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Open Letter to Santa 2008

Thank you for sending the NEC DT330 Bluetooth enabled handsets that eliminate those nasty tangled handset cords from desk telephones. Customers don't like tangled handset cords! Remember when I asked for this back in January 2007? I realize your elves are very busy, but come on Santa, I found out later about all that cool technology you deployed with NORAD, remember?When you asked me about Mrs. Brunk's 2nd grade students, didn't I tell you that Dane wants to be an AMTRAK engineer? Surely you remember that those two silly girls Arrianna and Zalaya love to dance and that Mahdi is a great helper when it comes to sharpening pencils? So Santa, I've been wondering why you didn't ask me about those cellular carriers and naughty finance and mortgage guys? I haven't given out your telephone number in the workshop since that incident long ago. Maybe you haven't tried to forget?

Santa, maybe you can convince those greedy, stingy old miser cellular telephone carriers to wise up. Santa please put INTEROPERABILITY in all those Christmas stockings of all those folks that need it.

Now Santa, there are plenty of folks reading this that are what you and I would call "un-Santa" if you catch my meaning. Pay no attention to their doubtful ways and please continue to encourage them--after all, when I write to you, things get done!

This year has been rough on some folks, Santa. The Big 3 automakers were admonished for flying into town on 3 separate private corporate jets begging for handouts. In fact, a lot of undeserving scoundrels have done bad things, so I guess you will be printing a lot more money for the US Treasury so more can get "bailed out." You remember the time when I had a paper route and had to "bail out" someone, don't you? No one ever benefited.

There are good folks all over this country that could really use your help. I visited a small town (Covington, Virginia) recently, where only one corporate sponsor backed the town's local high school music program (Orchestra) with private funds, and not from the town;s main employer (a Global Enterprise), but from a small business. These kids play for donations, Santa, in an effort to raise money for their school. Santa, this town is like a lot of other towns across America where the population has decreased, funds are dry and jobs remain scarce. In spite of these obstacles, these good people raised money to rebuild their historic railway buildings of old. They continue to take great pride in their town. Volunteers donate their time and talents. Still, the new modern day corporate robber barons are stealing from pension and retirement funds and in comparison, it seems that the theft of Social Security by the government dipping into the till and borrowing against those funds for all those years pales in comparison to what these guys get away with. Bad debt seemingly carries no shame or sense of responsibility on anyone's part. The same government folks love to give the bad guys money for bad behavior. So Santa, whatever you do, watch your back. This year is going to get ugly. The wolves are out and likely to take whatever they want and they won't disclose the true TCO of bailouts, but instead will use fear to persuade others to reward those misguided efforts to just repeat what they've done before.

A renewed faith in our system would be a good start sprinkled with doing what's right and salted with some justice that holds up our way of life.