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Insiders are telling me that end-of-year stats regarding DVD sales of 2008's major movie titles are looking like a disaster areas. The guesstimates are that even blockbuster titles like Iron Man and Hancock will be down 30%. Interesting that studios which earlier claimed their film biz was near-recession proof are now blaming the economy rather than new digital media delivery options.

U.S. holiday retail sales will fall 1 percent this year, according to America's Research Group, marking the first time the research firm has forecast a decline in almost a quarter century of surveys. "This year looks so bad that even normally good signs for retail sales, such as more Americans staying home this Christmas, can't save the season for retailers," said C. Britt Beemer, CEO and founder of the research group, in a news release.

What 'culture war'? At the conventions, they'll try to stir up red-blue divisions. But most Americans hold un-partisan views. By Dick Meyer August 27, 2008 As the nation's attention reluctantly turns to the political parties' conventions, with their scripted suspense and stage-managed sentiment, it is important to keep in mind that these are phony representations of American political life. But the slick video profiles, the teary appearance of a beloved party elder -- these are not what is most phony about the conventions. This gathering of America's civic tribes -- and the reporters who love them -- in separate cities...

When it came time to decide what to do with his family's Christmas tree farm in Monroe Township, Thomas Allen didn't have a lot of options. His grown children had no interest in the business, and Allen couldn't work the land while holding down his full-time job supervising town recreation. The farm in Middlesex County, where Christmas trees have been sold for 40 years, didn't generate enough profit to provide his sole income. So Allen did what so many farmers in New Jersey before him have done. He sold his land to developers. As farmers like Allen leave the cut-your-own...

Merchants long have tried to lure shoppers into rising at ungodly hours to snare blockbuster bargains on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. But are the deals actually better? Turns out that often they are not.

EUGENE, Ore. -- Two separate Eugene families whose Nativity scenes were desecrated last week when a vandal replaced the baby Jesus figures with severed pigs' heads say they were targeted because of their religious faith. The culprits left other, more secular decorations untouched and focused only on the families' religious displays. "To me, they definitely wanted to make a religious statement," said David Stahl of Eugene, who discovered a pig head in his front yard Thursday. "This takes definite thought and too much anger." Eugene police are investigating the cases as possible bias crimes, a classification that could lead to...

With Kwanzaa just starting and New Years still days away, retailer's attempts to be inclusive go right out the window with the annual "after holiday" sales that start on December 26. Barnes and Noble, in an effort not to offend, refused to use the dreaded C word in pre-Christmas ads. I guess they don't get the idea that running Barnes and Noble's "after holiday" sale starting December 26 kinda lets people know what "holiday" you meant all along. Kmart goes so far as to have a cartoon in an ad saying to decorations "Lets spend the Holidays together again next...

<p>While a majority of American adults still believe that Jesus should be the focus of the holiday season, a growing segment of the population disagrees.</p> <p>A recent poll conducted by the Rasmussen Reports found that 27 percent of respondents said that there should be less of a Christian emphasis on the holidays. That's up 10 percentage points from a year ago when just 17 percent of adults felt that way.</p>

Christmas in Japan can be a little lonely and isolated for the Westerner. What with the distance and cultural differences. Missing the usual things from back home, especially for one 'American in Tokyo'. This year 2007 is no different. However, in many respects there is nevertheless one little thing that is so refreshing about being stuck in Japan during Christmas—after a few years--for the occasions one cannot make it back "home". It is almost like the clock has been turned back years to a simple and brighter time in our own country. An era years before the phenomenon of "political...

For most Minnesotans, December is a festive month of merrymaking and good cheer. But at the University of Minnesota it's the most dangerous time of the year. A Dec. 5 article on the University's website, "Reevaluating seasonal office parties," sets forth the perils. Its authors, Dee Anne Bonebright of the U's Office of Human Resources and Julie Sweitzer of the Office of System Academic Administration, exhort U employees to be on their guard. The memo makes clear that the limits most of us have learned to put on our Christmas spirit in recent years -- you know, catching yourself before...

(CNSNews.com) - With Dec. 25 only days away, a central image in the celebration of Christmas - the manger scene featuring replicas of Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus - has become the focus of attacks by vandals and leaders of "the secular Left," Christian groups charged on Wednesday. While the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights was erecting a nativity scene in New York City's Central Park, the group issued a news release condemning three dozen instances in which manger scenes were vandalized or stolen from Antioch, Calif., to Leesburg, Va., this Christmas season. "In perhaps the sickest...

