In The News December Week 3
ABORIGINAL PEOPLES
Two out of three children in detention in Queensland are Indigenous
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are still "grossly over-represented" in the youth justice system.
'I'm scared we're creating another Stolen Generation'
What can a kindergarten teach a court? A young Aboriginal man finds out as he tries to save a generation of Indigenous kids from institutional care.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-19/what-can-a-kindergarten-teach-a-court/9164984
Turnbull Claims Uluru Statement Was A "Take It Or Leave It" Offer On Indigenous Recognition
The Australian prime minister has rejected a call to rethink the government's dismissal of the Uluru Statement From The Heart.
Closing the Gap targets face overhaul
The federal government is canvassing the views of Aboriginal Australians as it revamps its Closing the Gap agenda, recognising the original targets were created without consultation.
Why does Australia let its ancient history be destroyed?
Australia is home to ancient history that has outlasted the Egyptians and Romans, but not enough is done to preserve it. Triple J newsreader Brooke Boney returns to sites that are not only barely known, but actively destroyed.
SA Museum moves on remains of 3600 Aboriginal people held in its care
Indigenous disadvantage is driven by a lack of participation in the Australian economy
Warren Mundine
Recently I began hosting a new Sky News program, Mundine Means Business, featuring indigenous-owned businesses from across Australia.
We're facing a crisis, but judging Aboriginal people as bad parents won't fix it
Hannah McGlade
Today's child protection system still doesn't see the strength of Aboriginal culture and it risks repeating past wrongs
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-21/forced-removal-aboriginal-children-at-all-time-high/9277170
We’re not closing the gap on Indigenous employment, it’s widening
Zoe Staines, Queensland University of Technology
To Close the Gap, Indigenous Australians are the experts. Indigenous organisations are more likely to achieve outcomes because they understand local issues and have ‘skin in the game’.
https://theconversation.com/were-not-closing-the-gap-on-indigenous-employment-its-widening-89302
ASYLUM SEEKERS
Asylum seekers win right to sue PNG over illegal detention
Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court gives asylum seekers the right to pursue a compensation claim against the PNG government for illegally detaining them on Manus Island.
Human Rights Of Those Detained By Australia On Manus Have Been Breached, PNG Court Rules
"This will cost the Australian government, politically and financially,” advocates say.
Calls to adopt child abuse inquiry's recommendations on immigration detention
Government urged to implement child safety standards after royal commission makes several recommendations relating to immigration department
Fact check: Does Australia run the most generous refugee program per capita in the world?
Coalition Senator George Brandis says that "Australia, per capita, runs the most generous refugee and humanitarian migration program in the world". Is he correct? RMIT ABC Fact Check runs the numbers.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-21/fact-check-george-brandis-refugees-per-capita/9241276
Hotter temperatures will accelerate migration of asylum-seekers to Europe, says study
EU could face a massive influx by 2100 if carbon emissions hold steady
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/cu-htw121917.php
Manus and Nauru refugees aren't fashion victims, they're Peter Dutton's victims
Crispin Hull
The Immigration Minister wants us to know that some asylum seekers wear Armani.
Australia’s role in helping those a world away
Antony Balmain
Twenty-five years ago I reported from the frontline of a war in Karen State, eastern Myanmar.
CHARITY AND WELFARE
Top Philanthropic Gifts of 2017
In 2017 Australia received its largest ever philanthropic donation from a living Australian, in a year that saw universities, medical research and the performing arts as the top targets for individual giving.
https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2017/12/top-philanthropic-gifts-2017/
The Charity Year of Change – 2017
While Australian politics saw a year of turmoil and controversy, the Australian charity sector experienced a year of major change and adjustment, in an environment where advocacy was firmly under the spotlight
https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2017/12/charity-year-change-2017/
The Challenges of Change: How NFPs Can Evolve
Chris Wilson
The greatest challenge any organisation faces is maintaining its core purpose, while being able to adapt and change with the times
https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2017/12/challenges-change-nfps-can-evolve/
Government Right to Dump ‘In Australia’ Legislation
Krystian Seibert
The decision not to proceed with the so-called In Australia legislation supports international giving whilst maintaining appropriate safeguards
https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2017/12/government-right-dump-australia-legislation/
Turnbull government's holiday plan to silence criticism from charities
Jenna Price
Corporate giants like Adani are far likelier to harm this country than groups like St Vinnies.
