Its Christmas Time In America

A recent Rasmussen survey found that nearly two thirds of Americans think Christmas is the most important holiday of the year.

In the survey, 92% of adults say they will celebrate Christmas this year, while only six percent (6%) said they would not. The vast majority (70%) will open their gifts on Christmas morning while more than 20% will open their gifts on Christmas Eve.

Meanwhile, Hallmark estimates that Americans will send more than 2.1 billion holiday cards this year, up from 1.9 billion cards in 2007. On average, each American household will mail more than 20 Christmas cards this holiday season.

In America, the weeks leading up to Christmas are historically the biggest shopping weeks of the year. Many retailers make up to 70% of their annual revenue in the month preceding Christmas. In fact, the Friday and Saturday before Christmas are usually the two busiest shopping days of the year.

The three occasions that Americans consume food in the greatest quantity are Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Super Bowl Sunday. At least according to the National Football League.

A native Mexican plant, poinsettias were named after Joel R. Poinsett, U.S. ambassador to Mexico who brought the plant to America in 1828. Poinsettias were used by Mexican Franciscans in their 17th century Christmas celebrations.

The modern American Christmas custom of displaying a wreath on the front door of the house, is actually borrowed from ancient Rome's New Year's celebrations. Romans wished each other "good health" by exchanging branches of evergreens. It became the custom to bend these branches into a ring and display them on doorways.

According to the National Christmas Tree Association, Americans buy around 30 million real Christmas trees each year . The top selling Christmas Trees are: balsam fir, Douglas-fir, Fraser fir, noble fir, Scotch pine, Virginia pine and white pine. The average growing time for a Christmas tree in America is seven years.

In 2007, 17.4 million people bought artificial Christmas trees, a dramatic 87 percent jump from the previous year's total of 9.3 million. According to the United States Commerce Department 85 per cent of all artificial trees in the United States are manufactured in China.

In 1939, Chicago based Montgomery Ward copywriter Robert L. May wrote the story of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. The story was so popular that despite the wartime paper shortage, over 6 million copies had been distributed by 1946.

In fact, the song "Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer" would become the second most popular holiday song of all time. It is listed only behind Bing Crosby's White Christmas.

If you watch "A Christmas Carol" this holiday season, just remember that Charles Dickens considered several other names before settling on Tiny Tim. The three other alternative names were; Little Larry, Puny Pete, and Small Sam.

According to eBay, the best selling 2008 electronics are the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, Ipod Touch and Sony PSP. Expect to find these gifts in a featured spot under many real and artificial 2008 Christmas Trees.

Its Christmas time in America. Please have a great holiday and a safe and prosperous New Year.

For More Read: The Holiday Song That Became A World Record on eworldvu.com

Illegal Immigration Report Shows Why Laws Should Be Enforced

The latest report just released on illegal immigration from the Center of Immigration Studies shows a dramatic drop in New York and other States. The report called Homeward Bound indicates that illegal immigration plunged nationwide by eleven percent in the last year.

Of course about a year ago, after the immigration reform law co-sponsored by John McCain and backed by the White House was abandoned due to overwheming public pressure, the federal government actually began enforcing the illegal immigration laws already on the books.

The fact that immigration laws were not enforced for many years can be seen just by looking at the enforcement results of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. This law provided for penalties against companies that hire undocumented workers. In 1999, under the Clinton Administration, the U.S. government collected a meager $3.69 million from 890 companies in fines. By 2004, under George Bush, the amount collected in fines from companies hiring undocumented workers was zero.

In addition, the border with Mexico has never been properly secured, with only 9500 border agents trying to police an eight thousand mile border until 2005. As a result, it is estimated that in the year 2004 alone, three million illegal immigrants entered the United States.

So, a lack of border security and a lack of illegal immigration law enforcement has resulted in the fact that eleven million illegal immigrants still remain in the United States even after the 11% drop of the last year (according to the Center of Immigration Studies Report).

George Bush's low approval rating (now below 30%) began its steep descent in the spring of 2006 when illegal immigrants were marching in the streets demanding their rights. Its hard to understand in an age of terrorism, how the American public can feel secure with more than eleven million people running around the country that are not here legally.

If people want to change the current immigration laws, there is a way to do that since we have representative government. In the meantime, the country's existing laws should be properly enforced. The data from the recent Center of Immigration Studies Report shows why.