Top Stories
Cyber Monday Sales
Way Up
Cyber Monday numbers are in and the virtual shopping cart was
piled significantly higher than it was a year ago. Sales were up 20-percent
this year over 2011, as online sales totaled a record one and a half billion
dollars. Keep in mind that just like
Black Friday spilled into Thanksgiving Day, some stores started their Cyber
Monday sales on Saturday. On the whole,
Thanksgiving weekend shopping was up 32-percent.
Sandy Cleanup Going to Cost Plenty
Cleanup from Super Storm Sandy is going to cost upwards of
sixty-two billion dollars, according to the governors in New
York and New Jersey. That does not include the nine billion
dollars that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo wants to spend to keep his state
safe from future storms. In the
meantime, several customers on Long Island are
upset that their power bills have come – and don’t reflect the fact that half
of them didn’t have power after the storm.
Housing Prices Rising
Housing prices have seen their biggest gains in 2
years. Prices in the third quarter were
up a little more than 3.5-percent compared to last year, and that means six
months in a row of price gains. One city
in Family Life Nation continues to lead the recovery – Phoenix saw an annual growth rate of
+20-percent.
Church Around the World
Pray for Egypt
Open Doors USA
is asking for prayer for a period of calm in Egypt. After an overthrow of the government there
last year, there have been growing tensions over the political ascension of
Mohammed Morsi to the presidency there.
Some believe Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, has been
granting himself too many powers – and Christians there are afraid there could
be more persecution ahead.
Faith
Christian Faith Sharing Banned in Duluth
The city of Duluth, Minnesota has violated a
court order by having police there stop people from sharing their faith during
the annual Tour of the Lights in the city.
This dates back to 2010, when the Alliance Defending Freedom got a court
injunction to stop the city from enforcing a ban on handing out Christian literature. They got that injunction last year, but the
city continues to try to enforce the ban.
That means another court date will be set.
Family & Relationships
Happy Teen Today May Mean More Earnings Later
Do you wonder if Junior’s going to be able to take care of
you when you’re old? Keep him happy
now. British researchers say happy
adolescents grow up to earn significantly more and have higher life
satisfaction than those who tend to be more gloomy. For example, one higher point on the life
satisfaction scale equated to 2-thousand dollars more in annual income by age
29.
Abortion Rate Too High, but Falling
The abortion rate in America is at its lowest level in
ten years. The numbers from the Centers
for Disease Control show a lower rate, a lower ratio, and fewer total abortions
in 2009, the latest year that data is available from, when compared with
2000. Abortions fell by 5-percent.
Work
More Employers Cutting Back to Avoid Health Care Law Penalties
A community college in Pennsylvania is the latest to cut the hours
of about four hundred employees in order to avoid the extra costs of the new
federal health care law. About half of
the hours cut at Community College of Allegheny County will be among their
adjunct faculty. That move will save the
college six million dollars in fees that would have been imposed by the
Affordable Care Act.
Finances & Economy
Christmas Shopping Repentance
If you haven’t even gone out at all to do any Christmas
shopping because you don’t like to fight the crowds, Josh Elledge with Savings
Angel says take your time and put a battle plan together. He says, “If you’re
interested in really getting into the holiday shopping season, get a realistic
budget together. Make sure you know what you have to work with. What we don’t
want to have happen is families that are way overspending their budgets.
Unfortunately, this happens too often. People end up getting themselves into
trouble and then they end up being in financial repentance.” Another tip for
keeping your budget from going over is to spend cash. More tips at www.SavingsAngel.com.
Consumer Confidence Up Slightly
A new private sector report shows consumer confidence is at
its highest level since February of 2008.
The increase from 73.1 to 73.7 is modest, but at least it’s up. Most consumers say they don’t feel much has
changed, but it hasn’t gotten any worse either.
Are Entitlements Hurting the Economy?
An economist in Chicago
says generous unemployment benefits and the number of people on food stamps is
prolonging the tough economy. Casey
Mulligan says the more we help people in financial distress, the more financial
distress there will be. He adds that the
increase in government spending tends to go toward helping the few instead of
growing the economy and helping the many.
Health
The Road to Good Health Begins With but 6,000 Steps
Trying to live a healthier life comes one step at a time,
but if you can work your way up to 6-thousand steps a day – you’ll be better
off. Researchers in Brazil gave pedometers to about
three hundred women over age 45, and they found that women who were able to get
to 6-thousand steps a day were much less likely to be obese and have health
problems like type-2 diabetes. It seems
that 6-thousand steps is the benchmark for being called “active.”
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