Christmas Wishes, Silly and Serious

I’m madly cooking and wrapping. (And what are y’all doing? Absurdly cheery bloggers need to know.)

But here are three offerings:

1. Norad tracks Santa. (Just click. You may have already seen it, but if not… )

2. Elf yourself. A fabulous way to waste time and embarrass relatives over the holiday. It to has been around for a while. But if you’ve not seen it—or done it—well, just go look.

3. And more seriously, on Wednesday, the LA Times did a much needed and much appreciated editorial about why it is important to help Homeboy Industries.

As well all know, I’m anything but agnostic on this issue. So I’ll just say, give to someone, or some worthy cause. So many, many people are in such terrible need this year. Some of the smaller towns in California’s inland have 40 percent unemployment. Forty-freaking percent.

Here are the first couple of ‘graphs of the LAT editorial:

Kids and young adults in trouble often come to the attention of Los Angeles County or city agencies, which try to set them straight if they can, punish them if they must, and help them if they are able. The help often comes in the form of a referral to a place that will offer peer counseling, find jobs, remove tattoos or help in the search for a purpose in life. And that place, far more often than not, is Homeboy Industries, founded and overseen by Father Greg Boyle. Homeboy and Boyle have become internationally famous for their efforts to turn around former gang members, and in a city in which fame and fortune usually go together, it’s easy to forget that Homeboy is run on a shoestring.

That shoestring came close to breaking this year, in part because of the economy, but also in part because of Homeboy’s success. Government agencies send people in need of help, but rarely do they send funding. And those services that have done so much for so many people trying to leave or avoid gang life aren’t cheap….

A sincere thank you to the LA Times Ed board for running this essay.

We’re all in this together.