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The White House announced that Vice President Joe Biden would spend the weekend vacationing in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It's his second vacation there in three months. His White House schedule reads: DAILY GUIDANCE FOR THE VICE PRESIDENT Friday, March 7 – Sunday, March 9 The Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden will visit the U.S. Virgin Islands. There are no public events scheduled. And as Geoff Earle of the New York Post reported on December 27, the vice president spent New Year's on the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Some historical leaders famously wrote resolutions to help them achieve lofty goals. Even if they didn't keep them perfectly, they probably came closer than if they had set their sights low. In that spirit, I humbly offer these model resolutions for real reform of our troubled state as we begin 2010. For government officials — Resolved, to read our constitutions and my oath of office and pursue no action that is not in strict fidelity to those documents; to pursue no policy that benefits my constituents at the expense of anyone else's; to maintain a voting record that matches my...

Just think of the parade of years you have known or will know, as they used to fly off the screen in those old black-and-white movies of the 1940s. Look for Loretta Young and Robert Montgomery to appear on the front page any day. Think of New Year's Day 1914, before what was then known as the Great War engulfed us, and what we were once allowed to call Western Civilization changed forever. Think of New Year's Day 1939, in England. All was still teddibly English and proper: Peace in Our Time had been declared in September 1938. All was...

I spent some time on Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sander's websites, waiting for the ball to drop. I was inspired. With as much reach-across-the aisle moderation and coalition-building attitude as possible, I compiled a few 2016 political resolutions. The issues are basically copy and pasted from H-Rod and Bernie's sites. The fleshed-out details are mine. Paint me a kumbaya-crooning hopeful idealist if you must, but these are truly and honestly the things that I'm hoping will occur: Gun Violence Prevention There is too much gun violence and there are too many murders. Merely banning guns or restricting the purchasing of...

Given the times we are in and the abilities that we have, I am curious if others do as I do and record certain End-of-Year data for comparison from yer to year. Some of the obvious ones are personal like weight and miles run/cycled. Others are more business-like, say car odometer for business miles use, Electric Meter reading for year usage. Watching the change in net worth can be good or depressing but attention needs to be paid!

Authorities in Paris have scaled back the city's New Year's Eve celebrations over heightened terror fears after Brussels cancelled its festivities. The usual fireworks display in the French capital has been scrapped and replaced by a five-minute video performance at the Arc de Triomphe just before midnight...

The annual New Year's Eve festivities and fireworks in the heart of Brussels have been cancelled for security reasons, the mayor announced on Wednesday, as the Belgian capital remains on high alert over a possible terror threat.

Do you want this next year to be happier than the last? A first century letter written in prison by the Apostle Paul to the Philippian Christians has much advice on how to know true joy, and much of it was confirmed in May, 2015 by a major study released by the Mayo Clinic. The study said that happier people are healthier people. That's why the Mayo Clinic studied the issue of happiness in the first place. After its release, CBSNewYork reported on this study: "After decades of studying and working with tens of thousands of patients, researchers at the Mayo...

OF COURSE 2015 was a miserable year; all years are miserable. It was a year of rampage killings and police brutality, of natural disasters and government corruption. There were ghastly terror attacks and devastating civil wars, floods of refugees and acts of unspeakable cruelty. Airliners were blown out of the sky. Priceless antiquities were destroyed. Politics seethed with incivility. Too many innocents died young, too many officials lied, too many victims suffered.You don't have to look far for proof that this has been an annus horribilis, and that things are getting worse. You never do. The conviction of decline routinely...

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The traditional New Year's Eve celebrations on the Champs-Elysees will be the first large assembly to be sanctioned in Paris since France's state of emergency started in November. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people gather on Paris's Champs-Elysees to celebrate the "Reveillon," as the French call December 31. But after a year that started with the Charlie Hebdo attacks and ended with the November 13 shooting and bomb attacks that killed 130 people, it was unclear whether New Year celebrations in Paris would go ahead as usual. France has been under a state of emergency since November 13, and...

JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesian police have foiled a major terror plot with the arrest of several men allegedly linked to a planned suicide bombing in Jakarta during New Year celebrations, according to documents seen on Sunday. During raids in several cities across Java island on Friday and Saturday, police arrested five members of an alleged extremist network and seized chemicals, laboratory equipment and a flag inspired by the Islamic State group. Among those arrested was Asep Urip, a 31-year-old teacher at an Islamic boarding school in Central Java, and his 35-year-old pupil Zaenal, whom police allege was being "groomed" to...

The Islamic Army in Iraq, one of the main armed groups fighting US forces in the war-torn country, has threatened to carry out attacks inside the United States, according to a statement posted on a website on Monday. This year "will bring woes on America. The mujahedeen (holy warriors) have prepared big surprises for your sons outside America and a big surprise for you inside America," said the statement whose authenticity could not be confirmed. The statement appeared to mark a disturbing shift in strategy by the shadowy Sunni Muslim group which has claimed a number of attacks and...

A National Guard reservist has been arrested at the Canadian border in Washington for allegedly trying to aid al-Qaida in a plot to attack a Southland subway. Nicholas Teausant, 20, of Acampo, Calif., was charged Monday with attempting to provide material to support a foregoing terrorist organization, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office said. He made his first appearance in a federal courtroom in Seattle Monday afternoon.

Will the Real January 1st Please Stand Up? A Homily for New Years By: Msgr. Charles PopeThis feast day, of January 1, is a very complex tapestry, both culturally in liturgically. Perhaps we can use the second reading by St. Paul to the Galatians as a way to weave through some of the many details. We can look at it in three parts.I. The Chronology of our celebration. The text from St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians says, When the fullness of time had come…Most people, both in the wider culture and in the Church are going about today...

With the 114th U.S. Congress having launched Jan. 3, it's time we the people step up and hold our representatives' political feet to the fire in order to see real, demonstrable change that will heal and improve our country, especially during these last two critical years of Barack Obama's presidency. Last week, I gave my first five resolutions for the new Congress. In short, they were: 10) Reel in executive power and presidential orders. 9) Defund and repeal Obamacare. 8) Restore the 10th Amendment and a real balance of power between the federal and state governments. 7) Restore federal fiscal...

With the 114th U.S. Congress having launched Jan. 3, it's time we the people step up and hold our representatives' political feet to the fire in order to see real, demonstrable change that will heal and improve our country, especially during these last two critical years of Barack Obama's presidency. Here are my top 10 resolutions for the new Congress: 10) Reel in executive power and presidential orders.I know that every president since the dawn of our republic has used executive orders. Theodore Roosevelt was the first to rack up over 1,000 during his nearly eight years in office. But...

Choosing to hate people simply based upon the color of their skin is despicable! Likewise, presuming that all whites are inherently racist based strictly upon the color of their skin is appalling."How is it that Asians can succeed in America and we can't?" That was the question some of my friends and I asked ourselves as teenagers. Growing up in Los Angeles, Asian owned businesses were plentiful throughout the 'hood. Equally common was the animus blacks felt towards them. Rappers and racepreneurs like Jesse Jackson contributed to the disdain we felt for foreigners establishing their businesses on our turf. The...

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama broke off from teenage daughters Sasha and Malia for a night out At the Honolulu, Hawaii, restaurant a 13-15 course, prix fixe meal costs a cool $295 a person and wine pairings add another $130 a head The total tab often nears $1,000 after taxes and tip Paintings that decorate the extravagant 32-seat restaurant are valued at more than $10 million a piece The president and first lady treated themselves to a five star dinner on New Year's Day at renowned Honolulu, Hawaii, restaurant Vintage Cave, where a 15 course, prix fixe...

What can be said about a year that hasn’t happened yet? The optimist looks forward with hope, and the pessimist looks forward with realism, but most people are too busy looking at their phones to see anything at all. I fall firmly in the pessimist camp. There’s nowhere to go but up when you expect the worst from a year. As such, let us take a look forward, into the future, and see what awful, annoying, and stupid things 2015 may have in store for us. With Republicans in full control of Congress, President Barack Obama will spend more time...