As this Hanukkah greeting was being posted, as the whimsical image above was being created, news of the mass shooting at a Hanukkah festival in Sydney was reported.
Whatever lights you light today or this season, for Hanukkah, for another holiday, to honor, to commemorate, to decorate, to dispel the dark, light a light. Inside and out.
The old Hanukkah dilemma for Jews was the coincidence of the holiday with the increasingly overwhelming Christian holiday of Christmas. The dilemma isn’t entirely solved, though in general we treat them as two of the December celebrations, though they have profound distinctions. There is universal agreement that Hanukkah is a minor Jewish holiday, just as there is universal agreement that Christmas is one of the two super-major Christian holidays. But inspiring winter lights, gifts, celebrations and fun are also universally appreciated.
The new Hanukkah dilemma is not as simple or simply solved. The historical holiday is based on a small band of Jewish guerillas defying the odds in defeating an oppressive empire. The storied miracle of the oil lamp is paired with a real military victory. Unfortunately, the Jewish dynasty that took over followed the well-known path of becoming oppressors themselves. If The Who created the rock opera, meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
The war in Gaza is not the first example of Israeli aggression in the name of security. It is not the first example in world history of aggression in the name of religious hegemony. Whether Israel or any other country or religion, whether now or any other era, questions arise about how the initiatives are conducted, what suffering is inflicted, and what happens next.
In the case of Hanukkah, the approach has been to stress the story of a bright miracle, including the immediate outcome of Jewish independence, but mostly look away from the darker elements of the history. In a certain light, that is exactly how the war in Gaza is being approached. By some Jews, but not all. Not by me. It’s a dilemma.
Our menorah, a box of candles, and a box of matches stand ready for Sunday evening. Will it matter if I don’t light the candles? Like the proverbial falling tree unseen in the forest, is it a hollow protest with no effect? If I do light the candles, will my wish for peace, repair and a new Jewish and Israeli ethos mean anything?
I guess that more light is better than less or none.
Thomas Merton died on this date in 1968. It was an untimely and unusual death, and happened on the anniversary of his entering the monastery in 1941.
He was traveling in Asia at the time. We are fortunate to have not only his many books, but also seven volumes of his journals. At that moment, he was intensifying his long-time interest in Asian religions, particularly Buddhism.
Merton readers and students—and there are millions—see in his later writings and testimony of others suggestions that at the time of his death he was planning to leave the monastery and pursue (return to) a more worldly life. If I ever participated in that speculation, maybe a more mature spiritual life has made me realize the question is pointless. Not just because we will never know, but because for someone as spiritually rich and talented as Merton, and so generous with his spiritual wealth, doubts and all, it is beside the point.
Here is the last journal entry before he died:
December 8, 1968. Bangkok
A Dutch abbot who is staying with an attaché of the Dutch Legation came around to the hotel yesterday and we went to Silom Road again, to find Dom Leclercq and others who had arrived. Most of the delegates were arriving today and I will go to the Red Cross place where we are supposed to stay and where the meeting is to be held. It is 30 kilometers out of Bangkok. The Dutch abbot was trying to talk me into participating in a TV interview but I am not sure it is such a good idea, for various reasons. And first of all I find the idea very distasteful. The suggestion that it would be “good for the Church” strikes me as fatuous as far as my own participation is concerned. It would be much “better for the Church” if I refrained.
It is good to have a second time round with these cities. Calcutta, Delhi, and now Bangkok. It now seems quite a different city. I did not recognize the road in from the airport, and the city which had seemed, before, somewhat squalid, now appears to be, as it is, in many ways affluent and splendid. What has happened, of course, is that the experience of places like Calcutta and Pathankot has changed everything and given a better perspective in which to view Bangkok. The shops are full of good things. There is a lot to eat. Lots of fruits, rice, bottles, medicines, shirts, shoes, machinery, and meat (for non-Buddhists). And the stores near the Oriental Hotel are really splendid. So too is the Oriental itself. I have a fine split-level dwelling high over the river, and you enter it through an open veranda on the other side, looking out over the city.
