Introduction One of the most important issues debated by children worldwide is the existence of Santa Claus. Sadly, as with all of life's mysteries, a clear answer to this century old dilemma is beyond us. Nevertheless, one must never leave the path that leads to the truth. In this story we are going to present some facts, some information and some theories on this issue. Each year, the 25th of December is a date that children love. The original meaning being more or less forgotten (was it someone's birthday that we were celebrating?), December 25th is the date when you get neat stuff, if you were a good little boy or girl. As with al good things in life, the existence of Santa Claus and his ability to deliver gifts to millions of children around the world have been challenged. There is research that proves Santa Claus is a scientific impossibility (such as the well-documented article entitled Scientific Evidence Against the Existence of Santa Claus). In this article we present the theories of the Romanian Mint Rubbing Association on this matter. Rest assured, children, Santa is real and we will prove it. Keep reading. I. Location As we all know, Santa lives at the North Pole. We all know that the North Pole is a really terrible place, with very low temperatures, lots of snow, winds and little else; very few people reach the North Pole and come back alive to tell about it. Why, then, did Santa chose such a dreadful place? Did he not have enough funds when he first started operations a long time ago? Our answer is no. After careful research, we conclude that such a terrible location was chosen on purpose. In order to carry out his mission of gift-giving to the children of the world, Santa needs privacy. Imagine the hard-working elves being bothered by the media all day long; or Santa having to face countless reporters asking for interviews or demanding to know how he spends his funds and if his operations are socially responsible. Santa Claus also needs to avoid any contact with government agencies such as the revenue service, environmental agencies, fire departments, the patent office, law enforcement, labor agencies, and countless others. If Santa's large-scale operation was regulated and put under the control of all those agencies and offices, that would certainly mean an end of Christmas gifts as we now know them. These are the reasons you never see media reports on Santa, and you won't find his North Pole headquarters registered with the United Nations or the other national or international agencies and organizations. II. Economics Another intriguing issue is the economics of Santa's operations. How does he get the necessary funds to finance his toy manufacturing and delivery operations? As far as we know, Santa Claus' workshop has not been incorporated and has not employed traditional financing methods, such as bank loans or stock and bond issues. The answers are once again obvious, for those who seek them. First, Santa saves a lot of money by producing the toys in his own workshop, instead of importing them. Since elves are known to provide cheap labor, Santa records huge savings by producing toys in-house. Next, Santa Claus also saves money with research and development, since we all know that he gives us toys similar to ones we can find in stores. Although we cannot fully explain this situation, we believe that Santa has agreements with major toy manufacturers for using their designs. Thus, the only major expenses Santa incurs in the manufacturing process are with raw materials and parts. As the North Pole has no economic system, all of these must be imported, and their cost amounts to huge figures. How does Santa get the money? We believe that his operations are supported by anonymous donations. Since there is no record of financing deals for Santa's workshop, this seems to be the only logical explanation. Over the centuries, donations for Santa Claus have accumulated; under professional management his funds must have earned fantastic interest and dividends, which allow for a continuous financing of his activities, without external aid. There are other two theories regarding Santa's income which add to that: as we know, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or Buddhist children do not receive gifts on Christmas Eve. Is it because all of them are bad? We don't think so. A more reasonable explanation is that Santa has some kind of contracts with governments of various countries. For reasons still unknown certain countries have refused to close such deals with Santa Claus. Still, existing contracts must provide enough funds to keep Santa afloat. Finally, another source of income for Santa comes from the collection of cookies left for him by children, repackaging of the cookies under some brand and selling them. III. Manufacturing process A major problem faced by an entrepreneur whose business model involves giving gifts for free to millions of children is management of production activities. Santa has to keep track of millions of children and their good deeds record, and has to plan and then manufacture millions of gifts. Is it possible? We believe it is. Modern technologies and an efficient management information system allow for the planning and subsequent implementation of large-scale manufacturing programs, with increased productivity and reduced costs. We believe that Santa Claus uses a state-of-the-art customer relationship system to keep track of all children