{"id":301009,"date":"2024-12-27T08:24:35","date_gmt":"2024-12-27T08:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=301009"},"modified":"2024-12-29T09:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-29T09:30:00","slug":"this-christmas-in-the-new-normal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=301009","title":{"rendered":"This Christmas in the New Normal"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Off-Guardian \u2013 Dec 25, 2024<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>Welcome to our third Christmas edition of <em>This Week<\/em>, where we pull out just the most seasonal, tinseliest headlines we can find, take a step back, and laugh at just what a clown world we\u2019re all suddenly living in.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>1. Wood Burning Stoves Cause Cancer<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Anyone following British news or social media for the last two weeks has probably already seen this story \u2013 we mentioned it in our story on the Great Reset:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Terrifying cancer risk of trendy wood burning stoves \u2013 as experts warn they are UK\u2019s biggest source of dangerous air pollution<\/p>\n<p>Wood-burning stoves are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/health\/article-14164935\/cancer-risk-trendy-wood-burning-stoves-pollution.html#:~:text=Researchers%2C%20who%20tracked%20over%2050%2C000,risk%20increase%2068%20per%20cent.\">\u201cmore polluting than cars\u201d<\/a> now, they cause cancer. And birth deformities. And asthma. And make \u201clong covid\u201d worse.<\/p>\n<p>We need rules. And bans. And more rules. And more bans. Yes, OK, we already have regulations on wood burning, but they don\u2019t enforce them enough, and <em>\u201cthese people will only stop when they are made to\u201d<\/em>:<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">What kind of people burn wood when the Royal College of Paediatricians have asked them not to, for the sake of children\u2019s health? Your middle class London neighbours, that\u2019s who. They won\u2019t stop until they\u2019re made to. Story by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/horton_official?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@horton_official<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/d7UNMgiYgP\">https:\/\/t.co\/d7UNMgiYgP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Fiona Harvey (@fionaharvey) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fionaharvey\/status\/1869666063249555474?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n&#8212;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>I just can\u2019t believe we\u2019ve lived to see a time where \u201cthese people\u201d is being used to venomously describe people who\u2026*checks notes*\u2026burn wood to keep warm.<\/p>\n<p>This is all about clean air, you understand, and not even slightly about the fact wood burning stoves offer energy and fuel independence. That\u2019s just paranoia.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>2. \u2026and so do scented candles<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Now, maybe you\u2019re thinking, \u201cOK, so maybe my woodburner is illegal now, at least my cinnamon candles make it feel like Christmas\u201d. No such luck, because here comes the Conversation with their mood-killing candle-snuffer:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Scented candles and holiday fragrances may actually harm your home\u2019s air quality<\/p>\n<p>The research is one of those pieces of research which abandons logic in pursuit of some higher truth, and includes this gem of a sentence:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">If equal weights of cigarette and incense sticks are burned, the incense sticks produce around four times as much particulate matter as the cigarettes<\/p>\n<p>Wonderful exemplar of the madness of \u201cThe Science\u201d, the juxtaposition of technical truth with complete abandonment of reason. Totally disregarding a) that equal weights of incense and cigarettes are not burned, b) the differing nature and composition of their \u201cparticulate\u201d or c) the fact people <em>don\u2019t put incense sticks in their mouths<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, don\u2019t even think about staying warm or smelling nice. You\u2019ll get cancer. And die.<\/p>\n<p>Look out for \u201cimproving our air quality\u201d to be a major talking point in 2025. More bans coming.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>3. Merry Surveillance and a Happy New World<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In the spirit of giving this Holiday Season, the British government has decided to gift us all the long-term comfort of security by promoting their digital ID platform!<\/p>\n<p>From their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/pubgoers-given-choice-to-prove-age-with-phones-next-year-in-boost-for-high-street-and-hospitality-sectors\">press release<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">Christmas celebrations are set to get a digital upgrade next year, as the UK government plans to roll out a new law allowing pub and bar-goers, as well as shoppers, to use their phones to prove their age when buying alcohol, should they wish to do so. People can continue to use physical forms of ID if they prefer.<\/p>\n<p>See how it\u2019s going to work?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s just like the smoking ban, where each year the minimum age to buy cigarettes increases, except in reverse.<\/p>\n<p>If digital ID is the easiest way for young people to prove their age and get drunk, they\u2019ll never need to make it mandatory. Each year the next crop of 18-year-olds will volunteer to be cattle tagged so they can go out drinking with their friends.