I wanted to be the first to tell you that they are 
moving Santa’s workshop. Maybe this is a good idea because what with global warming, pretty soon his North Pole Workshop is going to need pontoons and look like something out of “WaterWorld”. Who ever thought Kevin Costner might be the Santa Clause for the 21st century? “And his web feet shook when he laughed like a bowl full 
of jellyfish!” But I suspect the move is mostly just a marketing ploy to justify an inflation of corporate profits…somehow. It seems a Swedish logistics company, Sweco, took a practical look at Santa’s distribution routes and decided that the traditional distribution center needed to relocate to Kyrgyz, in central Asia (also called Kyrgyzstan), the easier to reach all the good little boys and girls. And after a little research I can tell you that Kyrgyz is pronounced just like its spelled and I think Santa is going to be very happy there. And at least he won’t have to grow webbed feet!
*
Kevin, er, I meant Santa, certainly faces a daunting task each year. Out of the 6 billion people in this world most are not Christian (as if religion limited the celebration of Christmas!) and many who are, are Eastern Orthodox. Their Father Christmas doesn’t have to make deliveries until January 5th. But with about 173 million
families professing to be Protestant or Catholic that means about 667 million children are waiting for a visit from the old fat man on Christmas Eve. And with an average of 3.5 children per household, Santa must make 189 million stops in the brief 31 hours of darkness available on our spinning planet. (All figures by Joel Potischman and Bruce Handy.) That means he has to visit 1,398 homes each second, with only about 715 micro-seconds for each delivery. His eight tiny reindeer have to maintain an average flight speed of about 2,000 miles per second while carrying half a billion tons of presents. So practically speaking Santa needs every rotten and naughty little kid he can find to allow him to skip enough houses to make his appointed rounds for the “nice” kids he is required to visit. Not that I’m trying to encourage bad behavior in children. But every additional rotten little brat could be saving us from Kevin Costner for Christmas!
*
Lord knows the little bastards in Tyler, Texas, are doing their pa
rt. These Grinches stole a 42 foot tall 250 pound inflated Snowman from the Dixon Farms tree lot on South Loop 323. Frosty cost about $10,000 and lot owner, Royce Wisenbaker, has offered a $1,000 reward for his safe return. Still, two weeks later there is no sign of the missing "Frosty" and the list of suspects remains very long. Royce (the cheapskate) admits, “We’re on our third balloon because of vandalism.” And a local high school graduate confessed to plotting against Frosty in the past. “I don’t know why we were against it,...but we were like, ‘the snowman must die’.” But now that Frosty is gone, the ex-student insists “…it’s just heartbreaking”.
*
The Rotary Club in the village of Helesowen, England has provided a
Christmas treat for needy local kids for the past 20 years by selling children a ride on Santa’s Sleigh, pulled by a Land Rover at 5 mph. Money raised by the rides was used to buy presents for needy children in the village. It spread the spirit of the season and encouraged joy to the world so obvious something had to be done. Thank goodness some of Santa’s helpers at an insurance company stepped in to rectify the situation. They ruled that 20 years without a serious injury was just an invitation for disaster, and repeatedly jacked up the insurance rates for Santa’s sleigh ride until it was grounded. 
Then last year some trouble makers decided to give Santa a seat belt, and the insurance company was forced to drop the rates to about $400 dollars. So this year Santa’s underwr
iting elves decided that a seat belt for Santa was such a good idea that there ought to be a seat restraint for each and every needy child…while they were sitting in the parked trailer where Santa handed out their gifts, and jacked up the insurance rates accordingly. And that was finally the end of the deadly Santa sleigh rides from hell and the end of the charity as well. Whined one local do-gooder, “It beggars belief this has been stopped. For some we are the only people they see at Christmas.” I would say that there was somebody in England who was unclear on the concept of Santa.
*
Meanwhile, cops in the tiny Polish village of Ploty would like to speak to Santa. On November 6 a man matching his physical description a
nd dress walked into a grocery, greeted the clerk with a “Merry Feast of St. Nicholas” and pulled a gun. He then cleaned out the cash drawer of several thousand zlotys before placing a finger aside of his nose and with a nod of his head disappearing into the night. The clerk says the robber might have been wearing a mask but police would still like to know if Kevin Costner can account for his whereabouts that afternoon.
*
And in Winter Park Florida, a verbal holiday road confrontation inspired
the Santa in 25 year old Mark Lankford to drive his car through the Christmas display on the front yard of Douglas Sheldon’s house. Douglas and his wife Maria then went over to Mr. Lankford’s home to complain and after opening the front door Mr. Lankford opened fire. Douglas was hit in the arm and abdomen. Maria complained, “So there were words with us, big deal. They brought a gun and they shot my 
husband, bottom line.” “They” brought a gun? I thought Maria and Douglas went to the Langford home? Which means Mr. Langford didn’t have to “bring” anything. Perhaps the Sheldons should have just called the cops. Douglas is in stable condition and Mathew Lankford is now in jail facing attempted murder charges. Both families should be receiving their “thank you” notes from a relieved Santa very soon.
