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Gifts Also Rule Animal Kingdom

They offer piggyback rides, share food

(Newser) - Many species of animals are just as into gift-giving as we are, though they may be better at avoiding that last-minute shopping rush. Often, the New York Times explains, the presents are tied to mating. "This is an incredibly cool and important topic in sexual selection that we’re...

Tree-Munching Bugs Wage War on Christmas

Adelgids deplete fir tree population

(Newser) - Talk about a war on Christmas: It's happening right now in southern Appalachia, and the aggressors are freckle-sized bugs with no natural predators. The balsam woolly adelgid, as the creature is known, is wreaking havoc on Canaan and Fraser firs, famed as Christmas trees. The onslaught is leaving trees...

Radio Station Grants Last Wish—2 Years After Death

Brenda Schmitz wanted best for remarried husband, kids

(Newser) - A month before she died of ovarian cancer in September 2011, Brenda Schmitz wrote down a few wishes for her family—her husband, her four boys, and the special woman she hoped they would find. They weren't to be read until after her husband had remarried. This year, a...

Airline Gives Fliers the Gifts They Want for Christmas
Airline Gives Fliers the Gifts They Want for Christmas
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Dec 15, 2013 11:05 AM CST

Airline Gives Fliers the Gifts They Want for Christmas

WestJet passengers receive gifts—some pricey—after flight

(Newser) - These may have been the best plane flights of all time: Passengers on two WestJet flights last month got a chance to talk to Santa via video before boarding—and by the time they arrived, the gifts they had asked him for had been bought, wrapped, and were on their...

War on Christmas Was Very Real— in the 1600s

Boston Puritans banned the holiday

(Newser) - The War on Christmas existed long before Fox News. In the 17th century, it was an indisputable fact: Boston Puritans canceled Christmas for 22 years, and those caught celebrating were hit with a fine, Mental Floss explains. A court order in 1659 warned against "observing any such day as...

Fla. Capitol Gets Festivus Pole— Made of Beer Cans

Pabst Blue Ribbon cans, specifically

(Newser) - It's a "Festivus for the rest of us" in Tallahassee this year: The Florida Capitol will likely today see the installation of an almost 6-foot-tall Festivus pole (yes, the invention of Seinfeld) in its rotunda. And it's not the traditional plain aluminum pole, but one made out...

Holiday Cards Have Gotten So Self-Serving
Thanks So Much for Your
Holiday Card! It Stinks
opinion
Dec 7, 2013 11:47 AM CST

Thanks So Much for Your Holiday Card! It Stinks

Friends, family don't even bother to write a note: Eric Hoover

(Newser) - Notice how impersonal and self-promotional holiday cards are these days? "Today’s cards may appear more personalized—with photos of spouses, kids and pets," Eric Hoover writes at the Washington Post . Yet on the backside of each card, "I usually find no trace of ink, no original...

Grinchy County to Neighborhood: Take Down Your Xmas Lights

Strung across the street, they pose fire hazard: officials

(Newser) - A neighborhood in Orange County, Calif., is brightly decorated with Christmas lights strung across the street—and that hasn't exactly put county officials in the holiday spirit. The lights pose a fire hazard and could prevent emergency vehicles from getting through, officials say, calling the decorations an "unpermitted...

Why Christmas Should Be on January 25
 Why Christmas 
 Should Be on 
 January 25 
OPINION
Nov 29, 2013 12:59 PM CST

Why Christmas Should Be on January 25

It gives us more time, less stress: Erin Gloria Ryan

(Newser) - Face it: Nobody likes the end of the year. You spend a ton of money on gifts and travel, plus you have to shove so many Christmas activities into the few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, you barely get to enjoy any of them. Which is why, on Jezebel , Erin...

Thanksgiving: The Holiday We Haven't Ruined

It's America's best holiday, Michael Schaffer argues

(Newser) - America is obsessed with holidays, most of which kind of annoy Michael Schaffer at the New Republic one way or another. But not "our greatest holiday," Thanksgiving. "There's no annual slog of parties to get through," no "mistletoe or kiss-at-midnight rituals that leave the...

Hallmark: Sorry We Edited 'Gay' Xmas Lyrics

Tree ornament says 'Don we now our fun apparel'

(Newser) - Hallmark is apologizing after some altered Christmas carol lyrics landed the company in hot water. A sweater-shaped tree ornament bears the words, "Don we now our fun apparel"—rather than the traditional "gay apparel" celebrated in "Deck the Halls." The item prompted CNN anchor Carol...

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...

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