MONOLOGUE WRITTEN BY CLYDE LEWIS

When Christmas time rolls around, there is something that is in the air. It can be the magic of the Christmas spirit, or the festive buzz that is at the local mall. Hysteria and chaos are felt everywhere as the old song intones, “shoppers rush home with their treasures.”

All the deep breathing in the world probably can’t calm the chaos that comes with the season, but as we breathe it, is this season that is the most prone for coughing and sneezing and many people think that it is all because of the flu.

The flu of course, or the fear of getting it, has convinced droves of people to stand in line at the pharmacy to get a flu shot.

However, experts are warning that this year the flu shot you got may not have been all that effective.

The flu shots used in Australia, which are similar to what’s used in the U.S., were only about 10 percent effective. What concerns experts are that when it comes to the flu, how the southern hemisphere is impacted tends to serve as a precursor to how hard the U.S. will be hit.

Experts are now saying that during the development of the vaccine grown in eggs, the virus itself mutated a bit, so that there was almost an accidental mismatch purely on the basis of the virus trying to adapt itself to growing in eggs.

However, with this information not being reported in the mainstream news, the big pharmaceutical companies are saying that this should not stop you from getting a flu shot.

The flu this year is supposed to be a mean one – it is called H3N2 and many people right now are already going through the aches, pains, sneezing and cough.

The vast majority of the strains that are early-circulating now right now in the United States, about 83 percent of them are influenza A and, of those, about 78 percent of them are this H3N2, which historically is always the worse influenza, for example, than an H1N1.

However, there have been a lot of controversial discussions about what triggers the inflammatory cytokine storms in humans that eventually break down their immunity to the flu every year at pretty much the same time.

The answer may be as simple as an allergy to Christmas.

Now you may be thinking an allergy to Christmas? What is this, an Illuminati plot to once again declare a war on Christmas?

No, it is very real and there have been a few very interesting stories floating around that may peak your interest as to what may be triggering the initial inflammatory symptoms that lead to a cold or flu virus attacking your body without warning .

There are many things that can trigger an inflammatory response at Christmas time and a lot if has to do with an exposure to aluminum, mold and other toxic substances during the holidays.

For example, artificial trees have always been popular to avoid the hassle of a dead tree sitting in the home shedding its needles and even leaving sap on the floor, which for some is also a trigger for an inflammatory cytokine response.

The sap contains terpene and other substances that can irritate skin and mucous membranes; and pollen stuck to the tree may be released inside the house and can lead to cytokine and histamine reactions that can lead to a long term relationship with a cold or flu.

Within just two weeks of bringing a tree into your home, indoor mold and pollen counts can increase significantly.

This is why artificial Christmas trees have been in existence in one form or another for at least 100 years.

We now have different plastic versions of artificial trees, but many generations ago the most popular alternative to a real tree was an aluminum tree.

A 1937 article in Popular Science encouraged readers to use an insect spray gun to coat live trees with aluminum paint to obtain a look that resembled “molten metal.”

The end result of applying an oil-based spray paint onto drying pine boughs had to have been equivalent to building a time bomb in your living room, complete with the radiant gas heat and indoor smoking that was common at the time.

In 1955, the Modern Coatings Company, of Chicago, obtained a patent for an aluminum Christmas tree. The trees were a space-age standout, but they were bulky, difficult to assemble and — most of all — expensive.

Modern Coating’s 6-foot, handmade trees retailed for $80, equivalent to paying $730 for a Christmas tree today.

Then the Aluminum Specialty Company, a company that made pots and pans and aluminum tree ornaments got the idea to mass produce Aluminum Christmas trees.

Aluminum Specialty engineers deconstructed the Modern Coatings tree and re-designed it to include foil “needles.” The tree could be mass produced for less than $12.

The Aluminum Specialty tree was unveiled at the American Toy Fair in March 1959. It was an immediate success. Orders poured in.

That Christmas, Aluminum Specialty sold all 10,000 trees it had rushed to produce, each selling for around $25. The next year, the company dedicated several of its production lines to the manufacture of aluminum trees under the brand name, Evergleam.

While many other manufacturers like The Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) followed suit, Evergleam always dominated the market. At its peak in 1964, Aluminum Specialty was producing around 150,000 Christmas trees a year, with them coming in a variety of colors and sizes.

They were sleek, elegant and didn’t lose their needles. They also included the very real possibility of death by electrocution.

In the 1970s, the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued the following warning: “Never use electric lights on a metallic tree. The tree can become charged with electricity from faulty lights, and a person touching a branch could be electrocuted.”

So then came the glow wheel where the aluminum tree would be displayed with a color wheel, creating a silly disco effect to avoid the perils of electrocution of a pet or a child.

Aluminum trees arguably were toxic as it is being discovered just how bad it is for humans and the environment. The old aluminum decorations can’t be much better either as much of the aluminum particulate is inhaled when old decorations are dug up out of attics and basements.

Aluminum has a history of damaging brain function. Independent researchers and labs continue to show off-the-scale levels of these poisons.

For decades, we have known that heavy metals and chemicals can cause grave physical harm.

Over the past decade, independent testing of the skies above us have shown an increase in dangerous, extremely poisonous brew that includes: barium, nano aluminum-coated mylar fiberglass [known as CHAFF similar to glitter], radioactive thorium, cadmium, chromium, nickel, mold spores, yellow fungal mycotoxins, ethylene dibromide, and polymer fibers.

Most of these metals are in the skies because of geoengineering trails or Chemtrails laid down by planes.

Numerous tests have been done to verify that these poisons are off the scale in their toxicity. They are documented in our water, in our soil, and in our air.

