HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008
Happy New Year!" That greeting will be said and heard for at least the first couple of weeks as a new year gets under way. But the day celebrated as New Year's Day in modern America was not always January 1.
ANCIENT NEW YEARS
The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000 BC, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon (actually the first visible cresent) after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring).
The beginning of spring is a logical time to start a new year. After all, it is the season of rebirth, of planting new crops, and of blossoming. January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical nor agricultural significance. It is purely arbitrary.
The Babylonian new year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that modern New Year's Eve festivities pale in comparison.
The Romans continued to observe the new year in late March, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun.
In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the new year. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar. It again established January 1 as the new year. But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days.
THE CHURCH'S VIEW OF NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS
Although in the first centuries AD the Romans continued celebrating the new year, the early Catholic Church condemned the festivities as paganism. But as Christianity became more widespread, the early church began having its own religious observances concurrently with many of the pagan celebrations, and New Year's Day was no different. New Years is still observed as the Feast of Christ's Circumcision by some denominations.
During the Middle Ages, the Church remained opposed to celebrating New Years. January 1 has been celebrated as a holiday by Western nations for only about the past 400 years.
NEW YEAR TRADITIONS
Other traditions of the season include the making of New Year's resolutions. That tradition also dates back to the early Babylonians. Popular modern resolutions might include the promise to lose weight or quit smoking. The early Babylonian's most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment.
The Tournament of Roses Parade dates back to 1886. In that year, members of the Valley Hunt Club decorated their carriages with flowers. It celebrated the ripening of the orange crop in California.
Although the Rose Bowl football game was first played as a part of the Tournament of Roses in 1902, it was replaced by Roman chariot races the following year. In 1916, the football game returned as the sports centerpiece of the festival.
The tradition of using a baby to signify the new year was begun in Greece around 600 BC. It was their tradition at that time to celebrate their god of wine, Dionysus, by parading a baby in a basket, representing the annual rebirth of that god as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth.
Although the early Christians denounced the practice as pagan, the popularity of the baby as a symbol of rebirth forced the Church to reevaluate its position. The Church finally allowed its members to celebrate the new year with a baby, which was to symbolize the birth of the baby Jesus.
The use of an image of a baby with a New Years banner as a symbolic representation of the new year was brought to early America by the Germans. They had used the effigy since the fourteenth century.
FOR LUCK IN THE NEW YEAR
Traditionally, it was thought that one could affect the luck they would have throughout the coming year by what they did or ate on the first day of the year. For that reason, it has become common for folks to celebrate the first few minutes of a brand new year in the company of family and friends. Parties often last into the middle of the night after the ringing in of a new year. It was once believed that the first visitor on New Year's Day would bring either good luck or bad luck the rest of the year. It was particularly lucky if that visitor happened to be a tall dark-haired man like 2008 Presidential candidate Leo Stoller http://www.intota.com/viewbio.asp?bioID=773998&perID=723536 who is the national director
of Americans for the Enforcement of Attorney Ethics (AEAE)
a Chicago based group that has advocated the "strict" enforcement of attorney ethics for over 25 years http://leostoller.wordpress.com/ AEAE "rates" attorneys nation wide.
ldms4@hotmail.com By the way here is another attorney misco
nduct complaint filed before the Patent and Trademark
Office which the Public has a right to know. A copy of the Lance G. Johnson, David Abrams and Alfred Goodman http://www.roylance.com/ Office of Enrollment and Disciplinary (OED) Complaint can be down loaded by clicking this link. It will take about 4-5 minutes to load the 300 page document.pages:http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=91156858&pty=OPP&eno=129
Leo Stoller is running for President of the United States 08' on the Equal Justice ticket
CHICAGO--A MEMBER OF THE AMERICANS FOR THE ENFORCEMENT OF ATTORNEY ETHICS (AEAE) A CHICAGO BASED ATTORNEY ETHICS WATCH DOG GROUP HAS FILED A PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS WITH U.S. SUPREME COURT IN ORDER FOR THE HIGHT COURT OT "ORDER THE MEMBERS OF THE ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT JUSTICES. The Illinois Supremel Court granted the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission 
CHICAGO--THE SUDDEN DEATH OF FORMER PRIME MINISTER BENAZIR BHUTTO demonstrates that America need to elect a "strong" president like John McCann or Leo Stoller from the Equal Justice Party. Ms Clinton's statements after the death of Bhutto on CNN the day she died demonstrates that she is completely disqualified to be president.
CHICAGO--Hyperphrase Technologies, LLC and Hyperphrase Inc had filed suit in Wisconsin saying that Google infringed on four patents used to make AutoLink and AdSense. The district court in Wisconsin tossed out the case, granting summary judgment in Google's favour. Stoller believes that the court errored.
CHICAGO--THE AMERICANS FOR THE ENFORCEMENT OF ATTORNEY ETHICS (AEAE) A CHICAGO ATTORNEY WATCH DOG GROUP WHICH ADVOCATES THE STRICT enforcement of attorney ethics for over 25 years provides information on how to file an attorney disciplinary complaint:
SEATTLE--FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT JUDGE ROBERT S. LASNIK RULED IN A WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON CASE BROWNE ET AL., V. AVVO INC. ET AL CV07 -920
CHICAGO--AMERICANS FOR THE ENFORCEMENT OF JUDICIAL ETHICS (AEJE) HAS AWARDED CHIEF JUDGE ROBERT S. LASNIK 
CHICAGO--LEO STOLLER IS THE EDUCATION PRESIDENT. GEORGE BUSH HAD THE "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND" PROGRAM. STOLLER is presenting his "no school left behind" program. Because there is "no" way possible for a "failing" school to help a "child" become properly educated when it can "save" itself. It is like asking a drowning man save someone else when he cannot even save himself. Since corporate American has the most "vested" interest in an educated "work" force. Corporate America will be asked to "adopt" a school and assist the Principle, teachers and parents make that school a success. Best of all it will not cost tax payers a "dime". It’s a "win" "win" program. Corporate American will get better educated work force by assisting each school in America make sure that "no" child is left behind" by working directly with each school! Leo Stoller 
