The Winter solstice and a rare eclipse

According to this blogger the winter solstice is one of the four “planetary seasonal events” (December Solstice, March Equinox, June Solstice, September Equinox) that are common to everyone on the planet, and have formed the basis for calendars and cultural rituals for a very long time.

The blogger heads up that his year, the December Solstice occurs at 11:38pm UTC on December 21 in the Gregorian Calendar, and that for some there will also be a near total eclipse of the Moon… which last happened in 1638!

A US embassy memo reveals that Steven Spielberg was blacklisted by the Arab League’s “Central boycott” office after making a 1m ($645m) donation to Israel during the 2006 conflict in Lebanon. According to the memo representatives from 14 Arab States voted to ban all his films and other products.

This blogger looks at what happened in practice….

In this lovely post Cinnamon Zoo writes about life in the small village – the daily routine of the villagers, the school life of the children, feeling connected to the place but also held back, and a very special friend called “Saif” who taught her to “make ripples” wherever she went.

A Lebanese blogger prepares to return home for Christmas… but lists the things that she thinks will always be better in Beirut (like haircuts, florists, police and gas stations!)

The Emirates economist explains that in the “overlapping generations model” the younger generation are meant to look after the older, once they reach a certain age. Pointing to a story about a nunnery in the English Priory of Walsingham, he asks if that model isn’t breaking down in some surprising places?

Dinos celebrates the end of the year with a look back over 5 years of blogging. She started writing when she was unemployed – in her first post she replied to a spammer without realizing it. Soon she made friends and illustrated an imaginary friend, a cow called “Bagoora,” who became popular online.

She goes on to recall the time her Dad having a stroke, and the support she was given online, as well as getting married, and getting pregnant! She mentions everyone who helped her along the way, and introduces a new character to the blog: “Lulu,” her two year old daughter.