Left Side of the Aisle #139

Left Side of the Aisle
for the week of December 26, 2013 - January 2, 2014

This week:
Why Christmas is on December 25
http://web.archive.org/web/20110430004539/http://www.bsu.edu/web/01bkswartz/xmaspub.html
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2000/dec08.html
http://christianity.about.com/od/christmas/f/christmashistor.htm
http://web.archive.org/web/20110430004539/http://www.bsu.edu/web/01bkswartz/xmaspub.html
http://people.ucalgary.ca/~vandersp/Courses/texts/lactant/lactpers.html#XLVIII
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/erin-r-brown/2011/12/13/war-war-christmas
http://religions.pewforum.org/reports
http://www.whychristmas.com/customs/25th.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great_and_Christianity
http://mith.umd.edu//eada/html/display.php?docs=bradford_history.xml
http://historyofmassachusetts.org/when-christmas-was-banned-in-boston/
http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/index.shtml
http://festivusweb.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol_(Doctor_Who)
"The Christmas Connection," lecture at Plymouth Antiquarian Society, November 15, 1979

Santa Claus: Same-sex marriage comes to New Mexico
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/20/us/new-mexico-becomes-17th-state-to-legalize-gay-marriage.html
http://whoviating.blogspot.com/2013/08/1232-good-news-2-same-sex-marriage.html
http://www.nmcompcomm.us/nmcases/nmsc/slips/SC34,306.pdf
http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/19/21972868-gay-marriage-advocates-win-out-in-new-mexico-other-state-efforts-more-doubtful

The Grinch: The GOPper and the free lunch
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/18/jack-kingston-school-lunch_n_4467711.html
http://www.obamacarefacts.com/federal-poverty-level.php
http://www.charlesdickenspage.com/twist_more.html
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/jimmy-williams/2013/12/19/the-idiocy-of-jack-kingston-and-the-return-of-the-welfare-queen
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/12/12/ethan_couch_affluenza_texas_teen_spared_prison_time_in_deadly_drunk_driving.html

New Year's resolution: Obamabots beware
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/17/mark-udall-cia-torture_n_4462587.html

And Another Thing: inheriting acquired characteristics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Lamarck
http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/131201_epigenetic.htm

And Another Thing: Mars was at one time "Earthlike"
http://www.salon.com/2013/12/09/curiosity_stumbles_upon_new_evidence_of_life_of_mars/

And Another Thing: looking for lumpy electrons
http://www.boston.com/news/science/blogs/science-in-mind/2013/12/19/the-search-for-lumpy-electron-finds-perfect-sphere-instead/NpazIUk8BDv9bkM0xLIqcL/blog.html
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2013/12/19/electron.antenna.tunes.physics.beyond.higgs