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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: holiday

holiday stories: 57 news summaries

1 - 20 of 57 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

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MARKETS

 Dow Up 21 After 
 Rally Loses Steam 

Dow hits new 2009 high but falls back amid light volume

Oct 12, 09 3:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - The stock indices ended mixed today after strong morning gains lost steam. The Dow hit a new high for 2009, 9931.82, off strong expectations for the third-quarter earnings. But profit-taking traders capitalized on recent gains, pushing the market lower; light trading volume on the Columbus Day holiday amplified their... More »

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Dow Jones • earnings reports • Nasdaq • corporate earnings • holiday • third quarter earnings • Columbus Day • S&P 500

States, Employers Un-Discover Columbus Day
 

It's dropping off the calendar as a holiday in many states

Oct 10, 09 9:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - Columbus Day is rapidly sailing off the calendar all over the US. Some 22 states no longer give their workers the day off and many employers have begun "holiday swapping," requiring workers to come in on Columbus Day in return for an extra day off at Christmas or... More »

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Native American • holiday • Columbus Day • Christopher Columbus • parade

 Christmas in September 
 Leaves Shoppers Cold 

No, you're not crazy, it is still September

Sep 28, 09 3:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - Look around your local department store, and you might encounter a ridiculous site: a Christmas display. Yes, retailers are already decking their halls, desperate to get a piece of consumers’ dwindling holiday budgets before their competitors do. Consumers aren't buying it. “You can’t get in the Christmas spirit... More »

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retail • holiday • holiday shopping • holiday season

glossies

Can't Afford a Hotel? Swap Homes With a Stranger

Idea's been around for decades, but recession sparks new interest

Jul 25, 09 7:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - The recession is giving new meaning to the phrase “mi casa es su casa.” Instead of springing for pricey hotel rooms and car rentals, thrifty holidaymakers are swapping with strangers for a summer getaway, Time reports. While home exchanges aren’t new—one company has been around since... More »

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San Francisco • London • New York • vacation • holiday • vacation home • home

(Newser) - Americans chow down on hot dogs and embrace their inner pyromaniac on July 4—but what about everyone else? William Sertl of Gourmet looks at national days from around the globe...and the eats that accompany them.
  • Australia Day (Jan. 26) Beer, grilled fish, shucked oysters, and chipotle pork
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
food • Australia • Mexico • France • holiday • Fourth of July

(Newser) - Cinco de Mayo has become a very visible celebration in the US, but the Mexican holiday’s prevalence is just one indicator of the marginalization of other Latino immigrants, the AP reports. The Mexican-American population is almost equal to that of all other Latin American immigrants combined, resulting in a... More »

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Latin America • Mexico • culture • immigrant • holiday • El Salvador • Cinco de Mayo

 Pot Holiday Goes Mainstream  

Goofy 'holiday' becomes touchstone for legalization advocates

Apr 20, 09 2:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - Marijuana enthusiasts will toke up today in celebration of 420, the pot holiday that corresponds to the code for pot consumption across the nation, the Monitor reports. The term 420 was hatched in 1971 by a dozen high school pot smokers who used to meet at 4:20 in the... More »

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marijuana • marijuana legalization • legalization • holiday • NORML • 4/20 • High Times • stoner

 Obama Plans First 
 Presidential Seder 

Friends and White House staff invited

Apr 8, 09 12:26 PM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama is planning to host a Passover seder at the White House for friends and staff tomorrow evening, JTA reports. What appears to be the first-ever presidential seder is scheduled for the second night of the Jewish holiday so guests can celebrate with their families tonight. The event “... More »

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White House • minority • holiday • Jewish • Passover • President Obama • seder

 Math Geeks, Unite! It's Pi Day 

Today's date matches the digits of the math figure

Mar 14, 09 8:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - Circle enthusiasts of America, rejoice: Today is Pi Day, when the digits that make up the date, 3/14, match the first digits of pi, the ratio of a circle’s diameter to its circumference. The particularly passionate can celebrate pi second at 1:59:26, Scientific American reports—when aligned... More »

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science • holiday • mathematics • pi

 Penn Fights for 
 'Harvey Milk Day' 

Holiday would honor activist's birthday

Mar 3, 09 1:43 PM CST
(Newser) - Sean Penn today joined the push to recognize Harvey Milk's birthday in California, Variety reports. State senator Mark Leno is re-introducing a bill seeking a statewide “day of significance” on May 22, the birthday of the gay activist Penn won an Oscar for portraying. Schools would be encouraged to... More »

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gay rights • holiday • Sean Penn • Harvey Milk • Milk • Mark Leno • Bill Maher Grid

