FELIZ WEIHNACHTEN TO ALL

Don't be expecting me to entertain you next week. You're on your own. I am on a holiday sabbatical, baby.

Just to send you off in the right frame of mind, here is some holiday joy for you. First, the Sun-Times reports that in the Turkish town of Demre a huge plastic Santa is on display. Pretty interesting in a Muslim country. More interesting is the fact that the town is aghast. Apparently the plastic Santa replaced a solemn statue of Saint Nicholas, who was the bishop there in the fourth century. The statue showed the tall, thin Nicholas standing with an open Bible. This of course, echoes the story about the Czechs being upset with Santa replacing the Christ child we discussed last week. Who says American consumerism can't unite the world?

Also in Christmas-related news, apparently as a birthday present the Polish parliament is working on a bill to make Jesus Christ the honorary King of Poland. Happy birthday! Surprisingly enough, the Catholic Church in Poland thinks this is stupid. Of course, given the bad luck Poland has had being independent, what with all of the partitioning and all, they may just be looking out for Jesus's interests. I mean, once you are king, you are more or less obligated to fight against future partitions, and odds are Poland is about ripe for another one of those.

So, anyway, Merry Christmas.