Sputnik International Presents… There’s Christmas in the Air!

This past weekend , a traditional pre-Christmas Santa run took place in Tokyo (Tokyo Prefecture. Greater Tokyo Area. Kantō Region) JAPAN. Some 500 Tokyo residents dressed as Santa Claus participated in a 2.5-kilometre charity run at a local park.

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Vitor Martins from São Paulo (São Paulo State. Southeast Region) BRAZIL has more than 90 percent of his body covered in tattoos, some of them in reference to Christmas. However, that doesn’t prevent him from working as Santa Claus.

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One of Berlin’s entertainment agencies hosted an event with a Santa Claus “flying” 98 metres (322 feet) above a hotel in the German capital.

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Metropolitan Cathedral of the Nativity of Saint Mary in Milano (Milano Province. Lombardia Region) ITALY is the fourth-largest in Europe, after St Peter Basilica in the Vatican, St Paul Cathedral in London, and Seville Cathedral. It’s the largest Gothic cathedral and the third-largest church in the world.

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Last weekend, model and television personality Holly Madison dressed as Santa Claus; she appeared at a street performance in Las Vegas (Clark County. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise MSA) NV USA

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A traditional Christmas parade for four-legged Santas was held in Loughborough (Leicestershire. East Midlands Region) ENGLAND UK.

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In São Paulo (São Paulo State. Southeast Region) BRAZIL, a man wearing a Santa Claus costume rode the metro to celebrate the Christmas season.

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Skiers and snowboarders dressed as Santa Claus participated in a charity race down a slope at the River Ski Resort in Newry (Oxford County) ME USA.

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According to the event organisers, 250 skiing Santas raised some 3,000 USD (165,000 Roubles. 18,670 Renminbi. 190,000 INR. 3,490 CAD. 3,690 AUD. 2,450 Euros. 1,925 UK Pounds) for charity at the event.

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In South Korea, divers dressed in Santa Claus costumes have a tradition of swimming in an aquarium in Seoul before Christmas.

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Santa Claus, also known as St Nicholas or Father Christmas, is a cultural figure with legendary, folkloric, and historic origins. In many Western cultures, Santa Claus is believed to bring presents to the homes of good children the night before Christmas.

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Some 800 participants dressed as Santa Claus took part in the fourth annual Santa Claus running competition in Michendorf (Kreis Potsdam-Mittelmark. Bundesland Brandenburg) GERMANY.

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Generally, depictions of Santa Claus show him as a portly, joyous, white-bearded man wearing a red coat with white collars and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and a black leather belt and boots. He carries a bag full of gifts for children.

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Local artist Ed Terrel from Reading (Berks County. Philadelphia-Reading-Camden CSA) PA USA created a giant Santa Claus costume. Days before Christmas, the artist put on the costume as he walked through the city streets in the evening.

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11 December 2014

Sputnik International

http://sputniknews.com/photo/20141210/1015698143.html

16 November 2013. Nikolai Soraich Pops Up in Lost Wages ROCOR Mission

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One of the Cabineteers sent me this (for more images, click here). Firstly, Nikolai Soraich popped up in Las Vegas NV. That’s no surprise, as he founded a parish there many moons ago. However, he surfaced in a ROCOR mission, not in an OCA facility. There’s no evidence, so, there’s nothing to hang a conclusion on to, that is, one doesn’t know if there’s still bad blood between the OCA and Nikolai (although Tikhon Fitz is still one of Nikolai’s vociferous backers… no surprise, as Nikolai was his Chancellor and protégé). I did some research; Nikolai is NOT on the ROCOR hierarchs’ page. Interesting, that… he’s also NOT in the ROCOR clergy directory. One of the Cabinet wrote me:

He’s still a “retired” OCA bishop, with permission to serve (not sure if there are any restrictions from the OCA), and ROCOR let him serve in LA. Now, ROCOR set up this new mission, and since he lives in LV, it gives him a chance to “play church”.

As for the “retired bishop” shtick, here’s what I wrote in a note to another post:

The fact that Nikon Mironov is a “retired bishop” indicates that such a status is fully-canonical, and that those who question such a status aren’t in the mainstream of the Church. For instance, Nikolai Soraich is a “bishop”, so is Jerome Shaw, but neither are “ruling bishops” or “vicar bishops”, they’re “retired bishops”… kapish? They CAN serve as clergy, but they have NO authority (they CAN wear a mitre, but one doesn’t serve hierarchical liturgy when they’re present). To make a “grey” situation even “greyer”, in 2013, Nikon was made a vicar bishop of the Diocese of Perm, thus “unretiring” him (the MP HS said that he might become a ruling bishop again if he was a good boy)… confusing, but that’s Orthodoxy for ya! If you want consistency, join the papists…

One wonders if his “boy” Innocent Brittain serves there, as well? Hmm… one of the Cabinet said, “I was told that three of the ROCOR bishops are that way”… I wasn’t able to get any corroboration (actually, I got different “names” from this-and-that source, making it all gobbledygook… its a “you pays your money and you takes your choice” situation), but taking Nikolai’s past into account (remember, Feodosy Lazor, Dmitri Royster, and Herman Swaiko were amongst his consecrators in 2001)… don’t be fooled, we STILL have an overflowing cesspit to drain here in the diaspora (both in the OCA AND the ROCOR). It’s just “All Quiet on the Syosset Front” for now…

BMD 

The Amerikantsy Know-Nothings Show their True Colours: Passengers Kicked Off a Flight in San Diego for Speaking Russian

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Airline staff kicked six San Diego residents off a Spirit Airlines flight in the USA for speaking Russian. The six people, including a business owner, a teacher, and an accountant, were flying to Las Vegas NV for an anniversary party last Thursday. However, less than 10 minutes after they got in their seats, staff led them off the plane. One of the passengers said, “I was very confused”. All of them are Russian natives. The group was chatting about the party in their regular voices… only slightly louder when someone was speaking across the aisle… when an airline worker walked up to the Russian natives and told them that they had to leave. An airline employee told them that the stewardesses were intimidated by their speaking a different language. The passengers got a refund from Spirit, but missed their anniversary party.

26 May 2013

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/news/2013_05_26/San-Diegans-kicked-off-a-flight-for-speaking-Russian/

Editor’s Note:

Get a load of:

The stewardesses were intimidated by their speaking a different language.

What goofy bullshit! It’s San Diego, which is three loud farts away from Mexico. If they were speaking LOUDLY in Spanish, this wouldn’t have happened. If it had, the staff would be in the deep kimchi and the airline would have to pay a beaucoup bucks settlement. This is the Bush-instigated Security Society at work (with a strong added measure of Nativist bigotry)… and the Republican Party neocons and libertarians want to reinforce such BS (no money for social problems, scads of cash for police state repression of all those who’re “different”)… reflect on that, kids. If you love freedom…

BMD