I just wanted to share with the community how once again our way of life is getting lost in a huge culture shift that seems sadly out of our hands. While Christmas shopping this weekend at a popular shopping center, I heard an unusual sound while passing by Santa. Santa was speaking Spanish. I was quite shocked. I had just assumed that every Santa in America spoke English. I was hoping that perhaps he was bilingual. Before writing this letter, I did call the office of the shopping center to verify if, in fact, Santa spoke any English. “Some,” was the reply of the woman I spoke with. She was very polite and did mention that it was difficult to find a Santa this year. She said she could communicate with him, but a child may have some trouble. Why bother? If a child can’t communicate with the Santa Claus they believe to be real, why have a Santa at all? By now, we should all know the answer. Because our culture, our way of living, our fundamental traditions and beliefs are simply not a priority anymore. We are being sold out for a larger consumer demographic. I’d be outraged if I’d spent money on a picture with a Santa that I or my child couldn’t even communicate with. I wish I could accept this incident without feeling totally jilted. But it is one among many, with many more to come. I am not a racist or a bigot. I’m simply frustrated at the loss of my culture, as we all should be.Rebecca MasimerSilt

The recent increase in performance-enhanced drug “busts” has got me wondering about how the media and a couple independent drug labs have blinded us with a mass of information that amounts to a lot of ruined careers and confusion among the general public. As I sit here drinking my 32-ounce big gulp coffee with 17 teaspoons of sugar while feeding my kid three bowls of sucrose-enhanced cereal, I read these articles and say, “Shame on them! Performance-enhanced drugs!” The fact is that America is “performance-enhanced.” Our politicians talk the talk, but can’t walk the walk. Ban coffee from every city. Ban Gatorade at any sports event because electrolytes and sodium are in fact performance-enhancers. Some say that coffee and sugar don’t have the effects that steroids do. Roid rage! Try skipping coffee for one week and watch the “gentle” cycle your body will go through. Feed your kids nothing but candy for one day and watch the “gentle” cycle their amped-up little bodies go through. We all are performance-enhanced. And so are our athletes. Pump, inject, swallow and absorb on. We can do it, but Roger Clemens can’t.Mic BacaNew Castle