MARIETTA, GA (Crime Library) — And so this is Christmas, and what has John Hayes done? He's taken the reindeers and rearranged them for fun. Dasher and Dancer used to hold their heads high, but when John boy was finished, they both wanted to cry. He'd taken their innocence and thrown it away, leaving them behind in a sexually explicit display. I'm no poet or songwriter and I admit I might have been influenced a tad by John Lennon's Christmas song, which just so happened to come over the radio as I penned that opening, but then again Lennon was...

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...

“You say you want a revolution, well you know, We all want to change the world...” – The Beatles, Revolution Ironic, if one reads all of the lyrics to The Beatles Revolution: Despite being left-leaners for their time, the tune almost sounds like something a conservative music artist might write today. Snapshot of America: For the moment, we are still “allowed” to believe and say what we wish. I am not saying this to underscore my right to say what follows, but to acknowledge the right of those with whom I vehemently disagree to believe and say what we wish....

An e-mail fracas at North Seattle Community College hits on why "the most wonderful season of all" causes us so much angst. Here in Seattle, the phrase "Merry Christmas" has been largely expunged from public discourse. Haltingly and awkwardly, we wish each other happy holiday; we talk vaguely about a holiday season; we plan parties that by all appearances look like Christmas parties, but we never call them such. This despite every indication that Christmas, at least the consumerist trappings of it, is alive and well. Every Starbucks sign hawks a peppermint latte; the sound of Barbra Streisand belting out...

Need something a bit more, you know, sexy and subversive this holiday? Here you go - No fruit baskets. No swell digital cameras and no "Sopranos" DVD sets and no noxious copies of "High School Musical 2" and no "Eat, Pray, Love" and nothing at all approved or endorsed by Oprah. No golfing figurines. No sports paraphernalia. No candleholders. No pink fleece hoodies with little glittery skulls. Not on this, my annual list, anyway. Just random delicious deeply cool things I've come across that make a statement or warm your blood or taste unreal or that serve some sort of...

<p>LONDON (CNS) – A priest from the Diocese of East Anglia, England, has decided to replace a live Nativity scene for a replica of the wall encircling Bethlehem in protest of the Israeli separation barrier.</p> <p>Each year hundreds of people come to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in St. Ives in Cambridgeshire to see the live sheep, a cow and donkey, and actors who occasionally have brought their newborn babies to play the role of Jesus for the Nativity scene.</p>

Only weeks after voting for a resolution that "recognizes the Islamic faith as one of the great religions of the world," nine Democrats in the U.S. House refused to vote for a Christmas resolution that condemns the worldwide persecution of Christians. U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., was on the list of those who endorsed the statement recognizing Islam but refused to support the Christmas resolution that noted the holiday "is celebrated annually by Christians throughout the United States and around the world." The Christmas resolution, like the Ramadan resolution, decried the violence that targets religion around the world. A spokesman...

Congressman backed Ramadan, Diwali, But the Washington Democrat drew the line at Christmas.

Only weeks after voting for a resolution that "recognizes the Islamic faith as one of the great religions of the world," nine Democrats in the U.S. House refused to vote for a Christmas resolution that condemns the worldwide persecution of Christians.

Only weeks after voting for a resolution that "recognizes the Islamic faith as one of the great religions of the world," nine Democrats in the U.S. House refused to vote for a Christmas resolution that condemns the worldwide persecution of Christians.

It's sexy, it's sacrilegious, it's scandalous, and it's just in time for Christmas. LA's hottest art curator Lenora Claire has done it again with a new collection of saucy art pieces guaranteed to get folks hot and bothered. Mixing Christmas themes with ample female breasts...Claire chose not to rest on her laurels of the hugely successful Golden Gals Gone Wild collection of this summer, but instead opted to pump up the volume with a new group of art that's poised to get viewers hot under the collar. We were lucky enough to interview the Los Feliz curator who will present...

