OPINION

Ought Lang Syne

It's out with the depressing 2000s and in with the . . . what? As a new decade dawns, we need a completely new chapter in our history.

How much do you remember about 2009?

Quiz yourself on the year's truly important stories.

December 31, 2009

Journalism is the first draft of history, but as every college student realizes at 4 a.m. on the day the term paper is due, first drafts generally stink. So to help with the inevitable revisions, we asked the staff of National Public Radio's "Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me" to go through their archives for the year and compile a guide to the truly important stories of 2009, presented in quiz form. If you get none right, don't worry. You were probably focusing on the things that actually mattered. The answers will be posted Thursday morning.

Washington

1. "It's not a constitutional crisis. . . . This is the chief justice's version of a wardrobe malfunction."

That was law professor Jonathan Turley of George Washington University about something that nearly derailed the Obama presidency before it started. What?

2. "I'm a lefty . . . get used to it."

With those prophetic words, one man started his new job and launched a thousand paranoid conspiracy theories. Who?

3. The day after President Obama's first joint address to Congress, the New York Times devoted space to an analysis of the first lady's what?

4. In April, the Obama administration engaged in its first-ever serious coverup, denying -- despite videotaped evidence -- that the president did what to the king of Saudi Arabia?

5. In March, President Obama was criticized for giving British Prime Minister Gordon Brown a set of 25 DVDs of classic American films. Not only was it kind of a lame gift, it turned out there was another problem. What?

6. Right after the inauguration, the life of Vice President Joe Biden was endangered when someone leaked top secret details of his trip to Iraq. Who was the leaker?

7. "You'll have lots of splainin' to do!"

That's the way Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn questioned somebody during a confirmation hearing. Who?

Elected officials

8. "I thought about Mandela, Dr. King and Gandhi, and tried to put some perspective to all this, and that is what I am doing now." Which embattled governor made that statement?

9. The commissioners of Kleberg County, Texas, unanimously voted that all county employees cease and desist saying the word "Hello" and instead say what?

10. "I wanted to do something exotic."

That was somebody giving his first -- and ultimately his best -- explanation for how he happened to vanish for five days in June. Who?

11. Many people were critical of President Obama's December announcement that he would escalate the war in Afghanistan, but none more so than a Tennessee mayor who accused the president of what?

The military

12. The CIA found success persuading regional warlords in Afghanistan to cooperate with American forces by offering them what in return?

13. The Taliban is waging a serious propaganda war in Afghanistan, producing magazines and DVDs. And now it has embraced mobile technology. With what?

14. In March, tensions between the United States and China increased when a Navy ship was harassed by a fleet of Chinese boats. What really annoyed the Americans was when the Chinese sailors did what?

15. The Department of Defense recently upgraded one of its supercomputers. But rather than buying costly components specially designed for military applications, it simply purchased what?

The economy

16. "We're running out of rich people in this country!"

That was a very upset Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), explaining why she joined all of her Republican colleagues in the House and voted against what?

17. In February it was revealed that Citibank lost up to $27 million to what worldwide scourge?

18. "I think the . . . name is so thoroughly wounded and disgraced that we're probably going to have to change it." That was the chief executive of which company in March?

World news

19. The Flintshire County Council in Wales will no longer be serving Spotted Dick in its canteen because of what?

20. Irish politician Mattie McGrath drew fire in October for recommending that anxious drivers might want to do what before getting behind the wheel?

21. In September, French President Nicolas Sarkozy delivered a speech with a group of workers behind him as a backdrop. It turned out those people had all been screened to make sure they were what?

22. When his country was rocked by an earthquake in April, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi comforted the homeless by saying they should think of the experience as what?

23. A burglar in China who had stolen a DVD player was arrested a month later when he did what?

24. The BBC faced criticism in October for altering a Humpty Dumpty cartoon for a broadcast. What did the network change about the classic nursery rhyme?

25. In November, the Louvre in Paris opened a what on its property?

26. In an effort to reduce weight on its flights, and in turn reduce fuel costs and carbon emissions, Japan's All Nippon Airways is asking its passengers to do what?

Battle of the sexes

27. One hundred thousand Australian men have signed up for an online reminder service to warn them of what recurring event?

28. Social scientists say men use social networking technology (Facebook, MySpace, etc.) for what primary purpose?

29. British scientists say they've found a cure for a wide range of health hazards -- heart disease, depression, lung disorders and traffic accidents. What is it?

30. According to a new study of sleep patterns, a man will be woken up by a car alarm, howling wind, sirens -- even the buzzing of a fly -- before he's woken up by what?

Health

31. In the first days of the swine flu panic, Afghanistan imprisoned the country's one and only what?

32. "I'm here to take my medicine." That was somebody making a Freudian slip, perhaps, as he confessed to the media about, well, some medicine he had taken. Illegally. Who?

33. The fear of swine flu is taking a toll around the world. In France, people are being asked to refrain from taking part in what cherished tradition?

