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This December 1, 2011 file photo shows the 2011 National Christmas Tree after being lit by US President Barack Obama and the First Family during a ceremony on The Ellipse near the White House in Washington, DC. The Colorado blue spruce passed away "due to complications resulting from transplant shock" just 14 months after it was planted in the Ellipse field outside the White House, the National Park Service said May 4, 2012. Born on a tree farm in New Jersey, it replaced a similar tree knocked down in a wind storm after 33 years.

OTTAWA, - Despite being the second largest land mass in the world after Russia, Canada imports millions of dollars more in fake Christmas trees than real ones it exports. Statistics Canada said Canada exported $28.4 million worth of real conifers last year while it imported $44 million worth of artificial trees. Of the exports, 1.77 million harvested trees, or $26 million worth, went to the United States, with the balance going to Aruba, Bermuda, Netherlands Antilles, Panama and Venezuela, the agency said. China was the source of $42.7 million worth of imported artificial Christmas trees, with the remainder coming from...

Christmas trees could be to blame for a range of health complaints over the festive season, according to new research. Don't be too quick to judge those who feel under the weather over the festive period – rather than seasonal overindulgence, it could be their Christmas tree making them ill. The traditional centrepiece decoration has been blamed for triggering a range of health complaints, from wheezing and coughing to lethargy and insomnia. The condition – "Christmas Tree Syndrome" – is caused by mould growing on the trees, whose spores lead to problems when breathed in. It has been discovered by...

The North Korean Grinch Saturday, December 17, 2011 Looking for a clone of Dr. Seuss' "Grinch Who Stole Christmas"? Meet North Korea's bantam "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il. While his pompadour haircut and platform shoes are oversized, his latest threat to South Korea suggests that his heart is at least two sizes too small. There is even reason to question whether he has one at all. Witness Mr. Kim's warning that, if the South puts up its traditional display of Christmas lights, he will consider it "psychological warfare." He promises "unexpected consequences."

Police and fire officials are trying to figure out who set the Christmas tree on the New Haven Green on fire on Saturday night Officials said they found Bibles burning under the tree. "It's a wonderful beautiful Christmas tree for families to see," one resident said. The fire department shut down the power which lights up the tree because some of the wires were damaged. The city says fire investigators are looking to see if the Bibles were intentionally set on fire. "It's wrong. They're disrespecting the holidays," another resident said. "There can't be Christmas without lights," someone else said....

S.Korea Undeterred by N.Korean Threat Over Border Christmas Trees South Korea will light up three giant Christmas trees along the North Korean border despite vociferous protests from Pyongyang. A government official said on Sunday that at the request of evangelical organizations, the government decided to illuminate steel Christmas structures at Aegibong Peak in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province and near two observatory platforms on the central and eastern frontlines. The steel Christmas trees, which will be well visible from North Korea, will be lit up from Dec. 23 to Jan. 6. The military switched on the tree on Aegibong Peak last year...

First, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took on public sector unions. Now he's re-igniting the Christmas wars. Walker said Monday that the evergreen decorated with ornaments and adorned with a star in the center of Wisconsin's Capitol Rotunda is a Christmas tree, not a holiday tree as it's been called for the past 25 years. The roughly 30-foot-tall tree was called a Christmas tree from the first display in 1916 until 1985. That's when politicians bowed to concerns about government endorsing religion and started referring to it as a holiday tree. The Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has opposed the term...

Obama administration proposes 15 cent Christmas tree tax By Alicia M. Cohn - 11/09/11 09:17 AM ET The Obama administration is proposing a new tax on Christmas trees to fund a board promoting the holiday trees. The Christmas Tree Promotion Board would be funded by a new 15 cent per tree tax on large-scale producers of Christmas trees. A group of Christmas tree producers and importers worried about the skyrocketing use of artificial trees proposed the new board. Under the proposal from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the board would seek to revitalize the marketing and image of fresh-cut Christmas...

President Obama’s Agriculture Department today announced that it will impose a new 15-cent charge on all fresh Christmas trees—the Christmas Tree Tax—to support a new Federal program to improve the image and marketing of Christmas trees. In the Federal Register of November 8, 2011, Acting Administrator of Agricultural Marketing David R. Shipman announced that the Secretary of Agriculture will appoint a Christmas Tree Promotion Board. The purpose of the Board is to run a “program of promotion, research, evaluation, and information designed to strengthen the Christmas tree industry’s position in the marketplace; maintain and expend existing markets for Christmas trees;...

