I heard that yesterday was "Boxing Day," a holiday celebrated in a handful of countries including Britain, Australia, and Canada. I took special note of Canadian "celebrations" yesterday. Only because the found news item provided some telling quotes. First, a little history for those of us still mired a bit in Americentricism. Because we're the only greedy, gluttonous, kapitalist kulture, right? :o) I don't pick on countries at random for heaven sake. America was the early "melting pot" of peoples and cultures, particularly European, correct? And the Native Indians don't get off the hook either. I'm tired of the massive cultural self-victimization of everyone and everything. We do it to each other, folks!
Yes .. we do! And yes ... I know Annie promised a "Festivus" history ... but an important part of Festivus is "Airing of The Grievances." So, I'm celebrating! Let me have this historical marker of the Festive Occasion!
Boxing Day
The day after Christmas, the Feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, is better known as Boxing Day. The term may come from the opening of church poor boxes that day; maybe from the earthenware boxes with which boy apprentices collected money at the doors of their masters' clients. Nowadays, we often see, in certain families, gifts (boxes) given to those who provide services throughout the year. "Boxing Day" is listed in the Canada Labour Code as a holiday.
Snopes Reports:
The holiday's roots can be traced to Britain, where Boxing Day is also known as St. Stephen's Day. Reduced to the simplest essence, its origins are found in a long-ago practice of giving cash or durable goods to those of the lower classes. Gifts among equals were exchanged on or before Christmas Day, but beneficences to those less fortunate were bestowed the day after.
Despite the lively images suggested by the name, it has nothing to do with pugilistic expositions between tanked-up family members who have dearly been looking forward to taking a round out of each other for the past year .... The name also has nothing to do with returning unwanted gifts to the stores they came from, hence its common association with hauling about boxes on the day after Christmas.
St. Stephen [AD 33?] was a "Church" deacon whose primary duty was to oversee caretaking of widows and the poor. He was accused of blasphemy before a Sanhedrin trial for powerfully "preaching" the words of a fellow caretaker, whose name was Jesus. This fella, Jesus, had been tortured and nailed to a cross for preaching about love, honor, & the perils of glorifying the material as opposed to the Spiritual. Apparently, these types of murders happened with some frequency in those days. Stephen was doing a great job defending his words and actions, when paid instigators further incited the crowds to a frenzied ending. St. Stephen was thusly stoned to death by the unruly mob. See?
St. Stephen remains the Patron "Saint" of stonemasons and masons to this very day. We re-enact "history" over and over in very strange, often subtle, ways. No? Look:
Shoppers descend upon malls across the country for Boxing Day sales :
28:31 EST Dec 26, 2005 TORONTO (CP) - Millions of bargain-hunters across Canada were out in full force Monday on one of the biggest shopping days of the year looking for Boxing Day deals - and in Toronto the shopping spree turned deadly.
At least six people were shot, one fatally, amid hundreds of shoppers late in the afternoon near the Eaton Centre on Yonge Street, one of Canada's most bustling retail strips. Two people were arrested.
"It's a bit nuts," said Barry McGarr, 23, one of the store's employees who was trying to ensure people stayed in line. "They start pushing each other. I've seen someone fall and people just walking over them just to save a few bucks. I find it's madness."
Nicholas McLaughlin, a 16-year-old homeless boy from Ottawa, sat shivering on the sidewalk outside the store, begging for change as he watched the crowd rush in to buy their new MP3 players and laptops. "I think (Boxing Day) brings a lot of people downtown and stuff, so I can make more money," he said. "I don't like consumerism at all, but this is kind of an opportunity for me."
What would you Sacrifice?
At downtown Toronto's Yonge-Bloor subway station near the ritzy Yorkville shopping area,
the spirit of giving was pushed aside for the fierce pursuit of a bargain as a man used a stroller cradling an infant to prevent the subway's doors from closing. "Sir, why would you charge with your baby?" a conductor said over the public-address system as transit riders looked on in astonishment.
Cathy Williams said she and her daughter circled the mall in their car for more than half an hour searching for a parking space. In desperation, they convinced a man on his way out to allow them to follow him as he walked to his vehicle so they could take his spot. "It's warfare; you have to do that," Williams explained.
Warfare and Public Stoning Spectacles
Warfare, hm? Yes, I know ... you might remind Annie here of the public stonings that still occur in Islamic cultures. The feminist media loves to parade the photos of women being buried to the waist in preparation for the kill. Stonings for the crime of adultery are not limited to women. No. Men, women, boys, and girls fare equally in places like Iran.
But how Annie ... how could St. Stephen's stoning, his Deacon responsibilities, betrayal, sacrifice, and Boxing Day! *possibly* have sparked some random linkage from a red cabbage fleck in your spinning salad bowl to today's post? Well ... it had to do with how quickly our "psyches" cancel out the Holiday Spirit and all it encompasses--- in ONE day --- to favor the massive narcosis and resultant flaming psychosis of tasty Shopper's Frenzy. And shopper's frenzy always, always, always shows us our darker natures.
I know Todd Goldman and his Stupid Boys Stuff are becoming "old news;" however, the issue serves as such a nicely overt/covert symptom ofWhat's Still Wrong with our very Souls.
We found recently that WAL-MART was selling "BOYS ARE STUPID: THROW ROCKS AT THEM" Calendars on their wal-mart.com website. Wal-Mart Canada has refused to explain the extent of distribution in their Canadian stores and has not stated that they will stop selling these items on the website.
Commentary - March 9th, 2004
Hate Crime Complaint filed with Toronto police. The Canadian Children's Rights Council has filed a hate crime complaint with the Toronto Police against the Toronto Star newspaper, the clothing distributor and retailers selling clothing which have printed misandric child hate messages.
