A New Year's Resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect on New Year's Day and remain until the set goal has been achieved, although many resolutions go unachieved and are often broken fairly shortly after they are set. Many New Year resolutions in the Western world involve maintaining peak vitality, physical fitness, or appearance. For example, one person's goal might be to reduce or to eliminate intake of alcohol, tobacco, or recreational drugs. The most common New Year’s resolution is weight loss. A student may make a resolution to stay focused in class or to complete all of his assignments. Resolutions to eat sensibly or increase exercise are also quite common. New Year's Eve has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, forward to the coming year. It's a time to reflect on the changes we want (or need) to make and resolve to follow through on those changes.

 Spend More Time with Family & Friends: 50% of Americans vow to appreciate loved ones and spend more time with family and friends this year. Make plans to meet up with friends for an evening at a restaurant or take the family to one of these popular places for family fun.

 Fit in Fitness: The evidence is in for fitness. Regular exercise has been associated with more health benefits than anything else known to man. Studies show that it reduces the risk of some cancers, increases longevity, helps achieve and maintain weight loss, enhances mood, lowers blood pressure, and even improves arthritis. In short, exercise keeps you healthy and makes you look and feel better.

 Tame the Bulge: Over 66 percent of adult Americans are considered overweight or obese, so it is not surprising to find that weight loss is one of the most popular New Year's resolutions. Setting reasonable goals and staying focused are the two most important factors in sticking with a weight loss program, and the key to success for those millions of Americans who made a New Year's commitment to shed extra pounds.

 Quit Smoking: If you have resolved to make this the year that you stamp out your smoking habit, over-the-counter availability of nicotine replacement therapy now provides easier access to proven quit-smoking aids. Even if you've tried to quit before and failed, don't let it get you down. On average, smokers try about four times before they quit for good.

 Enjoy Life More: Given the hectic, stressful lifestyles of millions of Americans, it is no wonder that "enjoying life more" has become a popular resolution in recent years. It's an important step to a happier and healthier you! Consider one of holistic healing centers for products designed to bring balance to your body, mind and soul. Or just get out and try something new! Take up a new hobby or try your hand at skiing.

 Quit Drinking: While many people use the New Year as an incentive to finally stop drinking, most are not equipped to make such a drastic lifestyle change all at once. Many heavy drinkers fail to quit cold turkey but do much better when they taper gradually, or even learn to moderate their drinking

 Get Out of Debt: Was money a big source of stress in your life last year? Join the millions of Americans who have resolved to spend this year getting a handle on their finances. It's a promise that will repay itself many times over in the year ahead.

 Learn Something New: Have you vowed to make this year the year to learn something new? Perhaps you are considering a career change, want to learn a new language, or just how to fix your computer? Whether you take a course or read a book, you'll find education to be one of the easiest, most motivating New Year's resolutions to keep.

 Help Others: A popular, non-selfish New Year's resolution, volunteerism can take many forms. Whether you choose to spend time helping out at your local library, mentoring a child, or building a house, there are many nonprofit volunteer organizations that could really use your help.

 Get Organized: On organization can be a very reasonable goal. Whether you want you’re home organized enough that you can invite someone over on a whim, or your office organized enough that you can find the stapler when you need it, these tips and resources should get you started on the way to a more organized life.

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"It's time to stop being daft about Christmas. It's fine to celebrate and it's fine for Christ to be star of the show," said Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

 Suicide bombings by British Islamists in July 2005 which killed 52 people in London have prompted much soul-searching about religion and integration in Britain, a debate that has been echoed across Europe. Phillips, reflecting on media reports of schools scrapping nativity plays and local councils celebrating "Winterval" instead of Christmas, feared there might an underlying agenda -- using "this great holiday to fuel community tension."

 Hindus celebrate Christmas too. It's a great holiday for everyone living in Britain. Some people have used the story of the advent of Jesus Christ, specifically the Matthew 2 portion, to suggest that astrology might be okay, at least sometimes, since it led the wise men to the Christ child.  Or did it?  Let us take a look at the passage.

 In some English translations, notably the New English, the Living, and the Phillips, the Greek word MAGOS is rendered “astrologers.”  While MAGOS can mean astrologer, a study of Thayer’s Greek lexicon (similar to a dictionary) shows that the word derives from Babylonian origin and means “oriental scientist, wise man, astrologer, or seer.”  That Babylonian word would have been used to describe Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who served as wise men/advisors in the royal court of Babylon, with Daniel in charge of them all (Daniel 2:48).  Daniel retained that position of authority even after the Persian conquest.

 Consider this: there is one passage, and only one, in the whole of the Bible that foretells the time of the Messiah’s coming (his first coming, that is).  The passage is Daniel 9:24-26.  Daniel received and recorded this prophetic revelation while serving in the Persian court.  Given Daniel’s boldness to speak about his God, we can safely guess that the sages of Persia heard about it.  Notice, however, that Daniel received no other details on the subject.  This fact fits the picture we see in Matthew 2: “Magi from the east came to Jerusalem” knowing the identity of the one whom they sought, and the time of his arrival, but not much about the place.  And God used a spectacular stellar event to get their attention and to get them moving.

 Can we conclude that the Magi were astrologers?  It seems more likely that they were part of the legacy of Daniel and his three friends—though trained in all the “wisdom of the East,” responsive and submitted to the one true God.

