So what did Santa bring you this year?

[mkosbie]

1) It's the general public's complacency towards bad bussiness practices like Wal-Mart's that lets them get away with what they do. No, it's not all bad, yes they do do a lot of good. The important thing to remember is that it's all relative. As long as there exists an elite in some part of the world, there must exist a substandard class (a la sweatshops right now). You can't blame the company for following that system (anymore than you can blame the consumer for buying from them).

2) FSQ, I'm willing to bet that you didn't get a wizarding robe because you already have one.

3) My Loot:
- 10 Bottles of my favorite brand of previously discontinued hair gel
- A week long snowboard trip to Lake Tahoe with my family
- A whole lot of Best Buy gift cards
- Two bottles of South East Australian Shiraz (it's supposed to be delicious), and some fine dark chocolate (can anyone say "date night"?)
- A Katie Pfafl CD (she's new and pretty freaking sweet)
- Money
- Cool music T-Shirts and Hats
- An electric razor (which I needed to be allowed to shave )
- An electric toothbrush
- Apples to Apples: Jewish Edition
- Yiddish Fridge magnets

4) The really cool stuff I gave people (because that's what matters)
- A satin skirt with a book about tznius
- Munchkin (coolest game ever!)
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower
- The Kite Runner (the book people)
- Sports Authority gift card with orders to buy bike shorts
- A gag gift retirement book
- A Beatles anthology in full color
- A Jersey Boys soundtrack
- The Long Road Out of Eden (new Eagles CD)
- An uber soft sweater
- A beanie and scarf combo
- A KosherClock alarm (it turns itself off on Shabbat) with a photo of us
- Booties
- Matching robe/slippers combo for a mom/daughter combo

[Hostrauser]

A deserved lump of coal.

And also...
A cherrywood desk valet
Two pairs of black slacks
A navy blue golf polo
$50 Barnes & Noble giftcard
2008 "Fact or Crap" daily desktop trivia calendar
Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore
Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story by Christopher Moore
Lacuna Coil, "Unleashed Memories"
Lacuna Coil, "Karmacode
Secret Chiefs 3, "Book M"
Fantomas, "Suspended Animation"
DCI 2007 World Championships CDs & DVDs

I, too, received the five data DVDs of marches.

[fieldshowqueen]

2) FSQ, I'm willing to bet that you didn't get a wizarding robe because you already have one.

- A week long snowboard trip to Lake Tahoe with my family
- Two bottles of South East Australian Shiraz (it's supposed to be delicious), and some fine dark chocolate (can anyone say "date night"?)
- Money
- An electric razor (which I needed to be allowed to shave )
- An electric toothbrush

Money, trip to Tahoe, wine, chocolate, and a clean shaven face and brushed teeth ... YES! I can say "date night"! But ... I'm 50 and married and not looking for a boy toy. OH! ... you weren't thinking about me huh?

[The Aceman]

A "boy toy" AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, oh my goodness, that's starts my day off on a good note (yes, I just woke up), thanks FSQ, I'm gonna go hook up my subwoofers now.

[Hostrauser]

Don't worry, I'm also married and not looking for a boy toy...

- Two bottles of South East Australian Shiraz (it's supposed to be delicious)

I also have heard very good things from my oenophile friends about Australian wines (in general) including the shiraz (in particular).

- Munchkin (coolest game ever!)

Inarguably, Munchkin is awesome. However, I think the title of coolest game ever would have to go to Kobolds Ate My Baby!

[Ex Nihilo]

The really cool stuff I gave people (because that's what matters)

good idea!

my parents: gift card to black angus
my brother: subscription to some surfing magazine forecast thing
neice #1: two tinkerbell hoodies
neice #2: a curious george book
neice #3: some sarcastic baby bibs
nephew: iTunes gift card
inlaws (kinda): a pound of sees candy and a Hot Topic gift card
my girl: skull earrings, a stuffed monkey, a coheed and cambria shirt, and the 4 volumes of The Amory Wars (written by claudio sanchez of coheed and cambria)... yes i got tackled.

