Pennsylvania family has unwelcome Christmas guest

Talk about a creepy visitor on Christmas — and I’m not referring to Santa Claus….

A Plains Township, Penn., family didn’t know they had a squatter in their attic until local police and their K-9 officer located a man in their home.  Stanley Carter, 21, was charged with criminal trespass, several counts of burglary, theft, and receiving stolen property.

Carter had reportedly been staying with friends in the shared duplex when they asked him to leave.  The friends then filed a missing persons report a few days before Christmas after he went missing December 19th.  He accessed the shared attic space through a trap door.

Stacy Ferrance, owner of the home, said that Carter came out of his hiding space wearing her daughter’s pants and her sweatshirt and shoes.  Ferrance notified the police when a laptop, iPod, and cash were found missing on Christmas Day.  She called again the next day after finding footprints in her closet — the location of the other trap door leading to the attic.

Carter kept a list of everything he had pilfered from Ferrance’s home and even labeled it “Stanley’s Christmas List” in order to log all the items he “donated” to himself.  Police found the list as they were going through the inventory of what he took.

Ferrance said she had heard noises but thought they were caused by her children.  “From what I gather, he was helping himself to my home, eating my food, and stealing my clothes,” she said.

Child’s letter to Santa uncovers pedophile

In Pharr, Texas, many elementary children participated in an annual custom and gave their teachers letters to be mailed to Santa Claus.  As usual, many want the latest toys, clothes, and perhaps something very dear to them.  For one 9-year-old girl, she just wanted a relative to stop touching her and her sister.

The girl’s teacher gave the letter to the school counselor who alerted authorities.  Police interviewed the girl and the man was arrested last Friday and is currently in the Hidalgo County Jail.  Reportedly, the abuse occurred over a period of four years.

With a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a young child, the relative could face up to 99 years in prison if convicted.

Yes, dear….there is a Santa Claus.  Your letter was read and Santa answered it.  With time and help from responsible, caring adults, hopefully all the rest of your Christmases will be bright.  And with any luck, your abuser will get what he deserves — and it won’t be just coal in his stocking.

Kids ask Santa for economic help this year

In an earlier blog post this week, I mentioned how hard it is for people this year at Christmas because of the economy.  And just as I said would happen, children are asking Santa for help.

Joe Jackson, a Santa in Columbia, SC, said this:

You see things behind the beard that nobody else will ever see or hear. I’ve had children just literally tear my heart out.

Parents are helping their children through tough times by trying to keep traditions alive.  Many know that their children desperately want the latest and greatest toy from Santa this year and that it just won’t happen.  Sadly, many don’t realize that the kids know this as well regardless of how much Mom and Dad try to hide it.

Children this year aren’t asking for as many toys as before, the article says.  They’re asking for warm clothes and personal care items — things most people would be offended to receive as a present.  In days gone by when people were happy to receive simple homemade presents, a pair of socks or a hastily-knitted scarf was the highlight of someone’s holiday.  Now, if it doesn’t have a memory card or isn’t the latest model of something they already have, people don’t want it.  To many, if you can’t prove you spent a quarter of your annual salary on their present then you’d be better off not buying anything at all.

Civic organizations are scrambling to help families provide a simple Christmas for children this year.  With more families signing-up for services and less people donating money, it’s going to be thin all around.

Having to cancel Christmas breaks the hearts of parents everywhere.  And it’s not only Christian families that are hurting this year.  Those who celebrate Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and no specific holiday at all are also in need.  It’s not just during the winter non-denominational holiday season that people need assistance.

That’s not mistletoe! Illinois zoo offers reindeer poop ornaments.

This Christmas people can decorate their trees with poop.  Although reindeer are large creatures, their poo is quite small and, so it seems, desirable when rolled in glitter and strung on wire with beads.