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Premature birth (also known as preterm birth) is the birth of a baby before the standard period of pregnancy is completed. In most systems of human pregnancy, prematurity is considered to occur when the baby is born sooner than 37 weeks after the beginning of the last menstrual period (LMP). The opposite condition, postmature birth, is defined as birth more than 42 weeks after the LMP. The standard length of a human gestation is 266 days. However, for convenience most timing is based on the LMP, with conception being assumed to occur approximately 14 days after the LMP, making a standard term pregnancy 280 days or 40 weeks. Premature or preterm birth is defined medically as childbirth occurring earlier than 37 completed weeks of pregnancy. Approximately 12 percent of babies in the United States or 1 in 8 are born prematurely each year.

 London: Pregnant and planning abortion? Just give a second thought because it might triple the risk of your subsequent baby being born premature or underweight which is strongly linked to deaths in the first week of life. A team of international researchers has carried out a study and found that women who abort their child are likely to give birth to premature or underweight babies in future, 'The Times' reported today. The same holds true for women who have a miscarriage, according to the researchers.

 "Infections or adhesions (due to surgery) in the womb slow the growth of subsequent babies," lead researcher Tilahun Adera of the Virginia Commonwealth University in the United States was quoted as saying. The team came to the conclusion after analysing a data of more than 45,000 births. The records were linked to details of the mother's medical history, but did not distinguish between abortion and miscarriage.

 The data related to 1959-66, when abortion was far less common and women would have been reluctant to admit to having had one. The researchers found that a single abortion or miscarriage almost tripled the risk of low birthweight; two increased the risk about fivefold; and three increased the risk ninefold. A miscarriage or abortion increased the risk of a subsequent baby being premature by 70 per cent, two doubled the risk and three tripled it -- the results are published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Factors, such as smoking, high blood pressure and heavy drinking were also taken into consideration.

 "Though the study is the largest done in the US, it has limits, the most salient being the data didn't distinguish between abortion and miscarriage”.

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Walter H. G. Lewin, 71, a physics professor, has long had a cult following at M.I.T. And he has now emerged as an international Internet guru, thanks to the global classroom the institute created to spread knowledge through cyberspace. Professor Lewin’s videotaped physics lectures, free online on the Open Courseware of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have won him devotees across the country and beyond who stuff his e-mail in-box with praise. Last week, Yale put some of its most popular undergraduate courses and professors online free. The list includes Controversies in Astrophysics with Charles Bailyn, Modern Poetry with Langdon Hammer and Introduction to the Old Testament with Christine Hayes.

 M.I.T. recently expanded its online classes by opening a site aimed at high school students and teachers. Judging from his fan e-mail, Professor Lewin, who is among those featured on the new site, appeals to students of all ages. Professor Lewin revels in his fan mail and in the idea that he is spreading the love of physics. “Teaching is my life,” he said. The professor, who is from the Netherlands, said that teaching a required course in introductory physics to M.I.T. students made him realize “that what really counts is to make them love physics, to make them love science.”

Professor Lewin was correct,” Mr. Boigon wrote in an e-mail message to a reporter. “He made me SEE ... and it has changed my life for the better!!”

 “I had never taken a course in physics, or calculus, or differential equations,” he wrote to Professor Lewin. “Now I have done all that in order to be able to follow your lectures. I knew the name Isaac Newton, but nothing about Newtonian Mechanics. I had heard of the likes of Einstein, Galileo.” But, he added that he “didn’t have a clue on earth as to what they were all about.”

 “I walk down the street analyzing the force of a boy on skateboard or the recoil of a carpenter using a nail gun,” he wrote. “Thank you with all my heart.”

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Brussels, Dec 04: Europe joined the United States on Monday in demanding Russia investigate alleged abuses in an election won overwhelmingly by President Vladimir Putin's party, and Germany denounced the poll as undemocratic.

European states expressed alarm over the outcome of Sunday's Parliamentary Elections after rights watchdogs said the campaign had been marred by biased media coverage and abuse of government resources in favour of Putin's United Russia.

But analysts said many European states now acknowledged that Moscow, whose cooperation the West wants over disputes from Iran to Kosovo, was increasingly impervious to outside criticism.

With almost all votes counted in the State Duma (lower house) election, Putin's United Russia had won 64.1% of votes -- nearly six times as many as his nearest rival.

"It is vital that the Russian Central Election Commission urgently investigates all allegations of electoral abuses," Britain's Foreign Ministry said, echoing a similar call from Washington on Sunday.

It expressed disappointment that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe had not been able to observe the election. The OSCE cancelled plans to monitor the poll after a row with Moscow over delays in issuing visas.

France expressed the hope that Moscow would "shed light" on the allegations of voting irregularities. Sharper reaction came from German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government, seen as less close to Putin than that of her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder.

"Measured by our standards, it was neither a free, fair nor democratic election," said spokesman Thomas Steg. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged Russia to probe abuses.

The Kremlin said the vote provided a ringing endorsement of Putin, who is now expected to try and hold onto the reins of power after his term ends next year. Critics accused authorities of ensuring victory was never in doubt.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer added his voice to concerns, but a spokesman for the 26-nation Western military alliance said NATO would continue a policy of post-Cold War engagement with Russia which has seen patchy results so far.

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