Good intentions are being punished over politics
Jane Fynes-Clinton
The Federal Government’s crackdown on foreign interference should never have included the charity sector in its dragnet.
CHILD ABUSE
Pope says sex abuse royal commission findings should be 'studied in depth'
Pope Francis says the findings of Australia's child sex abuse royal commission "deserve to be studied in depth", after the Catholic Church was urged to overhaul its traditions, including confessional and celibacy, in the final report.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-16/pope-francis-responds-to-royal-commission-report/9265466
Calls to allow prisoners access to abuse compensation
Advocates criticise the Turnbull Government's decision to block some victims of child sexual abuse in prison from applying for redress, as the focus of yesterday's royal commission findings turns to compensation.
'Abused 30 times, or 3,000 times — how can you put a figure on that?'
Survivors of institutional sexual abuse fear a system of monetary payments will see their abuse ranked by dollar value under a redress scheme proposed by the royal commission.
Violent and sexually 'defective': A long history of abuse at the hands of the Christian Brothers
Brothers from male-only religious orders outnumber priests in historic child abuse allegations involving the Catholic Church. Despite the forensic efforts of the royal commission, the operations of the most prolific offenders remain shrouded in secrecy.
Low proof on child sex compo
The burden of proof for child sex abuse compensation claims has been kept low to avoid high legal costs.
Royal commission provides an opportunity to improve youth mental health
Patrick McGorry
The release of the report from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has created an unprecedented opportunity for Australia to dramatically reduce the burden of mental illness and all of its consequences.
The royal commission’s final report has landed – now to make sure there is an adequate redress scheme
Ben Mathews, Queensland University of Technology
The royal commission has performed its task with distinction – now it is up to governments and institutions to ensure those efforts are matched with a redress scheme.
The Catholic Church’s denial continues to run deep
Paul Syvret
As Australia saw last week with the release of the final report of the royal commission into child abuse, we have for decades allowed our religious institutions to foster a culture of endemic abuse, where the most heinous crimes have been covered up, the perpetrators quietly moved elsewhere, and in which institutional reputation was more important than the wellbeing of the child.
Sexist blindness stands in the way of action on child abuse in the Church
Stephanie Dowrick
The least suitable man is eligible for ordination to the priesthood over the most suitable woman, simply on account of his gender.
The church’s problem isn't celibacy, it's denial
Marcus Kuczynski
As far as inquiries go, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse has gone where no one was game to go before.
Royal commission sheds light on another uncomfortable truth: harmful sexual behaviour in children
Wendy O'Brien, Deakin University
The royal commission’s work, and the testimony of survivors, has brought to light an issue that has been denied for far too long.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Simulation model finds Cure Violence program and targeted policing curb urban violence
When communities and police work together to deter urban violence, they can achieve better outcomes with fewer resources than when each works in isolation, a simulation model created by researchers at the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the University at Albany has found.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/uoc--smf121417.php
Negative portrayals of shooting victims lead to victim blaming
Negative portrayal of a shooting victim can lead people to blame the victim for his own death and to sympathize with the shooter, says a new study by researchers at Duke University and Simmons College.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/du-npo121817.php
Dump youth prisons and build social housing, Victoria Council of Social Service says
Young people want walkable neighbourhoods, but safety is a worry
Jan Garrard, Deakin University
The benefits of walking are widely promoted, but most Australian communities still aren't walker-friendly. Young people, who rely heavily on walking to get around, are clear about what has to change.
https://theconversation.com/young-people-want-walkable-neighbourhoods-but-safety-is-a-worry-88081
Get tough on the causes of crime to keep offenders from returning to prison
Grant Herring
While youth detention is out of favour with our society generally and an ineffective deterrent to offending behaviours, it could be said that “grown up justice” is no different in regard to prisons.