President Obama’s Agriculture Department today announced that it will impose a new 15-cent charge on all fresh Christmas trees—the Christmas Tree Tax—to support a new Federal program to improve the image and marketing of Christmas trees. In the Federal Register of November 8, 2011, Acting Administrator of Agricultural Marketing David R. Shipman announced that the Secretary of Agriculture will appoint a Christmas Tree Promotion Board. The purpose of the Board is to run a “program of promotion, research, evaluation, and information designed to strengthen the Christmas tree industry’s position in the marketplace; maintain and expend existing markets for Christmas trees;...

The 42-foot tall Colorado blue spruce snapped at its base during high winds Saturday morning in Washington. The spruce had been in its current location for more than 32 years. It came from the Myers family farm outside of York, Pennsylvania, the Park Service said.

The high winds that have been wreaking havoc around the D.C. region this weekend have toppled a national symbol. The nation's Christmas Tree, a live evergreen which has stood on the Ellipse since 1978, was toppled by gusting winds on Saturday. The 42-foot tall Colorado blue spruce has been lit through five different presidencies in its time on the Ellipse. The tree was specially selected by National Park Service horticulturalists, who, searching the country for the healthiest tree with the right proportions, discovered this one in York, Pennsylvania. Now the tree is laying on its side behind the White House.

Our Christmas tree is derived, not from the pagan yule tree, but from the paradise tree adorned with apples on December 24 in honor of Adam and Eve. The Christmas tree is completely biblical in origin. The use of evergreens at Christmas may date from St. Boniface of the eighth century, who dedicated the fir tree to the Holy Child in order to replace the sacred oak tree of Odin; but the Christmas tree as we know it today does not appear to be so ancient a custom. It appears first in the Christian Mystery play commemorating the biblical story...

Christmas tree at centre of Korea dispute * From: AFP * December 21, 2010 7:04PM SOUTH Korean marines are guarding a Christmas tree, the latest focus of tensions with North Korea following Seoul's artillery drill near the disputed sea border a day earlier. A South Korean church was planning to switch on Christmas lights in the shape of a tree atop a military-controlled hill near the tense land border today - the first such display for seven years. The ceremony will come a day after South Korea staged a live-fire exercise on the border island of Yeonpyeong, which was bombarded...

(NewsCore) - So much for a holly, jolly Christmas. A newly released study found that Christmas tree displays can “harm the emotional well-being” of those who do not celebrate the holiday. Researchers at Canada’s Simon Fraser University (SFU) studied the psychological effect that Christmas displays have by asking test participants to work in a room that either contained a Christmas tree or did not. The results showed that for those participants who did not celebrate the holiday, being in a room with a Christmas tree made them feel less sure of themselves. The result was the opposite for those who...

ABU DHABI (AFP) – Christmas came in extravagant fashion to the Muslim desert emirate of Abu Dhabi as a glitzy hotel unveiled a bejewelled Christmas tree valued at more than 11 million dollars on Wednesday. It is the "most expensive Christmas tree ever," with a "value of over 11 million dollars," said Hans Olbertz, general manager of Emirates Palace hotel, at its inauguration. The 13-metre (40-foot) faux evergreen, located in the gold leaf-bedecked rotunda of the hotel, is decorated with silver and gold bows, ball-shaped ornaments and small white lights. But the necklaces, earrings and other jewellery draped around the...

Last year, our beloved president celebrated his first White House Christmas in trademark style: he decorated the tree with shiny images of Chairman Mao, transvestite Hedda Lettuce and his own smiling face, carved into Mt. Rushmore. What special holiday magic will grace the White House tree this year? Here are some suggestions for decorations that glamorously showcase America's worst enemies, flashiest sexual deviants and most over-the-top narcissistic presidential fantasies. How about a silver Christmas ball with a smiling Julian Assange? He looks like a Christmas elf, anyway, so this concept could really deliver. Plus, with that rape charge in Sweden,...

The recent arrest of Mohamed Osman Mohamud on November 26 demonstrates what a tough job the FBI has in keeping America's homeland safe. Mohamud was arrested in Oregon for attempting to detonate a bomb at the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Pioneer Courthouse Square among a crowd of thousands. His attorney is claiming an entrapment defense, which means that the FBI's job is not just about finding radicalized American terrorists, but also being able to cross all the Ts and dot all the Is to ensure a conviction. The entrapment argument is being used possibly to influence the jury...

