Meme Scholar with Madness (PhD)

[EndtheMadnessNow]

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there....


Time for a Visit from St. Nicholas

A visit from St. Nicholas (full 1864 book in images or PDF)


Twas the night before Christmas,
and all through my home
Not a creature was stirring,
not even my clone.



Keyser Soze wishes you a Merry Christmas and remember, Kill Them With Kindness...




December 24, 1914: A Christmas Eve Contrast

This illustration entitled, "A Christmas Eve Contrast", by cartoonist Clifford Berryman, which appeared in the Washington Evening Star on December 24, 1914, depicts the feeling of many Americans on Christmas Eve for those suffering through the war in Europe, while enjoying a time of peace and prosperity at home.

Cartoonist Clifford Berryman shares the thoughts of many Americans on this Christmas Eve. Americans enjoyed economic prosperity from the war in Europe while maintaining minimal involvement in the conflict. Even though the United States was not involved in the war, it appeared that it was on nearly every American's mind. Berryman captures the mood with two children sitting by a roaring fire, their stockings hung from the mantle. But in their minds is a scene from the war zone of two other children with an empty basket looking at bombed out house.

This series represents one of the finest collections of graphic art dealing with Congress and American politics from the late 1890s to the 1940s covering an era of sweeping legislative transformation. 

Clifford Kennedy Berryman was Washington's best known and most admired graphic commentator on politics in the first half of the 20th century.  Berryman's drawings showed the power of cartoons to enhance, explain, and interpret the inside game of Washington's politics.  His detailed drawings illustrated the personalities, politics, and process behind major events, without belittling its targets.  Berryman was something of a "court" cartoonist for Congress, capturing the rich culture of the legislative branch at work. Politicians considered him a friend and his unrivaled work earned him a Pulitzer Prize.

National Archives Series: Berryman Political Cartoon Collection

Berryman Political Cartoon Collection, 1896–1949

Dec 24, 1924: A one-room schoolhouse in rural Oklahoma burns down during a Christmas pageant, killing 36 people, most of them children. The Babbs Switch School is crowded with 150 to 200 people—far in excess of its capacity—when candles on a Christmas tree ignite the blaze. A teen student dressed as Santa Claus is concluding the program at the school by handing candy to younger children when he disturbs the candles tied to the branches. Flames envelop the dry tree, shoot to the ceiling and flash along a fresh coat of paint.

The crowd surges toward the sole door in front, but because it opens inward, this exit becomes impassable amid the crush. In the mad rush to escape, some people smash windows—but these have been covered with wire mesh to prevent burglaries.

Among the heroes of the disaster are Florence Hill, a teacher who calmly escorts her pupils out of danger and dies in the fire. In some cases, entire families are killed. A section of the Babbs Switch cemetery contains the graves of 20 children who perished in the school.

“It is hardly conceivable that conditions could have been worse, even in so rudimentary a structure as this one-story building,” an investigation by the National Fire Protection Association concludes. The tragedy brings a nationwide push for schools to have multiple exits.


Site of Babbs Switch Tragic School Fire

SURVIVORS’ STORIES

The fire gave rise to a hoax. Because three-year-old Mary Edens's body was not recovered, her parents hoped that she had somehow survived the fire. In 1957, Grace Reynolds of Barstow, California came forward, claiming to be the long-lost child. Reynolds and the Edens family were reunited on the air during an episode of the Art Linkletter's House Party television program. Reynolds later wrote a book about her experiences entitled Mary, Child of Tragedy: The Story of the Lost Child of the 1924 Babbs Switch Fire. A local newspaper editor knew the story to be fraudulent, but withheld the information until 1999 at the request of Mary Edens's father, who believed his wife could not endure losing her child a second time.

Journalist honors pledge to family of missing girl


Entering the US public domain in 2025: English translation of Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 "All Quiet on the Western Front" with the 1930 film adaptation set to do so in 2026.


Newly entering the public domain in 2025 will be:


Works by people who died in 1954, for countries with a copyright term of “life plus 70 years” (e.g. UK, Russia, most of EU and South America)

Works by people who died in 1974, for countries with a term of “life plus 50 years” (e.g. New Zealand, and most of Africa and Asia)

Films and books (incl. artworks featured) published in 1929 for the United States.

The remainder of the Roaring 20s about to join the public domain


December 24, 1955: NORAD began tracking Santa in what would become an annual Christmas Eve tradition. And 4 years later The NORAD Noradaires Commanders Orchestra was born.

Ever wonder who did the original NORAD Santa news updates? He is Lee B. Mozley (1935-1985), once known as the "Voice of NORAD." R.I.P. Trivia: he also appeared in THE GREEN SLIME (1969).




Listen to Mozley's 1970 NORAD TRACKS SANTA updates here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0aw-RU1Yh4

From the Public Service Use Only record "Santa Tracking Reports and Holiday Music Special" issued to US radio stations in 1970 by The North American Air Defense Command.

A-Side states: (Use only on December 24, 1970)  Eight (8) news-type reports of NORAD tracking Santa through the day.

Back cover states: NOTE TO BROADCASTERS: This album is produced for the sole purpose of helping to gain understanding of the NORAD mission. Your assistance in telling the NORAD story in conjunction with playing music on this record will be greatly appreciated.

The NORAD Band was formed in 1959 as a 90-member touring orchestra known as The NORAD Noradaires Commanders Orchestra with members from the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and the Canadian Royal Air Force. Performances were billed as a "Cavalcade of Music". The band retired in 1979, but the USAF component continued on as the 504th Air Force Band Of The Golden Gate. In 1991 it was re-designated "America's Band In Blue." On 1 July 1994, the band was inactivated, with all personnel and equipment reassigned to the "Air Mobility Command Band of the Golden West" at Travis Air Force Base, CA.

Claus: NORAD Tracks Santa (1975) Cool video!




On Christmas Eve 1971, 17-yr old Juliane Koepcke boarded the LANSA Flight 508. She survived the deadliest lightning strike in aviation history, one that sucked her out of the plane. She fell 2 miles to the ground, while strapped to her seat, & survived 10 days in the Amazon Jungle.



Wings of Hope (1998) (German: Julianes Sturz in den Dschungel, literally "Juliane's Freefall into the Jungle") is a 1998 made-for-TV documentary directed by Werner Herzog.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msipyM4vyLg


Dec 24, 1979: the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. A few months later, acerbic Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales dubbed Dan Rather as "Gunga Dan."




Interfaces from that 1988 Christmas movie:




December 24, 1992: senior operations CIA officer Duane Ramsdell "Dewey" Clarridge (April 16, 1932 – April 9, 2016) received a Christmas Eve pardon before his trial was finished by George HW Bush for the Iran-Contra Affair.


CIA chief Duane Clarridge explains how the crimes of Pinochet were "worth it" and that the US will overthrow democratically elected governments whenever it wants. When told that's a violation of foreign populations, his reply is clear: "well that's just tough."

Duane Claridge was head of the CIA Latin American in the early 1980's. Watch as Pilger asks (2:25) What right do you have to do what you do in other countries?
Claridge responds: National Security interest!

Duane Clarridge Defends the Empire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXlf9lQWr7w