Christmas time is here...and gone

Like that song in a "Charlie Brown Christmas" that drives the Divine Mrs. M crazy, the season seems to compress into a single day of gift giving and conviviality, followed on the 26th by a determined return to the business of normal life.  Now of course, the New Year's celebration will be front and center.   However, since there is significantly less profit to be made on celebrating that holiday, the drumbeat will be muted.  The year's best and worst lists, over eating and over drinking will occupy us for a few days before we get back to the normal grind.   The Pope's message of peace will be commented on, especially the part where he is exhorting other religions and even atheists to join in a drive to change the consumer culture.  The subversive nature of much of what the pontiff has been saying is not lost on multinational corporations and their media mouthpieces.  The environmental degradation and the attendant climate change drives their profits.  A change is in the air, and hopefully it will last longer than one day a year.