*
Authorities are still looking for the
Santa’s Little Helper in Ottawa, Canada. Whoever it was managed to insert graphic sexual insults into about ten letters supposedly written by Santa in reply to children requests for presents. The program, which the Canadian Post has been sponsoring for a quarter of a century, is on hold in the Ottawa area while cops try to figure out which little bastard out of the 11,000 volunteers stepped up and took one on the chin for Santa.
*
Lance Word, 18, from Slidell, Louisiana, was walking home at about 8:30pm on a recent Saturday night when he spotted a happy, ch
eerful holiday decoration taunting him from the front lawn at 404 Rosa Street. Captured by the true spirit of Christmas, Lance threw himself on the six foot tall Frosty the Snowman, and pummeled him to the ground, popping one of his seams in the process. The residents called the cops and Lance was arrested and charged with criminal damage to property valued at under $500. The damage consisted of a tear on Frosty’s left foot. The cops described Lance as “…a good kid who was very apologetic,” and yet,… he assaulted a hero from a children’s song. That ought to make Santa’s run through Louisiana a little easier this year.
*
According to The Brownsville Herald it was “…weeks before Christmas, and all through the town, neighbors were
complaining of lawn decorations stolen and ripped down.” And then at 4:30 AM last Friday cops in Mission, Texas responded to a call of “suspicious noises” and pulled over a white Mitsubishi. From the car stepped a single female, 18 year old Sabrina Maria Ochoa, and two males, 17 year old Andres Guaracha and 19 year old Ismael Garcia. In the trunk police found inflated snow globes, lighted reindeer and Santa Clause statues. The three master criminals quickly admitted it was all stolen.
*
While Sabrina drove the “get-away” car, Andres, dressed in blue jeans, a tube top, wearing a blond wig, eye liner, lipstick and high
heels, and Ismael, (boy did his parents misname him!) who was also wearing makeup, a long flowing black wig and four inch heels, scampered across the lawns, grabbing 12 decorations valued at between $25 and $250 each and stuffing them into the car’s trunk. They said they intended to sell the stolen lighted good cheer, but offered no explanation as to why they did not chose to wear more discrete attire, like perhaps some tennis shoes. Still, they may not have been seasonal, but they certainly were festive. And clearly Santa will not have to stop at their houses this year.
*
Santa may pretty much skip over the Philippine archipelago as well after
helpful Manila authorities officially banned the singing of Christmas Carols, at least those sung by poor children and orphans who block traffic until they are paid for their songs. An official insisted he was not against Christmas. “What we are against”, he said, “are those who dart across thoroughfares knocking on vehicle windows to beg for alms since this is a sure fire way to get maimed or killed”. He added that begging by caroling door-to-door still has the official stamp of approval. Thank God, for that. But St. Nick will not be getting any help in Essen, Germany. Last week security guards there detained a man they 
found sleeping on the street outside a department store, dressed in the flowing robes and Middle Eastern headdress of the. “… three kings from orient are”. It seems the 53 year old homeless man stole the outfits from a life size nativity scene in a public square because he was cold. He was arrested anyway, but not charged, since, as a police spokesman explained, “I don’t think the kings would have objected”. The homeless man was held until his identity could be established (and he could get a warm meal in his belly) and then released. Poor Santa will have to make almost every stop in Essen.
*
Danbury, Connecticut, however, holds at least one bright spot for the
overworked man in red. Little 33 year old Sanrama Lamy will find her stocking empty, except for a summons to appear in court on January 3 for sexually assaulting Santa. It seems Sandrama limped up to Santa (she was on crutches), at a Danbury mall, plopped down on the jolly old man’s lap and “made her wishes known”. 
Unfortunately the 65 year old Mr. Clause was not amused because some of the younger children waiting in line behind Sandrama were getting educated, if not about Christmas; which is why Santa filed the complaint. Well, done, Sandrama! I don’t know many women, already limping, who would have risked jail time just to help the dreams of millions of good little boys and girls come true.
*
But it likely will not be enough to sidetrack the corporate plans to renovate Christmas. So on Christmas day 2007 a
team of climbers will ascend one of the many unnamed peaks in Kyrgyz (90% of the country is mountains over 20,000 feet) and officially declare it to be “Santa Clause Mountain.” It sounds like a crass publicity ploy, but Kyrgyz officially became an independent nation in 1991, on December 25th. And the population is almost entirely Muslim.
