First Lady Michelle Obama receives White House Christmas Tree

First Lady Michelle Obama, along with daughters Sasha and Malia, presided over the official arrival ceremony of the White House Christmas tree on Friday.
While a band played "Oh Christmas Tree," the indoor tree was delivered to the north portico of the White House residence by traditional horse drawn carriage.
The 18 ½ ft Douglas-fir comes from Shepherdstown, West Virginia and will be on display in the Blue Room throughout the holiday season.
Asked if it was the biggest tree they'd ever had, Mrs. Obama replied: "Yeah, I think this wins.

Church marks Advent by serving others

The spirit of Christmas is in the giving, and at First United Methodist Church in Prattville, families came together Sunday night to make cards, crafts and gifts to be distributed throughout the community.

The church organized nine different stations for parishioners to make any or all of the projects, like baby blankets, pillows, breakfast in a bag, greeting cards, decorations and others.
Usually, the church hosts an Advent festival for the families to make crafts they take home, but this was the first year they did service projects together for various community groups like the Selma Children's Home, the Department of Youth Services, nursing homes, deployed troops and others.
Luann Williams coordinated the event and said they wanted to focus on giving. Everything made Sunday night will be given away throughout the holiday season, she added.
About 500 different items were completed during the two-hour family event, said Williams, the director of children's ministries at the church.
In one room, people were writing personal messages to deployed troops. Rhonda Mann headed up that project. Her son was deployed with the Marine Corps Reserve unit in Montgomery, but now is attached to a sniper unit in New Orleans. He'll head back to the desert in 2011, she said.
"When he was gone we realized how much support they needed, and their families," she said.
Eight members of the Prattville church currently are deployed and this Christmas they'll get a big stack of handmade cards with their care packages from Mann, who started a soldier's ministry while her son was deployed.
"It's a way for them to feel a little bit of home," she said.
Holly, 4, and Joey Gardner, 3, wanted to make baby blankets. When they finished their soup and sandwich dinner provided by the church, they were begging their mom, Carina Gardner, to go make the blankets.
Carina Gardner is from England and her husband is Canadian. They've lived in Prattville for three years and her husband is a civilian instructor at Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base.
"This is just a really nice, new way to show that Advent is more than just our family or even our church family," Carina Gardner said. "It's really good for them (Holly and Joey) to realize how lucky they are."

TV sales help John Lewis reach record pre-Christmas sales

Soaring TV sales helped John Lewis reach its record week in the run up to Christmas with sales up 22% on last year to £91.8m.

This is the earliest the department store has passed the £90m mark in the run up to Christmas.
It said that sales of televisions were at their highest ever levels outside of its clearance Sale with significant increases in electrical and home technology goods sales.
John Lewis director of selling operations Nat Wakely said: “This week has been incredibly strong. Customers are gift buying as well as getting the home ready for Christmas, including purchasing a new television to watch festive entertainment and play games with all the family. As temperatures begin to drop, cold weather purchases are also on the increase.”
Johnlewis.com also had a record week with online sales £1m ahead of its previous record week.

Christmas Is Dead!

Christmas is an occasion many people around the world look forward to. They needn’t be Christians. It’s moulted over the years into a truly global festival spawning a multi-billion dollar industry.

From kids to opinion leaders to statesmen and just about the whole of mankind, the yuletide provides an avenue for individuals, families, groups and business enterprises to let the guard down, enjoy a spot of fun from around December 20 to January 10 and make some money - a lot of it where possible. In fact, some use the period to “show off” with lavish parties, all in the spirit of the season.

After toiling all year round, the season offers the opportunity for all the dispense goodwill to friend and foe alike. During this period, the seamstress, shoe maker, driver, electrical repairer, sales attendant, call centre operator, publisher, event organizers, company director - service providers in general – all get busy, largely due to the huge interplay of demand and supply.

Last year, the Christmas season in Ghana had competition. It was also an election season. Election 2008 was in full swing and the atmosphere was poisoned with NPP/NDC words of war. There was an air of uncertainty and trepidation because many people felt the election would end in violence. It nearly did…it dragged on from December 7 to the end of the month when the final results were tallied after an unprecedented three rounds of voting in the presidential election. Christmas was thoroughly compromised and was a no-show.

The economic impact of Christmas is a factor that has grown steadily over the years in many countries, including Ghana. It is typically the most important annual economic stimulus for many nations. It is a period where heightened economic activity supersedes almost every other craze with traders engaging in last minute marketing stunts to outwit each other and attract customers.

In the advanced economies of Europe and the US, the Christmas and New Year sales figures and used as yardsticks to measure the preceding year. That is why the season is hyped up by local and national governments to attract spending. In the UK switching on the Christmas lights on Oxford Street/Regent Street is a major event. Other cities and towns also organize their own switching events – all to get people into the “mood”.

Ghana’s case is not too different from other sovereign states except to say some seasons gone by, since December 1992, have often not been celebrated with the pomp, pageantry and razzmatazz associated with Christmas due to not just dwindling economic fortunes and the fall in standards of living of the populace but the election cycles that come four years every December.

Just a little over three weeks to Christmas 2009, The Mail newspaper has been up and about and the mood is at best somber and at worst despondent. The usual euphoria and ambience that characterizes the season is so far absent. While in 2007, the situation was relatively better, 2008 presented Ghanaians with a more engaging Christmas they never envisaged – one that saw a general election being decided after some grueling three rounds of voting to elect the leader of the country. The exercise took off the shine of the Christmas as there was not much more to celebrate Christmas wise but there were celebration of sorts for the political victors.

In a year that has seen a transition from one government to the other and so much being expected from the new administration, the electorate is justifiably demanding a lot from the government on how best the government can ‘help’ them enjoy their Christmas this year.
It’s barely two weeks since the Finance Minister, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor presented the 2010 budget to parliament in a tone that sought to suggest a never-to-forget yuletide. He was upbeat and excited about a Christmas that has all the ingredients to evoke lasting if not fond memories. In his statement, he conveyed to the over 20million Ghanaians who had gathered behind their television and radio sets, how well the president wished ever Ghanaian a memorable season. It might have been an easy exercise relaying the message from his boss but one fact which is always lost on politicians is that, their thoughts, actions and inactions are streams apart from that of the citizen who ceded his/her power to them.

In one of those snap interviews conducted by The Mail on the streets of Accra and beyond, a picture, depicting a bleak and gloomy yuletide has been painted by buyers and sellers alike who know the Christmas season far too well.

Last year, because of the election, a lot of people didn’t really prepare for the celebrations but this year’s is just like last year. Since their expectations haven’t been met after the elections, coupled with the economic hardship which has become unbearable, the preparations for the celebrations have been quiet, dull and dead. In fact Christmas is dead”. The headline for the story is taken from these words. They were the words of an office manager in one of the media houses in the capital when the Mail caught up with him to find out how he is preparing for the festive season. His effusions were re-echoed by a good number of traders and consumers in Accra. At the Accra Mall, a sales attendant told the Mail simply that “people are not buying”.

He said they feared for their jobs if the trend did not improve. Christmas is celebrated by Christians all over the world as annual holiday to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. In Ghana, the period is associated with painting of houses, sewing of new clothes, settling of family disputes and an avenue for wholesalers and retailers to make profit as the economic activity around this time, reaches its fever pitch and causes so much stress and anxiety amongst the populace. But this year, so far, even though the Minister of Finance assured Ghanaians that the President wants them to have enjoyable Christmas, some still insist that “Bronya A Wu” – Christmas Is Dead. A clergy-man however told the Mail that they are all getting it wrong. Christmas is about Christ and salvation, not about spending money.

Pedal power to light up Copenhagen Christmas tree

Danish capital Copenhagen is currently gearing up for the United Nation’s Climate Change Summit which runs from 7-18 December, and the city’s legions of cyclists will be doing more than usual to help reduce carbon emissions by using pedal-power to light up the Christmas tree that traditionally occupies City Hall Square.
The hundreds of lights that illuminate the tree are estimated to emit some nine tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, but locals and visitors alike have been invited to get pedalling to provide the power this year.
The initiative forms part of a series of events being organised in Copenhagen under the umbrella term ‘Hopenhagen’ as it seeks to turn itself into the ultimate climate-friendly city for the duration of the summit.
The city is seen as perhaps the most successful in the world at promoting bicycle usage, with more than 350 kilometres of bicycle lanes and one in three residents commuting on two wheels each day.

TV tonight: 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'

Over the next two nights, ABC will rerun two of TV's all-time greatest shows. It's "Grinch" tonight, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on Tuesday; humor and sentiment merge with splendid craftsmanship.

"A Charlie Brown Christmas"

"Grinch" starts with Dr. Seuss' wonderful book, rippling with dark humor and sweet spirit. Chuck Jones, the genius behind some of the best "Bugs Bunny" and "Road Runner" cartoons, animated it beautifully and hired Boris Karloff to narrate. June Foray is Cindy Lou Who and Thurl Ravenscroft sings; they're better known as the voices of Rocky J. Squirrel and Tony the Tiger.
New show looks at adoption stories
TONIGHT'S MIGHT-SEE: "Find My Family," 9 p.m., ABC.
After a fairly good half-hour sampler last week, this show settles into its one-hour, two-story form.

