holidays

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Entire Town Throws Early Christmas for Dying Boy

Devin Kohlman can see 'winter wonderland' from his window

(Newser) - Port Clinton, Ohio, sounds like a pretty incredible town. Devin Kohlman, one of its own, is dying of brain cancer, and he may not live long enough to see Christmas this year. So the 13-year-old's hometown has come together to start the holiday season early for him. Toledo News...

Feel Free to Have a Christ-Free Christmas
Feel Free to Have a
Christ-Free Christmas
OPINION
Dec 24, 2012 11:10 AM CST

Feel Free to Have a Christ-Free Christmas

Amanda Marcotte thinks the Christmas story isn't relevant anymore

(Newser) - Suppose you're a basically non-religious parent. Do you have a responsibility to tell your kids the story of Jesus this holiday season? Andre Park at Salon tried, and soon found himself awash in questions he couldn't answer: "Where's Galilee? Who's Herod? What's Myrrh?" He...

Snow Storm May Mess With Post-Christmas Travel

Midwest, East Coast brace for severe weather

(Newser) - Envy jolly old St. Nick: He gets to do all his flying tonight. Americans planning to fly home the day after Christmas, on the other hand, might be in trouble. A huge storm system that has already dumped rain and snow on the West Coast should hit the Midwest and...

TSA OKs ... Snow Globes
 TSA OKs ... 
 Snow Globes 
Dec 24, 2012 6:45 AM CST

TSA OKs ... Snow Globes

Finally!

(Newser) - Today, in really important travel news: You can finally carry that snow globe on your flight. That is, as long as it "appears to contain less than 3.4 ounces" of liquid, explains the TSA blog . How to tell if yours qualifies? Make sure it's smaller than a...

Police Chief Sends Crooks Holiday Cards

Complete with image of gun-totin' Santa in bulletproof vest

(Newser) - Criminals in a Canadian city will be receiving an unexpected Christmas card this year ... from the police chief. The card being sent out this week to "prolific offenders, property offenders, and persons known for drug and gang activity" feature the chief wearing a Santa suit (and a bulletproof vest...

Found in Red Kettle: Gold Coin Wrapped in $100 Bill

Salvation Army volunteers found donation, note

(Newser) - A gold coin worth $500 wrapped in a $100 bill has been found in a Salvation Army red kettle set up at an upstate New York shopping plaza. Officials with the Elmira Salvation Army tell the local Star-Gazette that the coin was donated anonymously Friday at the Village Plaza in...

Santa Is a Democrat, Say Voters
 Santa Is a Democrat, Say Voters
new poll
Dec 11, 2012 7:30 AM CST

Santa Is a Democrat, Say Voters

No word on Rudolph

(Newser) - Seems the North Pole is a blue state. According to 44% of American voters, Santa Claus is a Democrat. Some 28% say he's a Republican, and another 28% aren't quite sure, finds a survey by Public Policy Polling . And when it comes to the naughty-nice spectrum, Mitt Romney...

Stop Giving 'Disgusting' Grapefruit as a Holiday Gift

This terrible tradition needs to die: Katy Waldman

(Newser) - It's the holidays, which means some clueless older relative is sure to force a grapefruit or 12 upon you. Giving grapefruit as a holiday gift started up during the Great Depression, because people wanted their gifts to be "nourishing" during such tough times. But the tradition—the absolute...

More Suicides Over Holidays? Just a Myth

But people believe it, study says

(Newser) - Perhaps It's a Wonderful Life is to blame. We tend to think of the holiday months as having an elevated suicide rate, and the media pushes that perception—but in fact, it's entirely wrong, researchers say. A University of Pennsylvania study of CDC data on suicide rates between...

Mall Fires Grumpy Santa

He wouldn't let one kid sit on his lap

(Newser) - Ho ho ... humbug? A mall in Maine has sacked Santa Claus after children and parents complained he was rude, grumpy, and wouldn't even let one child sit on his lap. Jessica Mailhiot and her 6-year-old daughter, Chantel, went to see Santa this week, and told a local TV station...

