St. Nick gains on Santa Claus

BERLIN—Santa beware! Activists in Germany waging an international campaign to do away with old Father Christmas say they are gaining ground—thanks to the global economic meltdown.

Armed with child-friendly stickers, web-savvy promoters and chocolate figurines, the “Santa-Free Zone” movement says it is gathering steam this year against what it calls the hollow commercialization of Christmas.

Launched by a German Catholic priest in 2002, the campaign aims to knock Santa off his pedestal and replace what they see as a cheap, American import with the real thing—Saint Nicholas.

Bishop of Myra
“The movement is intended to raise awareness of the fact that the consumption-oriented Santa launched by the Christmas gift industry has very little to do with the holy bishop Saint Nicholas,” said Christoph Schommer of the Catholic aid group Bonifatiuswerk, which is rallying the Santa opposition.

Saint Nicholas, an actual historical figure, was the fourth-century bishop of Myra in today’s Turkey whose legendary modesty and generosity led him to give gifts in secret.
As the story goes, the bishop’s greatest miracle was saving three girls whose impoverished father wanted to sell them into prostitution. Nicholas, who had inherited a fortune from his father, left three lumps of gold over three nights in the room of the three girls while they were sleeping.

Catholics and Orthodox Christians in much of the world still celebrate Saint Nicholas Day, usually on Dec. 6, as a festival for children who receive chocolates in their shoes when they leave them out overnight.

Inventions of ad-men
But Saint Nicholas has long been upstaged during the holiday season by the ho-ho-ho-ing Santa Claus, or Father Christmas in Britain and Canada, and activists would like the saint to reclaim the Yuletide throne.

Santa’s red fur-lined suit, chubby mid-section and fluffy white beard are all thought to be inventions of ad-men at Coca-Cola, which came up with the grandfatherly figure for a campaign in the 1930s.

Opponents say Santa has cheapened Christmas by reducing a celebration of Christian values to a decadent and deeply dissatisfying display of greed.

But the Saint Nicholas camp also refuses to be dismissed as a bunch of bah-humbug curmudgeons.

“We of course are doing the whole thing with a twinkle in our eyes—we are not trying to take away Santa from anyone but we want to make clear who the original Father Christmas is,” Schommer said.

“Nicholas promoted values such as solidarity, loving thy neighbor, sharing what you have, and the bushy-bearded Santa does just the opposite—he’s a pack horse of consumer society, nothing more.”

Protestant support
Protestants have also joined in promoting St. Nicholas over Santa Claus as a more fitting symbol of Christmas.

The Lutheran Church put out a pro-Nicholas manifesto this month titled “How a Holy Legend Turned Into an Advertising Gag.”

“‘Jack Frost’ from Russia and the ‘Weihnachtsmann,’ ‘Father Christmas’ and ‘Pere Noel’ were superimposed on the image of the bishop from Asia Minor by clever advertising strategists,” the manifesto said.

“That is how the charitable miracle-maker who helped young people in need degenerated into the giver of presents big and small.”

The Santa-Free Zone people have in six years passed out 100,000 stickers emblazoned with a jolly Kris Kringle in a circle crossed through with a slash, like a no-parking sign, on high streets and at Germany’s ubiquitous outdoor Christmas markets.

The group launched a new website this year in time for the season, which lays out the stark differences between Santa and the real Saint Nick. The website is drawing 12,000 unique registers per month from around the world.

Candies vs chocolates
And the movement is rivaling traditional Santa candies with chocolate figurines wrapped in foil bearing the image of Nicholas the bishop dressed in a miter and a flowing robe, clutching a staff and Bible.

Schommer said the downturn in the global economy had already muted the shop-till-you-drop mood that usually reigns at Christmas.

He reported rampant interest in the Santa-Free Zone stickers and Nicholas chocolates in Germany, the rest of Europe and North America.

“There are several interesting parallels with the financial crisis, which also shows at the end of the day that material wealth is ephemeral,” Schommer said.

“Investing in stocks can make your money disappear in a flash but the values that Saint Nicholas stood for—that giving to others makes you richer and not poorer—is something that endures.”

Not on ropes yet
But Santa says he’s not on the ropes yet.
“You can’t have Christmas without Santa!” Peter Georgi, 66, told Agence France Presse on a break from playing Father Christmas at Berlin’s top department store KaDeWe.

The white-bearded Georgi with a mischievous smile said he had learned in his eight years on the job that even adults seemed to feel a little magic in his presence.

“Santa is not here trying to pull money out of people’s pockets. Children, adults and even old people come especially to see me every year. Santa will always be a part of the joy of the holidays.”

Agence France-Presse

source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20081224-179882/St-Nick-gains-on-Santa-Claus

Is this an Extraterrestrial Message?

ET Contact? Extraterrestrials are not insensitive because they themselves are consistent with their attempt to send us their replies to our queries. Scientists say we didn't receive any message from outer space though we are bombarded with many coded messages as we see them with our own eyes. We don't need to be very telepathic to receive their messages but all we need to know now is what those messages from afar wanted us to know. In 1974, a powerful broadcast was beamed into space from the Arecibo Radio Telescope, Puerto Rico. The transmission consisted of a simple pictorial message aimed at the globular star cluster M13. This cluster is roughly 21,000 light-years from us, near the edge of the Milky Way galaxy, and contains approximately a third of a million stars. This was a very powerful emission, equivalent to a 20 trillion watt omni directional broadcast using Arecibo's megawatt transmitter attached to its 305 meter antenna, concentrating the beam in a very narrow funnel of the sky. The emission, that could be detectable just about anywhere in the galaxy within that funnel, would have been detectable by a receiver similar in size to Arecibo's. This transmission was the strongest man-made signal ever sent. .. and NOW WE RECEIVED THE REPLY.

