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(VIDEO) U.S. President Donald Trump offered their season’s greetings on Tuesday, wishing Americans a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, while urging people to help each out and reach out to those in need.

During the Christmas of 1914, some French, British, and German soldiers along World War I’s Western Front informally ceased hostilities in order to celebrate the holiday. The truce offered the combatants a brief moment to celebrate their shared humanity amidst the otherwise ghastly conflict. No such luck for Americans weary of the United States’ all-consuming culture war. For anti-gun zealots, the Christmas season offers fresh opportunities to mold the next generation of obedient statists. On December 13, the Village of Hempstead, N.Y. hosted the Long Island Toy Gun Exchange Program, modelled after so-called gun “buybacks” that target real firearms. According...

Merry Christmas. No really, Merry Christmas to you and your family! Let me share with you what Christmas means to me. Today is a day we take to relish time with loved ones and friends. We celebrate the joy in all the blessings we have been afforded in life. I vividly remember some of my first Christmas mornings with my family. My father with the Sony video recorder to capture the joy while proceeding around the house to wake up my siblings. We would all run downstairs to find out that Santa stopped at our house. After opening gifts, my...

<p>Hallmark’s famed Christmas movies have been known for revisiting the same stable of stars — which until recently, hasn’t left much room for faces that aren’t white. But this season, the brand has made an effort for diversity. It’s no longer a whitewashed Christmas on Hallmark, though it still has a way to go for a truly inclusive winter wonderland.</p>

While the rest of Washington was quiet and empty on Christmas Eve, President Trump had a full day at the White House. First, he hosted lunch with a number of lawmakers to discuss border security and gave an update on the ongoing fight against ISIS.  President @RT_Erdogan of Turkey has very strongly informed me that he will eradicate whatever is left of ISIS in Syria....and he is a man who can do it plus, Turkey is right “next door.” Our troops are coming home!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2018 Saudi Arabia has now agreed to spend the necessary...

She just left, she got very heated and angry with me. We were debating the state of the economy and the effects on minorities and she started spewing vile curse words and invective on Christmas Day. Wow. Threw the Christmas cake on the ground. She's 35-years old, works in finance in Morristown, NJ and New York City. I'm perplexed this holiday season. Now, I just want to stay home and just watch TV or something. Should I bring them over again? Anyway, Merry Christmas.

"Flash mob that breaks out the Christmas Spirit at a mall."

For almost the entirety of this century, I've been touched by the emails I receive this time of year from US, UK, Canadian, Australian and other troops spending Christmas in such unfestive climes as the Hindu Kush and the sands of Araby. Seasonal soldiering is tough on the warriors, and on their families back home - as Linda Purl notes on our Christmas Show just before her beautiful rendition of "I'll Be Home for Christmas". For our pre-Yuletide edition of Mark at the Movies, here are a few seasonal movie moments with a military theme: The best "White Christmas": The...

A Charlie Brown Christmas When Charlie Brown complains about the overwhelming materialism that he sees amongst everyone during the Christmas season, Lucy suggests that he become director of the school Christmas pageant. Charlie Brown accepts, but is a frustrating struggle. When an attempt to restore the proper spirit with a forlorn little fir Christmas tree fails, he needs Linus’ help to learn the meaning of Christmas.

“It’s Christmas! You should rejoice!” The presence of family, presents under the Christmas tree, rocking around to different versions of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” should encourage everyone to celebrate!Christmas, a time to rejoice with lights and perfections, can also be one of the darkest times of the year. A close family member—parent, spouse, sibling— may have passed away during this time, and that loss is particularly painful during the Christmas season. There are many alone, homeless, ill. They endure this festive time coupled with their intense, personal privations. For many, Christmas should be a time of great celebration. This...

December 25, 2018 - The Nativity of the Lord, Mass During the Day The Nativity of the Lord – Christmas - Mass During the Day Reading 1 Is 52:7-10 How beautiful upon the mountainsare the feet of him who brings glad tidings,announcing peace, bearing good news,announcing salvation, and saying to Zion,"Your God is King!" Hark! Your sentinels raise a cry,together they shout for joy,for they see directly, before their eyes,the LORD restoring Zion.Break out together in song,O ruins of Jerusalem!For the LORD comforts his people,he redeems Jerusalem.The LORD has bared his holy armin the sight of all the nations;all...