My two daughters came home from school the other day singing along to a popular song that the school's third grade will sing for a holiday ensemble. The song was very familiar, written by Johnny Marks and performed by Brenda Lee in 1959, and went something like "Rockin' around, the holiday tree, have a happy holiday. ..." Wait a minute. "Holiday tree"? Is there such a thing? I corrected my daughters' poor translation of the classic Christmas song, only to be harshly criticized for my ignorance that everybody doesn't celebrate Christmas, so the school had changed the words. Hold on....

Mayor Phil Mitman said he grew up sledding in Nevin Park and later watched his children do the same. But we live in such a litigious society that a municipality's primary job today is to find ways to avoid lawsuits, he said. Anyone who headed to Hackett or Nevin parks this week for the season's first snow was greeted by signs banning sledding, tubing, skiing and snowboarding at the risk of a $300 fine. "If people wouldn't sue the city, we wouldn't have to do this," Mitman said Wednesday. "Those signs protect the city of Easton in a court of...

British Xmas card mocks Polish pope 06.12.2007 Poles in the UK protest against a Christmas card which features John Paul II and George W. Bush. The deceased John Paul II is lying on a catafalque. George Bush is standing over him. The speech bubble next to his face says: "What happened to Santa?". This Christmas card is selling like hot cakes in Britain, causing outrage amongst the Polish community. Poles have already informed they would organise street protests. "It's appalling. Using the image of the deceased Holy Father is a scandal. Muslims protested at the cartoons deriding Muhammad. Why should...

OK, today on Laura Ingraham's show, the website shows as a guest Rev. Billy of the "Church of Stop Shopping". This guy is a known Code Pink associate and participates in the Code Pink disruptions of Congress. Here's 14 pages of Google hits on Rev. Billy and Code Pink (two words)Here's 12 pages of Google hits on Rev. Billy and CodePink (one word) The guy dresses in clerical garb and mockingly imitates an evangelical minister. The Church of Stop Shopping was this clown's response to the President's message that the public should carry on their normal activities (Go shopping...) rather...

The protests against the forthcoming anti-religious film, "The Golden Compass," are "fundamentally ridiculous" and are perpetuated by "America's religious fear-mongers." That's according to Laura Miller in an opinion article in the Los Angeles Times (Sun., 12/2/07). But that's not all. Writing about the various e-mails that Christian groups have sent to warn the public about the disturbing themes in "Compass," Miller spews: [Y]ou have to wonder how much actual reading goes on in the sort of household that welcomes e-mails like the ones denouncing 'The Golden Compass' ... Good ... grief. Just when you thought the level of condescension could...

A nice snapshot of contemporary values: I saw that Coca-Cola is promoting the movie [The Golden Compass], and I wrote to them to express my feelings about it -- including mentioning that the villains are called "The Magisterium" in the movie. Here is the response I got: "We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns." The Golden Compass movie is a story about friendship, love, loyalty, tolerance, courage and responsibility. This movie also provides an opportunity for Coca-Cola to help raise awareness about climate change and the perilous state of the polar bear.""We do not believe that this...

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...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — 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 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 university officials now say the tree will be reinstalled along with a menorah and an "educational display of holiday traditions." Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, who had said he was "deeply troubled" by the Christmas tree's removal, praised the reversal of...

Shrill Bible-thumpers boycott 'The Golden Compass'; world's children grin devilishly -It has become some sort of rule, some sort of perfectly delicious law of the popular culture upon which any open-minded and attuned and humor-licked and spiritually aware and intellectually curious and sexually alive human worth her moist, wine-massaged soul can now rely with utter and perfect clarity. . . .

As the movie studios gear up for a big Christmas movie season, one trailer that looks like a blockbuster is "The Golden Compass," which must be trying to cash in on the "Narnia" movies. It has flashy special-effect polar bears in armor and a young heroic damsel in distress facing off against evil forces. The casting is top-notch, led by Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, the current star spy in the James Bond movies. But buyer beware: Narnia it's not. It's the anti-Narnia. Instead of a Christian allegory, it's an anti-Christian allegory. The author of "The Golden Compass," Philip Pullman,...

On Wednesday’s CBS "Early Show,"co-host Hannah Storm, who tvnewser.com reports will soon be leaving the show, teased an upcoming segment about the controversy over the atheist-inspired movie, "The Golden Compass": "And Nicole Kidman on why the Church doesn't want your children to see her new movie." Of course, the "Church" has said no such thing, but rather the Catholic League has called for a boycott of the movie. Later during the segment, Storm talked with Catholic League President, Bill Donohue, as well as Ellen Johnson, the president of American Atheists. To Storm’s credit, she challenged Johnson by quoting the atheist...

