Our use of lights from candles, bonfires, and holiday strings are rooted in the chasing of the darkness in the depths of the longest night at Solstice. Many of us are loathe to take down our winter festival lights until we see visible signs of lengthening days.

It seems inappropriate to post beautiful photos of Galeries Lafayette in Paris, but it is so wonderful.

Christmas is similar to what we had in the US and different.

Forgive me if you knew this stuff already.
The Christian right is so convinced of their victimhood, regardless of the facts, that they must invent examples of how they are under siege. For example, on today's Breibart:
Canadian Imam: Muslims Saying ‘Merry Christmas’ Worse Than Murder