Chinese New Year @ MindSay

http://www.firepig.com/

At Firepig.com you can get a free Chinese horoscope for the new year. Enjoy! The one below is my horoscope for the year

BirthDay
Monday, November 20, 1967

Sign
Sheep

Element
Fire

Chinese Name
YANG

Lunar Years of the Sign
1931 1943 1955 1967 1979 1991 2003

Description of the Sign Year
The gentle Sheep provides needed respite after the wild Horse year. This is the year to focus on those things that matter most in life, family, beauty, our wonderful planet. It's a great year to create a family or enrich the one you have. Go to an art festival. Enjoy the finer things in life---frequent that special restaurant and go to concerts and plays. Spend some time learning about ecology and participate in a local effort to improve the environment.

Description of the Sign Personality
Gentle and artistic, the Sheep is the feminine sign. Don't be mislead; the Sheep can hold its own. The gentle-hearted Muhammad Ali is arguably the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. Still, they do tend to be shy and reserved. The Sheep lady truly enjoys being a lady. Not every Sheep will become a Michelangelo of course, but many will have artistic talent and most will make sure their homes are beautifully decorated. On the downside, the passive-aggressive Sheep can be an irritating whiner  at times. They also need lots of stroking and understanding when they go through different moods.  Nevertheless, they make good team players.

Description of the Sign-Element Personality
Fire adds an interesting contradiction to the Sheep personality.  The added energy and strength of your Fire element helps you overcome a lot of your natural timidity and to hold your ground in arguments.  Since you love peace and tranquility, Fire can cause you some internal conflict as it lures you onto the wild side occasionally.  That's a small price to pay since Fire also adds a spark to your personality making you more outgoing and fun to be around.  

Description of the Sign-Element Year
The Fire element combines with the Sheep to add a spark to the year.  Enjoy the year as the beauty around you will take on a more imaginative flair.  Be a little adventurous this year; eat some Thai food or even visit an exotic land and experience the world.  

Description of Home Life
The Yin (feminine) sign of the Sheep makes for a natural domestic.  Expect to find all the softer side has to offer when it comes to decorations.  Fresh smelling flowers, delicate curtains, and a warm fire burning in the fireplace are not uncommon in your household.  You are a team player and thus very comfortable co-existing with family members.

Hours Ruled by the Sign
1pm - 3pm

Why not celebrate another New Years Eve on saturday the 17th Feb....yes that's right; as we enter the year of the pig why not have a shindig, perhaps order chinese food or take up a martial art....of course, remember that China is 8 hours ahead (of me in the UK...the rest of you can work it out yourselves).....sayonara

Spring Festival, aka Chinese New Year, will begin soon, and nowhere is it more evident then in the streets of China. All the restaurants and shops are gearing up for the festivities by decorating the windows, doors, entrances, walls, etc. with red banners and all manner of bells and whistles. The supermarkets are also selling decorations for home use. Where before there were Christmas decorations, now there are red paper cutouts, gold and red banners, glittery Chinese characters proclaiming happiness and good fortune and big red lanterns. I've even noticed that supermarket sections that usually sell bed sheets, socks, housewares, etc. have pulled out all the red and gold colored sheets, socks, housewares, etc. to sell for good luck.

Soon the skies will be filled with the noise and sight of colorful fireworks - meant to scare away the bad spirits. Families will be reunited - already the train stations are filling up with people trying their best to make their way home. (Millions of Chinese travel far away from their homes to work or attend University. There is no guarantee they will get a train ticket home, so many start the migration early.) And, Global Gal and the DH will be doing some traveling of their own.

Last year we spent Chinese New Year in Cambodia & Thailand. This year we have decided to journey to Lhasa, Tibet on the new high-altitude railway.

Red Lanterns for sale in Linyi's Wholesale Market

BTW - On the Fringe is back in business! I've been able to access wordpress since yesterday!

 

Mohammedan victimhood has even reached the official atheistic State of the People’s Republic of China. You see the Chinese New Year is labeled the year of the “pig.” Nestle had prepared a marketing campaign that included Chinese New Year symbolism, which means pigs.

 

China vetoed the Nestle marketing campaign because it might (gag) offend Mohammedans.

 

Now this is remarkable for China does not seem to mind offending Christians: the fastest growing religion in Communist China. The Chinese routinely bull doze churches and homes that are said to be illegal. Unregistered Christian Pastors and Christian Church members are routinely tortured to extricate information.

 

Yet the Chinese are more concerned of their violent minority of Mohammedans, than peaceful Christians that offer no overt violence to the Communist Chinese. Why is that?

 

I suspect it has more to do with Chinese alliances than sympathy for Mohammedans and antipathy for Christians. Who is that ally? It is Iran, a huge provider of oil to the Chinese economy. Hmm…

 

(** Since the WSJ story is available only by subscription, I have posted the Blind Conservative post HERE.)