[There's a reason that Yoda is the unofficial mascot of SBS.  Size indeed matters not.] MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese): - THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS "DIVA"
Mon, Dec 13 2004 12:23 bradley

MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

For your reading pleasure during this holiday season . . . :) MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Please accept without obligation, express or implied, these best wishes for an environmentally safe, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, and gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday as practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice (but with respect for the religious or secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or for their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all) and further for a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated onset of the generally accepted calendar year (including, but not limited to, the Christian calendar, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures). The preceding wishes are extended without regard to the race, creed, age, physical ability, religious faith or lack thereof, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishee(s).

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS:

Whereas, on or about the night prior to Christmas, there did occur at a certain improved piece of real property (hereinafter "the House") a general lack of stirring by all creatures therein, including, but not limited to a mouse.

A variety of foot apparel, e.g., stocking, socks, etc., had been affixed by and around the chimney in said House in the hope and/or belief that St. Nick a/k/a/ St. Nicholas a/k/a/ Santa Claus (hereinafter "Claus") would arrive at sometime thereafter. The minor residents, i.e. the children, of the aforementioned House were located in their individual beds and were engaged in nocturnal hallucinations, i.e. dreams, wherein vision of confectionery treats, including, but not limited to, candies, nuts and/or sugar plums, did dance, cavort and otherwise appear in said dreams.

Whereupon the party of the first part (sometimes hereinafter referred to as ("I"), being the joint-owner in fee simple of the House with the party of the second part (hereinafter "Mamma"), and said Mamma had retired for a sustained period of sleep. At such time, the parties were clad in various forms of headgear, e.g., kerchief and cap.

Suddenly, and without prior notice or warning, there did occur upon the unimproved real property adjacent and appurtenant to said House, i.e., the lawn, a certain disruption of unknown nature, cause and/or circumstance. The party of the first part did immediately rush to a window in the House to investigate the cause of such disturbance.

At that time, the party of the first part did observe, with some degree of wonder and/or disbelief, a miniature sleigh (hereinafter "the Vehicle") being pulled and/or drawn very rapidly through the air by approximately eight (8) reindeer. The driver of the Vehicle appeared to be and in fact was, the previously referenced Claus.

Said Claus was providing specific direction, instruction and guidance to the approximately eight (8) reindeer and specifically identified the animal co-conspirators by name: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen (hereinafter "the Deer"). (Upon information and belief, it is further asserted that an additional co- conspirator named "Rudolph" may have been involved.)

The party of the first part witnessed Claus, the Vehicle and the Deer intentionally and willfully trespass upon the roofs of several residences located adjacent to and in the vicinity of the House, and noted that the Vehicle was heavily laden with packages, toys and other items of unknown origin or nature. Suddenly, without prior invitation or permission, either express or implied, the Vehicle arrived at the House, and Claus entered said House via the chimney.

Said Claus was clad in a red fur suit, which was partially covered with residue from the chimney, and he carried a large sack containing a portion of the aforementioned packages, toys, and other unknown items.

He was smoking what appeared to be tobacco in a small pipe in blatant violation of local ordinances and health regulations.

Claus did not speak, but immediately began to fill the stocking of the minor children, which hung adjacent to the chimney, with toys and other small gifts. (Said items did not, however, constitute "gifts" to said minor pursuant to the applicable provisions of the U.S. Tax Code.)

Upon completion of such task, Claus touched the side of his nose and flew, rose and/or ascended up the chimney of the House to the roof where the Vehicle and Deer waited and/or served as "lookouts." Claus immediately departed for an unknown destination.

However, prior to the departure of the Vehicle, Deer and Claus from said House, the party of the first part did hear Claus state and/or exclaim: "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!" Or words to that effect.

Thanks to Ralph Ostermueller of fvginternational.com for this legalese.

 

Filed under:

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Monday, December 13, 2004 3:34 PM by bradley

A very clever piece of work however biased it may be. I mean c’mon mate do ya really think that it’s the “winter solstice holiday” in Australia...... Merry Christmas.

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Monday, December 13, 2004 4:40 PM by bradley

Please accept without obligation, express or implied, my sincere thanks for such funny blog post.

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Tuesday, December 14, 2004 3:06 AM by bradley

"winter solstice" celebration ??????? Well excuuuuuuussssseee me.

