For the Naughty Ladies Out There

Ed Sheeran - Under the Tree

Santa Stressing Out

Christmas is Coming!

Disney's Acquiescence to Trump Signals a Shift in the Culture Wars?

Over the weekend came the news that ABC News had decided (surprisingly) to settle Trump’s defamation litigation against the network. Disney additionally released a statement expressing “regret” for anchor George Stephanopoulos’ on-air claim that Trump was found liable in court for “rape.” 

Experts on media law told The New York Times that traditionally media outlets fight suits harder than ABC had chosen to do.  ABC's decision is in line with recent media outlets capitulating to the Orange Jesus.  Last month, the L.A. Times, along with The Washington Post (owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos), both spiked endorsements of Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the election.  

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, and X’s Elon Musk have also publicly praised Trump’s win (Musk having  spent millions to help engineer it), raising serious concerns about the impartiality of the platforms the men own.   For his part, Trump has now threatened future defamation lawsuits against the media. Among his targets are The Des Moines Register, “60 Minutes,” reporter Bob Woodward, and the Pulitzer Prizes in retaliation for reporting by The Washington Post and New York on Russia’s role in attempting to influence the 2016 election.

ABC's settlement with Trump could only have been with Disney chief Bob Iger’s consent, and that we might be entering a new era at Disney-- one where the company’s social activism gets tampered down for a more populist approach to creative content. This is evidenced by new reporting that Disney's Pixar removed a transgender character’s storyline from their upcoming “Win or Lose” animated film.

A spokesperson for Disney confirmed that the “Win or Lose” story arc was removed, saying "When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline." This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, as earlier this year Iger said that he wanted to “quiet things down” at Disney “after years of culture wars.” This seemed to be in reference to the company having been accused of promoting a “woke agenda” in their movies. 

 

The War on Santa

A British priest has been forced to apologize after telling a group of schoolchildren aged 10 and 11 that Father Christmas was not real. Pupils reportedly began to sob as Reverend Paul Chamberlain made comments during a Religious Education lesson at Lee-on-the-Solent Junior School in Hampshire.

One parent described his talk as "absolutely disgusting", while another said her daughter reckoned the priest was mistaken and had "lost the plot", The Times reported.  The Anglican Diocese of Portsmouth said Rev Chamberlain accepted it was an "error of judgement".

A 10-year-old pupil, quoted in The Times, said some children "gasped" during the lesson, in which they were also told that parents ate the cookies left out for Santa.  One parent told the newspaper: "I don't know how it can be undone, but I think it's absolutely disgusting. "I don't want him anywhere near my daughter. I hope he never comes into the school again."

In a statement, a diocese spokesperson said: "We understand that the vicar of St Faith's, Lee-on-the-Solent, the Rev Paul Chamberlain, was leading an RE lesson for 10 and 11-year-olds at Lee-on-Solent Junior School.  After talking about the Nativity story from the Bible, he made some comments about the existence of Father Christmas.  Paul has accepted that this was an error of judgement, and he should not have done so.  He apologized unreservedly to the school, to the parents and to the children, and the headteacher immediately wrote to all parents to explain this."

 

Amy Grant - When I Think of Christmas