The dignity of people behind bars should never be negotiable
Ruth Barson
For too long we have maintained a culture of "out of sight, out of mind" when it comes to suffering in prisons.
'If men respected certain boundaries, we would see less violence against women'
Amal Ben Hadda and Johanna Higgs
They agree on many things but the issue of sexual freedom and who gets to exercise it divides two friends from different cultural backgrounds
DEATH AND DYING
Suicidal thoughts rapidly reduced with ketamine, finds study
Ketamine was significantly more effective than a commonly used sedative in reducing suicidal thoughts in depressed patients, according to researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). They also found that ketamine's anti-suicidal effects occurred within hours after its administration.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/cumc-str121417.php
Michael Lee has motor neurone disease. This is what he thinks of euthanasia
Euthanasia is more than just a moral debate for Michael Lee. Because of MND he can't speak or swallow, and needs pressurised air 19 hours a day. And he's given a lot of thought to how he wants to die.
U.S. life expectancy drops for the second year in a row
Life expectancy for the U.S. population decreased in 2016, the second year in a row this measure has dropped.
https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/us-life-expectancy-drops-second-year?tgt=nr
Living with a dying law
The euthanasia bill may have passed but much is yet to be .
Experts say these two things are the secret to living a longer life
Rafael Puyol
We’re too attached to human remains. Let them go, we need the space
Terry Sweetman
What Jewish law says about suicide and assisted dying
Daniel Sinclair, Fordham University
https://theconversation.com/what-jewish-law-says-about-suicide-and-assisted-dying-88687
DISABILITY
Calls to stop sweeping mental health 'under the carpet' amid abuse fears
DIVERSE SEXUALITY
The world is changing the rules on gay men giving blood. Will Australia follow?
An outdated restriction on gay blood donors is being substantially relaxed in the UK, with calls for reform that could open up a badly needed pool of new donors.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2017/12/18/will-australia-allow-gay-men-to-give-blood/
Italian fashion designer Stefano Gabbana says the term ‘gay’ is outdated
Italian fashion designer Stefano Gabbana has shocked the LGBTQ community by revealing in a new interview he no longer wants to be labelled “gay”.
How should Christians love the gay community?
Following Jesus more closely is the key
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/how-should-christians-love-the-gay-community/
More Australian trans stories on our TV screens, please
Joanna Ruth McIntyre, University of the Sunshine Coast
A recent study found only two transgender characters appeared in TV dramas from 2011-2015. When will our television screens reflect a more diverse world?
https://theconversation.com/more-australian-trans-stories-on-our-tv-screens-please-88556
The rainbow in Asia and the fight for gay rights in our region
Michael Kirby
My three weddings: Life as a gay man in China
Rongfeng Duan
In China, gay people are often forced into fake weddings to keep their families happy. But now dozens of them are taking to the high seas to stage mass same-sex marriages on cruise ships in defiance of their country's laws.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-18/my-three-weddings-life-as-a-gay-man-in-china/9259548
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
The secret scourge of family violence and murder in Australian Hindu and Sikh communities
Advocates are attributing an alarming increase in domestic violence in Hindu and Sikh communities to myriad factors, including the influence of ancient texts which relegate women to inferior status, a reluctance by clergy to even raise the subject of family violence, and Australia's failure to outlaw dowry abuse.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-18/scourge-family-violence-in-hindu-and-sikh-communities/9257724
Christmas domestic violence: Family violence expected to increase
Queensland tenancy laws 'ineffective' for victims of domestic violence
DRUGS
Ice epidemic in Queensland creating a wave of domestic violence
ENVIRONMENT
What's behind the rise of minimalist living?