JP Morgan Chase quickly became known as the scrooge of the banking industry when it ordered a Christmas tree removed from the lobby of the Chase bank in Southlake, TX (see article: JPMorgan Chase says Christmas tree offensive) but it appears that someone in corporate has had a change of heart regarding the removal of this holiday icon. The Christmas tree was a gift from local businessman Antonio Morales because, as he told CBS 11 news: "I want the bank that I bank at to always have a beautiful tree." After corporate caught wind of the structure, and claimed people...

Fresh off its apparent victory to put the "Christmas" back into Dick's, the not at all crazy people at the American Family Association have re-focused their laser beams on JPMorgan Chase. Not because it's a big bank who was recently sued for its alleged part in the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme, but because they don't want Christmas trees in the lobby.

SOUTHLAKE -- Chase Bank told a businessman to remove the Christmas tree he donated to a local branch because it could offend people. Antonio Morales, owner of Bellagio Day Spa in Southlake, had assembled and decorated a 9-foot-tall tree in the lobby of the Chase Bank branch at 1700 E. Southlake Boulevard as a favor to the branch manager, who is one of his clients. The tree remained in the lobby from the Monday before Thanksgiving until Tuesday. Morales said his friend called him Wednesday to tell him the tree had to go. She later showed him an e-mail from...

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Our beloved president has expressed bewilderment at recent polls showing large numbers of Americans doubt his commitment to Christianity. Because we hate to see our president even a wee bit flummoxed, let's help him out. Do most Christians you know choose to decorate their Christmas tree with smiling images of Chairman Mao, who murdered at least 50 million of his countrymen, as well as signed photos of transvestite Hedda Lettuce? Well, that's the very special holiday magic the Obamas decided to hang on their tree for their first White House Christmas, courtesy of famed Barney's designer Simon Doonan. Maybe we're...

If these reports are true, President Obama has shown a profound disrespect for Christianity and the message of the Christ-child which was heard so loudly on Christmas morning; "Peace on earth, goodwill toward man." Both organizations are calling for the ornament to be removed and an apology to be issued by the White House to all people of faith, Christians and the Chinese people, many of whom are still in prison because of Mao's policies.

Despite reports that the Obama White House Christmas Tree is festooned with decorations of Chinese Communist leader Mao Tse Tung and a drag queen, those with a knowledge of dendrology believe the story to be Christmas Fool’s joke on conservatives. News of the Obama Administration’s White House Christmas Tree decorated with Communist and alternative-lifestyle ornaments has been carried by conservative media outlets Big Government and Fox News. The fact that Simon Doonan, who has used the famous Christmas window at Barney’s New York to make his left-wing political feelings known, was chosen to decorate the White House tree this year...

A 6ft garden Christmas tree planted by a couple 30 years ago now towers over their home after growing to 50ft tall. Avril Rowlands, 64, and her husband Christopher, 65, bought the pine tree from a garden centre for £6 in 1979 and expected it to grow to around 10ft. To celebrate planting it in their front garden, the couple took a photograph of it with their new home and garage in the background. But after 30 years of care and attention the tree stands 50ft tall and it is still growing. The tree is now the focal point of...

I have a rare talent. Some might call it a gift. Others, the more incredulous, call it a cheap party trick, but I have yet to meet anyone who can do what I do. I am a Christmas Tree Prognosticator. It’s sort of like reading palms. I can tell a lot about a person’s life and personality by their Christmas tree. Here’s a free sampling: ARTIFICIAL OR REAL There are two types of people: Real Christmas tree people and artificial tree people. One is not better than the other, just different. If you are a person who likes real trees...

At the Dutch college, traditionally the meters-high tree was seen by all walking through the school's atrium. However, not this year. In the tree’s place are streamers and lights dangling.

Participants in the COP15 climate summit should not be subject to Christmas symbols such as fir trees... Although the COP15 climate conference is set to take place during the Christmas season, the Foreign Ministry believes the holiday and all its symbols should be kept well clear of the summit. That point was bluntly illustrated when a sponsorship providing numerous Nordmann fir trees for the conference was rejected by the ministry... Christmas is a religious holiday that has no place at a United Nations function...

The lowliest manger scene anywhere in the whole wide world has more witness power to truth than a trillion bogus climate change summits throughout the universe.