34. In an effort to curb the country's high birthrate, India is introducing rural villages to what as a form of birth control?

California

35. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger posted a video in which he thanked his constituents for submitting ideas to deal with the massive budget crisis in his state. But many Californians wondered about something the governor did at the beginning of the video. What?

36. Lawmakers in the San Fernando Valley criticized the city's aging pipe system after an incident in September when a sinkhole did what?

37. The housing crisis has left homes across the country empty, their lawns brown and unkempt. But one California town had a solution. What?

38. In October, Gov. Schwarzenegger sent a letter to Assembly Democrats explaining why he vetoed a bill they had sponsored. The unusual thing was that the veto message did what?

39. Tourists visiting L.A. will soon have a new must-do attraction. What is it?

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-oe-quiz31-2009dec31,0,1778837,print.htmlstory

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New Year's birthdays aplenty

Refugees who come to the United States without records are often given Jan. 1 as their date of birth. The practice of assigning such birthdays began after the Vietnam War.

by Anna Gorman

January 1, 2010

Abdalla Ali thinks he might have been born during the rainy season. He is pretty sure the year was 1984, but he doesn't know which month.

Ali grew up not knowing his age or tracking his birthday.

But each year in San Diego, where he now lives with his wife, siblings and dozens of other Somali Bantus, Ali and his fellow refugees celebrate together. They all share the same birthday: New Year's Day.

Of the nearly 80,000 refugees resettled in the United States this year, almost 11,000 have been given Jan. 1 birthdays, according to the State Department. The practice of having overseas State Department or United Nations workers assign a New Year's Day birthday to people who do not know when they actually were born is not a formal policy, but it has become common around the world.

Refugees from Burma, Sudan, Laos and Ethiopia are among the many who officially will turn one year older today.

Many of the newcomers were born in homes rather than hospitals, without birth certificates, handprints or cameras to document the day. Others were born in refugee camps or in war zones, where record-keeping was rare. Frequently, births were remembered by their proximity to important events -- the year of the famine, the season the village was ambushed by soldiers, the time of the flood.

While some parents were uneducated and didn't know how to record their children's births, others, like the Hmong from Laos, simply didn't consider birthdays more significant than other days.

"Birthdays weren't that important," said Joy Hofer, vice president of the International Institute of Los Angeles. "The important events are death and marriage, that's it."

Ali, who believes he is 26, said he was surprised by how much attention Americans paid to birthdays. But he quickly adapted to the rituals of birthday cakes, candles, wishes and gifts.

"Having parties is nice," he said. "It's very nice to know how old I am and to celebrate my age."

Even though he is glad to have a birthday to commemorate each year, Ali said another date is still more important to him -- the day he arrived in America.

The practice of assigning Jan. 1 birthdays began after the Vietnam War, when large numbers of Vietnamese were being resettled in the United States. Now, it is used for refugees who come from countries without well-developed legal or civil systems, said Beth Schlachter, a spokeswoman for the State Department. Refugees are assigned a birth year based on each family's own account.

"If you don't have a court system and you don't have records, birthdays become fungible," Schlachter said.

Not knowing their correct birthdays can cause problems when newcomers reach a country such as the United States, where legal rights and obligations often depend on a person's exact age. If a young refugee is actually 16, but is given an age of 19, he may be unable to enroll in school. And if an older refugee is really 70 but thinks she is 60, she won't be immediately eligible for Social Security benefits.

"If you get your date of birth wrong, it's a problem," said Sharlu Tusaw, 36, of Burma, who has worked with refugees in Bakersfield. "Whether too young or too old, you have to get it right."

UNICEF is working to improve birth registration so children from developing countries have access to healthcare and education and so they are protected from underage employment, marriage or military service.

Some wish they knew the actual date more precisely. Burmese refugee Eh Lah said it simply wasn't in her culture to remember or celebrate birthdays. And even if it had been, there was no money for a party.

She was born in a refugee camp in Thailand after her parents fled Burma, now officially called Myanmar. Her parents died when she was 3. Before coming to the United States, her uncle estimated Lah's age based on the births of his own children.

She was assigned the birthday of Jan. 1, 1984.

"It makes me sad," she said. "I want to know the right month, date and year I was born."

Another refugee from Burma, Ban Ban, had his first birthday party last year -- when, according to his documents, he turned 20.

Ban was born in Burma and then moved to a refugee camp in Thailand as a teenager. There, he lived in a hut without running water or electricity and cooked over a charcoal fire. The only days his family celebrated were weddings and his ethnic group's New Year.

Arriving in America in 2007, Ban was assigned Jan. 1 as a birthday. Now he lives in Bakersfield, where he takes English classes and works as a caregiver for disabled people. Ban said he has gotten used to writing his date of birth, including on his applications for college classes, car insurance and a bank account.

At the beginning of 2009, his boss threw a party for everyone with a January birthday.

At the party, Ban got a birthday cake (cheesecake), a present (a pair of pants that was too small), lunch (Filipino food) and a lot of birthday wishes. He blew out the candle, but said he didn't know until later that he was supposed to make a wish.

