Add the jolly old elf to the growing list of terrorist victims.
Letters to Santa Claus bearing addresses in inelegant handwriting now will be viewed with obvious alarm by the U.S. Postal Service.
Ditto for letters without return addresses.
Any missive to Santa (or anyone else) containing crumbled cookies or candy or hay for his reindeer will be tested for anthrax spores.
More ominously, letters to Santa sent from New York will be automatically irradiated.
And holiday packages that rattle or thump also will set off official alarms at post offices and private delivery facilities.
Billions of letters and millions of packages are delivered during the Christmas season, a potential bonanza for biological bugs.
Sadly, children of all ages with poor penmanship may end up receiving holiday visitors with badges, not bundles. (18 NOVEMBER 2001)