The city of Concord, California is holding its Christmas tree lighting ceremony this weekend.  And from the looks of the tree, it will barely be alive for its big moment. Instead of a beautiful freshly cut tree like in years past, Concord opted to use an existing tree in the town's square. The switch saved the city $20,000.  Not a bad idea in these tough economic times. The mean-spirited would  best describe the tree as pathetic. Those on the nicer side of life are likely reminded of the old classic "A Charlie Brown Christmas." The tree was scraggly to begin...

The National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET-CWA) union has threatened to walk off on NBC's Christmas in Rockefeller Center special due to stalled contract negotiations with the network. Such a move would see the famous Christmas tree go unlit. According to NABET-CWA, which represents nearly 3,000 producers, writers and technicians, the union saw its contract expire in March, with "very little progress" toward a new pact. NABET-CWA says NBC management has grown "increasingly hostile" toward the union. "We can't let the Grinch at NBC steal another Christmas from thousands of honest working people," said NABET-CWA Local 11 President...

A New Holiday Tradition December 1st, 2009 by Christine Hebert Most of the world will celebrate the New Year on January first. As Catholics, however, we began the new liturgical year this past weekend with the first Sunday of Advent. My family is celebrating this time of preparation and penance with a Jess tree for the first time this year. I had heard of Jesse trees a few years ago, but not until about half way through Advent last year did, I understand the Jesse tree. The Jesse tree provides as series of lessons on Salvation History from creation until...

SANTA ANA – The removal of a Christmas tree from the Orange County Superior courthouse Monday has prompted a petition among court employees to have the tree – connected to a gift drive for poor children – put back. The six-foot artificial tree, which was adorned with tags seeking toy donations to 'Operation Santa Claus,' was removed Monday after a member of the public complained about the tree being in the courthouse, court spokeswoman Gwen Vieau said. "It's a public building and we have to serve the diversity of our community,'' she said. The tree had been put up in...

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A spokeswoman for Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear says he's calling the tree on the Capitol's front lawn a "Christmas" tree this holiday season. A statement from the administration last week sparked Christmas consternation by referring to the yet-to-be-chosen evergreen as a "holiday" tree. Some Christians were perturbed by the terminology. Spokeswoman Kerri Richardson says the administration received a steady stream of e-mails and phone calls about the "holiday" tree. She says it's always been a Christmas tree to the governor, and it will be this year, too. The governor is inviting critics of the "Christmas" tree to...

Reporting from Shepherdstown, W.Va. - Still growing somewhere here on Eric and Gloria Sundback's 100-acre tree farm is the two-story fir that will stand resplendent in the Blue Room of the White House this Christmas. This is because the Sundbacks -- he's 82, she's 83 -- have just turned out a grand champion Christmas tree for a record fourth time, a feat they once mistakenly assumed they were too old to pull off. Now the Sundbacks will once again watch a tree they nurtured from seed, fed and pruned, cast as the glittery showstopper at almost nightly holiday parties, then...

PHOENIX, Arizona, September 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) called on Arizona state and federal officials on Monday to stop enforcing a requirement prohibiting the state's schoolchildren from expressing religious viewpoints through Christmas themes while decorating ornaments for the 2009 Capitol Christmas Tree. Arizona was chosen this year to present 4,000 handcrafted ornaments made by elementary, middle-school, and high-school students to decorate Washington, D.C.'s annual Christmas tree. Guidelines for the ornaments include specifications for their size, weight, composition, and the directive that "Ornaments cannot reflect a religious or political theme… Instead share your interpretation of...

The Alliance Defense Fund sent a letter to Governor Brewer and other officials saying that it goes against the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. By KFYI News (KFYI News) Federal and Arizona officials, including Governor Brewer, were sent a letter by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) to stop enforcing a requirement banning kids from creating ornaments with religious themes for the 2009 Capitol Christmas Tree. Click here to read the entire letter. Arizona was given the honor of providing Washington D.C. their annual Christmas tree and having schoolchildren from around the state decorate the tree with some 4,000 ornaments....

After the ceremony, Rev. Schenck thanked Speaker Pelosi for keeping, as he said it, "Christ-mas" at the US Capitol, emphasizing “Christ.” Speaker Pelosi politely acknowledged the remark, then pursued Rev. Schenck to tell him she had been “mugged” for doing so. Rev. Schenck commented, “At first I didn't understand what Mrs. Pelosi was saying, so I simply nodded and thanked her again, but she repeated it emphatically. I realized the Speaker was saying she had paid a serious price politically for allowing the Christmas celebration to go on. She obviously took some political heat for it. For that, Nancy Pelosi...

