2007 BAH-HUMBUGGER NOMINEES

1). MONTGOMERY MALL - Selling naming rights on Santa Claus display to THP Properties, not to mention backwoods Alabama shack look where Santa sits.

2). OIL TYCOONS - There is nothing that says Happy Holidays more than the price of gas skyrocketing to over $3 a gallon right before the holidays. I think people would much rather spend their money filling up their gas tanks than buying gifts or food for a nice, family meal. It is also really comforting for people when they have to start canceling doctors appointment or they can't afford for to pay for their prescriptions because of the high cost of home heating oil and increased gas prices. I hope you Oil Tycoons have a wonderful holiday season as you roll around in dollars bills like pigs in a mud puddle.

3). TAKASHIMAYA DEPARTMENT STORE - For those who don't mind splurging a bit this holiday season, a Japanese department store is offering a Christmas tree with 400 diamonds for a cool 1.8 million dollars.

Again that is a diamond covered Christmas tree for 1.8 million dollars!

Takashimaya department store chain is selling the tree -- actually a small tower of preserved roses with a teddy bear -- for a symbolic 200.7 million yen from Wednesday to kick off its year-end sales campaign.

The tree, which stands 40 centimeters (16 inches) high, features about 100 carats of diamonds from southern Africa and Australia, the department store said.

Nothing says Merry Christmas quite like knowing that some child in Africa probably lost a few limbs or their life so someone can have an "all blinged up" Christmas tree.

4). WESTAFF RECRUITMENT FIRM - Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday.

Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported.

One disgruntled Santa told the newspaper a recruitment firm warned him not to use "ho ho ho" because it could frighten children and was too close to "ho", a US slang term for prostitute.

A local spokesman for the US-based Westaff recruitment firm said it was "misleading" to say the company had banned Santa's traditional greeting and it was being left up to the discretion of the individual Santa himself.

Thats right Westaff Recruitment, try and make it seem like you really didn't order Santa to drop ho, ho, ho for ha, ha, ha once you found out that you had been nominated for a D.C.S. "Hummie". I think the story speaks for itself and no your status as a BAH-HUMBUGGER nominee will not change.

5). RED STAMP, a Minneapolis-based Internet stationer - Nothing takes the Merry out of Christmas more than Grandma opening up her Christmas card from 7 year old grandson Billy, only to find it was written by some 40 year old man.

For those whose holiday wish is to simplify the holidays, outsourcing cards is a timesaving tool akin to shopping online or buying ready-to-serve turkey dinners at the grocery store. But is sending Grandma a card that's signed and sealed by someone else taking the quest for convenience a little too far?

I wouldn't like it to find out that I had been outsourced," says Anna Post, author of "Emily Post's Wedding Parties" (Collins, 2007) and great-great-granddaughter of the etiquette icon.

"The whole point to me of the personal correspondence is to take a little time to think about that person and what they mean to you," Post says. "If you really want to send your love at the holidays, it's really nice if you're doing it."

Red Stamp owner Erin Newkirk says it's the sentiment, not the handwriting, that matters most. Customers who want to include a personal message in a card tell the company what to write. Some even dictate the text for their thank-you notes.

"You still thought about it," Newkirk says. "It's just executed in a different way."

It's not the handwriting, it's the sentiment? I guess one has nothing to do with another? If I sent my Mom a Christmas card that a family friend sent me would that be acceptable? Would my Mom be overjoyed just at the fact that she received a Christmas card from me even though she may not recognize the names that are signed on the card. What if it is a Christmas card with a picture she might not have any idea who anyone is in the picture but she will still be thrilled the card was sent by me. There again would that be a question of sentiment? I did send her a Christmas card.

Here again is another fine example of a business being nominated for a Hummie. Merry Christmas scum bag!