and their deeds in this world. The system's database communicates in real-time with population databases maintained by governments that have contracts signed with Santa. Surveillance satellites are used to track the behavior and good deeds of children. Based on this information, as well as on children preferences sent by mail, a plant scheduling system is used to plan and manage manufacturing processes. It's interesting to note that some people have questioned Santa's kindness, since he only hands out gifts once a year. The reason for this is simple: the manufacturing cycle for millions of products (and thousands of different models) is time consuming. Therefore, Santa can complete an entire production cycle in exactly one year. Thus, by integrating strategic-level systems with operation-level systems, Santa is able to produce all the gifts in time, to the delight of millions of his young, non-paying customers. We believe that Santa has used these state-of-the-art technologies for centuries, long before they were introduced on the market and made available to regular businesses. IV. Delivery Process We have seen how Santa implements his manufacturing process. Now let's see how he delivers gifts to millions of children in such a short period of time, on Christmas Eve. This has been one of our most important research topics, since it is one of the most controversial. Santa's detractors usually point out the scientific impossibility of this task. Everyone agrees that Santa does not manufacture the toys himself; he uses a large group of highly-trained elves for the manufacturing process of millions of toys. Why then, we ask, should Santa be involved directly in the shipping process? It is more reasonable to believe that the elves themselves take care of the delivery as well. It makes much more sense for Santa to remain at the North Pole headquarters and coordinate the delivery process. This approach is also more practical: what if Santa was involved in a traffic accident on one of his many trips? the holiday season is known for a record number of traffic accidents due to alcohol consumption. Crime is also an issue, and Santa wouldn't risk carrying all the gifts in one single sledge. As for the sledge and flying reindeer: this is indeed a nice story, but we have found no evidence supporting it. It is more reasonable to believe that the elves use some kind of proprietary invisbile flying machines to deliver the gifts. One person delivering millions of gifts all over the world, in one day, is indeed impossible. Hundreds of thousands of elves using invisible flying machines to deliver several hundred gifts each is not. V. The myth explained In the above paragraphs we have proved without a shadow of a doubt that Santa is real. Still, confusion remains. At some point in their lives all children are informed by parents or friends that Santa Claus does not exist. For most children this is perhaps the saddest day of their lives. Why is the misconception perpetuated? The world's population is very large. Even if Santa does not deliver gifts to certain countries, he still has to take care of millions of children. It would be nice if the gift needs of people of all ages (children and adults alike) were accommodated by Santa. Unfortunately, that is not possible, as it requires too many resources. Even though Santa's available funds grow every year from donations, interest, dividends and capital gains, this is offset by the growth in the number of children that have to be visited. There comes a time, in each person's life, when Santa just stops giving gifts. Thus, when reaching a certain age, children are informed that Santa Claus "does not exist"; this makes the fact that Santa cannot deliver gifts to them any longer less painful. From that moment on, children (who have actually become young adults) sometimes continue to receive gifts from family and friends, out of tradition. VI. Conclusions Santa is real. People who deny his existence usually claim they have never seen him and have never received any gifts from him. This is understandable, since in Santa's Customer Relationship Management system these people are not scheduled for any gifts; to put it plainly: they have been bad. It's a perfectly reasonable cause-effect process. So, children, if you behave and do good all year long, you'll receive nice gifts from Santa. You should keep in mind that technology has its limitations. Our research has uncovered some extremely interesting information. A little known fact is that Santa's surveillance satellites are not 100% accurate. Even though you can and will be tracked indoors as well as outdoors most of the time, certain roof materials, meteorological conditions and/or geographical locations can hide your actions from the ever present Santa Satellite Network (SSN). If you're very careful, you can get away with some limited amounts of sex, alcohol, tobacco, bad language, porn, slacking, cheating in school, beating other children, and others, even at very young ages. Just be careful! One mistake and you're out of Santa's system; he has been known to enforce a zero tolerance policy. (wf) CONNECT THE DOTS ! Instructions: The author of these two drawings has cleverly left out some lines. Connect the dots in the sequence indicated by the numbers to reveal the drawings. Allocated time: 120 minutes. NOTE: This is the fun way to test intelligence for all ages! Save the above picture and email it to all your friends!