What I've Learned

Welcome to 2012. If you are considering a vacation this year, you should go to Mexico. The town of Chiapas is installing an eight-foot digital clock that will count down to December 21.

Why?

What I've Learned

In the army, I attended a commando school where we were taught, among other useful things, how to kill an enemy sentry. Part of the technique is to get close enough to strike without alerting him of your presence. To do this, you must not stare at the person – as is the tendency – because people, inexplicably, can sense when someone is staring at them and will tend to glance back at you.

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What I've Learned

For many years in the Alpine region of Europe, Santa had a sidekick named Krampus, a horrible monster, who would snatch up naughty children, put them in a sack, take them to hell, and eat them.

It was a tradition in many villages and towns that on December 5, young men would dress up as Krampus monsters and roam about with rusty chains and bells, attempting to scare the naughtiness out of children.

The Germans and Austrians are by no means the only people who have attempted to terrify the young into behaving well.