Tricia Ross, whose husband, Jeffrey, is a Navy lieutenant deployed with a Marine force in the Persian Gulf, said her family would open half their Christmas gifts on Christmas Day, and the other half in February, when her husband comes home.

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Brokers also provided the respondents with gifts including premium tickets to the World Series, the U.S. Open, Wimbledon, Rolling Stones concerts, and dozens of other sporting events and concerts.

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The door is open, they say, but it is up to America to walk through it, carrying gifts.

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Facebook has also cancelled two New York-based events due to take place this week - an engineering open-house day planned for Tuesday (30 October) and the announcement of an update to its fledgling "Facebook Gifts" service.

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