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Ashley Arend knew she was adopted, but at 10 she accidentally learned she has a biological brother. Now, 14 years later, she's a grad student and after-school aide; the show searches for him.
Jaime DeHaven is a mother of three, still looking for her own mom. "I don't have a family tree. ... I just want a happy ending," she says.
In the style of "Extreme Makeover" (from the same producers), this show shovels in emotions. Still, there's solidity to hosts Tim Green (an author and former Atlanta Falcon who's in the College Football Hall of Fame) and Lisa Joyner; both are adoptees who, as adults, found their birth parents.
Other choices
• "House," 8 p.m., Fox. Here's a rare episode that focuses on Wilson, played with subtle skill by Robert Sean Leonard. His friend (played by Joshua Malina, Will Bailey in "The West Wing") is the patient; Wilson insists House's grim diagnosis must be wrong.
• "How I Met Your Mother," 8 p.m., CBS. In a funny rerun, Robin seems impressed by guys fighting, Naturally, Ted and Barney take it too far.
• "Christmas Vacation" (1989), 8 p.m. and 10:15 p.m., AMC. To get its holiday mood started, AMC will run this movie at the same times for five straight days. It's a pretty good one - Chevy Chase satirizing Christmas excess - but not THAT good.
• "Shrek the Halls," 8:30 p.m., ABC. Shrek knows nothing about Christmas, but he figures he has to create a celebration for his family.
• "Two and a Half Men," 9 p.m., CBS. Charlie has never been much of a care-giver. In this enjoyable rerun, Chelsea is sick and he has to step up.
• "Lie to Me," 9:01 p.m., Fox. How do you read the minds of professional poker players? Lightman tries after one of the competitors disappears.
• "The Big Bang Theory," 9:30 p.m., CBS. Here's a rerun of the delightful season-opener. When Sheldon learns the guys tampered with his experiment, he flees home to Texas. His friends reluctantly follow - even though Leonard will miss his chance for sex with Penny.
• "Castle," 10:01 p.m., ABC. In this rerun, Castle tries to patch up his wobbly relationship with Beckett - while finishing the novel that has a hot cop patterned after her. Then a body is found in a tree, launching a new case. Two real-life mystery novelists, Michael Connelly and Stephen Cannell (the former TV producer), appear as themselves.

Rising rates the Christmas party pooper

Christmas looks set to be a subdued affair with the Reserve Bank having its finger on the trigger for an interest rate rise on Tuesday.
A new online survey, released on Monday by mortgage broker Loan Market Group, found a majority of respondents are planning to tighten their belts this Christmas due to rising interest rates.
Most market economists expect the Reserve Bank to raise the cash rate for an unprecedented third month in a row, lifting it by 25 basis points to 3.75 per cent.
This would add around a further $47 to monthly repayments on an average $300,000 mortgage.
"The low interest rate party is over," Loan Market Group chief operating officer Dean Ruston said releasing the survey results.
"This Christmas looks like being a fairly subdued one with rates on the way back up from record lows.
"Higher rates for many people would mean less money to spend this Christmas."
Of the 1,250 respondents to the survey, 56 per cent said they would be scaling back their celebrations and present buying.
Nearly a third said they would be putting extra money into their mortgage and credit cards, while one in seven said they would be asking for money as a gift rather than a purchased item.
But rising interest rates is not doom and gloom for everybody, with 30 per cent saying they would spending more on Christmas presents this year because of the economy's resilience.

Katie Price 'Anxious About Spending Christmas Alone'

Katie Price is anxious about spending the Christmas period alone following her split from boyfriend Alex Reid, it's been reported.

Price ended her five-month relationship with the cage fighter on live TV last Monday after walking out of I'm A Celebrity.

The former glamour model, who quit the jungle after the public turned against her, is said to be inconsolable at the prospect of a lonely Christmas.

“She is constantly in tears and feels very isolated," a friend told the Daily Mirror.
"She has a lot of friends but when they leave there is no one there for her.

“Katie feels she has nothing to look forward to. Her book tour is over, it seemed the public hated her in the jungle and she is now single.”

As Entertainmentwise reported earlier, Price has apparently agreed to meet ex-husband Peter Andre to discuss their children.

It will be the first time the couple have met face to face since their divorce.

Families facing winter debt, Save the Children suggests

The effects of the recession are fuelling further borrowing

Families will fall into debt to buy warm clothing and food this winter, a Save the Children survey suggests.

Spending on Christmas presents and basic essentials like heating is also likely to be cut.
The survey by the children's charity, reveals that the majority of parents earning less than £30,000 are going to struggle to manage this winter.
More than half of those surveyed (52%) said they would turn to high interest debt to cover costs.
The survey of 1,006 parents with a net household income of less than £30,000 revealed that 56% said they would buy fewer Christmas presents for their children.
'Families scraping by'
Families on low incomes said they would have to borrow to pay fuel bills (27%), buy winter clothing such as warm coats and shoes (22%) and other essentials including food (21%).
"It is shocking that so many families have to borrow money to pay for essentials such as heating and food, with many parents forced to cut back on Christmas presents as well as winter clothes. Families cannot continue to scrape by like this," Fergus Drake, Save the Children's UK Director said.
Of those who live in poverty - earning less than £12,000 - almost 80% said they would struggle this winter, with 55% saying they would borrow money from high interest lenders to pay for essentials.
Save The Children's concern is that the worst-off families often have to borrow to cover unexpected costs such as a broken washing machine, or essentials like increased winter heating bills and have fewer opportunities than better-off people to access affordable credit.
Many then take on high interest debt through catalogues, rent-to-own shops, doorstep lenders or loan sharks. The charity is calling for changes to the regulation of financial services.
The majority of those on the lowest incomes (63%), said they would buy fewer Christmas presents for their children this year, the survey found.
Most families expect to borrow up to £500 to cover their costs this winter and say it will take more than a year to repay it.
According to many families surveyed, their greatest worry was that they would struggle to pay it back (32%) and that it will push them further into debt (26%).

Christmas train chaos as rail works to shut five out of seven main routes

Tens of thousands of train passengers face serious delays over Christmas and New Year when five of Britain's seven main rail routes will be severed by engineering work.
Network Rail is planning to close parts of Britain's busiest lines for up to two weeks.
Travellers could see their journey times double as they are forced to use replacement bus services.
But the huge volume of traffic over Christmas and the potential for treacherous weather could significantly increase the delays further.
One of the worst-hit will be the London to South Wales route, which will be out of action for ten days - from Christmas Eve to January 3.
In the Midlands, all trains between Nottingham and Derby will be cancelled for eight days. Meanwhile, passengers in the North face being stranded as services terminate at earlier stations on Christmas Eve.
The extent of the work has sparked fears of a repeat of the chaos that blighted Christmas in 2007.
Network Rail was hit with a record £14million fine for the over-running repair work in Rugby and London.
The delays are yet another blow to passengers who have faced fare rises of up to 15 per cent, threats of strikes by ticket office staff and delays caused by flooding.
Critics said the closures were ' completely unacceptable' and called for Network Rail to face further fines.
Tory transport spokesman Theresa Villiers said: 'Passengers face more misery with these closures coming on top of threatened rail strikes.

 

'It's vital that the Government makes Network Rail accountable to passengers. We need to give Network Rail tougher requirements to get engineering work done as efficiently as possible to minimise closures.'
LibDem MP Norman Baker said: 'This is unacceptable. We were promised a rail service which would operate fully all year round. Passengers will rightly feel they have been misled.
'The time has come for Network Rail to pay the fares of every passenger forced to use a replacement bus service.'
The major routes being partly closed are: London to South Wales, London to Weymouth, London to Derby and Nottingham, London to Norwich and the London to Glasgow line between Manchester and Glasgow.
The main lines unaffected by the engineering work are London to Edinburgh and London to Penzance.
The work will take place in nine locations on Christmas Eve, 28 on December 27 and 13 on January 1.
Anthony Smith, of customer watchdog Passenger Focus, said: ' Engineering work causes major inconvenience. We're putting pressure on train companies to have more staff to ensure work finishes on time.'
Network Rail said: 'There is much less work planned this year, with the east and west coast lines remaining open, so passengers can look forward to less disruption this Christmas.'

A Dog Named Christmas” Aired On CBS

By Madhuri Dey
Nov. 30, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The first “Hallmark Hall of Fame” movie of the season was aired on CBS on Sunday, Nov. 29. The movie called “A Dog Named Christmas”, stars actor Bruce Greenwood of “Star Trek”, “Capote” and “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” fame. The other actors include Linda Emond and Noel Fisher among others. The film is a story of man’s best friend, and was made to inspire animal adoption. Greenwood said that he was so inspired by the film that he wrote and recorded a song for it. Shot with keeping the Christmas spirit in mind, the film suggests to the audience to give adoption a chance these holidays.
The story of the film was written by Greg Kincaid. He is a lawyer by profession, although he hails from a family of farmers. The story originated as one of the tales that Kincaid told his children every Christmas. The story is based on the struggles of a family with a special needs adult son and a father who refuses to keep a dog for his son, fearing it won’t be taken care of and not wishing to go through the heartbreak of having to give it away. The story was published in a rural magazine and got rejected by all the others.
The casting of the film was a dream come true for the writer. He never expected his little, five page long story meant exclusively to entertain his children at Christmas, to become so big. The song that had been composed by Greenwood, “My Best Friend”, was liked by the producers of the movie so much that they included it in the end credits. The film got rave reviews everywhere, and a few negative reviews too.

