Saturday, December 17, 2005

RAMPAGING SANTAS IN NEW ZEALAND

Forty of them, most of them drunk, all of them ripping through Wellington like kids through a pile of presents. The Associated Press says:
The rampage, dubbed "Santarchy" by local newspapers, began early Saturday afternoon when the men, wearing ill-fitting Santa costumes, threw beer bottles and urinated on cars from an Auckland overpass, said Auckland Central Police spokeswoman Noreen Hegarty.

She said the men then rushed through a central city park, overturning garbage containers, throwing bottles at passing cars and spraying graffiti on buildings.

One man climbed the mooring line of a cruise ship before being ordered down by the captain. Other Santas, objecting when the man was arrested, attacked security staff, Hegarty said.

The remaining Santas entered a downtown convenience store and carried off beer and soft drinks.

"They came in, said 'Merry Christmas' and then helped themselves," store owner Changa Manakynda said.
"Santarchy" is supposed to be a protest against the commercialization of Christmas. Sounds more like a party to us.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a regular December weekend here in Woodbridge.

Can it be Dec. 30 already? Sigh.

Anonymous said...

On a slightly serious note, has anyone noticed how "active" protests have become in many European countries as of "late"?

It's fairly common to hear of people breaking all sorts of laws in the pursuit of expressing their political opinions. And I’m not just talking about the IRA either.

Not so many months ago, two men that were part of an organization that promotes equal parenting rights flour bombed Tony Blaire causing one hell of a scene, and getting them selves sent up the river for a goodish amount of time I suspect. (I’d say likely as not they spend the rest of their lives in jail for that stunt.)

I wonder how long it'll take for the line between those making civil statements and those who are terrorists to blur until they are almost impossible to tell apart.

*blinks hard twice*

Hmm... Well, now. That bears some thinking perchance.