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Holiday Season Commentary

A Trip Down Memory Lane Littered with Letters

Isobel White | Posted 01.09.2009 | Style

Read More: Social Media, Internet, Holidays, Twitter, Holiday Season, Relationships, Social Networks, Social Networking, Digital Age, Holiday Season Commentary, Barney Frank, Hillary Clinton, Facebook, Nostalgia, Family, Style News
Isobel White

No, who am I kidding -- I am old school, but trying my best to keep up. I vow to actively use LinkedIn and Facebook this year.

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Why I'm Not On Facebook

Meredith Broussard | Posted 01.07.2009 | Style

Read More: Facebook, Facebook Privacy, Turkey, Family Relationships, Family, The Internet, Social Networks, Social Networking, Social Networking Sites, Online, Holiday Season Commentary, Style News
Meredith Broussard

My college students would find me on Facebook in about five seconds flat. Can I really get up in front of a classroom and command authority if my students know I helped make a fruit turkey?

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It's January -- Where Do the Cards Go?

Marcia DeSanctis | Posted 01.05.2009 | Style

Read More: Holiday Season, Christmas Cards, Holiday Season Commentary, Christmas, Style News
Marcia DeSanctis

There will be no trace of Christmas in my house. The sugar cookies rattling around the tin? Gone. The leftover eggnog? Down the drain. Gingerbread houses? See ya. Except for the cards. They stick around.

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It May Be Time to Redefine Family

Janet Carlson | Posted 01.05.2009 | Living

Read More: Divorce, Family, Roger Angell, Friendship, Marriage, Family Dynamics, Holiday Season, New Yorker, Being Friendly, Holiday Season Commentary, Love, Living News
Janet Carlson

It's a funny concept, spending money on gifts for the man you're divorcing, isn't it? The man you're trying to disentangle from financially?

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Less/More Resolutions

Dr. Susan Corso | Posted 01.05.2009 | Living

Read More: Reproach, Npr, New Year's Resolutions, Snl, Less/More, Holiday Season Commentary, New Years Resolution, Swedes, New Year's Commentary, Resolutions, Living News
Dr. Susan Corso

This year, I'm going to . . . Waste less, recycle more. Talk less, listen more. React less, consider more. Read less, meditate more. Complain less, compliment more.

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What America Got For Christmas

Reverend Billy | Posted 12.31.2008 | Living

Read More: Local Politics, Economy, Christmas, Holiday Season, Shopping, Consumer Economy, Holiday Season Commentary, Retail, Big Box Stores, Bartering, Retail Bubble, Retail Sales, Local Economies, Chain Stores, Commercial Christmas, Spending Less, Trading, Living News
Reverend Billy

So the retail bubble finally burst, with some estimating an extreme contraction of up to 8%. An America where local economies strike a balance with the big companies is clearly the idea.

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A Post-Christmas Meditation on The Santa Lie

Lisa Wade | Posted 12.29.2008 | Style

Read More: Believing in Santa, Holidays, Santa, Holiday Season, Family Values, Children, Kids, Holiday Season Commentary, Christmas, Santa Claus, Family, Style News
Lisa Wade

What experiences have you had with the Santa lie? Why have you chosen to lie or tell the truth to your children? Do you think you did the right thing?

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The Shape of Toys to Come

Timothy Bay | Posted 12.29.2008 | Style

Read More: Toys, Financial Crisis, Political Satire, Santa, Christmas Toys, Satire, Christmas, Holiday Season Commentary, Style News
Timothy Bay

Facing the challenge of current economic conditions, Santa retooled his product line this season to create new toys incorporating space-age science and the economic spirit of the times.

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JCPenney Describes Sale as "Doorbuster!"

Lisa Wade | Posted 12.27.2008 | Style

Read More: Conspicuous Consumption, Wal-Mart Death, Walmart, Shopping, Economy, Holiday Season Commentary, Wal-Mart Stampede, J.C. Penney, Walmart Stampede, Feeding Frenzy, Capitalism, Wal-Mart, Consumerism, Black Friday Shopping, Black Friday, Walmart Death, Consumers, Style News
Lisa Wade

There is something truly amazing about a sign touting "Doorbuster!" sales that shows how quickly we forget, how callous we can be, and the level of incompetence at JCPenney.

