Video of the day: Santacon in New York City
If you haven’t heard of Santacon before, this year’s holiday season is as good a time as any to hear of it. Santacon is, in a nutshell, this: It’s a mass gathering of people who come together in cities across the world, all dressed in Santa costumes. They parade on streets and drink in bars and have a jolly good time spreading cheer and singing naughty Christmas carols. Widely known as Naughty Santas or Santarchy, this festive movement has been growing each year. Beginning first in San Francisco in 1994, the event is a bit of a flash mob that tends to shock whoever is around. The gathering manifests itself differently in each city ever year, but for a peak into the kind of activity you can expect in, say, New York City subways, watch this video and then check out this list of Santacon events so you can participate or just watch in the town nearest you.
Cruise ship prison? Not so fast say Scientology captors
A cruise ship prison story has been floating around about an Australian woman who says she was held for years against her will aboard the cruise ship Freewinds, a floating Scientology cathedral of sorts. To many, the idea of living aboard a cruise ship might seem like a dream come true. To Valeska Paris, held on the ship starting in 1996 then spending the next twelve years there against her will, it was much more a nightmare.
Paris joined Scientology’s Sea Organization, signing its standard billion-year contract at age 14. Three years later, after her stepfather committed suicide and her mother denounced Scientology on French television, Paris was ordered to “disconnect” from her family.
Paris was taken in by the Church of Scientology at age 17 then transferred to the Freewinds a year later. The Village Voice reports that for several months she was punished with an assignment in the ship’s engine room, where at one point she passed out from the noise and heat. During the first years of her imprisonment, an escort went with her whenever she left the ship but over time she was conditioned to believe there was no escape possible.
“When I first went there, I hated being there, and I wanted to leave,” Paris told the Voice. “I knew that wasn’t going to happen, so I began to accept that that was the way it was going to be,” she says.
Paris compared the experience to that of of Jaycee Lee Dugard, held for 18 years in a California backyard and despite the ability to escape, felt resigned to being held captive.
“You’re so resigned to it,” said Paris. “I never had a bank account. You get 50 dollars a week. You don’t have a passport. If you want to leave the ship, you have to go down the gangway, and there’s a security guard there 24 hours a day.”
Valeska’s passport had been taken from her when she first boarded the ship, a procedure the church reportedly says was just routine.
“You were taught that Scientology was the only answer. You think you’re doing the right thing,” she says, adding that Sea Org members are constantly made to feel that they haven’t done enough to “clear the planet” for Scientology’s advancement. “They make you feel that you could always do more. I never really took any days off. That’s your whole life, basically.”
The Church of Scientology flat out denies the whole story saying
“Valeska Paris was a crew member aboard a ship.
All passports of crew members were held by the Port Captain in accordance with maritime regulations so they can be stamped in and out of ports as the ship sailed.
Valeska left the ship hundreds of times to go shopping, for outings with her husband on islands such as Aruba, St. Barts and Curaçao, as well as for numerous other reasons while aboard.
In 2001, she hosted six members of her husband’s family. She participated in extended projects in the UK, US and Denmark. She certainly wasn’t “forced” to be there.
She was also never forced to perform labor in the engine room.”
An exclusive report on the Australian Broadcasting Company program Lateline tells a different story:
UPDATE: Following publication of the story, the Church of Scientology reached out with the following comment:
The weblog posting concerning the Church of Scientology (“Cruise Ship Prison? Not so fast say Scientology captors”, November 30) is a repetition of a false tabloid story from Australia. Valeska Paris Guider was serving as a crew member aboard the Freewinds religious retreat as a volunteer, adult religious worker. She was there of her own free will as part of her religious commitment to the Church of Scientology. The Freewinds is a passenger vessel with hundreds of people aboard. Ms. Guider’s staff positions as a waitress, course instructor and staff counselor regularly placed her in contact with many parishioners and staff. She met and married her first husband there to whom she was married from 1998-2005 and who affirms her statements are false. She left the Freewinds hundreds of times to go shopping, for outings with her husband on islands such as St. Kitts, Aruba, St. Barts and Curaçao, as well as for numerous other reasons. She participated in extended trips to the UK, US and Denmark for which she passed through Immigration and Customs when entering and exiting these countries. Her claims are false.
The Freewinds, based in the Caribbean, is a religious retreat where Scientologists come for events, conventions, courses and spiritual counseling. The Freewinds is visited regularly by officials from the islands and countries it visits. It also serves as a training vessel and has become the regional authority on maritime security, training law enforcement and military personnel. A recent Meritorious Public Service Award from United States Homeland Security, awarded to the Freewinds by the United States Coast Guard describes the Freewinds as the “premier training platform throughout the Caribbean Basin.” It further acknowledges continuous instruction of Caribbean personnel in what is described as the “highest traditions of the United States Coast Guard’s core values-honor, respect and devotion to duty.” The Freewinds also helps to promulgate the Church’s humanitarian initiatives throughout the Caribbean region and has received numerous acknowledgements for its work in the fields of drug abuse education, human rights, morals education and literacy.
Based on the above reports from Lateline and The Village Voice, we’ll let you pick a side.
Traditional holiday beverages from around the world
Americans aren’t very creative when it comes to traditional holiday beverages (do, however, look for my upcoming story on Boulder’s banging mixology scene, which includes some killer contemporary winter cocktails). Historically, though, we’re more of an eggnog/mulled cider/hot chocolate kind of society.
