Fright night:

Hallowe'en is one of the natural holidays. More than anything else, it celebrates the end of another growth cycle.  

That can be either good or bad, depending on the harvest. Survival during the winter months ahead depended on a successful growth season. 

The season is celebrated in such parallel feast days as Thanksgiving and Oktoberfest in the northern hemisphere. Both feature plenty of food and drink.

Religious holidays attached to this seasonal celebration include All Saints Day.  Festivities include the ancestors in some Central and South American communities. They are held in cemeteries where families celebrate among the tombs and burial sites of those who went before them. We are told this can get pretty macabre in some locales. 

But why not? It's the recognition of Death, after all. Death is an important part of Life. It is a vital part of evolution. Without it, life would lose its identity..

Tricky Treats:

No historic character is more deserving of being included on our list of Hallowe'en monsters than Adolf Hitler. 

Of course, there's little left to be said about der Fuehrer that hasn't been said before, probably better, and many times over.

On the positive side, old Adolf can be credited with instilling a fierce sense of pride in his countrymen, especially the youth. War films from the era show  soldiers, as young as 14, crying while their heavily drugged fuehrer fumbles pinning hero medals on them.

Question: Is programming a sense of pride into the nation's youth a good thing? 

Maybe not. There's a problem. A sense of pride never stands alone. It comes with a sense of contempt for others. 

It begs the question: Better than who? How? Why?

In the end, Hitler used pride to direct his Nazis to attack their neighbors. That resulted in the loss of about 25 million lives and their ultimate defeat.

PM Blameless:

 It's hard to blame Justin for his escape to BC on that new holiday his government decreed some time earlier.

There's little doubt he was joined by millions of Canadians who are tired of ridiculous holidays.

Who can blame Trudeau? The election is over and the voting done. No further need to impress the Furs & Feathers minority.