I went to Silom Road, walked into the French Foreign Missions place and found it deserted. I wandered around in the rooms looking at the titles of books on the shelves: [Sir Walter) Scott’s Marmion, André Maurois, along with Edward Schillebeeckx, a set of Huysmans, I forget what else-lots of magazines from Études to Paris-Match. Finally Fr. Leduc appeared, and presently-he told me to wait-the superior, P. Verdier, came in with Abbot de Floris, who is running the meeting, and Fr. Gordan. They said there was mail for me; it turned out to be a letter from Winifred Karp, the young girl who stayed with the nuns at the Redwoods, forwarded from Calcutta. I have a hunch some of my mail will be getting lost in this shift.
The flight over Malaysia: dark-blue land, islands fringed with fine sand, aquamarine sea. Lots of clouds. It was a Japan Air Lines plane. They made me weigh my hand luggage, which put me overweight for the economy class allowance, so instead of just paying more for nothing I paid the difference for a first-class ticket, thus covering it with the bigger baggage allowance. And had a very comfortable ride, overeating, drinking two free, and strong, Bloody Marys, and talking to a diplomatic courier for the State Department, who by now is getting ready to fly on to Karachi in Pakistan on the night Pan Am plane.
This evening I took a walk through Bangkok, down past the Post Office and into Chinatown. A Chinese Buddhist temple was all lit up and having some kind of fair, preparing a stage for a show, food for a banquet, and booths were selling all kinds of trinkets, lights, and incense. I went in and wandered around. There were hundreds of kids playing. Older people happy and fairly busy preparing whatever it was. Perhaps something to do with the king, whose birthday was yesterday. The city is full of flags, signs saying “Long live our noble King” and huge pictures of Phumiphol Aduldet himself, now as a Thai general and now as a bhikkhu in the lotus posture.
Last night I had a good Hungarian dinner at Nikas No. 1 (where, however, I seem to have been grossly shortchanged) and went on to see an Italian movie about some criminals in Milan, a quasi-documentary. It was not bad, very well filmed, and worth seeing.
Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. In a little while I leave the hotel. I’m going to say Mass at St. Louis Church, have lunch at the Apostolic Delegation, and then on to the Red Cross place this afternoon.
The Other Side of the Mountain: The End of the Journey (The Journals of Thomas Merton v. 7)
“Zines have always been inherently social and political, since they began as “fanzines” centered on science fiction in the 1930s, with the first known being The Comet. Fanzines shared opinions and views that were often expressed in letters to the editor that publications rejected… In the 1980s, during the punk rock movement, zines had their “second birth” and it gave rise to the “perzine,” or personal zine of relayed experiences and opinions.”
I love paper and ink/toner, the kind found on my desktop and in my files, in the pages rolled out by my printers, in the books on my shelf. I am also digitally experienced and capable, and use those tools often and effectively (e.g. this blog). But I love paper media.
If you are of a certain age and cultural leaning, you know what zines are. If not, the Guardian piece below will fill you in.
If you want to go with an imperfect analogy, try this one. It can be powerful to listen to great music at home, even to see concerts on a big screen with big sound. But it is never going to be same as sitting or standing next to dozens, hundreds, thousands of others in front of live artists performing.
If you come across a zine, read a zine. Or create and print a zine, which couldn’t be easier.
Gen-Zine: DIY publications find new life as form of resistance against Trump
People of all ages, from all regions, are making, printing and distributing zines on the streets, in libraries and at local gathering spots.
Mallory Carra
Guardian
Wed 10 Dec 2025 07.00 EST
On a cloudy Saturday afternoon, the Los Angeles central public library bustled with nearly 100 people making zines, small, DIY magazines made out of a single piece of paper. There was folding, laughing and helping with cuts. Titles like “Narcan 101,” “Free Palestine,” and “An American Zine,” filled with illustrations and tips, lined a table down the hall.
While this may sound like a scene from the 1980s or 1990s – when zines were popular as a countercultural form of expression – this was a workshop in modern-day Los Angeles, where immigration raids and federal threats have left residents restless and scared.
Zines have made a resurgence in recent months as communities seek to share information, such as how to protect one another from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or how to resist the Trump administration outside “No Kings” protests. Just this week, 404 Media announced it is printing a 16-page zine that includes their reporting on ICE. People of all ages, from all regions, are making, printing and distributing zines on the streets, in libraries and at local gathering spots.
We asked critics from authoritarian regimes what they wish they’d known sooner. Here’s what they said
Zine-makers and enthusiasts say that people are likely embracing the pen-and-paper medium again due to social media censorship, surveillance, doxing and the alleged suppression of certain topics on algorithms.