# » Merry Christmas in Legalise The Community At Large

Tuesday, December 14, 2004 7:27 AM by TrackBack

» Merry Christmas in Legalise The Community At Large

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Tuesday, December 14, 2004 6:07 PM by bradley

POOT

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Wednesday, December 15, 2004 12:46 PM by bradley

Its still Merry Christmas in the "red states"!!

# Merry Christmas (from our attorneys)

Wednesday, December 15, 2004 1:11 PM by TrackBack

Funny (and strangely sad) story of "The Night Before Christmas" as told by attorneys. It's an interesting commentary on our society. MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):...

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Wednesday, December 15, 2004 1:13 PM by bradley

I like it. It's funny and yet sad sort of. It does well to express the state of our society in that everything is just as it seems, unless you intend to sue us. then maybe it's not and there's no warranty expressed or implied. Either way, I loved it. good job!

# Merry Christmas*

Wednesday, December 15, 2004 1:46 PM by TrackBack

“Whereas, on or about the night prior to Christmas, there did occur at a certain improved piece of real property (hereinafter “the House”) a general lack of stirring by all creatures therein, including, but not limited to a mouse.”...

# Merry Christmas in Legalese

Thursday, December 16, 2004 6:18 AM by TrackBack

Please accept without obligation, express or implied, these best wishes for an environmentally safe, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, and gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday as practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your...

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Thursday, December 16, 2004 9:48 AM by bradley

There are approximately two billion children (persons under 18) in the world. However, since Santa does not visit children of Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or Buddhist (except maybe in Japan) religions, this reduces the workload for Christmas night to 15% of the total, or 378 million (according to the population reference bureau). At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that comes to 108 million homes, presuming there is at least one good child in each.
Santa has about 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 967.7 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with a good child, Santa has around 1/1000th of a second to park the sleigh, hop out, jump down the chimney, fill the stocking, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left for him, get back up the chimney, jump into the sleigh and get onto the next house. Assuming that each of these 108 million stops is evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false, but will accept for the purposes of our calculations), we are now talking about 0.78 miles per household; a total trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting bathroom stops or breaks.
This means Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second--3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second, and a conventional reindeer can run (at best) 15 miles per hour. The payload of the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium sized LEGO set (two pounds), the sleigh is carrying over 500 thousands tons, not counting Santa himself. On land, a conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that the "flying" reindeer can pull 10 times the normal amount, the job can't be done with eight or even nine of them---Santa would need 360,000 of them. This increases the payload, not counting the weight of the sleigh, another 54,000 tons, or roughly seven times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth (the ship, not the monarch).
600,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance-this would heat up the reindeer in the same fashion as a spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer would adsorb 14.3 quintillion joules of energy per second each. In short, they would burst into flames almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them and creating deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team would be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second, or right about the time Santa reached the fifth house on his trip. Not that it matters, however, since Santa, as a result of accelerating from a dead stop to 650 m.p.s. in .001 seconds, would be subjected to acceleration forces of 17,000 g's. A 250 pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of the sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force, instantly crushing his bones and organs and reducing him to a quivering blob of pink goo.
Therefore, if Santa did exist, he's dead now.

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Friday, December 17, 2004 11:51 AM by bradley

Instead of 1 Santa and set of reindeer, the new Santa Corporation would undoubtably use the latest technological advances and run the holiday in a distributed fashion so that 378 million Santas and reindeer, or a significant portion thereof, would be able to accomplish the entire task in one night, with time to spare for snacks, eye twinkling, etc.

# ... and the rest of the world thinks were lazy morons

Friday, December 17, 2004 8:29 PM by bradley

And I thought I had way too much free-time....

Merry Christmas anyway

Oh and shouldn't Clause(as defined in part 1) also be identified as Kris Kringle? It's one of his aliases isn't it? and what about the Corporation? Did they buy the Santa trademark? Is that legal? And lastly, Red-nosed reindeer... Well, no, that could have been ketchup

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS

Tuesday, December 21, 2004 3:55 AM by bradley

My 4 year old reliably informs me that there is only one Santa and Rudolph really does have a red nose. Who am I to argue!

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Wednesday, December 22, 2004 6:51 PM by bradley

Yup it was mid-winter solstice for thousands of years before you christian assholes stole a perfectly good pagan holiday

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Thursday, December 23, 2004 1:40 AM by bradley

Our disillusioned engineer isn't think 4th dimensionally!

