Merry Christmas 2012 with a message from 1914

To our brethren on Christmas Island who officially celebrate Xmas first on the planet, I trust all 1500 of you had one huge party. To the rest of the world who celebrate Xmas may happiness, cheer and joy fill your Xmas day.
 
The following clip is the trailer for the play "All Is Calm" based on the Christmas Truce of 1914. It is a powerful story in our history rarely told. It reminds me that we should share our commonalities and cherish our differences more. Have an awesome Christmas, one and all. Be safe!

The Christmas truce was a series of widespread, unofficial ceasefires that took place along the Western Front around Christmas 1914, during World War I. Through the week leading up to Christmas, parties of German and British soldiers began to exchange seasonal greetings and songs between their trenches; on occasion, the tension was reduced to the point that individuals would walk across to talk to their opposite numbers bearing gifts. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, many soldiers from both sides – as well as, to a lesser degree, from French units – independently ventured into "no man's land", where they mingled, exchanging food and souvenirs. As well as joint burial ceremonies, several meetings ended in carol-singing. Troops from both sides were also friendly enough to play games of football with one another (direct extract from Wikipedia)