If you love the Drudge Report, be careful what you read. Apparently the sensationalist web site has a tendency to over state or as my grandmother used to say, "lie'".

Check out this article from Ad Age, which doesn't have apolitical axe to grind.

Drudge claimed there was a new "Obama's New Christmas Tree Tax". The problem rests, it wasn't a tax and it wasn't from the administration. In fact it was an initiative started by and supported by the National Christmas Tree Association as a way to improve its image. It was a case of the Federal government helping an industry.

Apparently the ultra conservative Heritage Foundation decided to grab this baby and started the disinformation campaign. Of course, the lock step conservative press, headlined by Fox News, started running the story without confirming its validity. Read more »

As we near the day when we find out if we've been naughty or nice, improve your chances of scoring with the big guy, by having a through knowledge of trivia.

The following are facts, with a few tips tossed in on Christmas trees, that ancient ritual of slaying a coniferous plant and bedecking it with all manners of unnatural doodads. Then waiting patiently for some jolly chap to stick a bunch of goodies under its boughs. Yeah, it doesn't make a lot of sense, but you can bet nearly all of us will wake up on Christmas morning with anticipation.

• Nearly 30 million real Christmas trees are cut down every year.

• Real Christmas trees is a $1.2 billion per year business.

• Approximately 15,000 commercial Christmas tree growers plant 73 million trees per year on 450,000 acres of land.

• In 1851 Mark Carr hauled two ox carts of Catskill evergreen trees to Greenwich Village in New York City & sold them for $1 a piece becoming the first commercial tree seller of note.

• It takes 6 to 10 years for a Christmas tree to reach adequate size for sale. Read more »

The family is gathered. The table is set. The house smells of wonderful cooking smells - pumpkin pies, mashed potatoes, everything you love at Thanksgiving including that big ol' bird sitting in the middle of the table.

Then all the eyes fall on you. You have been given the honor of carving the fowl. A moment f panic slips silently into your soul. You don't want to muck it up. Do not fear, the Frugal Yankee is here.

We scoured the internet and found, what we think is the best "How To Carve a Turkey" video. Use it to brush up on your technique or if you're tackling your first.

Here are a few more tips:

• Be sure the turkey rests for about 20-25 minutes after coming out of the oven.

• Cover it with aluminum foil while it rests.

• The knife to be used should be sharp & thin.

• Be a bit of a showman, show everyone sitting at the table the turkey so they can "ooh and ash". Read more »

If you’re thinking about making a big score for presents this holiday season, you may want to check out what is called ‘Flash sites”.

“Flash” sites are web sites created to sell merchandise at deep discounts in a very short period of time. For example, a high end coat is discounted by 70% but only for 36 hours or while supplies last, hence the name “flash”.

Over the past two years, over 350 flash sites have popped up on the web. They make money by taking a small percentage of the sale. The seller unloads inventory without advertising. The savvy shopper can score big time. They work using coupons, like a regular auction site and sometimes they use techniques made popular by infomercials.

From the outside, flash sites sound like a win-win-win situation for all concerned. The site makes money, the seller unloads inventory and the shopper scores on price. Read more »