Christmas savings for Co-op and Somerfield customers

The Co-operative and Somerfield have today (30 November) unveiled Christmas price cuts and a promotional package which they claim is worth over £200m in savings to their customers.

The offers, including a triple dividend, are available at around 3,000 Co-operative and Somerfield food stores across the UK, with the Co-op Divi available to Somerfield customers for the first time.

The triple Divi offer, which is available on key lines, is equivalent to a 6p in £1 saving for shoppers - at least three times more valuable than other food retailers' reward schemes, the Co-op claimed.

It added that the Divi was still the only scheme that allowed customers to take the saving in cash.

The Co-op said the £200m offer was its biggest ever Christmas package and had been made possible by the group's acquisition of the Somerfield supermarket chain this year.

Peter Marks, group chief executive, The Co-operative Group said: "With rising fuel prices and financial pressures hitting household budgets this Christmas, customers are looking for a great deal locally.

"The acquisition of Somerfield has enabled us to offer them our best value deals ever across thousands of products, and, for the first time, Somerfield customers will be able to benefit from the famous Divi, too."

Christmas offers available at both The Co-operative and Somerfield stores include half-price roasting joints (beef, pork and lamb), half-price smoked salmon and king prawns, half-price Champagne and wine, and half-price premium Christmas puddings.

Customers can also take advantage of a range of coupons, worth a total of £60 million, offering discounts on their shopping bill next time around.

UK troops in Afghanistan get extra Christmas phone time

It is hoped the extra Christmas phone time will boost morale

Troops in Afghanistan will get an extra hour of free talk time at Christmas, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.

Armed services personnel who are away from home on operations have 30 minutes of phone calls paid for per week.
An extra half hour from the MoD will be available from 20 December and the time from phone operator Paradigm will be added to entitlements on 27 December.
Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth said he was delighted by the move, which is a "small way" to thank the armed forces.
"Free telephone minutes mean our Forces can talk to their loved ones back home when they are in Afghanistan - that's why we increased the allowance two years ago," he said.
His sentiments were echoed by Flt Lt Andy Wilson, who is responsible for managing welfare communications.
Flt Lt Wilson said Christmas can be "a difficult time for the troops and their families" and expressed a hope that the extra time "goes some way in making this separation a little easier".
"Communication is vital to the morale of our personnel and the wellbeing of their loved ones at home, especially around this time of year," he said.
Keith Norton of Paradigm, the company which provides communications with home for deployed personnel, said the firm was "proud to support British troops".
Troops also have unlimited access to the internet and are able to email their loved ones.

Edinburgh's Princes Street reopens for Christmas

Edinburgh's Princes Street has reopened to traffic two-and-half-hours later than scheduled due to torrential overnight rain.

The thoroughfare had been closed since February for work on the city's new tram system. The street will not be required to close for future tram work.
The street was due to open at 0530 GMT on, but bad weather caused a delay.
Mandy Haeburn-Little, an Edinburgh Trams spokeswoman, said everyone worked hard amid appalling weather conditions.
Lothian buses were the first to drive down the re-opened street followed by the first taxis and cyclists.
Ms Haeburn-Little added: "We are very grateful for the hard work of everyone involved in ensuring that Princes Street was ready for opening this morning - it has been a superb team effort.
"We would also like to thank the public, retailers and other stakeholders for their patience over the past months."

Parental Guidance: Sandra Lee

The Christmas tree is an enduring holiday symbol and a hot debate in our home.
Thanksgiving is over and the holiday hoopla has begun with Christmas decorations already visible. It’s also time to start thinking about the Christmas tree.
Some families have to deal with serious conflicts of holiday customs such as trying to merge different religions. Others manage the delicate balance of where or when to host the holidays and which relatives to visit to try and give equal time - a more difficult task when traveling with young ones.
We’ve had our share of light drama over whether Christmas would be celebrated on the actual day or the day before to accommodate various family members. But there was a stranger - and more surprising conflict in my house when my husband and I first got together. We clashed over what kind of Christmas tree we’d have: live or fake.
When I was on my own in college a small fake tree was a necessity and growing up we’d always had an artificial tree. So I just assumed my husband and I would go to the local superstore, pick one out and be done with it.
Oh no! My husband wouldn’t have it. He’d always had a “live” tree as a child and had fond memories of the fresh pine smell in his home and that’s what he wanted. I argued that it wasn’t actually a live tree anymore once it was cut so technically it was a dying tree, but that didn’t sway him. No plastic branches for him.
I thought I’d come up with the perfect compromise: a live, rooted tree. This would give him his pine scent and nostalgic Christmas and I would feel better knowing it would be planted after the holiday instead of tossed on the street like a carcass.
Well, I hadn’t counted on how heavy that sucker would be. A tree with a huge burlap ball of dirt is pretty darn heavy. The cursing and fighting that occurred that day…well, it’s amazing we’re still together and that I didn’t become a permanent decoration on that tree.
That tree did have a happy ending being donated to a historic property, but I seem to have lost the battle and the war because every year since we’ve gotten a cut tree. Each year I keep thinking of suggesting another try but I haven’t summoned the courage yet. Maybe he’ll let me get a Charlie Brown size tree…hmmm.

Crappy Santas – It’s Time to Take a Stand

Christmas is right around the corner. My wife has already decorated our house with various christmas decor and stuff. All I have to do is buy a new LED outdoor light chain (It’ll save us 80% on power compared to the old light bulp ones). With christmas we usually see a lot of Santa Claus’ in various dubious qualities and designs.
Fear not though, the folks at Crappy Santas are here to help you.
As they say on CrappySanta.com:

Every year, stores around the world become littered with crappy santas. Big corporations pump this crap out with little to no regard for santa-standards. Beard length, hat placement, belly size, and suit hue are all standards that be enforced. If we’re able collect 1,000 crappy santas by Christmas Eve the International Toy Federation will have no choice but to recall all these half-assed santas.

Let’s help them collect 1,000 pictures of half-assed santas. Submit one now. There are plenty out there.

Dancing Ladies Outweigh Swimming Swans as Christmas Index Rises

Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Rising gold prices and an increase in fees for the nine dancing ladies offset a slump in the price of swans-a-swimming this year, pushing up the cost of items in the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” by 1.8 percent.
Soaring precious metals prices pushed up the cost of the five rings by 43 percent to $499.95, while dedicated lovers will have to shell out almost $714 more for the services of the female dancers this year to woo the object of their desire, according to Pittsburgh-based PNC Wealth Management.
Seven swans-a-swimming, the most expensive of the 12 items in the list, dropped 6.3 percent to $5,250, in line with a general decline in bird prices, PNC said. Partridges and geese- a-laying also slipped in the fowl-heavy shopping list.
While ladies are dancing to a richer tune this year, rising unemployment has kept the salaries of leaping lords, pipers and drummers little changed, helping ardent admirers get through the 12 days with only a small increase in amorous outlay. Internet- savvy lovers may even achieve a 1.6 percent discount, PNC said.
The following is a table listing the prices for the items, based on the annual index released by PNC.

Mega Monday beckons as Christmas shoppers head online

Mega Monday will see ever more consumers make their purchases online. Photograph: Graham Turner

Last year it (wrongly) predicted we'd all be finding Borat-style mankinis under the tree; this year Amazon says Christmas shoppers are logging on to buy iPod Touches, Joseph & Joseph chopping boards and the latest Dan Brown novel. As Mega Monday – the day Visa Europe predicts will be the UK's biggest online shopping day of the year – gets into full swing, the retailer is one of many expecting bumper internet sales this year.
Visa predicts 2.4m online purchases will made in the UK today using one of its credit or debit cards, which it says account for around 20% of consumer spending. It suggests sales will peak at lunchtime and again at around 7pm when people log on at home. If it is right, the figures will represent a 9% increase on last year's busiest day – 9 December – and a 34% uplift on the busiest day in 2007.
For Amazon, last year's busiest day was 8 December when in a 24-hour period it received 1.4m orders, the equivalent of 16 every second. This year it is anticipating even more sales. An Amazon spokeswoman said: "We are certainly expecting our busiest Christmas on record. Every year, we see more and more customers discovering the benefits of shopping on the internet, including low prices, vast selection and convenient delivery options."
John Lewis has already beaten its own 2008 record for online Christmas sales – on 22 November it sold 48% more than it did on its best-selling day last year – and monthly sales are up between 30% and 40% year-on-year. "Consumer confidence is coming back," according to head of online selling, Jonathon Brown. "The last few months have been fantastic as customers are shopping for Christmas and we are definitely seeing a surge."
Home Retail Group, the company behind Argos, has already seen huge growth online this year, with figures from data analysts Comscore showing a 25% increase in traffic to its sites. Ross Clenmow, the retailer's head of multi-channel, said it looked set to be "a bumper Christmas".
Smaller shops are also banking on internet sales to see them through the end of the year. Angus McArthur who runs design store Snowhome in York saw online orders double in November. "Two years ago, 10% of our turnover was from online sales. Now it is more like 20%," he said. "For us, there is no single busy day for Christmas orders – it is more like 40 busy days before Christmas."

