Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Group says St. Nick more cool than Santa FRANKFURT, Germany, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- A Catholic group in Germany wants to give Santa Claus a ticket home to the United States and re-embrace 4th-century St. Nicolas for Christmas. Advertisement A campaign called the Frankfurter Nicholas Initiative, founded by a Roman Catholic priest in Frankfurt is protesting the growing commercialization of Christmas in Germany and aims to put Turkish Nicholas back in the spotlight, Deutsche Welle reports. German children still set out their shoes Dec. 6 for St. Nicholas to fill them with candy, but that holiday now pales in comparison with Santa's sleigh-ride night 19 days later. To counter this trend, the group has started a pro-Nicholas campaign. They show children how to turn chocolate Santas into Nicholas figures and have been handing out stickers in stores and at Christmas markets featuring a bar cutting across an image of Santa to proclaim the area a "Santa-Free Zone." Advertisement The image of Santa known today is a creation of the Coca-Cola company, which was looking for a new figure to use in its advertising campaigns in the 1930s and 1940s. Fraudsters earn $2.3M on Hong Kong streets HONG KONG, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Street swindlers in Hong Kong have pocketed nearly $2.3 million so far this year through scams such as selling blessings to gullible victims, almost all women. Three women were cheated out of more than $30,000 last month by following the instructions of a fraudster who said she had supernatural powers and could bless them with riches, the South China Morning Post reported Monday. The three put their money in a bag, over which the woman performed a magic rite, telling them not to open it till the next day to protect the magic. When they opened the bag the next day, it was filled with newspapers. There were 444 reported cases of street swindling this year through November. The blessing trick was the most common con; all its victims were women. The second most popular trick was the "distressed tourist," who asks for money or the use of a mobile phone, then disappears. Advertisement In a fake medicine scam the trickster uses a live snake, pretends to be bitten, and "recovers" after taking a medicine. Government seeks to end lovelorn monk song PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Cambodia's government wants radio and TV stations to stop playing "Leaving The Monkhood For Love" because it believes the song is disrespectful to Buddhists. The song, about a lovelorn monk, is sung by Heng Bunleap, a rising Cambodia singer. Heng has created a sizeable following by matching his traditional Khmer ballad style to gritty modern-day themes, the BBC reported Monday. However, the lyrics say the monk prefers love in the arms of a woman to life at the pagoda and the music video of the shaven-headed monk frolicking with his lover by a lake is considered offensive. About 90 percent of Cambodia's population is Buddhist. Scheduling snafu at YMCA creates chaos CHICAGO, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Children arriving for an early-morning, weekend swimming meet at a Chicago-area YMCA were surprised when they encountered a transgender fashion show and ball. Angry parents clashed with participants of the fashion show -- which resembled the ones depicted in the 1991 documentary "Paris is Burning " -- resulting in a melee that was eventually broken up by security guards and Chicago police, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Monday. Advertisement A YMCA member had reserved the whole YMCA facility from 11 p.m. Saturday through 8 a.m. Sunday for the cross-dressing and transgender model competition. However, the YMCA had mistakenly also booked the youth swim meet to begin at 7 a.m. Sunday. But the Sun-Times said many of the elementary and junior high school-age children arrived early and encountered the "House of Escada" fashion show and dance. The YMCA says it is reviewing its scheduling policies.
