1/2     It isn't indented.  Tough shit.
    The Sunday New York Times magazine had an interesting brief comment
on the origin of Christmas.  They were interviewing Roger Highfield,
science editor of the Daily Telegraph in London, and author of the book,
"The Physics of Christmas".

    Q: You say that mushroom-induced hallucinations may have contributed
    to the Christmas.  How?

    A: Patrick Harding (Univ. Sheffield) says Santa's color scheme, red
    and white, matches the color scheme of the flyagaric toadstool,
    which has a red cap with with white dots.  This was used in rituals
    by shamans in Scandinavia, who lived in villages consisting of
    yurts with combined chimneys and doors.  You can imagine these
    shamans visiting someone who was ill, entering the yurt through
    the chimney and taking flyagaric to commune with the gods to find
    out how to cure their patient.  The shamans might feel as if they
    could fly.  You could even add reindeer to the equation.
    Throughout the generations, shamans have learned to take this
    potent hallucinogen more safely by drinking reindeer urine.
    If you found a reindeer that had been munching away on the
    mushrooms, once it had passed through the reindeer you could
    indulge in the yellow snow.  The reindeer acted as a filter of
    toxins.  "Ho, ho, ho" could in fact have been the euphoric
    laughter of someone tripping.
You've got a bleeding asshole!
        \_ Yeah, which explains the frequent paleolitc epidemics of
        \_ Yeah, which explains the frequent paleolithic epidemics of
           yurts becoming uninhabitable because of the strong smell of
           charbroiled stoned shaman permeating the hut, after they became
           so whacked off their gourd from drinking too much shroom-munching
           reindeer urine that they slipped while climbing down the chimney
           and did a bellyflop into some poor caveman's chestnuts roasting
           on an open fire.  I would think the "ho ho ho" most likely comes
           from primitive villagers watching some tripping village priest
           chasing a very nervous-looking reindeer.  -John
You've got a bleeding asshole!