Question for the Day

I'd like to conduct a little non-scientific poll among my readers. The question is this: Do you go out of your way to shop in a "Christmas-Friendly" store?

We are all aware that some stores have instructed their employees not to mention Christmas and they refuse to put up Christmas decorations or run ads that mention Christmas. Others don't "ban" Christmas from their stores. Still others, "push" the Christmas message.

This is fluid from year to year. A few years back, Target was lambasted by the right (including me) for having "anti-Christmas" policies. That has hurt them during the Christmas season, and they've backed off. They're kind of riding the fence. Their ads (which I find clever and humorous, by the way) show Christmas gift-giving without actually mentioning the name of the holiday. Their stores look a little bit "Christmasy" without overtly pushing the season. They also no longer tell their employees they can't say "Merry Christmas." As I understand it, the decision to wish people a Merry Christmas is made either on a store-by-store basis or up to the individual.

Wal-Mart is also changing, but in the other direction. Once a very Christmas-friendly store, they are down-playing the Christmas theme, using fewer decorations, and a less overtly Christmas message in their advertising.

Best Buy this year has made their advertising more "Christmasy," again, without mentioning the name of the holiday itself.

What I find is that most mom-and-pop stores, locally owned places in my area tend to go all-out for Christmas. And it doesn't seem like they are trying to capitalize on the holiday for the purpose of increasing sales. It's simply a part of who they are.

In general, I shop locally owned stores, not national chains, whenever I can. I don't even mean for just Christmas. This is a year-round thing for me. I avoid Wal_Mart at all costs. I shy away from other big chains, as well. Of course, it's getting harder and harder to do that. It's becoming increasingly difficult to find a locally owned grocery store or clothing store, for instance.

But there are many, many other types of stores where you can shop for Christmas gifts and have your Christmas spending done in places owned by people who share your values and who don't run away from Christmas or America or tradition.

So, once again .... do you go out of your way to shop in Christmas-friendly stores? Or do you just shop where ever is convenient/cheap/has sales/etc? I'd love to have your input.

Send the ACLU a Christmas Card

I think it would be a good idea to send the folks at the ACLU a Christmas Card. No nasty messages. No snide remarks. Just a pleasant reminder to enjoy the season. A nice, CHRISTIAN Christmas card. If you are so inclined, here is the address...

ACLU

125 Broad Street

18th Floor

New York, NY 10004

Put your name on it, but I wouldn't put a return address or any other identifying information, unless you want to be solicited for donations.

Santa Claus is a Health Hazard

The war on Christmas rages on, and nowhere more intensely than on the "kill-joy front." You know it: the predictable but still brutal attacks from those who say your eggnog and candy canes, the tree near your fireplace and even your favorite myths, stories and carols hide secret dangers to emotional and physical wellbeing.

But at least one public health expert is striking a blow for traditionalists by roundly mocking kill-joy tactics by aiming right at the personification of the season.

On Dec 16, an Associated Press article reported a "light-hearted" study conducted by Australian Nathan Grills of Monash University, which was published in the online Christmas edition of the British Medical Journal. Grills' conclusion: Santa Claus is a public health menace.

Grills' characterized the jolly old elf as a "reckless role model" for children, citing his "frequent cookie snacks, occasional cigars and refusal to don a helmet during ‘extreme sports such as roof surfing and chimney jumping,'" according to the AP.

Grills also claimed to have found a correlation between Santa-loving countries and large numbers of fat children. "Santa promotes a message that obesity is synonymous with cheerfulness and joviality," Grills wrote.

So Grills prescribed jolly old Saint Nicholas a new diet and health regime: 1) No more milk and cookies. Share a carrot with Rudolph instead. 2) Ditch the sleigh. Start biking. 3) No more snotty-nosed, sniffling, coughing kids sitting on his lap. That's a "one-man outbreak waiting to happen."

In related news, health officials are urging the Canadian government to ban traditional nativity scenes on the grounds that they give the false impression that stables are sanitarily acceptable locations for child birth. Their cause has gained some support from members of Parliament, and a bill has been introduced that would impose stiff fines for publicly displaying the beloved crèche.

Dr. Angus McAllen of the North Eastern Saskatchewan University School of Clinical Medicine explained, "The amount of bacteria present in a mixed-occupancy animal domicile is nearly incalculable. Dung, urine, fleas." he said, "and the idea of placing a newborn in a manger - this repository of concentrated mammalian saliva?"

McAllen and others fear that, given the long waiting lists for obstetric care under Canada's National Health system, young mothers may see barns or stables as viable alternatives to hospital care. "While it's true that many shepherds have rudimentary OBGYN training and stable boys may be caring nurturers," said McAllen, "there's just no substitute for professional care and antiseptic conditions for the health of both the mother and the baby."

The Parliament in Ottawa is set to take up debate on the "Responsible Nativity Childbirth Display Act."

Not really. Merry Christmas!

(From Newsbusters, by Carolyn Plocher)