Jack Lippman
It was that time of the year when things were getting hectic at the North Pole. Santa and the elves had been working overtime to make certain that everything would be ready to go on Christmas Eve. After all, children of all ages throughout the world were waiting for Santa to bring them the gifts which they had been wishing for, gifts to make their dreams come true.
“Rufus,” Santa called out. “Are all of
the presents ready to load into my bag? Have our helpers down on Earth,
the toy manufacturers, gotten their toys and games ready for the kids?
And how about the parents? You know, they all must do their part
too! Hey, we only have a few days left!”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Claus,” Rufus replied.
“There won’t be any foul-ups this year. The toys are all ready to go!”
“And is my sleigh ready? Are the reindeer
in good shape?”
“Don’t worry, Santa,” Rufus reassuringly
replied. “The sleigh has been repainted, the runners greased and the
harnesses repaired. And the reindeer are just fine. Comet and Cupid
are over their colds and the others have even gotten used to Rudolf, who wasn’t
even in that poem about us. Even Donder and Blitzen have calmed
down. Santa, you must stop worrying. Everything is going to be
fine!”
It had been three years since Rufus had been
promoted to the position of Chief Elf in Santa’s workshop. Of course, he
had been helping out there for many years but only recently had Santa learned
of Rufus’ prior experience working closely with Merlin the Magician centuries
ago. Some of Rufus’ innovations, obviously learned from that
apprenticeship with the ancient wizard, had greatly increased the efficiency of
Santa’s operation. For example, it was Rufus who had developed the
mathematical formulas which, when put into practice, enabled Santa to defy mere
physical laws and be in many different of places at the same time. Rufus
had solved the problem of running out of toys with a procedure which in effect,
cloned one toy from another, so Santa’s bag was never empty. And of course, he
used a lot of old Merlin’s techniques to ease Santa’s trip up and down chimneys
throughout the world, without his red outfit ever getting dirty. Finally,
it was Rufus who convinced Santa to include intangible things such as peace,
love, brotherhood and wellbeing among the gifts he left on Earth for those who
deserved them.
It was just a few nights before Christmas when
Rufus encountered Santa in a state of real panic.
“Santa, what’s the matter? Why are you
holding your waist like that?”
“Can’t you see, you darn fool! I’m holding
my pants up! If I let go, they’ll fall down. It happened this
morning. My suspenders snapped and I don’t have a belt big enough to fit
around me to hold my pants up. Rufus, they keep falling down and if we
can’t fix them, how can I go out on Christmas Eve? Rufus, do something to
help me! You must!”
“Now, Mr. Claus” the elf answered, holding back
a snicker. “I can see how this happened. Come to think of it, I
should have seen it coming and done something about it. I’ve watched the
way you’ve been eating all of that delicious food Mrs. Claus prepares for
you. Pies and cakes, chickens and steaks, soups and puddings, pizzas and
knishes, pasta and dumplings and on and on. I’ve seen you put away enough
for an army at one sitting and top it off with a banana split and a chocolate
bar. What did you expect?”
“Stop your preaching, Rufus! What would
your Merlin do? Come on. Think of something so that I don’t
disappoint all the children who’ll be waiting for me on Christmas Eve! I
can’t go out there with my pants falling down!”
“Santa, I don’t think suspenders will do the
job for you any more because of the pear shape you’ve developed! We must
to get you a belt big enough to hold up your pants!”
“What do you think I’ve been doing all
day? I’ve been looking for one and there just aren’t any made that big.”
Rufus thought for a minute and stroked his
chin. He then turned his eyes upward and look toward the stars, fixing
them on the constellation Orion the Hunter. In an instant, using a mystic
incantation remembered from his days with Merlin, he turned himself into a
thunderbolt and flew up into the heavens directly at the strip of stars which
formed Orion’s belt. Grasping as many as he could, Rufus flew back to
Earth and fashioned a belt from them for Santa. The old man, finding for
the first time since his suspenders had snapped that he was able to keep his
pants up, was ecstatic.
Star map showing the constellation, Orion the Hunter
A few nights later, Santa was able to travel
his appointed rounds delivering gifts to children of all ages throughout the
world. As he headed back toward the North Pole, he smiled up at the
constellation Orion the Hunter, whose belt, as you can see on any clear evening
when you look up in the sky, consists of only three stars, which was all that
Rufus left up there.