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of...

The Queen delivers her annual Christmas message. Nice to see her Christian faith especially emphasized this year. She also pays tribute to the Centenary of the end of World War I. Video at link.

December 25, 2018 - The Nativity of the Lord – Christmas The Nativity of the Lord – Christmas - Mass at Dawn Reading 1 Is 62:11-12 See, the LORD proclaimsto the ends of the earth:say to daughter Zion,your savior comes!Here is his reward with him,his recompense before him.They shall be called the holy people,the redeemed of the LORD,and you shall be called "Frequented,"a city that is not forsaken. Responsorial Psalm Ps 97:1, 6, 11-12. R. A light will shine on us this day: the Lord is born for us.The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice;let the many isles...

December 25, 2018 The Nativity of the Lord – ChristmasMass During the Night Reading 1 Is 9:1-6 The people who walked in darknesshave seen a great light;upon those who dwelt in the land of glooma light has shone.You have brought them abundant joyand great rejoicing,as they rejoice before you as at the harvest,as people make merry when dividing spoils.For the yoke that burdened them,the pole on their shoulder,and the rod of their taskmasteryou have smashed, as on the day of Midian.For every boot that tramped in battle,every cloak rolled in blood,will be burned as fuel for flames.For a child...

    ~The FReeper Canteen~ Seasons Greetings to all our Troops, Veterans, and their Families! May this Christmas and Holiday Season bring peace and happiness in your lives, the way you bring peace to our nation and into our lives. Ella Fitzgerald ~ Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas Peggy Lee ~ The Christmas Song Nat King Cole ~ O Little Town Of Bethlehem The Roger Wagner Chorale ~ We Three Kings Suzy Bogguss ~ The First Noel The Philharmonia Orchestra ~ Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy Dean Martin ~ Winter Wonderland Glen Campbell ~ O Holy Night...

The Los Angeles and New York police departments are poking some fun at their perceived rivalry and wading into the hotly contested debate: Is “Die Hard” a Christmas movie? It began Monday when the NYPD tweeted it had been working with its Los Angeles counterpart “to protect Christmas since Hans Gruber’s 1988 attack on Nakatomi Plaza.” It included the hashtag “YesItsAChristmasMovie.” On this Christmas Eve, we’d like to acknowledge our partners at @LAPDHQ who have been working with us to protect Christmas since Hans Gruber’s 1988 attack on Nakatomi Plaza. #DetectiveJohnMclean #YesItsAChristmasMovie pic.twitter.com/qOEgD1Lqt3 — NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) December 24, 2018...

Many people this holiday season will experience the joy of attending a local performance of “The Nutcracker” ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It’s the most implausible American tradition imaginable, an import from fin-de-siècle Russia straight to your hometown. It’s living proof of the capacity of music and the art of dance to leap the bounds of time and space and delight us forever. Perhaps some viewer’s own children will perform in it, and that’s part of the appeal. What theater goers don’t entirely realize is that they are watching something even more wonderful than what they see. In this one...

SHANGHAI — It took less than 24 hours for all the Christmas trees, lights and bells to disappear from a 27-story shopping and office complex in the Chinese city of Nanyang. Even the giant teddy bear at the mall entrance wasn’t spared, said Ma Jun, who works at a tutoring company in the building. “Everything is gone and cleaned,” she said. Christmas continues to be a shopping festival across most of China, with huge trees adorning shopping malls in Shanghai and Beijing, but a growing emphasis on traditional culture by the ruling Communist Party and the systematic suppression of religion...

December 25, 2018 The Nativity of the Lord – Christmas - At the Vigil Mass Reading 1 Is 62:1-5 For Zion's sake I will not be silent,for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet,until her vindication shines forth like the dawnand her victory like a burning torch. Nations shall behold your vindication,and all the kings your glory;you shall be called by a new namepronounced by the mouth of the LORD.You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD,a royal diadem held by your God.No more shall people call you "Forsaken,"or your land "Desolate,"but you shall be...