.
Justice department must release most documents by Friday, and failure to do so would provoke a firestorm
In less than 48 hours, Donald Trump’s justice department must release most of the files related to Jeffrey Epstein in its possession. Last month, Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required the release of those materials by 19 December, except in narrow cases where they would jeopardize current investigations, harm national security or foreign policy goals, or reveal information about Epstein’s victims.
Since Trump signed the legislation, his administration has been silent on its progress. Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of lawmakers asked Pam Bondi, the attorney general, for a briefing on the department of justice’s progress, but she did not provide one. Two Democratic senators among that group subsequently pledged to block some civilian nominees, because they were concerned the administration “is gearing up to disregard the law we led the fight in the Senate to pass, which overwhelmingly passed both chambers of Congress”.
Americans told ‘time to get vaccinated is now’ as concerning mutation of influenza virus circulates in US
Officials are urging doctors to vaccinate their patients and provide flu antivirals after deaths among children reached record highs and as a concerning mutation of the virus circulates in the US.
“Influenza activity is increasing in the US. The time to get vaccinated for this season is now,” Timothy Uyeki, the chief medical officer of the influenza division at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said in a call with clinicians last week.
Connexion
