When I first saw this, I thought it was someone protesting the War against Christmas–it’s not, it’s someone who couldn’t stand the idea that the Christmas break wouldn’t be called the winter break anymore. Very strange.

BREITBART.COM - Man Sets Self Aflame in Calif. Protest
Man Sets Self Aflame in Calif. Protest
Dec 23 10:48 AM US/Eastern

A man used flammable liquid to light himself on fire, apparently to protest a San Joaquin Valley school district’s decision to change the names of winter and spring breaks to Christmas and Easter vacation.

The man, who was not immediately identified, on Friday also set fire to a Christmas tree, an American flag and a revolutionary flag replica, said Fire Captain Garth Milam.

Seeing the flames, Sheriff’s Deputy Lance Ferguson grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran to the man.

Flames were devouring a Christmas tree next to the Liberty Bell, where public events and demonstrations are common.

Hot Air blog has more, pictures and such, he seems to be alive, thanks to quick work by law enforcement with a fire extinguisher.

Steve Sailer wrote A Buyout Option For Europe’s Muslims?in November of last year, suggesting that European countries should

Offer Muslim residents, say, $25,000 each to go away. Permanently.

Today someone forwarded me an International Herald Tribune story:France uses money, not manacles, for deportation, by By Katrin Bennhold, December 21, 2006, which discusses a program to pay illegal immigrants to leave, and pay their home countries to take them back.

However, the program lacks some of the safeguards Steve suggested

The program could only be open to legal residents in the country as of today, to discourage both a sudden influx and a baby boom.

To discourage illegal return immigration, the buyout would only be paid out over the course of, say, five years to ex-residents now actually living in Muslim countries.

An immigrant who accepts the buy-out but then wishes to return to the European country for a tourist visit would have to deposit the value of the buyout as a bond. Visa over-stayers would be imprisoned.

The obvious problem is that paying illegals means you’ll get more illegals, and possibly same illegals twice or three times.

When I was younger, I saw a Disney movie in which Darren McGavin sold the same dog over and over, and Terry Pratchett’s The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents< someone makes an offer for Maurice, the talking cat, and is told “He’s not for sale,” which infuriates Maurice, a fast cat with a dollar:

“Why didn’t you sell me? I could’ve been back in ten minutes! I heard of a man who made a fortune selling homing pigeons, and he only had the one!”

It now seems probable National Review, and more particularly The Corner, its charmingly adolescent blogging stronghold of hyperactive news junkies, is indeed going to go through the season with no mention of the War on Christmas events this year. Kathryn Jean Lopez [send her mail]was actually declaring editorial policy three weeks ago. This, of course means the magazine is ignoring what is clearly turning out to be perhaps the most remarkable grassroots revival on a social conservative issue since the 1970s. One which started at National Review, albeit under totally different leadership, over ten years ago.

However, NR has not forgotten Christmas. In 2001, a VDARE.com correspondent remarked:

Did you notice the huge change in the National Review Online Christmas edition this year? (Not that they can quite bring themselves to call it that.)

Last year we were welcomed to NRO’s ‘Holiday Edition’, this year there is a “Christmas Greeting from NRO’s staff ” (WFB must be in a patriarchal mood). Last year the only article of spiritual substance was David Kopel’s essay on Hanukkah, this year there are several

In 2006, the home page carries the message

Merry Christmas from NRO!

and there are three different Christmas essay collections totaling fourteen separate items. Isn’t that nice?

No.

The lead group of Christmas essays is entitled Christmas At War consists of six evocations of Christmastime in various wars, two recalling the War between the States, three WWII and one a medley of more recent soldier’s memories.

Our 2001 correspondent was prescient about that year’s modest revival of Christmas at NR :

At first, I was delighted: the NR editors obviously have become aware of your gentle ribbing. But then I recalled a Richard Brookhiser article (which I can no longer find) about the demise of the WASPs, concluding to the effect that the WASPs had been banished to the background until they are needed to fight the next war. And I recall that the Soviet regime attacked by Hitler summoned an explosion of films and song on patriotic themes, banned for a generation.

Could it be that the NR staff are just in a martial mood?

Earlier this month, seeing Lopez burning NRO’s War on Christmas Draft Card, I wondered if a post election Iraq retreat was possible. Perhaps so did the NR hacks. But now the answer is clear.

The Surge is coming. Orders have gone out from NeoCon Central: mobilize the serfs. Use this Christmas thing. Just not where we have to listen to it.