'If you take away religion, you can't hire enough police'

Clay Christensen, a Harvard Business School professor, makes the connection between religion and democracy in this 90-second message, a topic particularly appropriate at this time of year.

If you liked that, you'll enjoy Christensen's extended 20-minute talk at TEDx Talks in Boston, wherein he asks – and answers – the question, "How will you measure your life?"

TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience, according to the accompanying blurb at YouTube. "At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event."

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Ho Ho Ho!

Watch the look of surprise on the face of your child or grandchild, niece or nephew when they see Santa Claus talking directly to him or her!

View this video message sent by Santa to little three-year-old Kadence in Texas, and then use the app to adapt it for your own precious little one. But hurry! You have only until Christmas eve to make it, send it and be sure your little one sees it.

Here's how to create your own magic in under five minutes: Download the free PNP mobile app right now.

Overheard ...

On a Facebook post: "Quite a while back there was a strike by refuse workers in New York during December. One creative fellow who didn't know what to do with the trash building up in his apartment started wrapping some in Christmas paper and leaving it in his unlocked car. Every morning he would find that someone had taken his giftwrapped trash. ... Sometimes they get a surprise for their illicit deeds."

Flash mob - stiff upper lip-style!

Last Christmas, British Army Musicians entertained unsuspecting Christmas shoppers with a flash-mob performance of "A Winter's Tale" and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."

The Corps of Army Music is the largest employer of professional musicians in the U.K. These 60 professional musicians, regular and reserve, were drawn from the Heavy Cavalry and Cambrai Band, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Band and the Royal Signals (Northern) Band.

Viva Las Vegas!

The bright lights of Las Vegas aren't confined just to the Strip. No, ho, ho! Homeowners certainly give Vegas' brightly lit casinos a run for their money with their own neighborhood Christmas decorations! Here are 15 of the best Las Vegas neighborhood Christmas holiday light shows.

Remember the big hit out of South Korea in 2012, "Gangnam Style" by Psy? Well, this homeowner synched his Christmas lights to the popular, if not odd, tune.

By the way, did you know, according to YouTube the song's refrain, "Oppan Gangnam Style," was entered into "The Yale Book of Quotations" as one of the most famous quotations of 2012? True.

On Dec. 21, 2012, Psy's music video for "Gangnam Style" exceeded one billion views on YouTube, becoming the first video to do so in the website's history. Psy was subsequently recognized by the media as the "King of YouTube." On May 31, 2014, the video for Psy's "Gangnam Style" hit two billion views.

About that Sony hack ...

The headline-making hack into Sony Pictures Entertainment by North Korean hackers has generated humorous Photoshops seen all over Facebook and Twitter. Here's how they were created and how you can create your own e-cards, such as this one at Some Cards. View more current event commentary creations here.

Related: When a dad posted a photo of his baby on Facebook, a friend turned it into a huge new meme. So big, in fact, it became the best of 2014 when others added their own captions to it.

Here's what happened when someone shared a photo of his wife as a child in which she looked like a senior citizen. By the next day, his wife had become the "60-Year-Old Girl" meme and the rest is history.

For those who might be asking, "What is a meme?" here's your answer: A meme is an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme.

This week's Surfing' Safari column has a Christmas meme.

Merry Christmas to one and all!

"Flight to Egypt," one of 42 stained glass windows in St. Saviour's Church, Bar Harbor, Maine. Ten windows in this 1877 New England church were created by Louis Comfort Tiffany (Photo by Andrea Shea King).