Best deals online

Certainly, shoppers are continuing to migrate online as broadband access becomes more widespread and fears about security subside. Figures from IMRG, the industry body for online retailers, show that in the UK internet sales have grown by 14% so far this year, with shoppers spending just under £40bn in the 10 months to the end of October. Last year, UK consumers spent an estimated £9.3bn online during November and December, and this year IMRG expects sales to be 15% higher.
"Despite the recession, the e-retail market is still growing as cash-strapped consumers look to the internet to find the best possible deals," the group's director of information, Tina Spooner, said. "I think online retailers can look forward to a very merry Christmas."
According to IMRG, the strongest performing sectors since the start of this year have been clothing and electricals, where despite taking a hit during the recent postal strikes sales are up by 18% and 20% respectively.
Figures from Comscore put book retailers at the top of the tree, receiving 18m visitors to their sites in October this year, 38% up on the same period last year. Clothing retailers are next with 16m visitors during the month, a rise of 11% on October last year.
Retail analysts Verdict Research say that online purchases this year will account for 7.3% of all retail spending, compared to just 1% in 1999. However, in some sectors more spending has made its way on to the internet – a fact borne out by this week's demise of high street bookseller Borders, and last year's collapse of Zavvi.
This year, slightly less than 50% of spending on music and video will be done online compared with 40% last year and 3% back in 1999. For electrical goods, Verdict estimates online spending will represent 24% of the market compared with 19% last year, and on books it says the figure has increased from 15.5% last year to 19%.
Malcolm Pinkerton, a senior analyst at Verdict, said that over the next five years he expected the key drivers for online growth to be food, footwear and clothes. But it is the music and video market that is destined to see most business go online, with Verdict predicting 73% of spending will be done remotely by 2013

CHARITY: Salvation Army setting higher goal

It has been a generous start. After collecting donations over two weekends in November, Salvation Army's Christmas kettles are about to be staffed full-time at shopping centres around Sarnia, said Major Rick Pollard.

More money has been raised so far than at this point in last year's kettle campaign, Pollard said, adding, "That's a good indicator."

Volunteers will staff the kettles until Christmas Eve.

"The funds that come in from the kettles are kept locally," Pollard said.

They help fund the Salvation Army's programs for the poor throughout the year.

That assistance can take the form of helping keep the heat on during the winter, paying for medicines and providing food from the Salvation Army's food bank, Pollard said.

"We help where we can."

The Salvation Army has seen the impact of recent tough economic times and job losses.

"We've had quite a spike in the number of people who have come in for assistance in the past few months," Pollard said. "And, that will continue until things get a little better."

Pollard said they expect to pack 1,100 Christmas hampers locally for the needy, which is up "a couple of hundred" from last Christmas.

The local kettle campaign set a goal of $77,000 last year and brought in about $93,000, Pollard said.

They're aiming for $100,000 this holiday season.

"The community is really generous," he said. "We just have to say 'Thank you,' because without them, we wouldn't be able to do it."

Along with its own members, individual volunteers and local community groups help run the kettles each year.

Pollard said they also welcome high school students looking to gain volunteer hours.

"Anybody who would like to do a couple of hours on the kettle," he said, "we'd be more than happy to work them in."

Volunteers can call the Salvation Army at 519-337-3011 to find out more about the campaign, Pollard said.

He takes his own turn on kettle duty at Christmas and said he enjoys spending the time watching shoppers as they pass.

"The nice thing about it is you see people you haven't seen in a long time."

The tradition of the Salvation Army's red kettles are said to date to San Francisco 1891 when Captain Joseph McFee wanted to provide Christmas dinner to some of the city's destitute.

As he looked for ways to fund the meal, McFee remembered his days as a sailor visiting Liverpool, England where a large iron kettle, known as "Simpson's Pot," was left out to collect coins to help the poor.

He set out his own pot at the Oakland Ferry landing and collected enough money to provide a meal for the needy that Christmas.

From there, Salvation Army kettles spread across the U. S., and then around the world.

A Scrooge defused: This ‘Christmas Carol’ a winner

A Scrooge defused: This ‘Christmas Carol’ a winner

‘Christmas Carol’ wins over a Sun critic weary from years of holiday fare

Steve Marcus

In a Wednesday rehearsal of “A Christmas Carol” by the Nevada Conservatory Theatre, Ebenezer Scrooge, right, is visited by the ghost of his former business partner.

Just before the clock struck 8 on a chilly Friday night, I slipped crankily into my seat, bracing myself to see “A Christmas Carol” on stage for what seemed like the bazillionth time. Where the “Carols,” “Nutcrackers” and other evergreens are an anticipated seasonal treat for many people, for theater and dance reviewers, the annual parade of holiday entertainments can seem like a grim gantlet.
Readers, that night I felt as if I was the Grinch himself.
But then the play began, and just like ol’ Scrooge, my hardened heart unclenched and began to melt. Maybe it’s because the staging by UNLV’s Nevada Conservatory Theatre at Judy Bayley Theatre was so charming and sincere, or maybe it’s because the 166-year-old story seemed to mean so much more at this moment in time, faced as we all are by layoffs and foreclosures, greed and need. Whatever the reason, I’ll go so far as to say this was my favorite “Christmas Carol” in a lifetime of them.
This adaptation, by David H. Bell, remains true to the heart of Dickens’ tale, distilling the classic story to its essential scenes and sentiments and emphasizing the author’s social concerns — underlining the cold-hearted cruelty of a certain reductively money-minded political bent (“Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?” ... “I’m not about to make idle persons merry”), showing us glimpses of generosity between those who can least afford it, pleasingly balancing the Big Messages with familial warmth and a boisterous sense of humor. Rather than opting for Victorian Christmas card loveliness, scenic designer Dana Moran Williams evokes a darker image of Victorian England — the Industrial Revolution: a grid of girders and brick columns and factory windows with more than a hint of “Sweeney Todd.” Director Brad Carroll, who also supplies the electronically orchestrated music, comes up with simple moments of theatrical magic, lighting a candle in the darkness, decking a hall with boughs of holly, raising a blazing chandelier like a sunrise. Carroll’s only misstep is underplaying the sense of dread in the climactic graveyard scene — the silent ghost of Christmas Yet to Come materializes like a looming Macy’s parade balloon, appropriately dire and spectral, but not so much that he’ll scare younger audience members. Which may be the director’s aim.
The actors play it affectionately straight, without condescending ironically to the overfamiliar material, and in a welcome turn against the technological tide, they speak and sing without amplification in the cozy Bayley Theatre, except for the echoed voices of the first two Ghosts.
Clarence Gilyard’s Scrooge, whose accent hints at South African origins, is a refreshing change from the standard scenery-chewing ossified ogre. Embittered but recognizably human, he’s a businessman in late middle age, and as the lovely Ghost of Christmas Past takes him by the hand for a brisk tour of his youth, we watch along with him as the young Scrooge grows gradually chillier and harder, rejecting opportunities to love and be loved, prematurely old in his lonely pursuit of wealth. As he goes through his evening rounds, Gilyard’s frights and fusses are a hoot — little kids in the audience giggled with glee at his antics.
An added pleasure of this production was seeing actors whose performances I enjoyed in Nevada Conservatory productions throughout the year. To mention just a few: Griffin Stanton-Ameisen as Young Scrooge, Clifton Yada as Scrooge’s nephew Fred, and as the buoyantly hospitable Mrs. Fezziwig, Christina Wells, who summoned the character I conjured in my mind on my first childhood reading of the Dickens tale.
Director Carroll gets chipper performances from young actors Chase Daniels, Verina Todorova and Angelo Molineri, as sundry little Cratchits and street urchins, and his “Carol” has a secret weapon in fourth grader Dalen Todorov, the most adorable of Tiny Tims, who squeaks his big line with fervor.
There are plenty of gimmicky “Carols” out there — the latest CGI animated feature film version features Jim Carrey in all the major roles. Still, I’d recommend seeing “A Christmas Carol” in the original 3-D format: live on stage.