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The Impact of Kindness: Riches and Regrets

SaraKay Smullens | Posted 12.27.2008 | Living

Read More: Health, Principals, Holiday Reflections, High School, Caring, Teachers, Love, The New Year, Compassion, Kindness, Holiday Season Commentary, Living News
SaraKay Smullens

I find myself looking back and remembering those who showed me enormous kindness -- as well as opportunities for kindness to those I had not been deeply involved with.

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Blessings of the Season

Alfred Gingold | Posted 12.26.2008 | Style

Read More: Change, Holiday Season, Hope, Election Day, Holiday Season Commentary, November 5th, November 4, Barack Obama, Happiness, Voting, Style News
Alfred Gingold

I am aware that the world outlook has, by most measures, deteriorated since Nov. 4th. But the light at the end of the tunnel shines on.

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Christmas Gifts

Laurence Leamer | Posted 12.25.2008 | Living

Read More: Memories, Family, Holiday Season Commentary, Living News
Laurence Leamer

Last evening at Christmas Eve dinner my two brothers and I tried to get our ninety-one-year old mother to reminisce about our childhood Christmases.

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Christmas Betrayals

Giles Slade | Posted 12.25.2008 | Entertainment

Read More: Thierry Magon De La Villehuchet Suicide, Bernard Madoff, Harold Pinter, Rod Blagojevich, Santa Slayings, Holiday Season Commentary, Entertainment News
Giles Slade

Reading Harold Pinter over the years made me believe that the moral need to rationalize our actions is even more deeply entrenched in fallible humans beings than sexual attraction.

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A Pele Christmas: An Encounter with a True Meaning of the Holiday

Kelly Carlin-McCall | Posted 12.25.2008 | Living

Read More: Hawaii, Religion, God, Christmas, Meditation, Love, Spirituality, Death, Parents, Holiday Season Commentary, Pele, Living News
Kelly Carlin-McCall

As I sat Christmas morning meditating as the dawn broke here in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean over Hawaii, I was struck by the many faces of the Ultimate Unknown/Known Otherness that were presented to me.

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My Holiday Message

Patrick Takahashi | Posted 12.25.2008 | Living

Read More: Gemini 6, Fruitcakes, Jesus Christ, Christmas, Santa Claus, Christianity, Satan Claus, O Tannenbaum, Antioch Jesus Movsement, Holiday Season Commentary, Living News
Patrick Takahashi

While maintaining a somewhat provocative edge, my holiday message provides a bit of humor, followed by compelling evidence on how the Catholic Church might have originated.

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Faith, Meaning, Hope and Christmas

Frank Schaeffer | Posted 12.25.2008 | Living

Read More: Christmas, Religion, Art, Robert Altman, Family, Holiday Season Commentary, Living News
Frank Schaeffer

Faith is certainly not theology to me these days. Church (for me a local Greek Orthodox church) is just one of the places I look for answers to the only real question I have: Why do we long for meaning?

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Out of Line: Recession Hanukkah

Mort Gerberg | Posted 12.25.2008 | Style

Read More: Holidays, Cartoons, Channukah, Hanukkah, Cheap, Holiday Season, Money, Humor, Holiday Season Commentary, Menorah, Saving Money, Lighting Candles, Recession, Religion, Chanukah, Out of Line, Hannukah, Candles, Cartoon, Style News
Mort Gerberg

2008-12-25-16229hanukkah.jpg

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What Would Jesus Do? Ask Thomas Jefferson

Anita Thompson | Posted 12.25.2008 | Living

Read More: Christianity, Thomas Jefferson, Christian Church, Jesus Christ, Barack Obama, Wildlife, Holiday Season Commentary, Living News
Anita Thompson

While reading Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope yesterday, I was reminded of the man (the third president) who distilled the teachings of Jesus Christ.

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Ancient Mythic Origins of the Christmas Story

Valerie Tarico | Posted 12.25.2008 | Living

Read More: Theology, Christmas, Religion, War on Christmas, Myths, Astrotheology, Holiday Season Commentary, Living News
Valerie Tarico

Most Americans know how Christmas came to be celebrated on December 25, but where does the Christmas story itself come from: Jesus in the manger, the angels and wise men?

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Christmas Day in a Louisiana Dungeon

Ira Glasser | Posted 12.25.2008 | Politics

Read More: Black Panthers, Herman Wallace, Louisiana, Holiday Season, Bobby Jindal, Prison, Holiday Season Commentary, Christmas, Racism, Albert Woodfox, Angola Prison, Civil Rights, Politics News
Ira Glasser

It's Christmas Day, and Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace are about to begin their 37th year in the dungeon of Angola Prison. A crucifixion. Where is the public outrage that will resurrect them?

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Why Would Progressives Make "War" on Christmas? It is a Celebration of Progressive Values

Robert Creamer | Posted 12.25.2008 | Politics

Read More: Jared Diamond, Rahm Emanuel, Afghanistan, Progressive Values, Christmas, War on Christmas, Bill O'Reilly War on Christmas, Wall Street Journal, David Grinspoon, Holiday Season Commentary, Politics News
Robert Creamer

Christmas celebrates the central premise of the progressive ethical system, "love they neighbor as thyself," and rejects the tribalism and radical individualism that lie at the heart of right wing ideology.

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Stranger On A Snowy Train

Kim Morgan | Posted 12.24.2008 | Entertainment

Read More: Charles McGraw, The Narrow Margin, O. Winston Link, The Major and the Minor, Strangers on a Train, Amtrak, North by Northwest, Some Like It Hot, Robert Walker, Ray Milland, Holiday Season Commentary, Oregon, Entertainment News
Kim Morgan

I'm heading north for the holidays, and I loathe flying, so I'm on the train. Traveling by train got me thinking (again) of some of my favorite train movies.

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Ho, Ho, Ho: What You Told Us to Stuff Into the Stockings of 2008's Naughty and Nice

Arianna Huffington | Posted 12.24.2008 | Politics

Read More: Huffington Post Commenters, Huffpost Stocking Stuffers, Huffington Post Community, Holiday Season, Christmas Gifts, Holiday Season Commentary, Christmas, Politics News
Arianna Huffington

Merry Christmas, HuffPosters. I hope you are all touched by the grace of this day. We have a special gift for you tucked under our Featured Blog Posts tree: a line-up of holiday-inspired offerings. Remember: every time you click on a post, a blogger gets his wings! Earlier this week, I asked for your suggestions on what gifts we should give to some of our favorite -- and not so favorite -- public figures. You responded with a flying sleigh's worth of great gift ideas. Even Santa's elves couldn't have been more industrious. Now it's time to unwrap the presents. Click here to check out our favorite suggestions for what should be stuffed into the stockings of some of 2008's naughty and nice.

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Menorah Musubi

Francesca Biller-Safran | Posted 12.24.2008 | Living

Read More: Milton Berle, Mel Brookes, Jesus, Woody Allen, Christmas, T.S. Elliot, Buddhist, Menorah, Spirituality, Jewish, Shikseh, Judaism, Buddhism, Holiday Season Commentary, Living News
Francesca Biller-Safran

Let's just say that I grew up thinking that while Jesus was a suffering member of my tribe I was not supposed to worship; Buddha taught us that "Life as we know it ultimately leads to suffering." You see, I couldn't win.

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Scrooge Nation: Can We Change?

RJ Eskow | Posted 12.24.2008 | Living

Read More: Micro-Giving, Twitter, Craig Newmark, John Borthwick, Beth Kanter, Spirituality, Kenneth Lerer, Holiday Season Commentary, Living News
RJ Eskow

Every Christmas Americans indulge in their many book, stage, and screen versions of Dickens' Christmas Carol. Then the nation that sighs over the Cratchit family goes back to acting like Ebenezer Scrooge.

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