For complete details click here http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread340541/pg1

Ghosts Voices in Songs

Two different songs with EVPs have been shared to me. The owner said the songs were transferred via bluetooth from a phone with mp3 player to another phone. The songs played ok meaning no sound distortions done by EVPs with the source but when listened with the other phone-mp3 player, the EVPs were into them. My theory about this though I would consider this a rare event of EVP recording, the entities from other worlds (ghosts) might have distorted the soundwaves when the songs were at its frequency when transfered thru bluetooth technology and manifested their voices when the songs finally transferred to the other phone. I also had personal paranormal experience about these EVPs because the first time I uploaded the song "Don't Give Up on Us", I was sure the EVP was included but when I played it using the Media Player, it didn't work. In fact, when I listened to it, for some unexplained reason, other song was added replacing the EVP.

1. Don't Give Up On Us with EVP
http://misteryo.multiply.com/music/item/232

2. How Deep is Your Love with EVP
http://misteryo.multiply.com/music/item/238

Electronic Voice Phenomena

Otherwise known as EVP, electronic voice phenomena is the recording of mysterious voices from "beyond." Here's what it is, how it works and how you can experiment with it.

Electronic voice phenomena - or EVP - is a mysterious event in which human-sounding voices from an unknown source are heard on recording tape, in radio station noise and other electronic media. Most often, EVPs have been captured on audiotape. The mysterious voices are not heard at the time of recording; it is only when the tape is played back that the voices are heard. Sometimes amplification and noise filtering is required to hear the voices.

Some EVP is more easily heard and understood than others. And they vary in gender (men and women), age (women and children), tone and emotion. They usually speak in single-words, phrases and short sentences. Sometimes they are just grunts, groans, growling and other vocal noises. EVP has been recorded speaking in various languages.

The quality of EVP also varies. Some are difficult to distinguish and are open to interpretation as to what they are saying. Some EVP, however, are quite clear and easy to understand. EVP often has an electronic or mechanical character to it; sometimes it is natural sounding. The quality of EVP is categorized by researchers:

• Class A: Easily understood by almost anyone with little or no dispute. These are also usually the loudest EVPs.
• Class B: Usually characterized by warping of the voice in certain syllables. Lower in volume or more distant sounding than Class A. Class B is the most common type of EVP.
• Class C: Characterized by excessive warping. They are the lowest in volume (often whispering) and are the hardest to understand.

The most fascinating aspect of EVP is that the voices sometimes respond directly to the persons making the recording. The researchers will ask a question, for example, and the voice will answer or comment. Again, this response is not heard until later when the tape is played back.

Where do the voices come from?

That, of course, is the mystery. No one knows. Some theories are:

• They are voices of people who have died. This is why many researchers go to cemeteries seeking EVPs (and often with great success). In this context, the phenomenon is sometimes called instrumental transcommunication or ITC.
• They are from another dimension. It is theorized that there may be many dimensions of existence, and somehow beings from some other dimension are able to speak and communicate with ours through this method. A good question is, however: How do they know English and other languages of our dimension?
• They come from the researchers' own subconscious. It's been suggested that somehow the researchers' thoughts are projected onto the tape.
• Some people believe that these voices are angelic or demonic in origin.
• Skeptics assert that there is nothing to EVP at all - that the "voices" are either hoaxed, random noise interpreted as voices, real voices already on the tape, or voices picked up from radio, cell phones and other such sources.

More about EVPs, click the link: http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa020303a.htm

EDSA Omen: Messages from Beyond

Bad or good omen? Whatever it is? Definitely, the unusual "snafu" in the 22nd Anniversary of 1986 EDSA People Power 1 last February 25, 2008 could be messages from beyond. Messages to all Filipinos about the present political crisis in the country. It could be the worst case scenario to come if the crisis is not resolved by peaceful means.

There are three incidents considered to be omens or signs about what could happen in the political situation in the country.

First. the Philippine flag rose to half-mast and refused to go any further. As the flag raisers tugged at the string, it snapped, causing the flag to fall to the ground.

Interpretation: Raising the flag but it stopped at a half-mast could mean a "half-mast" situation (half-mast usually a symbol of grief, pain or sorrow due to violence or death). The snapping of string could mean opposing forces in the country that could lead to a chaotic situation. It could also mean a fall of the people involve in the political crisis and fall of our nation from the present economic status.

Second. During the latter part of the program, a singer performed nationalistic songs like “Magkaisa” and “Bayan Ko” that were symbolic of the bloodless revolt against the Marcos dictatorship in 1986. But in the middle of his singing, the sound system malfunctioned, and the male crooner just had to sing a capella.

Interpretation: There are no reasons at the moment to celebrate because of the political crisis we are facing. Logically, there is no such thing as "pagkakaisa" ng "bayan ko". The situation could lead to more sacrifices among Filipinos to retain the spirit of oneness in the country but with extra efforts (acapella).

Third. the confetti supposed to be showered down on the people from a helicopter at the end of the program dropped in large clumps like rocks, eliciting laughter from the crowd, many of whom had to run for cover to avoid getting hit by the blocks of paper falling from the sky.


Interpretation: We are trying to hide the real political situation in the country especially those in power. They keep trying to smile and celebrate thru confettis but in fact we are doing some things to hurt ourselves like rocks. We are not doing anything to resolve the issues, we just laugh at the situation and those people involved in any scandalous activity but failed to realize that it affects us all in this country.

More about the article: http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=20080225103&type=2