An Open Letter RE: Christmas

I am utterly sick of Christmas - totally, and absolutely sick of it. I quite think I might literally explode if I hear just one more person say “Merry Christmas”. Merry Christmas - bah!

It’s not the religious side of things - that’s ok with me. I’m not what you’d call a Christian, but each to their own. No, I don’t mind the carols, or even the hypocrisy of the once-a-year church-goers. Once a year is better than never I guess.

I don’t mind the other side of it either - the economy of the throwaway society - the rustle of paper on Christmas morning, the twinkle of tinsel, the coloured glow of fairy lights. It’s just harmless fun.

No, my problem with Christmas is the food. In this so-called time of goodwill and kindness, ordinary people transform into gluttons. They eat and eat and then they eat even more. That’s bad enough but what really gets me is just what they eat. Goodwill they say yet they sit down and eat your brother, or your sister - licking their lips and salivating. They eat my family and dribble the juice of their being down their chins while they laugh and spread good cheer! And then - and then they eat you. Good will? Not from my perspective. A time of gratuitous over-indulgence at the expense of others - at the expense of us. Merry Christmas? Bah!

I am praying - very hard - to whatever Gods might hear and pay heed to a lowly victim like me.

Great God of the consumed,
Save me and my family from these uncaring consumers.
We are the victims of joy, the sufferers of human joy.
Please, great God, save us.

With great respect and love,
The Christmas Pudding.

Unlawful Killing

On Wednesday, coroner Peter Wright instructed the jury at the inquest of the death of Jean Charles de Menezesthat they could not return a verdict of unlawful killing.

I do not know the exact details of this case except to say that a man was shot and killed. Whether it was justified or not remains to be seen. But to direct the verdict in this way seems to me to be a violation not only of human rights and of the very legal system, but also of the truth.

What is the point of an inquest if not to determine the truth? If direction is given that any particular possible truth must be discounted - regardless of the facts - then this marks the biggest victory of the terrorist handed to them on a plate by those who should be protecting us.

Shortly after this occurrance, I created a short story based (very very loosely) on this case. It is not indicative of what happened in the case of Jean Charles de Menezesthat, because I do not have those facts. It is, however, a statement of possibility - something that the courts appear to not wish to know about.

I invite you all to read that story now. It's called Da'ud (Dave)

I feel it is even more relevant today than ever.