Now that the 2007 end-of-year holiday season is officially underway, I want to offer some heart-felt politically insensitive expressions of happiness and well wishes. Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! It seems that each year another distortion or misinterpretation of the First Amendment generates another attack on our end-of-year season for thanks to God, celebration and hope. These attacks are intended to put the rest of us on the defensive about our faith, culture and history, and claim a victory for political correctness. The latest? A Washington state school district issued a memo to its teachers...

School bans Santa from wearing red - because it reminds pupils of Coca-ColaLast updated at 16:37pm on 21st November 2007Santa Claus is being forced to wear a green suit when visiting a school this year, after teachers decided the traditional red outfit would remind pupils of Coca-Cola.  Education chiefs have also banned the annual Christmas grotto - favouring an eastern European version of the festive season instead. Staff at the Steiner School in Brighton, East Sussex, claim the red-suited Santa is a symbol of "modern commercialism" and reminds children of Coca-Cola adverts. Scroll down for more... Father Christmas and...

THERE'LL be no ho, ho, ho this Christmas. Aspiring Santas have been told not to use the term "ho" because it could be seen as derogatory to women. Thirty trainees at a Santa course in Adelaide last month, held by recruitment company Westaff, were urged to replace the traditional festive greeting with "ha, ha, ha".

After the AFA contacted Loews Home Improvement about some issues with its use of the term Christmas (or lack thereof) Loews responded: "Lowe's has contacted the AFA and assures us that it is proudly committed to selling Christmas trees this year, as it has done for more than 60 years. The company apologized for the confusion created in its 2007 holiday catalog when it headlined the page of Christmas trees "family trees." The error was not caught before the publication was distributed, and Lowe's says it is disappointed in the breakdown in its proofing process. Lowe's assures us that they...

"In Lyra's world, a person's soul lives on the outside of their body, in the form of a daemon--an animal spirit that accompanies them through life. A child's daemon can change shape, assuming all the forms that a child's potential inspires; but as a person ages, their daemon gradually settles into one form, according to their character and nature...In our world, it is possible that people that people have daemons as well, only they are invisible. If you would like to learn more about your daemon, and create a daemon avatar to take out into the world with you, select...

The Plant City Living Center has told Mrs. Arnold, an 85-year-old grandmother in Florida, that federal law prohibits her from displaying any religious words or items associated with Christmas in the common area of her apartment building. According to the Center, The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a directive banning "any religious symbols or religious words associated with Christmas." Under the guidelines issued by HUD, the elderly grandmother cannot place a small Christmas tree outside her door (because that area is a "commons area") if it contains any religious symbols or religious words, even an angel! If...

The war being waged by the quasi-establishment and quasi-government Left in Britain against the nation's own traditions, values, identity and, perhaps most of all, religion, has been escalated and its battle-lines redefined with a report by a leading Labour Party-aligned think-tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research, recommending that Christmas, which cannot be obliterated, should be down-graded to promote multiculturalism. The report says that because it would be hard to "expunge" Christmas from the national calendar (although this would apparently be desirable), public organizations must be made to give non-Christian religious festivals equal footing. Now, the Institute is not some...

LONDON, November 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Like the wicked Sherriff of Nottingham in the 1991 film “Robin Hood Prince of Thieves”, a Labour party think tank wants to cancel Christmas on the grounds that it is a “white” holiday which offends Britain’s immigrants. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), described as the ruling party’s “favourite” policy office that has shaped many Labour policies, says Christmas “should be downgraded to help race relations.” The IPPR also proposes secularised “birth ceremonies” in which the state and parents agree on the best way to rear children; the abolition of sitting Anglican bishops...

Excerpt - In the most surreal and, Santa help us, only truly interesting moment in "Fred Claus," none other than former presidential sibling Roger Clinton stands up and delivers a heartfelt confession about the pain of living in a more accomplished brother's shadow. As Clinton blubbers about love and devotion and "being there" for his kin, it all eerily comes into focus: The bulbous nose, the ruddy skin, the faint Ozarkian drawl … this guy really IS a mutant version of Bill Clinton! And, then, another revelation: He genuinely IS messed-up! And that's all the pathos or humor you're likely...

