<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/a107ccd6-f44b-4d25-849b-c1ec9fa98667/3C417AD2-F02C-4617-AD78-D5723A8796AE/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/local/local_story_366122146.html" href="http://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/local/local_story_366122146.html" style="font-size: 11px;">www.jacksonvilleprogress.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/local/local_story_366122146.html"><AREA href="http://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/headerlink" coords="486,5,703,71" shape="rect"></AREA></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/local/local_story_366122146.html"><P class="storyheadline">Midnight traditions thwart evil, bring good luck</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/local/local_story_366122146.html"><DIV>OK, so using a baby to signify the beginning of a new year is pretty self-explanitory, but why do we pop firecrackers, kiss at midnight and eat black-eyed peas as part of the first meal of the new year?</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/local/local_story_366122146.html"><DIV>Those traditions play an important part of how we ring in the new year, every year, and reflect on what we hope the next 364 days will bring.</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/local/local_story_366122146.html"><DIV>Fireworks, usually a big part of most New Year’s celebrations, are set off to ensure the next year will be free from evil’s touch.</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/local/local_story_366122146.html"><DIV>Once the fireworks have faded, it’s usually time to count down the last remaining seconds of the year, before sealing the advent of the new year at the stroke of midnight, with a kiss.</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/local/local_story_366122146.html"><DIV>Now that the ball has dropped, it’s time to begin those New Year’s resolutions.</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.jacksonvilleprogress.com/local/local_story_366122146.html"><DIV>“The Ancient Babylonians originated the idea of New Year’s resolutions, although their most popular resolution was returning their neighbors’ farming tools,” the Web site states.</DIV></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/3C417AD2-F02C-4617-AD78-D5723A8796AE/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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