I like to think my family has maintained the "spirit of the holidays," albeit without the religious underpinnings. And, I know I'm not alone in my observance of America's commercialized pseudo-Christmas, but I do wonder how many others feel the same twinge of guilt about it that I do.
![[title-raw]](http://www.theroot.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-latest-published-image/usatoday-400lw.jpg "[title-raw]")
Journal-isms: They were among about a dozen veteran journalists who were let go.
![[title-raw]](http://www.theroot.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog-latest-published-image/obama birth control cg.jpg "[title-raw]")
Blogging the Beltway: A wave of lawsuits from Catholic institutions may put the policy at risk.
This celebrity chef says that we have to get real about options for healthy eating in the hood.
The Root Recommends: A new exhibit that honors the centennial of an influential photographer and artist.
The pioneering DJ's death at age 96 comes as the curtains close on a radio company that he helped found.
Hit by earthquakes and poverty, Haiti could be transformed by its minerals into an emerging economy.
If inmates' claims are true, the Alabama prison's latest scandal shows that it needs a major overhaul.
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