The santa thread

[Rel]

I don't know if they still do it, but the largest TV station here used to do things like that on Christmas Eve. They'd talk about it on the six o'clock, have a couple updates during commercial breaks through the evening, then at some point on the ten o'clock, they'd announce Santa had been spotted on the weather radar (they were there first station to get a weather radar and boy were they proud of it) and they would drop whatever they were doing and cut to the weatherman. He'd do the weather, then show the tracking data on the sleigh, and a blip on the radar that would resolve itself into the sillouette of Santa and his reindeer.

And do you consider this to be "inaccurate and sensationlist" journalism? I'll have to have this conversation with you and others because my understanding is that I'm on Kahuna's Ignore list.

 

[Xath]

I'm just upset that they never have any news reports on our beloved Hanukkah Harry!

"On Moshe! On Herschel! On Shlomo!"

I thought my parents made up Hanukkah Harry for my sister and I. I didn't realize other people knew about him.

 

[Nuclear Platypus]

Now you've gone and done it...you've pissed him off!

Santarchy!!

OMG! It's a YULE-tide! Just a bad case of Claus and Effect? Man, that's like some bizarre cartoon or an episode of the Tick.

I kinda liked the Futurama Claus-y song:

He knows when you are sleeping,
He knows when you're on the can,
He'll hunt you down and blast your [butt]
From here to Pakistan
You better not breathe,
You better not move,
You're better off dead I'm telling you dude
Santa Claus is gunning you down!

Could be worse. Billy, Mandy and the Grim Reaper could save Christmas from a Santa voiced by Gilbert Gottfreid.

 

[Aeson]

And do you consider this to be "inaccurate and sensationlist" journalism? I'll have to have this conversation with you and others because my understanding is that I'm on Kahuna's Ignore list.

What did you do to get ignored? Did you ask her to bite you?

 

[Rel]

What did you do to get ignored? Did you ask her to bite you?

I have no idea and it probably isn't something that I want to discuss here. Whatever reasons Kahuna might have for putting me on the list are hers and I have no right nor inclination to ask for what they might be. I only mentioned it here because I'm sort of replying to stuff she's saying directly and I thought it might be helpful to others participating in the conversation to know not to expect that she'll address any of what I have to say.

What is sort of funny is that I determined a long time ago that Kahuna and I have very...different perspectives on many things. As a result there were a number of times when I specifically mentioned agreeing with her to try and build some "common ground". Those efforts were apparently for naught because I only just recently found out about the Ignore thing.

At any rate, this thread does not require any further discussion of that particular situation to remain interesting and so it is probably not anything that needs to be talked about here.

 

[Aeson]

I have no idea and it probably isn't something that I want to discuss here. Whatever reasons Kahuna might have for putting me on the list are hers and I have no right nor inclination to ask for what they might be. I only mentioned it here because I'm sort of replying to stuff she's saying directly and I thought it might be helpful to others participating in the conversation to know not to expect that she'll address any of what I have to say.

What is sort of funny is that I determined a long time ago that Kahuna and I have very...different perspectives on many things. As a result there were a number of times when I specifically mentioned agreeing with her to try and build some "common ground". Those efforts were apparently for naught because I only just recently found out about the Ignore thing.

At any rate, this thread does not require any further discussion of that particular situation to remain interesting and so it is probably not anything that needs to be talked about here.

Fair enough. I'm just nosey. I like gossip. Maybe we should start a gossip thread.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

Fair enough. I'm just nosey. I like gossip. Maybe we should start a gossip thread.

Well, I can't help with gossip because I've actually forgotten why I put Rel on the ignore list... Its not an "I hate you" list for me, I use it for a lot of reasons, personal or not, that boil down to "my forum reading expereince is smoother without this person." Also, I get him and reveal mixed up all the time so the vauge memory of a reason I have might be completely wrong.

So there no big gossip worthy drama... unless there is and I've forgotten it. Ignore lists mean you don't need to devote mental and emotional energy to grudges.

 

[fett527]

...At any rate, this thread does not require any further discussion of that particular situation to remain interesting and so it is probably not anything that needs to be talked about here.

Probably not, but maybe so. Rel on an ignore list? Wow.

 

[reveal]

Post deleted - Henry

 

[billd91]

I'm not terribly worked up about any aspect of this but I don't see the paper as having done anything wrong or being in violation of "journalistic integrity". I know that I myself could read pretty well by the time I was 4 to 5 years old and certainly was capable of reading most of the words in a news article by the time I was 6 or 7. If the paper publishes the story from a purely factual standpoint then aren't they guilty of the same sin as the teacher? By writing it the way they did they got the point across while steering clear of any accusations of "messing up Santa" for kids that might have read the story.

From a journalism standpoint, this is hardly noteworthy since the local nightly news constantly has references in their newscasts to the effect that "the weather will be (good/bad/ugly) for Santa and the reindeer on Christmas Eve" and crap like that.

I think there's a difference here in that the teacher was directly talking to the kids while it's very unlikely many of the 1st graders would have been reading the newspaper. That said, I don't think the teacher should have been forced to ruin her own integrity by recanting. A really good unit could have been devised on the whole experience.

The issue of weather reports including references to Santa clause are just that, cute, and have no real bearing on sensationalism or valid journalism. They're throw-away one-liners and I think most people know that. They're no more significant than the pageantry surrounding Groundhog's Day, mainly an excuse to throw in a little folksey fun.

My wife and I have done a little bit of work to get our kids to believe in Santa Claus. It's fun and harmless. We're not sure if our 7 year old is fully on to us or not. Sometimes she seems to be, sometimes not. Ultimately, it's something we want her to figure out for herself and that's why I believe the teacher made a blunder by outing Santa as a myth. But deliberately throwing away integrity to put the cat back in the bag? I don't think so.