CHATTANOOGA - A live Nativity scene that has been part of Chattanooga's annual Grand Illumination has been scrapped. Chattanooga Downtown Partnership executive director Carla Pritchard says the representation of the birth of Jesus Christ was eliminated after several people complained. The Partnership receives funding from the city. The illumination event takes place the day after Thanksgiving and begins the holiday shopping season and the downtown Winter Days & Lights event. The Nativity had been performed since the 1980s by First Baptist Church of Soddy-Daisy. Church pastor Dr. Seton Tomyn says the decision is disappointing, but understands diverse cultures are part...

TORONTO - A Toronto mosque is telling Muslims not to say "Happy Thanksgiving" or invite friends into their homes for turkey dinner on the holiday weekend. The Khalid Bin Al-Walid Mosque says to "avoid participating" in dinners, parties or greetings on Thanksgiving because it is a kuffaar, or non-Muslim, celebration. A two-part article on the mosque Web site says Muslims should also "stay completely away" from "Halloween trick-and treat nonsense," Christmas, New Year's, anniversaries, birthdays and Earth Day. "How can we bring ourselves to congratulate or wish people well for their disobedience to Allah? Thus expressions such as:Happy Thanksgiving, Happy...

NEW HYDE PARK, N.Y., Aug. 13 — The temperature in the room was over 90, and the crowd was angry. The topic at this regular August meeting of the school board: what else? Christmas. When most people complain about the Christmas season beginning earlier and earlier each year, they do not usually mean the kind of kick-start that took place in this Long Island town on Monday night when more than 250 people showed up to demand that the name of the annual Christmas Concert not be changed to Winter Concert. And that was just to make a point —...

Yesterday, New York City Council Member Tony Avella introduced his Department of Education Holiday Display Resolution (Reso. 930/2007).  Avella’s bill calls for a nativity scene to appear alongside the menorah and crescent and star in New York City schools.  Currently, the schools allow only a Christmas tree, a secular symbol of the Christian holiday, to stand in its winter holiday displays.  On Sunday, Avella held a press conference on the steps of City Hall to discuss this resolution.  He was joined by Catholic League president Bill Donohue, Brian Rooney of the Thomas More Law Center, representatives from the Ladies Ancient...

75-Year Hollywood Tradition Ends LOS ANGELES (AP) - The curtain has closed on a Hollywood tradition. Officials announced Wednesday that after 75 years, the Hollywood Christmas Parade has been canceled due to rising costs and loss in revenue. "This is a very difficult thing for us to have to do," said Jeff Briggs, chairman of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce's board of directors. "We're disappointed and sad. But we're out of the parade business." The chamber started the parade in 1928 to lure shoppers to Hollywood Boulevard by decorating it with live trees and Christmas ornaments. It grew in size...

Shelby County Schools' newest board member, Fred Johnson, wants to change "Christmas Break" to "Winter Break" on the school calendar. "I want to make it inclusive of every religious group," he said. Johnson's unexpected declaration, during a recent discussion of the 2007-08 and 2008-09 school calendars, did not sit well with all board members. "This is America. Since Day One, we've recognized Christmas as Christmas and Christmas Break as Christmas Break," said board member Joe Clayton, who said he would never support a change of the wording. The two-week break between December and January has captured the board's attention before....

Tuesday January 9, 2007 Printer friendly version Email to a friend -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New York: Steal the Baby Jesus, that's OK, Kick the Menorah Go to Jail NEW YORK, January 9, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On Sunday, the New York Times ran a story about two 20-year-olds, and an 18-year-old, who were arrested for stealing statues of baby Jesus from nativity scenes over the past two years. They hit the New York-suburban communities of Suffern and Haverstraw several times in 2005 and 2006. The police said they will not charge them with committing hate crimes; each is being charged with 14 counts...

Before we pack away Christmas for the year, perhaps we should reflect on what it means to some of those of the liberal persuasion.If you Google for "liberal Christmas cards" the first site you will be directed to the bizarro world that is Progressive Holidays: The sentiment inside the last bizarre card reads: "George W. Bush terrifies me. Happy New Year!"The card with the night photo of a tree in the snow celebrates the winter solstice. The card with the people bowing down before a demon says: "Happy Holidays."The site offers seasonal bumper-stickers too: One can almost understand their juvenile...