The annual tree lighting in December at the U.S. Capitol is representative of many things, including hope, faith, patriotism, Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said during the tree-lighting ceremony on Tuesday. The speaker attended the event with the Montana congressional delegation, the state which donated this year’s Capitol Christmas tree...

Christmas shoppers may have expected a little better when they popped out for a last minute present or two. Looking forlorn, threadbare and decorated with just a dozen multi-coloured lights, this sorry looking Christmas tree is on display at a shopping centre in County Durham. The tree is the centre piece for festive celebrations at the Castle Dene Shopping Centre in Peterlee. Shopping centre bosses got a shock when the tree arrived just hours before pop star Natasha Hamilton, a singer with girl band Atomic Kitten and now a solo artist, switched on the Christmas lights. Too late to send...

Four illegal immigrants sneaked into the country hidden in a 32ft artificial Christmas tree, it was claimed. They were discovered inside a lorry at a council depot in Northampton. The aluminium and nylon tree - and two other smaller ones - were destined for the town centre's Christmas display. But staff at the depot opened the vehicle to discover the men, and immediately dialled 999. A spokesman for Northamptonshire Police confirmed that four men - two from Iraq, two from Iran - were arrested and are being questioned by officers from the UK Border Agency. Click on the link above...

Pelosi to Light Capitol's Energy-Efficient Christmas Tree @ 5:10 pm by Hill Staff This year's U.S. Capitol Christmas tree will bring the gift of light–energy-efficient light–to Washington, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office (D-Calif.) said Monday. Pelosi's office said the Speaker, joined by the Montana's congressional delegation and governor, will participate in a ceremony Tuesday, December 2 to light the tree, a 70-foot subalpine fir from a Montana national forrest. The tree won't be the only "green" component in the Christmas celebration, though. The tree will be decorated with energy-efficient LED lights, part of the Capitol's efforts to conserve energy. The...

How Riggers Raise the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Thanksgiving is still two weeks away, but the Christmas season officially began today—at least here in New York City—with the installation of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. Problem is, how do you install a monster tree in the middle of a crowded plaza? With about 10 guys, a crane, cables and a little eyeballing. Bob Gerosa, a third-generation rigger, runs the family business that erects the tree each year. He told PM that this year's tree weighs approximately 13,000 pounds (about 8 tons). That's actually light for a Rockefeller tree—two years ago...

'Father, 3 Kids, Missing in Northern California Mountains Found Alive','All four members of a family that went missing Sunday in the Northern California mountains while searching for a christmas tree have been found alive, FOX News reported The search area in rugged mountains of Butte County, Calif., where a father and three children vanished Sunday All four members of a family that vanished Sunday in the Northern California mountains while searching for a christmas tree have been found alive, FOX News reported Wednesday. "They have found all four, and they appear to be OK," said Paradise Police Sgt. Steve Rowe....

Pembroke Pines - The Pembroke Lakes Mall appears to have the standard holiday decorations. There's a photo booth with a Rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer theme by the food court; presents are wedged between palm trees; poinsettias rise from flower pots and combine into the shape of a Christmas tree. And next to a pair of benches in front of Dillard's, on a white-and-blue pedestal, stands a 5-foot-tall menorah. But for Len Torres, 79, of Plantation, who campaigns every holiday season to get Broward malls to include nativity scenes, that Jewish religious symbol makes Pembroke Lakes' refusal to set up a creche feel like...

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 13, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The 85-foot Christmas tree in St. Peter's Square, decorated with more than 2,000 ornaments, will be officially lit Friday.Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, will preside at the official lighting ceremony. Civil and religious authorities from the region of Bolzano in northern Italy, which donated this year's tree, will attend.The 140-year-old, 3-ton fir stands beside the Nativity scene in the square, which is still under construction.The Nativity scene, which will be unveiled on Christmas Eve, has 17 life-size statues. Of these, nine are the original figures donated by St....

This year, for the first time, Chatham Borough's holiday tree will be joined by a giant menorah. The borough agreed to a request for a public menorah display by Shalom Lubin, who over the years has gained approval for menorahs in neighboring Madison, Florham Park, East Hanover and Chatham Township. Lubin, a rabbi and director of the Chabad of Southeast Morris County, said word is spreading and towns are saying "hey, you have one in your town, why don't we have one in our town?" "More and more towns are realizing that in the spirit of the holiday, being inclusive...