Christmas at midnight mass at a local church

First Baptist Church in Attleboro, like many other churches, won't hold a midnight service on Christmas Eve. Area churches increasingly are holding midnight Christmas Masses earlier as they seek to draw in congregants who might not want to stay up late on the holiday.

Looking to welcome in Christmas at midnight mass at a local church?
1. Christ the King Church: One can enjoy midnight mass, as well as 11 p.m. Christmas readings and carols on Christmas Eve at this Roman Catholic church at 2 Indian Head Road in Commack.
2. St. Francis of Assisi: If you can't stay up too late for midnight mass, attend an earlier 10 p.m mass at this Catholic church located at 29 Northgate Drive in Greenlawn.
3. St. Patrick's Church: Head over to St. Pat's Roman Catholic Church at 280 East Main Street in Smithtown. 4. Saint Anthony of Padua: Join other families from Commack, Northport, East Northport, and Greenlawn for Catholic Christmas Eve services at 20 Cheshire Place, East Northport.
5. Commack United Methodist Church: This church doesn't quite have a midnight service, but does offer an 11p.m. candlelight service in the sanctuary.
6. Calvary Lutheran Church: This Lutheran Church also offers a slightly earlier candlelight mass at 11 p.m. at 860 Town Line Road in Happauge.
7. Smithtown United Methodist Church: For another 11 p.m. candlelight service, head to 230 Middle Country Road in Smithtown.
8. First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown: Enjoy preaching, carols, choirs, and communion in the sanctuary at 11 p.m. at 175 East Main Street in Smithtown.
9. First Presbyterian Church of Northport: If Smithtown is out of your way, take a ride to Northport for a candlelight service at 11 p.m. at 330 Main Street in Northport.
10. Saint Thomas of Canterbury Church: This Episcopal church in Smithtown offers an earlier Christmas Eve mass at 10 p.m.

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HIV can be cured?

A 42-year-old man with HIV has been cured of the infection by a blood cell transplant, it is claimed.
Timothy Brown, an American living in Berlin, underwent the procedure to treat leukaemia in 2007.
His donor was both a good blood match and also had a gene mutation that confers natural resistance to HIV.
It involves destroying the person's native immune system with powerful drugs and radiation, then replacing it with donor cells to grow a new immune system.
Antibodies that are ineffective or disable just a couple of HIV strains are common. Now researchers have revealed three powerful antibodies have been discovered. Writing in the journal Science today, they said that one of them neutralised 91 per cent of HIV strains.
A 42-year-old HIV-infected man living in Germany has been cured according to an American medical journal.
Blood, the journal of the American Society of Haematology, says doctors believe Timothy Ray Brown has been cured of HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant in 2007.
If Mr Brown has been cured, it points the way towards developing a cure for HIV/Aids infection through genetically engineered stem cells.
That study found "the patient remained without viral rebound 20 months after transplantation and discontinuation of antiretroviral therapy."
"The new cells have a natural resistance against HIV."
Three years ago, Timothy Ray Brown had been an HIV-positive leukemia patient. Prior to receiving the stem cell transplant, he underwent intense chemotherapy to completely replace his immune system.
At the time Huetter specifically was looking for bone marrow stem cell donors that contained the rare CCR5 deletion.
Since his treatment, the so-called "Berlin patient" has been effectively cured of AIDS and its disease-causing virus, HIV, but also leukemia. An "intriguing" step, AIDS researchers say
In the wake of the new German paper, AIDS and HIV researchers around the world are starting to take stock of this important finding.
"It's intriguing that this patient does not have a rebound of the HIV replication," said Jens Lundgren, an AIDS researcher and professor at the University of Copenhagen, in an interview with Deutsche Welle. "It seems that so far, this patient is one that we could call cured from HIV," he said.

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UK snow to return

Those winds from the north look set to bring a band of rain and high winds on Thursday, followed immediately by snow across the country.
Joanna Robinson, from Sky News weather centre, said: "From Thursday, there's a real risk of snow.
Plummeting temperatures and heavy snow saw parts of Scotland cut off during the last few weeks and drivers stranded on motorways.
Families face an anxious wait to see if Christmas presents bought online arrive in time for the big day, with another band of heavy snow set to strike later this week.
Race against time: A huge backlog caused by the first wave of wintry weather has already forced postmen to make Sunday deliveries in order to hit the Christmas deadline.
Sub-zero temperatures, snow and gales are forecast to hit the country on Thursday as the cold snap returns.

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On the X Factor final

On the X Factor final, pre-watershed, "Christina Aguilera" and her dancers performed acts with a chair that would have made Cabaret's former furniture botherer, Liza Minnelli, blush to her very temples. Once again bottoms were aloft, crotches flashing, as if the show's producers were trying to deliver a very specific message to the hordes of six-year-old girls who were watching. Excellent.

In the Sunday instalment of the "X Factor final", X Factor "rejects" performed a version of Bad Romance that ended with former contestant Chloe Mafia being lowered on to the stage in a giant pair of lips-- The look of glee on Simon Cowell's face was quite astonishing to behold.
The X Factor final on ITV1 was watched by an average of 17 million viewers.

Last night's results show averaged 17.2 million viewers, a 55% share of the audience, between 7.30pm and 9.30pm on ITV1. The audience peaked with 19.4 million viewers – a 60% share – between 9.20pm and 9.25pm as Cardle was announced the winner.

Of The X Factor final's average audience of 17.158 million viewers – a 54.9% share – 1.088 million were watching on ITV1 HD last night.

Angry Rebecca Ferguson fans complain about jammed X Factor voting lines
Angry viewers flooded the ECHO with calls saying they could not get through to vote for Rebecca Ferguson.

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Willow Smith Gets Advice From Jay-Z‎ and Beyonce

Singer Willow Smith, 10, has been getting advice on handling her success from Jay-Z and his wife Beyonce Knowles.
Willow Smith gets advice from Jay-Z and Beyonce Knowles.
The 10-year-old singer - whose parents are actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith - has been told by the famous couple to enjoy her experiences of chart success.
I choose my own clothes.
As well as having famous parents - actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkette Smith - the Whip My Hair cutie also gets tips from her mentor and label boss Jay-Z.
"My mom, my dad, Jay-Z, Beyonce. "I've met Lady Gaga. She was awesome," shares Willow.
With Willow's debut single 'Whip My Hair' currently battling it out with Black Eyed Peas 'Dirty Bit' for the UK Singles #1 we have a handful of Willow Smith 'I Love Me' t-shirts to give away, as worn by Willow in the 'Whip My Hair' video.

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Coronation Street's 50th-anniversary episode

Coronation Street celebrated a half-century on the air in style this week, with an apparent attempt to cull half the cast
Coronation Street's 50th-anniversary episode is earning kudos from British TV critics, after the ambitious live TV broadcast drew nearly 15 million U.K. viewers at its peak Thursday evening.
The daunting instalment featured 65 cast members as well as about 300 crew members working behind the scenes.
Coronation Street's last live broadcast came a decade ago, when the show marked its 40th anniversary.
Corrie, as dubbed by fans, debuted Dec. 9, 1960 and was originally commissioned for just 13 episodes.
Corrie’s seamless 50th anniversary live episode will be preventing Barbara Windsor from getting her hands on the next round of soap awards – letting the brilliant Barbara Knox (Rita) take centre stage.
It hit the cobbled community hard, and it was sad hearing his voicemail message to wife Claire played on speakerphone in the Rovers.
Corrie can do sincerity as well as comedy, as shown when joker Graeme remembers Ashley.

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