Ah, California…my home and native land.

Seems the local high school board of trustees votes last week to replace the terms “Winter Break,” and “Spring Break,” with the wildly controversial, and apparently highly offensive, terms, “Christmas,” and “Easter” breaks, respectively. One man was so disheartened by this that, well, he set himself on fire:

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - A man used flammable liquid to light himself on fire, apparently to protest a San Joaquin Valley school district’s decision to change the names of winter and spring breaks to Christmas and Easter vacation.

The man, who was not immediately identified, on Friday also set fire to a Christmas tree, an American flag and a revolutionary flag replica, said Fire Captain Garth Milam.

…

Beside the tree the man stood with an American flag draped around his shoulders and a red gas can over his head.

Seeing the deputy, the man poured the liquid over his head. He quickly burst into flames when the fumes from the gas met the flames from the tree.

The deputy ordered the man to drop to the ground as he and a parole agent sprayed him with fire extinguishers.

“The man stood there like this,” the deputy said with his arms across his chest and his head bent down, “Saying no, no, no.”

The man suffered first degree burns on his shoulders and arms, Milam said.

Kern County Sheriff’s Deputy John Leyendecker said the man had a sign that read: “(expletive) the religious establishment and KHSD.”

Living in Canada, I miss all the excitement.

Update: Check out the photos of the guy over at Hot Air. Something isn’t right. Allahpundit notices that the guy burned for 30 seconds, yet his hair is perfect. Note also, the guy’s full beard - I seem to remember that hair melts.

Also, don’t miss Blue Crab Boulevard’s label for the incident, inspired by the season of course. Heh.

Posted by casey on Saturday, December 23rd, 2006 at 5:23 pm.