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the physical ID that \u201cpeople can continue to use if they prefer\u201d will be increasingly expensive, subject to longer and longer waiting times to acquire, and probably expire more quickly. Not to mention how bad for the environment the Guardian will tell everyone it is.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>4. A Very Climate Christmas<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Speaking of the Guardian, did you know <em>\u201caverage Briton produces 23 times more CO2 on Christmas Day\u201d<\/em>?<\/p>\n<p>Of course you didn\u2019t. That\u2019s because the Guardian <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2024\/dec\/24\/average-briton-causes-23-times-more-co2-on-christmas-day-study-reveals#:~:text=This%20carnival%20of%20consumption%20has,emissions%20than%20a%20regular%20day.\">just paid some people to make it up<\/a>. Sorry, they \u201ccommissioned researchers to write a report\u201d which is totally different.<\/p>\n<p>However it happened, the math exists and is vaguely described. It doesn\u2019t really make any sense if you think about it for five minutes, but we don\u2019t <em>have<\/em> five minutes. The author quickly rushes us past the numbers and into the opinions.<\/p>\n<p>The Graun has rounded up a few people to talk about how bad Christmas is for the planet. That includes the appropriately named Melanie Nazareth, who warns that people are conditioned into mass consumerism at Christmas time:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">\u201cWe have been deliberately sold a vision of Christmas that is based on material consumption. We are constantly bombarded by advertising and media that tells us that if we aren\u2019t spending money on things, we are not doing Christmas properly\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Which, to be fair, is a more than reasonable point, if only she didn\u2019t add:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">\u2026This is destroying the whole meaning of Christmas <strong>as well as destroying the planet.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I just can\u2019t shake the image of Klaus Schwab, the Ghost of Resets Past, hanging in the air, rattling his chains and wailing <em>\u201cyooouuuu will ooooown nothing and beeee happyyyyy!\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Makes it an uncomfortable read.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>BONUS: Scary Turkey Germs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Just when you thought, maybe, you could have a meal or even an entire day without having to be frightened \u2013 here comes <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/ppSDJ#selection-1071.0-1071.186\">the Daily Mail<\/a> to scream:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">How your Christmas turkey leaves the kitchen smeared with food poisoning bugs: Grim photos reveal exactly where bacteria spreads \u2013 and will make you think twice about scoffing mince pies<\/p>\n<p>The article itself is a joke. They smear blue stuff on someone\u2019s hands, have them use the kitchen, then show the pictures of blue stuff everywhere and say \u201cImagine this was bacteria! It got everywhere!\u201d like that means something.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Christmas Recommendations<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>I like to go outside the box with my Christmas suggestions, nobody needs to hear how good The Muppet Christmas Carol or It\u2019s a Wonderful Life are anymore, do they?<\/p>\n<p>In that vein, I would suggest <em>Click and Collect<\/em> as some gentle, well-meaning fun. Stephen Merchant is always funny. For the edgier side of Christmas, a BBC series of Robert Powell <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_Pwke3oBIW4\">reading MR James\u2019 Ghost Stories<\/a> is on YouTube and is fantastic.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve also been very interested in medieval\/Tudor Christmas and really enjoy listening to Thys Yool, an album of old medieval Christmas music:<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bIpzwSAn_NY?si=jTl2iUUVVryu_jg2\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n&#8212;<\/div>\n<p>All told a pretty hectic Holiday Season for our New Normal World, and we didn\u2019t even mention the <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2024\/12\/24\/middleeast\/middle-east-syria-jerusalem-christmas-intl-latam\/index.html\">Christmas tree being burned<\/a> in newly liberated Syria or racist dangers of <a href=\"https:\/\/uk.news.yahoo.com\/confederate-christmas-ornaments-smaller-statues-172252363.html\">confederate Christmas decorations<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Merry Christmas Everyone.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>Support Off-Guardian:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/offguardian\">Ko-fi<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.subscribestar.com\/offguardian\">Subscribestar<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/donate\/?hosted_button_id=CKFB3MH8CGB9U\">Paypal<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/off-guardian.org\/2024\/12\/25\/this-christmas-in-the-new-normal-3\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A selection of seasonal headlines that reflect the deranged times we live in  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":301011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-301009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-Commentary","category-Current_Affairs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=301009"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":301015,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301009\/revisions\/301015"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/301011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=301009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=301009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=301009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}