[SithScorp]

[b]But what they do to the workers in asia.[/b]

What we would consider "sweat shop exploitation" in our culture is considered a very well-paying job in another. That is the way of global economics. If they were holding a gun to their heads and not paying them at all, then I would understand. But simply because we consider the wages that they are paid to be substandard does not make it wrong.

The jobs they have give them money that they would not make any other way. Not every country has the same opportunities and standard of living as this one.

It is a matter of perspective.

[BGRtumpet]

You know its impossible to justify your wealth as an American.......

so just be glad you're lucky enough to come from a family that lives here.....
and stop complaing about companies like wall-mart.
Either theres an exploited class or theres communism.


Trumpetwise I got a clarke book . Frikken hard though. =/.
Its gunna take a long time to get past the first set of exercises.

[LoyalTubist]

But what they do to the workers in asia.

What we would consider "sweat shop exploitation" in our culture is considered a very well-paying job in another. That is the way of global economics. If they were holding a gun to their heads and not paying them at all, then I would understand. But simply because we consider the wages that they are paid to be substandard does not make it wrong.

The jobs they have give them money that they would not make any other way. Not every country has the same opportunities and standard of living as this one.

It is a matter of perspective.

Harumph, hut ummm...

Christmas is celebrated here in Vietnam by almost everybody. It's not a holiday but no one seems to get any work done.

The big holiday is Tet when even the restaurants and supermarkets shut down for two weeks.

Substandard wages are a matter of local interpretation. As a university professor, I earn what a part time instructor earns in California. But everything else is cheaper. I can afford my house rent, to go out to eat at a nice restaurant, and other nice things.

By the world's standards, even the poor in America, as well as those in debt up to their noses, are millionaires. America is the only country I can think of where poor people are obese.

[mkosbie]

But ... I'm 50 and married and not looking for a boy toy.

Better to be a "boy-toy" than a "toy-boy", eh FSQ? Just ask Pinnochio. And Houstrauser, what would your wife think? (About this or any of our past escapades involving her).

As for KAMB, that is now officially on my list of things to try. Does it have as many versions as Munchkin?

[mkosbie]

America is the only country I can think of where poor people are obese.

That isn't so much a sign of our Overwealth as it is of our consumer mentality. We want it all NOW whether we need it or not. In fact, I would conjecture that youth in poor areas (not malnourished) are more likely to be overweight than their richer counterparts.

[AzhlackDMPiccolo]

America is the only country I can think of where poor people are obese.

That isn't so much a sign of our Overwealth as it is of our consumer mentality. We want it all NOW whether we need it or not. In fact, I would conjecture that youth in poor areas (not malnourished) are more likely to be overweight than their richer counterparts.

Well, "we want it all NOW whether we need it or not" because of media, they brainwash our minds to thinking that we have to have it even though we dont...

[Nreuest]

i got tickets to the holiday bowl!

and rock band/guitar hero 3

[seanrj]

Well, "we want it all NOW whether we need it or not" because of media, they brainwash our minds to thinking that we have to have it even though we dont...

The power of choice lies with each and every one of us. It is not logical to abdicate personal responsibility because of the "evil" media. Each of us decides to purchase whatever we plunk our money down for. We decide to throw food (bad or good) down our mouth or not. Do not chalk up poor decision making to being "brainwashed by the media". It is becoming overused rhetoric.

I also agree with LT about the perspective issue. Whenever I see protests of supposed "third world exploitation", mostly by well-meaning but underinformed college students, I tend to wonder why they have not thought the entire issue out. The standard of living in the US is not the same as it is in many other countries. I could live like a king, literally, on my teacher's salary in some other countries. Even in certain parts of the US, I could buy a very large portion of property and live very well on said salary which is rather modest by SoCal standards.

My older sister, who lives in Georgia, has been teaching for a few more years than I have and she almost passed out when she found out how much I make compared to her. So, it is all a matter of perspective and cost of living versus income.

On the original subject of this thread,
I received a gaming chair and Assassin's Creed (awesome game!) for the 360, along with some USC attire for the Rose Bowl.

[IsnipeWithAknife]

All I got is clothes and money... but I enjoyed being over seas. and I finally know all the names of my cousins from both sides of the family