More Shoppers Hit Stores, but Spend Less Each

Many more shoppers turned out for the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season over Thanksgiving weekend than a year ago, but they spent less each and favored lower-priced items.
That's a mixed bag for the beleaguered retail industry, which hopes that tight inventory combined with targeted bargains will ring up better results than last year's gloomy holiday season.
Roughly 195 million consumers shopped in stores and online over the Black Friday weekend, up from 172 million last year, according to the National Retail Federation. But average spending dropped to $343.31 per person from $372.57 a year ago.
Overall sales for the four-day weekend totaled $41.2 billion, up marginally from $41 billion last year, the NRF estimated. The trade group bases its figures on a survey, conducted Thursday through Saturday, of roughly 5,000 consumers and includes a projection for Sunday.
"The appetite among consumers this year seems to trend toward the lower-price items, the items they could literally afford with the money they already have in their wallet," said Ellen Davis, vice president of the Washington-based retail group, which has predicted a 1% decrease in November and December sales this year over last.
The holiday season—when many retailers make the bulk of their sales and profits for the year—is being closely watched by economists and others as an indicator of whether consumers are still deeply worried about the economy and unemployment, and are hampered by tight credit. After a disastrous season last year, retailers have ratcheted down sales expectations while slimming their stocks and filling the shelves with cheaper goods.
Retailers were nervous about taking a big gamble on higher-priced toys such as the popular $80 Mattel Inc. Mindflex game, despite early buzz from technology Web sites. The game is sold out almost everywhere and is selling for two to three times its original price on the online auction site of eBay Inc. That means retailers left money on the table.
Other in-demand items over the weekend included the Zhu Zhu pet hamster and electronic-reading devices, such as the new Nook from Barnes and Noble Inc. Both were offered in limited quantities. That, combined with lean inventories even for staples such as jeans, disappointed some shoppers who waited in predawn lines outside stores Friday.
Lauren Franklin, a 24-year-old customer service representative who visited New York City from Pittsburgh, woke up early Friday in search of size 8 or 10 jeans at Old Navy, the bargain brand of Gap Inc., on 34th Street in Manhattan. But by the time she got into the store, around 4 a.m., "they were gone," she said.
Yet consumers bought more discretionary items than last year, with nearly one-third purchasing toys, up 13% from last year, according to the National Retail Federation. Other categories that were hard-hit in the recession showed signs of life, with shoppers showing more interest in sporting goods, beauty items and gift cards this year than last, the trade group said.
Shoppers' greater-than-expected turnout over Black Friday weekend pushed up analysts' estimates for November sales, which will be reported Thursday. Thomson Reuters, which surveys analysts, now predicts an increase of 2.5% in November over the same month last year, up from a previous estimate of 1.8%.
November sales were likely boosted by a spate of pre-Black Friday deals. Spending on Black Friday itself rose 0.5%, or $54 million, to $10.7 billion this year from last, according to ShopperTrak RCT Corp. Last year, sales rose 3% from Black Friday of 2007. The firm compiles shopping traffic at malls and uses sales statistics, as well as Commerce Department figures, for its estimate.
Online shopping got off to a strong start over the holiday weekend. ComScore Inc. reported that online shoppers rang up $595 million in sales on Friday, up 11% from last year. Web shopping rose 10% on Thanksgiving day to $318 million. ComScore surveys a panel of about two million Internet users globally.
Coremetrics Inc., a Web analytics company that tracks shopper behavior on the sites of more than 500 U.S. brands, said that online consumers continued to buy more on Saturday—and spend 29% more per order—compared to a year earlier.
But sales on Black Friday weekend, which includes the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving, haven't been an accurate barometer for the Christmas season as a whole. Last year, Black Friday weekend sales fell 1% from the prior-year period, but sales for the season were down 6.3%, according to MasterCard Inc.'s SpendingPulse unit, which tracks sales in all payment forms.
Even so, Thanksgiving weekend is crucial for retailers because it affords them the chance to lure shoppers into spending early. With great uncertainty surrounding consumers' willingness to buy this year, retailers are even more eager to lock up their portion.
On Friday, Jane Anne Jarka and her family hit a Garland, Texas, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. location for a laptop and a Kohl's Corp. store for towels, pillows and a comforter. They stuck to buying only the sharply discounted door-buster items she had carefully cut out from circulars and affixed to index cards. Ms. Jarka said she won't go shopping again for two weeks, when "the stores will have big sales again."
Anecdotal evidence suggests that many shoppers are sticking to budgets and lists. To entice shoppers off of their plan for the remainder of the holiday, retailers are armed with promotions. But unlike last year, when a sharp drop in consumer spending forced stores to offer deep discounts early in the season, this year's markdowns have been planned, and worked out with suppliers, in order to maintain profitability.
Last year, bargain hunters who waited till closer to the holiday were rewarded with some of the deepest discounts because retailers needed to clear excess inventory. That is less likely to happen this year, said Laura Gurksi, a partner in the retail practice at management consultancy A.T. Kearney.
Stores have already planned promotions on items that are not highly sought after, such as apparel. But the best deals for hot items, such as flat-screen TVs, have likely passed. "You've seen the bottom of that price because they're going to run out of them," said Ms. Gurski.
But some shoppers who had girded for slim stocks were pleased to find what they wanted. Sandy Latka-Ortiz rose early Friday to snag a Sony camcorder at a Best Buy Inc. store in Schaumburg, Ill. "I'm very happy that they have the amount that they have, because according to the paper it's two per color per store," said Ms. Latka-Ortiz, a 50-year-old airline employee, pointing to the fine print in her dog-eared circular.
Consumer electronics, which has traditionally been a strong category, appeared to be an early winner. Top-selling items on Wal-Mart's Web site on Black Friday included two flat-screen TV models, from Sony and Sanyo, as well as a Kodak digital camera and the Sony PlayStation 3 game console, the retailer said.
The best sellers on Walmart.com for Thanksgiving Day included the Bissell Steam Mop Hard Floor Cleaner, another sign that shoppers are seeking practical items this holiday season.
Taubman Centers Inc. said stores located in the 24 shopping centers it owns or manages around the country reported sales that were flat or slightly up Saturday on average.
"I'm not hearing a lot of name-brand hot sellers, but rather hot categories such as apparel," said Taubman spokeswoman Karen MacDonald.

Environment drives annual Christmas tree debate

KAUKAUNA — An aroma of pine mixed with freshly squeezed orange juice brought a smile to Dawn Abel of Freedom as she sniffed a broken twig from a Concolor tree.

"It's a real Christmas tree smell," Abel said of her family's decision to buy a tree from Waite's Fraser Farm, a Christmas tree lot operated in Kaukauna by a family of tree growers from Clintonville.
The decision to buy a 7-foot, 30-year-old Concolor — known to the pulp and paper industry as a white fir — versus an artificial tree was an easy one, Abel said.
"It smells like a tree. An artificial tree doesn't," she said. "And when we get done with it we put it out for the birds and other animals."
While choosing a real tree was easy for the Abels, it isn't so easy for people focused more on the environment.
Thanksgiving is past, the annual debate over what is the most environmentally friendly tree is joined and both sides are adamant they offer the correct choice.
"If you choose an artificial tree you are saving a real tree," said Sarah Gordon, co-owner of Gordon Companies, a Buffalo, N.Y.-based firm selling artificial Christmas trees around the world through its Web site, www.christmascentral.com.
"Artificial trees are a lot more convenient, their needles don't drop and the technology has advanced enough so most are prelit and if one bulb goes out, the rest stay lit," Gordon said.
Gordon's claim that buying an artificial tree saves a real tree is not quite accurate, said Kathy Waite, who operates the Kaukauna lot near the intersection of U.S. 41 and Outagamie County J.
Waite said most real trees are grown and harvested from tree farms just like other farm crops.
"We plant at least 2,000 trees a year. While they are growing they absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen," Waite said. "They are good in controlling erosion and good for the wildlife."
On the flip side, Gordon said, real trees can bring remnants of pesticides and bugs into a home.
"Bringing bugs into your home, that's gross," Gordon said. "And some people have allergies to real trees."
(2 of 2)
The fear of bugs was not a concern for the nation's first family.

A Douglas fir from Shepherdstown, W.V., was unveiled Friday as the official White House Christmas tree.
The tree, planted in 1996, was accepted by first lady Michelle Obama and will be on display in the Blue Room of the White House.
Artificial trees traditionally have taken a bad rap in the real-versus-fake debate.
According to information on the Web site planetgreen.discovery.com, artificial Christmas trees are largely made from PVC, a petroleum-derived plastic.
The Web site notes most plastic trees come from China and exceed U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommendations in lead levels in consumer products. Lead, a heavy metal, has been linked to long-term behavioral issues and brain damage.
Gordon said the lead scare involving artificial trees is totally unfounded.
"Lead poisoning is not a danger unless you eat the electrical wires powering the lights," Gordon said. "That would be no different than eating the wires of the lights on a real Christmas tree."
According to the National Christmas Tree Association, between 40 million and 45 million trees were planted in 2008 in North America.
According to the association, consumers participating in a 2008 poll spent an average of $36.50 on a real tree, or a total of $1.03 billion. Buyers of artificial Christmas trees participating in the poll spent an average of $60.63 per tree, for a total of $709 million.
Wisconsin in 2008 ranked fifth in the harvest of trees for Christmas, according to the association. The 950,440 trees harvested ranked behind Oregon (6.85 million), North Carolina (3 million) Michigan (1.6 million) and Pennsylvania (1.8 million).
Buying a real Christmas tree is good both for Wisconsin's economy and the environment, says Bill Bruins, president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation.
The fear of bugs was not a concern for the nation's first family.

