Christmas

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Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal waves to the crowds before Christmas celebrations in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Monday, Dec. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal, center right, attends Christmas celebrations in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Monday, Dec. 24, 2012. Twal, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, has celebrated the United Nations' recent recognition of a Palestinian state in his annual pre-Christmas remarks.(AP Photo/Adel Hana)

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A cross is held during Christmas celebrations outside the Church of Nativity, traditionally believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Monday, Dec. 24, 2012. Thousands of Christian worshippers and tourists arrived in Bethlehem on Monday to mark Christmas at the site where many believe Jesus Christ was born. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

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A woman carries flowers to a Christmas tree that has become a memorial to the shooting victims in Newtown, Conn. Sympathetic messages to the community have come from around the world. (Associated Press)

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Christmas inspired characters take to the water on jet skis during the 27th annual show of The Water-Skiing Santa. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

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In the final days before Christmas, shoppers could see more sale signs as stores try to salvage a season that has been disappointing. “There was this absence of joy,” one analyst said. (Associated Press)

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Illustration Jewish Christmas by Alexander Hunter for The Washington Times

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Emergency responders block Juniata Valley Road on Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, in Geeseytown, Pa., after a man fatally shot a woman decorating for a children's Christmas party at a tiny church hall and killed two men elsewhere in the rural central Pennsylvania township before he was fatally shot in a gunfight with state troopers. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

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Illustration Draining Christmas by Greg Groesch for The Washington Times

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What Congress wants for Christmas. (Illustration by Dana Summers for the Orlando Sentinel)

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Hundreds of tuba players rehearse at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012 before Tuba Christmas, a concert that originated in 1974 as a tribute to the late artist/teacher William J. Bell, who was born on Christmas Day in 1902. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

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One of the conductors for Tuba Christmas 2012 is seen reflected in a tuba during rehearsal at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

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Sporting his "Tuba Christmas" hat, Bryce Gaskins, 11, of Alexandria, Va. rehearses with hundreds of other tuba players forTuba Christmas, a concert that originated in 1974 as a tribute to the late artist/teacher William J. Bell, who was born on Christmas Day in 1902. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

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A tuba player rehearses at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012 for Tuba Christmas. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)