Christmas is a time of joy, good will toward others and peace on
earth. However, if you get caught up in the reporting of the
national media, it can seem more like a battleground.  This
year's battles started with the opening day of shopping, which
has been creeping up each year and now includes Thanksgiving.
This isn't true about the stores in our reading area, but the
bigger cities likely drew some of our residents to their
Thanksgiving sales, interrupting the family day.  My solution is
to stay home. But that likely has no impact on retailers. I have
never ventured out for shopping on Black Friday, and the big day
is successful as ever despite my absence.  We didn't hear about
the war on Christmas as much this year. Some people are offended
by the use of the generic holiday greetings in place of
Christmas greetings by businesses and others. They shout out
their displeasure, usually in a politically-charged way that
ends up becoming another "war" on some perceived offensive
group.  My feeling is that if peo