“There’s a freedom people are craving because they’re feeling so constrained, surveilled and, frankly, threatened in so many other spheres that exist,” said Mariame Kaba, the co-founder of the Black Zine Fair in Brooklyn, who has been making zines since the 1980s. “You can print it cheaply, copy it, and make it into something, then you can give them out by the thousands to people in your community. There’s no barrier to entry, and that makes a difference.”
In particular, Kaba pointed to Brooklyn illustrator Megan Piontkowski’s series of “How to Report ICE” zines, a simple black-and-white one-page pdf document that requires four folds and a cut in the middle to aid folding. This zine has gone viral on Bluesky and Google Drive, where Piontkowski houses over 70 versions of her pamphlet in English and Spanish with localized rapid response hotlines and resources for cities and states across the US. She makes these zines in her spare time – fielding dozens of requests for other locations – to use her art to lend support.
“I really hate feeling powerless when horrible things are happening around me,” said Piontkowski, who drew inspiration from Kaba to make the zine. “It’s something I can do, and it’s also something other people can do. If they’re very vulnerable, ill, on a visa, or have a small child and they can’t protest, they can still fold some zines. You could do it at home, and hand them out to your friends or people you know at the grocery store or cafe.”
Zine-folding parties have also become popular in recent months. After ICE launched “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago in September, resident Emily Hilleren saw local social media posts where people packaged whistles with the Pilsen Arts and Community House’s zine about warding off ICE, called “Form a Crowd, Stay Loud.” Hilleren started gathering friends at a local bar called Nighthawk to fold the zines and pair them with whistles. Soon, the bar promoted the events via social media, and other Chicago bars began asking Hilleren to host folding parties for them. She’s hosted seven events around the city – most to capacity – and has helped people organize two others.
“People have seen the whistle kits and zines in person, recognize it’s a good, helpful thing and they see the opportunity to contribute to it,” she said. “The social aspect of it has been really attractive as well. Everyone I’ve talked to says: ‘I have to do something. I can’t just sit home, looking at my phone and reading all the bad news. I have to get out there, be with people, and do something tangible.’”
Zines have always been inherently social and political, since they began as “fanzines” centered on science fiction in the 1930s, with the first known being The Comet. Fanzines shared opinions and views that were often expressed in letters to the editor that publications rejected.
“Science fiction is a very political fiction, because it’s imagining different worlds and new worlds, and so the crossover to politics happens pretty early,” said New York University media and culture professor Stephen Duncombe, author of the book Notes From Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture. “Zines started out as talking back to mass culture, and part of what people want to talk back to mass culture is about politics.”
In the 1980s, during the punk rock movement, zines had their “second birth”, according to Duncombe, and it gave rise to the “perzine,” or personal zine of relayed experiences and opinions. Around this time, zines became more social – before social media – with review publications, like Fact Sheet Five by Mike Gunderloy, which catalogued hundreds of zines, becoming a place where people could learn about and request zines, discovering new ones in the communities with which they identified, such as queer, riot grrrl and Afro-Punk.
people sitting at tables and making zines
A zine-folding event at the Nighthawk bar in Chicago, organized by Emily Hilleren. Photograph: Courtesy Jessica Wolfe
For example, Duncombe recalled an old letter published in the queer zine Homocore from a gay teen boy who lived in Montana and loved hardcore music. “For that kid, this is pre-internet, and he lived in the world of country and western machismo straight guys,” Duncombe said. “This [zine] was like a world just opened up for him, and zines have always had that role for people.”
According to the zine community, the medium has always sought to inform the public. Back in the 1990s, Kaba recalled reading zines that spread then little-known information about the abortion medication mifepristone and herbal abortions.
“All of a sudden, through zines, you learned how to self-manage your own abortion,” she said. “Every generation has the information that is relevant to their cultural space that they’re in, and zines are always going to speak to that, because those folks who are on the margins are looking for ways to connect.”
And zines have long been a safe space for marginalized communities to express themselves. Nova Community Arts in Los Angeles hosts a weekly “Queer Art Hang” workshop, where LGBTQ+ folks can make, fold, and trade zines together, in person, without surveillance or bullying on social media.
