RI Christians Revolt Over 'Holiday Tree'

Fantasy gifts for 2011 unveiled in 'Christmas Book'

(NEWSER) - It’s that time of year again: time for Neiman Marcus to say, “Recession? What recession?” and urge you to purchase a $250,000 mahogany speedboat for your beloved this Christmas. Yes, the Christmas Book was unveiled yesterday. To really get into the holiday spirit, read on for the highlights, via AP :

• $1 million: A cool mil will get you a fountain, apparently with water that dances to music, installed in your home.
• $420,000: Private jet tour of European flower shows.

Six signs that the holiday season has gotten too impatient

(NEWSER) - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ... even though we're not yet past Thanksgiving. The Week pores through local papers to find six tales of Christmas coming too early this year:

• It's never too early for eggnog lattes: In Seattle , at least one Starbucks started selling seasonal drinks right after Halloween.
• It could, however, be too early for Christmas trees: In South Dakota , trees were already being sold this week—will they even make it all the way to Christmas?

This year, Dick's Sporting Goods is target of boycott

(NEWSER) - Dick's Sporting Goods gets the unlucky honor of being this year's villain in the “War on Christmas” campaign. The American Family Association has singled it out for a boycott this holiday season because the chain is “against” the holiday, reports Advertising Age . One of its offenses is having a "Holiday Shop” section on its website, with no mention of Christmas. More»

Eco-friendly lights, 27 trees liven up the full-size executive mansion

(NEWSER) - Everyone got into the act of readying the White House for the holidays—staffers and volunteers who helped with decorating, community groups whose members created ornaments, and even the White House bees, whose honey went into the gingerbread that became a 390-pound replica of the executive mansion. At the bottom of the steps of the building Michelle Obama called "a gingerbread masterpiece" is a tiny black-and-white marzipan creation, the Chicago Tribune reports. Yes, dog lovers, that's Bo. More»

Not enough Christ in Gap's Christmas: AFA

(NEWSER) - A Christian group has launched a boycott of the Gap over its religion-neutral holiday ads. The American Family Association, already ticked off by last year’s campaign, which wished consumers a “Merry Gap-mas,” hit the roof over this year's “Go Christmas, Go Hanukkah, Go Kwanzaa, Go Solstice.” The tagline "looks like an attempt to patronize people," an AFA rep tells BrandWeek . More»