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Thursday, December 23, 2004 3:36 AM by bradley

Maybe the red nose is due to friction with the atmosphere at the 650 mps speed. Ruddulph is obviously a very special animal with more than just levitation as one of his (or her) special powers!!!
Have good one.

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Thursday, December 23, 2004 4:57 AM by bradley

What's a pagan doing reading Christmas articles?

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Thursday, December 23, 2004 5:23 AM by bradley

"The night Before Christmas" was probably an accurate description of Santa's work 150 years ago, but as a previous correspondent noted, it would violate the laws of physics today.

About 30 years ago NorthPole Corp began outsourcing most functions. The first to go was the actual transportation and delivery Christmas Eve. Even though it's done today by FedEx, Purolator and other couriers, it still remains one of the logistical marvels of the world.

The reindeer, sadly, were auctioned off on Ebay to rich private zoos.

During the 80s and 90s more and more manufacturing was outsourced, and today most is done in China. Apparently Michael Moore is planning to make a documentary about the sad state of the unemployed elves. It will be called "Santa and Me".

Santa has very little involvement in the day-to-day operations of the corporation these days. He is involved in advertising and strategic planning, but little else.

I know many of you don't want to accept this, but it's all true.

Have I ever lied to you before?

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Thursday, December 23, 2004 6:19 AM by bradley

Is 'A very disillusioned Engineer' talking about Quenn Elizabeth I or Queen Elizabeth II? (Just for the record; you understand)

# Dear WHat A Twit

Thursday, December 23, 2004 6:34 AM by bradley

Your life is short enough as it is - why waste it with a negative outlook and attacks on others?
There really is another way!!!
I pray that you find it as so many others already have.

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Thursday, December 23, 2004 7:37 AM by bradley

I like cheese.

# Physics: Pah!

Thursday, December 23, 2004 8:09 AM by bradley

There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your science. I have it on good authority that Santa and the elves are not native to this planet; and, as Arthur C. Clark once observed, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

For example, you've obviously not considered the time dilation effects of superluminal travel. Or the physiological modification of the reindeer in question. Although still morphologically similar to our wild caribou, they've clearly been enhanced to provide superluminal thrust, not to mention heightened intelligence and the power of speech.

As for the claim that they could not survive such speed in our atmosphere, you are quite right when you assume that they travel unprotected. In fact, they are enclosed in a double cone-shaped force field which gently parts the air through which they are travelling, then allows the air to gently close behind them. Within this "pointy cigar"-shaped field, they carry their own bubble of air. This cone enlongates ahead of and behind them porportional to their speed, thus protecting them and The Claus from the friction of their passage which, as you observe, would otherwise be produced. Note that is also prevents the sonic boom phenomenon (although Santa's team is still working to overcome the optic boom).

Santa's sack is a most interesting piece of equipment. The inside is actually not in our universe, thus eliminating the need to account for the incredible mass and volume of the payload. The mouth of the sack is a portal to Santa's transdimensional warehouse, where a team of elves makes sure that all the packages are within arms reach in the order in which they are being delivered.

I could go on, but the rest is quite unbelievable to persons of our level of technology. I mean, come on; we haven't even discovered Hilbertian space yet, not to mention the picolytic drive!

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Thursday, December 23, 2004 8:24 AM by bradley

i enjoyed the witty legales, try politically correct fairy tales for another laugh! i also enjoyed most of the comments! the last one from a highly illusioned engineer was the best though!! you all have a great time for christmas/winter solstice/holiday season!! (does that cover everyone? )

# legal/pc merry (christ/x)mas

Thursday, December 23, 2004 11:07 AM by TrackBack

http://msmvps.com/bradley/archive/2004/12/13/23774.aspx Please accept without obligation, express or implied, these best wishes for an environmentally safe, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, and gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday as practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of...

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Thursday, December 23, 2004 3:05 PM by bradley

Hilbertian space will never be discovered while the "learned " among us continue to play around with garbage like noncommutative ergodic theory. Bring back proper experimental design and see the universe for what it actually is. Let's revive the electrical experiments that create life from iron oxide!

Has anyone seen my cat?

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Thursday, December 23, 2004 3:57 PM by bradley

An Highly Illusioned Engineer wrote:

"Santa's sack is a most interesting piece of equipment. The inside is actually not in our universe, thus eliminating the need to account for the incredible mass and volume of the payload. The mouth of the sack is a portal to Santa's transdimensional warehouse, where a team of elves makes sure that all the packages are within arms reach in the order in which they are being delivered."

