1.)     Although the holiday shopping season doesn’t kick-off until next week, today is already an important deadline for Christmas.    If you want to make certain that your holiday package or letter being sent to an APO - an Army or Air Force Post Office, or a FPO, a Fleet or Navy Post Office - Parcel Post Military, it needs to be at the post office today to arrive on time.      The other shipping deadline for military personnel is for Priority Military Mail, which is December 10th.

2.)     This is the day when everyone loves a quitter.   Today is the American Cancer Society’s 37th Great American Smokeout.     Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the US, yet about 43.8 million Americans still smoke cigarettes — Nearly 1 in every 5 adults.    The Great American Smokeout is a day to encourage smokers to make a plan to quit, or to just quit smoking all together.    By quitting — even for just today — smokers will be taking an important step towards a healthier life – one that can lead to reducing cancer risk.

3.)     The New Year Eve’s celebration to kick-off 2012 in Brasstown, North Carolina will be different this year thanks to a North Carolina judge.    The annual “Possum Drop,” which draws thousands to Brasstown, has been ruled illegal.     PETA sued the town, citing a state law prohibiting citizens from using wild animals for pets or amusement.     In past years, to ring in the New Year, during the drop, a possum is suspended in a see-through box covered with holiday tinsel and lowered to the ground at midnight.