"Everybody said, 'Happy birthday,' and they shake my hand," he said. "Some people give me a kiss. . . . It was very strange."

Ban also got another surprise that day: a traffic ticket. The officer didn't mention the birthday.

He said sharing his birthday with other refugees -- and with New Year's -- makes him feel special.

"I feel like I am going to start a new life every year," he said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-jan1-2010jan01,0,2213316,print.story

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From the Daily News

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Blue moon to ring in the new year

Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't expect it to be blue - the name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial neighbor.

A full moon occurred on Dec. 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown.

"If you're in Times Square, you'll see the full moon right above you. It's going to be that brilliant," said Jack Horkheimer, director emeritus of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium and host of a weekly astronomy TV show.

The New Year's Eve blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up until New Year's Day, making January a blue moon month for them.

A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month - a blue moon - occurs every 2.5 years. The last time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year's Eve blue moons are more rare, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won't come again until 2028.

The popular definition of blue moon came about after a writer for Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 misinterpreted the Maine Farmer's Almanac and labeled a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the almanac defined a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons, not the usual three.

Though Sky & Telescope corrected the error decades later, the definition caught on.

http://www.dailynews.com/ci_14090362

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Boy's death gave gift of life to others

LIFE coming from death has been a dream of mankind since the beginning of time. Modern medicine now makes this possible through organ donation. Almost half a million Americans have been given new lives through organ transplants. For them, careers, marriages and children once denied become possible.

To honor this triumph of life, Donate Life is building a spectacular float for the Rose Parade on New Year's Day. It features a 30-foot-high phoenix rising from a bed of ashes to symbolize those who give life in their passing and the lives renewed through transplantation.

Four years ago, I had the privilege of riding on the Donate Life float. I know firsthand the love that is poured into all aspects of it, and the pride of being a part of something so powerful.

This year the float also carries more personal memories. One of the 76 floral portraits, or "floragraphs," is of my own 7-year-old brother, Nicholas, who was shot in a botched robbery 15 years ago in Italy, and who donated to seven people.

Though I was only 4 at the time, I remember quite vividly how the world embraced my family's decision, and organ donation rates in Italy have quadrupled since. Certainly there are many people responsible for such a dramatic improvement, but it was Nicholas, my unbearably bright and kind older brother, who was the catalyst.

One of his recipients was a woman, Maria Pia, who was in her final coma the day she received Nicholas' liver. Maria was 19 years old, the age I am now, when she thought her life was over. A few months ago I met her again, with a husband and two children, one of whom she named Nicholas. She told me she never forgets the little boy who made all this possible, and neither will I. It is that memory that drives all the work we do, and when I see the faces of the lives he gave, it is all worthwhile.

Nicholas' death and the seven lives that he saved through donation may have turned the world on its ear, but so should every heart-wrenching donor story. His floragraph will be joined by those of a girl who was only three days old when she gave life to others, a 76-year-old tissue donor, and a 64-year-year-old Hawaiian who combined in one life being a leading dancer, a champion canoeist and a doctor of divinity.

Twenty-four people representing donors and recipients alike will ride beneath these portraits. Combined, the Donate Life float's 100 stories of courage and generosity together offer a cross-section of the entire population - all walks of life, all ages, all ethnic backgrounds and all types of personalities. Because the people who give life, and the lives they save, cross all boundaries.

More than 100,000 Americans are waiting for an organ transplant, and 18 of them die every day for lack of available organs. Ninety percent of Americans say they are in favor of organ donation, but when faced with the decision on much darker days, many say no. Many people, especially those my age, cannot, or will not, think of their own mortality, and end-of-life decisions generally are considered too morbid to discuss. However, it is through these conversations that lives are saved.

Maria and the six other recipients were once just abstractions to us. But now that we have seen their faces, held their hands and met their families, it's impossible that we could have made another choice.

On New Year's Day, the Donate Life float will turn attention to this kind of joyful life that comes from donation, as all around the world tens of millions of people witness the living proof. I will be watching proudly for Nicholas' face and the smile that was taken from us 15 years ago. Somehow, after all these years, that smile lives on.

http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_14089072

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Happy and safe: Ending 2009 is reason enough to celebrate - in moderation

THAT we made it through another scary year is reason enough to celebrate the coming of the new year. The year 2009 leaves little to cheer about in its wake except that it's gone - and for most of us, it's good riddance.

The Editorial Page staff would like to thank readers for your patience with our scruffy vision of what we see around us, over the hill, up in Sacramento and off in the teeth-grinding swamps of Washington, D.C., and Wall Street - which may be the same place, for all we can do to separate them.

We ask you readers to practice the old Roman Republic virtues of moderation and restraint in your celebration: Remember the Golden Mean.

Don't drink and drive. Even if the California Highway Patrol, Los Angeles Sheriff's deputies and Los Angeles police officers weren't going to be out in force looking for drunk drivers, you should keep yourself and your loved ones safe.

Choose a designated driver, call a friend or relative for a lift. Or take advantage of the many public services offered for those who have imbibed too much good cheer. The Metro's fleet of trains and buses, including the Valley's Orange Line, are offering free rides from 9 p.m. tonight to 2 a.m. New Year's Day.

The Automobile Club of Southern California is offering its "Tipsy Tow" service from 6 p.m. tonight to midnight Friday.

And for the few among you who mark the end of the year by firing a weapon into the air - please don't. The laws of gravity do not get repealed on New Year's Eve. What goes up, does come down. But we suspect we are preaching to the choir. People who read editorials are not likely to be the ones who abuse the Second Amendment this way.

It is sad that we see leaving the old year as reason enough to celebrate. Because it wasn't always like this.

New Year's Day was once the celebration of the coming of spring and the joy of nature's rebirth. In ancient agricultural societies, it was the promise that the light would triumph over darkness and the earth would become green again. It was a pagan religious holiday and, even into the Dark Ages, it was a day of feasting and dancing. Among the Dutch, for instance, it meant exchanging simple presents.

The latter was carried on in a fashion into the 20th century in rural New England and the Old South with a custom of children leaving a pair of shoes in a corner of the house with a cookie or treat in it for "the house elf," who would load the shoe up with with a fresh bounty of candy and fruit and perhaps a small toy by the next morning.

But the simple, homely ways of our fathers are gone. What remains: parades, athletic contests and lists of top 10 this and that. Not much, it's agreed, but it's enough for now. And the pre-spring rains are starting with a light mist.

Have a happy - and safe - New Year's celebration.

http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_14094143

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From the Wall Street Journal

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A Cheat Sheet for Keeping Resolutions

If you are making a New Year's resolution you would like to keep, consider the example of Charlene Zatloukal.

A year ago, the Lincoln, Neb., artist and writer was so disorganized that she spent much of her time looking for misplaced supplies in her office clutter. To find all the Web sites where she had posted her artwork, "I often had to Google my own name," she says. But she made a resolution last New Year's Day to get organized, and now, a year later, she is sticking to it. With the clutter gone and her deadlines and routines under control, she says, "my life is so much easier."

'I had to give myself time to achieve my goal step by step. If I had tried to change everything at once, I would have set myself up for failure.'

It is no secret that the odds against keeping a New Year's resolution are steep. Only about 19% of people who make them actually stick to their vows for two years, according to research led by John Norcross, a psychology professor at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.

But those discouraging statistics mask an important truth: The simple act of making a New Year's resolution sharply improves your chances of accomplishing a positive change—by a factor of 10. Among those people who make resolutions in a typical year, 46% keep them for at least six months. That compares with only 4% of a comparable group of people who wanted to make specific changes and thought about doing so, but stopped short of making an actual resolution, says a 2002 study of 282 people, led by Dr. Norcross and published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

To explore what separates the winners from the losers, I tracked down several people who have kept their resolutions for a while. In addition to Ms. Zatloukal, Michael Haenel, a Phoenix, Ariz., commercial real-estate broker, has for more than a year kept a vow to practice a daily ritual of writing down and reflecting on three things for which he is grateful. Cristina Barcia, a Melville, N.Y., paralegal, has kept for several weeks a pre-holiday resolution to take off a few pounds. And Mark McGuinness, a London coach and trainer, has kept for two years his New Year's 2008 resolution to meditate every day.

"Getting 'psyched up' is helpful for creating motivation before Jan. 1; but after the New Year comes, it's perspiration time," Dr. Norcross says. Three of the winners made changes in their environment at home or work. Two make a habit of rewarding themselves for small successes. Three have benefited greatly by tapping other people for support. And while all faced lapses and setbacks, they expected them and didn't allow discouragement to creep in. Here are the principles they followed:

• Take one step at a time. Too many people "make large resolutions, such as losing 40 pounds by March, that are just too hard to accomplish," says Joseph Ferrari, a professor of psychology at DePaul University, Chicago, and author of a forthcoming book on avoiding procrastination. Most do better if they break big goals into small steps.

For Ms. Zatloukal, who works from home, trying to clean up all the clutter and disarray in her office and studio at once would have been "setting myself up for failure," she says.

Instead, she started by making a list of the underlying reasons for her messiness. Admitting, for instance, that she is by nature a "hoarder," hanging onto used, nearly empty tubes of paint, was the first step toward seeing that her frugality had become counterproductive.

Step by step, she started tossing out old supplies once a month. She began clearing clutter every day before relaxing in the evening. She consolidated several calendars into one, avoiding conflicts and missed deadlines. And she rewarded herself for small improvements, buying herself an attractive new in-basket as a payoff for sorting the mail.

After 30 days, the small changes became habit, adding up gradually to an overhaul. Now, she says, "it's easier to meet deadlines when I don't spend most of my day searching for things."

• Get a little help from your friends. To build a deeper appreciation for the good things in his life, Mr. Haenel has enlisted like-minded friends to help. For more than a year, he has been making a list every morning, in a pocket-sized journal he carries with him, of three things for which he is grateful. Recent entries: playing golf with his two sons; a morning run with his dog; a hot shower; his deep and enduring relationship with his wife; a busy schedule; his ability to learn yoga; the taste of a morning cup of coffee with cream; the look of a full winter moon in the night sky, and simply being alive.

Then, he makes a five-minute phone call every day to one of several friends who have agreed to keep the same resolution, and they read their lists to each other. "If I'm not calling my friends in the morning, they're calling me, saying, 'Hey, are you still on track?' That interaction with another person keeps it alive and keeps us sharing and listening."

After more than a year, Mr. Haenel has filled two journals with his gratitude lists and is working on a third. "Now that I'm focused on being grateful for those things, I think they mean more, and I sense them more," he says.

To keep a resolution she made before Thanksgiving to take off some pounds, Ms. Barcia has joined a weight-loss contest with nine co-workers at the 20-employee law firm where she works, Genser Dubow Genser & Cona. The contestants have stocked the office kitchen with carrots and celery. They weigh in weekly with their office manager.

All day, Ms. Barcia is surrounded by co-workers who are either cheering her on or competing with her. She has skin in the game—a $10 contribution to a winner-take-all office pool. And she has a side bet with her boss, attorney Ken Kern, that she will lose more weight than he does. The stakes: A restaurant gift card.

The friendly battle to best her boss has been highly motivating, Ms. Barcia says. Hearing Mr. Kern talk with the confidence of a lifelong athlete about getting back in shape "brought out the tiger in me," she says. Displaying the confidence Dr. Norcross says is a strong predictor of success, she told him, "You know what? Bring it!" She has dropped seven pounds and is in a dead heat with Mr. Kern for first place. She wasn't above bringing him gourmet cheesecake recently as a holiday "gift."

'Peer pressure helps me stick to my plan. If I'm not calling my friends in the morning, they're calling me, saying, "Hey, are you still on track?" '

Mr. Kern, a litigator who hopes to take off 15 pounds, says, "I welcome this challenge, and we have been having a lot of fun with it." Describing Ms. Barcia's cheesecake as "sabotage," he retaliated with a "gift" of cookies for her. "I'm here to win," he says. A final weigh-in is set for March.

• Announce your intentions. After trying and failing repeatedly to build meditation into his routine, Mr. McGuinness raised the stakes on New Year's Day, 2008: He published his resolution to thousands of readers of his blog at www.wishfulthinking.co.uk. The public commitment has made the difference, he says. When he feels like shirking, he asks himself, "what am I going to tell my blog readers?" Clients and readers sometimes ask if he is keeping his resolution.

Mr. McGuinness started by setting an easy "mini-goal," resolving at first only to sit completely still for five minutes every day. That helped him get past the first hurdle, his reluctance to stop his activity and sit down. After that, it was easy to extend the time to his current 20 to 30 minutes a day.

He advises focusing on the rewards of your new habit. For him, meditation affords the "sheer pleasure of sitting down, letting things go and enjoying being present in the moment." As an added incentive, he bought himself a meditation cushion; "it's important to invest something in a new habit," he says. If he misses a day, "the cushion sits there reproachfully. It's a little reminder."

• Figure out your attachment to bad habits. We often become attached to old behaviors because they benefit us in some way. Psychologists advise figuring out what your bad behaviors do for you and finding healthier substitutes. If you overeat to ease stress, for example, start practicing deep breathing or meditation.

As Ms. Zatloukal became more organized, she realized that her messiness had served an important purpose. When her supplies were strewn about, it was easy to pick them up on a whim and start painting. Now when she is inspired, she has to stop, lay down a cloth and take out her paints. "By the time I actually get down to the business of creating, the inspiration has passed." Undaunted, she is resolving in 2010 to set up a fully equipped, readily accessible "mini-studio," enabling her to work spontaneously again.

• Expect setbacks. People who fail at resolutions, Dr. Norcross says, tend to criticize or blame themselves for slipups. In contrast, each of the resolution-keepers I interviewed brushed off the inevitable setbacks and got quickly back on track. Ms. Zatloukal says her clutter tends to grow around the holidays or big deadlines, but she just sets aside a little time to clean up and moves on.

Mr. McGuinness had a good excuse for missing some meditation time last July: His wife gave birth to twins. But he rebounded by switching his quiet time to the evenings after the babies fall asleep, he says. He has resumed meditating daily.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704234304574625993885272978.html#printMode

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World Revels as New Year Begins

NEW YORK -- The crystal ball has dropped and confetti has showered the crowd of hundreds of thousands of revelers in Times Square who are greeting 2010 with cheers.

With hugs and kisses, partygoers tried to look forward to a more hopeful decade after 10 years marred by war, an uncertain economy, terrorism and the threat of environmental catastrophe.

But 50-year-old reveler Gail Guay of New Hampshire had this advice: "Don't look back."

Organizers had mixed handwritten wishes with about 3,000 pounds of confetti. The messages include appeals for the safe return of troops fighting overseas, continued employment and a cure for diabetes.

The crowds brought out heightened security. Hundreds of officers were scattered around Times Square. Snipers were at various locations.

Paris jazzed up the Eiffel Tower with a multicolored, disco-style light display as the world basked in festivities with hopes that 2010 and beyond will bring more peace and prosperity.

From fireworks over Sydney's famous bridge to balloons sent aloft in Tokyo, revelers across the globe at least temporarily shelved worries about the future to bid farewell to "The Noughties" -- a bitter-tinged nickname for the first decade of the 21st century playing on a term for "zero" and evoking the word naughty.

Las Vegas prepared to welcome some 315,000 revelers with fireworks from casino rooftops, a traffic-free Las Vegas Strip and toasts at nightclubs from celebrities including actress Eva Longoria and rapper 50 Cent.

Even as some major stock market indexes rose in 2009, the financial downturn hit hard, sending many industrial economies into recession, tossing millions out of work and out of their homes as foreclosures rose dramatically in some countries.

Paris jazzed up the Eiffel Tower with a multicolored, disco-style light display as the world basked in festivities with hopes that 2010 and beyond will bring more peace and prosperity.

From fireworks over Sydney's famous bridge to balloons sent aloft in Tokyo, revelers across the globe at least temporarily shelved worries about the future to bid farewell to "The Noughties" -- a bitter-tinged nickname for the first decade of the 21st century playing on a term for "zero" and evoking the word naughty.

"The year that is ending has been difficult for everybody. No continent, no country, no sector has been spared," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on national TV in a New Year's Eve address. "Even if the tests are unfinished, 2010 will be a year of renewal," he added.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned her people that the start of the new decade won't herald immediate relief from the global economic ills. South Africa's president, Jacob Zuma, was more ebullient, saying the World Cup is set to make 2010 the country's most important year since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd hailed events in 2009 like the inauguration of the United States' first black president, and international attempts to grapple with climate change and the global financial crisis.

"The great message from 2009 is that because we've been all in this together, we've all worked together," Rudd said in a New Year's message.

Australia got the some of the festivities rolling, as Sydney draped its skies with explosive bursts of crimson, purple and blue to the delight of more than 1 million New Year revelers near the harbor bridge.

Concerns that global warming might raise sea levels and cause other environmental problems were on the minds of some as the year ended.

Venice revelers rang in the New Year with wet feet as high tide on its archipelago peaked just before midnight to flood low-lying parts of the city _ including the St. Mark's Square.

The last year also offered its reminders of the decade's fight against terrorism, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more recently, rising militant violence in Pakistan.

Watch video of New Year's fireworks in New Zealand, one of the first countries to greet each new year due to its proximity to the International Date Line. Video courtesy of Reuters.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain, in a statement Wednesday, suggested that terrorism book-ended the decade, with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, and foiled plot by a Nigerian man to set off explosives on a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Eve.

"In late December we were reminded at this decade's end, just as we were at its beginning, that there is a terrorist threat which puts our safety and security at risk and which requires us to take on al-Qaeda and the Taliban at the epicentre of global terrorism," he said.

The American Embassy in Indonesia warned of a possible terrorist attack on the resort island of Bali on New Year's Eve, citing information from the island's governor -- though local security officials said they were unaware of a threat.

In a more upbeat theme, the Eiffel Tower was decked out for its 120th anniversary year with hundreds of multicolored lights along its latticework. It was seemingly retro in style, but decidedly 21st century as it showered the Iron Lady in a light show billed as more energy-saving than its usual sparkling lights.

Police blocked off the Champs-Elysees to vehicle traffic as partygoers popped champagne, exchanged la bise -- the traditional French cheek to cheek peck -- or more amorous kisses to celebrate the New Year.

Spain rang in the start of its six-month presidency of the European Union with a sound and light show illuminating Sol square in Madrid and images from the 27 member states projected onto the central post office building.

Partiers braved the cold -- and a shower from sparkling cava wine bottles _ in traditional style by eating 12 grapes, one with each tolling of the city hall bell.

Despite frigid temperatures, thousands gathered along the River Thames for fireworks were fired from the London Eye attraction just as Big Ben struck midnight -- an hour after continental western Europe.

"(2009 was) like shock therapy, where people really change when something bad happens to them," said accountant Conrad Jordaan, 35, as he enjoyed cigarettes and coffee Thursday at an outdoor cafe in London. "It will be interesting to see if it changes peoples' behavior long term."

Europe and the Americas may have partied harder than Asia. Islamic countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan use a different calendar; China will mark the new year in February.

Still, in Shanghai, some people paid 518 yuan ($75) to ring the bell at the Longhua Temple at midnight and wish for new-year luck. In Chinese, saying "518" sounds like the phrase "I want prosperity."

Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries where New Year's Eve is not celebrated publicly. Clerics in the ultraconservative country say Muslims can only observe their faith's feasts of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. For them, any other occasions are considered innovations that Islam rejects.

Unlike many Islamic countries where pigs are considered unclean, New Year's in Austria just isn't complete without a pig-shaped lucky charm _ and stalls selling the little porkers did a good business Thursday. Some are made of marzipan or chocolate; others come in glass, wood, rubber or soap.

Herbert Nikitsch of the University of Vienna's Institute of European Ethnology said the porcine phylactery may originate from the fact that pigs represented food and sustenance for farmers in preindustrial times.

Some festivities went awry.

In the Philippines, hundreds of people were injured by firecrackers and celebratory gunfire during the celebrations. Many Filipinos, largely influenced by Chinese tradition, believe that noisy New Year's celebrations drive away evil and misfortune --_ but some carry that belief to extremes.

At Zojoji, one of Tokyo's oldest and biggest Buddhist temples, thousands of worshippers released clear, helium-filled balloons to mark the new year. Nearby Tokyo Tower twinkled with white lights, while a large "2010" sign glowed from the center.

Tokyo's Shibuya area, known as a magnet of youth culture, exploded with emotion at the stroke of midnight. Strangers embraced spontaneously as revelers jumped and sang.

"I really felt the economic downturn last year," said Keitaro Morizame, a 24-year-old TV producer in Tokyo. "I think the future will be brighter."

In Istanbul, Turkish authorities deployed some 2,000 police around Taksim Square to prevent pickpockets and the molestation of women that have marred New Year celebrations in the past. Some officers were under cover, disguised as street vendors or "even in Santa Claus dress," Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler said.

In Stonehaven, on Scotland's east coast, the fireballs festival _ a tradition for a century and a half _ saw in the New Year. The pagan festival is observed by marchers swinging large, flaming balls around their heads. The flames are believed to either ensure sunshine or banish harmful influences.

In contrast to many galas worldwide, the Stonehaven Fireballs Association warned those attending not to wear their best clothes _ because "there will be sparks flying along with smoke and even whisky."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126226672274511821.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories#printMode

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From the Washinton Times

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Year-end recaps reflect life cycle

by Marybeth Hicks

They don't call it a "news cycle" for nothing. As surely as the minute hand winds down the waning moments of 2009, headlines bombard us with a now familiar theme for every New Year's week: The Recap. This time, we're reviewing not only the year that ends at midnight Friday, but the decade as well -- a period one of the newsmagazines is calling the "Worst Decade Ever."

Ouch.

Decade-in-review stories interest me because I'm afflicted with a memory like Swiss cheese. Pointing and clicking my way through the headlines, I'm saying, "I remember Kelly Clarkson," and "Oh yeah ... Halle Berry's Oscar" and "Has it been that long since the wardrobe malfunction?" Time flies like a bustier at a Super Bowl, doesn't it?

Of course, there were seminal occurrences during the past 10 years that have redefined our country and our culture, and those remain with us as current events. Richard Hatch's victory on the first season of "Survivor" gave us "The Bachelor" and "Jon and Kate" and the recent ill-fated "balloon boy" attempt at celebrity.

The Facebook guys gave us "friend" as a verb and teenagers with bad grades.

Those hanging chads of 2000 gave us a generation of Bush-haters and a lucrative career for Al Gore in climate change.

The inconceivable and surreal tragedy of 9/11 gave us the war on terror, now being fought by 18-year-old men and women who were still wide-eyed children on the day it began.

Unlike the folks who bring us the news stories that make the annual recap list, most of us don't mark time in headlines. We're too busy wiping down the high chair or walking someone to kindergarten or taking a son to his first driver's ed class or visiting college campuses to find that elusive "right fit."

To be sure, we listen to the headlines while we're figuring out how to cook chicken breasts when we have no cream of mushroom soup, and while looking for the form for the field trip and running up to the grocery store to get the bag of dog food we forgot.

Some of those news stories are pretty funny (a teen who, in 2005, sued to wear a Confederate flag prom dress) but not as funny as muting the TV so we can listen to our sister's story of shopping for a bathing suit or how she talked her way out of a speeding ticket (or didn't).

Most of the news stories that make the recap reel are downright worrisome. Joblessness and failing banks and foreclosure rates weigh on our minds. Still, they're not as worrisome as a cousin's CT scan or the cancer diagnosis for the teacher at the high school. We worry more about the things that confront our loved ones - the people we pray for every night - like finding a job close to home, or saving a struggling marriage, or carrying a difficult pregnancy to term.

This decade included stories about the deaths of former presidents and a pope, a famous pop star and a few noteworthy politicians - deaths that prompted days of somber coverage of funerals and burials and memorial services.