With all these poisons surrounding our every breath, it is not surprising to see a dramatic increase in illnesses. There are numerous reports of the increase in cardiac deaths and upper respiratory illnesses (asthma, chronic bronchitis, lung cancer, and often multiple chronic illnesses).

Aluminum is a major component in these aerosols. Although it is our planet’s most abundant metal, our body has no biological need for it. Pesticide Action Network North America lists it as “toxic to humans, including carcinogenicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, and acute toxicity.” Yet, aluminum is commonly used [this is a very short list] in vaccines, deodorants and antiperspirants, over-the-counter medications, aluminum leeches from cans into beer and soft drinks, baking powder, cake mixes, processed cheeses, and other food products and additives.

Over years, aluminum accumulates in the brain, tissues, and to a lesser amount the bones. It causes brain degeneration, dysfunction and damage –due to the blockage and reduced blood flow and oxygen of brain arteries.

The brain shrinks, as brain cells die. This causes dementia. Symptoms include: emotional outbursts, paranoia, forgetfulness and memory loss, speech incoherence, irritability, diminished alertness, changes in personality, and poor/bad judgment.

All these are on the rise, as more than 4-million Americans are afflicted. Brain deterioration and dementia take decades to cause serious and visible harm. Eventually, however, dementia is fatal. “Alzheimer’s” is now being used incorrectly as a catch-all term for all kinds of dementia and aluminum is being cited as one of the possible causes.

A new trend during the holidays is men wearing what are called glitter beards.

It is a disconcerting “trend” on social media that asks men to dip their beards into glitter, presumably to promote some misguided form of the holiday spirit.

No matter how many times you shower, you will continue to find glitter in some follicle or on some part of your body after putting it in your beard.

Glitter will appear in places where glitter most certainly doesn’t belong. In fact scientists are actually asking that we ban it.

Glitter is actually a plastic that is coated with aluminum.

Modern uses of glitter have ranged from experimental military strategies used in an aerosolized form to block radar and of course there are other uses that we have covered before including putting them in the Chemtrails.

Now there is an eco friendly trend towards creating glitter that is non- toxic.

Which brings us back to story of the aluminum Christmas tree—sales were brisk in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, until an innocuous little Christmas special killed the aluminum tree.

It was “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

President Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas just two years earlier. Peaceful civil rights protesters had been brutally clubbed by state troopers on a bridge in Selma, Alabama, and tens of thousands of young American men were being shipped off to fight and die in Vietnam.

The nation was hungry for reassurance — a return to a nostalgic past that was simple, sincere, honest and understandable.

According to a great retrospective article by David Murray of the Great Falls Tribune in Montana, CBS producers predicted a disaster because of the show’s unorthodox jazz-influenced music, tone, pacing and because of the production’s overt references to Christian religious beliefs.

More than 15 million viewers watched the broadcast, bested just slightly by those who tuned in to watch “Bonanza.” It won the 1966 Emmy for Most Outstanding Children’s Programming and a Peabody Award for the most “powerful, enlightening, and invigorating story in television and radio.”

The musical score for “A Charlie Brown Christmas” sold more than 4 million copies, and the 25-minute video has been rebroadcast by CBS and then ABC every year for more than a half century.

Midway through the story, as Charlie Brown confesses his angst over ever finding the true meaning of Christmas, Lucy provides this analysis:

“Let’s face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It’s run by a big eastern syndicate you know.”

It was meant as a joke, but somewhere within that statement resided a kernel of truth. The confession of an animated cartoon character caused millions of Americans to turn inward and ask themselves what had become of their traditional values of Christmas.

Later in the broadcast, as Charlie Brown and Linus seek out the perfect tree for their Christmas play, they come across a cold display of aluminum trees. Walking into the lot, Linus raps upon the shell of an aluminum tree, which echoes back with all the emotional appeal of an ancient Frigidaire ice box.

Charlie Brown though decides to select a forlorn sapling.

That captured the feeling of the nation at the time and all it needed to heal and bloom was love.

Charlie Brown is at first ridiculed for his decision, but, in the end, the children of the Peanuts Gang rally around Charlie Brown and his sad, little tree.

According to David Murrya, Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree represented something missing from American culture: authenticity and vulnerability, a lonely wayfarer in need of encouragement and support. If we could only all pull together, then the true meaning of Christmas would appear before our eyes.

The aluminum tree market collapsed. Sales plummeted, and, in 1970, the Aluminum Specialty Company discontinued its production of aluminum Christmas trees.

Close to a million were produced, but, in the end, most of them ended up in trash cans and flea markets. In the 1980s, it was not uncommon to find aluminum trees that once sold for $30 or more to be in a discount bin for 25 cents.

Unfortunately, they are now making a comeback – well, somewhat.

Baby boomers see them as nostalgic, but they want to be aware that they aren’t exactly the best thing to have around.

It is only one particular theory as to why people end up feeling depressed during the holidays.

There are now studies that are suggesting that depression may be primarily caused by inflammation.

That depression is not a disease but a symptom of an underlying problem with the body and its reactions to toxins and contaminants.

A new theory called the “Immune Cytokine Model of Depression” holds that depression is not a disease itself, but instead a “multifaceted sign of chronic immune system activation.”

A large body of research now suggests that depression is associated with a low-grade, chronic inflammatory response and is accompanied by increased oxidative stress.

The research on this topic is robust, and the connection between depression and inflammation is now well-established.

When the body is depressed it is more prone for bigger bouts with flu and other winter ailments.

So like Charlie Browns little sapling, all we need is a little warmth and love this season if there was ever a gift we could give this year; probably the best gift would be a moment with friends and family, without all of the toxic things that ruin the moment.

A little warmth and love is what the season is about, especially in year where we all could use some healing.

Written by Ron Patton