Categories
hopkinsville rant

Creeping X-mas

christmas rush
The Reason for the Season

My Pastor at Christian Heights, Rev. Marion, preached against the commercialization of Christmas. During the first part of her sermon, Rev. Marion argues against the ‘Creeping X-mas’. The fact that Christmas decorations are put out earlier and earlier every year. I do mean ‘X-mas’ deliberately. That is Christmas without Christ. The X-mas decorations you see in department stores across the country are populated with Santas, elves, candy canes, and reindeer. If there are manger figures displayed at all The Infant is outnumbered ten to one. I’m afraid that even with reinforcements from Mary, Joseph, the Wise Men, and the shepherds Christmas couldn’t win a pitched battle against X-mas on the store shelf. Putting out cheaply made Santa figurines in September is a safe bet because Santa doesn’t stand for anything worth fighting for. If freedom… If God… If an idea is worth fighting for then someone will be offended by it.

Later Rev. Marion argues that Creeping X-mas is evidence that people are crying out for God. People are lonely and often the act of collecting more stuff is the method of running away from it. This isn’t true for corporations though. The purpose of a corporation is to make money and even better if they make a lot of money. Very rarely do the business decisions in a corporation ever have a moral dimension. Why does business run seven days a week now but didn’t years ago? Why do you think more retail businesses are staying open on Thanksgiving? The decision makers at Sears are obviously chasing the almighty dollar as fast as they can go.

reconquer America
Reconquer America

Creeping X-mas… because the culture war doesn’t stop ever.

Categories
hopkinsville

Shock: The Weatherman Got it Right

snow on the hood of my car
First snow of Winter

Shock! Really! There was snow in the forecast and when I woke up this morning there was snow on the ground. Amazing!

The general rule in Kentucky is to believe the opposite of what the forecast tells you when there is the possibility of snow. Significant snow accumulation is usually nixed when temperature and moisture don’t come together simultaneously. If it’s cold enough there will not be enough precipitation or it will be too warm and it falls as rain.

Categories
rant

If it’s free why should I pay for it?

free xm radio
Give it away for free!

My car came pre-installed with an XM satellite radio. Every few months I get new offers/pleas to re-activate my radio. Sirius-XM offers two weeks free. They also offer 5 months of service for $20. $20 is a great deal for someone who will use the service a lot more than I do. Beyond just my disinterest in subscribing, I wonder if Sirius-XM will still be operating in the long-term.

Offering a free trial is a good way to gain more business but I think Sirius-XM has made this offer so often that it doesn’t gain them anything. I listened to XM last year when they gave it away during the Christmas season.  I enjoyed it while the free trial was there but I still didn’t care to subscribe. During the third quarter of this year the service added 334,000 subscribers. Though these subscribers likely aren’t worth much since they probably came in via deeply discounted offers like the one I have.

I don’t know if satellite radio is going to work in the long-term but it is silly to give away free service so often.