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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...

SIERRA VISTA — Ron and Joanne Wagner were guests of honor during a special celebration at Sierra Vista Middle School on Monday. The Wagners, who had purchased a Christmas tree that had been donated to the Festival of Trees by the middle school, gave the tree back to the school for students and staff to enjoy. This marked the fourth year the Wagners purchased a tree at the Festival and returned it to the school that donated it. All the ornaments on the tree were hand made by special education students. Now on display in the school library, the tree...

Today the President discussed Housing in the Roosevelt Room and took place in the annual Lighting of the National Christmas Tree and the Pageant of Peace on The Ellipse near the White House in Washington. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attended a Transatlantic working dinner held at the Egmont Palace in Brussels. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates left Iraq and travelled to Bahrain where he attended a meeting with the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Al-Khalifa and visited US troops on the USS Vicksburg. The First lady is given a tour of the exhibit: "The Presidential Dish: Mrs. Woodrow Wilson...

Liberty Counsel targets K-Mart, Sears for refusing to use 'Christmas' in ads Allie Martin OneNewsNow.com December 7, 2007 A Christian law firm is targeting two retail giants after they offended Christians with their advertising. Officials at Liberty Counsel say K-Mart and Sears have renamed "Christmas trees" to "holiday trees" in their advertising. According to Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver, a ministry supporter asked K-Mart why it took the action. "A representative from Sears Holding Corporation, which owns K-Mart as well, wrote back and said that Sears is a diverse company and it did not want to offend any of its...

Missouri State University has reversed a decision to take down a 20-foot Christmas tree and will instead reinstall it along with symbols from other religions, the university said today. The tree had been removed from Strong Hall on the university’s campus on Monday, after a Jewish faculty member complained that it showed a “lack of sensitivity” to other religions. But the tree will be reinstalled along with symbols from other religions... “We decided this is the right thing to do, and I am glad there was widespread agreement about it,” Missouri State President Michael Nietzel said in a statement. The...

Merry Christmas! Didn’t you get enough the first time? Of all the rotten, no account tricks for which, the Clinton’s have been accused, the 1994 Christmas Tree stunt tops them all. Who can forget the reports of Mrs. Clinton hanging sex toys from the White House Christmas Tree? As with everything else, surrounding the Clinton’s, these reports could not be confirmed and were probably denied by some meaningless White House staffer at the time. Forget the Whitewater affair. Don’t worry about an entire stack of FBI files found in the White House residence. Sure, Chuck Colson did some time in...

Lowe's refuses to call them "Christmas trees," chooses to call them "Family trees" Dear R J, In an effort to avoid the use of the term "Christmas tree," Lowe's has renamed their Christmas trees and are now calling them "Family trees." In their Holiday 2007 catalog, containing 56 pages of Christmas gifts, Lowe's advertises hundreds of gift items, including scores of "Family trees." In fact, the word "Christmas" only appears two times in the entire holiday catalog. The ads mentioning "Christmas cover only 12 square inches of the 5236 square inches available. Lowe's even has one of their Family trees...

CAMBRIDGE, Ill. - A teenager is being hailed as a hero for saving his aunt from a fire at their house, but he lost his own life when he went back into the burning building to search for the family's two cats, authorities say. Seth A. DeShane, 14, was pronounced dead late Thursday at the family home, which was destroyed in the fire. "He really saved his aunt," said the Rev. Kris Dietzen, pastor at Cambridge Lutheran Church. "He woke his aunt up and told her the Christmas tree was on fire. "He got her out of the house. She...

A Hawaii county erected a Christmas tree to protect a Chanukah menorah from a church-state separation challenge. The American Civil Liberties Union complained to Maui County this week after seeing the menorah, accompanied by a dreidel, in front of the county building. A local rabbi had asked authorities for permission to set up the menorah. The ACLU cited laws that say that displaying a religious symbol by itself could constitute endorsement of that religion. County workers scrambled Wednesday to find a Christmas tree, in short supply in Hawaii this late in the season. One was found at a local botanical...

Governor Chris Gregoire lit a Menorah in a celebration at the state Capitol on Monday, and at the same celebration, accepted the gift of a Menorah for her home. The Menorah that was lit during the ceremony is displayed in the Capitol rotunda with a Christmas tree. However, when a local resident asked for a Nativity scene to be displayed with the Menorah and the tree, the Governor refused. This morning, at the request of a local resident, Liberty Counsel faxed a letter to Governor Gregoire along with our Legal Memorandum on the constitutionality of displaying religious symbols during the...

A friend of mine thought she had no room for a Christmas tree in her crowded, tiny house. But she solved the problem by deciding to place (a little more) than half of an artificial tree on the wall.Here's a picture of their jury-rigged solution, which uses a leg from an old Christmas tree stand which Mr. DumbRedDown shaped into a bracket.

T.O. judge orders Christmas tree out of lobby Updated Thu. Dec. 14 2006 5:31 PM ET toronto.ctv.ca A Toronto judge has ordered a Christmas tree out of a downtown provincial courthouse lobby, saying it's not an appropriate symbol to non-Christians. The move by Justice Marion Cohen has upset staff, some of whom call the decision stupid and insulting. Cohen says she understands the small tree has stood in the lobby at 311 Jarvis St. for years during the Christmas season, but in a letter to employees says non-Christians are "confronted" with the artificial decoration, which makes them feel "they are...

One thing I've come to realize is that many of us have an innate, enduring loyalty to our preconceptions. We'll stick with them through thick and thin, no matter what reality sends our way. I first realized this some twenty years ago when a friend and I, as two young Chabad-Lubavitch rabbinical students, spent our summers canvassing the state of Montana looking for Jews. We'd drive from town to town--some of which only had one or two Jewish families--and try to do our bit to encourage Jewish identity and observance. We were quite a curiosity, and were often featured in...