*
That is what I would call Christmas irony.
*
moving Santa’s workshop. Maybe this is a good idea because what with global warming, pretty soon his North Pole Workshop is going to need pontoons and look like something out of “WaterWorld”. Who ever thought Kevin Costner might be the Santa Clause for the 21st century? “And his web feet shook when he laughed like a bowl full 
of jellyfish!” But I suspect the move is mostly just a marketing ploy to justify an inflation of corporate profits…somehow. It seems a Swedish logistics company, Sweco, took a practical look at Santa’s distribution routes and decided that the traditional distribution center needed to relocate to Kyrgyz, in central Asia (also called Kyrgyzstan), the easier to reach all the good little boys and girls. And after a little research I can tell you that Kyrgyz is pronounced just like its spelled and I think Santa is going to be very happy there. And at least he won’t have to grow webbed feet!*
Kevin, er, I meant Santa, certainly faces a daunting task each year. Out of the 6 billion people in this world most are not Christian (as if religion limited the celebration of Christmas!) and many who are, are Eastern Orthodox. Their Father Christmas doesn’t have to make deliveries until January 5th. But with about 173 million
families professing to be Protestant or Catholic that means about 667 million children are waiting for a visit from the old fat man on Christmas Eve. And with an average of 3.5 children per household, Santa must make 189 million stops in the brief 31 hours of darkness available on our spinning planet. (All figures by Joel Potischman and Bruce Handy.) That means he has to visit 1,398 homes each second, with only about 715 micro-seconds for each delivery. His eight tiny reindeer have to maintain an average flight speed of about 2,000 miles per second while carrying half a billion tons of presents. So practically speaking Santa needs every rotten and naughty little kid he can find to allow him to skip enough houses to make his appointed rounds for the “nice” kids he is required to visit. Not that I’m trying to encourage bad behavior in children. But every additional rotten little brat could be saving us from Kevin Costner for Christmas!*
Lord knows the little bastards in Tyler, Texas, are doing their pa
rt. These Grinches stole a 42 foot tall 250 pound inflated Snowman from the Dixon Farms tree lot on South Loop 323. Frosty cost about $10,000 and lot owner, Royce Wisenbaker, has offered a $1,000 reward for his safe return. Still, two weeks later there is no sign of the missing "Frosty" and the list of suspects remains very long. Royce (the cheapskate) admits, “We’re on our third balloon because of vandalism.” And a local high school graduate confessed to plotting against Frosty in the past. “I don’t know why we were against it,...but we were like, ‘the snowman must die’.” But now that Frosty is gone, the ex-student insists “…it’s just heartbreaking”.*
The Rotary Club in the village of Helesowen, England has provided a
Christmas treat for needy local kids for the past 20 years by selling children a ride on Santa’s Sleigh, pulled by a Land Rover at 5 mph. Money raised by the rides was used to buy presents for needy children in the village. It spread the spirit of the season and encouraged joy to the world so obvious something had to be done. Thank goodness some of Santa’s helpers at an insurance company stepped in to rectify the situation. They ruled that 20 years without a serious injury was just an invitation for disaster, and repeatedly jacked up the insurance rates for Santa’s sleigh ride until it was grounded. 
Then last year some trouble makers decided to give Santa a seat belt, and the insurance company was forced to drop the rates to about $400 dollars. So this year Santa’s underwr
iting elves decided that a seat belt for Santa was such a good idea that there ought to be a seat restraint for each and every needy child…while they were sitting in the parked trailer where Santa handed out their gifts, and jacked up the insurance rates accordingly. And that was finally the end of the deadly Santa sleigh rides from hell and the end of the charity as well. Whined one local do-gooder, “It beggars belief this has been stopped. For some we are the only people they see at Christmas.” I would say that there was somebody in England who was unclear on the concept of Santa.*
Meanwhile, cops in the tiny Polish village of Ploty would like to speak to Santa. On November 6 a man matching his physical description a
nd dress walked into a grocery, greeted the clerk with a “Merry Feast of St. Nicholas” and pulled a gun. He then cleaned out the cash drawer of several thousand zlotys before placing a finger aside of his nose and with a nod of his head disappearing into the night. The clerk says the robber might have been wearing a mask but police would still like to know if Kevin Costner can account for his whereabouts that afternoon.*
And in Winter Park Florida, a verbal holiday road confrontation inspired
the Santa in 25 year old Mark Lankford to drive his car through the Christmas display on the front yard of Douglas Sheldon’s house. Douglas and his wife Maria then went over to Mr. Lankford’s home to complain and after opening the front door Mr. Lankford opened fire. Douglas was hit in the arm and abdomen. Maria complained, “So there were words with us, big deal. They brought a gun and they shot my 