Actually, it is an interesting fund-raising method for the zoo.  The ornaments are sold for $5 each and come with a certificate of authenticity.  I’m not sure you’ll find many who want the job of sitting and watching reindeer defecate in order to make the certificates, but I guess it’s got its own prestige.

Just don’t expect to get too many kisses if you hang it from the ceiling…

Is shopping worth your life? Wal-Mart employee killed during Black Friday store rampage

Just how much is your life worth?  Shoppers at a Long Island, NY, Wal-Mart felt that anyone standing in their way was worth less than saving a few dollars.

A clerk at the store was trampled after the crowd broke the doors off the hinges.  A pregnant woman has been taken to hospital for observation and may have lost her unborn child.  Many others sustained injuries from the riot and the store had to be closed.

The Bentonville, AR, headquarters stated the store had to be closed for a “medical emergency” but has yet to confirm or deny the rampage by its customers.

So, are your kids just that spoiled that you’ll threaten the life of another person for a stupid toy?  Are you that greedy that you can’t wait until the store opens to plunk down money you can’t afford to spend on an HD TV?  And have we all become so blind to the plight of others that people will actually step on others in pursuit of material goods that no one notices someone has been hurt until it’s too late?

What does that say about the state of the world today?  True, people want to continue their holiday traditions and provide presents for family members but can’t afford to spend as much as years past.  We’re all out looking for a way to save some money.  But instead of living within the means they have now, there are many who find the after-Thanksgiving sales as the only way to appease their spoiled children, guilty conscience, or greedy desires.  Every year we hear about someone getting hurt in a shopping rush.  Every year we hear people complain about how they overspent on holiday gifts because “it was on sale” or “they just had to have it.”

So how much is your life worth?  I’d like to think we could all agree it’s worth more than anything that comes wrapped with a bow.

Merry Hanukkah?? White House invitation has Christmas tree on it…

Okay…who screwed this one up?? The White House Haunkkah Reception invitation sent out this year comes complete with a Christian/pagan Christmas tree right on it!

Will Santa be there too?  Maybe everyone will get to light the Misumaa Saba candles (they’re for Kwanzaa, if you didn’t know that).  I love the clydesdale horse towing the sled, too.  I guess ABInBev (what used to be Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis) will provide all the refreshments.

Supposedly it’s just a slip-up.  This late in the game, we should be used to that from the current White House.  It just reminds us that they’re not done yet — so don’t close the printing deals on your “Bush Gaffe” books!

Why not a chocolate Jesus for Easter?

The Roman Catholic Church once again is upset over a chocolate Jesus.  This time, a German chocolatier is under fire for creating gold foil-wrapped miniature Jesuses (yes, I looked it up and that is the correct spelling for the plural of “Jesus”…. jeez…).

Well, why not?  Just because someone decides to feed their Lord and Savior to children along with chocolate eggs on a bed of plastic grass it’s now a mortal sin?  I don’t see anyone going to Hell yet over Jesus of the Week, and I’ve been looking at it for years!

Actually, Frank Oynhausen set up his “Sweet Lord” business in order to renew traditional values.  Plus, he had been unemployed for two years and was motivated enough to pull himself up and create some income.

But let’s look at the traditions.  Children eat chocolate eggs at Easter.  The date changes every year based on the cycles of the moon.  And the Roman Catholic church is upset over a candy Jesus?  They don’t care that their Christmas trees and date of their holiest holiday celebrating the resurrection are guided by pagan origins?

Does anyone explain to the kids that the eggs are actually fertility symbols for the pagan Saxon Spring Festival?  And so are the bunny rabbits!  Think about that when you’re telling your kids to wait anxiously for colored ovum to be deposited in the lawn for them to hunt.

So Mr. Oynhausen wants to make and sell chocolate Jesuses.  True, it can be disconcerting to bite the head off the Son of God (if that’s your belief).  But what about those who don’t hold that belief?  Or any belief?  Does it matter?  Why restrict the sale of something that others may wish to purchase that isn’t illegal to own (unless you want a riot of chocoholics on your doorstep!)?  You’d think so long as they weren’t bowing down and offering live sacrifices to them it would be okay.