But for most of us, the decade included deaths of much greater significance. The loss of parents and children, friends and neighbors - some to tragic accidents, some in heart-rending submission to disease, some to senseless violence, some in heroic acts of selflessness. We grieved and comforted, made casseroles and wrote sympathy cards. We did what people do to move through pain.

I don't know if folks believe it was the "worst decade ever." For most of us, the past 10 years brought all the happiness and heartache that constitutes a real life.

It's only the "worst ever" if you lose faith in the God who gives us life, along with the hope and the freedom to make each day its own story.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/30/hicks-year-end-recaps-reflect-life-cycle//print/

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Linguists not 'chillaxin' over '09 catchwords

by Andrea Billups

Among the highlights of 2009 that will not be missed, according to one Midwestern university, is the rise of a list of overused words and pop-culture-laden phrases -- several from the Twitterverse -- that deserve to be banned.

"Friend"? As a verb? Please, say lingo experts at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., who released Thursday their cheeky 35th annual list of commonly used sayings that they want excised from the nation's techno-laden vernacular.

Among the worst offenders:

"Sexting" -- the act of sending sexually laden text messages, like the ones that have sent flames flying for some celebrities including star golfer in exile Tiger Woods.

"Chillaxin" -- a pseudo-hip combo of "chilling" and "relaxing" that was described by one university Web poster as an annoyance from the Generation Y ranks.

"Bromance" -- a catchword used to describe a tight male-bonding experience, particularly in movies or TV shows, that made another poster scream: "Just stop it already."

It was 1975 when Lake Superior State first released a New Year's Day list of overused terms and phrases that they felt had to go. Since then, the college has sought public submissions on what words were out from year to year, receiving thousands of nods from the marketing, media, education and technology spheres as they compiled a humorous annual list.

Joked a Lake Superior "word banishment" representative: "The list this year is a 'teachable moment' conducted free of 'Tweets.' "

The representative added: " 'In these economic times,' purging our language of 'toxic assets' is a 'stimulus' effort that's 'too big to fail.' "

Toxic assets was a term used by corporate and government financiers to describe financial properties that have sunk in value, with the phrase "too big to fail" used repeatedly in reference to companies, specifically banks and financial firms such as AIG, that are thought to require public bailouts.

Other words on the list included, "czar," "app" (for software applications), along with "transparent/transparency" and "stimulus," which detractors suggest has been overstimulated in our year of sturdy governmentspeak.

President Obama, whose popularity dipped in the past year, also was not immune from the school's colloquial 2009 purge fest.

"The LSSU Word Banishment Committee held out hope that folks would want to Obama-ban Obama-structions, but were surprised that no one Obama-nominated any, such as these compiled by the Oxford Dictionary in 2009: Obamanomics, Obamanation, Obamafication, Obamacare, Obamalicious, Obamaland ...."

The committee added: "We say Obamanough already."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/01/linguists-not-chillaxin-over-catchwords-of-09//print/

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From Other Sources

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New Years Traditions

Traditions to bring good luck for the New Year are as old as the celebrations and come from all corners of the world.

Many cultures count a tall, dark and handsome man crossing the threshold as a sign of good luck, but if the first person to enter the house is a red headed woman...the year is sure to be stressful. What single girl would argue with that one!

Others involve housecleaning...brushing the bad luck of the past out with the dust. Holding a piece of silver or gold as the New Year begins is said to increase the chances of prosperity in the coming year...some place a silver coin over the doorway or a penny on the windowsill.

An Irish tradition involves banging on the door and walls with Christmas bread to chase the bad luck out and bring good spirits to the household with the promise of bread enough in the New Year. This is probably related to the tradition of banging pots and pans in Iran , or the ancient tradition of using firecrackers to welcome in the Chinese New Year .

The youngest boy in the household lighting a candle at dusk to burn through the night until morning light is another Celtic tradition — that may be a citified version of lighting bonfires or a carryover of the Samhain tradition of lighting tapers in the windows to chase the evil spirits.

In the Philippines, children jump up and down at midnight to make sure they will grow tall. In Asia , sunrise celebrations and honoring of the ancestors and elders brings luck.

German's drop melted lead into cold water and take turns interpreting the results. This tradition has become so popular that kits are sold that include the lead pellets and suggestions for discerning what it all means!

Then there are the foods! Chiacchiere , or honey drenched balls of fried dough, always ensure a sweet year in Italy. Grapes, one for each month, make for a lucky year in Spain and many Latin countries. Eating pork, all kinds of greens, cabbage, sauerkraut, the Southern U.S. tradition of black eyed peas or anything that forms a circle - such as donuts or pretzels - make for good fortune in the coming year. In Korea, bowing to the elders and deokguk, Rice Cake Soup, are part of the sun rise celebrations.

These ancient holiday traditions are as varied as the lands where they are from, but they all have one thing in common: sharing warm personal wishes with friends and family for much happiness, health and prosperity in the New Year...

http://www.chiff.com/home_life/holiday/new-year-traditions.htm

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New Year Superstitions

http://www.snopes.com/holidays/newyears/beliefs.asp
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