I've heard of people looting churches...

...but I usually figured they were after the communion silver!

A unique Polish Christmas carol from 17th century, which was stolen by Swedish troops during their invasion of Poland in 1655, had a premiere at a concert in Stockholm.

The lyrics were discovered in the Skokloster Castle, near the Swedish capital, where they lay forgotten for almost 350 years. Written in old Polish language, the carol had to be modernized to be understood by contemporary Poles. Music was also composed to suit the old octosyllabic verse.

OK, this sort of thing bothers me.

The Globetrotter can't understand why I loathe Marketplace (NPR's business news program). Partly it's because I hate its promotion of the Cult of Business, which worships and adores anything and everything having to do with making money, and either strips every happening or event of any context or meaning except profit or actively perverts things that have nothing to do with finance or business into some crippled, sickly version of themselves that is all about How To Make More Money. I have a special hatred of selfishness and greed, and corporate greed is in the top five of my list of Most Evil Things Ever. So that's the main reason I detest Marketplace.

But another reason I hate it is because they treat facts casually and recklessly or outright distort or lie about them. Case in point: today their "short" in the main NPR news had a snippet interview/factoid with an economist (?) about healthcare. He posed the question "In ten years, what will the average American family of four pay for health insurance?" and gave four possible alternatives, the largest of which, $31,000, was the answer. He stated that this was the projected cost of premiums for employer-provided health coverage in 2020. He then 'discussed' this with the 'interviewer' who 'asked' him, among other things, what the average American family earns, to which the 'economist' replied "$51,000".

[The scorn quotes are there because, although it was staged as an interview, the two of them were clearly reading from a script.]

So it sounds as if health insurance costs are going to take up a huge chunk of family income, right? about 60% of income, right?

Not so fast. ( Read more... )

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Blogs like this one are a prime example of why I LOVE history! There is so much to learn and know about the different facets of life in prior times. It's why I'm a huge xenophile as well--the past *is* a different country, but so are different countries, and different parts of the same country.

People and the structures they create (social, religious, political, and physical) really are fascinating.

As well as frequently maddening.

And occasionally horrifying.