In recent years, the rise of the minimalist movement has seen many people embark on a quest to learn to live with less stuff. So do minimalists, voluntary simplifiers or downshifters know something we don't?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-16/whats-behind-the-rise-in-minimalist-living/9258084
Africa’s new elite force: women gunning for poachers and fighting for a better life
Abused and disadvantaged mothers and daughters are being honed into a squad of sharpshooters to save wildlife in the Zambezi valley
The eco guide to not buying stuff
What do you give to the person who has everything? How about nothing?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/17/the-eco-guide-to-not-buying-stuff
Achieving sustainable resource use attainable through science of cooperation
A new theory explains how societies can achieve environmental sustainability by nurturing cooperation. It is detailed in a series of articles recently published in a special issue of the journal Sustainability Science.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/uom-asr121817.php
Air pollution’s disproportionate effect on poor and minority communities
Air pollution is an unevenly distributed issue.
https://therevelator.org/air-pollution-poor-minority-communities/
World plugs into electricity
Electricity will become the most consumed energy source in the world in the next 23 years.
Losing the wilderness: a 10th has gone since 1992 – and gone for good
A new study warns if the degradation rate continues, all wilderness areas will be at risk over the next 50 years
Time to stand up and take ownership
Liz Evans
Minimalist or materialist; hoarder or declutterer; bargain hunter, fashion addict, technology junkie, op shopper or thrifter; all of us are caught up in patterns of consumption, and most of us have more stuff than we need. But what happens when our stuff gets old, worn out or broken? Do we throw it away and buy a new model? Or do we repair it and give it a new lease of life? How much thought do we give to our shopping habits?
Looking back—and ahead—on toxics
Brian Bienkowski
What to watch on toxics — both at home and abroad — as we look to 2018.
https://www.ehn.org/toxic-chemicals-2018-2517455514.html
FAMILY
Children as young as three are showing signs of ageism
Australian psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg fears society’s portrayal of the elderly as doddering and objects of derision is contributing to the rise in stereotypical prejudice within the young.
From the 16th-century to men’s rights activists, why ‘cuckold’ is the worst thing you can call a man
Una McIlvenna, University of Melbourne
'Cuck', short for cuckold, is the favoured insult of men's rights activists today. But the term has a long history: from the 16th to 18th centuries it reflected a deep anxiety about women's sexual appetites.
FINANCE AND INEQUALITY
Inequality is a threat to our democracies
Income inequality has increased rapidly in North America and Asia, grown moderately in Europe, and stabilised at an extremely high level in the Middle East and Brazil. But there's good news as well.
The evolutionary history of men and women should not prevent us from seeking gender equality
Beatrice Alba, La Trobe University
Evolution has shaped gender differences, but we don't have to be bound to this history. We are not mindless automata, doomed to slavishly oblige our instincts and impulses.
Seven charts on the 2017 budget update
Ross Guest, Griffith University
https://theconversation.com/seven-charts-on-the-2017-budget-update-89014
Does cutting company tax increase wages?
Bernard Keane
No. No it does not.
Scott Morrison is cooking up porkie pies for Christmas
Alan Austin
https://www.crikey.com.au/2017/12/19/myefo-scott-morrisson-is-cooking-up-porkie-pies-for-christmas/
A budget for millionaires and multinationals, not middle Australia
Jim Chalmers
The MYEFO has revealed that Turnbull doesn't want to do anything about fixing the deficit or debt, and it's going to be regular Australians who pay the price.
Bad data collection means we don’t know how much the middle class is being squeezed by the wealthy
Christopher Sheil, UNSW and Frank Stilwell, University of Sydney
The squeeze on wealth in the middle class by those at the top is a long established trend in international inequality data. But the ABS doesn't provide this information.
Austerity, deficits and the tax the Coalition won't collect
Alan Austin
Australia's uncollected corporate tax revenue almost exactly equals Australia's annual budget deficit.
Trickle-down economics is the only song they know, and we're sick of hearing it
Sally McManus
Trickle-down economics is the only tune Turnbull and Morrison know, and we're tired of it.
Economic vandalism: We're getting dragged into tax race to the bottom
Michael Pascoe
GAMBLING
Tasmanian bookmakers back Labor poker machine reform
Your child could be a secret gambling addict
An annual report from the Gambling Commison found children as young as 11 years of age are “skin gambling” online, with parents completely unaware.
