KEY POINTS:
Sam writes: "This was a promotional package for a Toblerone bar bought in Melbourne last week. I received it as a gift only hours after hearing on the news that this jolly phrase was banned in Melbourne for being deemed 'derogatory to women' by the Politically Corrects."
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Silly season: Father Christmas has been given a makeover - after one school decided his red suit was a symbol of "modern commercialism". The outfit would remind pupils of Coca-Cola adverts, according to the parents' committee at the Steiner School in Brighton. So instead youngsters will be visited by a green-clad St Nicholas. And amateur historian David Baker said: "There are images of a red-suited Santa going back to before the creation of Coca-Cola. Thomas Nast drew images of Merry Old Santa Claus that shows Santa in his red suit. Coca-Cola wasn't even invented until 1886." At the school's Christmas bazaar, pupils will be told a "moral" tale rather than the traditional Christmas story, and instead of opening presents they will be given fake "rocks" to break open to reveal crystals. (Source: Daily Mail)
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Rendy Sugiarto writes: "I cannot help but wonder when I look at the newly proposed Auckland City logo. With the arcs and stars, the triangle looks like an erupting Rangitoto Island. First it was Marc Ellis's prank, and now this. Call me superstitious, but is this a premonition?"
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Preventive policing: Police in England and Wales now have the authority to bar people from town centres for up to 48 hours if they believe those persons will cause alcohol-related crimes or disorder. They can issue banning orders to people who have not had any alcohol if they believe they are going to drink. Those who refuse to leave can be arrested and face fines of up to £2500 ($6850). (source: Reason.com)
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Dr Mark MacDonald tells the worldwide web of his funniest moment in medicine: "A man comes into the ER and yells, 'My wife's going to have her baby in the cab!' I grabbed my stuff, rushed out to the cab, lifted the lady's dress, and began to take off her underwear. Suddenly I noticed that there were several cabs - and I was in the wrong one."
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Lateral of Mt Eden writes: "The 'Pig Dog Training School/Bookbinder' sign in yesterday's Sideswipe makes perfect sense to me; books bound in pigskin are both stylish and hardwearing."