Hard work: what is that?

Albert Einstein was staring at a candle when he came up with his famous equation on mass and energy; Isaac Newton was taking a nap under an apple tree when the Theory of Gravity dawned upon him. Pulitzer price winner John McPhee gets his most brilliant ideas while lying face up on a picnic table and Archimedes was enjoying a well deserved bath when his brain suddenly went "Eureka!"

Does that make these brilliant people lazy 'because they don't work hard!'? Can you call what these people did and do 'mindfullness'? Maybe. No matter what you call them and their methods, they seem(ed) to realize that the mind needs rest to come to its full potential. 

"Yeah, but if you don't constantly work hard, you'll never be rich!" is a myth. 

Do you often 'rest your mind'? And no, mindlessly staring at something on Netflix or scrolling through Tik Tok does absolutely not give your mind its much needed rest. On the contrary. These non-actions produce hormones that overactivate your brain. Not good. 

"Yeah, but if I don't constantly work, I'm not productive!" Nonsense. A fairy tale, told by managers to their [slaves] workers at some mine or factory a thousand years ago. We need breaks on regular intervals to rejuvinate, to be able to stay active, to be able to think clearly. 

What is your favourite way of taking a short break from work?

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Happy holidays!

Happy Holidays! And no, hypocrites, Christmas is not the only holiday in the world celebrated this time of year. FYI: it's a mix of Saturnalia, Pagan rituals and capitalist inventions. 

The first US christians (their much revered Pilgrim Fathers) fiercely opposed any kind of celebration.  Especially Christmas. And especially when it included drinking alcohol and dancing. So, are you a 'true Christian' or just a dumb hypocrite? 

Either way, happy holidays!

Oh, and Santa is a capitalist invention by Coca Cola:

Their marketing agency was tasked to find a way to sell more of the drink in winter by appealing to the European heritage of Americans. Thus they combined the different stories of Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Father Winter, Father Time and some Scandinavian- and central European folk tales and created the monstrosity known as Santa.

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Real patriots!

MAGA Christian Extremists Learn Trump's Kids Are Jewish https://buff.ly/40eWlnH

Nat C's are really funny. And thank you Betty Bowers for coming up with Nat. C's as abbreviation for Nationalist Christians. They hate Islam 'because it's a foreign religion!' and apparently think Jesus was from Arkansas and was a 'true American patriot!'

Being a modern day 'Real patriot!' means you'll do anything for your country, right? You support your country - and your country alone - to the full extent of your capabilities, right?

As a 'True patriot!" you hate it when your government supports other nations. So no military or financial support for foreigners, only for your own people because that's what things should be like if you're a 'Real patriot!'

So why do so many 'Real patriots!' proudly wave flags of other nations than their own?

And perhaps I missed it and the geo-political situation changed overnight: but is Is-rael a US state? Or is the US a Provence of Is-rael? 

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Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

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"We hate black people. That's why we demand Black Pete stays black!"

Ah, Krampus! 

Now, thère's a fun tradition! And the inspiration for Zwarte Piet punishing naughty kids. The character just started out as a single 'Moor' (18th century lingo for any people born in North Africa and other 'arabian' countries). Basically invented by Jan Schenk, teacher and writer of children's books. Also responsible for most 'Sinterklaas' songs. 

Only stupid people think that traditionally traditions don't change. But of course they do. Always. For instance: the tradition of Sinterklaas evolved into this thing Americans call 'Santa Claus'. 'Centuries ago!' in the 1950s.

Here's the evolution of 'Sinterklaas en Zwarte Piet' over the [millennia] [centuries] decades. No, it's not a hundreds of years old tradition. Only wappies think so.  

Since r4cists got their way less, this has become the most common image:

And who knows what the future holds? 

After all: Sinterklaas was a bishop, born in Myra, in nowadays Turkey. So his skin colour was most likely not 'white'. 

Without Jan Schenk, Saint Nicholas would still pass people's houses with a develish figure (hello, Krampus!) to scare the living daylight out of children, spanking the lady of the house by hitting her on the bare bum with his rod or 'roede' in Dutch. Which is old Dutch not only for 'staff' but also for a part of the male anatomy. 

Before I rave on: now you know why many Dutch children born in September in the late Middle Ages looked a lot like Father Pastor. 

By the way: here's the Saint Nicholas church in Amsterdam. 

Fun fact: the inspiration for Santa Claus, Saint Nicolas, was patron saint of children, sailors, the city of Amsterdam and sexworkers. For older people: it's how prostitutes are now addressed.

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Want to read (more of) my short stories? My author page: Terrence Weijnschenk at Amazon

A donation (click) is much appreciated: