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There is a New Year stampede developing that we have not seen for a long time. Gun stores are swamped with panicking customers. They are looking for handguns, semiautomatic rifles, and as much ammunition as they can afford. But buyers are not just camouflaged hunters, conspiracy theorists, and gun hoarders. Instead, many of those purchasing firearms and ammo are so-called ordinary people, convinced that this administration will soon begin to centrally register — and then ban — far more than assault rifles. There were probably lots of reasons why Adam Lanza shot 26 innocent children and adults at Sandy Hook...

Elizabeth, a 13-year-old British girl, had a favorite poem, which was published in a small book, titled “The Desert,” which was authored by a hardly-known poetess, Minnie Louise Haskins. “Lilebet,” as the young lass was affectionate known by her family, so loved the poem that she shared it with her father. And he, in turn, shared it with all of Britannia. You see Lilibet’s dad was King George VI. And in a 1939 broadcast, marking the holiday season, he read aloud the poem his daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth II, entrusted to him. Haskins’ Spirit-filled prose resonated with the British...

Key West Florida rings in the New Year by dropping a drag queen, who rides down in a high heeled shoe. "Sushi," as she calls herself, has been doing this for 16 years.

A New Year's Eve possum drop that attracts thousands of people to a tiny western North Carolina town will go on this year, with one big change: It won't involve a live possum.

Ring out the new, ring in the old. No, hang on, that should be the other way around, shouldn't it? Not as far as 2011 was concerned. The year began with a tea-powered Republican caucus taking control of the House of Representatives and pledging to rein in spendaholic government. It ended with President Obama making a pro forma request for a mere $1.2 trillion increase in the debt ceiling. This will raise government debt to $16.4 trillion – a new world record! If only until he demands the next debt-ceiling increase in three months' time. At the end of 2011,...

Now that you have read the results of the various economic forecasting models that have served so many so badly in recent years—they are predicting the U.S. economy will grow in 2012 at an annual rate of between 1.5 percent and 2 percent—let me offer an alternative way of looking at things. It is called ‘pick your if.’ If you believe that the recent decision of the European Central Bank to make unlimited cash available to eurozone banks for the next three years, and that the meeting next week of German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Nicholas Sarkozy will...

“In my end is my beginning.” – T.S. Eliot, East Coker As we come to the end of another year, we remember that endings are merely beginnings, as Eliot reminds us. “In my end is my beginning” is the final phrase of his poem East Coker, second of the Four Quartets. We are reminded that for the new to come in, the old must be released. So as we enter a new year, a new experience, we remember to stand in the field of possibility. A new year is an opportunity to begin again. In Rent, Jonathan Larson reminds us...

“In my end is my beginning.” – T.S. Eliot, East Coker As we come to the end of another year, we remember that endings are merely beginnings, as Eliot reminds us. “In my end is my beginning” is the final phrase of his poem East Coker, second of the Four Quartets. We are reminded that for the new to come in, the old must be released. So as we enter a new year, a new experience, we remember to stand in the field of possibility. A new year is an opportunity to begin again. In Rent, Jonathan Larson reminds us...

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The South Pacific Nation of Somoa is moving the International Dateline from west of their country to east as of their local midnight. Friday, December 30 2011, will not occur in that country.

So what will the Washington Post's Headline be the day BEFORE Election 2012? The day AFTER?

“Get ready, America. Pull up a chair and a box of your finest wine, because you’ve never seen a New Year’s Eve show like this,” said Griffin. “Kathy Griffin scares me. I’ve said this often to CNN management directly and through my attorneys,” joked Cooper.

Chinese Year of the Rabbit officially comes today, or it already came Wednesday due to a 12-hour time difference between the U.S. and China. Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival according to the literal translation of its Chinese name, is the most significant holiday for more than one quarter of the world's population. It begins on the first day of the first month of the lunar - lunisolar more accurately - calendar, based on exact astronomical observations of the longitude of the sun and the phases of the moon by ancient Chinese astrologists. Though the exact date of Chinese...

Look at me: I have only arrived in this place called a world for a few days and I have much to learn. I keep looking around more and more and am trying to figure out what is going on. When I came into the world, there were bright lights all around me and people dressed in many colors, if that's what you call it. ----------advertisement----------- They were all watching me, and so I did the only thing I knew how to do: I cried. I heard something called "the news" in the background and that really scared me, so...

As we enter the New Year, the financial landscape is littered with essentially bankrupt governments. Governments at every level are in dire financial straits. During the last decade’s governmental spending binge, total state and municipal bond debt has nearly doubled to almost $3 trillion, while federal debt rose over 150 percent from under $6 trillion to almost $14 trillion. Several dozen cities, including Harrisburg, Los Angeles, and Detroit, teeter on the brink of insolvency. Municipal bonds, once considered ultra-safe, are approaching junk status. State governments from coast to coast are broke. From Republican Governor Chris Christie’s New Jersey on the...

'toon by Hungarian caricature artist, Zsoldos. View more of his works here!2010 brought us lots of notable events... some legitimate news, with proper and balanced coverage on the events... i.e. the drama and joy of the Chilean miner rescues, the eruption of the Iceland volcano that brought many a Euro airport to a standstill, Kagen's nomination to SCOTUS, N. Korea torpedoes a S. Korean warship, McChrystal's resignation following his Rolling Stone interview, and Juan Williams getting canned from NPR. But when you have 24/7 cable news channels... most just replaying the same storylines but with different talking heads... there are...

As we put 2010 into the history books, here's a few things to look for over the next 12 months: Katie Couric will say something stupid. Maybe she was still riding high from all the back-slaps she got for her 'interview' with Sarah Palin. Maybe she was reading her own press clippings. Maybe she's just an idiot in way over her head as a news anchor. Whatever the cause, there is no one in the journalistic world who can be relied on to spew eye-rollers more than Couric. She closed out 2010 with her now infamous suggestion that there be...

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Friday three top Russian officials should spend New Year's Eve in the dark after failing to fulfill their promise to repair damaged power lines. "You said everything would be fine by 1800 (1500 GMT)," Russia's de facto number one said in nationally televised comments to the three. "You should not have said anything if you were not sure," he added during a meeting that included the governor of the Moscow region as well as federal energy minister and the head of the local power utility. The televised comments were followed an hour later by news...

It’s 11:59pm and the countdown begins. We are about to transition out of the current year and enter into the New Year. Anticipation runs through. We are about to start something new. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!!!! Bands all across the world play the timeless classic song, “Auld Lang Syne,” and people everywhere go in to the new year with a set of goals to help better their lives, and at least some form of willingness to hopefully eliminate some of the bad habits that drag them down and take the focus...

Post them if you got them.

I know I'm not the very first FReeper to see 2011 come in, but I beat a lot of y'all in the US (neener, neener) and just wanted to post a fun, albeit completely useless vanity thread. (I really ought to be ashamed, but sorry to say, I feel no remorse.) :-) Yes, it just became 2011 on the Weird Side of the World and so far, it doesn't hurt and I'm rather enjoying that new year smell.

“Top 10 2010 – 2011 New Year’s Eve Jokes” 10. 2011 is not a leap year, so … NO JUMPING!9. Auld Lang Syne inevitably gets mispronounced.8. Jumpin’ Jupiters! The Earth has spun around the Sun one more time. Hooray!7. New Year’s Eve is like a box of surprises. You never know if you’ll get any chocolates.6. Be a Rebel: Celebrate the Old Year.5. The End of the year is Nigh. That means more soon-to-be obsolete techno junk is coming your way.4. Father Time is old. Just one look at him and you could see he was long in the...

How will you start the New Year? You would think the answer would be something like ..I plan to ring in the New Year with: Family.. Friends Or Celebrating.. But a new Rasmussen Reports poll shows the majority of Americans will ring in the new year with ... A prayer

PASADENA - The centennial celebration of Ronald Reagan's birthday begins New Year's Day, when a float dedicated to the 40th president will make its way down Colorado Boulevard. The 55-foot-long float is designed by Fiesta of Irwindale. It features a 26-foot-high bald eagle and 11 black-and-white photographs of Reagan, which will be decorated with onion seeds, poppy seeds and crushed sweet rice. "President Reagan always believed America's best days were ahead. At a time when many Americans look forward to a New Year with a similar optimism and pride, we at the Reagan Foundation are honored to be invited to...

It might surprise many people to learn that not one, not two, but seventy-three new tax increases went into effect on January 1, 2010. This was the result of Congress letting temporary tax relief expire. They still have time to put the tax relief back in place before the end of the year, but they are gone for now. A complete list of them is maintained by the Joint Tax Committee. Here are some of the more recognizable tax relief which expired: * The first-time homebuyer credit ($10.8 billion) * The research and experimentation tax credit ($6.97 billion) * The...

  New Year's Statement Propaganda Posters  ▲ 'A decisive change in the people’s lives!' North Korea has released new propaganda posters related to the 2010 New Year’s Statement.  The poster of a woman and her child smiling brightly surrounded by food speaks of the main slogan of the New Year’s Statement: “Bring about a decisive change in the people’s lives by accelerating once again light industry and agriculture this year, as we look to the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Party!” ▲ 'The day of the strong and prosperous state is just around the corner,' with, at...

December 7, 1941, the date that lives in infamy, is now causing a bit of controversy. Some people have noticed that 2010 calendars do not recognize Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, but instead

Hopefully Kathy Griffin's New Year's resolution was to be on CNN less, because the foul-mouthed comedienne has lost her visitor's pass to the cable network after dropping the f-bomb on this year's show. Sorry Kathy, but we don't think Fox News will be knocking down your door now that you're available! More on Kathy's banning, plus Rosie O'Donnell's new love and more after the jump! Following her very controversial F-bomb-dropping New Year's Eve hosting gig, CNN executives have decided Kathy Griffin will NOT be getting a 2011 invite. "She was a total embarrassment to the network that calls themselves 'The...

Charles Darwin once famously wrote of his gradual loss of ability to enjoy music or any of the other simple joys of life, post-Theory; and I must say that at times I understand what he meant. For entirely different reasons (chemical, not spiritual), I, too, often feel incapable of discerning the bright joys of quotidian life as I used to. Yet even though the smell of life's roses goes sometimes undetected by my nose, I have faith that roses still smell sweet — and that faith is enough. So it was in 2009. Though in many ways a cherry pit...

In November of 2010 we take back the country. As 2010 dawns, elected officials have to be eyeing November with some apprehension. 2010 will see the answers to a number of questions that have arisen in 2009. How much Socialism can be pushed on the American public over the next 11 months? Can the Republicans...

Humility, Bill knew, is understanding one's place before Creator God. It is recognizing the biblical definition of the mortal to be fact — that we are indeed as dust, cracked clay, or a wheat strand blowing in the wind.

What is your New Year's Resolution. Of course, the most popular (and broken) of all New Year's Resolutions is the Resolution to lose weight. Somehow I have the feeling there is someone out there right now whose New Year's Resolution is to invent a weight loss pill that actually works so he can beoome richer than the Phizer folks who invented Viagra. Anyway, I would like to hear what the New Year's Resolutions of my fellow Freepers are. I will start the ball rolling by telling you my personal New Year's Resolution. Unlike my New Year's Resolutions in previous years,...

Have not done this in a while and I know we all love it lol. I have been posting this every now and again, but don't believe I have seen one this year. :) Let's just have a fun post today.

See the full 12 minute New Year fireworks display from Sydney Australia. The theme was this month's second full Moon, called the Blue Moon.

Recape Predictions for 2009 Business/Economy 1) The last half of 2008 will be declared a recession and it will continue through the first quarter. We will have little growth in the 2nd and 3rd quarter, modest growth in the 4th quarter. >Right 2) The Dow will finish at 11,500 on the last trading day of 2009, which will be Thursday, December 31st. >probably not 3) Dollar at the end of 2009 will equal € 1.32 > No ADD strikes again. I meant to say 1 Euro = $1.32 - No either way 4) Unemployment will peak in early fall. >TBD...

SYDNEY – Under explosive bursts of crimson, purple and blue, more than 1 million New Year revelers in Sydney got one of the world's biggest parties started Thursday — bidding farewell to the tough year that was 2009 and welcoming a new decade. As the family-friendly, pre-midnight fireworks show illuminated Australia's largest city, preparations were under way across the world for pyrotechnics, parties and prayers in the final countdown to herald the end of the period dubbed "the Noughties." The mood of celebrations was tempered in some places by the effects of the financial downturn, which bit hard in 2009,...

From the Currier & Ives vault, and slightly re-colored by your faithful correspondent, a card to wish you and yours a Happy New Year.

What would everyone consider the best 5 movies of this last decade?

To celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year, President Obama sent a videotaped message to the Iranian leadership expressing his eagerness to have a “new beginning” between the U.S. and the unelected rulers of Iran — one based on commerce, peace, and mutual respect, and not on arms, threats, or division. The mullahs likely celebrated Nowruz with cheers and smiles, knowing their investment in terrorism and nuclear technology are bringing in good returns. The Iranian people, however, spent Nowruz acting in defiance of the regime, challenging their oppressors and trying to win a simple recognition from the West of their struggle....

China fears riots will spread as boom goes sour Today millions will leave the cities to return to their rural family homes for the new year celebrations. But this year Beijing hopes the newly jobless revellers will stay there - to prevent a fresh wave of unrest in the cities Tania Branigan in Dongguan Sunday 25 January 2009 They surged into the grimy streets around the factory: first scores, then hundreds, then more than a thousand, as word spread and tension loaded the stale, grey air. The boldest overturned a police van and smashed up motorcycles, then tore through the...

Violence scarred celebrations and led to a bloody New Year across the country as emergency services endured a chaotic end to 2008. Ambulance control centres reported receiving 999 calls as often as once every seven seconds - the second highest volume of calls since the Millennium - as binge drinkers turned nasty in the freezing temperatures. Many of the calls related either to alcohol-fuelled assaults or excessive drunkenness.

Update: The French press reported that the Interior Ministry released a final "verified" count of 1,147 vehicles burned in France over New Year's Eve. The number is up 30.64% from last year's total, 878. REUTERS - At least 445 cars were torched over the night of New Year's Eve in France, a 20 percent rise on last year, but there were relatively few clashes with police, the Interior Ministry and police said on Thursday. Car burnings are regular occurrences in France but the registering the New Year's Eve total has become something of a tradition since they achieved symbolic status...

Okay, I'll start: 1) Blagojevich walks scott free 2) My salary continues to remain stagnate 3) The bailout results in a massive debt to taxpayers with zero benefit to them 4) Iran aquires nuclear weapons and we (including Bush) failed to do anything about it 5) Jamie Gertz continue's to become even more attractive as she ages

The Freeper Canteen Wishes Everyone NEW YEAR WISHES May peace fill all the empty spaces around you And in you, may contentment answer all your wishes. May comfort be yours, warm and soft like a sigh. And may the coming year show you that every day is really a first day, a new year. Let abundance be your constant companion, so that you have much to share. May mirth be near you always, like a lamp shining brightly on the many paths you travel. ~~What Are You Doing New Years Eve~~ ~~Auld Lang Syng~~ An added second of time!...

Inevitably, at the end of, and the beginning of each year we are all subject to some “year in review” served up right to us through the dysfunctional eyes of some baby boomer. Their constant comparisons to everything from the sixties and, in the strangest way, always telling us that our hard times today just aren’t anything compared to some bizarre year they pull out of their tuckus from the sixties. I’m so sick of these people. The baby boomers are the most self absorbed, dysfunctional group of malcontents that have ever been created in the history of the United...

The Ignorant Fishermen 2000 years ago before Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead, He chose men. The elite class and religious rulers of that day called these men ignorant. God, however, called these men to be His Fishermen and Ambassadors to the dying world. Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew...

Wait a second. The start of next year will be delayed by circumstances beyond everyone's control. Time will stand still for one second on New Year's Eve, as we ring in the New Year on that Wednesday night. As a result, you'll have an extra second to celebrate because a "Leap Second" will be added to 2008 to let a lagging Earth catch up to super-accurate clocks.

Wait a second. The start of next year will be delayed by circumstances beyond everyone's control. Time will stand still for one second on New Year's Eve, as we ring in the New Year on that Wednesday night. As a result, you'll have an extra second to celebrate because a "Leap Second" will be added to 2008 to let a lagging Earth catch up to super-accurate clocks. By international agreement, the world's timekeepers, in order to keep their official atomic clocks in step with the world's irregular but gradually slowing rotation, have decreed that a Leap Second be inserted between...

2008 Year In Review!!! Herein are some New Years resolutions for Barack Obama, President Elect of the United States. I will stop trying to fashion myself after Presidents of the past. I am not Lincoln, nor Kennedy, nor even FDR. I resolve to try my upmost to be the sort of President that others will fashion themselves as. I will not allow any more photos to be taken of myself with my shirt off. It is gratuitous and somewhat vain. I will accept that fact, now having had the national security briefings, that George W. Bush had things mostly right...