Circling the Earth, Santa made a promise to go
on a diet. He had learned his lesson. Soon, recognizing the
welcoming lights of the workshop far below, the reindeer guided the sleigh into
a slow descent and the jovial old man once more waved his hand to the world,
crying out, “Happy Holidays to all, and to all a good night, especially to you,
Rufus!”
JL
* * * *
The Homeless – Something to Think About at Holiday
Time
I remember, as a kid growing up in New Jersey,
seeing pictures and hearing about people sleeping on the streets in places like
Calcutta. If any were doing that in the
United States, we weren’t made aware of it, other than by general references to
ragtag ‘hobos’ who slept in places like railroad freight cars.
But now, sleeping on the streets is commonplace in
America’s major cities, and that includes people sleeping in cars, lacking any
other place to call home overnight.
There even are ‘homeless’ children attending public schools!
Whether it is by providing more public and private
shelters, available low-cost housing, the work of charitable organizations, or
socio-economic reforms to solve the problems that put the homeless on the
streets in the first place, remedying this situation should be a priority for all of us.
It is more than just a problem left in the hands
of law enforcement and mental health professionals, as some claim. It is our problem to solve by voting for
candidates who will address this problem positively, and also through our personal
acts of charity and kindness, especially during this season of the year.
Those interested in learning where to make a charitable donation might CLICK HERE.
JL
* *
* *
The Unexpected Is To Be Expected
The House Select
Committee’s recommendation to the Department of Justice, enumerating at least four specific areas where
the DOJ should consider indicting the defeated former president for crimes, as
well as recommendations to the House Ethics Committee concerning four leading
Representatives who are slated to have significant roles in the incoming
Congress crosses
the line into uncharted territory.
Similar actions were taken after the Civil War
against those who had participated in that insurrection against the United
States, but the effects had worn off by 1877, only a dozen years later, when
the Republicans permitted that to happen in exchange for the electoral votes to put
Rutherford B. Hayes into the White House.
The Department of Justice, including the special
prosecutor, Jack Smith, assigned to handle the possible indictments of a
defeated former president, is treading where none have trod before. Even with volumes of evidence supporting a
vigorous prosecution, it is as if we have just arrived on another planet and are
trying to deal with challenges found there. The unexpected is to be expected.
Consider American democracy to be a gigantic
container, one that has always been capable of handling conflicts and
challenges which fit well within it. Activity,
including prosecutions and reactions to them, prompted by the recommendations
to the Department of Justice by the House Committee will likely approach the
capacity of that container, whose limits have never been fully tested, and in
fact, may possibly exceed them, causing it to burst or overflow. Again, the
unexpected is to be expected.
JL
* *
* *
The Congressman Who Believes Telling Lies is Acceptable
When a defeated former president’s lifetime has
been filled with lies, ranging from those real estate peddlers routinely use to
seduce prospective customers, to violations of the Constitution of the United
States, and gets away without being punished, lesser liars feel their lies are
legitimatized.
So it was with Republican George Santos, just elected to Congress from a usually Democratic Queens and suburban Long Island (NY) district, who presented a resume that was totally fictitious in every way, including his finances, education, previous employment, business connections, and experience. Check out the New York Times article, if this is news to you, at https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/nyregion/george-santos-ny-republicans.html or by CLICKING HERE. Or if that doesn't work, try CNN by CLICKING HERE. (Incidentally, his landlord is still chasing after him for thousands of dollars of unpaid rent.)
Any employer who hired someone and later found out
that their resume included even just a fraction of Santos' fabrications would instantly fire them.
But that won’t happen to Santos because the
Republicans, with their slim four-vote margin in the House, need every
Representative they can get, even a liar like Santos. If they tolerate the lies of the defeated
former president, what do the lies of an ethically compromised
Congressman-elect matter to them?. They will hold their noses and seat him,
unless perhaps some of his lies involved the kinds of things which are actually
criminal. Maybe he is on some law
enforcement agency’s wanted list? Who
knows?
(An aside from this
is the idea, which many school children might get from the defeated former
president’s getting away with lies … especially if their parents support him … is
that it is okay to lie and cheat in school and with friends. That is not a good thing.)
Of course, the fact that his Democratic opponent
didn’t check out Santos’ totally fictitious resume cannot be excused. Not doing so cost them a seat in Congress. But
some Democrats don’t seem to be very bright.
That’s true here in Florida, so why not on Long Island as well?
JL
* *
* *
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