(no subject)
while eight flying reindeer are a hard pill to swallow, our christmas story remains relatively dull. santa lives with his wife in a remote polar village and spends one night a year traveling around the world. if you're bad, he leaves you coal. if you're good and live in america, he'll give you just about anything you want. we tell our children to be good and send them off to bed, where they lie awake anticipating their great bounty. a dutch parent has a decidedly harier story to relate, telling his children, "listen, you might want to pack a few of your things together before going to bed. the former bishop of turkey will be coming tonight along with six to eight black men. they might put some candy in your shoes, they might stuff you into a sack and take you to spain, or they might just pretend to kick you. we don't know for sure, but we want you to be prepared."