Could you clarify the word "sack"?

# Watching the Watchers.org

Friday, December 24, 2004 8:04 PM by TrackBack

Watching the Watchers.org

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Friday, December 24, 2004 8:36 PM by bradley

As a person with no religious ties I can write this without feeling the need to cover all religions.

As disillusioned engineer writes his perspective is intelligent but very limited to what is known as illusioned engineer pointed out. If columbus stuck to what was "known" to be true and without question in the scientific community we would still think the world was flat. With that said I say this to all "Don't take things for granted or anything at face value or knowledge is limited and until we learn to look past our own beliefs and try the impossible we will eventually cease to learn as our own ego's will block out our ability to see past out noses."

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to all !!!!

# Jason E. Sweat's weblog » Merry Seasonal Holliday

Saturday, December 25, 2004 7:43 AM by TrackBack

Jason E. Sweat's weblog » Merry Seasonal Holliday

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Saturday, December 25, 2004 9:02 AM by bradley

Schroedinger:

I think your cat is dead.

Or maybe not.

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Monday, December 27, 2004 6:56 AM by bradley

2 things. First, the name of the 7th reindeer
mentioned is Donder, not Donner. Second, Santa
said "Happy Christmas" not "Merry Christmas".
Other than that, I enjoyed the piece.

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Sunday, January 09, 2005 5:54 PM by bradley

And then, there are some people that simply cannot appreciate a good joke.

~A!

# re: MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

Wednesday, January 12, 2005 3:20 AM by bradley

Happy new year! or to be politically correct happy this year still and happy new year!

Now I understand where the picolytic drive came from

The following questions and answers were collected from last year's
GCSE exams, and are some of
the answers given by British students writing their fifth form GCSE
Exams last year.
These are genuine responses!16 years old and stupid - But we love 'em.

They cheer up a teacher's day no end!

Climate and Environment

Q: Name the four seasons.
A: Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

Q: Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to
drink.
A: Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large
pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists.

Q: How is dew formed?
A: The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire.

Space and Technology

Q : What is a turbine?
A : Something an Arab or Sikh wears on his head.

Q: What is a planet?
A: A body of earth surrounded by sky.

Q: What causes the tides in the oceans?
A: The tides are a fight between the Earth and the Moon. All water
tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon,
and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight.

Sociology

Q: What guarantees may a mortgage company insist on?
A: If you are buying a house, they will insist you are well endowed.

Q: In a democratic society, how important are elections?
A: Very important. Sex can only happen when a male gets an election.
[Asian student]

Q: Use the word "judicious" in a sentence to show you understand its
meaning.
A: Hands that can be judiciously soft as your face.

Biology

Q: What are steroids?
A: Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs.

Q: What happens to your body as you age?
A: When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental.

Q: What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty?
A: He says goodbye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery.

Q: Name a major disease associated with cigarettes.
A: Premature death.

Q: What is artificial insemination?
A: When the farmer does it to the cow instead of the bull.

Q: How can you delay milk turning sour?
A: Keep it in the cow. [The student got an A]

Q: How are the main parts of the body categorised? (e.g. abdomen.)
A: The body is consisted into three parts - the brainium, the borax
the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax
contains the heart and lungs, and the abdominal cavity contains the five
bowels, A,E,I,O and U.

Q: What is the fibula?
A: A small lie.

Q: What does "varicose" mean?
A: Nearby.

Q: What is the most common form of birth control?
A: Most people prevent contraception by wearing a condominium.

Q: Give the meaning of the term "Caesarean Section".
A: The caesarean section is a district in Rome.

Q: What is a seizure?
A: A Roman emperor.

Q: What is a terminal illness?
A: When you are sick at the airport.

Q: What does the word "benign" mean?
A: Benign is what you will be after eight.

Q: Give an example of a fungus. What is a characteristic feature?
A: Mushrooms. They always grow in damp places and they look like
umbrellas.


"God Save the U.K."

Now I understand where the picolytic drive came from or was that a US invention?

# Twas the night before Christmas

Sunday, December 24, 2006 6:34 PM by E-Bitz - SBS MVP the Official Blog of the SBS "Diva"

Twas the night before Christmas comes in many forms.... The traditional .... The legal .... The techy