“Being able to sit down in front of a piece of paper in a safe space, amongst friends and community members, is something that is honestly so healing for queer people, who have experienced, all of our lives, people telling us what we’re supposed to do, what things we’re supposed to put out there, and what we’re supposed to look like,” said Nova co-director Rosie Mayer.
Though people often associate zines with Gen X, younger generations – who have grown up with social media and cellphones – are turning to zines to inform and for solace amid the current political landscape. After ICE raids and protests erupted in Los Angeles earlier this year, 16-year-old Victoria Echerikuahperi hosted a healing zine workshop for raid victims and has continued to lead youth zine events around the city under her stage name, DJ Mariposa.
“There’s no right or wrong way to do it, and people could get their creativity out,” she said. “A lot of people were thanking me and were happy, because, yes, writing about political things is heavy, but it’s also like a release, knowing that this zine could be helpful to someone, or this could open someone’s eyes.”
“We experience the afflictions of desire and hatred, but their appearance is like the flight of a bird through the sky, leaving no tracks.”
Khenchen Thrangu
Lust and hate arise but leave no trace,
Like birds in flight; don’t cling to passing moods, people of Dingri.
Advice from a Yogi, Padampa Sangye
Commentary:
Even though the mind is the root of everything, our afflicted thoughts of greed, lust, and hatred appear, strong and powerful, and we engage in the greed and hatred. We think of something, and we think of it again and again, and it gets stronger and stronger. How do we get rid of these thoughts?
We experience the afflictions of desire and hatred, but their appearance is like the flight of a bird through the sky, leaving no tracks. They just dissolve into emptiness without leaving any trace. There is no reason to be attached or to fixate on them. They arise, and then they’re the past, and they can’t do anything to us.
Since everything comes down to the mind, we can attain the ultimate result. We are able to give up all of samsara because samsara is just the mind. We are able to achieve nirvana because nirvana is just the mind. The afflictions of desire and hatred sometimes seem like solid things that we can’t get rid of. But if we look at their ultimate nature, how they actually are, we see that we can get rid of them. Since we have the instructions, we should have confidence that we can eliminate the afflictions of desire and hatred.
Khenchen Thrangu
Padampa Sangye was an eleventh-century Indian yogi and spiritual master (also known as Kamalashila) who traveled widely throughout his life and brought Indian Buddhist teachings to China and Tibet. Best known as Machig Labdron’s teacher, he is counted as a lineage guru by all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
Khenchen Thrangu is an eminent teacher of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He was appointed by the Dalai Lama to be the personal tutor for His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa and has authored many books, including Pointing Out the Dharmakaya, Everyday Consciousness and Primordial Awareness, and Vivid Awareness.
Out of the Past (1947), directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Robert Mitchum, has two distinctions.
It is the best film noir ever produced.
It is the most quotable movie ever produced.
It has competition in both categories.
Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974) is film noir, more like neo-noir, since it was made after the era when film noir first flourished. Chinatown is one of the great movies ever, near top of the all-time list, but Out of the Past is literally definitional of the genre. Once it was made, other artists could be inspired and attempt, but it would never be topped.
As for quotes from dialogue, plenty of movies have that, but here there are dozens, each one sharper and more full of weary wisdom than the next. Rather than document them all here, I focus on one that is good advice for anyone.
The scene is Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas), a big “operator”, hiring Jeff Markham (Robert Mitchum), to find the woman who left him and took off with his money. (Among other distinctions of Out of the Past, Jane Greer as Kathie Moffat is also the greatest femme fatale in all film noir. If you watch the movie, and you should, check out the first time Jeff sees her, walking into a Mexican bar. His fate is sealed, and as viewers so is ours.)
Here’s wisdom from Out of the Past:
Whit Sterling: You just sit and stay inside yourself. You wait for me to talk. I like that.
Jeff Markham: I never found out much listening to myself.
And here is the scene when we first meet Kathie Moffat:
Russia is a place of great and lasting culture. Russia has also been a place of great cruelty. This is going on right now, in their years-long war on Ukraine, and on the lies told today in the UN Security Council.
Right after the Russian representative spoke, it was the turn of Ukraine. It was one more of the courageous and articulate presentations of the desperate circumstances that Russia continues to inflict on Ukraine. It is a situation not helped by Trump’s Putin-inspired/Putin-demanded ambivalence that increasingly suggests he is willing to give up on Ukraine and Europe and let Russia have its way.
