on a completely different topic--a friend and I were wondering why it is deemed necessary to cut

[niyad]

down beautiful, tall, venerable trees for the white house and rockefeller center. don't particularly care if they do "recycle" at least the one in nyc. perhaps it is time for non-living trees in those two places.

[mwrguy]

1. it is time for

not having a xmas tree, period.

[niyad]

2. I like my fake yule/solstice tree

[Codeine]

5. They're beautiful beyond description

and they honestly have fuck-all to do with religion. I'm an atheist and I always have one set up for the holidays. A few years ago we had two of them!

Always artificial, though.

[Warpy]

3. Yes, I much preferred the lights on Boston Common

They were single strings, draped unartistically over the branches of deciduous trees. It was cheap, tacky, and utterly wonderful.

[Quackers]

4. How many are there this year?

None of them are artificial?

[JonathanRackham]

6. I have 3 cats and have fostered many more.

What's a Christmas tree?

[Snobblevitch]

7. Trees are a renewable resource.

It is quite an honor for an area to be chosen to provide the White House Christmas tree.

We happen to own tens of thousands of trees.

[Recursion]

8. I thought they were both live trees?

And get replanted.

[Snobblevitch]

9. The National Christmas tree (on the Ellipse)

is a live tree. I think there has been three of them. The White House tree is cut and is inside the White House.