A mutant tree all aglow BY DAVE BARRY This classic Dave Barry column was originally published Dec. 14, 1997. Tis that special time of year, The Holiday Retail Purchasing Season, a time when we traditionally print heartwarming human-interest stories designed to make you feel better about running up a level of debt normally associated with Mexico. I have such a heartwarming story, which was published by The London Times and sent in by alert reader John Nicholls. The story, which I am not making up, concerns a man named Neil from Devon, England, who discovered an owl nesting in his...

Exhibit criticizes Democratic Congress: A left-leaning Christmas tree, newly elected Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi pictured as an angel at the top and presents labeled "minimum wage raises" and "higher taxes" were part of a demonstration by the College Republicans on Tuesday. The demonstration in Free Speech Plaza was hosted by the College Republicans to joke about the newly elected Democratic Congress. "We want to raise awareness of the Republican party," English sophomore Laura Springer said. "There's a tendency of people to forget the policies and reasons they align with a particular party in the first place after a...

Christmas tree makes comeback City council restores evergreen's name By LARRY SANDLER lsandler@journalsentinel.com Posted: Oct. 24, 2006 O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, thy name is not unchanging. Advertisement Maybe it was the chill in the air that had aldermen thinking about Christmas in October, but the Milwaukee Common Council voted 9-5 Tuesday to rename the large green object in Red Arrow Park as the city's "Christmas tree," dumping the "holiday tree" label that has been used since 1995. That action was praised by a Christian group in Florida and condemned by an atheist organization in Madison. Aldermen uprooted the...

The fresh fragrance released by trees in northern pine forests is a significant component in slowing climate change, according to research. The particles that carry the forests' olfactory assault also help to cool the planet by bouncing energy from the sun back into space. Now researchers have worked out that the forests produce enough microscopic particles to load the atmosphere around them with 1,000-2,000 particles per cubic centimetre of air. The discovery will help plug a big hole in climate change models and so help scientists to make more accurate predictions of global warming from greenhouse gases such as carbon...

ANAHEIM, Calif. - A 35-foot Christmas tree caught fire early Wednesday in the lobby of the Disneyland Grand Californian Hotel, forcing the evacuation of more than 2,000 guests, officials said. No one was injured except for a guest who complained of a strained back and another with symptoms of stress, officials said. The sprinkler system kept the 3 a.m. blaze in the artificial tree in check, and firefighters were able to quickly put it out, said Maria Sabol, a spokeswoman for the Anaheim Fire Department. She called the fire "electrical in nature," saying it started after employees changed some lightbulbs...

Pine-sap transfusions could save your Christmas tree's life BY DAVE BARRY (This classic DAVE BARRY column was originally published on Dec. 12, 1999.) TODAY'S HOLIDAY TOPIC IS: Christmas Tree Care. The Christmas tree is a cherished holiday tradition that dates back 500 years, to the early Germans. What happened was, one night right around Christmas, a bunch of early Germans were sitting around, and one of them, named Helmut, said: ``I know! Let's chop down a perfectly good fir tree, drag it inside, and see if we can get it to stand up again!'' ''Why in the world would we...

In an effort to eliminate all religious symbols from the shopping center, management of Paseo Colorado is ending an annual Hanukkah menorah display. But the mall's towering Christmas tree stays: Paseo Colorado managers said the tree isn't a religious symbol. The shopping center has displayed the 13-foot-tall menorah - sponsored by Chabad of Pasadena, a Jewish congregation of about 300 people - for the past three years. The menorah is not allowed because religious symbols are not appropriate in the commercial center, which has no religious affiliation, said Colleen Dunn, regional general manager for Ohio-based Developers Diversified Realty, which manages...

Today would have been my Father’s 100th birthday. There aren’t many folks left who will remember that, and take note. But I do, and here’s his story. Before I sat down to write this, I read an e-mail about a lady who wrote about “A Simple White Envelope.” Her story began: “It's just a small white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so. “It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas -- oh, not the...

Rhode Island Statehouse Christmas tree dead from flame retardant PROVIDENCE, R.I. --It's a Charlie Brown Christmas for Rhode Island's official Christmas tree. The 18-foot Colorado Blue Spruce lost its needles and died after Statehouse workers dried it with commercial fans and sprayed it with a fire-retardant chemical. The workers were following the stringent new fire code enacted after a deadly 2003 nightclub blaze. Decked in white lights beneath the rotunda just last week, the balding embarrassment was ignominiously hustled out of the building on Wednesday night. Gov. Donald Carcieri sheepishly explained the tree's demise -- and suggested the state might...

The pendulum swings both ways. Last year in Denver, it was Mayor John Hickenlooper proposing to replace the city's traditional "Merry Christmas" sign with one that said "Happy Holidays." The mayor wisely backed off in response to the public outcry, as did the Parade of Lights, this year, reversing its policy barring religious floats. Earlier this month, Speaker of the U.S. House Dennis Hastert, issued a directive instructing the architect of the Capitol to drop the name "Capitol Holiday Tree" - adopted in the late 1990s under the authority of no one who's now willing to admit to it -...

(12-22) 19:23 PST ENGLEWOOD, Pa. (AP) -- Mary Kathleen O'Connor, 16, doing some studying for school about 6 a.m. Tuesday, said she was the first to be startled by an apparent Christmas tree stowaway. "I'm looking at the tree and the angel just pops off," she said. "And a second later, this head just popped up. The eyes were, like, glowing. I was thinking, 'Oh my God!' And I screamed." Other family members came running. "We looked at it and I thought it might have been a fake," said her father, Michael O'Connor, a Frackville attorney. "But then it moved...