One of the many standout moments of the Ukraine presentation was framing it by reference to Samuel Beckett and two of his plays. If diplomats are regularly so spot-on erudite, I am not well aware of it.
A primer on Beckett and the plays:
Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) was an Irish playwright, novelist, and poet who became one of the most influential writers of the 20th century.
He initially wrote in English but later adopted French as his primary literary language, often translating his own works between the two.
Waiting for Godot (1953) made him internationally famous and established him as a leader of the Theatre of the Absurd movement. His work is characterized by dark humor, minimalism, repetition, and explorations of human suffering, meaninglessness, and the struggle to communicate.
He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969. Despite his bleak themes, he was known personally as witty and kind. He spent most of his adult life in Paris, where he died at age 83.
Waiting for Godot (1953)
Two men, Vladimir and Estragon, wait by a tree for Godot, who never comes. They fill time with philosophical talk, vaudeville routines, and encounters with Pozzo (a master) and Lucky (his slave). A boy arrives each day saying Godot will come tomorrow. The play ends as it began—still waiting. It explores meaninglessness, the human need for purpose, and existence’s absurdity through circular, minimalist structure.
Endgame (1957)
Set in a post-apocalyptic bunker, blind and paralyzed Hamm dominates his servant Clov, who cannot sit. Hamm’s parents live in garbage bins. All four are trapped in bitter interdependence, performing ritualistic power games. Even bleaker than Godot, it examines dependency, cruelty, and the impossibility of escape. Despite threats to leave, no one does—the miserable cycle continues indefinitely.
The connection the Ukraine representative made is clear. What the UN has done so far about Ukraine, hampered by Russia and other Russophiles, including the U.S., is to keep waiting with little possibility of resolution (Waiting for Godot). What gestures the UN has made or not made amount to ritualistic power games that mean nothing, and won’t end the cycle (Endgame).
Night lights are still on, soon off. Some have woken up, some are waking up, some are still sleeping. Life goes on in distant houses, stories unfold. Far away, the story is a picture of houses, wondering what happened, what is happening, what will happen, when little lights go out and a big light appears.
You may have heard somewhere from someone that the U.S. economy is the “hottest”, the best it has ever been, the best in the world.
According to The Economist, one of the premier news publications in the world, and definitely not liberal and biased against conservative or crazy governments, that just isn’t true.
Below is an excerpt from The Economist article Which economy did best in 2025?, including their five-factor methodology. Also included is the chart for the 36 countries considered.
Notes:
The published chart is interactive, but you may not be able to access the article and chart without a subscription. So the chart below includes only three of the five component data points used in the calculation.
Way to go Portugal (#1), Ireland (#2), and all the other countries that don’t claim to be “hot” but are actually “hotter” than the U.S. We in the U.S. would love to have a “hot” economy that would benefit all Americans, but as believers in truth, however inconvenient, the American economy is not currently “hot” and is not benefiting all Americans, despite someone’s claims.
Speaking of “hot”, how about Slovenia at #9? Whether or not, according to some, Melania is “hot” or “not”, her birthplace is “hotter” than the U.S. (#17).
The Economist
Which economy did best in 2025?
Our annual ranking returns
For the fifth year in succession, The Economist has searched for the “economy of the year”. We have compiled data on five indicators—inflation, “inflation breadth”, gdp, jobs and stockmarket performance—for 36 mostly rich countries. We have ranked them according to how well they have done on each measure, creating an overall score of economic success in 2025. The table below shows the rankings.
Today is the forty-fifth anniversary of the murder of John Lennon on December 8, 1980. He was 40 years old.
We could focus on the songs he wrote and performed, as part of the Beatles or on his own. So much there.
Instead, here is something less noted, these many years later
In 1964, the first year of manic attention to the Beatles, John published a book of his writing and cartoons.
The cartoons are scratches, the tiny prose pieces are sometimes described as nonsense, compared to Lewis Carroll.
What we see in these, as we could see in the first Lennon songs, is that he was not the average pop music star, with a voice, some catchy tunes, and a few interesting ideas. We would learn as he grew that he was one of a kind, with few equals, and like all of us, however many years he had to live and give, he lived and gave.
Go listen, if you have the chance, to a little John Lennon today.
Bob Schwartz 