Sam Klapoetke, left, and Paul Kuehnl unload Christmas trees Nov. 23 on the Schroeder's Forevergreens lot at Main and Lake streets in Neenah. (Kirk Wagner/Gannett Wisconsin Media)

A Douglas fir from Shepherdstown, W.V., was unveiled Friday as the official White House Christmas tree.
The tree, planted in 1996, was accepted by first lady Michelle Obama and will be on display in the Blue Room of the White House.
Artificial trees traditionally have taken a bad rap in the real-versus-fake debate.
According to information on the Web site planetgreen.discovery.com, artificial Christmas trees are largely made from PVC, a petroleum-derived plastic.
The Web site notes most plastic trees come from China and exceed U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommendations in lead levels in consumer products. Lead, a heavy metal, has been linked to long-term behavioral issues and brain damage.
Gordon said the lead scare involving artificial trees is totally unfounded.
"Lead poisoning is not a danger unless you eat the electrical wires powering the lights," Gordon said. "That would be no different than eating the wires of the lights on a real Christmas tree."
According to the National Christmas Tree Association, between 40 million and 45 million trees were planted in 2008 in North America.
According to the association, consumers participating in a 2008 poll spent an average of $36.50 on a real tree, or a total of $1.03 billion. Buyers of artificial Christmas trees participating in the poll spent an average of $60.63 per tree, for a total of $709 million.
Wisconsin in 2008 ranked fifth in the harvest of trees for Christmas, according to the association. The 950,440 trees harvested ranked behind Oregon (6.85 million), North Carolina (3 million) Michigan (1.6 million) and Pennsylvania (1.8 million).
Buying a real Christmas tree is good both for Wisconsin's economy and the environment, says Bill Bruins, president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation.
"While the farmers market season might be over, buying a real Christmas tree is a great way for consumers to add some green to Wisconsin's economy and environment," said Bruins, a Fond du Lac County dairy farmer who leads Wisconsin's largest farm organization.
Wisconsin is home to more than 1,100 Christmas tree farms that annually harvest trees from more than 33,000 acres of land.
Bruins says it's time to dispel the notion that cutting down a Christmas tree harms the environment.
"In fact, having a real Christmas tree is a better environmental option, because they are a recyclable and renewable resource," he said. "Most tree farms plant one to three trees for every one cut."
Bruins said that after the holidays, real trees don't end up in a landfill like artificial trees eventually do. Instead, these biodegradable products can be recycled into mulch, and have also been made into soil erosion barriers and placed in ponds for fish shelters."

Bishop attacks 'nonsense' Christmas carol

The Bishop of Croydon has attacked some of the UK's favourite Christmas carols as "nonsense".The Rt Rev Nick Baines said hymns such as Away in a Manger had helped perpetuate an image of Christmas more to do with Victorian sentiment than the Gospel story.
"I always find it a slightly bizarre sight when I see parents and grandparents at a nativity play singing 'Away in a manger' as if it actually related to reality," he wrote in a book Why Wish You a Merry Christmas?
"I can understand the little children being quite taken with the sort of baby of whom it can be said 'no crying he makes', but how can any adult sing this without embarrassment?"
He added: "If we sing nonsense, is it any surprise that children grow into adults and throw out the tearless baby Jesus with Father Christmas and other fantasy figures?"
Other carols singled out by the bishop included Once in Royal David's City with its line "mild, obedient, good as He" - described by the Rt Rev Baines as sounding suspiciously like "Victorian behaviour control".
He also suggested Oh Come All Ye Faithful might more accurately be renamed Come All Ye Faithless.
It was not the "faithful" who went to see the baby Jesus but shepherds, he said, who are the "great unwashed" and the wise men, who were "pagans - men who were outside the covenant people of God".
The Rt Rev Baines attacked a perception of Christmas as something "tame, fantastic and anaemic".
He said: "All sorts of fantasies have grown up around Christmas and it has been sentimentalised into the sort of anaemic tameness that has made many people think of it as nothing more than some sort of a fairy story - which is nothing short of tragic, because nothing could be further from the truth."

Appeal for Christmas presents

BBC Newsline's Donna Traynor with two young people from Holy Family Primary School at the launch of the Family Appeal in Belfast

Two Northern Ireland charities have teamed up once again to help to make Christmas brighter for many children and families.

The Family Appeal is a joint initiative involving The Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul with broadcast support from BBC Northern Ireland.
The 2008 appeal distributed gifts to almost 12,500 children across NI.
It is expected requests for help will remain high, reflecting the financial difficulties facing many families.
The 2009 Family Appeal was launched in Broadcasting House, Belfast at an event hosted by the BBC's Head of Corporate Affairs, Mark Adair and BBC Newsline's Donna Traynor.
Music was provided by Holy Family Primary School, Belfast.
"At this time of year we would ask everyone to buy an extra couple of gifts to donate," said Donna Traynor.
"It can really make the world of difference to so many families across Northern Ireland."
Major Alan Watters, Leader of The Salvation Army in Ireland, said donating a gift could make a real difference to a child's Christmas.
"Many of us will get more than we need or even wanted this Christmas, but sadly around one in four children in NI are living in poverty and without gifts from The Family Appeal, they would receive very little on Christmas morning.
"That's why The Family Appeal is so important - every gift donated really will make a difference."
Collection points
Aileen Coney, Regional Administrator of St Vincent de Paul, said the appeal was a practical way of making Christmas brighter for many families.
"We urge you to buy an extra gift and help The Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul make Christmas special for thousands of local children," she said.
Gifts can be left before Wednesday 16 December, 2009 at any branch of The Salvation Army; Society of St Vincent de Paul; Tesco; Alliance & Leicester; First Trust Bank; Superdrug; Open & Direct; Ulster Property Sales and selected branches of Co-Op stores and Curves.
All gifts must be new, unwrapped and sustainable for children and young people from tiny tots to teenagers.
Family gifts of board games and tins of sweets are always welcome and teenagers always appreciate gift tokens, CDs and toiletries, the appeal organisers said.
If you feel you would be eligible for support from The Family Appeal contact your local social worker, health visitor or The Family Appeal office at 028 9024 0826 for guidance notes and an application form which must be returned by Wednesday 9 December, 2009.
Further information on The Family Appeal is available from the website: bbc.co.uk/ni/familyappeal or Ceefax page 178.

A humbug for economic inefficiency at Christmas

Another huge value-destroying hurricane is about to slam America, destroying billions of dollars of value. Another Katrina? No, another Christmas.
This voluntary December calamity is explained in a darkly amusing little book that is about the size of an iPhone. “Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn’t Buy Presents for the Holidays” comes from a distinguished publisher, Princeton University Press, and an eminent author, Joel Waldfogel of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton business school.
Waldfogel says gifts that people buy for other people are usually poorly matched to the recipients’ preferences. What the recipients would willingly pay for gifts is usually less than what the givers paid.
Waldfogel’s conservative estimate is that in 2007, Americans spent $66 billion on gifts and produced $12 billion less satisfaction than would have been produced if the recipients had spent the $66 billion on themselves.
At least the Christmas stimulus strengthens the economy, right? Wrong, says Waldfogel. If all spending justified itself, we would pay people to dig holes and then refill them — or build bridges to unpopulated Alaskan islands. Spending is good if the purchaser, or the recipient of a gift, values the commodity more than he does the money it costs. Otherwise, there is a subtraction from society’s store of value.
Christmas etiquette involves composing one’s face to feign pleasure when unwrapping an unwelcome windfall and murmuring “Oh, you shouldn’t have” without revealing that you mean exactly that. Price of the sweater: $50. Value to recipient: $0. Actually, less than zero, given the psychological cost of the forced smile.
But, you say, what about sentimental value? Don’t you value the thoughtfulness of dotty Uncle Ralph who gave you the sweater? Actually, Ralph’s sentiment in selecting it was like your sentiment when you selected for him the candle shaped like Gandhi — desperate bewilderment about what he might like.
Were it not for sentimentality about sentiments, which are highly overrated, we would behave rationally, giving cash, thereby avoiding value subtraction. We almost do that with wedding registries. And cash for Christmas, or semi-cash in the form of gift cards, no longer seems so tacky. Between 1998 and 2005, gift card sales grew 27 percent a year. They now are about one-third of Christmas spending and rank near the top of lists of preferred gifts. Grandmothers, especially, should give cash to grandchildren. Instead they think, “What did I get when I was young?” and then they give a kaleidoscope to Jimmy, who wanted Grand Theft Auto IV.
One-tenth of gift cards’ values, worth billions of dollars, are never redeemed. The cards are lost Christmas morning in the blizzard of wrapping paper, or just forgotten. Waldfogel proposes that after a year, gift cards expire and the unredeemed values be given to charities.
Furthermore, he says, there are some goods — e.g., Spam — that people spend less on as they become richer, and there are other things on which people spend larger portions of their incomes as their incomes rise. These are called luxuries. One such is charity. So, particularly for the rich or ascetic person who has everything, why not gift cards useable only for charities?
“There are worlds of money wasted, at this time of year, in getting things that nobody wants, and nobody cares for after they are got.” So said Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1850. Waldfogel says every generation thinks it invented both sex and Christmas excess. But retail sales statistics demonstrate that the “Yuletide bump” was a larger share of GDP in 1935. Data from 1919 concerning the retail giants of the day — mail-order companies (e.g., Sears and Montgomery Ward) and “dime stores” (e.g., Woolworth) — actually show that Christmas sales as a share of the economy are about half as large as they once were. This means proportionally less value subtraction. Hallelujah.

Christmas wish for Caroline: 'I pray to be able to continue my education'

Caroline, from Kaberamaido district, Uganda, who is trying to pursue her dreams. Photograph: Martin Godwin

Caroline struggled through her primary and secondary education by digging in the fields and selling cassava to pay the school fees and support her family, all with the aim of pursuing her dream to study catering.
When we met at her home in Kaberamaido district, in the Teso region of north-east Uganda, the 17-year-old was caked in mud from the fields. She was shy at first but warmed up quickly, talking with equal composure about the market value of millet, her mother's death from Aids and why dropping out of school has threatened her dreams.
"Ever since I was in primary school my ambition has been to do catering – I enjoy preparing food," she says, describing how she makes the family's main meal of beans and sweet potatoes each day, topped up at this time of year with mangoes and the oranges that fall all around the compound. "I want to learn to prepare new things, and make money – to help my family. I pray that I will be able to continue my education."
Life has got in the way of Caroline's ambition. Her mother, who conceived Caroline after being raped, paid her school fees until she died of Aids. Caroline's grandmother took over the farming to pay the fees, but just after Caroline began her A-levels, her grandmother fell sick and died.
"I couldn't feel good about dropping out of school," says Caroline, "but what could I do? I have to help my family and now my grandmother is gone there is no one to help pay my fees."

Afua Hirsch introduces the Guardian and Observer's 2009 Christmas appeal, which is raising money for the Mvule Trust to provide education scholarships to young people in north-east Uganda Link to this video Travelling through Teso earlier this month, I kept seeing the story of my own grandparents, which began in rural communities just like these. For me, it served as a constant reminder that those tied to an unforgiving dependence on the land can find their fortunes changed in a single generation through education.
My grandfather was the son of a cocoa farmer in the Gold Coast, as Ghana was then known. He was one of two students a year to win a scholarship from the colonial government to Cambridge in 1944. He came back after his English degree and translated Chaucer into our language - Twi – so that more Ghanaians could read it. He worked as a teacher, determined to contribute to the promising future of his country as independence approached.
My grandmother grew up in a village not dissimilar to those in Teso visited by the Guardian. Her family cultivated a small piece of land and she walked for miles carrying loaves of bread on her head, selling them for 3p each in surrounding villages. It was the free training she received from the colonial government in the 1940s that enabled her to become one of just 12 girls a year to learn midwifery. The training appealed to her, she told me, because she wanted to help her people.
My generation will always owe a debt of gratitude to our grandparents, who were born into colonies but whose vision and faith in the independent future of their countries is a source of hope and inspiration even now, when so many see only tragedy in Africa.

Transforming lives

The power of education is a constant theme running through the immense
diversity of the African continent. It is a gift that benefits two ways. On the one hand, training in crucial areas helps address chronic skills shortages; in Uganda 50% of health posts are vacant, and agricultural production could be boosted significantly by updating farming and livestock techniques. On the other, it helps lift the individual out of poverty and transforms the fortunes of future generations.
Most people in Teso are well aware of the value of education. But the colonial legacy, which worked in favour of educating my grandparents, has left behind an obsession with white-collar professions. Every schoolchild dreams of becoming a doctor, lawyer or engineer, but these careers are remote prospects in a region where fewer than 5% who start primary school manage to complete A-levels. Far more urgently needed in these communities is expertise in forestry, new farming techniques and teaching.
The potential for change in Teso is enormous. Despite the challenges of two decades of insurgency, cattle rustling, floods and drought, thousands of young people have made unimaginable sacrifices to get through school; digging, like Caroline, to pay the fees, and in many cases putting education before food. But when it comes to the final leg of technical and vocational training that is essential to do the work so badly needed in the region, they simply do not have the money to pay.
It is these young people the Guardian is targeting through its Christmas appeal this year. We are raising money for the Mvule Trust to pay for education at technical colleges for those who have already shown academic potential and overcome particular hardship. The majority of beneficiaries will be those who have lost one or both parents. Girls, who are significantly more likely to be pushed out of school by financial hardship and forced into marriage as young as 13, will benefit the most.

Business opportunities

The grave where Caroline's grandmother is buried is now one of nine at one end of the compound, alongside Caroline's mother, uncles and cousins. The graves are covered with pink flowers that smarten the sadness and keep snakes away.
"My mother had Aids," Caroline says. "Many people here do – it scares me very much. I hope to get married one day, but I worry about marrying a man who is immoral who could also bring me Aids."
Already at the age where marriage is expected in Teso, Caroline is adamant she wants to finish her education first and earn a decent living.
In theory, business opportunities for a young woman abound in this area. The nearby town is starting to come alive again after the recent insurgency by the Lord's Resistance Army in 2003. Local people, including Caroline's family, who were forced to seek refuge in a camp for internally displaced persons during the rebel invasion, have returned to their homes and their crops, fuelling extremely modest, but visible, growth in the local economy.
In Kaberamaido town, the newly renamed "Obama Plaza" has bread on the shelves, but none is produced locally. The only bakery in the town is run by an entrepreneur who spotted a gap in the market for "otumbero" – deep-fried doughnuts, nicknamed because of their popularity as a means of fattening women. The owner, who comes from a more prosperous part of Uganda, took out a bank loan to start the business, and brought his relatives with him. He now supplies more than 2,000 doughnuts a day to neighbouring villages.
But these opportunities are fraught with uncertainty. The paradoxes of
globalisation in a home like Caroline's are stark. The global obsession with Christmas has caused a spike in crime across villages like these, as livestock is stolen to fund the expensive demands of the festive season. "The Christmas season means more robbers," Caroline says. "They break into the kitchen, and they steal goats and chickens."
These are modern stories, but the more I talked to young people like Caroline, the more I saw my own grandparents, hearing over and over again the words of my grandmother, who was driven by the simple wish to help her people.
This same ambition drove every person I spoke to in Teso. Behind every story was a desire to support an extended family, gain new skills and develop a community.

Canadians invade the U.S. for holiday bargains

Stronger discounts, weaker U.S. dollar attract * Canadian stores respond with own discounts
By Scott Anderson
BUFFALO, New York, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Big discounts and a weaker U.S. dollar lured Canadians across the border to join domestic shoppers fishing for Black Friday bargains.
Canada's holiday shopping season has no definitive starting point like the U.S. tradition of heading out the day after its Thanksgiving celebration. Often the big day for shopping bargains is Boxing Day, the day after Christmas.
But with discounts of nearly 50 percent beckoning from across Niagara Falls, Canadian consumers passed up price cuts offered by their country's top retailers in pursuit of even bigger bargains two hours away.
At the car park for the Fashion Outlets mall near Buffalo, Ontario license plates were more numerous than those from New York state, including several tourist buses and one stretch limousine.
"The pricing is a lot better here than in Toronto," said Domenic Luciano, a mortgage broker who shops in America about once a month. "The markup is a lot higher in Canada than in the U.S. I feel gouged in Toronto."
Luciano said he was buying mostly clothes for himself such as jeans and suits.
Shoppers had lined up before doors opened up at midnight. But even at midday, queues to get into the Coach (COH.N) store were averaging a half an hour wait. In a number of the stores, including Juicy Couture, security guards regulated the flow of shoppers.
The Canadian currency was at C$1.061 to the U.S. dollar, or 94 U.S. cents, on Friday, compared with a year earlier when the exchange rate was hovering around C$1.23. But the outflow of shoppers comes at a price to Canada's economy, which is emerging from more than a year-long downturn.
Michael Gregory, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, in Toronto, expects the cross-border trend to continue ahead of Christmas, given the greater buying power of the Canadian dollar and the attractive deals.
"When you get a little bit closer to parity I think it really ramps up, but there is also the attraction of the sales themselves. While the currency alone may not get you over the edge, the reports of very heavy discounting by U.S. retailers suggests that there will be a little more activity," he said.
Big retail chains in Canada have tried to divert the flow with discounts of their own.
Canadian Tire Corp (CTC.TO), the country's biggest auto parts and household goods retailer, offered price cuts of up to 70 percent on products from exercise gear to cookware.
Walmart Canada (WMT.N) dropped prices on thousands of items like big ticket high-definition TVs and Xbox game consoles.

