diff --git a/apps/reader/views.py b/apps/reader/views.py
index e668cb0c3..0d7928890 100644
--- a/apps/reader/views.py
+++ b/apps/reader/views.py
@@ -607,8 +607,9 @@ def load_single_feed(request, feed_id):
         if not include_story_content:
             del story['story_content']
         story_date = localtime_for_timezone(story['story_date'], user.profile.timezone)
-        story['short_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__short(story_date)
-        story['long_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__long(story_date, now)
+        nowtz = localtime_for_timezone(now, user.profile.timezone)
+        story['short_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__short(story_date, nowtz)
+        story['long_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__long(story_date, nowtz)
         if usersub:
             story['read_status'] = 1
             if (read_filter == 'all' or query) and usersub:
@@ -782,12 +783,13 @@ def load_starred_stories(request):
                                                    comments=story.comments))
                            for story in shared_stories])
 
+    nowtz = localtime_for_timezone(now, user.profile.timezone)
     for story in stories:
         story_date                 = localtime_for_timezone(story['story_date'], user.profile.timezone)
-        story['short_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__short(story_date)
-        story['long_parsed_date']  = format_story_link_date__long(story_date, now)
+        story['short_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__short(story_date, nowtz)
+        story['long_parsed_date']  = format_story_link_date__long(story_date, nowtz)
         starred_date               = localtime_for_timezone(story['starred_date'], user.profile.timezone)
-        story['starred_date']      = format_story_link_date__long(starred_date, now)
+        story['starred_date']      = format_story_link_date__long(starred_date, nowtz)
         story['read_status']       = 1
         story['starred']           = True
         story['intelligence']      = {
@@ -939,6 +941,7 @@ def load_river_stories__redis(request):
     
 
     # Just need to format stories
+    nowtz = localtime_for_timezone(now, user.profile.timezone)
     for story in stories:
         story['read_status'] = 0
         if read_filter == 'all':
@@ -946,8 +949,8 @@ def load_river_stories__redis(request):
                 story['story_hash'] not in unread_feed_story_hashes):
                 story['read_status'] = 1
         story_date = localtime_for_timezone(story['story_date'], user.profile.timezone)
-        story['short_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__short(story_date)
-        story['long_parsed_date']  = format_story_link_date__long(story_date, now)
+        story['short_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__short(story_date, nowtz)
+        story['long_parsed_date']  = format_story_link_date__long(story_date, nowtz)
         if story['story_hash'] in starred_stories:
             story['starred'] = True
             starred_date = localtime_for_timezone(starred_stories[story['story_hash']],
diff --git a/apps/social/views.py b/apps/social/views.py
index ec57a45fc..465e23f49 100644
--- a/apps/social/views.py
+++ b/apps/social/views.py
@@ -119,12 +119,13 @@ def load_social_stories(request, user_id, username=None):
                                                    comments=story.comments))
                            for story in shared_stories])
     
+    nowtz = localtime_for_timezone(now, user.profile.timezone)
     for story in stories:
         story['social_user_id'] = social_user_id
         # story_date = localtime_for_timezone(story['story_date'], user.profile.timezone)
         shared_date = localtime_for_timezone(story['shared_date'], user.profile.timezone)
-        story['short_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__short(shared_date)
-        story['long_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__long(shared_date)
+        story['short_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__short(shared_date, nowtz)
+        story['long_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__long(shared_date, nowtz)
         
         story['read_status'] = 1
         if (read_filter == 'all' or query) and socialsub:
@@ -270,13 +271,14 @@ def load_river_blurblog(request):
         classifier_tags = []
     
     # Just need to format stories
+    nowtz = localtime_for_timezone(now, user.profile.timezone)
     for story in stories:
         story['read_status'] = 0
         if story['story_hash'] not in unread_feed_story_hashes:
             story['read_status'] = 1
         story_date = localtime_for_timezone(story['story_date'], user.profile.timezone)
-        story['short_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__short(story_date)
-        story['long_parsed_date']  = format_story_link_date__long(story_date, now)
+        story['short_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__short(story_date, nowtz)
+        story['long_parsed_date']  = format_story_link_date__long(story_date, nowtz)
         if story['story_hash'] in starred_stories:
             story['starred'] = True
             starred_date = localtime_for_timezone(starred_stories[story['story_hash']], user.profile.timezone)
@@ -521,7 +523,9 @@ def mark_story_as_shared(request):
     source_user_id = request.POST.get('source_user_id')
     relative_user_id = request.POST.get('relative_user_id') or request.user.pk
     post_to_services = request.POST.getlist('post_to_services')
-    format = request.REQUEST.get('format', 'json')
+    format = request.REQUEST.get('format', 'json')    
+    now = datetime.datetime.now()
+    nowtz = localtime_for_timezone(now, request.user.profile.timezone)
     
     MSocialProfile.get_user(request.user.pk)
     
@@ -576,8 +580,8 @@ def mark_story_as_shared(request):
     story['shared_by_user'] = True
     story['shared'] = True
     shared_date = localtime_for_timezone(shared_story['shared_date'], request.user.profile.timezone)
-    story['short_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__short(shared_date)
-    story['long_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__long(shared_date)
+    story['short_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__short(shared_date, nowtz)
+    story['long_parsed_date'] = format_story_link_date__long(shared_date, nowtz)
             
     if post_to_services:
         for service in post_to_services:
diff --git a/config/requirements.txt b/config/requirements.txt
index 798ad665a..a39f9a7ac 100644
--- a/config/requirements.txt
+++ b/config/requirements.txt
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ gunicorn==0.17.2
 httplib2==0.8
 iconv==1.0
 kombu==2.5.7
-lxml==3.1.0
+# lxml==3.1.0
 mongoengine==0.8.2
 nltk==2.0.4
 oauth2==1.5.211
diff --git a/utils/story_functions.py b/utils/story_functions.py
index 3debbc6e2..6e8114542 100644
--- a/utils/story_functions.py
+++ b/utils/story_functions.py
@@ -17,8 +17,10 @@ from vendor import reseekfile
 # COMMENTS_RE = re.compile('\<![ \r\n\t]*(--([^\-]|[\r\n]|-[^\-])*--[ \r\n\t]*)\>')
 COMMENTS_RE = re.compile('\<!--.*?--\>')
 
-def midnight_today():
-    return datetime.datetime.now().replace(hour=0, minute=0, second=0, microsecond=0)
+def midnight_today(now=None):
+    if not now:
+        now = datetime.datetime.now()
+    return now.replace(hour=0, minute=0, second=0, microsecond=0, tzinfo=None)
     
 def midnight_yesterday(midnight=None):
     if not midnight:
@@ -28,9 +30,11 @@ def midnight_yesterday(midnight=None):
 def beginning_of_this_month():
     return datetime.datetime.now().replace(day=1, hour=0, minute=0, second=0, microsecond=0)
     
-def format_story_link_date__short(date):
+def format_story_link_date__short(date, now=None):
+    if not now:
+        now = datetime.datetime.now()
     date = date.replace(tzinfo=None)
-    midnight = midnight_today()
+    midnight = midnight_today(now)
     if date > midnight:
         return date.strftime('%I:%M%p').lstrip('0').lower()
     elif date > midnight_yesterday(midnight):