'Secret Santa' Gives $100 Bills to Sandy-Hit Residents

Anonymously hands out cash in NJ, NY

(Newser) - A wealthy Missouri man posing as "Secret Santa" stunned New Yorkers, handing $100 bills to many in Staten Island who had lost everything to Superstorm Sandy. The anonymous Kansas City businessman is giving away $100,000 this holiday season, and he spent yesterday in New Jersey and New York...

'12 Days of Christmas' Gifts Will Set You Back $107K

Hey, swans-a-swimming aren't cheap

(Newser) - The perfect gift for that person who seems to have everything? How about 12 drummers drumming, 11 pipers piping, 10 lords a-leaping, and, well, you get the idea. This year, if you tried to buy all 364 items from the "12 Days of Christmas" song, including that partridge in...

10 Weird Thanksgiving Facts
 10 Weird Thanksgiving Facts 
Nov 22, 2012 4:48 PM CST

10 Weird Thanksgiving Facts

It was supposed to be a day for fasting...

(Newser) - Thanksgiving feasts and TV dinners may seem like polar opposites, but in fact, the holiday gave birth to the prepackaged meals. Swanson bought way too much turkey in 1953—an extra 260 tons of it—so a salesman suggested packing the leftovers into 5,000 aluminum trays, accompanied by sweet...

Fed-Up Lady Calls Cops on Bell Ringer
 Fed-Up Lady 
 Calls Cops on 
 Bell Ringer 
...happy holidays?
Nov 21, 2012 2:15 PM CST

Fed-Up Lady Calls Cops on Bell Ringer

Sarah Hamilton-Parker says Salvation Army ringers violate noise ordinance

(Newser) - Sarah Hamilton-Parker is sick of the Salvation Army bell ringers that set up shop outside the New Hampshire store where she works—so this year, she called the cops on the very first day of bell ringing. “I listen to this for 200 hours a year,” she tells...

Post-Holiday Detox Does 'More Harm Than Good'

'Janopause' leads to excessive drinking afterwards: doctors

(Newser) - Planning to go cold turkey after some heavy holiday boozing? British doctors warn it may do more harm than good, the Daily Mail reports. The so-called "Janopause"—a month of forced sobriety after New Year's—often leads to excessive drinking from February onward. "You’re better...

10 Christmas Movies You Absolutely Shouldn't Watch

'60s B-movie 'Santa Claus Conquers the Martians' ranks worst: poll

(Newser) - What are the top 10 most cringe-inducing, holiday-ruining, Santa-offending Christmas movies of all time? Online ticket seller Fandango set out to find out, and polled its customers. Among the films that you probably shouldn't watch tonight:
  1. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians : a 1964 ultra-low budget fantasy flick; good luck
...

'Tis the Season to ... Pinch $1.84B Worth of Stuff?

Retail theft in 4 weeks before Christmas expected to be 6% higher than 2010

(Newser) - In the four weeks before Christmas, shoppers will steal an estimated $1.84 billion in merchandise—a 6% spike over the same timeframe last year, according to a survey of retailers around the globe. The bump in shoplifting may be explained by dipping wages and high unemployment, reports the AP...

Secret Santas Wipe Away Strangers' Layaway Debts

Anonymous donors clearing accounts at Kmarts, Walmarts

(Newser) - A nice fad this holiday season: Secret Santas are going around to Kmarts and Walmarts and paying off the layaway accounts of random strangers. It's happening all over, including stores in Nebraska, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, South Carolina, and Montana. The AP , NPR and Time round up examples of the...

11 Insanely Expensive Gift Ideas

A trip to outer space will run you only $200K

(Newser) - 'Tis the season for giving, and what better way to show your appreciation for someone then to bestow them with an absurdly lavish gift, presuming you are nestled high up into the 1%. Here are 11 of the most ludicrously expensive gift ideas, courtesy of Time :
  • Pacifier, $17,000:
...

Really Bad Santa Home for Holidays

Claus' monster assistant from Europe winning US converts

(Newser) - Dreck the halls with gobs of gory. If the Krampus has a Christmas carol, that could be his favorite. Krampus is a kind of really bad Santa, and he's gaining converts among those so sick of syrupy Christmas they'd rather scare people to death. Krampus is an import...

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