Christmas is more than fights in a store

Let us raise a toast to the Spirit of Christmas Past. Whose past? Our past.
By now, some of you have returned from an expedition to Midnight Madness at the Prime Outlets in Lee. Madness, exactly. Why people would flock to an outlet mall at the end of the Thanksgiving holiday is beyond my ability to comprehend. On the other hand, it's hard to blame the retailers seeking to turn a profit despite tight-fisted shoppers and the increasing dominance of on-line behemoths like Amazon.
But Black Friday has descended into asylum-like madness, with major chains vying with each other to open at 5, 4 or even 3 in the morning. In many areas, where permitted by state law, Wal-Mart stores opened at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day for a 42-hour marathon through midnight tonight. Other chains doing business yesterday included the Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy. Toys ‘R Us opened at a minute past midnight this morning. Massachusetts remains an island of sanity -- through one of its sole surviving blue laws, large retail stores still must remain closed on Thanksgiving Day and Dec. 25. It's reassuring to note that Wal-Mart has added extra security following last year's stampede that killed a guard and injured 11 customers at the store in Valley Stream, Long Island.
Wal-Mart reached a settlement with the Nassau County district attorney, requiring a review of crowd-control procedures statewide. The plans were submitted to

review by independent security experts. The New York state stores organized wee-hours customers into orderly lines monitored by crowd-management specialists. There were barriers with safety zones and a "crow's nest" where crowds could be monitored from above. A Wal-Mart spokesman said similar measures were "rolled out" to the chain's stores nationwide. Nonetheless, with the widely-reported inventory shortage -- especially of popular toys like the hard-to-locate motorized Zhu Zhu Pet Hamster -- crowd control remains a serious concern.
So, this is what we've come to -- Black Friday as a safety issue as the kickoff to the frenzied Christmas shopping -- oops, holiday shopping -- season.
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Despite the continuing weakness of the economy, "consumers" (that dreaded term used by corporate America as a synonym for people) seem ready to plunge back into bargain-hunting. One survey found 52 percent of the public planned to shop today, up from 42 percent last year. Another forecast from the National Retail Federation estimated that 26 percent -- nearly 57 million people -- had definite intentions to head for the stores during the Black Friday weekend, with 35 percent considering it.
"I actually think what happened last year may give more of mystique and cache to Black Friday this year," said Richard Divine, chairman of the marketing department at Central Michigan University's business school, on MSNBC. "People may think if there's that good a deal that people are getting killed over it, then maybe I have to check it out."
There's even a subculture of shoppers who troll social-network Web sites for hot-deal promotions -- Staples and other retailers use Facebook to tout their bargains. Some JCPenney customers were to be treated to wake-up robo-calls early this morning voiced by B-list celebrities like Cindy Crawford.
All of which is a scene-setter for my annual rant against not only the outrageous commercialization of "the holidays" (Halloween to New Year's) but also the continuing, widespread practice of avoiding specific mention of Christmas. Broadcast and print ads offer very few references to the Holiday That Dares Not Speak Its Name. There are a few exceptions, to be sure. At least, the Christmas Tree Shops chain has yet to re-brand itself as the Holiday Tree Shops.
In spite of it all, the Christmas season remains a favorite time of the year for its lights, decorations and -- above all -- its traditional carols and choral masterpieces whose original intent, after all, was to honor the Christ child. Our area is fortunate to have many homegrown music groups and churches that go all-out to present seasonal music. Our family's favorite, David Grover's Christmas and Hanukkah concert, comes to the Colonial Theatre this year on Dec. 18.
But beware of the latest Disney film version of Charles Dickens's immortal "A Christmas Carol." It's a technologically advanced, extremely frightening 3-D presentation that totally misses the heart and soul of the short novel that embodies the spirit of the season at its best -- one miser's redemption following a night's sleep bedeviled by visits of three ghosts. Much better to see the Berkshire Theatre Festival's faithful version starring Eric Hill and many area children, on display Dec. 12-30 in Stockbridge, or any of the three classic film versions from 1938, 1951 and 1984 (respectively featuring Reginald Owen, Alastair Sim and George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge).
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One of my fondest childhood memories is the mid-December visit to our local Christmas tree farm to pick out a modestly-sized tree to be adorned with candles and topped by an angel. Even though my parents were Holocaust survivors, they held fast to the central-European tradition of celebrating Christmas as a special secular day to be shared by all, even non-believers.
We live in an era when political and social correctness trumps tradition. Those of us born Jewish are admonished to ignore Christmas in favor of Hanukkah, a minor holiday. Fie on all that, I say. We could all do with a cup of Christmas cheer.
So, here's to the spirit of the season at its best and may we celebrate it much as Scrooge did upon his awakening -- and with reasonable, self-imposed limits on extraneous trips to the mall.

Jesus might be the reason for the season, but there is so much more behind even that cliche.

Jesus might be the reason for the season, but there is so much more behind even that cliche.


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That's the focus of Greg Texada's first book, "Christmas: More Than a Good Story."

The idea for the book came from a cleaning session in January at The Word Christian Center, where Texada serves as pastor.

He ran across the outline of a sermon he preached during the previous holiday season.

"I felt that God put it in my heart to write this book and have it ready for people this Christmas," Texada said. "The book comes from 10 powerful truths I pull from the Christmas message."

Texada looked at passages from the bible and began to draw inspiration from the events leading up to and immediately following the birth of Jesus Christ, he said.

The different stories that surrounded his birth held lessons for people to keep in mind during the holiday season, such as a reminder of love that drove God to mankind a savior.

Yet, Texada said these lessons are not all holiday-oriented.

"This book also has year-round application and relevancy," he said.

For instance, the birth of Jesus Christ provides an example of what someone can accomplish from humble beginnings, Texada said. People can accomplish great things if they start from where they are and use the gifts they have.

"Little in the hands of man becomes great in the hands of God," said Texada, who referenced Zechariah 4:10 about not despising the days of small beginnings.

The Christmas message also offers hope in the thought that God's purposes cannot be stopped, Texada said.

King Herod's attempts at stopping Jesus Christ by having boys under age 2 killed were not enough to stop the plans God had laid out in an angel's message to his mother Mary.

Texada said the book not only contains lessons people can apply to their lives all year, but he wrote it for people from all walks of life. Parents who want to share a deeper meaning to the Christmas story with their kids, believers who want to build their faith, those who do not have a relationship with God and others who just need some hope can all gain a new perspective from the lessons in the Christmas story.

"God has revealed his heart to us in the Christmas message ... his love," Texada said. "Anyone who reads this book will never see Christmas the same way again."

Christmas: More Than a Good Story" is available from Hastings Entertainment, TheWordCC.com, GregTexada.com and Amazon.com.

Texada will be doing book signings from 1-3 p.m. Dec. 12 at the Hastings Entertainment store at 1460 MacArthur Drive in Alexandria and from 2-4 p.m. Dec. 19 at Books-A-Million at 3660 North Blvd. in Alexandria.

Up to 50 jobs to go by Christmas

Up to 50 jobs at Christchurch clothing manufacturers Lane Walker Rudkin (LWR) will be axed just three days before Christmas.
Staff were told yesterday the Christchurch manufacturing operation of LWR, comprising cutting and sewing of garments, would close on December 22.
It is the third round of redundancies since the company went into receivership on April 28.
In total, 186 Christchurch jobs were lost in May and August with about 87 factory workers retained.
The National Distribution Union (NDU) said between 40 and 50 staff were given notice yesterday, but the receivers would not confirm the number.
It appeared the factory would not close completely and some sales and administration staff would remain.
"The LWR Hosiery and Underwear division of Lane Walker Rudkin will continue to trade in the marketplace, continuing to supply customers with full product lines," the receivers said in a statement.
LWR redundancy support co-ordinator Jack Taylor said the closure was expected.
Staff had hoped a buyer could be found to keep business going.
"They've been working week-by-week and thinking `which day is it going to be?' In hindsight, at least these people have been given notice."
The affected workers were "gutted".
"There was quite a few tears and different emotions in there. They're pretty cut up at the moment."
Taylor said closing just before Christmas was another blow.
Staff would receive a "buffer" redundancy payout on their final day, he said.
"At least the people have got some time to move on and they start looking for jobs. Hopefully, they might find something in the new year."
Margaret Farrington, an LWR employee for 26 years, said confirmation of the closure was a relief in some ways and sad in others.
"We knew it was coming sooner or later, but not right on Christmas," she said.
"A lot of us were hoping that maybe we would come back for a wee while next year. It's good to know, so at least we can start planning."
LWR is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office after the receivers laid a complaint that the company had misrepresented its strength to Westpac bank in order to borrow money from it.
NDU textile and clothing sector secretary Paul Watson said the closure was "potentially avoidable" had the company been managed more responsibly.
"The company had borrowed over $100 million and huge losses were being incurred month after month but no-one did anything about it," he said.
Taylor said the state of the industry was "not great", with Pacific Brands and Deane Apparel also announcing redundancies in Canterbury this year.
"At least Deane has taken the bull by the horns and restructured. They've still got their Wairakei and Rangiora plants open and, unfortunately, Leeston was the one that had to close."