Fun Facts From Zach's Almanac: Hot cars, a snow job...and "Tradition!"

January 1, 2006
PARIS, France (AP) -- Rowdy revelers in France torched 425 vehicles overnight in scattered New Year's Eve unrest that has become an annual problem in troubled neighborhoods, the national police chief said Sunday. Last year, 333 cars were burned.

In St. Paul, MN where any amount of snow over 3'' (inches) constitutes a snow emergency and the need for a city wide, concerted, synchronized street plowing effort, this many cars get towed and impounded each opening 24 hour period of a snow storm. The cost to the vehicle owner? Upwards to $400 when all is said and done and a wait in a line, outside the impound lot for hours to retrieve their abducted cars.
The rules for where a person can park are as convoluted as adding and subtracting positive and negative exponents in an early trig class. So the revenue is pretty much guaranteed for the city's coiffeurs.
Ok, so it's not like having your car torched. True. But there's no insurance coverage for being towed either.


And finally...
Tonight is the last day of Chanukah, an amazing little cultural ritual where millions of people spend scads of money on menorahs, oils and candles each year to celebrate how the Maccabees of old handled a problem with their own inventory controls and didn't have any oil to light their fortification against an advancing enemy of Syrians and Greeks.
In and of itself, a nice practice until you realize that it too is succumbing to the scourge of commercialism.
The annual practice is now being diluted with offers to replace the traditional Menorahs with more diverse construction in the shape of Disney characters, motor cycles and even American flags!
Myself, being a gentile and understanding the diverse collection of people who celebrate Christmas in one way or another, have no real issue with the commercialism of that holiday to include licensed gibberish added to these festivities. But there's just something wrong about a Harley Davidson menorah.
I may be once again alone in this conclusion, because there wouldn't be a market for this dreck, if someone wasn't buying them enough to support their manufacture. So really, who am I to criticize?
Carry on folks! Baruch attoi Mickey Mouse.