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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Christmas

Christmas stories: 97 news summaries

1 - 20 of 97 Stories | 1 2 3 4 5 Next >>

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FOR THE XENU WHO HAS EVERYTHING

 Inside the 
 Scientology 
 Holiday Catalog 

And yes, that is a picture of Santa at a Scientology Christmas bash

Nov 4, 09 10:37 AM CST
(Newser) - Not sure what to buy Tom Cruise for Christmas? Just take a gander at the Scientology Holiday Catalog, which Jezebel's Dodai got her hands on by way of a reader. Noteworthy items include a collection of 18 Nigerian goatskin-bound books of The Basics for a cool $2,000, a $4,... More »

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entertainment • Scientology • Tom Cruise • celebrity • Christmas • Scientologists

MUSIC REVIEW

 Bob Dylan's 
 Xmas Album 
 'Sort of Insane' 

Even so, the 'beloved iconoclast' puts together an interesting collection

Oct 26, 09 11:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - With the announcement of Bob Dylan’s Christmas in the Heart, “smirkers got smirkier”—you try picturing Dylan singing the lyric, “How’d ya like to hang a stocking on a great big coconut tree?” without smirking—but in the end, the collection is interesting,... More »

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entertainment • music • Bob Dylan • celebrity • Christmas • Christmas music • music review • Jay-ZTV • Christmas album

 Neiman 'Fantasy Gift' 
 Pricetags Plummet  
 to Mere $250K 

Slowdown scales down costs as even super-rich turn 'frugal'

Oct 7, 09 3:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - The slowdown in luxury spending has spurred Neiman Marcus to make its "fantasy items" in this year's Christmas catalog a lot less fantastic than in years past. For the first time in a decade there's no $1 million-plus items on offer, like the $20 million submarine offered in 2000... More »

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retail • luxury • Christmas • Neiman Marcus • gift • conspicuous consumption

Ho-Ho-Hold on
a Minute,
Xmas in July?

Stores launch summer promotions to snag holiday dollars early

Jul 31, 09 4:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in malls across the country as stores angle for some extremely early holiday dollars, the Wall Street Journal reports. Retailers like Toys'R'US, Sears and Kmart have dragged Santa away from his summer break and launched July Christmas promotions, hoping to boost sales... More »

MORE ABOUT:
retail • recession • retail sales • Christmas • holiday shopping • shoppers • Christmas shopping

 Pope Plans Christmas Album 


Jul 31, 09 1:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI has joined Guns n' Roses and Snoop Dogg on Geffen  records' roster of artists and plans to have an album out in time for Christmas, the Guardian reports. The pontiff won't be crooning holiday standards, however. The album will feature Benedict singing a prayer and reciting litanies... More »

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Pope Benedict XVI • Vatican • Christmas • prayer • recording contract

(Newser) - Sears is taking the “Christmas in July” trope to a whole new level. With June retail sales tumbling, the company is looking for a boost by selling actual Christmas products, Time reports. Soon, 372 Sears stores will roll out displays hawking tree ornaments, stocking stuffers, and other decidedly off-season... More »

MORE ABOUT:
retail • recession • retail sales • Christmas • Sears Holding • department stores • Sears • Kmart

(Newser) - The California man who murdered his ex-wife and eight members of her family on Christmas Eve while dressed as Santa Claus had cocaine in his system, the Los Angeles Times reports. The coroner’s office said the cocaine was present in trace amounts and was only a contributing factor... More »

MORE ABOUT:
California • suicide • cocaine • murder • Los Angeles • Christmas • Santa Claus • Bruce Jeffrey Pardo

 Brit's Beau 
 Meets Folks—
 or Is This 
 a Hoax?  

Sources place Sandip in US, but reports say it's all phony

Jan 2, 09 10:04 AM CST
(Newser) - It seems like only yesterday Britney was shaving her head and dating bad boys—now she’s (supposedly) cooking dinner and introducing her new boyfriend to her parents, the Daily Mirror reports. A source claims Bollywood choreographer Sandip Soparrkar flew to the US to spend New Year’s Eve with... More »

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Britney Spears • India • Bollywood • celebrity • Christmas • New Year's Eve

Christmas Intruder Lived
in Family's Attic

Hidden house guest helped himself to
food, clothing, gifts

Dec 29, 08 2:18 AM CST
(Newser) - Call him the Attic Ghost of Christmas Present. An intruder lived undetected in a Pennsylvania family's attic for several days, including Christmas, stealing food and clothing when the occupants were out, reports the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. The family finally called police when they discovered several expensive Christmas gifts missing. The... More »

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Christmas • intruder • home invasion • attic • Stacey Ferrance