Revealed: minister failed to release gambling harm report despite advice
Tabcorp flags global gambling expansion after $11b Tatts tie-up
Labor pokies ban yet another deal with Greens to destroy jobs
Peter Gutwein
As a Liberal who believes in freedom of choice and individual responsibility, Labor’s vow to spend $55 million of taxpayers’ money closing small businesses and buying out jobs is unfathomable, especially when 99.5 per cent of Tasmanians are not problem gamblers.
White takes big punt on pokies
Rex Gardner
Well done Rebecca White. Labors bombshell pokies policy has done everyone a favour.
Why is Tasmanian Labor promising to ban all pokies that aren't on a boat?
Chris Woods
Tasmanian opposition leader Rebecca White has mapped how Labor plan to get rid of non-casino pokies by 2023. But there are gaps in the play that gambing groups are keen to point out.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2017/12/21/tasmanian-labor-plans-remove-pokies-pubs-clubs/
Once more unto the breach in Tasmanian pub poker machine battle
James Boyce
Last week the Federal Group said its business would be decimated if poker machines were removed from Tasmanian hotels. The irony is that in 1993 the company issued the same threat should poker machines come into the pubs.
Gambling report inaction shows NSW government cowed by pokie industry
Sean Nicholls
HOUSING AND HOMELESS
House prices to slide in 2018 despite jobs boom
Christopher Joye
After forecasting house price rises every year since 2013, I'm happy to double-down on our April 2017 call that the boom is over.
https://www.afr.com/opinion/columnists/housing-to-slide-in-2018-20171214-h04t26
Home loan switch could cause economic headaches as housing screws tighten
Stephen Letts
The push to see interest-only mortgages transition to principal and interest could see repayments jump by 50 per cent — and that could lead to problems in the wider economy.
HUMAN RIGHTS
US net neutrality ruling could affect internet access in Australia
Australians may feel the reverberations from the US decision to end open access to the internet, according to consumer and digital rights groups.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-16/net-neutrality-us-decision-could-affect-australians/9265056
Modern slavery laws must fully decriminalise sex work, advocates say
Scarlet Alliance says criminalisation denies workers their basic rights and protections, and fosters exploitation
A year of courage and raw storytelling draws to a close - and we'll be the better for it
Jessica Irvine
Two feminist stories that won’t get anywhere near the attention of Matt Damon and Me Too
Ruby Hamad
If we want to win the fight for women, reproductive rights must be the most important front.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2017/12/21/me-too-is-a-victory-but-its-distracting-us-from-bigger-fights/
IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURALISM
25m ‘disaster’: ‘It will destroy us’
Immigration to Australia shot up by more than 245,000 extra people last year. Some say it will come with disastrous consequences.
It’s not racist to be worried about immigration
Peta Credlin
Immigrants to Australia must embrace Western values and assimilate
Rita Panahi
There is enough crime in Australia without successive governments importing large numbers of people incapable or unwilling to respect our laws
INTERNATIONAL AID
How investing in solar energy can create a brighter future for Africa
A new scheme aims to lighten the lives of millions who live without electricity, with the promise of a possible 6% return.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/dec/15/invest-solar-energy-energise-frica
Here are the countries that receive the most foreign aid from the US
The country has issued a warning it will take any vote in the UN on its Jerusalem recognition "personally".
The biggest thing we forget when talking about food justice
Creating a just food system begins with land—who owns it, how they own it, and how it gets passed down from one generation to the next.
Diverting aid to fund waste collection will save lives and clean the ocean, says charity
UK government should make 100-fold increase in the amount of aid spent on dealing with plastic waste, says Tearfund
Red Cross workers deserve protection in every conflict zone
Ruth Jebb
The Red Cross team working in Darfur had heard talk about unrest. We were on high alert, but I had no idea how bad things would get, as the emblem that had always protected us left us vulnerable.