I’m not knocking our Christmas beverages of choice. Properly made, they’re delicious, and certainly festive. But some countries really know how to roll when it comes to holiday imbibing (especially Latin America. One word: rum.).
Below, a compilation of some of the more interesting boozy holiday beverages from around the world that can be easily recreated in your own kitchen. Online recipes abound, and all of these are (almost) as tasty sans alcohol.
Coquito: Puerto Ricans are great because they’re not afraid to embrace their love of saturated fats (lard, coconut milk, etc.) or rum. In case you’ve been living under a rock, coconut is the new fat du jour (read more about its health attributes here). Everything in moderation, including moderation, as I always say.
Coquito recipes vary, but in general, this rich, blended Christmas concoction is a froth of spiced rum, condensed milk, coconut milk or cream of coconut, vanilla, and spices such as cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Some versions may include ginger or ground nuts, but it’s always served chilled, in a small glass. Heavy, yes, but both sexy and satisfying. Add some eggs, and you’ll have ponche, the Venezuelan or Dominican version of eggnog.
Mulled wine: Variations on this warm, spiced, sugared, and otherwise enhanced wine (usually red) are served throughout Europe. There’s Nordic gløgg redolent of cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and bitter orange (and perhaps a helping of aquavit). It’s very similar to German glühwein made with lemon, cinnamon sticks, cardamom or ginger, and cloves; in Alsace (the French region bordering Germany), they also add vanilla bean.
In Bulgaria, greyano vino contains honey, peppercorns, and often, apple or citrus. Polish grzane wino is more of a traditional mulled wine, but they also make grzane piwo, in which mulled beer (try a Hefeweizen or Belgian ale which are lighter and sweeter) is substituted for the wine. Na zdrowie (“To your health”)!
[Photo credit: Flicker user Akane86]Ponche Navideño: Not to be confused with those other luscious ponches, this Mexican version is made with sugar cane, apples and/or pears or citrus, raisins, prunes, and tejocotes–an indigenous fruit used by the Aztecs, who called them texocotl. Add tequila, brandy, or rum; heat, and instant fiesta. At Christmastime, ponche vendors can be found on the street, ladling out cupfuls of good cheer.
Another popular Mexican holiday beverage is champurrado, a version of atole (warmed cornmeal thinned to a pourable consistency) flavored with chocolate. It tastes much better than it sounds, and is delicious on a chilly day.
Sorrel Punch: This Jamaican Christmas drink is made from the petals of a species of hibiscus (jamaica in Latin America), locally known as sorrel. In Australia it’s known as rosella, and where it makes a lovely, delicate, fruity red jam. This isn’t the same plant Americans know as sorrel or French sorrel. That’s a bitter wild green, which would make for a truly revolting cocktail, unless you’re one of those people who find wheat grass juice “refreshing.”
Dried hibiscus buds can be purchased at Hispanic or Caribbean markets; the recipe varies, but it’s usually some combination of the flowers, sugar, smashed fresh ginger, water, lime juice, and rum (dark is more traditional than light). Mix, stir, turn on your light box (fellow Seattleites know what I’m talking about), and crank your fave reggae CD. It ain’t the islands but it’s a nice change of pace from all that mulled wine.
Wassail: Did any American not grow up hearing about or actually going “wassailing,” aka carolling? This mulled British cider is synonymous with knocking on stranger’s doors and breaking into song. Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to hit the wassail bowl after mandatory childhood post-carolling; parents should remember that singing in public is the worst possible form of torture for a geeky, tone-deaf pre-teen. Wassail has been a Christmas classic across the pond for centuries, so I’m sure generations of British children suffered the same fate.
Cola de mono: Although Chile is better known for its pisco sours (Peru also claims this libation as its own, but both countries produce it and they’re still duking it out over who actually invented this potent grape brandy) and wine, Christmastime means a glass of “monkey’s tail.” Combine aguardiente (sub pisco or a neutral firewater) with milk, coffee, vanilla bean, and cloves. I have no idea what this has to do with the tail of a monkey, but it’s a cute name. Uh, bottom’s up.
[Photo credit: eggnog, Flicker user elana’s pantry; wassail, Flicker user jeremytarling]
American Airlines food killed passenger, claims lawsuit
As if filing for bankruptcy protection was not enough to fill American Airlines plate, now a passenger is claiming the troubled airline killed her husband.
According to the lawsuit, Raquel and Othon Cortes were on a flight to their home in Miami and had just completed the first leg of their journey, a flight from Barcelona to New York, when dinner was served. Othon chose the chicken, Raquel chose something else, reports NewTimes.
On the ground at JFK it was apparent that something was wrong with Othon. He became pale, had stomach cramps and was suddenly very thirsty, symptoms consistent with food poisoning, in a typical time-frame.
Raquel told NewTimes that as they boarded the flight from JFK to Miami, her husband’s illness was “expressed and obvious” to AA staff. Boarding anyway, things took a turn for the worse quickly with Othon presenting nausea and shortness of breath which preceded a heart attack. He was pronounced dead in Norfolk, Virginia where the plane made an emergency landing, albeit too late.
Raquel and Sandra Cortes, Othon’s daughter have filed suit against American Airlines and Sky Chefs, the airplane catering company that apparently prepared the meal.
The lawsuit, reported to be in excess of $1 million by Tourism and Aviation has four points:
- The chicken was poisoned.
- AA was negligent for even allowing Othon to board the flight in the first place.
- AA failed to provide medical attention.
- AA waited too long for an emergency landing.
Flickr photo by Andrew Morrell Photography