Now, if he stuffs them with a gooey red center, even I might have to opt out of those….

Santa shortage in Germany? What about kindness everywhere?

In these trying financial times, people are losing their jobs and life savings in the worldwide economic crisis.  Some are hoping to simply put a little food on the table or perhaps have one item for Father Christmas to leave in a stocking hung by the chimney with care.  For the Germans, they can’t find enough people to be Santa.

No, they’re not talking about “being Santa” as in showing charity and helping those less fortunate.  They’re looking for more than a few good men willing to put on a red suit and have snotty children scream in terror when placed on their lap.  A lot of people aren’t willing to go through that torture.  Maybe they’ve read this book!

Santas in Germany can make 60 euros per hour.  That’s about $75 per hour!!  In one thought, I think it’s way too much.  I would love to have a job that paid like that.  However, upon reflection, with the hazard pay you would need to provide to get some people to just consider being the jolly ol’ elf, it’s about right.  I mean…look at the working conditions!  You’ve got kids who are terrified of you.  You’ve also got overbearing parents who believe their little angels are entitled to whatever their sweetums begs for and are looking for the perfect photo to put in their Christmas letters that no one ever reads.

Then you have the parents who shyly stand on the sidelines and weep quietly to themselves because they know there’s no way they could possibly provide even one of the smallest items their kids are whispering into Santa’s ear.  Or the kids who sit on your knee and tell you they just want Mommy or Daddy to come home again, or stop drinking, or visit them from Heaven.

The Germans say that they’re actively recruiting Santas because people want to cling to their traditions to get through trying times.  I can see that.  Telling a child they can’t talk to Santa this year because no one can afford Christmas would bring tears to anyone’s eyes.

But do we really need a Santa on every street corner?  What about taking some of that salary and donating it to organizations that will ensure children can simply have a small present under the tree?  Or using it to help provide food for those who are in need and might go hungry this holiday season, regardless of whether it’s Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or even a non-religious celebration?

It’s supposed to be the happiest time of the year.  For many, even sugarplums won’t be dancing in their heads because the suffering of the real world has finally hit home.  What a shock to many it is to have gone from granting any wish their heart desired to wishing someone else had a heart large enough to help.

What the hell happened to Veterans’ Day???

I remember when I was a kid the schools would have us take time to remember our veterans.  If any teachers were veterans, we made posters and cards for them.  Veterans were invited to the school to have lunch with us and we’d put on a musical program for them of patriotic songs.  In junior high and high school, we’d march in the parades and attend assemblies to honor those still livng and remember those who had passed on or never came home.

What’s happening today?  I can’t find a parade or assembly anywhere.  All the stores are running ads telling me how great Veterans’ Day would be to save money on a waterbed, barbeque items, or a car I can’t possibly afford.  The kids are whining they have to go to school while the banks and post offices are closed.  And maybe, just maybe, a Girl Scout or Boy Scout group will visit the local Veterans’ Home or nursing homes to say “Thank you” to a veteran.

I put some flowers on my grandfather’s grave today.  He served in WWII.  None of the other military graves had any flowers or flags.

You would think (at least, I think that you would think) that people would be more respectful of the history of Veterans’ Day and respectful of our veterans of wars past and of today’s conflicts.  Today’s veterans deserve just as much adoration as those from the past.  Just because it’s an unpopular war doesn’t mean their service meant any less to them or the friends and family they left behind.  I thought we’d learned much more since Vietnam…  I guess not…

If you agree or disagree, feel free to comment.  Just don’t be hateful or try to get on your political soapbox.  The elections are over — you’re not going to change anything by being mean.  True, our veterans fought and died for your right to speak your mind.  But this is my blog and I’ll run it how I like.  Thanks for understanding.