husband, bottom line.” “They” brought a gun? I thought Maria and Douglas went to the Langford home? Which means Mr. Langford didn’t have to “bring” anything. Perhaps the Sheldons should have just called the cops. Douglas is in stable condition and Mathew Lankford is now in jail facing attempted murder charges. Both families should be receiving their “thank you” notes from a relieved Santa very soon.*
Authorities are still looking for the
Santa’s Little Helper in Ottawa, Canada. Whoever it was managed to insert graphic sexual insults into about ten letters supposedly written by Santa in reply to children requests for presents. The program, which the Canadian Post has been sponsoring for a quarter of a century, is on hold in the Ottawa area while cops try to figure out which little bastard out of the 11,000 volunteers stepped up and took one on the chin for Santa.*
Lance Word, 18, from Slidell, Louisiana, was walking home at about 8:30pm on a recent Saturday night when he spotted a happy, ch
eerful holiday decoration taunting him from the front lawn at 404 Rosa Street. Captured by the true spirit of Christmas, Lance threw himself on the six foot tall Frosty the Snowman, and pummeled him to the ground, popping one of his seams in the process. The residents called the cops and Lance was arrested and charged with criminal damage to property valued at under $500. The damage consisted of a tear on Frosty’s left foot. The cops described Lance as “…a good kid who was very apologetic,” and yet,… he assaulted a hero from a children’s song. That ought to make Santa’s run through Louisiana a little easier this year.*
According to The Brownsville Herald it was “…weeks before Christmas, and all through the town, neighbors were
complaining of lawn decorations stolen and ripped down.” And then at 4:30 AM last Friday cops in Mission, Texas responded to a call of “suspicious noises” and pulled over a white Mitsubishi. From the car stepped a single female, 18 year old Sabrina Maria Ochoa, and two males, 17 year old Andres Guaracha and 19 year old Ismael Garcia. In the trunk police found inflated snow globes, lighted reindeer and Santa Clause statues. The three master criminals quickly admitted it was all stolen.
*
While Sabrina drove the “get-away” car, Andres, dressed in blue jeans, a tube top, wearing a blond wig, eye liner, lipstick and high
heels, and Ismael, (boy did his parents misname him!) who was also wearing makeup, a long flowing black wig and four inch heels, scampered across the lawns, grabbing 12 decorations valued at between $25 and $250 each and stuffing them into the car’s trunk. They said they intended to sell the stolen lighted good cheer, but offered no explanation as to why they did not chose to wear more discrete attire, like perhaps some tennis shoes. Still, they may not have been seasonal, but they certainly were festive. And clearly Santa will not have to stop at their houses this year.*
Santa may pretty much skip over the Philippine archipelago as well after
helpful Manila authorities officially banned the singing of Christmas Carols, at least those sung by poor children and orphans who block traffic until they are paid for their songs. An official insisted he was not against Christmas. “What we are against”, he said, “are those who dart across thoroughfares knocking on vehicle windows to beg for alms since this is a sure fire way to get maimed or killed”. He added that begging by caroling door-to-door still has the official stamp of approval. Thank God, for that. But St. Nick will not be getting any help in Essen, Germany. Last week security guards there detained a man they 
found sleeping on the street outside a department store, dressed in the flowing robes and Middle Eastern headdress of the. “… three kings from orient are”. It seems the 53 year old homeless man stole the outfits from a life size nativity scene in a public square because he was cold. He was arrested anyway, but not charged, since, as a police spokesman explained, “I don’t think the kings would have objected”. The homeless man was held until his identity could be established (and he could get a warm meal in his belly) and then released. Poor Santa will have to make almost every stop in Essen.*
Danbury, Connecticut, however, holds at least one bright spot for the
overworked man in red. Little 33 year old Sanrama Lamy will find her stocking empty, except for a summons to appear in court on January 3 for sexually assaulting Santa. It seems Sandrama limped up to Santa (she was on crutches), at a Danbury mall, plopped down on the jolly old man’s lap and “made her wishes known”. 
Unfortunately the 65 year old Mr. Clause was not amused because some of the younger children waiting in line behind Sandrama were getting educated, if not about Christmas; which is why Santa filed the complaint. Well, done, Sandrama! I don’t know many women, already limping, who would have risked jail time just to help the dreams of millions of good little boys and girls come true.*
But it likely will not be enough to sidetrack the corporate plans to renovate Christmas. So on Christmas day 2007 a
team of climbers will ascend one of the many unnamed peaks in Kyrgyz (90% of the country is mountains over 20,000 feet) and officially declare it to be “Santa Clause Mountain.” It sounds like a crass publicity ploy, but Kyrgyz officially became an independent nation in 1991, on December 25th. And the population is almost entirely Muslim.*
That is what I would call Christmas irony.
*
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
- 30 -
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