The Toronto Star carried a special section in its Saturday, March 6th, 2004 edition titled "Shopping" "Feminist fashionistas". A major article on page L3 with the headline "Funky Femorabilia" followed by "Products with girl power messages have a point to make" taking up 2/3rds of the page contained large pictures of a clothing line from the United States that states" BOYS ARE STUPID, THROW ROCKS AT THEM!". The same clothing manufacturer also supplies other misandric and child hate slogans.
Some other slogans put out by the same manufacturer (David and Goliath) states:
"BOYS ARE SMELLY", "BOYS ARE STUPID","MEN ARE PIGS"
"IT'S ALL ABOUT ME" ( 2 different models)
"BOYS LIE, POKE THEM IN THE EYE"
One of the T-shirts is actually featured in the February issue of YM magazine this year. We called up the manufacturer of the offending clothes. Their Vice President of International Sales, Cindy Lou, stated to us that the clothing was aimed at the 16-28 year old market.
When confronted with the question "Would you sell a shirt with "BLACKS ARE STUPID, THROW ROCKS AT THEM", she refused to answer.
Now, we may be surprised to learn that the squishy brain behind the design, concept, and manufacture is :::gasp::: a guy. yep. A Guy. Commercial capitalism at its finest. yup. Todd Harris Goldman can claim that it's "all in good fun" and "no harm meant" all he wants. Annie knows better.
Todd even helps us tie in the betrayal, sacrificial, and utter abuse of privilege themes here.
"Todd Harris Goldman began doodling on T-shirts in 1999. The next year his father loaned him the money to start David & Goliath, and the company took off, with the "Boys are stupid, throw rocks at them!" t-shirt selling more than a million units. Mr. Goldman lives in Clearwater, Florida."
So, Todd ... in the Spirit of the Feminista ... how about designing an equally offensive "Girls Are Stupid" line of commercial products? Or does your preference still run to selling out your own gender in this spirit of freedom of expression? The "Boys" products were a big seller for Christmas, yah? Why the sell out, Todd? Well, you did it because you knew it would be 1. controversial 2. controversy makes a great bedfellow for a money-making sell out exposure and 3. the majority of controversial clothing and product purchases are made by that 16-28 year old age market you targeted. What wasn't clear in the scanty bios of "Todd" and his Weimeraner dogs, was if the book "Boys Are Stupid" came before the clothing and product line or after? hm?
Now, how about it Todd ---- you really had no idea that your little Pink Empire is reflective of the "ancient" concepts of betrayal and sacrifice with the darker feminine aspects, right? And you had absolutely No Idea that Annie's autistic salad bowl could spin such a bizarre notion. While you're running from the rocks --- do us a favor. Remember the St. Stephen's alms box --- throw a few coins into the Caregiver's Fund for Autistics. We've run a bit thin on support systems such as housing, food on the table, access to therapy, and daily survival. And we understand your theme! People have thrown rocks at the disabled for eons. You can send a tidy donation in a box! to the Wee Idea Foundation. Contact Annie off blog for the address and particulars. Oh. While looking at your graphic arts? I'm thinking you're probably on the Autistic Spectrum yourself! It's possible --- although the majority of Spectrumites have some Trouble With Hurting Others, particularly in the realm of Personal Gain. We can talk. Now of course, I wouldn't want to be offensive without giving you a chance to rebutt -- so we should talk. Really. Come on over for some mud pies and gritty rainwater that my boys will prepare. We can count on you to bring the rocks?
"Trauma demands repetition." ---Selma Fraiberg
Cultural and Collective Psychosis
---Every man must define his identity against his mother. If he does not, he just falls back into her and is swallowed up ---
---Let's get rid of Infirmary Feminism, with its bedlam of bellyachers, anorexics, bulimics, depressives, rape victims, and incest survivors. Feminism has become a catch-all vegetable drawer where bunches of clingy sob sisters can store their moldy neuroses.
--- Camille Paglia
Anyway, Todd, while your concept of stoning little boys might be fodder for adolescent tee-hees, it is gravely reminiscent and more aptly reflective of collective and massive motherland psychosis, made particularly clear, concise, and incredibly relevant by Camille. You want real controversy and you want to see the reality of what you've done, Todd? Then have the balls to launch the line in a female version. "Girls Are Stupid, Throw Rocks At Them." It might sell big in Iran, but out here in the extremely Psychotic West ... it would probably mean the end of your Empire. Western culture simply does a better job at hiding the sacrificial rites. Yup. That same warmly collective embrace of the feminine would handily and symbolically stone you to death ... toss you over Moloch's Hill ... handily snap the remaining elastic around those shrinking Kokomo Shakers in yer underpants ... and make off with the family jewels. Bankrupt, blacklisted, and penniless you would be! Forced to rattle a tin cup for pennies on those bitter cold, mean streets of ... uh.. Clearwater, Florida. And you know what? St. Stephen would forgive you all the same. He was that kind of guy. But you already knew that. Oh heck. Go for it anyway, Todd. Nyah nyah ... I double dare ya! Stupid person! Equal Gender Offensive. That could be your new marketing blitz! We'll go you one better. Annie has a brilliant idea for your next line, aimed at the billion dollar pet industry. A line of little poodly t-shirts & sweaters for pets! Yes! "People Are Stupid ... Throw Rocks At Them!" It would be a sell-out in Birdland. That's correct. Birdland. Birds and boys. They've a lot in common.
Here's that St. Stephen's Day Tradition in "Olde Ireland" wherein young boys are chosen to stone a small wren to death, then present it door-to-door in the Village while chanting and collecting pennies:
The wren, the wren, the king of all birds,
On St. Stephen's Day was caught in the furze,
Up with the penny and down with the pan,
Give us a penny to bury the wren.
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