If Christmas gets your goat, this idea's a gift

[T_i_B]

Now I'm all for Goats but AK-47's? :crazy: That said, weaponry aside this is actually not a bad idea. Make of this what you will.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1577882,00.html

They were the must-have Christmas present last year: not computer games or cartoon toys but the gift of a goat to help a poor family survive. This year, charities behind the boom in feel-good giving hope to cash in on the growing interest with novelty gifts including ducks, bees, 'virile rams', toilets and even Kalashnikovs which are then remade into farm implements. This weekend both Oxfam and Good Gifts will publish their 2005 Christmas catalogues.

Last year Good Gifts sold 23,000 presents, including 10,000 goats. This Christmas it is offering 'ducks for peace' which, like goats, give families nutrition, fertiliser and something to sell; tougher, faster-breeding 'supergoats'; bees, camels, and worm bins; and for £40 a 'virile ram' which helps a village increase its flock of sheep. Packages often include training in animal care for the recipients, tools and feed.

If animals don't appeal, givers can buy Kalashnikovs, rocket launchers and tanks that can be turned into farm tools by specially trained blacksmiths, providing employment and a livelihood. For £1,200 they can give a whole library, and for £2,000 a bank, including safes.

Ruth Rosselson, of the campaign and research group Ethical Consumer, says feel-good Christmas giving is part of a growing disillusionment with consumerism and awareness of the huge gulf between rich and poor: 'There's an enormous amount of pressure on and around Christmas to consume and people are just getting turned off.'