yet more stuff onna has to post for her rat - the lazy rodent...

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http://web.morons.org/article.jsp?sectionid=7&id=4365
7-11 is there for all your porn needs

Posted by amused BorgHunter on Dec. 23, 2003
(42 comments from readers)

Focus on the Family is in a tizzy after 7-11, home of the treat beloved by all in hot climates, the Slurpee, has decided to become home to nekkid women.

Whether you love or hate Playboy, you just have to laugh at this one.

"Family News in Focus, a web site of Focus on the Family", is reporting that 7-Eleven, benevolent creator and distributor of the delicious and refreshing Slurpee has now become a benevolent distributor of the airbrushed and tacky Playboy magazine. Naturally, at the end of the article, FotF urges its readers to "contact James Keyes, 7-Eleven's president, and urge him not to reverse the company's anti-pornography policy by stocking Playboy and other such magazines."

As far as I can tell, here's FotF's reasoning here: "Oh no, dots of ink resembling naked women! At 7-11! In sealed plastic wrap so kids can't see said dots of ink! We must complain to the president of 7-11!"

The funniest thing about the article is a fundie who "tracks the pornography business" (Yes, tracks. *cough*) saying that he doesn't think 7-11 is considering the business that they'd lose. Um, hello? They'd probably gain business.

If these idiots would just stop and think that maybe, just maybe, nothing bad will come of this (and I think the only thing we'll see is horny teenagers shoplifting the magazines), then maybe everyone will be a lot happier. And considerably sweatier.

P.S. All hail the great Slurpee!

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=583&e=9&u=/nm/20031226/od_nm/life_japan_christmas_dc
Japan Banishes Economic Blues with Xmas Lights

Fri Dec 26,12:00 AM ET

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters) - There are no chestnuts roasting by open fires in Japan at Christmas and chimneys to hang stockings by are few and far between.

It isn't even a holiday in this non-Christian nation and schoolchildren, at least in Tokyo, will be trudging off to get their report cards.

But Christmas lights and decorations on private homes are going strong -- perhaps an effort to chase away the shadows of economic gloom that have hovered over the nation for a decade.

Twinkling lights on trees, lights in the shape of reindeer and blinking lights nestled in artificial pine boughs are gracing ordinary Japanese homes in growing numbers.

"Back during the economic boom years, people would go out to a hotel to celebrate and spend lots of money on Christmas," said Tomoki Sakaino, a manager at Internet research firm infoPLANT.

"But people celebrate at home now, and lights and decorations are cheap. It's a good way to have fun."

According to a survey conducted by infoPLANT in 2002, 47 percent of people planned to put up lights for Christmas, up from 43 percent the year before. Other informal surveys suggest the practice has become much more common in recent years. "Our sales have really shot up," said Wataru Matsuyama, who runs a home center specializing in Christmas lights in Yamanashi, some 70 miles west of Tokyo. "At least 20 percent higher than last year."

Unlike venerable Japanese traditions such as the tea ceremony, there is no prescribed way to put up Christmas lights, which is a big part of their appeal.

"You can really show your originality," said Sakaino.

Businesses are also finding that elaborate Christmas displays bring seasonal cheer, as people flock to admire -- and spend.

"A lot of chambers of commerce are getting into this, using lights to decorate their local shopping areas," said Matsuyama.

"It brings people in and makes things more lively."

Japan also has a few home-grown Christmas traditions.

It has long been seen as an occasion for couples rather than families, with romantic dinners for two -- preferably at a Western restaurant -- the celebration of choice, along with an exchange of gifts. Those sad young people without a partner sometimes gather for consolation parties.

Like most of Japan's other Christmas rituals, this takes place on Christmas Eve rather than the day itself.

Since turkey is hard to come by and won't fit into the tiny oven in most Japanese homes, Christmas Eve dinner often features chicken, roasted or fried.

Kentucky Fried Chicken does a booming business and many stores have sales four or five times higher than usual.

"Around 1971, managers noticed that foreigners who couldn't find turkey were coming in to buy chicken for their Christmas meal and they suggested we promote this," said a spokeswoman at Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan . "It's now the best season for us."

Meals end with Christmas cake, traditionally a concoction of white sponge cake, strawberries and sweet whipped cream.

It's useless after the 25th, which gave rise at one point to the saying that women "were like Christmas cake" -- they ought to be married by 25.