From Now 'Til New Year's: Baby-Making on the Rise

Increased leisure time and resolutions the cause

Dec 28, 08 6:42 AM CST
(Newser) - The gifts have been opened, but a special package may be arriving 9 months from now. The days between Christmas and the start of the New Year see more sex than usual, reports McClatchy Newspapers, which cite Trojan condom's pre-New Year's sales as proof.  The hanky panky results in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
sex • conception • birth • sexual behavior • Christmas • New Year's Eve

(Newser) - Amy Winehouse is giving jailed husband Blake Fielder-Civil another chance, the Daily Mirror reports. His revelations about their relationship and drug use upset Winehouse last month, but she called him in his jail cell on Christmas to reconcile. “She says the best Christmas present will be to have... More »

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marriage • jail • Caribbean • St. Lucia • Amy Winehouse • Blake Fielder Civil • Christmas

 'Santa' Gunman Hid Son 
 From Ex-Wife: Cops 

Revelation of child from previous relationship stressed the Pardo's marriage

Dec 26, 08 5:32 PM CST
(Newser) - Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, who police say killed nine others in a Christmas Eve rampage in California, kept a child from a previous relationship secret from his ex-wife, the Los Angeles Times reports. Pardo did not support his physically handicapped 9-year-old son financially, but claimed him as a dependent for 7... More »

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California • murder • massacre • Christmas • shooting rampage • Santa Claus • guns • Bruce Jeffrey Pardo

Amazon Has 'Best Ever' Holiday Season

Online retailer beat the market with HDTVs, iPods, and Wii

Dec 26, 08 3:10 PM CST
(Newser) - The Grinch apparently didn’t sour shoppers on Amazon this year: The company said today the 2008 holiday season was its “best ever,” MarketWatch reports. Amazon sold more than 6.3 million items worldwide on Dec. 15, its peak day, amounting to “a record-breaking 72.9 items... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recession • retail sales • Christmas • holiday shopping • Amazon • retailers

'Santa' Shooter Had Bomb, Plane Ticket, Cash: Police

Death toll at 9 after another body is found in ashes of Calif. home

Dec 26, 08 2:03 PM CST
(Newser) - The discovery of another body in the charred wreckage of a California home brings the death toll in the Christmas Eve shooting rampage to nine, ABC News reports. Police say Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, 45, suspected of shooting his former in-laws while disguised as Santa, had $10,000 in cash and... More »

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crime • murder • bomb • Christmas • shooting rampage • Santa Claus • shooting • shooters • Bruce Jeffrey Pardo

 Death Toll Hits 8 
 in 'Santa' Slayings 

Engineer carried firestarting device disguised as a gift

Dec 26, 08 3:01 AM CST
(Newser) - The death toll in the Christmas Eve massacre by a California man dressed as Santa Claus has now risen to at least eight as more details of the rampage emerge,  the Los Angeles Times reports. Bruce Jeffrey Pardo first shot in the face an 8-year-old girl who answered the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Los Angeles • arson • Christmas • Santa Claus • shooting • Bruce Jeffrey Pardo

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

Run-DMC's Christmas Jam Made Rap American

Enmeshing the genre with America's one real tradition sealed the deal

Dec 25, 08 3:40 PM CST
(Newser) - If Christmas is one authentic American effort to create traditions in a nation that has mostly imported them, Christmas music is about as American as it gets, writes Morgan Meis on the Smart Set. “When you do the Christmas song you are solid, you are in the club,”... More »

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hip-hop • Christmas • rap music • traditions • Run-DMC

UPDATED

Police Find More Santa Shooting Victims in Ashes

Charred bodies at suburban LA home where 3 already confirmed dead

Dec 25, 08 12:58 PM CST
(Newser) - Several more bodies are in the ashes of a suburban Los Angeles home that was the scene of a Christmas Eve massacre, police tell the AP. Authorities would not say how many bodies there were; three people were already declared dead after a man dressed as Santa Claus opened fire... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Los Angeles • Christmas • Santa Claus • shooting • house fire • Bruce Jeffrey Pardo

 Wade Gives 
 Displaced Family 
 New Home

Florida family lost all in accidental fire

Dec 25, 08 12:48 PM CST
(Newser) - Christmas seemed destroyed for Dawn Smith’s family after her nephew accidentally burned down their Florida home, but Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade has saved it. He helped Smith move into a new home on Christmas Eve, providing furnishings, clothes, and gifts for the holidays, the AP reports. Wade’s... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Florida • Miami Heat • Dwyane Wade • big gifts • charity • Christmas • house fire

UPDATED

Santa Shooting Suspect Commits Suicide

'Person of interest'
in SoCal deaths found dead: cops

Dec 25, 08 11:35 AM CST
(AP) - Police say the man suspected of opening fire last night at a Christmas party in suburban Los Angeles while dressed as Santa Claus has killed himself, the AP reports. The body of 45-year-old Bruce Jeffrey Pardo was found at the home of his brother early today. Police would not say... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Los Angeles • Christmas • Santa Claus • shooting • house fire • fire • Bruce Jeffrey Pardo

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