Math Geeks Celebrate Square Root Day

Break out your calculator, it's time to party like it's 3x3=09

Mar 3, 09 11:21 AM CST
(Newser) - Odds are you’re not aware of it, but today is a major holiday. Well, major for math teachers and their lucky students. It's Square Root Day, a super-rare, super-goofy holiday that occurs whenever the first two digits of the date—in this case 3/3—can be multiplied to form... More »

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holiday • mathematics • teachers

(Newser) - If men had time to catch their collective breath after racing around town to find the right Valentine’s Day gift they would realize they’re getting the short end of Cupid’s arrow, Chuck Cohen rants in the Christian Science Monitor. “The truth is there are more guy-giving... More »

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women • men • Super Bowl • holiday • Valentine's Day

 Don't Expect 
 Diamonds 
 on V-Day 

Americans to spend 15% less this year on holiday

Feb 10, 09 11:28 AM CST
(Newser) - This may not be the year you get that Tiffany necklace: Americans plan to cut back on lavish displays of love this Valentine's Day, MSBNC reports. One survey predicts that holiday spending will drop 15%, from, says another survey, about $123 to $103 per person. The plunge comes after nearly... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recession • holiday • gift • Valentine's Day

 Subdued Masses Usher in 
 Chinese New Year 

But fears for economy temper enthusiasm

Jan 26, 09 7:19 AM CST
(Newser) - Millions worldwide are marking the Chinese New Year with parties, firecrackers, and feasts, the BBC reports. But celebrations of the Lunar New Year, the most important Chinese holiday, were tempered by concerns about the economy in the coming Year of the Ox. In Beijing, many lit incense and prayed for... More »

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China • holiday • celebration • lunar new year

It's a Stressful Day—Have
You Tried Shouting?

Survey ranks today as most trying of the year

Jan 5, 09 3:16 PM CST
(Newser) - Today is the most stressful day of the year, as back-to-work blues meet the cold weather and economic gloom, the Telegraph reports. And a survey by RNLI found that co-worker behaviors such as noisy eating, sniffing, and talking loudly on the phone rank as the most annoying things to endure... More »

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work • poll • stress • holiday • survey • temper tantrums • holiday season


 Dad Charged 
 After Girl Dies 
 on Cold Walk 

Children walked miles after truck broke down on Christmas

Dec 30, 08 11:32 AM CST
(AP) - The father of an 11-year-old girl who died, likely of hypothermia, after trying to walk 10 miles in the snow Christmas Day has been charged with second-degree murder. Robert Aragon banged his head on the defendant's table during the short hearing. Authorities allege the 55-year-old Idaho man let Sage Aragon... More »

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crime • children • death • holiday • Christmas Day • hypothermia

OPINION

 US Phrases That Annoy Brits 

"Happy Holidays", and "Have a nice day," irksome Americanisms

Dec 27, 08 6:50 PM CST
(Newser) - Toby Harnden must live among Yanks in his job as a correspondent for the UK's Telegraph, and sometimes American phrases drive him nuts. Here are his worst offenders:
  • Happy holidays (just say Christmas, please)
  • Have a nice day (make it stop)
  • You're welcome (this one's just "Pavlovian" to
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
United Kingdom • British • holiday • USA • American • George Bernard Shaw

RETAIL SALES

 No Christmas  
 Miracle for Retailers 


Even luxury sector sales in free fall

Dec 26, 08 1:57 AM CST
(Newser) - It was a bleak Christmas and promises to be a less than prosperous New Year for retailers with consumers tightening their belts and spending less, reports the Wall Street Journal. Retail sales dropped 5.5% in November and 8% in December, compared with the same months last year. Luxury goods,... More »

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recession • Macy's • luxury goods • holiday • retail sales • Christmas • Neiman Marcus • Victoria's Secret • MasterCard Advisors • Circuit City • e-commerce • gasoline prices • ShopperTrak RCT Corp. • J.C. Penney Co

OPINION

Xmas Spirit Translates Better in Foreign Tongue: Keillor

Writer 'feels the religious fervor' at Spanish mass

Dec 24, 08 7:14 PM CST
(Newser) - Garrison Keillor is no Scrooge, but can find it hard to get the Christmas spirit, he writes for Salon. In New York for “the general dazzlement and variety,” and a holiday unbound by obligations of small-town homogeny, Keillor finds Yuletide spirit in a Spanish-language mass at St. Patrick’... More »

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Christianity • New York • Mass • holiday • Spanish • Christmas • Garrison Keillor

Hawaii Tries in Vain to Cash In on Obama Fame

Obama tour operators say business is slow


Dec 23, 08 4:04 AM CST
(Newser) - The Hawaii tourist trade is doing its best to spin some dollars out of Obamania, Politico reports. Tour companies are hyping visits to the president-elect's old Honolulu neighborhood, and the Baskin-Robbins where Obama worked as a teen is selling a new "Swirl of Change" flavor: chocolate, caramel, and nuts... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • tourism • Hawaii • Honolulu • holiday • President Obama

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