My next door neighbor Pam has a daughter attending a local university here in Northern California. I have known this neighbor for years, although we are not close. After the piñata incident she brought over a green bean casserole and was very nice to us though. 

Drugs

I had not really seen Pam much since the block party a few months ago, but she came to our house yesterday very upset. The university had sent a letter home to parents warning them about a new “piñata party craze” that is sweeping campus nation wide this fall. 

According to this letter, college students are filling pinatas with joints, acid tabs, condoms and sex toys. These young adults, who should be studying, get drunk, bash the “goodies” out of the piñata, and then have sex and drug filled all night parties. 

Sex Toys

The letter goes on to say that the university where Pam’s daughter is attending has had to break up several of these sex and drug parties in the dormitory where her daughter is staying. This school mandates freshman to live on campus. I think it goes without saying that Pam is very concerned about this activity.

Whether or not you agree with my position on banning piñatas, I hope you will agree that this is a very disturbing development. If you have children in collage, please speak with them about the dangers of sex and drug piñata parties.

Just got an iphone. I downloaded a piece of blogging software that let’s me post from the phone.

I love it! I should be posting more piñata related stories now.

This bit of news caught my eye. And gladdened my heart. Major Hollywood studios are finally cracking down on the illegal use of their intellectual property in the creation of unlicensed piñatas! Here’s the story from the LA Times…

Disney and the other companies, in what experts said was an understandable move to protect their popular cartoon and character properties, filed copyright and trademark infringement lawsuits against Santoyo and another nearby shop owner for allegedly selling the counterfeit pinatas.

Although Santoyo settled last month for an undisclosed sum, word of the legal action against these two small Los Angeles vendors — who peddle their wares in an informal pinata district centered along Olympic Boulevard and Central Avenue — has reverberated through the garages, backyards and warehouses of pinata makers as far away as Santa Ana, who worry that they too will be targeted. But will they stop making the images of Cinderella and Dora?

“Without that, we don’t have much of a business,” said South Los Angeles pinata maker Marta Garcia. “We need to be careful, but it’s hard because the demand is for the characters on television and in the theaters.”

While I can certainly sympathize the retailers who just want to earn a living, stealing is stealing. And if Disney isn’t being paid for the use of their characters, this is clear cut theft, that hurts a lot of people from the janitors at Disney’s offices to the creative people who come up with the entertainment we love.

I was informed today that the proper name for a store that primarily sells pinatas is a “pinataria.” Now I’ll be sure to describe it correctly when asking others to join me in picketing a pinataria. 

My campaign to educate America about the insipent danger of pinatas is an uphill battle. I know that. I routinely face derision for waging my battle, but if I can spare just one child, or one parent, the pain and suffering that is both physical and mentally, then it is worth it.

People will say, “so should we ban baseball too since your daughter used a bat?” No, of course not. The point of baseball isn’t to beat something into pieces and encourage violence. But that is the point of pinatas.

People say “should we try to protect the world from every conceivable form of suffering?” No. It isn’t possible. But when there are obvious hazards that serve no useful purpose other than “fun” which is derived primarily from acting in violence, then why should we encourage that kind of activity? We shouldn’t.

People say “what’s the big deal, it’s just a pinata.” But you know, people used to say, “what’s the big deal, it’s just a cigarette.” Or a cherry bomb. Or a switchblade. They’re all harmless, right? Pinatas are no different than a cigarette, a cherry bomb or a knife. Sure, they can all be used safely, but the potential for harm out weighs any other value. And so we regulate and/or ban these things.

There are now two studies that show direct links between pinatas and violent behavior. There are no free speech issues. So why should we tolerate the ongoing availability of pinatas? We shouldn’t. And I will continue my fight to stop pinata related violence.

We were at church today and I was told that it is traditional for hispanics to celebrate this most holy of days by - you guessed it - bashing in pinatas! Argh! That’s all well and good for them to do in Catholic places like Mexico, but the reason it came up today is because my church was having a pinata party after the service! I couldn’t believe it! And they wanted us all to bring our kids to whack at the pinata while we had donuts and coffee.

Its bad enough that these horrible things have invaded birthday celebrations, but now they’re desecrating the resurrection of our Savior with it.

I informed the pastor that if the church ever had another pinata themed event I would be switching churches.