The road to food sovereignty
Pat Mooney and Nnimmo Bassey
Peasants, not industrial agriculture, are the way to feed the world
https://newint.org/blog/2017/12/14/peasants-feed-world
MIND
Study: Teens who help strangers have more confidence
Get your kids involved in service to strangers in this season of giving
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/byu-stw121817.php
How much people earn is associated with how they experience happiness
People who earn more money tend to experience more positive emotions focused on themselves, while people who earn less take greater pleasure in their relationships and ability to connect with others, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/apa-hmp121317.php
Why forgiveness is the best gift you can give yourself this holiday season
Sophie Scott
As you reflect on what you did and where you are, medical reporter Sophie Scott asks you to have a little self-compassion and offers up some tips to tame your inner critic.
Who's to blame for turning women into objects? We all are
Aubrey Perry
Instead of a culture that has reflected on its nature and self-corrected along the way, mainstream society has careened full-speed ahead into self-objectification.
RELIGION
Secular society Christianity's greatest challenge: bishop
Most Australians like seeing baby Jesus in a manger at the mall
Nine out of ten Australians support nativity scenes in public spaces, according to new McCrindle research released this week.
Pope Francis denounced ‘cancer’ of cliques in the Vatican
Pope Francis has given a Christmas dressing down to his cardinals, bishops and priests, saying that some of his workers have been “corrupted” by ambition
Christmas being torn out of Christmas
Rex Jory
For a couple of weeks now I’ve been pondering what’s missing this Christmas. Something is wrong. Then the penny dropped – what’s missing this Christmas is Christmas.
Religion may alter your psychology, even if you’re a non-believer
Brittany Cardwell, Jamin Halberstadt, University of Otago
https://theconversation.com/religion-may-alter-your-psychology-even-if-youre-a-non-believer-83506
Abandoning celibacy won’t stop sexual abuse by priests
Thomas Reese
https://religionnews.com/2017/12/19/abandoning-celibacy-wont-stop-sexual-abuse-by-priests/
Can the secular media ever understand religion? Why it's harder than it looks
Mark Woods
Freedom of religion is on the government's agenda (really)
Michael Kellahan
It’s not just a cynical excise. The Ruddock Review could make a difference
https://www.eternitynews.com.au/opinion/freedom-of-religion-is-on-the-governments-agenda-really/
The politics of Christmas: How to listen to the unheard story
Andy Flannagan
What history really tells us about Jesus’ birth
Robyn J. Whitaker
https://theconversation.com/what-history-really-tells-us-about-jesus-birth-89444
TRANSPARENCY
Exposing and preventing corruption in Victoria - special report: IBAC's first five years
Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC)
This review of IBAC’s early years demonstrates that IBAC has been successful in exposing serious corruption in some of Victoria’s major state government agencies. There is no doubt that Victorians have been surprised and disappointed in the waste of public funds, along with the concerning, and in...
https://apo.org.au/node/124791
WORK
More Australians intend to work longer
The age at which Australians intend to retire has again edged higher, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.
Revived Trans-Pacific trade deal undercuts Australian jobs market, unions say
ACTU says workers from Canada, Mexico, Chile, Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam in 435 occupations can be hired without advertising to Australians
Work a pain in the neck? Science says this helps - and it's not ergonomics
Why machines will not replace humans in the labor market
Deputy Director of the Centre for Labour Market Studies at the Higher School of Economics Rostislav Kapeliushnikov says that predictions of a 'labour market apocalypse' with mass loss of jobs caused by technological progress are unfounded; despite having been made numerous times throughout modern history, they have never come true.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-12/nruh-wmw121817.php
Retiring early might kill you, says new research
We already know you're better off financially the later you begin claiming Social Security. Now it seems there's another reason to hold off on collecting those cheques.
Don't worry about robots, the human race is in control
Lydia Nicholas
Lately the human race has been confronted by ever-smarter machines. Last year a computer called AlphaGo Lee beat the world's Go champions; then it was beaten by its own successor, which learnt the game in hours. But at least we knew we had art and literature to ourselves.
WHAT’S MORE
The 'War on Christmas' and other myths: Returning to a tabloid near you
Stephen Keim
The "war on Christmas" is a right-wing cultural tactic to suggest there's a conspiracy to change society as we know it.